Laurent Laurie, Stohs Heidi. Poetry for students. Volume 18

301 Pages·2.565 MB·English

by  Allison Susan, Hood Jennifer, Kearney Ann, St.

Poetry
for Students
National Advisory Board
Susan Allison: Head Librarian, Lewiston High sity of Detroit, 1967 (magna cum laude);
School, Lewiston, Maine. Standards Committee M.L.S., University of Missouri–Columbia, l974.
Chairperson for Maine School Library (MASL) Volunteer Project Leader for a school in rural
Programs. Board member, Julia Adams Morse Jamaica; volunteer with Adult Literacy pro-
Memorial Library, Greene, Maine. Advisor to grams.
Lewiston Public Library Planning Process.
Laurie St. Laurent:Head of Adult and Children’s
Jennifer Hood:Young Adult/Reference Librarian, Services, East Lansing Public Library, East
Cumberland Public Library, Cumberland, Lansing, Michigan, 1994–. M.L.S. from West-
Rhode Island. Certified teacher, Rhode Island. ern Michigan University. Chair of Michigan
Member of the New England Library Associa- Library Association’s 1998 Michigan Summer
tion, Rhode Island Library Association, and the Reading Program; Chair of the Children’s
Rhode Island Educational Media Association. Services Division in 2000–2001; and Vice-
President of the Association in 2002–2003.
Ann Kearney: Head Librarian and Media Spe-
Board member of several regional early child-
cialist, Christopher Columbus High School, Mi-
hood literacy organizations and member of the
ami, Florida, 1982–2002. Thirty-two years as
Library of Michigan Youth Services Advisory
Librarian in various educational institutions
Committee.
ranging from grade schools through graduate
programs. Library positions at Miami-Dade Heidi Stohs: Instructor in Language Arts, grades
Community College, the University of Miami’s 10–12, Solomon High School, Solomon,
Medical School Library, and Carrollton School Kansas. Received B.S. from Kansas State Uni-
in Coconut Grove, Florida. B.A. from Univer- versity; M.A. from Fort Hays State University.
Table of Contents
Guest Foreword
“Just a Few Lines on a Page”
by David J. Kelly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Literary Chronology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix
60
(by Rabindranath Tagore) . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Author Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Poem Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Poem Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Critical Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Address to the Angels
(by Maxine Kumin) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Author Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Poem Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Critical Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
v
T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s
The Afterlife Critical Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
(by Billy Collins) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Author Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Poem Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Poem Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 The Garden Shukkei-en
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 (by Carolyn Forché) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Author Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Poem Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Critical Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Poem Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
The Continuous Life
Critical Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
(by Mark Strand) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Author Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Poem Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Poem Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
The Greatest Grandeur
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
(by Pattiann Rogers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Author Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Poem Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Critical Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Poem Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
The Country Without a Post Office Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
(by Agha Shahid Ali) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Critical Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Author Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Poem Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Poem Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 The Last Question
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 (by Dorothy Parker) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Author Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Critical Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Poem Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
The Darkling Thrush
Critical Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
(by Thomas Hardy) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Author Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Poem Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Poem Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Midnight Verses
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
(by Anna Akhmatova) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Author Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Poem Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Critical Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Duration Critical Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
(by Octavio Paz) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Author Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Poem Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Poem Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 New Rule
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 (by Anne Carson) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Author Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Poem Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
v i P o e t r y f o r S t u d e n t s
T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 Critical Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Critical Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Temple Bells Die Out
Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 (by Matsuo Basho¯) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Author Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Poem Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Song of Reasons
Poem Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
(by Robert Pinsky) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Author Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Poem Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Critical Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Critical Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
To an Unknown Poet
Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
(by Carolyn Kizer) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Author Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Spring-Watching Pavilion Poem Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
(by Ho Xuan Huong) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Poem Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Author Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Poem Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Poem Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Critical Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
Historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Cumulative Author/Title Index . . . . . . . . . 261
Cumulative Nationality/Ethnicity
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Subject/Theme Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Cumulative Index of First Lines . . . . . . . . 279
Cumulative Index of Last Lines . . . . . . . . 285
V o l u m e 1 8 v i i
Just a Few Lines on a Page
I have often thought that poets have the easi- tually travel to different times and different cul-
est job in the world. A poem, after all, is just a few tures, but the poems get into our minds, they find
lines on a page, usually not even extending margin what little we know about the places they are talk-
to margin—how long would that take to write, ing about, and then they make that little bit blos-
about five minutes? Maybe ten at the most, if you som into a bouquet of someone else’s life. Poets
wanted it to rhyme or have a repeating meter. Why, make us think we are following simple, specific
I could start in the morning and produce a book of events, but then they leave ideas in our heads that
poetry by dinnertime. But we all know that it isn’t cannot be found on the printed page. Abracadabra.
