LESSON I :
Dict ion & I nt er pr et at ion
A. Dict ion
One of degr ee t hat makes poet r y dif f er ent f r om pr ose is not only by a
mat t er of t he r hyming lines and t he line-ar r angement but also t he f ewest
number of wor ds t hat poet r y employs. Hence, Per r ine says (1977:9) t hat poet r y
is “t he most condensed and concent r at ed f or m of lit er at ur e”. Fur t her mor e, he
st at es t hat t he language of poet r y has “a higher volt age”; it gr ows while giving
“light ” and “heat ”. The wor ds employed in poet r y ar e singled out wit h gr eat car e.
I n line wit h t his view, t he pr ef er ence of t hese wor ds must be in accor dance wit h
t he poet ’s pur pose in a given poem since, as Alt enber nd and Lewis (1966:9)
asser t , “t he whole r ange of human act ivit ies, ideas, and emot ion is now wit hin t he
pr ovince of poet r y”.
Alt hough it is har d, t her e ar e many who der ive a gr eat deal of pleasur e of
r eading poet r y, and what makes it dif f icult t o under st and is t he nat ur e of
poet r y it self , of which language use is dif f er ent f r om t he or dinar y one.
“Reading poet r y is an-act of discover y”. Exhaust ive concent r at ion should
be given t o any par t icular wor ds and t he way t hey ar e r elat ed t o t he ot her s,
which make up t he basic element s of poet r y t o r espond, i.e. imager y, f igur at ive
language, and musical devices.
The wor d choice in poet r y is accur at ely and st eadf ast ly select ed and
t her ef or e, it does not acknowledge synonyms. I t is invent ed by manipulat ing t he
small dif f er ences in meaning bet ween synonyms. This select ion of wor ds, which
is t he f oundat ion of ever y poem, is called dict ion.
Ther e ar e t wo aspect s of a wor d which need usef ully dist inguishing: denot at ion
and connot at ion. I n a poem, t her e may be a wor d t hat demands special at t ent ion
because eit her what it means is uncer t ain exact ly or t her e is somet hing cur ious
or excit ing about how it is used. I n under st anding such a lit er ar y piece, t he
r eader is of t en sent t o a dict ionar y t o look up t he pr ecise def init ion of t he wor d
nar r at es, pr esumably consider ed in a det ached, scient if ic, and descr ipt ive
(r at her t han evaluat ive) manner ” (Alt enber nd & Lewis, 1966:10). However , a
single wor d of t en has mor e t han one denot at ive meaning. This leads t he r eader
t o t hink car ef ully of it s meaning in it s specif ic cont ext . The common wor d “f ir e”,
f or inst ance, has some var ious meanings and may st and as a noun, a ver b, or an
adj ect ive.
I n f ully under st anding a poem, t he connot at ive meaning of wor ds is
needed gr asping as it of t en car r ies wit h it cer t ain associat ions and emot ive
values in par t icular cont ext . On t he subj ect of connot at ion, Leech (1976:41) has
t his t o say
W hen we t alk of connot at ive meaning, we r ef er , in par t , t o t his power of a wor d, sent ence, et c., t o conj ur e up t he t ypical cont ext of it s occur r ence. But t his is not t he whole explanat ion of ‘connot at ion’, f or t his t er m is used not only of t he associat ions which go wit h t he use of t he linguist ic it em it self , but also of t he associat ion of what it r ef er s t o.
Accor ding t o Hor nby (1980:403), t he wor d “highland” bear s t he denot at ive
meaning of “mount ainous r egion; (plur al) mount ainous par t s of a count r y”.
However , t he same wor d, plur alized, wit h a def init e ar t icle, and capit alized T,
connot es “t he mount ainous par t of Nor t h W est Scot land”. Connot at ion is ver y
signif icant in poet r y, f or it may be obser ved in such var ious expr essions as
met aphor , simile, per sonif icat ion, allegor y, and t he ot her kinds.
B. I nt er pr et at ion
Alexander (1975:4) r esolut ely hint s t hat t he same poem may be seen
dif f er ent ly by dif f er ent people. This does not mean, however , t hat poet r y can
mean anyt hing t hat anybody f inds in it . All t he int er pr et at ions ar e not
aut omat ically accept able; some may have been quit e wr ong albeit what is
consider ed t o be ‘r ight ’ is not always exact ly t he same. This is under pinned by
Hall (1983:VI ) by st at ing t hat “alt hough dif f er ing, equally def ensible opinions
ar e common, er r or is even mor e common”.
Poet r y, and lit er at ur e in gener al, is gr eat ly dif f er ent f r om ar it hmet ic
simple, cor r ect one. Hall (1983:VI ) admit s t hat lit er at ur e is inexact and
t her ef or e lit er ar y t r ut h is also “inexact , changeable, and subj ect t o ar gument ”
which const it ut es t he pr ice t hat lit er at ur e has t o pay “f or r epr esent ing whole
human beings” who ar e t hemselves complex, ambiguous, and mut able. I n f act ,
t his sor t of t r ut h is not solely monopolized in wor ks of ar t . Hall compar es
lit er at ur e t o law. Legal t r ut h, accor ding t o him, “is dependent on cont ext and
cir cumst ance”, on t he agr eement of a j ur y t o br ing in a ver dict of guilt y or not
guilt y. I t may, t hen, be inf er r ed t hat all poems cannot be loosely int er pr et ed.
Cer t ainly t her e ar e poems of which meaning is simple and obvious. As f ar as t he
meaning is concer ned, Alexander (1975:4) has given a war ning t hat “a piece of
wr it ing need not always have a ‘deep’ meaning simply because it happens t o be a
poem”, f or example “The Cobr a” by Ogden Nash. This shor t poem simply sounds a
not e of war ning of t he danger of cobr as as t hese venomous r ept iles give a
deadly bit e.
The Cobra
(Ogden Nash, 1902— )
This creat ure f ills it s mout h wit h venom, And walks upon it s duodenum1);
He who at t empt s t o t ease t he cobra I s soon a sadder he, and sobra2).
Vocabular y:
1) t he lower par t of t he st omach
2) possibly it r ef er s t o “sober ’ which means “gr ave, inact ive, indicat ing gr eat danger or iner t ”.
Based upon t he exposit ion above, pensive concent r at ion on par t icular wor ds
in poet r y and on t he way t hey connect wit h each ot her ar e t he key t o r eading
poet r y. Coinciding wit h t his view, Alexander (1975:4) posit s t hat t he r eader
should examine closely what t he poet has act ually wr it t en. He has also pr ovided
t hr ee impor t ant r ules t hat r equir e t he r eader :
01. not to r ead lazily so that the poem is not altogether misr ead;
02. always to look for a simple explanation and not to be afraid to expr ess it;
I f t he pr oposit ion above as well as Alexander ’s idea is given a close at t ent ion, it
is obvious t hat eit her of t hese t wo nominat es t he t ext ual appr oach t o poet r y
under st anding. I n f act , it is t he appr oach t o be employed in t his poet r y unit . To
demonst r at e t hese r ules, Alexander opt s Tennyson’s “Br eak, br eak, br eak”.
Break, Break, Break
(Alf red, L ord Tennyson, 1809— 1892)
Break, break, break,
On t hy cold, grey st ones, O sea! And I would1) t hat my t ongue could ut t er
The t hought s t hat arises in me.
