1. He Had Such Quiet Eyes
by Bibsy Soenharjo
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2. He Had Such Quiet Eyes
by Bibsy Soenharjo
He had such quiet eyes
She did not realize
They were two pools of lies
Layered with thinnest ice
To her, those quiet eyes
Were breathing desolate sighs
Imploring her to be nice
And to render him paradise
If only she’d been wise
And had listened to the advice
Never to compromise
With pleasure-seeking guys
She’d be free from ‘the hows and whys’
Now here’s a bit of advice
Be sure that nice really nice
Then you’ll never be losing at dice
Though you lose your heart once or twice
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3. He Had Such Quiet Eyes
by Bibsy Soenharjo
He had such quiet eyes
She did not realise
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4. They were two pools of lies
Layered with thinnest ice
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5. To her, those quiet eyes
Were breathing desolate sighs
Imploring her to be nice
And to render him paradise
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6. If only she’d been wise
And had listened to the advice
Never to compromise
With pleasure-seeking guys
She’d be free from ‘the hows and whys’
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7. Now here’s a bit of advice
Be sure that nice really nice
Then you’ll never be losing at dice
Though you lose your heart once or twice
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8. SYNOPSIS
• This poem is about a girl who falls in love with
the wrong boy. She is fascinated with his eyes
that seem to lure him to give him paradise.
The man has a pair of quiet eyes that she does
not realise they are not that quiet. As she is
‘charmed’ by the eyes, she does not listen to
the advice given by other people who are
concerned with her behaviour. In the end, she
realises her mistakes and is broken hearted.
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9. THEME
• Betrayal of love
• Personal experiences
• Relationships that are meaningful
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10. MORAL VALUES
• Don’t be naive and believe everything we are told
especially in matters of the heart.
• Be wise when choosing friends.
• Falling in love is normal but one should be
careful.
• We must learn from the experience of other
people.
• We should be very careful not to give in our
principle in order to please other people.
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11. TONE, MOOD, ATMOSPHERE
• Reflective
• Sad and happy
• Sympathetic
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12. POINT OF VIEW
• Second and third person points of view
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13. LANGUAGE & STYLE
Simple and easy to understand
Simple style with rhyming scheme
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14. MEANING OF WORDS
• sighs – long, deep audible breaths
• eyes – a pair of organs of sight
• advice – guidance
• desolate – unhappy and uninhabited
• pleasure-seeking – looking for a feeling of happy satisfaction
• dice – a small cube with each side having a different number
ranging from 1 to 6
• layered – arranged in layers
• lies – intentional false statements
• realise – become aware
• compromise – agree
• paradise – heaven
• render – provide or give help
• imploring – begging desperately
• wise – having knowledge and good judgment
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15. Exercise 1
a. What does the phrase ‘two pools of lies’ refer to?
• ………………………………………………………………………….
b. Which lines show that the man is saying “I love
you, and if you love me, prove it!”
• ………………………………………………………………………….
• ………………………………………………………………………….
c. Which stanza shows that there is a sense of regret?
• …………………………………………………………………………
d. What do you understand by the phrase “the hows
and whys”?
• ………………………………………………………………………….
• ………………………………………………………………………….
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16. Exercise 2
a. What does the phrase ‘thinnest ice’ imply?
• …………………………………………………………………………….
• …………………………………………………………………………….
b. In this poem, the poet talks about the betrayal of a young
girl’s feelings for a boy. She believes in his sincerity to her
as he had pleaded to her to surrender to him. Write the
two lines depicting this.
• …………………………………………………………………………….
• …………………………………………………………………………….
c. What is the main theme in this poem?
• ………………………………………………………………………………
d. What did you learn from this poem? Explain.
• ………………………………………………………………………………
• ………………………………………………………………………………
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17. Answers
He Had Such Quiet Eyes
• Exercise 1
a. The eyes are compared to deceit.
b. Imploring her to be nice
And to render him paradise.
c. Stanza 2
d. The ‘hows and whys’ is compared to a situation where one gets
hurt emotionally and tries to solve the problem.
• Exercise 2
a. dangerous
b. To her, those quiet eyes
Were breathing desolate sighs
Imploring her to be nice
c. Deceit
d. We sometimes encounter people who have ill intentions
towards us. We should take precaution against them.
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18. Form 4 Students, good luck for your 2nd Topical Test
Love Always,
Po Po Tun
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