Name: _______________________________

Class: _______

The Old Field

by Dennis Enright
Poetic features
The old field is sad
Now the children have gone home.
They have played with him all afternoon,
Kicking the ball to him, and him
Kicking it back.
But now it is growing cold and dark.
He thinks of their warm breath, and their
Feet like hot-water bottles.
A bit rough, some of them, but still

A Personification
B
C
B Personification (and him /
Kicking it back)

Simile (their / Feet like hot-water

bottles)

And now, he thinks, theres not even a dog

To tickle me.
The gates are locked.
The birds dont like this nasty sneaking wind,
And nor does he.

Theme (What is the poem about?)

In this poem by Dennis Enright we do not read about a person or an animal, but
instead we are presented with a field. The field however is not just described as a
place but as a living being. In the first line we are told that the field is sad because it
is alone. During the afternoon a group of children plays football in the field, and in
this way it keeps the field company. The field does not really play with the children,
but when the ball bounces on the field, it is as if the field is kicking the ball back.
At night, there are no children playing. They have gone home, and their warm feet
do not keep him cosy. He misses them, even though they are rough. It is cold, but the
field has to wait until the next afternoon to see its young friends again.
Figures of speech
When a poet talks about an animal or an object as if it is a person, the poet is using
the figure of speech called personification.
In this poem there is a simile in the second stanza, where the field compares the
childrens feet to hot-water bottles.

Name: _______________________________

Class: _______

Other poetic features

3 stanzas, 2 of 5 lines or verses, 1 of 4 verses.
No fixed rhyming pattern.
Questions
1. Who is him (line 3) and them (line 9)?
him:_______________________________

(1 mark)
them: ________________________________

2. The old field is sad (line 1). Name the figure of speech found in this line. (1 mark)
_______________________________________________________________________________
3. The poet presents us with a picture of the field at different times of the day.
Describe what the field is like at these different times.
(2 marks)
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
4. a) Find a simile in the poem.

(1 mark)

_______________________________________________________________________________
b) Explain the simile.

(1 mark)

_______________________________________________________________________________
5. What contrast does the poet give in stanza 2?

(2 marks)

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
6. What does the field think about the children?

(2 marks)

_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Total marks: ____ / 10 marks