O well2) f or t he f isherman’s boy,
That he shout s wit h his sist er at play! O well f or t he sailor at play!
O well f or t he sailor lad, That he sings in his boat on t he bay!
And t he st at ely3) ships go on
To t heir haven4) under t he hill;
But O f or t he t ouch of vanish’d5) hand,
And t he sound of a voice t hat is st ill!
Break, break, break,
At t he f oot of t hy crags6), O Sea!
But t he t ender grace of a day t hat is dead Will never come back t o me.
Vocabular y:
1) I wish 2) it is well
3) dignif ied 4) har bour
5) disappear ed 6) st eep r ocks
01. I f t his poem wer e car elessly r ead, it might be t aken t o be simply about t he
sea.
02. However , t he lines
And I wouldt hat my t ongue could ut t er The t hought s t hat arises in me.
shows t hat t he poet is pensive. The lines
t ell t he r eader why t he lyr ical speaker in t he poem is sad. I n ot her wor ds,
s/ he is unhappy because s/ he has lost someone s/ he loves, wher eas t he sea,
t he people near it (‘t he f isher man’s boy’ and ‘t he sailor lad’), and t he st at ely
ship’ ar e unawar e and unt r oubled. This is t he simple explanat ion of t he
poem.
03. I f t he r eader t r ies t o put his own ideas int o t he poem, s/ he might be led t o
assume t hat t he speaker is sad because someone s/ he loves has been
LESSON V: Figur at ive Language
(Par t I )
Figur at ive language is used not in t he lit er al sense but in an imaginat ive way.
I t is a deviat ion f r om what a speaker of a language appr ehends as t he or dinar y, or
“st andar d signif icance or sequence of wor ds, in or der t o achieve some special
meaning or ef f ect ” (Abr ams, 1971:60). However , it must be seen not f ar f r om t he
convent ions of daily speech seeing t hat t he f igur at ive expr essions ar e alive in daily
usage. The st r engt h of f igur at ive language lies in it s connot at ive, r at her t han it s
denot at ive, power t o evoke and abilit y t o deal suggest ively wit h f eelings and
qualit ies in t he cont ex t of t he wor k being discussed. I n ot her wor ds, it s employment
is t o make it easy f or t he r eader t o gr asp what is act ually expr essed by t he poet as
long as it s connot at ive meaning inher ent is int er pr et ed wit hin it s cult ur al, social, or
int ellect ual cont ex t . The f ull moon, f or ex ample, always adher es t o t he image of
beaut y; a buf f alo in t he J avanese cult ur al cont ext connot es st r engt h and
f oolishness. As a language, f igur at ive language clar if ies t he abst r act by compar isons
wit h t he concr et e, by associat ions, and by cont r ast s. Thus, t he connot at ive meaning
ex ploit ed in a lit er ar y wor k may be based upon t hese t hr ee main cat egor ies. Owing
t o t he limit at ion, t his unit explor es only t he kinds cat egor ized by compar isons. The
r est will be addr essed in
Poet r y I I
.A. Figur at ive Language by Compar isons
Based on compar isons, t her e ar e f our t ypes t o not e. They ar e met aphor ,
simile, per sonif icat ion, and apost r ophe.
01. Simile (Lat in,
‘like’
)Bot h a simile and a met aphor ar e sense devices invent ed by a poet t o make an
unusual compar ison of t hings or obj ect s or ideas which ar e basically dissimilar t o
give r ise t o st r ong images. I n a simile, t he compar isons ar e made explicit by t he
r esemble, appear , seem
. I n ot her wor ds, t his t ype of f igur at ive language f unct ionst o pr esent images t hr ough a dir ect compar ison bet ween t wo dissimilar t hings or
obj ect s or ideas. Hence, Bur ns’ f ir st line of his f amous poem “A Red, Red Rose”,
‘Oh, my love is like a r ed, r ed r ose’
uses a simile. The same is also t r ue if t he phr ase‘is like’
is r eplaced by t he ver b‘r esemble’,
‘Oh, my love r esembles a r ed, r ed r ose’.
Toclar if y t his, Rober t s and J acobs (2003:535) r emar k t hat “a simile illust r at es t he
similar it y
orcompar abilit y
of t he known t o somet hing unknown or t o be explained.W her eas a met aphor mer ges ident it ies, a simile f ocuses on r esemblances”. An
ex pr ession like
“t he st eak is t ough”
is of t en hear d in ever yday lif e. However , t ocr eat e a st r ong image, a f igur e of simile may be used:
“t he st eak is as t ough as
leat her ”
.“You ar e like t he sunshine in my lif e”
and“all t he wor ld mer ely r esembles
t o a st age”
ar e t he ot her easily under st ood ex amples.The poem ent it led “The Ancient Mar iner ” below ar e, act ually, t aken f r om
Coler idge’ s long poem wit h t he same t it le which r elat es t he st or y of a cur sed ship in
consequence of t he r eckless conduct of one of t he sailor s who shoot s an innocent
albat r oss. The event s being r ecount ed occur immediat ely af t er t he killing when t he
ship ent er s t he Pacif ic Ocean.
The use of a simile is spot t ed in lines 14—6 of st anza t hr ee, "
W e st uck, nor
br eat h nor mot ion;/ As idle as a paint ed ship/ Upon a paint ed ocean
.” Her e, in hisat t empt t o cr eat e t he image of how mot ionless t he ‘cur sed ship’ in t he vast Pacif ic
Ocean is, Coler idge compar es t he ‘st uck ship’ t o ‘a paint ed ship on a paint ed ocean’.
Hence, t he compar ison bet ween t hese t wo dissimilar t hings—t he act ual ship and it s
paint ing—is t o br ing about a similar it y i.e. t he idea of st agnancy.
Ex er cises
The Ancient Mariner
(Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1772-1834)
The fair breeze1) blew, the white foam2) flew, The furrow3) that followed free;
We were the first that ever burst4)
Into that silent sea.
Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down, 05 ‘Twas5)
sad as sad could be; A nd we did speak only to break The silence of the sea!
A ll in a hot and copper6) sk y,
The bloody Sun, at noon, 10
Right up above the mast7) did stand, No bigger than the Moon.
Day after day, day after day, We stuck , nor breath nor motion; A s idle8)
as a painted ship 15
Upon a painted ocean.
Water, water, everywhere, A nd all the boards did shrink9); Water, water, everywhere
Nor any drop to drink . 20
Vocabulary:
1) favourable wind2) white mass of small air bubbles formed in or on a liquid by motion
3) deep line made in the earth by a plough. Here, of course, the word refers to the water behind the moving ship.
4) brok e out 5) i.e., it was
6) common reddish-brown metal (symbol Cu) 7) upright pole for a ship’s sails
8) unmoving, inactive 9) become smaller
Q uest ions:
01.Q uot e t he lines t hat st at e t hat no ot her ship had ever sailed in t his sea.
02.W hich line shows t hat t he wind suddenly st opped blowing?
03.W hat t ype of imager y is obser ved in lines 01 and 02?
04.Does t he last sent ence of t he f ir st st anza cont ain imager y? What about lines
05.I dent if y t he kind of imager y used in lines 09—10!
06. St at e st anza 03 in your own wor ds.
All Morning
(Gregory Orr)A ll morning the dream lingers1)
, I am lik e the thick grass in a meadow2), still soak ed3)
with dew at noon.
