Progress file English

Literature
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Part I:
A short history of American literature
Poetry

Contents
Story of American literature

The start
The Puritans
Revolution and post-independence
Romantic literature
Age of realism
Twentieth century The roaring twenties
Twentieth century The Depression Era
Twentieth century Continued
In conclusion

Poetry introduction

Poetry how to read a poem

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Poetry texts

11

Poetry questions

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The start
Literature on the American continent started with the oral literary traditions of Native Americans.
They told each other stories which were passed on and altered from generation to generation.
When the Europeans arrived they were a very diverse lot and written texts were in many
languages but foremost Spanish, Dutch, German and English. As is often the case, the culture of
the winners survives. So when English was eventually decided on as the lingua franca for the
whole of the colonies, it became the literary language of choice. The American tradition begins
linked to the broader tradition of English literature.

The Puritans
The first American literature from immigrants from England consisted mostly of travel accounts and
religious writings. Most of these immigrants settled in the north-eastern part of America,
appropriately called New England. They were mainly Puritans, who had settled in America in order
to practise their religion freely. You can imagine that they were preoccupied with the place of men
in Gods world rather than the pleasures in life.
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBFD4ARtHog&list=PLt2TFyS17I1X8p1WLEfdreVFfjRhmgMkV&index=9

Revolution and post-independence

The enormous scientific, economic and social changes of the 18th century, called the
Enlightenment, caused a new kind of literature. Writing shifted from Puritanical ideas to the power
of the human mind, rational thought and democratic principles. Messages from God were replaced
by the idea that science could explain the universe. The increase in population helped account for
the greater diversity of opinion in religious and political life as seen in the literature of this time. The
growth of communities, cities and social life led people to become more interested in the progress
of individuals and their shared experiences in the colonies. These new ideals explain the immense
popularity of the first important American-born author, Benjamin Franklin, and his Autobiography.
It is about his life as a scientist rather than as an author actually.
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SChcy3IGlg

Romantic literature
In the 19th century an increasing desire to produce uniquely American literature and culture
emerged. Romantic doesnt mean roses and love affairs here but a deep interest in nature and
intuition. Three authors stand out for their Dark Romanticism.
Edgar Allan Poe was among the writers who developed a very personal style. He began writing
short stories that explored previously hidden levels of human psychology and pushed the
boundaries of fiction toward mystery and fantasy. His life might be as interesting as his nightmarish
writing. His parents were travelling actors but he was an orphan by the age of three. He was a
drinker, a gambler and married his 13-year-old niece. He was found in the gutter at the end of his
short life, literally, in womens clothes after a suicide attempt. His best-loved poem is The Raven.
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofSOul1NB8Q

A favourite short story is The Tell-Tale Heart in which a madman retells the events leading up to a
murder he commits because he cannot stand someones eye.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJxLnoh8x0s&index=6&list=PLt2TFyS17I1Ulhr8Mu41W9yzKQcG7nYdb
Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote full-length romances, quasi-allegorical novels that explore such
themes as guilt, pride, and emotional repression in his native New England. His masterpiece, The
Scarlet Letter, is the stark drama of a woman cast out of her community for committing adultery.
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdiseyaDNMQ
Hawthorne's fiction had a profound impact on his friend Herman Melville, who first made a name
for himself by turning material from his seafaring days into exotic and sensational sea narrative
novels. Inspired by Hawthorne's focus on allegories and dark psychology, Melville went on to write
romances filled with philosophical speculation. In Moby-Dick, an adventurous whaling voyage
becomes the vehicle for examining such themes as obsession, the nature of evil, and human
struggle against the elements.
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7dSTdHziMs
There was also a very different movement. Ralph Waldo Emerson, an ex-minister, published a
startling nonfiction work called Nature, in which he claimed it was possible to get rid of organized
religion and reach a spiritual state by studying and responding to nature. His work influenced not
only the writers who gathered around him, forming a movement known as Transcendentalism. It
also influenced the public who heard him lecture. Emerson's fellow-thinker was Henry David
Thoreau, a convinced nonconformist. After living mostly by himself for two years in a cabin by a
wooded pond, Thoreau wrote Walden, a memoir that urges resistance to organized society. His
radical writings express a deep-rooted tendency toward individualism in the American character.
America's two greatest 19th-century poets could hardly have been more different in temperament
and style. Walt Whitman was a working man, a traveler, a self-appointed nurse during the
American Civil War (18611865) and a poetic innovator. He used a free-flowing verse and lines of
irregular length to depict the lives of average Americans. He was the pioneer of so-called free
verse. Taking that motif one step further, the poet linked the vast range of American experience
with himself without being egotistical. In one long poem he writes: These are really the thoughts of
all men in all ages and lands, they are not original with me ....
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyUTDJ72q9k
Emily Dickinson, on the other hand, lived the sheltered life of a genteel unmarried woman in a
small-town in Massachusetts. Although her poems have a formal structure, her poetry is original,
witty, exquisitely put together and psychologically penetrating. Her work was unconventional for its
day and little of it was published during her lifetime. Many of her poems dwell on death, often with
a mischievous twist.
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM0EerWyHGI

