Mushrooms Sylvia Plath

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Mushrooms Sylvia Plath Overnight, very Whitely, discreetly, Very quietly Our toes, our noses Take hold on the loam, Acquire the air. Nobody sees us, Stops us, betrays us; The small grains make room.

2 Mushrooms Sylvia Plath Overnight, very Whitely, discreetly, Very quietly Our toes, our noses Take hold on the loam, Acquire the air. Nobody sees us, Stops us, betrays us; The small grains make room. Soft fists insist on Heaving the needles, The leafy bedding, Even the paving. Our hammers, our rams, Earless and eyeless, Perfectly voiceless, Widen the crannies, Shoulder through holes. We Diet on water, On crumbs of shadow, Bland-mannered, asking Little or nothing. So many of us! So many of us! We are shelves, we are Tables, we are meek, We are edible, Nudgers and shovers In spite of ourselves. Our kind multiplies: We shall by morning Inherit the earth. Our foot's in the door.

3 Vocabulary: loam rich moist soil rams thick, solid object for smashing through other objects crannies small, narrow openings/gaps bland-mannered unemotional in order not to upset anyone Context: Sylvia Plath was an American poet who had a very troubled existence. She never got over the death of her father (when she was 9) and struggled with depression her whole life. She attempted suicide at age 21. She was a promising writer and scholar and married famous American poet, Ted Hughes. Their marriage was problematic with him being unfaithful and abusive, and her severely depressed. Eventually she committed suicide by putting her head in a gas oven. Hughes s next wife killed herself in the same way. Much of her poetry is richly metaphoric. Content: This poem in narrated from the point of view of a mushroom. It describes how they are gentle and edible but are able to grow very quietly and unnoticed until they are incredibly numerous; ready to take over the world. Last stanza note: In Matthew 5:5 Jesus says, Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth Questions: 1. What is the narrative of the poem?(3) 2. Stanza one consists solely of six adverbs. What effect do they have on creating the mood of the poem?(2) 3. How is the character of the mushrooms described?(2) 4. How does the description of the movement/growth of the mushrooms develop through the poem?(2) 5. What is the significance of this?(2) 6. What does the repetition of so many of us prepare the read for?(1) 7. What does the phrase one foot in the door mean?(1) 8. Suggest three things that the mushrooms could be a metaphor for (3)

4 On his blindness John Milton 1 When I consider how my light is spent Spent: used up Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide, And that one Talent which is death to hide, Lodged with me useless, though my Soul more bent 5 To serve therewith my Maker, and present Talent: skill or ability, also ancient form of European currency Lodged: fixed Bent: determined My true account, lest he returning chide, Doth God exact day-labour, light deny'd? Returning: in reply Chide: to scold Exact: to demand I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent Fondly: foolishly That murmur, soon replies, God doth not need 10 Either man's work or his own gifts. Who best Bear his milde yoke, they serve him best. His State Yoke: burden Is Kingly: Thousands at his bidding speed Bidding: commands And post o'er Land and Ocean without rest; 14 They also serve who only stand and wait.

Notes man. Milton was a famous English poet who featured during the turbulent times of the English Revolution in 1649, one hundred and forty years before the French Revolution.

5 Notes man. Milton was a famous English poet who featured during the turbulent times of the English Revolution in 1649, one hundred and forty years before the French Revolution. He is best known for his grand-scale epic poem Paradise Lost, in which he skilfully and delicately details the workings of Creation as outlined in the book of Genesis. Milton was a very religious In this sonnet, the speaker meditates on the fact that he has become blind (Milton himself was blind when he wrote this). He expresses his frustration at being prevented by his disability from serving God as well as he desires to. He is answered by "Patience," (One of the fabled seven virtues of godly men) who tells him that God has many who hurry to do his bidding, and does not really need man s work. Rather, what is valued is the ability to bear God s "mild yoke," to tolerate whatever God asks faithfully and without complaint. As the famous last line sums it up, "They also serve who only stand and wait." Questions 1 Briefly discuss the literal and figurative meanings of light and spent in line 1. [2] 2 What are the two meanings of the word Talent in line 3? [2] 3 What is the true account to which Milton refers in line 6?[1] 4 Account for the change of tone between the octave and the sestet. [2] 5 What realization does the poet come to in the sestet? [2] 6 What is the meaning of the word yoke in the context of this poem? [1] /10/

April perfumes in three hot Junes burned, Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green.