that easy. Anyone can come up with enough words,
Sometimes when you finish a poem it doesn’t
but the poet’s job is about writing the right ones.
feel as if it has left any supernatural effect on you,
The right words will change lives, making people
like it did not have any more to say beyond the ac-
see the world somewhat differently than they saw
tual words that it used. This happens to everybody,
it just a few minutes earlier. The right words can
but most often to inexperienced readers: regardless
make a reader who relies on the dictionary for
of what is often said about young people’s infinite
meanings take a greater responsibility for his or her
capacity to be amazed, you have to understand what
own personal understanding. A poem that is put on
usually does happen, and what could have hap-
the page correctly can bear any amount of analy-
pened instead, if you are going to be moved by
sis, probing, defining, explaining, and interrogat-
what someone has accomplished. In those cases in
ing, and something about it will still feel new the
which you finish a poem with a “So what?” atti-
next time you read it.
tude, the information provided in Poetry for Stu-
It would be fine with me if I could talk about dentscomes in handy. Readers can feel assured that
poetry without using the word “magical,” because the poems included here actually are potent magic,
that word is overused these days to imply “a really not just because a few (or a hundred or ten thou-
good time,” often with a certain sweetness about it, sand) professors of literature say they are: they’re
and a lot of poetry is neither of these. But if you significant because they can withstand close in-
stop and think about magic—whether it brings to spection and still amaze the very same people who
mind sorcery, witchcraft, or bunnies pulled from have just finished taking them apart and seeing how
top hats—it always seems to involve stretching re- they work. Turn them inside out, and they will still
ality to produce a result greater than the sum of its be able to come alive, again and again. Poetry for
parts and pulling unexpected results out of thin air. Students gives readers of any age good practice in
This book provides ample cases where a few sim- feeling the ways poems relate to both the reality of
ple words conjure up whole worlds. We do not ac- the time and place the poet lived in and the reality
i x
F o r e w o r d
of our emotions. Practice is just another word for with one hand, while the other hand pulls some sort
being a student. The information given here helps of trick that most of us will never fully understand.
you understand the way to read poetry; what to look I can’t even pack all that I need for a weekend into
for, what to expect. one suitcase, so what would be my chances of stuff-
With all of this in mind, I really don’t think I ing so much life into a few lines? With all that Po-
would actually like to have a poet’s job at all. There etry for Students tells us about each poem, I am
are too many skills involved, including precision, impressed that any poet can finish three or four po-
honesty, taste, courage, linguistics, passion, com- ems a year. Read the inside stories of these poems,
passion, and the ability to keep all sorts of people and you won’t be able to approach any poem in the
entertained at once. And that is just what they do same way you did before.
David J. Kelly
College of Lake County
x P o e t r y f o r S t u d e n t s
Introduction
Purpose of the Book poem. A unique feature of PfS is a specially com-
missioned critical essay on each poem, targeted to-
The purpose of Poetry for Students(PfS) is to
ward the student reader.
provide readers with a guide to understanding, en-
joying, and studying poems by giving them easy To further aid the student in studying and en-
access to information about the work. Part of Gale’s joying each poem, information on media adapta-
“For Students” Literature line, PfS is specifically tions is provided (if available), as well as reading
designed to meet the curricular needs of high school suggestions for works of fiction and nonfiction on
and undergraduate college students and their teach- similar themes and topics. Classroom aids include
ers, as well as the interests of general readers and ideas for research papers and lists of critical sources
researchers considering specific poems. While each that provide additional material on the poem.
volume contains entries on “classic” poems fre-
quently studied in classrooms, there are also entries Selection Criteria
containing hard-to-find information on contempo- The titles for each volume of PfSwere selected
rary poems, including works by multicultural, in- by surveying numerous sources on teaching litera-
ternational, and women poets. ture and analyzing course curricula for various
The information covered in each entry includes school districts. Some of the sources surveyed in-
an introduction to the poem and the poem’s author; cluded: literature anthologies; Reading Lists for
the actual poem text (if possible); a poem summary, College-Bound Students: The Books Most Recom-
to help readers unravel and understand the mean- mended by America’s Top Colleges; textbooks on
ing of the poem; analysis of important themes in teaching the poem; a College Board survey of po-
the poem; and an explanation of important literary ems commonly studied in high schools; and a Na-
techniques and movements as they are demon- tional Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
strated in the poem. survey of poems commonly studied in high schools.