Age of realism
The Fin-de-Sicle (1880-1914) was the beginning of American realism. It was a period of
prosperity. The North recovered from the Civil War and industrialism transformed the country at a
tremendous rate. Authors began consciously to think of themselves as Americans and sought for
an American style and technique. Sometimes they even became occupied with the differences
between American and European Authors.

Mark Twain was the first major American writer to be born away from the East Coast in the
border state of Missouri. His best-known regional masterpieces are the novels Adventures of Tom
Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain's style was influenced by journalism and close
to everyday-language. It was direct but highly suggestive at the same time and certainly humorous.
It changed the way Americans write their language. His characters speak like real people and
sound distinctively American, using local dialects, regional accents and newly invented words.
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7KrYrz7ACc
Henry James is the outstanding prose writer of this period. He confronted the Old World-New
World dilemma by writing directly about it. Although born in New York City, he spent most of his
adult years in England. Many of his novels centre on Americans who live in or travel to Europe.
With its intricate, highly qualified sentences and study of emotional and psychological nuance,
James's fiction can be daunting. Many of his novels have been adapted to film, for example The
Portrait of a Lady with Nicole Kidman.
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9brMfU0OGU

Twentieth century: The Roaring Twenties (1918-1929)

The optimism and innocence of the period before World War I was replaced by disillusionment and
cynicism. American writers expressed the disappointment following upon the war with a
tremendous amount of literature and arts. Lots of authors rejected American culture one way or
another and left for Europe. Many found a new way to vent their ideas. They abandoned traditional
forms, experimented and used free verse.
The stories and novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald capture the restless, pleasure-hungry, defiant mood
of the 1920s. Fitzgerald's characteristic theme, expressed famously in The Great Gatsby, is the
tendency of youth's golden dreams to dissolve in failure and disappointment. This novel has
become synonymous with the gay twenties and life celebrated with parties, jazz, riches and
champagne. It is still one of the best loved American novels.
YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaBVLhcHcc0
The poet Ezra Pound was born in Idaho but spent much of his adult life in Europe. His work is
complex, sometimes obscure, with multiple references to other art forms and to a vast range of
literature, both Western and Eastern.
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQjwsZK0DnI
Pound influenced many other poets, notably T. S. Eliot, another expatriate. Eliot wrote bare
poems, carried by a dense structure of symbols. In The Waste Land, he embodied a jaundiced
vision of postWorld War I society in fragmented, haunted images. Like Pound's, Eliot's poetry
could be very difficult, and some publications come with footnotes supplied by the poet himself. He
was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpRSmMnx1MU

Twentieth century: The Depression Era (1929-1941)

