Chapter 9 poetry questions

Chapter 14, The Sounds of Poetry Pages 785-788, Edgar Allen Poe, ” The Raven What is the frame of mind or soul of the speaker at the beginning? What does he expect to see when he ” peers” into the ” darkness”? The frame of mind of the speaker in the beginning is someone who is fretfully napping as he worries over a lost love. He expects to see a visitor at his door when he first hears the tapping. 2. Does the speaker seem to change in the poem? How would you describe his feelings? Do you find yourself moved in any way by the poem? Have you ever experienced similar feelings because of a loss? The speaker seems to lose hope that his love is in heaven as the poem progresses. He continually needs reassurance from the raven. His feelings are one of utter despair trying to hold on to something positive out of the situation. I do find myself moved by this poem. No one can prove a heaven or for that matter a hell exists. I have had people in my life die that I would like think are in heaven, but I don’t really know. 3. In paragraph 17 of his essay “ The Philosophy of Composition,” Poe draws his reader’s attention to several aspects of the poem, especially the refrain, the progression of the speaker’s questions, and the versification scheme. He notes that the refrain ” must be sonorous and susceptible of protracted emphasis, admitted no doubt: and these considerations inevitably led me to the long o as the most sonorous vowel, in connection with r as the most producible consonant.” Look for other words in which the sound reflects and reinforces the sense, as this one does. Pay special attention to the alliteration, the assonance and consonance, and the internal rhyme as well as examples of onomatopoeia, such as ” rapping, tapping” or ” silken sad uncertain rustling.” What other aspects of the poem do you see which are not mentioned or explored in the essay? One example is borrow, sorrow, and morrow. Another example is ‘ thrilled me-filled me’. Another would be ‘ Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore – Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore’ 4. The raven is a key point in the poem because it is ” the bird of ill omen” and can speak, or rather mimic, like a mockingbird or a parrot. Look at the speaker’s questions and how the expected answer becomes a confirmation of what the speaker knows but cannot or will not say for himself and, as Poe says, gradually leads to a ” phrensied pleasure” and a ” most delicious because the most intolerable of sorrow.” Why does the speaker find ” pleasure” in anticipating the raven’s answer? Why is it perched on a bust of Pallas Athena, the goddess of wisdom—presumably forever? The speaker finds pleasure in anticipating the raven’s answers because they validate his darkest thoughts. Most responses are intended to give comfort, but those that do not are normally true. The raven is perched on the bust of Pallas Athena forever because his answers were wise despite being an echo of the speaker’s own words. Pages 799-800, Bob Dylan, “ Mr. Tambourine Man 1. What does the refrain add to the poem? How does its repetition relate to the messages in the rest of the poem (lyrics)? The refrain adds to the poem and threads it all together. It helps the listener understand that the individual singing wants to have direction even if they have to follow the tambourine man. The frustration of the individual that time is streaming by and they do not have any meaningful purpose is anchored by the refrain. 2. How would you describe the tone of the speaker of the poem (lyrics)? How does this compare to the vocals of the singer? The tone of the speaker in the poem is more manic trying to find purpose, whereas the vocals are more upbeat. The song does not do the poem justice. Chapter 15, Internal Structure Pages 812-813, Anonymous, ” Sir Patrick Spens” 1. What event is hinted at in line 32 (” Their hats they swam aboon”) and in the poem’s final stanza? The sinking of not only the Norse, but the Irish ships as well. 2. What is the effect of depicting the poem’s principal action indirectly? The effect of depicting the poem’s principal action indirectly is to gain suspense. The audience never realizes until the last stanza that both fleets sink. Page 813, William Carlos Williams, ” The Dance” 1. Why is it appropriate to the subject, a painting, to begin and end the poem with the same line? It is appropriate to begin and end the poem with the same line to show the dance that will never end. The same dance will always happen in the subject of the picture. 2. In what ways is the poem like the dance it depicts? (A one-line answer is insufficient. Please explain the relationship.) The poem is like the dance it depicts because the poem begins and ends with the same line. This poem is circular like the dance in the painting’s square. The madness of a soldier in the square along with fighting customers and booth keepers will always occur in that situation. The beginning and ending is always the same, just like the poem. Chapter 16, External Form Pages 827-828, Dylan Thomas, ” Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” 1. What do the wise, good, wild, and grave men have in common with the speaker’s father? They do not rage into that good night. Old men do not have the fire younger men possess. The author does not understand that at the end of life people are tired. His fire still burns, but his father fire has burned low. 2. Why do you think that Thomas chose such a strict form, the villanelle, for such an emotionally charged subject? Death is not frilly or weak. It is strict and strong. That is why Thomas chose the villanelle for this emotionally charged subject. Pages 831-832, Dudley Randall, “ Ballad of Birmingham” 1. What did ” Freedom March” mean in 1969?  Freedom March was nonviolent forms of protest against segregation and Jim Crow laws in America’s Deep South. 2. How do the dialogue, repetition, and symbolism contribute to the poem’s power to go beyond the specificity of the particular incident? The dialogue, repetition, and symbolism contribute to the poem’s power by suggesting that not only did this particular incident occur, but other incidents can and will occur if there is no change in the policies that contributed to the incident. 3. Given the poem’s structure and its portrayal of children’s voices and attitudes, what difference might it make to your reading if you had factual information about the casualties of the bombing? I knew about the facts before reading this poem. It helped me understand that this poem was about four actual girls. It was not fiction. This story was about four real little girls caught up in something that they could not prevent. This was more than a poem to me. Page 838, Robert Frost, “ Design” 1. What parallels do you see between the existence of this scene in nature and its crafting as an image in the poem? How appropriate to his theme is Frost’s choice of the sonnet form? Poems are crafted by design. A sonnet is crafted carefully just like the web that caught the moth in this poem. 2. How does this poem confound our usual preconceptions about “ light” and “ darkness”? In what sense might the “ design of darkness” be appalled by the scene Frost describes? Light and darkness are usually terms for good and bad. A spider eating a moth is a design of light because without spiders flies and moths might take over. The design of darkness might be appalled by being compared to a moth…or a spider. Evil is not a moth or spider, but the devil and mass destruction. 3. What philosophical questions are raised in the final couplet? Beautiful objects can be evil despite their innocent looks. People like to think that evil can be seen, however ever rose has a thorn. Page 841, Edna St. Vincent Millay, [What lips my lips have kissed, . . . ] 1. What are the poem’s principal parts? The principal parts are of a woman thinking about past lovers, but not really regretting all of them. 2. How do these principal parts fit into the Petrarchan model of a sonnet? These principal parts fit into the Petrarchan model of a sonnet because this woman does not want one lover, but many. Her love is unobtainable. The unobtainable love is what a Petrarchan model is about. Pages 849-850, Earle Birney, ” Anglosaxon Street” 1. How does the shape of this poem reflect the subject of the poem? The shape of this poem reflects the subject of a street in England’s slum as a confusing mass of mess. The author’s views of the chaos or businesses are given due to the muddled wording he uses. 2. Read this poem aloud. How does the poem’s appearance help to determine the tone and pacing of your reading? This poem has to be read fast. It has words that if you do not read fast you might stop in the middle of the poem in frustration. I had to read it very fast to get through it at all.