hello everyone the following presentation is on the poem the morning sun is shining by Olive Shriner this is the ninth poem on the list of the new English home language poetry for 2023 and the next few years to come the following is some background information on the poet Olive Shriner Olive Shriner was born In 1855 and she died in 192 20 she was born in South Africa specifically in the Eastern Cape she is well known for her critically acclaimed novel The Story of an African Farm shrina wrote on a range of political and social issues such as anti-racism and feminism this poem the morning sun is shining conveys Shriner's deep love of Nature and her belief that the world and nature are interconnected let us read through the poem the morning sun is shining on the green green willow tree and sends a golden Sunbeam to dance upon my knee the fountain bubbles merrily the yellow Locust spring of life and light and sunshine the happy brown birds sing the Earth is clothed with beauty the air is filled with song the yellow thorn trees load the wind with odors sweet sweet and strong there is a hand I never touch and a face I never see now what is sunshine what is song now what is light to me let us take a look at a short summary of the poem the poem begins with the speaker sitting in the morning sunshine she is surrounded by Nature specifically a willow tree a bubbling Fountain insects and birds the speaker sees the beautiful day around her and hears the bird singing she experiences the smell of a Thorn Tree all of these sensations of the total beauty of the day suddenly become overwhelming she realizes that she is unable to share the beauty of the day with a loved one whom she will never get to see or touch again in order for the poem to make better sense the following is some background and context to what happened in Olive Shriner's life shrina suffered multiple miscarriages as a young woman her one child whom she carried to term sadly died within a few days of being born the contrast between the Beauty and the richness of Nature and the enormous loss she suffered is pointment and heartbreaking if in lines 1 and 2 the speaker states that the morning sun is shining on the green green Willow Tree the morning sun creates an image of a warm lovely morning in our imaginations we can also say that the sun is a symbol of Life consider the repetition of the willow tree being described as green green the repetition of the word green emphasizes the beauty and just how intense the green color of the tree is we also associate the color of green with freshness Lush vegetation and life the speaker specifically chose to include a willow tree in the picture she paints with her words in this poem there are various ideas that a willow tree can symbolize a willow tree might symbolize power and security for the fact that the branches can be used to make baskets and boats a willow tree can symbolize the idea of fertility as a single Branch placed in the ground will root and another tree will grow in various Asian cultures a willow tree is associated with love grief and loss of love it is common to find weeping willow trees in graveyards in Asian countries the specific reason shrina chose to incorporate a willow tree in her poem is left to our interpretation in lines 3 and four the speaker states that the Sun Also sends a golden Sunbeam to dance upon my knee there is personification here because the sun is given the human quality of being able to send something the sun sends a golden Sunbeam the fact that this Sunbeam is described as golden refers to its color but also suggests something that is precious and filled with richness and Beauty this golden Sunbeam is sent to dance upon her knee we have another example of personification here in which the Sunbeam is given the human quality of being able to dance we can say here that the sun blesses the Earth with warmth joy and Delight the idea of d ing has connotations of lightheartedness playfulness and happiness also surrounding the speaker the fountain bubbles merrily consider the speaker's diction or choice of the word bubbles here we have an example of anas appear the sound of the word bubbles imitates a happy and satisfying sound the way in which the this Fountain is bubbling is merrily here we have an example of personification in which the fountain is described as being marry which reinforces the tone and the mood of beauty joy and peacefulness in line six the speaker describes that the yellow locusts spring the diction or the choice of the words spring suggests that the locusts jump with energy this image in our imaginations reinforces the idea that nature is associated with ideas of happiness and vitality lines seven and 8 read of life and light and sunshine the happy brown birds sing consider the words life and light here we have another sound device we have alliteration we can interpret the repetition of the L Sound in life and life with the idea that it provides a sense of freedom and suggests an experience of life that is free of burdens also notice the repetition of the word and it is almost like the speaker is listing and therefore reinforcing the ideas of abundance and joy that surround her these ideas are what the happy brown birds sing about the figure of speech used here is personification as the birds are given the human quality of being able to sing the singing of the birds is happy this reinforces the idea that the natural world is celebrating life it is as if all the elements of nature are rejoicing in the morning sun in line nine the Earth is described as clothed with beauty we have personification in this line it can be said that the Earth is covered with beauty which suggests it has an impressive appearance created by Nature clothing in the literal sense envelops our bodies providing a feeling of comfort we can extend this analogy to say that the speaker finds a sense of comfort in the beautiful nature that surrounds her in line 10 the air is filled with song we can interpret this line as saying that nature is alive with music and Beauty the speaker continues to describe the nature surrounding her that she experiences with her senses in line 11 she mentions the yellow thorn trees this line places the poem in context in terms of location yellow thorn trees are native to South Africa the speaker says these thorn trees load the wind in other words their scent completely fills the air with odors or smells that are sweet and strong the word sweet and strong illustrates another example of alliteration we can interpret this alliteration as emphasizing that the smell of these trees is all encompassing completely surrounding the speaker lines 13 and 14 read There is a hand I never touch and a face I never see the images tone and mood shift unexpectedly in the last four lines of the poem remember that tone refers to the attitude or feelings of the writer or poet mood refers to how the poem or piece of writing makes us feel as readers the content in the last four lines of this poem jumps from the beauty of nature suddenly to content that is personal and deeply saddening consider the phrases hand I never touch and face I never see the speaker does not reveal the identity of the hand she never touches and the face she never sees but we know that shrine the poet was deeply affected by the loss of her daughter we can therefore presume that these lines are a reference to her daughter whom Shina lost a day after she was born the last two lines of the poem read now what is sunshine what is song now what is light to me the speaker ends the poem with three rhetorical questions remember that a rhetorical question is a question that makes the reader reflect on or think about the subject matter at hand the speaker asks what is the point of experiencing a beautiful nature-filled morning if she will never be able to share it with her loved one even though her surroundings are beautiful she finds no comfort in them perhaps this implies that the beauty of nature cannot reduce the immense pain loss and isolation the speaker feels from a more generalized point of view perhaps this can also suggest how trauma loss and grief can completely change people's perspectives of the world around them in terms of the form and structure of this poem There are 16 lines divided into four apparent segments lines 1: 4 discuss the sense of sight lines 5 to8 discuss the sense of hearing and lines 9 to 12 focus on the sense of smell these senses appreciate the morning filled with nature and The Shining Sun however in the last four lines The Narrative changes even though the speaker mentions the senses of touch and sight they are experiences that her senses will never have there is regular rhythm throughout the poem in that the lines consist of either six seven or eight syllables each the poem also consists of a regular rhyme pattern in that the last word of every alternating line in each stanza Rhymes let us consider the themes that are prevalent in this poem this poem addresses themes of beauty and nature grief and loss the idea that true happiness is shared and the theme of loneliness the feelings of the speaker are reflected in her tone in the first 12 lines her tone is Happy cheerful appreciative positive and joyful however in in the last four lines her tone becomes one of Despair sadness of loss of grief and a tone of hopelessness thank you for watching this presentation on the poem the morning sun is shining by Olive Shriner please keep an eye out for the remaining poems for grade 12 English home language thank you for all the positive comments likes and subscribe sces for these I am eternally grateful