Americas post-war prosperity was wiped out overnight by the collapse of the stock market in 1929.
The gay cynicism of the Twenties became a bitter pessimism and the national political temper
began to swing to the left. Literature was pervaded by a new social consciousness and political
responsibility. Many authors wrote social protest literature, came to reject materialism and
discovered a new interest in the inner life of the mind.
The three best-known writers of this period all won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
William Faulkner was from rural Mississippi. He managed to encompass an enormous range of
humanity in Yoknapatawpha County, a Mississippi-like region of his own invention. He filled this
community with characters that may be taken to represent the wider world. He recorded his
characters' seemingly unedited ramblings in order to represent their inner states. This technique
called stream of consciousness. He also jumbled time sequences to show how the past
especially the slave-holding era of the Deep South endures in the present. A Rose for Emily is
one of his best known short stories.
YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWUMNQStieQ
John Steinbeck was the best of the social protest writers of the Thirties. Born in Salinas,
California, he was blunt and direct in his social criticism. His style was simple and evocative,
winning him the favour of the readers but not of the critics. Steinbeck often wrote about poor,
working-class people and their struggle to lead a decent and honest life. The Grapes of Wrath,
considered his masterpiece, is a strong, socially-oriented novel. It tells the story of a poor family
from Oklahoma and their journey to California in search of a better life. Of Mice and Men is another
popular novel, as is East of Eden (film adaptation with the late James Dean).
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdMjKq8xk-E
Ernest Hemingway, one of the so-called lost generation, was so disappointed in America that he
spent many years in Europe where he saw violence and death first-hand as an ambulance driver in
World War I. He wrote in a strikingly simple, journalistic style as he found abstract language mostly
empty and misleading. He cut out unnecessary words from his writing, simplified the sentence
structure and concentrated on concrete objects and actions. His subjects demanded stamina and
courage such as World War I in A Farewell to Arms and the Spanish Civil War in For whom
the Bell Tolls. His famously thin novel The Old Men and the Sea is about a fisherman trying to
pull in a big fish. He still inspires look-alike contests for old men with rough, white beards.
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XupuGhMdwUY

Twentieth century: Continued

The period in time until, roughly, the early 1970s we now call post-World War II literature and from
that time onwards we talk about contemporary literature. Literature became much more diverse as
well, as diverse as the many different cultures and identities that make up the country. One of the
key developments was the rise to prominence of literature written by and about ethnic minorities.
African Americans and Jewish Americans had already established their literary inheritances. In the
past decades we have been able to speak of Latino literature, Asian-American literature and even
Arab-American literature just to give some examples.
The influence of the earlier writers can often be traced. Keep in mind that most authors are avid
readers and are influenced by the literature that came before them. They respond to earlier works,
they add to it, they rebel against it. Every single author and his or her work is connected to and part
of a much wider work; the story of American literature. When you read John Greens Looking for
Alaska, you will definitely recognize familiar themes.

In conclusion
The absence of literary tradition caused lots of American authors to try out new things. They broke
away from old European characteristics and produced new literature, not only new in subject
matter, but also new in style and new in technique.
Some of the characteristics that are typical of American literature:
Individualism. The American became both self-confident and eccentric, because individual
peculiarities were permitted. There is rebellion against social, moral or literary conventions.
Democracy. The American is independent of European social hierarchies, he judges
people on their merits and their behaviour rather than on their backgrounds.
Provincialism. There is pride in provincial matters, manners and language use rather than
those of older, wiser and formal Europe.
Optimism. The wide open spaces, economic freedom and prosperity combine to give the
American a positive attitude towards life.