6 William Shakespeare To me, fair friend, you never can be old, For as you were when first your eye I eyed, Such seems your beauty still. Three winters cold Have from the forests shook three summers' pride, Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turned In process of the seasons have I seen, Three April perfumes in three hot Junes burned, Since first I saw you fresh, which yet are green. Ah, yet doth beauty, like a dial-hand, Steal from his figure and no pace perceived; So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand, Hath motion and mine eye may be deceived: For fear of which, hear this, thou age unbred; Ere you were born was beauty's summer dead.

7 NOTES Sonnet 104 is one of 154 sonnets written by the legendary English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It's a member of a collection of poems (The Fair Youth Sequence) in which the poet expresses his love towards a young man. The youth does not seem to have grown older at all in the three years that the poet has known him, although age has come on none-the-less. If the youth's beauty has deteriorated, no beauty has ever equalled the youth's appearance, nor will anything in the future outshine his lovely visage. Questions: 1. Explain the statement in the first sentence. (lines 1-3). (1) 2. Why is the poet mentioning the seasons in the next six lines? (2) 3. Explain the use of figurative language in these lines. (3) 4. What is the poet s argument in the first two quatrains?(2) 5. Explain the simile used in the third quatrain. (2) 6. What point is being made about the fair friend s beauty in the rhyming couplet? (2) Vocabulary dial hand sun dial or clock steal move unnoticed hue complexion / skin shade age unbred generation still to be born ere - before Fair: attractive Eyed: saw Beauteous: beautiful Yet: still Dial-hand: referring to the face of a clock - time Steal: move slowly Perceived: known, noticed Hue: colour Methinks: I think Unbred: not yet born, not yet come

8 William Wordsworth William Wordsworth was one of the best-known English poets from the Romantic era ( ). Like many other Romantic writers, he saw in Nature an emblem of God or the Divine and his poetry often celebrates the beauty and spiritual values of the natural world. In the early 1800s, Wordsworth wrote several sonnets blasting what he perceived as "the decadent material cynicism of the time. The world is too much with us" is one of those works. It reflects his philosophy that humanity must get in touch with nature in order to progress spiritually. In this particular sonnet the poet contrasts Nature with the world of materialism and "making it." He sees people as being insensitive to the richness of Nature, and as a result may be forfeiting their souls. 1 The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! Boon: something to be thankful for 5 This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers; For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not. Great God! I'd rather be 10 A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; Pagan: irreligious or hedonistic person Creed: statement of religious belief So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Lea: open field/meadow Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Forlorn: abandoned Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Proteus: Ancient Greek sea god capable of taking many shapes 14 Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn. Triton: Another sea god, often depicted as trumpeting on a shell

9 Questions: 1. What type of sonnet is this? Give reasons.(2) 2. Why does the poet think that we are wasting our energy?(2) 3. How does the poet view mankind s attitude or relationship with the natural world?(2) 4. How does this attitude affect the poet? Quote from the poem to support your answer.(2) 5. What is the speaker s solution to his dilemma?(2) 6. How do the two mythological images contribute to the theme of the poem?(2) 7. What figure of speech is contained in? 7.1 late and soon 7.2 Nature 7.3 a sordid boon 7.4 bares her bosom 7.5 howling 7.6 like sleeping flowers 7.7 Great God! (addressed to someone who is not physically present) (7X1)(7) 8. Quote lines from the poem which represent 8.1 Wordsworth s description of man s unfeelingness (three examples.)(3) 8.2 Two beautiful natural elements.(2) 8.3 Two wonderful qualities suggested by the last two lines.(2) 8.4 One phrase that indicates the poet s doleful mood.(1) 9. What was the poet s intention in writing this poem? Did he succeed?(3) Notes: Composition and Publication...William Wordsworth is believed to have composed the poem in 1802, when the Industrial Revolution was in full flower. No doubt the materialism the revolution engendered was one of the reasons Wordsworth wrote the poem. He published it in 1807 as part of a collection, Poems in Two Volumes. Theme...Society is so bent on making and spending money in smoky factories and fastpaced business enterprises that it ignores the pristine glory of nature, which is a reflection of the divine. This is a universal theme that remains relevant in today's world.