Vocabulary:
1) remains longer than is expected, as if from reluctance to leave 2) grassland, pasture
3) thoroughly wet
Q uest ions:
01.W hat does t he lyr ical speaker say about his dr eam?
02.W hat t ypes of imager y does t he poet use?
03.W hy does he compar e himself t o t he gr ass?
04.W hat ar e t he implicat ions t o t he simile used in t he poem?
Snow in the Suburbs
(Thomas Hardy, 1840-1928)
E very branch big with it, Bent every twig with it; E very fork1)
lik e a white web-foot2)
; E very street and pavement mute:
Some flak es3) have lost their way, and grope4) back upward when 05 Meeting those meandering5)
down they turn and descend again. The palings6) are glued together lik e a wall,
A nd there is no waft7)
of wind with the fleecy8)
fall.
A sparrow enters the tree,
Whereupon9) immediately 10
A snow-lump thrice his own size
Descends on him and showers his head and eyes, A nd overturns10)
him, A nd near inurns11) him,
A nd lights12) on a nether13) twig, when its brush14) 15 Starts off15)
a volley16)
of other lodging lumps17)
The steps are a blanched18)
slope, Up which with feeble hope,
A black cat comes, wide-eyed and thin;
A nd we tak e him in. 20
Vocabulary:
1) part at which a thing branches 2) a foot with the toes joined by a web 3) small, light, leaf-lik e pieces (of snow) 4) search about as one does in the dark 5) following a winding course
6) fences made of pointed pieces of wood 7) waving movement
8) resembling wool (of a sheep) 9) … and then …
10)k nock over 11)bury
12)sk im/ brush against 13)lower
14)sk imming/ glance/ friction 15)brings about/ begins 16)a series of violent flow
17)lumps of snow being held together by the branches of the tree
18)mak e or become white
Q uest ions:
01.W hat wor ds in t he f ir st t wo lines show us t hat t her e has been a heavy f all of
snow?
02.Find anot her line which suggest s t he same t hing!
03.W hat does it mean by ‘f or k’ (line 03)? W hy is it called t o be like ‘web-f oot ’ ?
04.W hy ar e t he st r eet s and pavement s mut e?
05.I s line 07 of st anza 01 a simile? Why?
06.W hat t ypes of imager y ar e f ound in st anza 03?
07.W hat has happened t o t he spar r ow?
02. Met aphor (Gr eek,
‘car r ying f r om one place t o anot her ’
)I n r elat ion t o what is pr eviously discussed, met aphor is one element t o
mast er f or poet r y r ecuper at ion (
mer ebut makna puisi oleh pembaca
), and dif f er entf r om a simile which uses an explicit compar ison, a met aphor uses an implicit
compar ison alt hough t hey pr incipally oper at e on t he same gr ound, t hat is, bot h
f igur es compar e t hings or obj ect s or ideas which ar e basically unlike. Such a
compar ison as
‘Bandung is Par is of J ava’
is not a met aphor at all because t he t hingsbeing compar ed ar e basically equal;
Bandung
is a cit y andPar is
is also a cit y.‘Oh, my
Rose” equat es
‘my love’
(human being) and‘a r ose’
(an inanimat e obj ect ). The t woobj ect s being compar ed ar e basically unlike, but t he compar ison may involve a
cer t ain r espect : my love shar es a qualit y wit h a r ose, i.e. beaut y. Rober t s and J acobs
(2003:535) asser t t hat “a met aphor
equat es
known obj ect s or act ions wit hsomet hing t hat is unknown or t o be ex plained. Some common ex amples ar e
‘You ar e
t he sunshine of my lif e’, ‘all t he wor ld is mer ely a st age’, ‘J ack has a hear t of st one’
and J ill has a hear t of gold’.
I t should be not ed t hat if it is t hor oughly ex plor ed, t her e is a t ype of a
met aphor of which usage has been common, and, t her ef or e, it s f igur at ive meaning
has been ceased t o be awar e of . This sor t of met aphor is cat egor ized as a
dead
met aphor
‘The legs of t he t ables’
, ‘t he ar ms of a chair ’
, ‘t he hear t of t he mat t er ’
and ‘
Maliobor o is t he hear t of t he cit y of Yogyakar t a’
ar e ex amples of deadmet aphor .
Per r ine (1977:62—3) explicit ly af f ir ms t hat t her e ar e met aphor ical f or ms in
which bot h t he lit er al and t he f igur at ive t er ms ar e named or only eit her t he lit er al
t er m or t he f igur at ive t er m is named. As demonst r at ed in t he ex ample pr eviously:
t he lit er al t er m
‘my love’
and t he f igur at ive t er m‘a r ed r ose’
ar e ment ioned. I n t heex pr ession
‘t he wind f r om t he t op of t he cold hill neighed, galloping f ast ’
, t he lit er alt er m
‘t he wind’
is named wher eas t he f igur at ive t er m‘t he r unning hor se’
is implied.I ndeed, t he I ndonesians use met aphor when t hey ar e cur sing, “
bangsat lu”
, or“
dasar monyet kamu … ya..
”.Leech (1969: 151—5) int r oduces t hr ee element s t hat can be analyzed in a
met aphor , i.e., t enor , vehicle, and gr ound. Tenor is t he subj ect t o which t he
met aphor ic wor d is applied and vehicle is t he met aphor ic wor d it self wher eas gr ound
is t he aspect of vehicle which applies t o t enor .
Leech also int r oduces what is called as t he met aphor ic r ule, t hat is, a
par t icular r ule of t r ansf er ence which is associat ed wit h met aphor . He f or mulat es
F = ‘like’ L
Her e, t he f igur at ive meaning ‘F’ is der ived f r om t he lit er al meaning ‘L’ in
having t he sense ‘like L’, or per haps ‘it is as if L’. Wit h t he aid of t his r ule, Bur n’s
line ‘Oh my love is a r ed, r ed r ose’, f or example, can be under st ood t hat ‘my love is a
r ed r ose’ as ‘my love is like a r ed r ose’, or ‘my love is, as she wer e, a r ed r ose’. I n
not ional t er m, ‘my love’ is t he t enor of t he met aphor —t he act ual subj ect under
discussion—and t he pur por t ed def init ion ‘a r ed r ose’ is it s vehicle, t hat is, t he image
or analogue in t er ms of which t he t enor is r epr esent ed wher eas t he gr ound is t he
beaut y shar ed by bot h. Consider t he f ollowing poem by R. L. St evenson.
The Land of Counterpane
1)(Robert L ouis Stevenson,1850— 94)
When I was sick and lay a-bed, I had two pillows at my head, A nd all my toys beside me lay
To k eep me happy all the day. 04
A nd sometimes for an hour or so I watched my leaden2)
soldiers go, With different uniforms and drills,
A mong the bed-clothes, through the hills; 08
A nd sometimes sent my ships in fleets A ll up and down among the sheets; Or brought my trees and houses out,
A nd planted cities all about. 12
I was the giant great and still That sits upon the pillow-hill, A nd sees before him, dale3)
and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane. 16
I n t his poem, St evenson employs met aphor is lines 08, 09—10, 11—12, 13—16.
I n line 08, t wo t hings which ar e basically unequal ar e compar ed. The ‘bed-clot hes’
ar e compar ed t o t he ‘hills’ on which t he sick child is playing wit h his ‘t oy soldier s’.