Poetry - general introduction

It is difficult to give a good and clear definition of poetry because there are exceptions to most
definitions. One attempt: poetry is a means of conveying complicated emotions, of portraying
images that conjure up other images and of painting pictures in the mind of scenes, sounds, scents
and smells. A poem can also be reflective, a meditation on an idea for example. Poetic language is
always deliberate, a poet has thought long and hard about his choice of words. Using the right
terminology it is possible to pick apart a poem and to see which words the poet wanted to stress
and why he chose the particular words he did. By doing this you might discover the meaning of the
words and the beauty of the poem. You can find a lot of information about poetry and the poems
we discuss on the internet (www.shmoop.com). You must be able to use the following literary
terms.
Rhyme scheme: a specific pattern that is used to determine which lines rhyme, usually marked by
letters to symbolize correspondences.
Rhyming couplet: a pair of two rhyming lines that follow each other, it is the simplest and most
common rhyme scheme.
Rhythm and stresses: rhythm refers to the pattern of stresses in a line of poetry. An established
rhythmic pattern is called a meter, and there are several different ones. For example, an iamb
which has an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one (duh-DUM) as in collapse. For
example, a dactyl (DUM-duh-duh) as in honestly.
Free verse: a poetic style that lacks a regular meter or rhyme scheme. This does not mean that it
does not have a style at all, because there is usually some recognizable consistency to the writers
use of rhythm.
Blank Verse: verse that has no rhyme scheme but has a regular, usually iambic, meter. It is so
common in English because we speak it in our everyday conversations. For example, and
WOULD you LIKE a CUP of TEA?
Iambic pentameter: a kind of rhythmic pattern that consist of five iambs per line (penta means
five). Its the most common rhythm in English poetry and sounds like five heartbeats: duh-DUM,
duh-DUM, duh-DUM, duh-DUM, duh-DUM. For example, the first line of Shakespeares Romeo
and Juliet: In fair Verona, where we lay our scene. Every second syllable is accented, so this is
classic iambic pentameter.

Stanza: a division within a poem where a group of lines are formed into a unit. The word stanza
comes from the Italian word for room. Just like a room, a poetic stanza is set apart on a page by
four walls of blank, white space.
Run-on line: when the length of a sentence does not match the length of a line, the sentence runs
on into the next line.
Quatrain: stanza with four lines, the most common stanza form.
Alliteration: when words that begin with the same sound are placed close to one another. For
example, the silly snake silently slinked by.

Assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds to create internal rhyme. For example, the early bird
catches the worm.
Speaker: the voice behind the poem, the person we imagine to be speaking. This is not the poet.
Even if the poem is biographical, the speaker is a fictional creation, because the writer is choosing
what to say about himself.
Theme: a fundamental and universal idea explored in a poem. For example, death or loneliness.
Symbol: an object, character, figure or colour that is used to represent an abstract idea or concept.
Imagery: intense and descriptive language that helps to trigger our sense-impressions,
representing things that can be seen, smelled, heard, tasted or touched.
Personification: this involves giving human traits (qualities, feelings, action, or characteristics) to
non-living objects (things, colors, qualities, or ideas). For example, the sun smiled at me.
Metaphor: when one thing is described as being another thing. Youre a toad! is a metaphor. It is
different from a simile because it leaves out the words like or as. For example, a simile would be
Youre like a toad.
Simile: when one thing is directly compared to another. For example, My love is like a burning
flame is a simile. You can quickly identify a simile when you see the words like or as. They are
different from metaphors. For example, a metaphor would be the burning flame of my love.

Poetry how to read a poem

There is really only one reason that poetry has gotten a reputation for being difficult: it demands
your full attention. Unlike a novel, where you can drift in and out and still follow the plot, poems are
generally shorter and more intense, with less of a conventional story to follow. If you do not make
room for the experience, you probably will not have one.
But the rewards can be high. Compared to rock n roll, it is the difference between a two and a half
minute pop song with a hook that you get sick of after you have listened to it for the third time, and
a slow-building tour de force that sounds fresh and different every time you hear it. Once you got a
taste of the really rich stuff, you just want to listen to it again and again and figure out how they did
things.
Aside from its demands on your attention, there is nothing too tricky about reading a poem. Like
anything, it is a matter of practice. But in case you have not read much (or any) poetry before, here
is a short list of tips that will make it a whole lot more enjoyable.
Follow Your Ears. It is okay to ask, What does it mean? when reading a poem but it is even
better to ask, How does it sound? If all else fails, treat it like a song. Even if you cannot
understand a single thing about a poems subject or theme, you can always say something about
the sound of the words. Does the poem move fast or slow? Does it sound awkward in sections or
does it have an even flow? Do certain words stick out more than others?
Read It Aloud. You do not have to shout it from the rooftops. If you are embarrassed and want to
lock yourself in the attic and read the poem in a soft whisper, go ahead. Do whatever it takes,
because reading even part of a poem aloud can totally change your perspective on how it works.