10 Notes 1...late and soon: Our fixation on materialism has been a problem in the past and will continue to be a problem in the future. 2...sordid boon: shameful gain; tarnished blessing. This phrase is an oxymoron, a form of paradox that juxtaposes contradictory words. 3...suckled... outworn: Brought up in an outdated religion. 4...Proteus: In Greek mythology, a sea god who could change shape at will and who possessed complete knowledge of the past, present, and future. 5...Triton: In Greek mythology, a sea god who had the body of a man and the tail of a fish. He used a conch the spiral shell of a mollusk as a trumpet. Figures of Speech...Following are examples of figures of speech in the poem. Alliteration Line 1: The world is too much with us Line 2: we lay waste our powers Line 4: We have given our hearts away Line 5: bares her bosom Line 6: The winds that will be howling MetaphorLine 4: We have given our hearts away Comparison of hearts to attention or concern or to enthusiasm or life Line 10: suckled in a creed outworn Comparison of creed to a mother nursing her child OxymoronLine 4: sordid boon. (See number 2 under Notes.)PersonificationLine 5: The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon Comparison of the sea to a woman and of the moon to a person who sees the woman SimileLines 6-7: The winds that will be howling at all hours,...and are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers...comparison of the winds to flowers

Mending Wall Robert Frost "Mending Wall" is a metaphorical poem written in blank verse, published in 1914, by Robert Frost (1874 1963).

11 Mending Wall Robert Frost "Mending Wall" is a metaphorical poem written in blank verse, published in 1914, by Robert Frost ( ). The poem appeared in Frost's second collection of poetry, North of Boston. It is set in the countryside and is about one man questioning why he and his neighbour must rebuild the stone wall dividing their farms each spring. It is perhaps best known for its line spoken by the neighbour: "Good fences make good neighbours." The poem's narrator displays a disdain for the expression and the walls erected between people, and yet he also shows a grudging acceptance (albeit sadly) of the line's truth in its application to human relationships. The line is listed by the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations as a mid 17th century proverb, which was given a boost in the American consciousness due to its prominence in the poem. 1 Something there is that doesn't love a wall, That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it, And spills the upper boulders in the sun; And makes gaps even two can pass abreast. Abreast: alongside 5 The work of hunters is another thing: I have come after them and made repair Where they have left not one stone on a stone, But they would have the rabbit out of hiding, To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean, 10 No one has seen them made or heard them made, But at spring mending-time we find them there. I let my neighbour know beyond the hill; And on a day we meet to walk the line And set the wall between us once again. 15 We keep the wall between us as we go. To each the boulders that have fallen to each. And some are loaves and some so nearly balls We have to use a spell to make them balance: 'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!' 20 We wear our fingers rough with handling them.

Oh, just another kind of outdoor game, One on a side. It comes to little more: There where it is we do not need the wall: He is all pine and I am apple orchard.

12 Oh, just another kind of outdoor game, One on a side. It comes to little more: There where it is we do not need the wall: He is all pine and I am apple orchard. 25 My apple trees will never get across And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him. He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbours.' Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder If I could put a notion in his head: 30 'Why do they make good neighbours? Isn't it Where there are cows? But here there are no cows. Before I built a wall I'd ask to know What I was walling in or walling out, And to whom I was like to give offence. 35 Something there is that doesn't love a wall, That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him, Elves: Mythical woodland creatures But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather He said it for himself. I see him there Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top 40 In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed. Savage: brutal, uncivilized person He moves in darkness as it seems to me, Not of woods only and the shade of trees. He will not go behind his father's saying, And he likes having thought of it so well 45 He says again, 'Good fences make good neighbours.'

