Applying perspective analysis to poetry Point of View Applying perspective analysis to poetry

“The Apology” - Emerson Read through the poem. What is the point of view? Pay close attention to the last stanza – what do you notice? If the poem is being addressed to someone, who could that individual or group be? Support with text support POV is 1st person until the last stanza – speaker addresses “thy” and “thine” Could he be addressing the world at large? A higher power or superior being? Poem is about the speaker on an unending search for purpose – the apology is for the time it is taking him and the purposeful method he is using – instead of jumping to a preconceived idea about what is important in life, he is searching it out for himself.

“The Apology” - Emerson Read through the poem. What is the central idea of the poem? How does the regularity of the form, particularly the rhyme scheme, reinforce the point Emerson is making? What are the central images of the poem, and why are they fitting given the time period in which it was written (1847)? What is the tone of the poem? Try to capture it in a phrase instead of a single word (an adjective-noun combination). Refer to specific language from the poem to support your choice. Rhyme scheme is ABAB for each stanza – poem is regular in structure, made up of 5 quatrains -implication could be that although the world may seem logical and organized, there are still things to wonder about and question Imagery: “Each cloud that floated in the sky - Writes a letter in my book”. This means that every difficulty which everyone faced will always have a message that the God wants to deliver. “For the idle flowers I brought”(idle means lazy, can’t move, or unemployed), it can be interpreted as the truth that seems useless. “Every aster in my hand - Goes home loaded with a thought”, means the truth that the author found still invites controversy among people. Tone: hopeful, searching, sanguine, optimistic

“The Quiet Life” - Pope How does the speaker of this poem construct his identity? What resources does he draw on to determine who he is? How does the form of the poem reinforce the theme of balance? POV switches from 3rd (he, him, etc.) to 1st (me, I) Analysis from the text book: The quiet life involves shedding the dependency on trade and debt and finding freedom in home grown self-sufficiency. At the same time, alternating one-syllable rhymes such as “care,” “bound,” “air,” and “ground” create a steady rhythm that mirrors the setting and rising of the sun. No longer toiling under the tyranny of clocks or deadlines, the quiet farmer follows nature’s heartbeat of light and dark, easily allowing his years to “slide soft away.” Thus, only when man is free from the demands of society can he feel the “health of body” and “the peace of mind.” Other than a steady rhyme and blissful pastoral imagery, the technique that strikes the reader the most strongly is the brief two to four letter lines that conclude each stanza. Phrases such as “in his own ground” and “in winter, fire” imitate the quiet life they describe, simple and isolated. In addition, each phrase anchors their respective stanzas. Almost like the mysterious sunrise, “Quiet by day” ambivalently concludes a stanza on the natural rhythm of day and night. And with an almost matter-of-fact tone, the phrase “In winter, fire” concludes a stanza on the simplicity of living off nature’s provisions. Still the most haunting stanza remains to be the last. The narrator requests that no one notice him or lament his death and that “not a stone/Tell where I lie.” Just as he follows his own rhythm of life, he dies a free self, an undisturbed identity, refusing to allow the stone carved by another impose any unwanted glory on his existence.

Your Turn! If you are an “A” you will be working with “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” by Dickinson If you are a “B” you will be working with “We Real Cool” by Brooks If you are a “C” you will be working with “Weighing the Dog” by Collins If you are a “D” you will be working with “The World is Too Much with Us” by Wordsworth Answer the questions from the handout in your RJ in preparation for a fishbowl discussion that will take place tomorrow.

Fishbowl Discussion Each group has 8 minutes to discuss the questions and answers related to your assigned poem. While the group is presenting, those in the outside circle should have your purple packets open and be annotating the poems as the group discusses them.