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INTRODUCTION
This script provides you with the theoretical and practical knowledge of
poetry,. You will learn the definition of poetry, the kinds of poetry, and the
elements of poetry. You are given some examples of poetry and so you can
define poetry using your own words. When you have learnt the theory of poetry,
you are given some poems to analyze as the practical knowledge. Then you
will be assigned to read them loudly with good pronunciation, rhythm, and
intonation. Finally you may try to create your own poems.
However, in creating your own poems, you do not need to learn the
theory. It is because there is no theory of how to create poems. You just need
to express your idea and feeling by exploring the potencies of language as
have been demonstrated by some poets whose poems are presented in the
part of “Poems for Experience”.
General Competence
After this course the students are expected to have theoretical and practical
knowledge of poetry.
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2. DEFINITION OF POETRY
Specific Competence:
When you have learnt this chapter, you are expected to define poetry
using your own words.
What is the definition of poetry? To answer this question let us read the
following poem by William Wordsworth:
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Read the poem loudly. Consider the stressed and unstressed syllables. Listen
carefully to your voice when you are reading. Can you hear the rhythmic sound
in the poem? Can you hear the rhyme or the repetition of particular sound while
you are reading? Can you enjoy that thyme and rhythm?
The poem above is composed in the pattern of rhythm and rhyme. Let
us read the first stanza:
ˇ – ˇ – ˇ ˇ ˇ – ˇ
I wandered lonely as a cloud
ˇ – ˇ – – ˇ ˇ ˇ ˇ –
That floats on high o’er valleys and hills’
ˇ – ˇ – ˇ – –
When all at once I saw crowd,
ˇ– ˇ – ˇ – ˇ ˇ
A host, of golden daffodils,
ˇ – ˇ – ˇ – ˇ –
Besides the lake, beneath the trees,
– ˇ ˇ ˇ – ˇ ˇ ˇ –
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze
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Now, pay attention to the language use. The words used in this poem
are common words. However in this poem they function to build imagination in
the readers’ minds. Consider the line I wandered lonely as a cloud, and the line
That floats on high o’er valleys and hills.
Pay attention to the phrase golden daffodils. The poet uses the adjective
golden instead of yellow which is the natural color of daffodils. This is a
metaphor that functions to describe the beauty of daffodils. Hence Wordsworth
does not say “The daffodils are beautiful”, directly. He says it by using
metaphor golden daffodils. Metaphor is one of figurative speech which is
commonly used in poem.
Now, read again the above poem. Try to grasp the content that the poet
wants to convey. Can you grasp the poet’s feeling? Is he happy or sad? Try to
find it by reading the poem again and again. Pay attention to the image he
presents, i.e. the golden daffodils. In the last line he says that he dances with
them. Listen also to the rhythmical sound that touches your ear.
if you read carefully, you can find the poet’s feeling. In this poem he is
very happy. The use of image of golden daffodils suggests that he is very
happy. Golden daffodils are very beautiful and beautiful is very close to
happiness. This happiness is suggested more strongly in the last lines which
says that the speaker is dancing with the daffodils. The rhythmical sound also
suggest that he is very happy. The use of unstressed and stresses syllables
suggests that the poet is singing happily.
By the example above it clear that poetry is composed with two aspects.
The aspects are sound and language. To define the definition of poetry, let us
consider what Kennedy and Gioia (2002:xxv) say: “Poetry is a rhythmical
composition of words expressing an attitude. Designed to surprise and delight,
and arouse and emotional response.
In the same sense, Daiches ( 1964: 137) says that poet uses the
intellectual meaning of words, as the prose writer does, and he also uses their
association suggestion and suggestions, their sound and rhythm, and the
musical and other patterns they form in combination with each other.
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The other definition is that poetry is the media of the poet to
communicate his ideas or feeling through the use of poetical language and
rhythmical sound.
In short, in composing poem, a poet exploits both the sound and the
meaning of language. The poet uses rhythm and rhyme to construct artistic
sound that appears in musical pattern. In the term of language, a poet uses
imagery and the figurative language such as, metaphor, metonymy, etc.
