Questions: 1. Briefly explain the connotations of the words "Prayer" and "masks" as used in the title.
2. Why does the speaker greet the masks "in silence"?
4. How could an ancestor be "lionheaded" (line 4)?
3. Why does the speaker use the first person "I"?
5.Discuss the choice in diction in metaphor "altar of white paper" (line 8). 5.
6. Identify the tone in "In the name of your image, listen to me!"
7. What does the speaker mean when he states that Europe and Africa are "connected through the navel"?
8. Identify the figure of speech and explain the effectiveness thereof in the phrase "rebirth of the world" (line 14).
9. How has the world "died of machines and cannons"?
10. Is there any optimism in this poem? Quote in support of your answer.
11. Discuss the effectiveness of the last two lines of the poem as a conclusion. ​