8/14/2019 Are You Still Playing Your Flute exercise.docx

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Are You Still Playing Your Flute?

Are you still playing your flute?When there is hardly time for our loveI am feeling guilty

To be longing for your songThe melody concealed in the slim hollow of thebambooUncovered by the breath of an artistComposed by his fingersBlown by the windTo the depth of my heart.

Are you still playing your flute?In the village so quiet and deserted

Amidst the sick rice fieldsWhile here it has become a luxuryTo spend time watching the rainGazing at the evening raysCollecting dew dropsOr enjoying the fragrance of flowers.

Are you still playing your flute?The more it disturbs my conscienceto be thinking of you

in the hazard of youmy younger brothers unemployed anddesperatemy people disunited by politicsmy friend slaughtered mercilesslythis world is too old and bleeding.

By Zurinah Hassan

Masihkah Kau Bermain Seruling oleh Zurinah Hassan

Masihkah kau bermain seruling

walau waktu telah terlewat untuk kita bercinta

aku semakin terasa bersalah

melayani godaan irama

lagu yang tersimpan pada lorong halus buluh

dikeluarkan oleh nafas seniman

diukir oleh bibir

diatur oleh jari

dilayangkan oleh alun angin

menolak ke dasar rasa.

Masihkah kau bermain seruling

ketika kampung semakin sunyi

sawah telah uzurwaktu jadi terlalu mahal

untuk memerhatikan hujan turun

merenung jalur senja

mengutip manik embun

menghidu harum bunga.

Masihkah kau bermain seruling

ketika aku terasa mata bersalah

untuk melayani rasa rindu padamu

di kota yang semakin kusut dan tenat

adik-adikku menganggur dan sakit jiwa

bangsaku dipecahkan oleh politik

saudara diserang bom-bom ganas

dunia sudah terlalu tua dan parah.

Di sinilah berakhirnya percintaan kita

kerana zaman sedang menuntut para seniman

hidup di luar dirinya.

Practise 1

1. Who is the persona in the poem?

.

2. Write one line from the poem that depicts that

people are jobless.

.

3. Provide three phrases that depict the message of

cruel realities of a nation in uncertainty of its future.

.

.

4.In your own words describe why the poet used the

word sick to describe the rice fields.

.

.

Practice 2:

1. What did the persona mean when she saiddeserted?

.

2. Why is the persona feeling guilty?

3. Why is the question Are you still playing your

flute repeated as the starting line of all the stanzas?

4.In your opinion, is this a romantic poem? Provide

reasons for your answer.

.

8/14/2019 Are You Still Playing Your Flute exercise.docx

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Are You Still Playing Your Flute?

Practice 5

1. a very perceptive and reflective woman.2. my younger brothers unemployed and desperate3. my people disunited by politics

my friend slaughtered mercilessly

this world is too old and bleeding.

4.Perhaps the yield is not rewarding/ the harvest is destroyed due to bad weather.

Practice 6

1. the villagers have left/migrated.2. Feeling guilty as she is enjoying the music when the nation is plagued with problems3. This is to stress on the activity as something that should not be done when the nation is facing so much trouble.4. No, it is not a romantic poem. It is poem that shows the irony between a leisure activity and problems faced by the nation at the same time.