Now, can you define poetry in your own language? Try to make it by
considering the above examples and explanation.
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3. THE KINDS OF POETRY
Specific Competence:
After reading this chapter you are expected to explain the kinds of
poetry.
Basically, in terms of content, there are two kinds of poetry. They are lyric and
narrative poetry. To see the difference read the following poems:
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I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear the lake water lapping with low sound by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavement gray,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
Now, compare the poem above with the following poem by Edwin
Arlington Robinson:
RICHARD CORRY
Can you find the difference between the there poems above? Let us
discuss the first poem. The poem is entitled Fire and Ice,
In this poem, the poet presents an abstract idea about how the world will
end. He presents this abstract idea through the concrete objects, i.e. fire and
ice. The fire is the symbol of war, while ice is the symbol of peace. Hence this
poem is about whether world will end in war or peace.
The second poem is about the poet’s dream of living in happiness. The
lake of Innisfree has become the symbol of this dream.
In the third poem you can find something which is deferent from the first
and the second poem. You can find a story of a man namely Richard Corry.
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Richard Corry becomes the character of the story. The setting is a society living
in poverty.
I short, lyric poem is a short poem expressing the thoughts and feeling of
a single speaker. Often a poet will write a lyric first person (e.g. I will arise and
go now, and go to Innisfree) but not always. Instead, a lyric might describe an
object or recall an experience without the speaker’s ever bringing himself or
herself into it. (Kennedy, 2002:674). In the relatively same sense Wynn (2001:
9) says that lyric includes all poems that are primary about a subject and
contains little narrative content. The subject of a lyric poem may be the poet’s
emotion, an abstract idea, a satirical insight, or a description of a person or
place.
Narrative poem is a poem that tells a story. It invites the skills of a writer
of fiction: the ability to draw characters and setting briefly, to engage attention,
to shape a plot. (Kennedy, 2001: 12).
The third kind of poetry is dramatic poetry. Dramatic poetry refers to the
spoken directly by character in a drama. In other words, it is the dialogue
between characters in drama that is composed in the form of poetry.
By the citations above it can be concluded that a lyric poem contains the
poet’s thought, experience, and feeling. Narrative poem is composed with the
main purpose to tell a story.
1. Couplet
Couplet is a stanza that consists of two lines and usually rhymed. And
then we have an heroic couplet which is frequently found in English poems. It is
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form of stanza that composed in the form of two rhyming lines of iambic
pentameter. Read the following lines from of Dryden:
3. Quatrain
4. Sestet
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That murmur, soon replies, God doth nt need
Either man’s work of his own gifts, who bet
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best; his state
Is kingly. Thousand at his bidding speed
And post o’er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.
5. Octave
Have you ever read a stanza that consists eight lines? May be you will
answer no, because you do not know its characteristic. It may be found in a
sonnet in the first eight lines of stanzas.
6. Spenserian Stanza
7 Ottava Rima
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famous poet, such as Milton, Shakespeare, Byron, and Keats. The following
Ottava Rima is taken from Byron’s Don Juan:
8. Sonnet
9. Free Verse
You have read and learnt all the stanzaic form discussed previously. All
of the forms that have been discussed are composed in the patterns of rhyme.
In terms of rhythm, they are also created in the pattern of rhythm to created
musical effect. Is there any other poetical form which is free of such pattern?
Yes, you can find poems which are not composed in those patterns. In other
words, they are free verse.
What is free verse? Reaske (1966: 18) says that free verse is it is poetry
which is free from traditional pattern of line, rhyme, and rhythm. Each line is
created in various numbers of line, types of feet poetry; it concerns with the
meaning only. This form has been used widely since the movement of
symbolism.
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4. THE ELEMENTS OF POETRY
Specific Competence:
When you have learnt this chapter, you expected to have the following
abilities:
1. Explaining the elements of poetry.
2. Applying the knowledge of the elements in analyzing poetry.
There are two main elements of poetry, i.e. the sound element and the
meaning element. The sound element is the sound pattern that appears
beautifully in a poem. In other words it is the musical aspect of a poem. It
consists of rhyme and rhythm. Rhythm is developed through the
suprasegmental aspect of words, i.e. stressed and unstressed syllable. Rhythm
is developed through similarity of sound of a particular syllable if some words in
a poem.
