Theory question 111
Non-African PoetryLiterature 2, Section D: Non-African Poetry
Comment on the theme and style of Is my team ploughing?
Show the model answer
Model answer
A.E. Housman; dialogue between a dead young man and his living friend.
Theme: life goes on after death; transience and indifference; betrayal (friend now with his sweetheart).
Style: question-and-answer stanzas; simple diction; regular quatrains with rhyme; irony in the last stanza.
Tone: wistful, ironic.
Explanation
Theme with evidence, then style features.