Hedge School

Question 1

How does Sheers show his Welsh heritage?

Answer 1

TS Elliot also began his most famous poem ‘The Waste Land’ with a quote from Chaucer.

Question 2

Describe Sheers’ use of quote.

Answer 2

The quote is from the prologue to The Pardoner’s Tale. This is a story about men who go out with the intention of killing Death, who they blame for their friend’s passing. They end up killing each other in the end as a result of their own greed and so have found ‘death’.

Question 3

Why is ‘another lesson perhaps’ significant?

Answer 3

This links to learning but from nature - not school and books (links to ‘History’)

Question 4

What does the use of ‘cupped’ relate to?

Answer 4

A mixture of delicacy of touch and evil of intention - reflects idea in The Farrier.

Question 5

What does Sheers do with the blackberries?

Answer 5

He crushes the blackberries in his palm and feels immediate guilt, or at least a loss of innocence at becoming aware of his ability for nihilistic destruction.

Question 6

Describe the link between ‘hoarding’ and the upper class in this poem.

Answer 6

• When he hoards the blackberries, they become ‘caviar’, ‘the bubbles of just poured wine’ and a ‘coiled black pearl necklace’.
• Rich people are hoarders who hang on to far more than they need?
• His hoarding of the blackberries shows that there is an innate upper-class instinct in him, and perhaps everyone in the West. We see this idea developed fully in ‘Stitch in Time’ later on.

Question 7

Describe the form of the poem.

Answer 7

Dramatic monologue - allows us to have insight on Sheers’ thinking process and the development of his moral conscience.