The element of sound functions as music pattern in a poem. When a
poem is being read loudly, this musical pattern appears into the listeners’ ears
as rhythmic sound. By this the listeners will have a pleasure. In other words,
this is an entertainment aspect of a poem.
Rhythm
ˇ – ˇ – – ˇ ˇ ˇ ˇ –
That floats on high o’er valleys and hills’
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ˇ – ˇ – ˇ – –
When all at once I saw crowd,
ˇ– ˇ – ˇ – ˇ ˇ
A host, of golden daffodils,
ˇ – ˇ – ˇ – ˇ –
Besides the lake, beneath the trees,
– ˇ ˇ ˇ – ˇ ˇ ˇ –
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze
While reading, you should pay attention to the sign above each line. The sign –
means unstressed syllable and the sign ˇ means the stressed syllable. What do
you hear? Do you hear a musical pattern that is composed through this pattern
of sound? Yes, of course you do. This pattern is called rhythm. Rhythm is one
aspects of poetry.
There are several types of rhythm. They are as follows:
11. iambic :ˇ – diameter 2 units
2. trochaic :– ˇ trimeter 3 units
3. spondee :– – ˇ tentrameter 4 units
4. dactylic :ˇ ˇ – pentameter 5 units
5. anapestic : – ˇ ˇ hexameter 6 units
(Taylor. 1981: 199).
1. Iambic
ˇ – ˇ – ˇ –
release / release / release
ˇ – ˇ– ˇ –
to fall / into / despair
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ˇ – ˇ – ˇ – ˇ
Marie / disco / vers candy
2. Trochaic:
– ˇ – ˇ – ˇ – ˇ
Melting / melting / melting / melting
– ˇ –ˇ – ˇ – ˇ
Peter / disa / greed en / tirely
– ˇ – ˇ – ˇ –
clever /writing / filled the / page
3. Anapestic
ˇ ˇ – ˇ ˇ –
to the top / to the top
ˇ ˇ – ˇ ˇ –
a retriev / er appeared
ˇ ˇ – ˇ ˇ – ˇ
and a ter / rible thunder
4. Dactylic
– ˇ ˇ – ˇ ˇ – ˇ ˇ – ˇ ˇ – ˇ ˇ
shivering / shivering / shivering / shivering / shivering
– ˇ ˇ – ˇ ˇ – ˇ – ˇ ˇ – ˇˇ
Now, read the following poem. What do you think the dominant rhythm?
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STOPPING BY WOODS ON A SNOWY EVENING
ˇ – ˇ ˇ ˇ – ˇ –
Whose woods these are I think I know.
ˇ – ˇ ˇ ˇ – ˇ ˇ
His house is in the village though;
ˇ – ˇ – ˇ – ˇ –
He will not see me stopping here
ˇ – ˇ – ˇ – ˇ –
To watch his woods fill up with snow
ˇ – ˇ – ˇ – ˇ –
The little horse must think it queer
ˇ – ˇ – ˇ – ˇ –
To stop without a farmhouse near
ˇ – ˇ – ˇ – ˇ –
Between the woods and frozen lake
ˇ – ˇ – ˇ ˇ ˇ –
The darkest evening of the year.
ˇ – ˇ – ˇ – ˇ –
He gives his harness bells a shake
ˇ – ˇ – ˇ – ˇ –
To ask if there is some mistake.
ˇ –ˇ –ˇ – ˇ –
The only other sound’s the sweep
ˇ – ˇ – ˇ – ˇ –
Of easy wind and downy flake
ˇ – ˇ – ˇ – ˇ –
The woods are lovely dark and deep.
ˇ ˇ ˇ ˇ –ˇ ˇ –
But I have promises to keep,
ˇ – ˇ – ˇ – ˇ –
And miles to go before I sleep,
ˇ – ˇ – ˇ – ˇ –
And miles to go before I sleep.
