✍️ Poetry

Breakfast

by Jacques Prévert

★★★★☆ MCQAnalysisImagery

He poured coffee into his cup he put milk in his cup of coffee he put sugar in his cup of coffee and milk With his teaspoon he stirred it he drank the coffee and milk and he put down the cup without speaking to me He lit a cigarette he made rings with the smoke he put the ashes in the ash-tray without speaking to me without looking at me He got up he put his hat on his head he put on his raincoat because it was raining and he went out in the rain without a word without a look. And I, I put my head in my hands and wept.

What happens — the sense

The speaker watches a man (her partner/husband) go through his morning routine — making coffee, smoking a cigarette, putting on his hat and raincoat — then leave in the rain. He does everything without speaking to her, without looking at her. The poem ends with the speaker alone, weeping. Nothing dramatic happens; the relationship's collapse is shown through small, silent domestic actions.

Note: The poem was originally written in French ("Déjeuner du matin") by Jacques Prévert and translated by Regi Siriwardene. The translator's name matters — examiners expect "Prévert".

Themes

Emotional distance / breakdown of communication. The man and woman are in the same room but completely disconnected. Silence is used as a weapon or a wall.
Loneliness within a relationship. The most painful isolation is being invisible to someone you love.
The pain hidden in ordinary moments. An ordinary breakfast becomes unbearable because of what is absent — words, a look, acknowledgement.
Powerlessness. The speaker can only watch and, at the end, weep — she has no voice in the poem until the very last line.

Tone

Cold, detached, almost clinical for most of the poem — matching the man's behaviour. The flat, repetitive listing of actions ("he poured… he put… he drank") mirrors his robotic indifference. The tone breaks sharply only at the very end with "And I, I put / my head in my hands / and wept" — the sudden personal pronoun and the weeping release all the suppressed emotion.

Form & poetic devices

Form	Free verse — no rhyme, no regular metre. The flat, unadorned structure mirrors the bleak, unemotional atmosphere.
Anaphora (repetition)	"without speaking to me" and "without looking at me" are repeated — hammering home his deliberate silence.
Cataloguing / listing	Actions listed one after another like items in an inventory — dehumanises the man, shows the mechanical quality of his departure.
Contrast	His cold, mechanical actions vs her emotional collapse. "He put down the cup" → "I put my head in my hands" — the same verb, completely opposite feeling.
Persona / dramatic monologue	First-person narrator speaking about a silent second person — we only hear her perspective; his silence speaks loudest.
Imagery	Rain throughout — a pathetic fallacy that mirrors sadness and the man's cold departure into a grey world.

⭐ Exam facts — remember these

Poet: Jacques Prévert (French); translated by Regi Siriwardene. Know both names.
Form: free verse — no rhyme, no regular rhythm.
Key device: anaphora — "without speaking to me / without looking at me" repeated.
Central theme: emotional distance / breakdown of communication in a relationship.
The speaker is the woman; the man (he) never speaks. His silence is the "character".
2020 exam extracted: "He put the ashes / in the ash-tray / without speaking to me / without looking at me" — examiners asked: identify the text and poet; who is 'he' and who is 'me'; what does this reveal about their relationship?

⚠ Common student mistakes

Writing only the poet's name as "Prevert" without the accent is acceptable in the exam, but know it is Prévert.
Calling the poem "happy" or neutral — the silence and the weeping confirm this is a relationship in crisis.
Saying the man is "angry" — the poem does not say this; he is indifferent / distant. Do not add detail not in the text.
Missing the contrast: the man "puts down the cup" mechanically; the speaker "puts her head in her hands" emotionally — same verb, opposite meaning.

✅ Quick Check

Answer these to lock in the key points. Wrong answers are saved to your Mistake Notebook.

📝 Exam Practice

Real Section A format — write your answer first, then reveal the model answer.

"He put the cup
On the table
Without speaking to me
Without looking at me"

✎ Practice drill Practice question

(a) Name the poem and the poet. (01 mark)
(b) Who is "he" in the poem, and what is the relationship between "he" and the speaker? (01 mark)
(c) What do the repeated phrases "without speaking" and "without looking" suggest about the relationship? (01 mark)
(d) How does Prévert use the simple actions of breakfast to convey the theme of emotional distance? (02 marks)

"He put on
His coat of rain
And he left
In the rain
Without a word for me"

✎ Practice drill Practice question

(a) Name the poem and the poet. (01 mark)
(b) What is suggested by the phrase "coat of rain"? (01 mark)
(c) What is the effect of the final line "Without a word for me"? (01 mark)
(d) Comment on the theme of loss as shown in the ending of the poem. (02 marks)

"He put the ashes
In the ash-tray
Without speaking to me
Without looking at me"

✓ Real past paper G.C.E. O/L 2020 — Section A I(ii)

(a) Name the work from which these lines are taken. Name the poet. (01 mark)
(b) Who is "he" in these lines? Who is "me"? (02 marks)
(c) What do you think about their relationship as shown through his action? (02 marks)

📝 Practice more