SECTION A: Short Paragraph Questions (60 marks)
Read “The Black Land” by Joseph Warren Beach and answer the questions
below.
I will plough the land,
Turning up the black soil.
I will ride upon this heaving surface
As a boat rides upon the water.
Even as a boat
Cleaving the water with an eager keel,
I have run a furrow1
Straight across the ridges.
I will sew down this field,
Scattering gems.
With both hands will I scatter
Quivering emeralds out of a bottomless pouch.
As I tread the loam2
My feet sink deep.
The black earth embraces my ankles
And clings to my bent knees.
I sing as I go
Scattering emeralds.
The wind sings upon my lips,
And pearls stream off my neck and forehead.
I am bathed in a sweat of pearls.
1 A long narrow trench made in the ground by a plough
2
Soil with equal amounts of sand, silt, and clay