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Yes, you are right. The above poem is dominated by iambic. The rhythm is
composed with unstressed and stressed syllables.
By the explanation above, it can be concluded that rhythm is the musical
aspect in a poem. It functions to pleasure the listener’s desire to listen to the
beautiful sound.
RHYME
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Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
Read the above stanza carefully. Identify the sound “ess” in the first and third
lines. They are perfect rhymes since they are identical sounds. The sound
“ime” in the second and fourth lines, on the other hand, are half-rhymes
because only the final consonants are identical.
The fourth type of rhyme is masculine and feminine. When the final
syllables of the rhyming words are stressed, and there is identical sound after
the difference in the initial consonants such as contort and purport, then the
masculine rhyme occurs. On the other hand, when the rhyming of stressed
followed by identical unstressed syllables such as treasure and pleasure, then
feminine rhyme occurs. Consider the following example
1. Imagery
Imagery plays important role in poetry. Why? Because the idea that or
theme the poet wants to convey in his poem is an abstract concept. Love, for
example, is an abstract concept that cannot be perceived by our five sensory. A
poet needs a concrete object that can be perceived and so the reader can
understand the abstract concept. Robert Burns’ happiness of falling in love
which is still an abstract concept becomes real when he presents it through the
poem,”My Luve is like a red, red rose.” Rose becomes an imagery that
suggests the happiness of love.
Imagery is derived from image. Image suggests a thing seen. Imagery
means a word or a sequence of words that refers to any sensory experience.
The experience might be a sight (visual imagery) such as a dim light, sound
(auditory imagery) such as pounding surf, a touch (tactile imagery) such as
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scratchy beard, a smell (olfactory) such as the scent of apple blossom, and
taste (gustatory) such as bitter tang of gin.
Read again the poem by Wordsworth ‘I wander Lonely as a Cloud’.
What type of imagery dominates the poem? The poem is dominated by visual
imagery. The visual imageries in the poem are, for example, daffodil, cloud etc.
They are visual imagery because we can see them with our imagination. The
function of imagery is to build imagination in the readers’ mind.
2. Theme
3. Figurative Language
1. Metaphor
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His words were sharp knives
The sharp knife of his words cut through the silence.
He spoke sharp, cutting words with his knife-edged voice.
His words knifed through the still air.
“I will speak dagger to her…”
In the lines above the words are compared to the knives. This comparison
means that the words can kill or hurt. The following poem is a good example of
metaphor.
Now, pay attention to the phrase “There is a garden in her face.” Garden here
means a metaphor to describe the beauty of a girls who is, perhaps, the poet’s
sweetheart. In this sense, the face’s beauty is being compared indirectly to the
garden.
When a metaphor is composed with a word like or as, it is called simile.
We can find simile in many poems. The very popular example is Robert Burn’s
poem, ‘My love is like a red, red rose.’
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The other type of metaphor is personification. Personification is a
comparison nonhuman thing to human. A boy and a girl who love each other
often this personification, such as ‘The moon is smiling when you say you love
me’.
The last type of metaphor is synecdoche. It is a particular metaphor in
which a speaker says a part of a thing to signify the whole. So, when a poet
says that a girl has beautiful eyes, he signifies the whole body, not only the
eyes.
2. Metonymy
Metonymy is the use a related object to stand for thing actually being
talked about. For a better understanding, read the following poem by Robert
Gropusso
NIGGER
Hi, Dad!
I met the nicest boy
Today
He’s in one of my classes
Dad, his clothes have holes in them.
Why, Dad?
His hair is different from mine, Dad.
But I think he’s nice, Dad,
Dad,
What’s a Nigger?
Nobody, Honey,
Nobody.
The metonymy in the poem is a nigger boy. The thing being talked about in the
poem is racial discrimination in American society.
3. Symbol
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MY LUVE IS LIKE A RED, RED ROSE
Robert Burns
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Inferring its meaning the reader should find the suggestions or connotation of
the object functioned as the symbol.