Introduction The speaker shows how the walls, which are built to separate the neighbouring farms, fall down in the winter time, even though no-one sees them doing so, and it is difficult to find an

However, the neighbour feels that a wall is necessary, for there has always been one. If a wall was felt to be necessary in his father s day, then it is just as necessary today.

13 Introduction The speaker shows how the walls, which are built to separate the neighbouring farms, fall down in the winter time, even though no-one sees them doing so, and it is difficult to find an explanation for their falling. Each spring he and his neighbour meet to rebuild the wall,, yet it is not necessary, for there are no cattle to be kept in or out. However, the neighbour feels that a wall is necessary, for there has always been one. If a wall was felt to be necessary in his father s day, then it is just as necessary today. Commentary There are two very different types of people in this poem. There is the speaker, a modern man, a man who has progressed into the age in which he lives. He takes nothing for granted. Instead he asks questions. He wants to know why things are done. What makes people believe in the way they do? He is not prepared to do something because it has always been done this way. However, the neighbour who lives over the other side of the hill is the very opposite. He believes that what was good enough for his father is good enough for him. If his father said that a wall was necessary then a wall is still necessary. He is not prepared to review situations, to ask whether circumstances have changed, to investigate the changing conditions and move according to the time in which he lives. Robert frost is looking at two cultures. The man who moves with the times and the man who refuses to move forward at all. The neighbour is set in his way as if he were still living in the Stone Age. Notice the irony here, for the wall is made of the same stones that would have composed a wall in the Stone Age period. There is humour used to emphasise the silliness of the neighbour s insistence on the wall. This is clear in lines where the speaker points out that apple trees cannot get up and walk across to the other side of the wall in order to eat pine cones which have fallen from the neighbours trees. The situation is ironical because the wall, which seems to have been erected for practical reasons was in reality, was erected for impractical ones. There is no need for a wall, for there s nothing when needs fencing in or out. It seems to the speaker that the elements realise this, for they regularly break down the wall, as do the huntsmen. However, the neighbour is not happy without the wall, so it is re-erected each year, only to be broken down again. Notice the irony in the fact that it is only re-erected in the spring, so we assume that for the rest of the

14 year, the wall is allowed to lie there where it has fallen, an no one is worried. The fact of repairing seems to be more of a principle than a necessity. Frost uses the wall as his symbol for the barrier that prevents some men from communicating with their fellows. Ironically, the apparently constructive act or repairing a damaged wall results in communication, but it is then destroyed by the wall. Such a barrier between men is unnatural and abhorrent. Frosts tone is conversational, his style colloquial. This is appropriate in view of the rural setting and homely activities describes in the poem. Frost offers a gentle condemnation of the mentality of a man who will base his behaviour on a saying which he accepts blindly, without attempting to understand it. The stubborn, frustrating obtuseness of Frost s neighbour is effectively conveyed be the repetition of the phrase Good fences make good neighbours. Questions: 1. What appears in the wall without anyone seeing or hearing? 2. Why do the speaker and his neighbour meet? 3. What kind of trees does the speaker own? 4. What would the speaker ask before he built a wall? 5. What does the speaker s neighbour say to him? 6. What does the wall symbolize? 7. What do the positions of the speaker and the neighbour as they mend the wall symbolize? 8. Who is the protagonist of the poem? 9. Who is the antagonist? 10. What does the antagonist do in opposition to the protagonist? 11. The speaker says, Something there is that doesn t love a wall. What doesn t? Which character makes an attempt at friendship? How does he make this attempt? What is ironic about the wall? 12. Why might the neighbour want to have a wall where one is not absolutely necessary? What does the neighbour s desire for a wall tell you about him? 13. How does the neighbour look, according to the speaker? What reveals that the speaker doesn t totally trust his neighbour? 14. Considering the relationship, who makes a better neighbour and why?

A look at a relationship with someone special It is better to be together Ruth Miller

A look at a relationship with someone special It is better to be together Ruth Miller Ruth Miller was a South African poet. Born in 1919 in Uitenhage she grew up in the northern Transvaal and spent her