Her e, ‘t he bed-clot hes ar e t he hills’ as ‘t he bed-clot hes ar e like t he hills’, or ‘t he
bed-clot hes ar e, as t hey wer e, t he hills’. I n t heor et ical t er m, ‘t he bed-clot hes’ ar e
t he t enor of t he met aphor , i.e., t he act ual subj ect under discussion wher eas ‘t he
hills’ ar e it s vehicle—t hat is, t he image wit h which t he t enor is ident ical. This br ings
t he t hir d not ional element of met aphor : t he gr ound of t he compar ison. Hence, t he
‘t enor ’ is LI KE t he ‘vehicle’ in r espect of t he ‘gr ound’; t he ‘bed-clot hes’ ar e like t he
‘hills’ as r egar ds t he likeness bet ween t he t wo, t hat is, t he act ual subj ect of t he
bed-clot hes ar e, in t he mind’s eyes of t he sick child’s, seen as t he hills on which he
can play wit h his t oys.
Ex er cises
Food
(V ict or M . Valle, 1950— )
One eats
the moon in a tortilla1)
E at frijoles2)
and you eat the earth E at Chile3)
and you eat the sun and fire Drink water
A nd you drink sk y
Vocabulary:
1) pancak e omelette (Mexican style)
2) beans with brown colour (made as food in Mexican style) 3) chili
Q uest ions:
01. Who is t he poet r ef er r ing t o wit h t he pr onouns “One” and “you”?
02. Wor k wit h a par t ner t o f ind t he met aphor s t he poet uses f or f oods. W r it e each
f ood, aspect of nat ur e, and similar it y in t he char t below. Number one has been
Food Par t of Nat ur e Similar it y
a) t or t illa moon r ound
b)
c)
d)
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
(William Blake 1757-1827)To see a world in a grain of sand A nd a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity1)
in the palm of your hand A nd eternity2)
in an hour.
Vocabulary:
1) boundlessness
2) everlastingness, endlessness
Q uest ions:
01. Despit e his appar ent ly simple wor d employment , Blake’s use of t he met aphor s
is one of signif icance in enr iching t he poem. I n which lines do you see t he
met aphor s?
02. W hat t hings ar e compar ed? And what ar e t he similar it ies?
03. W hat philosophical value can you lear n f r om t he poem?
The Hound
(Robert Francis, 1901— )L ife the hound1)
E quivocal2) Comes at a bound3) E ither to rend4)
me Or to befriend me. 05 I cannot tell5)
The hound’s intent Till he has sprung6) A t my bare hand
Vocabulary:
1) a k ind of dog for hunting and racing 2) dubious, questionable
3) border, limit 4) rip, tear apart 5) be sure, mak e out 6) jumped
Q uest ions:
01.I n which lines do you obser ve t he met aphor ?
02. What t wo t hings ar e compar ed?
03.I s t he use of met aphor her e ef f ect ive? W hy?
04.Show how t he use of t he adj ect ive “equivocal” is t he key wor d in t he poem!
05. How is t he imager y employed in t he poem?
06. Does t he speaker know what t he hound is going t o do t o him? W hy?
The Land of the Story Books
(Robert L ouis Stevenson, 1850— 94)
A t evening when the lamp is lit, A round the fire my parents sit;
They sit at home and talk and sing,
A nd do not play at anything. 04
Now, with my little gun, I crawl A ll in the dark along the wall, A nd follow round the forest track
A way behind the sofa back . 08
There, in the night, where none can spy, A ll in my hunter’s camp I lie,
A nd play at book s that I have read
Till it is time to go to bed. 12
These the hills, these are the woods, These are my starry solitudes1); A nd there the river by whose brink2)
The roaring lions come to drink 16
I see the others far away A s if in firelit camp they lay, A nd I, lik e to an Indian scout,
So, when my nurse comes in for me, Home I return across the sea, A nd go to bed with back ward look s
A t my dear land of Story-book s. 24
Vocabulary:
1) lonely places 2) border (of water, esp. when deep)
3) went about
Q uest ions:
01. W hat does t he subj ect ive pr onoun ‘I ’ r ef er t o?
02. I s t he employment of t he ver b ‘play’ in line 04 appr opr iat e? Why?
03. W hat sor t of met aphor ical f or m is used in lines 06—08 and line 22?
04. W hat may t he speaker mean by ‘none’ in line 09?
05. W hat does t he pr onoun ‘t he ot her s’ in line 17 r ef er t o?
06. I s t he use of ‘pr owled about ’ in line 20 appr opr iat e? W hy?
Bereft
1)(Robert Frost, 1874-1963)
Where had I heard this wind before Change lik e this to a deeper roar?
What would it tak e my standing there for,
Holding open a restive1) door, L ook ing downhill to a frothy2) shore? 05
Summer was past and day was past. Somber3) clouds in the west were massed. Out in the porch’s sagging4) floor L eaves got up in a coil and hissed,
Blindly struck at my k nee and missed. 10 Something sinister in the tone
Told me my secret must be k nown: Word I was in the house alone Somehow must have gotten abroad,
Word I was in my life alone, 15
Word I had no one left but God.
Vocabulary:
1) Dispossessed (of sth immaterial) 2) hard to be controlled
4) gloomy; dark -coloured
5) sink ing, esp. in the middle, as from weight
Q uest ions:
01. Descr ibe t he set t ing of place and t ime of t he poem!
02. St at e in your wor ds t he weat her condit ioned as ment ioned by t he speaker .
03. W hat t ypes of imager y do you f ind in lines 02 and 09?
04. To what ar e t he leaves in lines 09-10 compar ed?
05. To what is t he wind (‘it ’) compar ed in line 03?
06. To what is t he speaker ’s ‘lif e’ compar ed (line 15)?
07. W hy is t he door (line 04) ‘r est ive’ and what does t his do (f igur at ively) t o t he
door ?
It sifts from Leaden Sieves
(Emily Dickinson, 1830— 1886)
It sifts1) from leaden2) sieves3), It powders all the wood. It fills with alabaster4)
wool
The wrink les of the road. 04
It mak es an even face Of mountain and of plain— Unbrok en forehead from the east
Unto the east again. 08
It reaches to the fence, It wraps it rail by rail Till it is lost in fleeces5);
It deals celestial veil 12
To stump and stack and stem— A summer’s empty room— A cres of joints where harvests were,
Recordles6), but for them. 16
It ruffles7)
wrists of posts A s ank les of a queen, Then stills its artisans8)
lik e ghosts,
Vocabulary:
1) filters/ separates by putting, through a sieve 2) dark
3) (k itchen) utensils with wire network for separating finer grains etc. 4) soft, white stone lik e marble in appearance, used for ornaments 5) (resembling) woolly coverings of a sheep or similar animal 6) unrecorded
7) disturb; mess up; upset
8) sk illed work men in industry or trade; mechanic
Q uest ions:
01. The lit er al t er m of t he met aphor ical f or m used in t he poem is ident if ied as ‘it ’.
What is ‘I t ’?
02. I n t he ot her f or m, t he f igur at ive t er ms ar e named. However , t her e is a f or m in
which neit her t he lit er al nor f igur at ive t er ms ar e named. To what is ‘I t ’
compar ed in lines 01—02? I n lines 17—18?