4. Hyperbole
5. Repetition
6 Irony
Not only in poetry, but also in common communication we use irony. Irony
is used when we mocking or ridicule somebody by saying something which is
contradictory to the reality. So, for instance, when we say, “Good Work” to
mock somebody’s bad work, we use irony. A boss who says, Good Morning” to
his employee is actually using irony.
7. Sarcasm
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Onomatopoeia
MEETING AT NIGHT
I
The grey sea and the long black land:
And the yellow half-moon large and low;
And the startled little waves that leap
And fiery ringlets from the sleep,
As I gain the cove with pushing prow,
And quench its speed I’ the slushy sand.
II
Then a mile at warm sea scented beach;
Three fields to cross warm sea-scented beach;
A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch
And blue spurt of a lighted match.
And a voice less loud, thro’ its joys and fears,
Than two hearts beating each to each.
Now, can you find the dominant sound? Yes, of course you can. The
dominant sound is /s/. This sound suggests the gentle. Pay attention to the
word slushy.
Now, read the following poem by Shakespeare.
Hark, hark!
Bow-wow,
The watch-dogs bark!
Bow-how.
Harki, hark! I hear
The strain of strutting chanticleer
Cry, “Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
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What is the meaning of hark, bow-wow? This is the imitation of sound produced
by dogs. Cock-a-doodle-doo is the imitation of chanticleer’s sound. What is the
meaning of this poem? Perhaps it describes the situation in a rural place or
animal farm.
Summary
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5. READING AND UNDERSTANDING POEMS
Specific Competence
After finishing this chapter, students are expected to:
1. Analyzing poems
2. Reading poems loudly in good pronunciation and rhythm.
3. Creating their own poems
How to read poem successfully? Kennedy and Gioia (2001: 8-7) suggest three
steps, i.e. reading without any expectation, read for the detail meaning as the
second reading, and paraphrasing.
In the first step, read the poem without any expectations and open mind.
In this step you have to let yourselves to experience the reading ant not to
worry about the troublesome of any strength words.
In the second reading, read the exact meaning of every word. Refer your
dictionary to find the meaning of words which are new to you. Try to find the
figurative languages that the poet might be used. And then try to infer the
meaning. How to find the figurative languages and their meaning? Here are two
suggested steps that you might apply. First, recognize special words or
phrases, or sentences that are illogical. Take the sentence, “There is a garden
on her face.” Is it logic that you can find a garden on someone’s face? Of
course, it is not. Hence, it is a figurative language. Then you might have a
question, such as “What kind of figurative language is it?” To answer this
question you have to apply the second step, i.e. try to find the objects
mentioned; in this example they are garden and face. The garden is on a
woman’s face. While, logically, it is impossible that you can find garden on
someone’s face. In this case, the face is being compared to a garden, thus it is
a metaphor. To find the metaphorical meaning, try to explore the characteristics
of the garden that face is being compared to. It is beautiful, thus, “There is a
garden on her face” means that she is beautiful.
When reading silently, sound the words in your mind. However, in reading
aloud, you sound the words with your organ of speech. Pay attention to the
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stressed and unstressed syllables to produce the sound effects. Refer to the
phonology of English. You will enjoy it.
The other method is by trying to paraphrase the poem as a whole. In this
method, you can paraphrase. Paraphrasing means you try to rewrite the poem
based on your interpretation using your own words. Take the following stanza
as an example:
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin built there, of clay and wattle made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for honey-bee,
And I live alone in the bee-loud glade.
You might paraphrase it as, “I will get up now to go to Innisfree to build a small
cabin of clay and wattle. There I will have a hive for honey-bee and so I can live
alone in the bee-loud glade.” When you have done this process, you have had
a more complete understanding of the poem you are reading.
Tone
Finding tone in a poem is one of your duties as a reader because it is
the poetic speaker’s attitude toward the subject matter. The attitude might be
anger, irony, sadness, happiness, or any other attitudes. Read again Robert
Burns’ “My Luve is Like a Red, Red Rose.” Read it and pay attention to every
words spoken. Read how he says that his love is like a read rose and melodie.
These statements indicates that he is happy.
