Tell, Tell Me, Sarah Jane
by Charles Causley
Tell me, tell me, Sarah Jane,
Tell me, dearest daughter,
Why are you holding in your hand
A thimbleful of water?
Why do you hold it to your eye
And gaze both late and soon
From early morning light until
The rising of the moon?
Mother I hear the mermaids cry,
I hear the mermen sing,
And I can see the sailing ships
All made of sticks and string.
And I can see the jumping fish,
The whales that fall and rise
And swim about the waterspout
That swarms up to the skies.
Tell me, tell me, Sarah Jane,
Tell your darling mother,
Why do you walk beside the tide
As though you loved none other?
Why do you listen to a shell
And watch the billows curl,
And throw away your diamond ring
And wear instead the pearl?
Mother I hear the water
Beneath the headland pinned,
And I can see the sea-gull
Sliding down the wind
I taste the salt upon my tongue
As sweet as sweet can be.
Tell me, my dear, whose voice you hear?
It is the sea, the sea.
Name: Answers
Tell Me, Tell Me, Sarah Jane
The following questions are multiple choice. Please read each question carefully and circle your answer.
1.
Who are the main characters in this poem?
a)
two friends
b)
a mermaid and her daughter
c)
a mother and her daughter
2.
Where does this poem take place?
a)
in the woods
b)
by a lake
c)
by the sea
d)
in a pool
3.
When does Sarah Jane look at the sea?
a)
morning
b)
night
c)
sunset
d)
all day
4.
Circle all the things Sarah Jane does by the sea.
a)
swim by the water spout
b)
ride on sailing ships
c)
listen to a shell
d)
eat salt
e)
toss away her pearls
f)
walk beside the tide
g)
taste salt
5.
What do you think Sarah Jane means when she says that she can “hear” all the different
things in the sea?
At the end of the poem, Sarah Jane’s mother asks her,
“Tell me, my dear, whose voice you hear?”
Sarah Jane replies,
“It is the sea, the sea.”
Sarah Jane also says she can “hear the mermaids cry” and “the mermen sing.” I think the
“voice of the sea” means both the things that Sarah Jane can actually hear like seagulls crying
as well as the things she imagines she hears like the mermaids crying and the mermen
singing. All together this experience adds up to the “voice of the sea.”
6.
Sarah Jane experiences the sea with all of her senses. Give proof of this statement using
ideas from the poem.
Sarah Jane experiences the sea with her sense of sound, sight, taste, and touch. For example, she says
she “listen(s) to a shell” and she “hears the water.” She uses her sense of sight when she sees
“the seagull / Sliding down the wind.” Sarah Jane uses her sense of taste when she tastes
“the salt upon my tongue / As sweet as sweet can be.” And when her mother asks, “Why are
you holding in your hand / A thimbleful of water?” we know that Sarah Jane is also using her
sense of touch. Sarah Jane probably also used her sense of smell because there are lots of
smells by the seaside.
7.
Why do you think Sarah Jane likes the sea so much? Use information from the poem and
your own ideas.
I think Sarah Jane likes the sea because it makes her feel alive and connected to the natural world as
well as her imagination. She hangs out at the shore “from early morning light until / The rising of
the moon” which is, basically, all day long so she must love it. When she describes the taste of
the salt she says it’s “sweet” and salt definitely isn’t sweet. Loving the sea makes her even love the
salty taste of it. When she describes the waves crashing against the shore she says she “sees the
billows curl” which is a really pretty description for the waves on the shore. I think the sea makes her
feel peaceful and serene.
8.
Every other stanza in the poem is written in italics. Why do you think the author used
italics in this way?
The poem is written this way because it is a conversation between a mother and her daughter,
Sarah Jane. The first stanza is the mother’s voice and she is asking Sarah Jane questions
about why she behaves the way she does. The second stanza, which is italicized, is in Sarah
Jane’s voice and she’s replying to her mother’s questions. The third stanza is Sarah Jane’s
mother again and the fourth stanza is Sarah Jane. A question and then an italicized response –
first the mother and then Sarah Jane’s answer.
9.
What is the rhyme scheme or the pattern to the rhyming words in this poem?
The rhyme scheme is A,B,C,B, D, E, F, E.
For example the last words of each line are as follows;
First line – Jane (A)
Second line – daughter (B)
Third line – hand (C)
Fourth line – water (B)
The last word of line 2 rhymes with the last word of line 4.
10.
The author uses repetition in this poem. Give examples and explain why you think the
author does this.
The mother repeats the line, “Tell me, tell me, Sarah Jane,” twice – at the beginning of each of
her stanzas (the first stanza and the third stanza). Sarah Jane says, “Mother I hear . . .” twice
- at the beginning of each of her stanzas (the second and fourth stanzas). This supports the
structure of the poem which is a conversation and it creates a sense of rhythm.
11.
The words classroom and everything are compound words. List the compound words used
in the poem.
thimbleful
away
mermaids
beside
mermen
seagulls
waterspout
headland
The word mermaid is a compound of the Old English
mere (sea), and maid (a girl or young woman).
12.
Identify the punctuation mark that is in bold in the following three passages.
Explain why it is used in each.
Passage
Name of
Punctuation
Why it is used
“Tell me , Tell me, Sarah Jane”
comma
The comma is used here because when
someone is addressing a person directly, a
comma should be placed between the
person's name and the message.
Sarah Jane’s mother is talking directly to her
daughter with “Tell me, tell me.”
“And I can see the sea-gull”
hyphen
The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to
separate the syllables of the word seagull –
to give it emphasis and distinguish ‘sea’ from
‘see’.
“As though you loved none
other?”
question mark
The question mark is a punctuation mark
that indicates an interrogative clause – a
question.