Full Moon and Little Frieda

Ted Hughes Background Frieda, the daughter of poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, was about two when the poem was written and the family were living in the countryside of Devon in England, near Dartmoor. t that age, the little girl would have been ta!ing delight in trying out new words. Students should consider the following points in their presentations Main idea of the poem " this can be stated briefly and then e#plored through the following aspects Poet`s description of setting The use of the senses " this is rich and reflects the alertness of the little child. How has the poet achieved this through the entire poem$ Imagery " similes, metaphors and personification. The poem is rich in imagery. %n what way does this reflect the child&s way of seeing the world$ %dentify some of the most stri!ing images " such as the description of the cows. 'hat are the different ways the poet has described them( how does this reflect the child&s view of the world$ Suggest that groups draw or find pictures of these images to illustrate to the class. Characters and relationships " there&s a relatively complicated relationship with the personified moon described at the end of the poem. How does this illustrate the child&s relationship with the universe and with the poet$ Thin! very carefully about the image of the artist ga)ing at his wor!. Structure " irregular, free verse structure. How might this reflect the young girl*s way of loo!ing at the world$ Repetition " of sounds+ alliteration, assonance and the overall consonance. 'hat is the effect$ The opening line is particularly stri!ing for its sounds+ how and to what effect$ re any !ey words repeated$ 'hy do you thin! this is and what is the effect$ The overall tone or emotion of the poem . ,oo!ing at the poem as a whole, what is the general feeling of it$ %s it a happy or a sad poem( is there a sense of wonder and peace in the poem$

On the Grasshopper and the Cricket

John eats

Background -eats was born in England in ./01 and died of tuberculosis when he was 2ust 31, by which time he had composed an astonishing amount of powerful poetry. This particular sonnet was written when he was 3.. %t is in the Petrarchan or %talian form of the sonnet with an octave 4here 5uite clearly divided into two 5uatrains6 and a sestet, without a rhyming couplet at the end. ,i!e 7ilton, who also used this form, he wrote sonnets about many different sub2ects, not specifically, as early sonnet writers tended to, about love. The poem was written as a response to a sort of competition between himself and his great friend, ,eigh Hunt, as to who could write the best verse, in a short time, on a specified topic. -eats won on this occasion, although he generously avowed that he preferred the other poet*s attempt. The structure of this poem is e#tremely important. Students need to count the syllables of each line and wor! out very carefully the rhyme scheme. This is a Petrarchan sonnet, lines .,8,1 and 9 rhyme with each other. The word dead, for e#ample, would have been pronounced with more northern English accent, perhaps more similar to modern Scots. s the rhyme scheme changes there will be some small shifts in tone and meaning. This especially apparent between lines 9 and 0. This shift is reflected in the layout of the lines( they seem to wal! across the page " what is the effect of this$ Meter of the poem is important " rhythm and pauses+ students need to practise a reading to subtly emphasise the natural pauses and stresses. This is a very finely wrought poem so we can fairly assume the poet has made no mista!es with his intentions. Su!"ect+ what is the difference between a grasshopper and a cric!et$ %t&s related to the time of day they are most active+ how is this reflected in the poem and why do you thin! the poet has chosen this sub2ect$ Tone and mood " there are two distinct moods in the poem. Students should identify them, e#plain the diction which has evo!ed them and then e#plain the effect of the 2u#taposition. They may be guided by the contrast of :hot sun;, with :the frost;. Repetition and sound " this is an e#tremely rich aspect of this beautiful poem. The first lines of the octave and sestet mirror each other. 'het effect does this have and why has -eats changed line nine slightly$ 'hat is the effect of the alliterative consonants 4for e#ample, :faint with the hot sun;6 and the assonance of the vowels 4:hide in cooling trees;6$ There are some sounds which reflect the sound of the grasshopper and we hear these in the closing line of the poem. Perhaps that has an effect of circularity " why is this$ ,oo! for as many stri!ing sound features as possible and try and e#plain their effects. <verall, what is the effect of the poem$ 'hat !ind of sentiment is -eats trying to communicate and has he done a good 2ob$

The Flower-Fed Buffaloes #achel $indsay Background =achel ,indsay was born in .9/0 in %llinois, >S . He often sold his poetry on the streets and made long wal!ing e#peditions, trading his poetry on the way in e#change for food and lodging. $ine %+ %t is hard to estimate how many buffalo once roamed ?orth merica but it is thought that there would have been between @A and /1 million. By the time ,indsay was writing there were about @AA. $ine &+ the first railroad in the area was the %llinois and Central Dailroad chartered in .91.. The construction of the railroad hastened the depletion of the buffaloes. Shooting the beast from the windows of the railroad by passengers was popular and widely advertised. $ine %'+ Blackfeet and Pawnees are two merican native tribes. The population of the Pawnees in the early nineteenth century was about twenty to twentyEfive thousand, but it declined rapidly in the later part of the nineteenth century mostly because of smallpo# and cholera, but also through falling prey to traditional enemies. Sound is e#tremely important in this poem. 7uch ,indsay&s poetry was written for the voice and he presented most of his poem orally. 'hat are the dominant sounds in this poem and are there any patterns of sound$ <nce you&ve found these sounds and patterns try and e#plain what you thin! the effect of this techni5ue is. Does it emphasise any aspect of the poem$ Setting is vividly created in the opening four lines. Together with the dominant sounds in these lines 4 a sibilant :ess; and an almost recumbent :oh;6 what scene is being created and what is the emotion felt by the poet$ t the end of the third line thereFs a slightly discordant clashing of ess sounds, which contrasts with the more poised concord of sounds in the first two lines. %dentify this and e#plain what the effect is. %s the season important in any way$ Su!"ect and theme " concerned with the passing of time and the loss of habitat. How does the poet evo!e these ideas and what is the tone of his comment$ 'hat are the words used to describe the buffaloes$ How effectively and completely do you thin! the poet has captured their character in the poem$ Repetition " related also to sound but important by itself. There seems to be a slight shift in the meaning of the idea to :lie low;. 'hat is the conte#t of this and how does that meaning shift from line 8 to the last three lines of the poem$ General comment on the poem can perhaps relate to the idea of development and human intrusion into wild habitats and environments. 'hat is the poet&s comment and what do you thin! of it$ Could you use any visual stimuli to help show this$