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C. Poems for Experience
Here are some poems which you are expected to analyze. You are given
some guiding questions for each poem. You might wonder why each poem has
different guiding question. The difference is due to the fact that above all the
similarities, every poem has its own characteristics. Some poems have the
dominant repetition figurative language. Therefore, you need difference
questions to guide your understanding. Answering the questions well, you
should refer to the theory given in previous chapters.
When you have finished your analysis, you are expected to read them
loudly in good pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation. Finally you are expected
to create your own poems. You may imitate your favorite poet’s style of
creating poems. However, for the shake of your own development, in the future
you should have your own style.
Note:
Luve: love
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Thou: you
Bonnie lass: nice girl, a girl who becomes a man’s sweetheart.
Play’d: played
Gang: going gangue, worthless rock or other matter occurring in a vein or deposit
within or alongside a valuable mineral. It is also called veinstone.
Guiding questions:
1. What is the tone of the poem?
2. What kinds of imagery are in this poem?
3. What is the sound pattern of the poem? Explain your answer.
4. What is the dominant figurative language in the poem?
5. What are the characteristics of rose and melodie?
6. What is meant that the speaker’s love is like a red, red rose and melodie?
7. What is meant that he will love her until the sea gang dry and the rock melt with
the sun?
8. What is the theme of the poem?
Robert Frost
Guiding questions
1. What are the sound patterns in this poem, i.e. rhyme and rhythm?
2. What fire and ice suggest?
3. What are the symbolic meanings of fire and ice?
4. What is meant that the world will end in fire?
5. What is meant that the world will end in ice?
6. What is the poem theme?
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The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost
Guiding questions:
1. What are the patterns of rhyme and rhythm in the poem above?
2. What is the characteristic of road?
3. What is meant literally that there are two diverged road?
4. What is the symbolic meaning of the two diverged road?
5. What is meant that the speaker took the road that is less traveled by?
6. What is the theme of the poem?
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The Tyger
William Blake
Notes:
Thy: yours
Thee: you (object)
Thine: belonging to or associated with you, when “you” is singular
Dread: to feel extremely frightened or worried about something that may happen in the
future.
Guiding questions
1. What are the patterns of rhyme and rhythm of the poem above?
2. What is the image of tiger presented in the poem?
3. To what animal is that tiger being compared?
4. What are the characteristics of tiger and lamb?
5. What is the symbolic meaning of tiger and lamb?
6. What does the poet want to communicate by presenting tiger and lamb?
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7. What is the theme of the poem above?
GO LOVELY ROSE
Edmund Waller (1606-1687)
Go lovely rose,
Tell her that wastes her time and me,
That now she knows
When I resemble her to thee,
How sweet and fair she seems to be.
Notes:
Spy’d: spied
Retir’d: retired
Desir’d: desired.
Guiding questions:
1. What are the patterns of rhythm and rhyme in the poem above?
2. What is the figurative language that is dominant in the above poem?
3. What is the poetical meaning of lovely rose?
4. What is meant that the lovely rose has to go?
5. Why does the lovely rose have to go?
6. What is the theme of the poem?
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As tis for object strange and high;
It was forgotten by despair.
Guiding questions:
1. What is the rhythm and rhyme of the poem?
2. What is the speaker’s tone about love?
3. What can you conclude about love based on the poem?
4. What do you think the theme of the poem?
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I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD
Note:
Breeze: wind ranging in strength from light to moderate, with a speed of 6 to 50 kph/4
to 31 mph
Daffodil: springtime plant with trumpet-shaped flowers: a European plant that has
yellow trumpet-shaped flowers and long slender leaves growing from a bulb.
o’er: over
Solitude: state of being alone: the state of being alone, separated from other people,
whether considered as a welcome freedom from disturbance or as an unhappy
loneliness.
Jocund: cheerful and full of good humor
Guiding questions:
1. What are the patterns of sound in the poem above?
2. What kinds of imagery can you find in the poem?
3. What can you infer the line” I wandered lonely as a cloud?”
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4. What is the speaker attitude toward the daffodils?
5. What is the symbolic meaning of daffodils?
6. What is the theme of the poem?
Note:
untrodden ways: the ways which are not trodden.
