Practicing Unseen Poetry

As you know, the best way to build your confidence at doing unseen poetry is to respond to unseen poetry!

Remember that you should always read the question first because it gives you a clue/a hook into what the poem is about in the first place!

Try these ones:

What kind of personality has McGough given the moon?  What techniques are being used to create this personality?

Mrs Moon  - Roger McGough

Mrs Moon
sitting up in the sky
little old lady
rock-a-bye
with a ball of fading light
and silvery needles
knitting the night. 

How does the poet convey  the feeling of sadness and grief?  What techniques are used to present this? 

Stop all the Clocks – W.H Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

Use this link to go to a booklet with TWENTY-EIGHT unseen poems + practice questions.  

Don't forget I'll happily mark anything you want looked at!