03. Comment on t he addit ional met aphor ical expr essions or complicat ions cont ained
in ‘leaden sieves’ (01), ‘alabast er wool’ (03), ‘even f ace’ (05), ‘unbr oken f or ehead’
(07), ‘a summer ’s empt y r oom’ (14), and ‘ar t isans’ (19).
The Dead Crab
(Andrew Young, --)
A rosy shield upon its back ,
That not the hardest storm could crack , From whose sharp edge projected out1) Black pin-point eyes staring about; Beneath, the well-k nit cote-armure2)
05 That gave to its weak belly power;
The clustered3) legs with plate4) joints That ended in stiletto5)
points;
The claws lik e mouths it held outside:—
I cannot think this creature died 10
By storm or fish or sea-fowl6)
harmed Walk ing the sea so heavily armed; Or does it mak e for death to be Oneself a living armoury7)?
Vocabulary:
1) stood out beyond the surface nearby 2) coat of mail, armour
3) gathered together in a bunch
4) covered with a hard outer shell for protection
7) place where weapons and ammunition are k ept
Q uest ions:
01. I s t he wor d ‘shield’ in t he f ir st line of t he poem above a met aphor ?
02. Explain t hat ‘Black pin-point eyes’ (04), is a met aphor . Find t hr ee mor e
met aphor s and comment on t hem.
03. What sor t of device is f ound in t he phr ase ‘claws like mout h’? (09). W hat does
t he phr ase suggest t o you?
04. How would you comment on t he second line?
05. W hat does it mean by / … deat h t o be/ Oneself a living ar mour y/ / ?
06. W hat makes t he poet ’s descr ipt ion of t he cr ab so vivid?
The Iceberg Seven-eights Under
(Abbie Hust on Evans, 1881— 1983)
Under the sk y at night, stunned by our guesses, We k now incredibly much and incredibly little. Wrapped in the enveloppe of gossamer air,
A clinging mote whirled round in a blizzard of stars,
A chaff-cloud of great suns that has not settled, 05 By the barn’s black shoulder where the gibbous moon
Hangs low, no other light mak ing a glimmer
In the dark country, hearing the breathing of cattle— I do not need that anyone should tell me
Most real goes secret, sunk en, night-submerged: 10 Yet does it dazzle with its least part showing,
L ik e the iceberg seven-eighths under.
Vocabulary:
1)
delicate2)
(of a heavenly body) so viewed as to appear convex on both margins3)
gleam4)
a large floating mass of iceQ uest ions:
01. How does t he simile of ‘t he iceber g seven-eight hs under ’ ex plain t he ‘Most
r eal’ t hat ‘goes secr et ’? I n what way is t his simile, t oget her wit h line 11, an
02. W hat met aphor s does t he poet use t o descr ibe t he ear t h and t he people (‘W e’)
on it ?
03. Explain t he cont r ast bet ween t he met aphor s of night and dar kness (lines 01,
06, 08) and t he use of t he wor d ‘dazzle’ in line 11. How does t he poem ex pr ess
awe about t he visible univer se?
Harlem
(L angston Hughes, 1902— 1967)
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
lik e a raisin in the sun? Or fester1) lik e a sore2)— A nd then run?
Does it stink lik e rotten meat? Or crust3) and sugar over— lik e a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags4) lik e a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Vocabulary:
1) rank le 2) wound3) cover with or as with a crust 4) hangs down
Q uest ions:
01. I n t he light of t he black ex per ience wit h t he ‘Amer ican Dr eam,’ what do you
t hink is meant by t he phr ase ‘dr eam def er r ed’?
02. Explain t he st r uct ur e of t he poem in t er ms of t he speaker ’s quest ions and
answer s.
03. Explain t he similes in lines 03, 04, 06, 08, and 10. Why ar e t hese apt
compar isons? What sor t s of human act ions ar e implied in t hese f igur es?
04. W hat is t he meaning of t he met aphor in line 11? W hy do you t hink Hughes
A Work of Artifice
(M arge Piercy, b. 1934)
The bonsai tree
in the attractive pot could have grown eighty feet tall on the side of a mountain
till split by lightning. 05
But a gardener carefully pruned it. It is nine inches high. E very day as he
whittles1) back the branches 10 the gardener croons2)
, It is your nature to be small and cozy, domestic and weak ;
how luck y, little tree, 15
to have a pot to grow in. With living creatures one must begin very early to dwarf their growth:
the bound feet, 20
the crippled brain, the hair in curlers3), the hands you love to touch.
Vocabulary:
1) reduces the size of by cutting away slices 2) hums or sings gently
3) small cylindrical objects round which warmed or wet hair is wound to create a curl
Q uest ions:
01. W hat is a bonsai t r ee? I n what ways is it an apt met aphor f or women? The
t r ee ‘could have gr own eight y f eet t all.’ W hat would be t he compar able gr owt h
and development of a woman?
02. W hat do you make of t he gar dener ’s song (ll. 12—16)? I f t he bonsai t r ee wer e
able t o r espond, would it accept t he gar dener ’s consolat ion? What conclusions
03. How does t he poem shif t at line 17? To what ex t ent do t he nex t images (ll.
20—24) embody women’s lives? How ar e t he images met aphor ical?
03. Per sonif icat ion (Lat in, ‘
mask
’)I n a per sonif icat ion, eit her an inanimat e obj ect or abst r act concept or a
qualit y is spoken of as t hough it wer e a per son, and t hus, endowed wit h lif e or wit h
human at t r ibut es or f eelings. T his f igur e is obser ved in t he f ollowing ex pr essions,
‘
an angr y volcano’,
‘st or ms r age’,
‘meadows look cheer f ul’,
‘t he wind whist les’,
‘t he
beaut if ul moon looks invit ing’
, and ‘t he heat is happy
.’ The use of t he t hir d pr onoungender t o r ef er t o inanimat e obj ect s like ‘a ship’ or ‘a count r y’ shows t hat t his
f igur e is inher ent in t he daily use of language.
Wind and R iver R omance
(John Agard, — )
Wind forever playing loverboy1)
bringing his breeze joy to everything he touch but Wind you can't trust
Forever playing fresh2)
with big woman lik e me He forget I name River3)— passing he hands4) over me face5) tick ling6)
me bellysk in7)
talk ing to me in whisper
Promising to bring down the moon and the stars and lay them in me lap even when hot sun shining
but sweet whispering don't catch me8)
I k now Wind too good
I does just flow along to faithful Sea and let Wind sweet words pass by lik e cool breeze
Vocabulary:
1) always trying to attract women 2) acting in a bold, rude, or disrespectful
5) my face
3) He forgets my name is River 4) his hand
7) my stomach
8) doesn't impress or trick me
Q uest ions:
01. Who is t elling t he st or y in t he poem?
02. What does t he W ind pr omise t he River ? W hat does he means by t his?
03. Why does t he River choose t he Sea inst ead of t he Wind?
04. How do you t hink t he W ind would def ine love? W hy?
05. How do you t hink t he River would def ine love? W hy?
06. St at e how Agar d per sonif ies t he W ind, River , and Sea in t he cor r ect column of
t he char t by opt ing t hese human qualit ies: plays lover boy, can’t be t r ust ed, is
not f ooled or t r icked, is a big woman, is f ait hf ul, t alks f r esh, whisper s sweet ly,
br ings ot her s j oy, and, t ickles ot her s.
