📖 Part 1: Read the Poem

"Echoes of the Trenches"

In the belly of the beast, where shadows dance and weep,
Young lions turned to lambs, their mothers' promises to keep.
The earth drinks crimson tears, while thunder splits the sky,
And whispered prayers float upward—asking God the reason why.

Barbed wire crowns encircle fields of broken dreams,
Where poppies bloom like bloodstains, and nothing's as it seems.
The rat-a-tat-tat symphony plays its deadly song,
While boys become old men before they've lived for long.

Letters home lie crumpled in the mud and morning dew,
"We're winning," write the generals, but is that really true?
The silence after battle screams louder than the guns,
When counting all the fathers who'll never see their sons.

🔍 Part 2: Language Features Identification

1. Find and list THREE examples of metaphor from the poem:

2. Identify TWO examples of personification and explain their effect:

3. What type of sound device is "rat-a-tat-tat"? Circle the correct answer:

Alliteration

Onomatopoeia

Assonance

Rhyme

💭 Part 3: Comprehension and Analysis

4. What does the phrase "young lions turned to lambs" suggest about the soldiers?

5. Explain the symbolism of poppies in the second stanza:

6. What is the poet's attitude towards war? Tick all evidence that supports your answer:

War is glorious and heroic

War causes unnecessary suffering

War destroys families

War is confusing and senseless

War makes boys grow up too quickly

✍️ Part 4: Critical Thinking

7. How does the poet use contrast throughout the poem? Give specific examples:

8. Complete the following analysis by filling in the blanks:

The poem's tone is _____________ and _____________. The poet achieves this through imagery such as "_____________ _____________" and "_____________ _____________". The overall message about war is that it is _____________ and causes _____________ to families and society.

9. Match the poetic techniques with their examples from the poem:

1. Alliteration

2. Rhetorical question

3. Imagery

4. Symbolism

A. "asking God the reason why"

B. "shadows dance and weep"

C. "barbed wire crowns"

D. "belly of the beast"