Quiz and Notes on Poetry
Poetry
A Soldier
By Robert Frost
He is that fallen lance that lies as hurled,
That lies unlifted now, come dew, come rust,
But still lies pointed as it plowed the dust.
If we who sight along it round the world,
See nothing worthy to have been its mark,
It is because like men we look too near,
Forgetting that as fitted to the sphere,
Our missiles always make too short an arc.
They fall, they rip the grass, they intersect
The curve of earth, and striking, break their own;
They make us cringe for metal-point on stone.
But this we know, the obstacle that checked
And tripped the body, shot the spirit on
Further than target ever showed or shone
How does poetry help you see yourself/your world differently?
Imagery
Imagery is when the poet describes the items in the poem and the reader can picture or feel as the poet wants them to. When poets use imagery they want the reader to be able to see in their mind what the poem is about. Imagery is used with adjectives.
The Gladiator
Kevin Prufer
When I died
When my blood feathered away and I stared blankly and sideways into the grass. When the grass ceased against my cheek, I could not help but remember the gladiator who, in falling, never groans, who, ordered to accept it, does not contract his neck for the final blow.
And the hillside grew quiet. The bombers passed withering the trees and the city to flame. The empire fell. My empire, like a blood drop into the grass.
It is of little consequence to the observer if the gladiator falls forward into the dirt. He is of a mind, merely, to do as he is told. He will not see the emperor’s thumbs.
His city fell to its knees and burned, rolled on its side, but he won’t think of it. Those who once cheered for him are cheering still. The airplanes flew over the hill and I, crouched in the grass, was terrified but did not look up, did not complain when a lost bomb startled me away.
Seal
William Jay
A Soldier
By Robert Frost
He is that fallen lance that lies as hurled,
That lies unlifted now, come dew, come rust,
But still lies pointed as it plowed the dust.
If we who sight along it round the world,
See nothing worthy to have been its mark,
It is because like men we look too near,
Forgetting that as fitted to the sphere,
Our missiles always make too short an arc.
They fall, they rip the grass, they intersect
The curve of earth, and striking, break their own;
They make us cringe for metal-point on stone.
But this we know, the obstacle that checked
And tripped the body, shot the spirit on
Further than target ever showed or shone
How does poetry help you see yourself/your world differently?
Imagery
Imagery is when the poet describes the items in the poem and the reader can picture or feel as the poet wants them to. When poets use imagery they want the reader to be able to see in their mind what the poem is about. Imagery is used with adjectives.
The Gladiator
Kevin Prufer
When I died
When my blood feathered away and I stared blankly and sideways into the grass. When the grass ceased against my cheek, I could not help but remember the gladiator who, in falling, never groans, who, ordered to accept it, does not contract his neck for the final blow.
And the hillside grew quiet. The bombers passed withering the trees and the city to flame. The empire fell. My empire, like a blood drop into the grass.
It is of little consequence to the observer if the gladiator falls forward into the dirt. He is of a mind, merely, to do as he is told. He will not see the emperor’s thumbs.
His city fell to its knees and burned, rolled on its side, but he won’t think of it. Those who once cheered for him are cheering still. The airplanes flew over the hill and I, crouched in the grass, was terrified but did not look up, did not complain when a lost bomb startled me away.
Seal
William Jay