W ind River Sea
The Wind
(James Stephens 1882-1950)
The wind stood up and gave a shout.
He whistled on his fingers and
Kick ed the withered leaves about A nd thumped1)
the branches with his hand
A nd said he’d k ill and k ill and k ill, A nd so he will and so he will.
Vocabulary:
1) strik e heavily
Q uest ions:
02. W hat imager y do you f ind in lines 01, 02, and 04?
03. W hat does it mean by ‘t he wind kicked leaves about ’?
04. W hat does t he last line mean? W hy does it use t he pr esent t ense?
05. Ret ell br ief ly t he st or y in your own wor ds!
Beach Burial
(K enneth Slessor, 1901-71)
Softly and humbly1)
to the Gulf of A rabs The convoys of dead sailors come;
A t night they sway and wander in the waters far under,
But morning rolls them in the foam. 04
Between the sob and clubbing2) of the gunfire Someone, it seems, has time for this, To pluck3)
them from the shallows and bury them in burrows4)
A nd tread the sand upon their nak edness; 08
A nd each cross, the driven stak e5)
of tidewood, Bears the last signature of men,
Written with such perplexity6), with such bewildered pity7),
The words chok e8) as
they
begin--- 12“Unk nown Seaman”---the ghostly9) pencil Wavers10)
and fades, the purple drips,
The breath of the wet season has washed their inscriptions
A s blue as drowned men’s lips, 16
Dead seamen, gone in search of the same landfall11)
, Whether as enemies they fought,
Or fought with us, or neither; the sand joins them together,
E nlisted on the other front. 20
El Alamein, 1949
NOTE:
This poem is an elegy wr it t en by an Aust r alian poet . On t he sur f ace, it appear s t o be a lament f or t he sailor s killed in t he N or t h Af r ican campaign dur ing t he Second W or ld W ar , but t he poet meant it t o have a wider signif icance.
Vocabulary:
1) meek ly 2) banging 3) pull out4) holes made in the ground (by foxes, rabbits, etc) 5) post pointed at one end for driving into the
ground 6) confusion
7) sympathetic grief for the suffering or misfortune of others
8) hinder the breathing of 9) indistinct
10) is indecisive
Q uest ions:
01. What does t he under lined pr onoun ‘t hey’ (line 12) r ef er t o?
02. What f igur e of speech do you see in t he t it le?
03. What f igur e of speech do you see in lines 4, 12, 16, and 19?
04. W hat imager y do you f ind in lines 02, 05, and 09—10? Give each a br ief
ex planat ion.
05. I s ‘nakedness’ (line 08) used lit er ally or f igur at ively?
06. W hat may t he expr ession ‘each cr oss bear s t he last signat ur e of men’ mean?
07. W hy is t he pencil descr ibed as being ‘ghost ly’?
08. The employment of “landf all” in line 17 bear s specialt y. Give a br ief comment
on t his!
09. I n what st anza is t he climax? Ex plain!
10. What does t he phr ase “t he ot her f r ont ” in line 20 connot e?
The Dead
(Rupert Brooke,1887-1915)
These hearts were woven1)
of human joys and cares, Washed marvelously2) with sorrow, swift3) to mirth4). The years had given
them
k indness. Dawn was theirs, A nd sunset, and the colours of the earth.These had seen movement, and heard music; k nown 05 Slumber5) and wak ing; loved; gone proudly friended6);
Felt the quick stir7)
of wonder; sat alone8)
;
Touched flowers and furs and cheek s. A ll this is ended.
There are waters blown by changing winds to laughter
A nd lit by the rich sk ies, all day. A nd after, 10 Frost, with a gesture, stays the waves that dance
A nd wandering loveliness. He leaves a white Unbrok en glory, a gathered radiance9)
, A width, a shining peace, under the night.
Vocabulary:
1) were put together 2) magnificently 3) quick4) being merry, happy and bright 5) sleep soundly
Q uest ions:
01. How does t he poet employ t he imager y?
02. W hat does t he pr onoun ‘t hem’ (line 03) r ef er t o?
03. Point out t he cont r ast in t he poem.
04. How does t he poet show t hat t her e is a gr eat deal of var iet y in lif e?
05. W hat ar e t he poet ’s f eelings about deat h?
06. I n what way does t he met aphor in t he second st anza suit t he subj ect -mat t er ?
07. Besides met aphor , ar e t her e any ot her kinds of f igur at ive language used?
08. The employment of t he ver b ‘known’ in line 05 is pr oblemat ic. W hy?
04. Apost r ophe (Gr eek,
‘t ur ning away’
)Closely r elat ed t o per sonif icat ion is
apost r ophe
, t hat is, a way of addr essinga par t icular per son who may be dead or absent or an abst r act or inanimat e obj ect or
even a spir it or somet hing not or dinar ily spoken t o as if he or it wer e alive or
pr esent and could r eply t o what is being said. I t is mor e of t en t hat “t he poet uses
apost r ophe t o announce a lof t y or ser ious t one” (Kennedy, 1982;92). When t he
speaker in J oyce’s poem ent it led “I Hear An Ar my” cr ies out ,
‘My love, my love, my
love, why have you lef t me alone?’
, he is apost r ophizing his depar t ed sweet hear t .London, 1802
Composed September 1802. -Published 1807
(William Wordswort h, 1770-1850)
MIL TON! thou shouldst be living at this hour : E ngland hath need of thee:
she
is a fen1)Of stagnant2) waters: altar, sword, and pen, Fireside3)
, the heroic wealth of hall and bower4)
, Have forfeited5)
their ancient E nglish dower6)
05 Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;
Oh! raise us up, return to us again; A nd give us manners7)
, virtue, freedom, power. Thy soul was lik e a Star, and dwelt apart;
Thou hadst a voice whose sound was lik e the sea: 10 Pure as the nak ed heavens, majestic, free,
In cheerful godliness8); and yet thy heart The lowliest9)
duties on
herself
did lay.NOTE:
J ohn Milt on (160 8-74 ), English poet .His maj or wor ks ar e t he epics “Par adise Lost ”, “Par adise Regained”, and t he t r agedy “Samson A gonist es”. He t r ied t o make t he sonnet somet hing mor e t han a declar at ion of love or ver bal r epr esent at ion of nat ur al beaut y. His lit er ar y inf luence on W or dswor t h is seen in t his sonnet .
Vocabulary:
1) area of low marshy land, bog, marsh 2) (of water) without current or tide 3) part of a room round the fireplace 4) leafy shelter or recess
5) (have to) suffer the loss of something as a consequence, or because of rules
6) widow’s inheritance
7)customs, moral codes of social and political conduct 8)devoutness
9)humble, simple, modest
Q uest ions:
01. What do t he under lined wor ds ‘she’ (line 02) and ‘her self ’ (line 14) r ef er t o?
02. I dent if y which line cont ains apost r ophe!
04. What element s of Milt on’s car eer as a wr it er does Wor dswor t h emphasize?
05. I s t he compar ison appr opr iat e and ef f ect ive?
06. What ot her f igur es of speech does t he poem make use of ?
07. What t ypes of imager y do you see in lines 09 and 10?
08. Why does t he lyr ical speaker need Milt on? (You may r ef er t o any inf or mat ion
pr ovided by encyclopedias)
To Daffodils
( Robert Herrick 1591-1674)
F air Daffodils, we weep to see You haste1)
away so soon; A s yet2) the early-rising sun Has not attained his noon.
