Name: ______
Directions: Use the blank lines to the right of the poem to paraphrase each stanza. As you go through the poem, underline or note any literary devices. Finally, answer the questions on the backside of the paper.
After the Deluge
Once, for a dare,
He filled his heart-shaped swimming pool
With bank notes, high denomination
And fed a pound of caviar to his dog.
The dog was sick; a chartered plane
Flew in replacement for the Persian rug.
He made a billion yen[1]
Leap from Tokyo to Buenos Aires,
Turn somersaults through Brussels,
New York, Sofia and Johannesburg.
It cracked the bullion[2] market open wide.
Governments fell, coalitions cracked
Insurrection[3] raised its bloody flag
From north to south.
He knew his native land through iron gates,
His sight was radar bowls, his hearing
Electronic beams. For flesh and blood,
Kept company with a brace[4] of Dobermans.
But - yes - the worthy causes never lacked
His widow's mite[5], discreetly publicized.
He escaped the lynch days. He survives.
I dreamt I saw him on a village
Water line, a parched land where
Water is a god
That doles[6] its favors by the drop,
And waiting is a way of life.
Rebellion gleamed yet faintly in his eye
Traversing[7] chrome-and-platinum retreats. There,
Hubs of commerce smoothly turn without
His bidding, and cities where he lately roosted
Have forgotten him, the preying bird
Of passage.
They let him live, but not from pity
Or human sufferance[8]. He scratches life
From earth, no worse a mortal man than the rest.
Far, far away in dreamland splendor,
Creepers[9] twine his gates of bronze relief.
The jade-lined pool is home
To snakes and lizards; they hunt and mate
On crusted algae.
Questions:
1. What is ironic about the man’s swimming pool being heart-shaped (stanza 1)?
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2. What do stanzas 1-3 reveal about the character of the man who “knew his native land through iron gates” and kept a pair of Dobermans—large dogs that are often used as guard dogs?
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3. According to the fourth stanza, where does the speaker dream the man is now? How is the man now like the poor people he used to rule?
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4. Who do you think “they” are in the last stanza? Why?
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5. What is the ironic contrast between the man’s previous life—described in stanzas 1-3—and his present situation?
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6. How do you think the speaker feels about the man he is describing? Who do you think the speaker might be? Use evidence to support.
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7. What would you say the tone of this poem is? Optimistic? Pessimistic? Explain with examples!
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[1] Yen: Japan’s basic unit of money
[2] Bullion: gold and silver (used as an adjective here)
[3] Insurrection:
[4] Brace: pair
[5] Widow’s mite: small amount of money or gift given voluntarily by someone who has limited resources
[6] Doles: gives frugally
[7] Traversing: traveling between
[8] Sufferance: tolerance
[9] Creepers: vines