A young man's thoughts before June 16

This poem is essentially a dirge, a song of sadness to be sung at a funeral.

• Whose funeral is he lamenting? (2)

The poet is laminating the death of all those children who died when shot by the police while protesting against inferior apartheid education.

• Comment on the words which the poet uses to highlight this sadness. (4)

The poet speaks of the sweet memory of youth which has been cut down in its prime. He remembers those mothers whose hearts are broken by deaths of their children, the dirges sun by the women who are laminating the deaths, creased foreheads of the old men who died in shock and in mourning. And the poet speaks of the blood that has been shed on that particular day, where the sunset of life is running red with blood.

The poet writes as though he himself were personally involved in the historic event.

• Explain how this is so. (4)

The poet is speaking in first person, putting himself in the shoes of each  the young people who were struck down by the police bullets and died on this particular day. It was a national tragedy and, as so, was felt by each concerned citizen.

"for my sunset is drenched with red"

• Comment on the rich imagery of this line. (4)

“ sunset” is often a metaphor for the end of life death. Here however. It is not a gentle death but one which is “ drenched with red”. Notice the harshness of the word “ drenched “. The life of the young people has been ripped apart by police bullets. And their blood flows freely, drenching the sunset( and street) with red.

"strummed by an old man with a broken brow"

• Comment on the image used in this line. (4)

The song is being sung by the sad women, wailing for the deaths of their children. They are accompanied by the old man, strumming a metaphorical guitar of sadness and shock. His brow is wrinkled with care and sorrow, the broken brow being synonymous with a broken spirit.

Is there any purpose to writing a poem that uses no punctuation, and which ignores the usual rules of grammar? (4)

Yes, Punctuation confers precise meaning to a sentence. Take away punctuation and the poem remains open to individual interpretation in all sorts of ways. Lack of punctuation also denotes a freedom from all rules, which cab therefore also be interpreted as portraying a freedom of spirit.