POEMS FROM DEAD POETS SOCIETY Directions: Read and annotate each poem, and answer the questions that follow. Please use complete sentences. To the Virgins, Make Much of Time by Robert Herrick Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old time is still a-flying, And this same flower that smiles today, To-morrow will be dying. The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, The higher he s a-getting, The sooner will his race be run, And nearer he s to setting. That age is best which is the first, When youth and blood are warmer; But being spent, the worse and worst Times still succeed the former. Then be not coy, but use your time, and while ye may, go marry; For having lost just once your prime, You may for ever tarry. 1. Who is the speaker speaking to? What is the message that is being sent? How do you know? Explain with examples. 2. List three poetic devices used in this poem and give an example of each. (You may use your poetry terms sheet to help with this.) 1. 2. 3. 3. Is this good poetry? Use your critical know-how and explain with examples. 4. Why was this poem in the movie? Explain with examples.
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair; And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, And I- I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference. 1. What message does the speaker have for readers in this poem? How do you know? Explain with examples. 2. What contradictions do you notice in this poem? Explain. 3. Where are there shifts in time? What purpose does this serve? 4. Is this good poetry? Use your critical know-how and explain with examples. 5. Why was this poem in the movie? Explain with examples.
Excerpt from Walden Henry David Thoreau I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear, nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion. For most men, it appears to me, are in a strange uncertainty about it, whether it is of the devil or of God, and have somewhat hastily concluded that it is the chief end of man here to glorify God and enjoy him forever. 1. This is not a poem, per se, but a piece of an essay. What similarities, however, does it share with poetry? Explain with examples. 2. List three literary devices used in this essay and give an example of each. (You may use your poetry terms sheet to help with this; believe it or not, some of the terms apply to prose as well!.) 1. 2. 3. 3. As a critic, do you find this to be a good piece of literature? Explain with examples. 4. Why was this piece in the movie? Explain with examples.
Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare Shall I compare thee to a summer s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer s lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm d; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature s changing course untrimm d; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee. 1. What does the speaker in this poem say about love and growing old? How do you know? Explain with examples. 2. What does Shakespeare mean by But thy eternal summer shall not fade? 3. What is the this referred to in the last line? 4. What is the definition of a sonnet? Does this poem fit? 5. Why might Death be capitalized? 6. Is this good poetry? Use your critical know-how and explain with examples. 7. Where is there a shift in the poem? 8. Why was this poem in the movie? Explain with examples.
She Walks In Beauty by Lord Byron She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes: Thus mellow d to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies. One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impair d the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress, Or softly lightens o er her face; Where thoughts serenely sweet express How pure, how dear, their dwelling-place. And on that cheek, and o er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that glow, But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent! 1. What does the woman look like who is being described in this poem? How do you know? Explain with examples. 2. List three poetic devices used in this poem and give an example of each. (You may use your poetry terms sheet to help with this.) 1. 2. 3. 3. Is this good poetry? Use your critical know-how and explain with examples. 4. Why was this poem in the movie? Explain with examples.
From: A Midsummer Night s Dream by William Shakespeare PUCK : If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumber'd here While these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme, No more yielding but a dream, Gentles, do not reprehend: if you pardon, we will mend: And, as I am an honest Puck, If we have unearned luck Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue, We will make amends ere long; Else the Puck a liar call; So, good night unto you all. Give me your hands, if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends. 1. This is a piece of a play; it is, in fact, the conclusion. Why might the playwright have chosen to end his play this way? (What is the passage saying?) What does this tell you about the content of the rest of the play? Explain with examples. 2. What is the rhyme scheme of this poem? What is the meter? Who is Puck speaking to? 3. Is this good poetry? Use your critical know-how and explain with examples. 4. Why was this poem in the movie? Explain with examples.