"Introduction to Poetry"

What an odd poem to end our semester of poetry studies with, don't you think?  Surely, I should have begun with "Introduction to Poetry," not ended with it.

But I think it really encapsulates all the things we've been mulling over and discussing and illustrating.  So we'll end with it.  You can read it here.

Discussion Questions:

1.  Which of these activities in this poem do you feel you've kind of participated in this semester?

2.  What is Collins saying about people who analyze or criticize poetry?

"Nostalgia"

Have you ever felt nostalgic for a time and place you've never experienced?  That happens to me fairly often, even though that doesn't actually quite make sense.  Billy Collins wrote a whole poem about that, which you can read here.

Discussion Questions:

1.  What feelings does this poem evoke for you?

2.  What word choices do you find especially interesting?

"Snow Day"

It's winter.  I want snow.  I love snow!  You might hate snow, but if you do, too bad -- you have to read a poem about it anyway.  You can read "Snow Day" right here.

Discussion Questions:

1.  What is the narrator's attitude toward snow?  How do you know?

2.  What is the message/point of this poem?

"Fishing on the Susquehanna in July"

This poem isn't about fishing.  You can read it here.

Discussion Questions:

1.  What is this poem actually about, do you think?

2.  What are some poetic devices you notice in this poem?

"The Negro Speaks of Rivers"

Let's end the week with one of Hughes's proud-to-be-a-black-person poems, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers."  You can read it online here.

Discussion Questions Art Project:

Illustrate at least two scenes portrayed in this poem, somehow conveying the poem's message through your artwork.

Once again, you can have all weekend to work on this.  Turn in your finished work Monday morning.

"Mother to Son"

"Mother to Son" is my favorite Langston Hughes poem.  It's the poem that grabbed my interest back in college and made me seek out more of his work.  You can read it here.

Discussion Questions:

1.  What is the message of this poem?

2.  What imagery reinforces that message?

"Harlem"

"Harlem" is an image-rich poem, very short, but asking a very important question.  You can read it here.

Discussion Questions:

1.  Why might Langston Hughes have titled this poem "Harlem"?

2.  What could an alternate title be?

3.  Which of the many images in this short poem do you think is the most powerful?  Most surprising?

"Theme for English B"

"Theme for English B" has a little of that "jazz poetry" going on that I talked about yesterday in the introduction.  You can read it online here.  It also touches on favorite subjects of Hughes's: race, America, personal identity.

Discussion Questions:

1.  What poetic devices do you spot in this poem?

2.  Share a section that makes you think of jazz music -- why does it remind you of jazz?  (If you don't know much about jazz, try listening to this song and this song and this song on YouTube to get a little taste of it.)

"Bronzes"

This poem was published in 1916.  The line about "the Yser" refers to the Yser River in Belgium -- in 1914, Belgium stopped the German advance there by using the river to flood the farmland.  This was a major defeat for Germany and bought the Allied defenses all over Europe a little time to shore up or stabilize their defenses.  It kept the German Army out of France and away from important ports like Dunkirk and Calais, letting the British Army bring in lots of reinforcements and supplies unhindered.  It is considered a turning point in World War One.

Okay, time to read the poem here.

Discussion Questions:

1.  Analyze this poem!  Try to untangle a little bit about why Sandburg might refer to that specific part of the war.

"Accomplished Facts"

I stumbled across this Sandburg poem recently and love how it's a collection of different objects and ideas and people.  It's not exactly a "list poem," but it almost is?  You can read it here.

Discussion Questions:

1.  What do you think the theme or point of this poem is?

2.  Which of the little anecdotes about famous people did you find most interesting?  

3.  What do you think a "bean bazaar" might be?  I have guesses, but I'd like to hear yours.

"Theme in Yellow"

A short and fun poem for the middle of the week.  You can read "Theme in Yellow" right here.

Discussion Questions:

1.  How would you describe the tone of this poem?

2.  If you were to write a poem about something yellow or orange, what would you choose to focus on?

"Chicago"

Today, we'll read one of Carl Sandburg's most famous poems: "Chicago."  This was first published in 1914, so World War One had just begun, but the US wasn't involved yet.  Prohibition hadn't hit yet, but Chicago was already notorious for its gangsters.  But what had originally turned it into a big city were the railroads and slaughterhouses.  After the Civil War, when the West started shipping beef to the hungry East, they would drive their cattle to railheads in Kansas and Nebraska (this is the classic cowboy era of 1865-1885), and the cattle would be shipped by train to Chicago, where they were butchered and packed in refrigerated rail cars and shipped to the East Coast.  

Your Grandpa Roger grew up in the Chicago area.  Your Great-Grandpa Kovaciny once temporarily stole a train there as a boy.  (If you haven't heard this story yet, ask Grandpa Roger next time you talk to him!)

With all of that in your head, read the poem here.

Discussion Questions:

1. What are some of the vivid words Sandburg uses that strike you as especially interesting?

2.  What words does Sandburg use repeatedly?  Why do you think he chooses to repeat those specific words?

3.  Do you think the city of Chicago sounds like a place you'd want to visit or live, based on this poem?  Why or why not?