In addition to this material, which helps the Input was also solicited from our advisory
readers analyze the poem itself, students are also board, as well as educators from various areas.
provided with important information on the liter- From these discussions, it was determined that each
ary and historical background informing each volume should have a mix of “classic” poems
work. This includes a historical context essay, a (those works commonly taught in literature classes)
box comparing the time or place the poem was writ- and contemporary poems for which information is
ten to modern Western culture, a critical overview often hard to find. Because of the interest in ex-
essay, and excerpts from critical essays on the panding the canon of literature, an emphasis was
x i
I n t r o d u c t i o n
also placed on including works by international, of the time in which the work was written. If the
multicultural, and women poets. Our advisory poem is a historical work, information regard-
board members—educational professionals— ing the time in which the poem is set is also in-
helped pare down the list for each volume. If a work cluded. Each section is broken down with
was not selected for the present volume, it was of- helpful subheads.
ten noted as a possibility for a future volume. As
• Critical Overview: this section provides back-
always, the editor welcomes suggestions for titles
ground on the critical reputation of the poem,
to be included in future volumes.
including bannings or any other public contro-
versies surrounding the work. For older works,
How Each Entry Is Organized
this section includes a history of how the poem
Each entry, or chapter, in PfS focuses on one was first received and how perceptions of it may
poem. Each entry heading lists the full name of the have changed over the years; for more recent
poem, the author’s name, and the date of the
poems, direct quotes from early reviews may
poem’s publication. The following elements are
also be included.
contained in each entry:
• Criticism:an essay commissioned by PfSwhich
• Introduction: a brief overview of the poem
specifically deals with the poem and is written
which provides information about its first ap-
specifically for the student audience, as well as
pearance, its literary standing, any controversies
excerpts from previously published criticism on
surrounding the work, and major conflicts or
the work (if available).
themes within the work.
• Sources:an alphabetical list of critical material
• Author Biography: this section includes basic
used in compiling the entry, with full biblio-
facts about the poet’s life, and focuses on events
graphical information.
and times in the author’s life that inspired the
• Further Reading: an alphabetical list of other
poem in question.
critical sources which may prove useful for the
• Poem Text:when permission has been granted,
student. It includes full bibliographical infor-
the poem is reprinted, allowing for quick refer-
mation and a brief annotation.
ence when reading the explication of the fol-
lowing section. In addition, each entry contains the following high-
lighted sections, set apart from the main text as
• Poem Summary: a description of the major
sidebars:
events in the poem. Summaries are broken down
with subheads that indicate the lines being dis- • Media Adaptations:if available, a list of audio
cussed. recordings as well as any film or television adap-
tations of the poem, including source informa-
• Themes: a thorough overview of how the ma-
tion.
jor topics, themes, and issues are addressed
within the poem. Each theme discussed appears • Topics for Further Study: a list of potential
in a separate subhead and is easily accessed study questions or research topics dealing with
through the boldface entries in the Subject/ the poem. This section includes questions re-
Theme Index. lated to other disciplines the student may be
studying, such as American history, world his-
• Style: this section addresses important style el-
ements of the poem, such as form, meter, and tory, science, math, government, business, ge-
rhyme scheme; important literary devices used, ography, economics, psychology, etc.
such as imagery, foreshadowing, and symbol- • Compare and Contrast:an “at-a-glance” com-
ism; and, if applicable, genres to which the work parison of the cultural and historical differences
might have belonged, such as Gothicism or Ro- between the author’s time and culture and late
manticism. Literary terms are explained within twentieth century or early twenty-first century
the entry, but can also be found in the Glossary. Western culture. This box includes pertinent
• Historical Context:this section outlines the so- parallels between the major scientific, political,
cial, political, and cultural climate in which the and cultural movements of the time or place the
author lived and the poem was created.This sec- poem was written, the time or place the poem
tion may include descriptions of related histor- was set (if a historical work), and modern West-
ical events, pertinent aspects of daily life in the ern culture. Works written after 1990 may not
culture, and the artistic and literary sensibilities have this box.
x i i P o e t r y f o r S t u d e n t s