Become an Archaeologist. When you have consumed the poem enough times, experiencing the
sound and images found there, it is sometimes fun to switch gears and to become an
archaeologist. Treat the poem like a room you have just entered. Perhaps it is a strange room that
you have never seen before, filled with objects or people that you do not really recognize. Maybe
you feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland. Assume your role as an archaeologist and take some
measurements. What is the weather like? Are there people there? What kind of objects do you
find? Are there more verbs than adjectives? Do you detect a rhythm? Can you hear music? Is there
furniture? Are there portraits of past poets on the walls? Are there traces of other poems or
historical references to be found?
Dont Skim. Unlike the newspaper or a textbook, the point of poetry is not to cram information into
your brain. We cannot repeat it enough: poetry is an experience. If you do not have the patience to
get through a long poem, just start with a really short poem. Understanding poetry is like getting a
suntan: you have to let it sink in.
Memorize. At any rate, do not tax yourself. If you memorize one or two lines of a poem, or even
just a single cool-sounding phrase, it will start to work on you in ways you did not know possible.
You will be walking in the street one day and, all of a sudden, you will shout, I get it!
Be Patient. You cannot really understand a poem that you have only read once. So if you do not
get it, set the poem aside and come back to it later. And later means days, months, or even years.
Do not rush it. It is a much bigger accomplishment to actually enjoy a poem than it is to be able to
explain every line of it. Treat the first reading as an investment; your effort might not pay off until
well into the future, but when it does, it will be worth it.
Read in Crazy Places. Just like music, the experience of poetry changes depending on your mood
and the environment. Read in as many different places as possible: on a bus, at the beach, on a
mountain. Sometimes all it takes is a change of scenery for a poem to really come alive.
Think Like a Poet. Go through the poem one line at a time, covering up the next line with your
hand so you cannot see it. Put yourself in the poets shoes: If I had to write a line to come after this
line, what would I put? If you start to think like this, youll be able to appreciate all the different
choices that go into making a poem. It can also be pretty humbling at least we think so.
Look Whos Talking. Ask the most basic questions possible of the poem. Two of the most
important are: Who is talking? and Who are they talking to?
Never Be Intimidated. Regardless of what your experience with poetry in the classroom has been,
no poet wants to make his or her audience feel stupid. There might be tricky parts, but it is not like
you are trying to unlock the secrets of the universe. Heck, if you want to ignore the meaning
entirely, then go ahead. Why not?
Poetry is about freedom and exposing yourself to new things. In fact, if you find yourself stuck in a
poem, just remember that the poet, nine times out of ten, was a bit of a rebel and was trying to
make his friends look at life in a completely different way. Find your inner rebel too. There is not a
single poem out there that is too difficult to try out. So hop to it!

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Poetry texts
Poem I (fragment)
O me! O life!
O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring:
Of the endless trains of faithlessof cities filld with the foolish;
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more
faithless?) []
The question, O me! so sad, recurring - What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here--that life exists, and identity;
That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.
Walt Whitman

Poem II
Because I could not stop for death
Because I could not stop for Death
He kindly stopped for me
The Carriage held but just Ourselves
And Immortality.
We slowly drove He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility
We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess in the ring We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain We passed the Setting Sun
Or rather He passed us
The Dews drew quivering and chill For only Gossamer, my Gown My Tippet only Tulle
We paused before a House that seemed
swelling of the Ground The Roof was scarcely visible The Cornice in the ground
Since then - tis Centuries and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses Heads
Were toward Eternity Emily Dickinson
11