"By the Autumn Fire"

This is a lovely poem to end the week on, I think.  You can read "By the Autumn Fire" online here.

Discussion Questions Art Project:

Illustrate this poem somehow!  Draw, sketch, paint, use a computer program (NO AI !!!), make a collage -- whatever floats your creative boat.  You don't have to turn this in until Sunday night, if you need extra time.  Nadia, once you have finished yours, either scan it in and send me the image or send me a photo of it.  I'll share both yours and Sadie's here so you can enjoy each others' visual reactions to this poem.

"For Little Things"

This is my favorite LMM poem.  

"For Little Things"

by L. M. Montgomery

Last night I looked across the hills 

And through an arch of darkling pine 

Low-swung against a limpid west 

I saw a young moon shine. 

And as I gazed there blew a wind, 

Loosed where the sylvan shadows stir, 

Bringing delight to soul and sense 

The breath of dying fir. 

This morn I saw a dancing host 

Of poppies in a garden way, 

And straight my heart was mirth-possessed 

And I was glad as they. 

I heard a song across the sea 

As sweet and faint as echoes are, 

And glimpsed a poignant happiness 

No care of earth might mar. 

Dear God, our life is beautiful 

In every splendid gift it brings, 

But most I thank Thee humbly for 

The joy of little things. 

(Please note: this poem is not in the public domain, however I couldn't find it online in a format that I could simply share a link to, so I am reproducing it here out of a physical book I own.  This is for educational purposes only; I will make no monetary gain from reproducing it in this classroom setting.)

Discussion Questions:

1.  What are some poetic devices does Montgomery use in this poem?

2.  What little things would you include if you were writing a poem like this?

"Genius"

This is a completely different sort of poem than yesterday's!  I believe it may still be under copyright, so you can read "Genius" online here.  (Sorry that it's a page full of ads -- it's the best one I could find.)

Discussion Questions:

1.  What is the tone of this poem?

2.  The ends of this poem don't rhyme.  What makes it a poem anyway?

"The Piper"

The eighth Anne book, Rilla of Ingleside, takes place during WWI.  During the book, one of Anne and Gilbert's sons writes a poem called "The Piper" about the experience of going off to war.  The poem isn't included in Rilla of Ingleside, but Montgomery included it in her final Anne book, The Blythes are Quoted.  Since today is the 107th anniversary of Armistice Day, the day WWI ended, I thought this was a fitting poem for us to read and study today.

"The Piper"

by L. M. Montgomery

 One day the Piper came down the Glen … 

      Sweet and long and low played he! 

The children followed from door to door, 

No matter how those who loved might implore 

      So wiling the song of his melody 

As the song of a woodland rill. 

Some day the Piper will come again 

      To pipe to the sons of the maple tree! 

You and I will follow from door to door, 

Many of us will come back no more … 

      What matter that if Freedom still 

Be the crown of each native hill? 

(Please note: this poem is not in the public domain, however I couldn't find it online in a format that I could simply share a link to, so I am reproducing it here out of my paperback copy of The Blythes are Quoted so we can study it.  This is for educational purposes only; I will make no monetary gain from reproducing it in this classroom setting.)

Discussion Questions:

1. Is this a sad poem or a hopeful poem?

2.  What imagery is Montgomery pulling into this poem to make it more powerful?

"Dust of Snow"

The trouble with Robert Frost is that I love SO MANY of his poems!  It's hard to just pick four to share with you this week.  I finally settled on "Dust of Snow" for the last one because it makes me smile.  You can read it online here.

Discussion Questions:

1. Analyze this poem!  It's short, but I think you can pull some real meaning out of it.

"Christmas Trees"

Yes, I know it's not Christmastime yet.  Shh.  This is a pre-Christmas sort of poem.  And it's actually one I'd never read before!  I love how often Robert Frost tells us stories with his poems, and this one is so homey and cozy I just have to share it.  You can read "Christmas Trees" online here.

Discussion Questions:

1.  Were you surprised by the narrator's decision?  Pleased?  Disappointed?

2.  Why might Frost have subtitled this poem "A Christmas Circular Letter"?

"Acquainted with the Night"

I memorized this Robert Frost poem in college.  I'd thought until then that he pretty much always wrote poems about nature and farming and the joys of rural life.  But he spent most of his life in cities, and he did write about them too -- maybe not as often, but just as interestingly.

You can read "Acquainted with the Night" online here.

Discussion Questions:

1.  What are some words you would use to describe the mood or feeling or tone of this poem?

2.  What words does Frost use to achieve the mood/feeling/tone you just described?

"Nothing Gold Can Stay"

Robert Frost's poetry is not all in the public domain!  And the same goes for the other poets we'll be studying for the rest of the semester.  So I'll be finding legitimate online sources for their poems where you can read them, and then you can come back here and answer questions.

Today's poem is one I memorized when I was in high school.  Why?  For the very obvious reason that it's in The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, which is still one of my top favorite books of all time.  You can read this poem here.

Discussion Questions:

1.  What poetic devices do you notice in this poem?  (It's okay to quote from the poem in your answers -- I just can't share the whole thing here.)

2.  What is the theme or point of this poem, do you think?