PRACTICE 1

Match the stanza with its correct pictures.

STANZA

What has happened to Lulu,

mother?
What has happened to Lu?
There's nothing in her bed but an old
rag-doll

And by its side a shoe.

Why is her window wide,
mother,
The curtain flapping free,
And only a circle on the dusty
shelf
Where her money-box used to be?
Why do you turn your head,
mother,
And why do tear drops fall?
And why do you crumple that note
on the fire

And say it is nothing at all?

I woke to voices late last night,
I heard an engine roar.
Why do you tell me the things I
heard
Were a dream and nothing more?
I heard somebody cry, mother,
In anger or in pain,
But now I ask you why, mother,
You say it was a gust of rain.

Why do you wander about as

though
You don't know what to do?
What has happened to Lulu,
mother?
What has happened to Lu?

Prepared by Mohd Hanafi Bin Mohd Asdi

PICTURES

PRACTICE 2
Match the stanza with its correct meaning.
STANZA

MEANING

What has happened to Lulu, mother?

What has happened to Lu?
There's nothing in her bed but an old
rag-doll
And by its side a shoe.

The persona tells that she was

awakened by "voices late last
night" and heard the sounds of an
"engine roar", probably a car
starting up and being driven away.
The mother lies that the child was
only dreaming.

Why is her window wide, mother,

The curtain flapping free,
And only a circle on the dusty shelf
Where her money-box used to be?

Puzzled
about
the
mother's
worried behavior,
the
narrator
wants to know why the mother
is pacing about, uncertain what to
do. The use of "Lu" is an
affectionate shortened form of
Lulu

Why do you turn your head, mother,

And why do tear drops fall?
And why do you crumple that note on
the fire
And say it is nothing at all?

The persona asks the mother why

she is hiding her tears. The mother
crumples up a note (most probably
from Lulu) and throws it into the
fire. Mother then tells her child that
it is nothing at all. The persona
does not believe her.

I woke to voices late last night,

I heard an engine roar.
Why do you tell me the things I heard
Were a dream and nothing more?

The persona insists that she had

heard someone cry "in anger or in
pain". The mother says it was just
"a gust of rain".

I heard somebody cry, mother,

In anger or in pain,
But now I ask you why, mother,
You say it was a gust of rain.

The persona saw that the windows

are wide opened and the curtains
are "flapping free" in the wind. The
persona also notices her moneybox on the dusty shelf is gone.

Prepared by Mohd Hanafi Bin Mohd Asdi

Why do you wander about as though

You don't know what to do?
What has happened to Lulu, mother?
What has happened to Lu?

Prepared by Mohd Hanafi Bin Mohd Asdi

The persona is questioning her

mother about the mysterious and
sudden disappearance of Lulu. An
old rag doll and a shoe were left
behind.