Poetry for Students, Volume 33

380 Pages·2010·4.103 MB·English

by  Constantakis, Sara(Editor)

PoetryforStudents,Volume33–Finals/2/5/2010 12:22 Page1
POETRY
for Students
PoetryforStudents,Volume33–Finals/2/5/2010 12:22 Page2
Advisors
Erik France: Adjunct Instructor of English, Council of Teachers of English (NCTE),
Macomb Community College, Warren, TeachersandWriters,andNCTEOpinion
Michigan.B.A.andM.S.L.S.fromUniversity Panel.ExamReader,AdvancedPlacement
of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Ph.D. from Literature and Composition. Poet, pub-
TempleUniversity. lished in North American Review, Nimrod,
and Michigan Quarterly Review, among
KateHamill:Grade12EnglishTeacher,Catons-
otherpublications.
villeHighSchool,Catonsville,Maryland.
JodyStefansson:DirectorofBoswellLibraryand
JosephMcGeary:EnglishTeacher,Germantown
Study Center and Upper School Learning
Friends School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Specialist, Polytechnic School, Pasadena,
Ph.D.inEnglishfromDukeUniversity.
California.Boardmember,Children’sLitera-
Timothy Showalter: English Department Chair, tureCouncilofSouthernCalifornia.Member
Franklin High School, Reisterstown, Mary- of American Library Association, Associa-
land.CertifiedteacherbytheMarylandState tion of Independent School Librarians, and
Department of Education. Member of the AssociationofEducationalTherapists.
NationalCouncilofTeachersofEnglish.
Laura Jean Waters: Certified School Library
Amy Spade Silverman: English Department MediaSpecialist,WiltonHighSchool,Wil-
Chair, Kehillah Jewish High School, ton,Connecticut. B.A.fromFordhamUni-
PaloAlto,California. MemberofNational versity;M.A.fromFairfieldUniversity.
PoetryforStudents,Volume33–Finals/2/5/2010 12:22 Page3
POETRY
for Students
Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism
on Commonly Studied Poetry
VOLUME 33
PoetryforStudents,Volume33–Finals/2/5/2010 12:22 Page4
PoetryforStudents,Volume33 ª2010Gale,CengageLearning
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PoetryforStudents,Volume33–Finals/2/8/2010 15:41 Page5
Table of Contents
ADVISORS . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
JUST A FEW LINES ON A PAGE
(byDavidJ.Kelly) . . . . . . . . . . ix
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . xi
LITERARY CHRONOLOGY . . . . . . . xv
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . xvii
CONTRIBUTORS . . . . . . . . . xix
CLASSIC BALLROOM DANCES
(byCharlesSimic) . . . . . . . . . . 1
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . . 2
PoemText . . . . . . . . . . . 3
PoemSummary . . . . . . . . . 3
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . . 8
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . . 9
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . . 15
ELENA(byPatMora) . . . . . . . . . 16
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . . 17
PoemSummary . . . . . . . . . 17
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
v
PoetryforStudents,Volume33–Finals/2/5/2010 12:22 Page6
T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . . 21 THE LOTUS FLOWERS
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . . 23 (byEllenBryantVoigt). . . . . . . . 106
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . . 23 AuthorBiography . . . . . . . 107
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 PoemText . . . . . . . . . . 107
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . . 36 PoemSummary . . . . . . . . 108
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 109
FULLY EMPOWERED Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
(byPabloNeruda) . . . . . . . . . . 37 HistoricalContext . . . . . . . 112
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . . 37 CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 113
PoemSummary . . . . . . . . . 38 Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 114
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 119
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . . 42
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . . 43 MUSHROOMS(bySylviaPlath) . . . . . 120
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . . 44 AuthorBiography . . . . . . . 120
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 PoemSummary . . . . . . . . 122
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . . 48 Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
THE HOLLOW MEN HistoricalContext . . . . . . . 126
(byT.S.Eliot) . . . . . . . . . . . 50 CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 129
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . . 51 Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 129
PoemSummary . . . . . . . . . 52 Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 141
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . . 55 THE OLD STOIC(byEmilyBronte¨). . . . 142
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . . 57 AuthorBiography . . . . . . . 143
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . . 58 PoemText . . . . . . . . . . 144
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 PoemSummary . . . . . . . . 144
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . . 67 Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD HistoricalContext . . . . . . . 149
(byWilliamWordsworth) . . . . . . . . 69 CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 150
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . . 70 Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 151
PoemText . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 163
PoemSummary . . . . . . . . . 71 FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 163
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 ON MY FIRST SON(byBenJonson). . . . 164
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . . 74 AuthorBiography . . . . . . . 165
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . . 77 PoemText . . . . . . . . . . 166
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . . 77 PoemSummary . . . . . . . . 166
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 167
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . . 84 Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . 170
JAZZ FANTASIA CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 171
(byCarlSandburg) . . . . . . . . . . 86 Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 173
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . . 87 Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 183
PoemSummary . . . . . . . . . 88 FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 184
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 SHOULDERS(byNaomiShihabNye). . . . 185
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . . 92 AuthorBiography . . . . . . . 186
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . . 94 PoemSummary . . . . . . . . 187
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 105 HistoricalContext . . . . . . . 189
v i P o e t r y f o r S t u d e n t s , V o l u m e 3 3
PoetryforStudents,Volume33–Finals/2/5/2010 12:22 Page7
T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 190 Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 192 FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 263
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 200
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 200 WHAT FOR(byGarrettKaoruHongo) . . . 265
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . 266
SYMPATHY(byPaulLaurenceDunbar) . . . 201 PoemText . . . . . . . . . . 266
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . 202 PoemSummary . . . . . . . . 267
PoemText . . . . . . . . . . 203 Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 268
PoemSummary . . . . . . . . 203 Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 204 HistoricalContext . . . . . . . 271
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 273
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . 208 Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 274
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 210 Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 211 FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 286
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 217
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 218 WOMAN WORK(byMayaAngelou). . . . 287
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . 288
TWO ECLIPSES PoemText . . . . . . . . . . 289
(byShmuelHaNagid) . . . . . . . . 219 PoemSummary . . . . . . . . 289
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . 220 Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 290
PoemText . . . . . . . . . . 220 Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
PoemSummary . . . . . . . . 221 HistoricalContext . . . . . . . 293
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 222 CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 296
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 296
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . 226 Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 300
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 228 FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 300
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 229
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 241 GLOSSARY OF LITERARY TERMS. . . . 301
FurtherReading . . . . . . . . 241
CUMULATIVE AUTHOR/TITLE INDEX . . 323
UPON THE BURNING OF OUR HOUSE, JULY
10TH, 1666(byAnneBradstreet) . . . . . 243 CUMULATIVE NATIONALITY/ETHNICITY
AuthorBiography . . . . . . . 244 INDEX. . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
PoemSummary . . . . . . . . 244
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . 246 SUBJECT/THEME INDEX . . . . . . 341
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
HistoricalContext . . . . . . . 248 CUMULATIVE INDEX OF FIRST LINES . . 347
CriticalOverview. . . . . . . . 250
Criticism. . . . . . . . . . . 250 CUMULATIVE INDEX OF LAST LINES . . 355
P o e t r y f o r S t u d e n t s , V o l u m e 3 3 v i i