So, Well Go o More !-"o#in$ $ord Byron Background

George Gordon Byron was born in ./99 and became ,ord Byron on the death of his father in ./09. He is often thought of as the Hbad boyH of English Domantic poetry. The poem is based on the si#teenthEcentury sea shanty IThe 7aid of msterdam*. %n many versions of the song, the words are rather ris5uJ. Byron*s poem was included in a letter to a friend and fellow reveller, Thomas 7oore. 'I feel anxious to hear from you, even more than usual, because you last indicated that you were unwell. At present, I am on the invalid regimen myself. he !arnival " that is, the latter part of it " and sitting up late o#nights, had knocked me up a little. But it is over, and it is now $ent, with all its abstinence and %acred &usic. ' he mumming closed with a masked ball at the 'enice, where I went, as also to most of the ridottos etc. etc. and though I did not dissipate much upon the whole, yet I find the (sword wearing out the scabbard), though I have but *ust turned the corner of twenty+nine.' The opening (ord of the poem lin!s bac! to a te#t which is not presented with the poem, this gives a sense of conversation, a light, informal tone and a sense of continuation. The meter and rhyme are particularly stri!ing in their simplicity. The fact that is this a poem with its roots in sea shanties is something that resonates through the three stan)as. This is a poem that could easily be sung " and you may wish to do so( it would certainly help the audience get a clearer idea of the mood of the poemK %mportantly, we must consider what the effects of this structure and mood are on the poem. Can you find out anything about sea shanties$ The structure of the poem is regular+ three 5uatrains with a regular rhyme scheme " what is the rhyme scheme and what are its effects on the mood of the poem$ %f it is particularly simple does this say something about the content of the poem$ The meter is also very regular and simple. Lou should count the number syllables in a each line, do this very carefully, and see if at any point there are any irregularities. %f, for e#ample, there is one line with fewer syllables than you might e#pect you can assume this was something intended by the poet. %f so, where is this line, or lines, and what is the effect of this$ %n terms of the content of the poem, what are the important and stri!ing features$ How is time presented for e#ample$ %s this related to the theme at all$ The tone of this poem is alsAo very important. This is related to the form of the sea shanty, and seems to mi# a carefree attitude with some resignation, selfEcriticism and even regret. There are other ad2ectives which you may use to describe this+ you must try and e#plain how these tones are achieved and what they say about the theme of the poem and even the poet himself. )inally* ho( does this poem make you feel $ This is a more complicated 5uestion than you might thin!.

Sonnet %& +li,a!eth Barrett Bro(ning

Background
Eli)abeth Barrett*s love affair with the poet Dobert Browning against the will of her father is well documented. The strength of her love is well evo!ed by the collection of sonnets she wrote entitled %onnets from the Portuguese of which this is number 8@. She had health problems from an early age and was deeply upset by the death of her brother, Edward, who was !illed in a sailing accident. Because of these factors and the strictness of her father, she became very reclusive. She did, however, write poems, one of which praising a wor! by Dobert Browning caught the latter*s attention and led to a correspondence between them. This, in turn, led to a strong and lasting love between them which had to remain secret at first because of her father*s opposition. The collection of sonnets was published in .91A, four years after the two lovers eloped together. 'e can assume that :my old griefs; and :my lost Saints; refer to her childhood bereavements. The form of the poem is e#tremely important. This is a sonnet, of the Petrarchan form. Lou should wor! out the rhyme scheme and the meter very carefully indeed. For this you will need to ascribe letters to the rhyming sounds at the end of the lines. Lou&ll notice a pattern. 'e must remember that there are many different accents and differences in pronunciation of certain words in English and so we need to accept that the poet in this case intended :ways; to rhyme with :Grace;. In terms of content the opening line is stri!ing. 'hat is the effect of this line and what tone does it establish$ catalogue of emotions is introduced in the poem, enumerating the ways the poet loves her partner+ count these and write them down and see if there are any patterns or a trend of any sort. Lou may wish to loo!, for e#ample, at dimensions in ,3 and e#plain the effect of the repeated ampersand+ what does this emphasise$ 'ith reference to these dimensions, what does :out of sight; emphasise$ The reference in ,8 is important+ why has the poet used capital letters 4in one respect, this was a =ictorian tradition6( what is being referred to here( is it some physical or nonEphysical$ 'hat are the connotations of these nouns in line 8$ ?ow you have written down all the ways the poet loves her partner you should analyse them and loo! at the differences between them. There is certainly a stri!ing contrast between lines 8 and 1+ what does this suggest about the poet&s love$ ,oo! at the adverbs in lines / and 9 and try and e#plain what they say about the poet&s love. There is a clear difference in the rhyme scheme in the last si# lines and this serves in the case of this poem to convey a sense of clima#. E#plain in detail how this is achieved.