Last lesson of the afternoon

1)
What are the persona’s feeling described in the first three stanzas of the poem?
He is feeling furious. He used the words “quarry of knowledge ” to show that he has a vast knowledge but it can also mean that the poet is the predator and the students are the prey and he is hunting them. The poet used the phrase “I am sick” to tell us that he is tired of the students but it can also mean that he has an illness and not mean that he is tired of teaching the pupils. The poet used the pun “I will not” to tell us that he does not have any desire to teach his students but it can also mean that he does not want to teach his students.
2)
The poet used the metaphor “unruly hounds” to refer to his students as they are rowdy and restless during his class. “My last drop of fuel” tells us that the persona has only a last drop of energy left and cannot continue or dpes not want to continue. The poet used the metaphor “several insults of blotted pages” to tell us that his students’ works were an insult to his intelligence and does not deserved to be marked by him as he felt that they did not respect him enough to give him better quality of work.
The two words, “apart” and “start” are associated to tell us that the students does not want to learn which causes the persona’s frustration and anger. Then the poet used the words “of, of ,of” to make the poem more dramatic and gives the poem a very frustrated mood. The words “soul “ and “toll” are used to emphasize that the poet is very angry and it is tiring.
3)
How is the tone of anger illustrated in this poem?
The poet used the diction in “leash” to show that he is trying to pull the students back into the classroom like an owner pulling his dog on a leash which shows that the persona is furious.
The poet had also used the diction “hounds” to suggest that the students were behaving like hounds , unruly , happy go lucky and restless.
“brunt” shows us that the persona is not able to withstand the pressure from the work and uses “brunt” to show a forceful image and that he tired of teaching his hopeless students. Finally, the poet uses “scrawl” instead of write to show the slipshod work the students gave him, and that they are driving him up the wall.