NovelsforStudents,Volume33–Finals/2/5/2010 12:22 Page9
Just a Few Lines on a Page
Ihaveoften thoughtthat poets havetheeasiest provides ample cases where a few simple words
jobintheworld.Apoem,afterall,isjustafew conjure up whole worlds. We do not actually
linesonapage,usuallynotevenextendingmar- travel to different times and different cultures,
gin to margin—how long would that take to butthepoemsgetintoourminds,theyfindwhat
write, about five minutes? Maybe ten at the little we know about theplaces theyare talking
most,ifyouwantedittorhymeorhavearepeat- about,andthentheymakethatlittlebitblossom
ingmeter.Why,Icouldstartinthemorningand intoabouquetofsomeoneelse’slife.Poetsmake
produceabookofpoetrybydinnertime.Butwe usthinkwearefollowingsimple,specificevents,
allknowthatitisn’tthateasy.Anyonecancome butthentheyleave ideas inour headsthatcan-
up with enough words, but the poet’s job is notbefoundontheprintedpage.Abracadabra.
about writing the right ones. The right words
Sometimes when you finish a poem it
will change lives, making people see the world
doesn’tfeelasifithasleftanysupernaturaleffect
somewhatdifferentlythantheysawitjustafew
on you, like it did not have any more to say
minutes earlier. The right words can make a
beyond theactualwords that it used. Thishap-
readerwhoreliesonthedictionaryformeanings
pens to everybody, but most often to inexper-
take a greater responsibility for his or her own
ienced readers: regardless of what is often said
personal understanding. A poem that is put on
about young people’s infinite capacity to be
thepagecorrectlycanbearanyamountofana-
amazed, you have to understand what usually
lysis,probing,defining,explaining,andinterro-
does happen, and what could have happened
gating,andsomethingaboutitwillstillfeelnew
instead, if you are going to be moved by what
thenexttimeyoureadit.
someone has accomplished. In those cases in
ItwouldbefinewithmeifIcouldtalkabout which you finish a poem with a ‘‘So what?’’
poetry without using the word ‘‘magical,’’ attitude,theinformationprovidedinPoetryfor
because that word is overused these days to Students comes in handy. Readers can feel
imply‘‘areally goodtime,’’often witha certain assured that the poems included here actually
sweetnessaboutit,andalotofpoetryisneither are potent magic, not just because a few (or a
of these. But if you stop and think about hundred or ten thousand) professors of litera-
magic—whetheritbringstomindsorcery,witch- turesaytheyare:they’resignificantbecausethey
craft,orbunniespulledfromtophats—italways can withstand close inspection and still amaze
seems to involve stretching reality to produce a theverysamepeoplewhohavejustfinishedtak-
resultgreaterthanthesumofitspartsandpull- ingthemapartandseeinghowtheywork.Turn
ingunexpectedresultsoutofthinair.Thisbook them inside out, and they will still be able to
i x