Dove: Holy Spirit: in Christianity, a manifestation or representation of the Holy Spirit
Ceased (Past): stop happening: to come to an end; to bring something to an end
Guiding questions:
1. What are the patterns of sound in the poem?
2. What is meant by “Besides the spring of Dove”?
3. What is the metaphorical meaning of the second stanza, especially the words” A
violet by mossy stone/ Half hidden from the eye!”?
4. What tone is in the poem?
5. What is the theme of the poem?
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From May-time and cheerful Dawn;
A dancing Shape, an Image gay,
To Haunt, to startle, and way-lay,
Notes:
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Caused King Edward to leave his throne.
You can take his cow; you can take his goat,
Leave him with his yachting boat.
It was love, love, love, love, alone
Caused King Edward to leave his throne.
You can take his money; you can take his store,
Or give him that lady from Baltimore,
It was love, love, love, love, alone
Caused King Edward to leave his throne.
Notes:
De: the
Dis: this Dat: that
Guiding questions:
1. What are the patterns of sound of the poem above?
2. What kind of figurative language is used?
3. Why does the poet repeat love, love alone, and King Edward?
4. What is the speaker’s attitude toward love as the subject matter?
5. What is the theme of the poem above?
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MEETING AT NIGHT
II
The a mile at warm sea scented beach;
Three fields to cross warm sea-scented beach;
A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch
And blue spurt of a lighted match.
And a voice of a lighted match.
And a voice less loud, thro’ its joys and fears,
Than two hearts beating each to each.
Notes:
Slushy: covered with or full of melting snow and ice
Guiding questions:
1. What are the sound patterns in this poem?
2. What is the effect of the visual image in the first and the second lines?
3. What is the effect of the tactile imagery in the last line of the fisrt stanza?
4. What is the effect of auditory imagery in the fifth line in the second stanza?
5. What is being told in this poem?
6. What is the theme of the poem?
ANNABEL LEE
Edgar Allan Poe
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With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.
Notes:
Seraphs: angel: an angel of the highest rank in the traditional medieval hierarchy of
nine categories of angels. In the Book of Isaiah they are described as having
six wings
Sepulcher: burial place: a vault in which somebody is buried
Guiding questions:
1. Who is the speaker?
2. Who is Annabel Lee?
3. What is the tone of this poem?
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4. What happened to Annabel Lee? Show the evidence to prove your answer.
5. What is the theme of the poem?
TO CELIA
Ben Johnson
Note:
Rosy:
1. rose-colored: of the reddish-pink color of roses
2. like a rose: resembling roses, characteristic of roses, or full of roses
Thee: You (object)
Guidance questions:
1. What are the sound patterns in the poem?
2. Is the speaker a man or a woman?”
3. IS Celia a man or a woman?
4. What is meant by the line “Drink to me with thine eyes”?
5. What is meant by the line “Or leave a kiss but in the cup”?
6. What is the meaning of the line “The thirst that from the soul doth rise”?
7. What is meant by the lines “But might I Jove’s nectar soup,/ I would not
change for thine.”?
8. What does “it” in the line “Since when it grows, and smells, I swear” refer to?
9. What is the meaning of the last line?
10. What is the theme of this poem?
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HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS
Emily Dickinson
Note:
Perch: place for bird to sit: a place for a bird to land or rest on, for example, a branch
or a pole in a cage.
Guiding questions:
1. What are the sound patterns of the poem?
2. What is the characteristic of wing in line one?
3. What is the meaning of line one that “Hope is the thing with leather?”
4. What does the poet want to say about hope? Present the evidence from the
poem to prove your answer.
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REFERENCES
Daiches, David, 1964. A Study of Literature for Readers and Critics. New York: W.W.
Norton & Company Inc.
Gwynn, R.S, 2002. Poetry, A Pocket Anthology. New York: Addison Ashley
Educational Publisher Inc.
Kennedy, X.J & Gioia. 2001. Poetry Tenth Edition. New York: Longman.
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THE CONTENT
1. Introduction 1
6. Refernces 43
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