Stay, stay, 05
Until the hasting day Has run But to the evensong3)
; A nd having prayed together, we
Will go with you along. 10
We have as short a spring; A s quick a growth to meet decay A s you, or anything.
We die 15
A s your hours do, and dry A way
L ik e to the summer’s rain; Or as the pearls of morning’s dew
N e’er4) to be found again. 20
Vocabulary:
1) hurry 2) up to now
3) (archaic) evening prayer in the Church of E ngland 4) never
Q uest ions:
01.W hat f igur es of speech ar e used in t he poem?
02.I s t he st at ement made in line 11 lit er ally t r ue?
03. Why does t he poet use ‘evensong’? I s it s use signif icant her e?
04.W hat t ypes of imager y ar e f ound in lines 01, 03, 08—09, and 18—19?
05.W hat is t he poem about ? Tr y r ewr it ing t his poem in your own wor ds!
06.How many kinds of imager y do you f ind in t he poem? Give examples of each!
The Tiger
(W i l l i am B l ak e,1757— 1827)
Tiger! Tiger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal1) hand or eye
Could frame2) thy fearful symmetry3)? 04
In what distant deeps or sk ies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare4)
he aspire5)
?
What the hand dare seize the fire? 08
A nd what shoulder, and what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart6)
? A nd when thy heart began to beat,
What dread7) hand? and what dread feet? 12
What the hammer8)
In what furnace9) was they brain? What the anvil10)
? what dread grasp11)
Dare its deadly terrors clasp12)? 16
When the stars threw down their spears, A nd water'd heaven with their tears, Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the L amb mak e thee? 20
Tiger! Tiger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? 24
Vocabulary:
1) eternal, never-ending 2) was able to mak e
3) balance, quality of harmony (of perfection) 4) be brave enough to
5) be filled with high ambition
6) i.e. have the power to shape and fit them into place 7) fear
8) God creating the tiger is compared to a black smith creating from the furnace 9) enclosed space for heating metals
10) large, heavy block of iron on which a smith hammers heated metal into shape 11) dreadful hold
12) hold onto, grasp
Q uest ions:
01. Whom does t he poet apost r ophize in his poem?
02. What does Blake int end t o convey t hr ough his poem?
03. What does t he poet r ef er t o by lines 1—3?
04. What does t he poet mean by “t hy f ear f ul symmet r y”?
05. Whom does t he pr onoun “he” (line 7) r ef er t o? And what does it mean by t his
line?
06. What compar ison does t he poet t r y t o make in st anza f our ?
LESSON VI :
Theme and Subj ect - Mat t er
Poet r y and wor ds ar e in each ot her ' s pocket ; f or one t hing, it may make
ut most use wor ds as it s medium of expr ession. Regar dless of t heir old publicat ion,
Br ooks and War r en (1960:340) inf er r ing t he philosopher Geor ge Sant ayana say t hat
“wor ds inevit ably car r y wit h t hem some weight of idea”, and t his idea has a
r ecipr ocal link wit h moods. For t his, Br ooks and War r en (1960:341) exemplif y Keat s’
“Ode t o Aut umn”∗) in which no st at ement of idea is ex plicit ly ment ioned but “t he
gener al mood built up by t he r hyt hm and imager y” which “inevit ably leads t o a
cer t ain at t it ude t owar d lif e—t hat is, t o an idea, a t heme”. As a f inal point wit h
t his, t hey conclude t hat t he r elat ion bet ween idea and mood is “at t he r oot of all
poet r y”.
A. Theme and Subj ect - Mat t er
Kennedy (1982:3) pr oposes t hat t heme must be dist inguished f r om subj ect .
W her eas t heme is t he cent r al t hought of a poem, subj ect is it s cent r al t opic. To
illust r at e t his not ion in pr act ice, he uses Housman’s “Loveliest of Tr ees, The Cheer y
Now”.
Loveliest of Trees, the Cheery Now
(A.E. H ou sma n , 1859-1936 )L oveliest of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough, A nd stands about the woodland ride1)
Wearing white for E astertide.
Now, of my threescore2) years and ten, 05 Twenty will not come again,
A nd tak e from seventy springs a score3)
, It only leaves me fifty more.
A nd since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room, 10 A bout the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.
Vocabulary:
1) track 2) sixty 3) twenty
Her e, accor ding t o Kennedy, t he subj ect of t he poem is “cheer y blossom, or t he
need t o look at t hem” wher eas t he t heme is “Time f lies: enj oy beaut y now!” or it s
f avour it e Lat in ex pr ession:
car pe diem
(“seize t he day”).Even t hough similar , Babusci (et al) (1989:148) elabor at e t he t er m, “t heme is
t he gener al idea about lif e t hat is r evealed t hr ough t he st or y”, and t hey divide it
int o a st at ed t heme and unst at ed t heme. I n t he f or mer , t he poet / ess or his/ her
invent ed per sona declar es clear ly t he t heme. Again, Kennedy (1984:3) pr ovides a
good ex ample f or t his by asser t ing t hat Her r ick’s “To t he Vir gin, t o Make Much of
Time” explicit ly st at es t he t heme in it s opening line, “Gat her ye r osebuds while ye
may,” which he par aphr ases int o “enj oy love bef or e it is t oo lat e”, and again t his is a
f avour it e t heme employed f r om Hor ace t o Houseman which is f amiliar in it s Lat in
car pe diem
.To The Virgins,To Make Much Of Time
(Robert Herrick, 1591-1674 )
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying; A nd this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the Sun, 05 The higher he’s a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run, A nd nearer he’s to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer; 10 But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time; A nd while ye may, go marry;
For having lost but once your prime, 15 You may forever tarry1)
Vocabulary:
1) k eep on, persist inSadler (et al) (1989:1) opt t he t er m subj ect -mat t er f or subj ect and pur pose
or message of t he poet f or t heme. They also pr ovide a t ip-of f f or t he t er ms t hey
int r oduce. Subj ect -mat t er , accor ding t o t hem, has somet hing t o do wit h such a
quest ion as “what event , sit uat ion, or ex per ience does t he poem descr ibe or
r ecor d?”; pur pose or t heme, wit h “what is t he poet ’s pur pose in wr it ing t his—what
message does he or she want t o communicat e?” To demonst r at e how t hese ideas
wor k, t hey use “I t W as Long Ago” as an ex ample.
It Was Long Ago
(Eleanor F arjeon)
I’ll tell you, shall I, something I remember? Something that still means a great deal to me. It was long ago.
A dusty road in summer I remember, A mountain, and an old house, and a tree That stood, you k now
Behind the house. A nd old woman I remember, But then perhaps I was not more than three. It was long ago.
I dragged on the dusty road, and I remember How the old woman look ed over the fence at me A nd seemed to k now
How it felt to be three, and called out, I remember ‘Do you lik e bilberries and cream for tea?’ I went under the tree
A nd while she hummed, and the cat purred, I remember How she filled a saucer with berries and cream for me So long ago,
A nd that is almost all I can remember,
The house, the mountain, the grey cat on her k nee, Her red shawl, and the tree,
A nd the taste of the berries, the feel of the sun I remember, A nd the smell of everything that used to be
So long ago,
Till the heat on the road outside again I remember, A nd how the long dusty road seemed to have for me No end, you k now.