Poem III (fragment)

The Love-Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question. . .
Oh, do not ask, "What is it?"
Let us go and make our visit.
In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo. []
T.S. Eliot

Poem IV
In a Station of the Metro
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
Ezra Pound

Poem V
Strange Fruit
Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black body swinging in the Southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Pastoral scene of the gallant South,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh,
And the sudden smell of burning flesh!
Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.
Lewis Allan
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Poetry - questions
Poem I (fragment): O me! O life!
1. Whitman uses figurative language to express his thoughts. Which words does he use for
-himself:

-existence in general:

-what is the meaning of life?:

2. A. What does he mean with the powerful play?

B. What is the effect of the alliteration in powerful play?

C. Find another example of alliteration. What effect does this alliteration have? Why do you think
the poet chose to repeat these sounds?

3. How does the poem express that everyone is important?

Poem II: Because I could not stop for death

1. Determine the rhyme scheme by writing letters behind the lines.
2. A. Determine the meter, is there a pattern, which one?

B. Which lines do not follow the pattern? Why these lines?

C. What effect does this change in meter have on the reader?

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3. What imagery connects with the sound of the poem?

4. Explain how personification is introduced in the first stanza and present in the entire poem.

5. How many times is passed (or paused) used in the poem? Why is this significant?

6. Explain these symbols

-the setting sun:

-the gossamer gown and Tulle Tippet:

7. What does the House, a swelling of the ground, in the fifth stanza stand for?

8. You might have to go back to the start once youve read the final stanza. What do you
learn about the speaker here?

9. How does the speaker feel towards Death? Does she fight or accept it?

Poem III (fragment): The Love-Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

1. Determine the rhyme scheme by writing letters behind the lines.
2. Where can you find:
-a rhyming couplet:
-a simile:
-a line in iambic pentameter:

14

3. What do you learn about the setting, where are we?

4. Does any action actually take place? Explain.

Poem IV: In a Station of the Metro

1. Just like a Japanese Haiku, this short poem features a contrast between two images, the second
being a nature image. Which two images emerge from the poem?

2. How can you tell what season it is?

3. Why do you think the poet choose a station instead of the station or La Concorde metro
station in Paris?

4. Do you think the speaker is already used to modern life and using the underground?

Poem V: Strange Fruit

Strange Fruit started as a poem by Abel Meerpol, a Jewish high-school teacher from the
Bronx, New York who published under the pen name Lewis Allan. He wrote the poem to express
his horror at the lynchings of black men in the American South. This appalling practice was still
very common in the South were people metered out their own justice to keep white supremacy.
Billie Holiday first performed this haunting song at the Caf Society in 1939. It was an early cry for
civil rights and had a tremendous effect on people. Is has inspired numerous people since and the
poem and its influence can be found in novels, plays, films and so on. You can find numerous
renditions of the song on the internet.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98CxkS0vzB8
1. Determine the rhyme scheme.

15

2. What imagery is used in the poem, what do you usually associate with this imagery?

3. Why do you think the poet used this imagery to describe a terrible scene.

4. A tree in a poem often symbolizes life and here there might also be an allusion to a family tree.
Explain line 2, what does it say about the situation of black people that there is blood on the
leaves and blood at the root?

3. The setting is firmly in the South of the United States where tons of poplar trees were planted
and the big white magnolia is the state flower of both Virginia and Mississippi. Is it significant
that the poem is set in the South?

4. Describe the contrast between lines 4 and 5, the pastoral scene of the gallant South is the
bulging eyes and the twisted mouth.

5. A. Explain lines 9-11.

B. What is the effect of the repetition?

6. The poem is descriptive, no action takes place, a picture is painted and the reader is left with a
strange and bitter crop. How does the poets choice to do it like this and the last line particularly
contribute to the effectiveness of the poem/song?

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