Junior Cert Poetry Quotes

Caged Bird - Maya Angelou, Still I Rise - Maya Angelou, Half-caste - John Agard, No Problem - Benjamin Zephaniah, The Lake Isle of Inisfree - Willliam Butler Yeats

“his wings are...” - Caged Bird

“his wings are clipped and his feet are tied, so he opens his throat to sing.”

“But a caged bird...” - Caged Bird

“But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams, his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream“

“for the caged bird...” - Caged Bird

“for the caged bird sings of freedom”

“You may kill me...” - Still I Rise

“You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise”

“I’m a black ocean...” - Still I Rise

“I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide”

“‘Cause I walk...” - Still I Rise

“‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells, Pumping in my living room.”

“I...” - Still I Rise

“I rise”

“Explain yuself, Wha yu mean, When yu say half-caste…” - Half-caste

“Explain yuself, Wha yu mean, When yu say half-caste?, Yu mean when tchaikovsky, Sit down at dah piano, An mix a black key, Wid a white key, Is a half-caste symphony?”

“But yu come back tomorrow…” - Half-caste

“But yu come back tomorrow, Wid de whole of yu eye, An de whole of yu ear, And de whole of yu mind, An I will tell yu, De other half, Of my story”

“I am not…” - No Problem

“I am not de problem”

“I am born academic…” - No Problem

“I am born academic, But dey got me on de run, Now I’m a branded athletic”

“Black is not…” - No Problem

“Black is not de problem, Mother country get it right”

“I’m sure you’ll understand...” - Half-caste

“I’m sure you’ll understand, Why I offer you half-a-hand”

“I am not… brunt” - No Problem

“I am not de problem, But I bare de brunt”

“I will arise…” - The Lake Isle of Innisfree

“I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree”

“And live alone…” - The Lake Isle of Innisfree

“And live alone in the bee-loud glade”

“And I shall have some peace there,…” - The Lake of Innisfree

“And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning and to where the cricket sings”

“but I have never found…” - Back In The Playground Blues

“But I have never found any place in my life worse than The Killing Ground”

“I dreamed I was…” - Back In The Playground Blues

“I dreamed I was back in the playground, I was about four feet high”

“Well the playground was three…” - Back In The Playground Blues

“Well the playground was three miles long and the playground was five miles wide”