1. Marrysong by Dennis Scott
Purnia
Sidra
Marium
Afshan

2. Poem
He never learned her, quite. Year after year That territory, without seasons, shifted under his eye. An hour he could be lost in the walled anger of her quarried hurt on turning, see cool water laughing where the day before there were stones in her voice. He charted. She made wilderness again. Roads disappeared. The map was never true. Wind brought him rain sometimes, tasting of sea - and suddenly she would change the shape of shores faultlessly calm. All, all was each day new; the shadows of her love shortened or grew like trees seen from an unexpected hill, new country at each jaunty helpless journey. So he accepted that geography, constantly strange. Wondered. Stayed home increasingly to find his way among the landscapes of her mind.

3. Dennis Scott
Dennis Scott (December 16, 1939 – February 21, 1991) was a Jamaican poet,
playwright, actor (best known for appearances on The Cosby Show) and dancer.
Education
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Scott was educated at the University of the
West Indies and taught in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and at Yale University
in the United States.
He wrote a famous poem called 'Marrysong' which is used in the IGCSE syllabus.
Scott was also a successful playwright, theatre director, and drama teacher.
During his life, he published numerous poetry collections, the most famous of
which being Uncle Time, and Dreadwalk. bakakakw
Poetry
Scott was one of the most significant poets writing in the early post-independence
period in Jamaica, and his first published collection, Uncle Time, is marked by an
effective literary use of the vernacular. He has been regarded as one of the main
influences for modern Jamaican poetry.
Acting
Scott was an original member of the National Dance Theatre Company founded by
Rex Nettleford in the 1960s. Scott is also known for his role in the Cosby Show as
Lester Tibedeaux.
Death
Scott died in New Haven, Connecticut at age 51.

4. Brief Introduction
'Marrysong' is about a man who is desperate to understand his wife: a stormy, temperamental woman who he compares to territory.
The poem is an extended metaphor of this, explaining that the man explored her, and tried to 'map' her so that he could understand and predict her, but he fails to do so, and he keeps surprising her. He almost expresses a despairing and complaining attitude, but he seems more baffled by her. He also finds her a little alluring and intriguing in the way that her mood changes every day. The poem concludes with the man putting an end to trying to figure her out, and takes her for who she is without questioning it.

5. Themes
Relationships
Emotional turmoil
Confusion
Compromises

6. Metaphors “Wind brought him rain sometimes, tasting of sea” – Tears
use of the metaphor of geography to explain the study personality-charted-the landscape of her mind. ‘Landscapes of her mind’.
‘Seasons shifted under his eye’-happenings in their relationship
‘Stones in her voice’, bitterness of poet’s partner.

7. Structure
- Her unpredictable personality is reinforced by the use of full stops (irregular) and suggests that he is confused (random pauses).
-17 Lines.
Free verse
Irregular (which suggests confusion).
Lines 7 and 8 are made up of four very short sentences. Effect: represents the abrupt mood changes of the wife, “the roads disappeared”. The short lines give a feeling of complexity.

8. Jazak Allah