That is the farthest thing I can remember. It won’t mean much to you. It does to me. Then I grew up, you see.
Accor ding t o t hem, t he subj ect -mat t er of t he poem is t he poet ’s ear liest
memor y, which happened t o her when she was ar ound 3 year s old. While walking
along a dust y r oad, she saw an old lady sit t ing under a t r ee who, t hen, invit ed her
over and gave her bilber r ies and cr eam t o eat . She r egar ded it as a ‘f east ’ t hat she
always r ecalls wit h pleasur e. Concer ning wit h t he pur pose (t heme), t hey say t hat at
t he f ir st glance, t he poem does not show a ser ious pur pose. I t is simply t he
r ecor ding of an ear ly memor y. However , t he last line r eveals t hat it bear s
signif icance. The poet shows t hat t his simple, pleasant memor y means much t o her
because ‘t hen I gr ew up, you see’. This is a sor t of a r eminder which shows t hat
‘gr owing up’ is not always so pleasant . Gr owing up as an adult can be so dull t hat one
may no longer appr eciat e t he simple pleasur e of lif e.
To sum up, Reaske (1966:42) in
How t o Analyze Poet r y
af f ir ms t hat “t het heme is ... t he poet ’s r eason f or wr it ing t he poem in t he f ir st place” and “it is
usually an abst r act concept which becomes concr et e t hr ough t he idiom and
imager y”. The f ollowing poems demonst r at e how t heme and subj ect -mat t er ar e
Ex er cises
When I Was Young on an Island
(Diane K ahanu∗))When I was young on an island my brother caught gray baby shark s on his bamboo fishing pole1)
. When he’d catch a shark ,
he’d call the other k ids and 05
we’d come running with clubs2)
of driftwood3)
to beat the shark to death.
When I was young on an island my brother made moray eel4)
traps5)
10
of silver pineapple juice cans and a can opener, the k ind that mak es triangle holes. When he’d catch an eel, he’d give it to the
neighbor cat and we’d all watch 15
the tiger-striped cat tak e the eel out of the can
and eat it.
When we were young on Paik o Drive
in Kuli’ou’ou and we played war, 20
my brother invented the battle charge6)
. He’d wait for a hard wind to pick up the sand and just when the wind was strongest, he’d yell, “Charge,” and we’d run, head down, into a zillion7)
25 tiny bullets of stinging8) sand
hurled by the wind’s hand.
When we were young on an island my brother invented the jellyfish test. He was an A pache Indian9)
that day. 30
Tortured,10) he would not cry out. We caught see-through jellyfish in our hands and held them while they stung us. Whoever
cried out first or dropped their 35
jellyfish lost. I remember sink ing to my k nees with pain and finally
laying down in the cool shallow water. Only my burning jellyfish hand
held out. 40
Vocabulary:
1) a fishing rod; a long, thin stick with a long string and hook used to catch fish
2) heavy stick s used to hit people or things 3) wood floating on the ocean or left on the beach 4) a long, thin fish that look lik e a snak e 5) equipment used to catch fish or animals
6) an attack in which people move forward quick ly 7) (informal) an extremely large number
8) causing sudden and very bad pain
9) a Native A merican of the southwestern United Sates
10) hurt or injured on purpose
Q uest ions
01. Not ice how t he poem is divided int o f our st anzas. What game or act ivit y is
descr ibed in each st anza?
02. W her e does t he poem t ake place? How does t he locat ion inf luence t he games
and act ivit ies?
03. How is t he main “char act er ” in t he poem?
04. How is t he poet r elat ed t o t he main char act er ?
05. W hat ex amples or det ails ar e given about t he poet ? What inf er ences can you
make about her ?
06. W hat ex amples or det ails ar e given about t he poet ’s br ot her ? What inf er ences
can you make about him?
07. W hat examples or det ails ar e given about lif e on an island? W hat inf er ences
can you make about t he childr en’s lives?
08. Somet imes wr it er s use per sonif icat ion t o descr ibe a t hing or qualit y as if it
wer e a per son. Rer ead lines 22—27. W hat is t he poet descr ibing? What human
qualit ies does she give it ?
The Delight Song of Tsoai—Talee
1) (N. Scot t M omaday∗), 1934—)I am a father on the bright sk y
I am the glue horse that runs on the plain2) I am the fish that rolls, shining, in the water I am the shadow that follows a child I am the evening light, the lustre3)
of meadows4)
05 I am an eagle playing in the wind
I am a cluster5)
of bright beads I am the farthest star
I am the cold of the dawn I am the roaring of the rain 10 I am the glitter6)
on the crust7)
of the snow I am the long track8) of the moon in a lak e I am a flame of four colors
I am a deer standing away in the dusk9)
I am a field of sumac10) and the pomme blanche11) 15 I am an angle of geese in the winter sk y
I am the hunger of a young wolf I am the whole dream of these things
You see, I am alive, I am alive I stand in good relation12)
to the earth 20
I stand in good relation to the gods
I stand in good relation to all that is beautiful
I stand in good relation to the daughter of Tsen— tainte13) You see, I am alive, I am alive
Vocabulary:
1) Rock -tree boy (N.S. Mamaday’s Kiowa name) 2) a large area of flat land
3) brightness, shine
4) open areas of land with grass and flowers 5) a group of similar things that are close together 6) shine, small bits of bright light
7) the hard outer surface 8) a reflection
9) twilight, when daylight is disappearing 10) a k ind of tree or bush
11) (French) a white apple 12) in harmony with
13) White Horse
∗)
N . Scot t Momaday, bor n in Lawt on, Oklahoma, is a member of t he Kiowa nat ion which lived on t he sout her n plains of t he Unit ed St at es, bef or e being f or ced ont o r eser vat ions in t he middle and lat e ninet eent h cent ur y. Like many Nat ive Amer icans, t he Kiowa have used st or yt elling t o pass on t heir t r adit ions f or hundr eds of year s. Nat ive Amer icans consider wor ds ver y power f ul—so power f ul, in f act , t hat t hey can cr eat e and shape t he wor ld.
Q uest ions
01. The poem has t wo st anzas. W hich st anza has a nar r ower , mor e specif ic f ocus?
W hich st anza has a br oader , mor e gener al f ocus?
02. W hat subj ect pr onoun does t he poet use in t he f ir st par t ? What do you t hink
he is t alking t o?
03. W hat addit ional subj ect pr onoun does t he poet use in t he second par t ? What
do you t hink he is t alking t o?
04. W hat ver bs does t he poet r epeat in t he poem? Why do you t hink he r epeat s
t hem?
05. W hat kinds of it ems ar e list ed in t he poem? W hy do you t hink t hese it ems
have special meaning t o t he poet ?
06. W hat main idea or t heme do you t hink t he poet is t r ying t o expr ess? What
about t he subj ect -mat t er ?
07. Does his use of r epet it ion add emphasis t o t he main idea or t heme? Ex plain.
08. The poem cont ains images r elat ed t o t he f our basic element s: ear t h, air , f ir e,
and wat er . Complet e t he f ollowing char t wit h images f r om t he poem t hat
descr ibe each element .
Ear t h Air Fir e W at er
When Green Buds Hang in the Elm
1) (A.E. Housman, 1859-1936)When green buds hang in the elm lik e dust A nd sprink le2) the
