Hey All,
I hope you’re warm and safe! We’re going to have class at home today, so here’s what I’ve pulled together for you to explore. Remember, with Common Core, we’re all about real life–instead of just looking at bubbles on a test document, we want mulitple sources!
In class, we finished our poetry notes, so we have the language we need to ANALYZE some poetry.
Directions: Pick one of the poets below. Read three of his or her poems. Then, post a comment on this blog post explaining what the poems have in common. Use the constructs from our notes. For example, you might say —
“Wake”, “Dreams”, and “Life is Fine” all include beats that repeat. For example, in “Life is Fine,” Hughes uses a 7/6/7/6 pattern of syllables in each of his stanzas. This pattern creates a beat that makes his poems feel like music. In “Dreams,” Hughes uses a collection of one-syllable words: “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird, that cannot fly.”
Carl Sandburg: Fog, Arithmetic*, Between Two Hills, Sphinx*
Nikki Giovanni: Legacies, The Drum, A Journey, Choices*
Walter de la Mare: Me, Silver, The Listeners, All But Blind*
Naomi Shihab Nye: Famous*, The Riders, The Art of Disappearing,
Christina Rossetti: Flint*, Uphill, What is Pink, Mix a Pancake
If there is a different poet whose poetry you’d like to explore, feel free! Just make sure to include the author and titles in your comment.
***My favorite poems in this group
Chaffin
8thdiscoverers 
“Famous”, “The Rider”, and “The Art of Disappearing” all include morals. In “Famous”, Nye tells the reader that she wants to be famous because she never forgot what she could do. In the other poems, she also does morals. In “The Rider”, she tells how it would be cool to be able to ride faster than your loneliness. She gives the moral that you can leave your loneliness behind by trying very hard. Lastly in “The Art of Disappearing”, includes the moral that you should decide how to spend your time. She tells of how to disappear in daily things in order to spend your time wisely.
Thanks, Kate! I hope you liked these. 🙂
“Sphinx”, “Between two Hills”, and “Fog” use carefully selected words to create complex images in my head, when I read them. For example, “It sits looking over harbor and city,” a line from “Fog” makes me picture the cat staring across the vast landscape, watching the fog roll in. ” And the dusk and the dark, the damp and the dew,” from the poem “Between two Hills” uses alliteration to play with the words. It is also fun to say. In the poem “Sphinx,” the line ” Close-mouthed you sat five thousand years and never let out a whisper,” uses personification to emphasize the peacefulness, but loneliness of the Sphinx.
Great noticing that alliteration.
In “Fog,” “Arithmetic,” and “A Sphinx,” Mr. Sandburg uses vivid imagery to convey ideas about well-known objects. For instance, in “Fog,” the reader can imagine fog as a sneaky little cat that peers on harbors and cities, creeping slowly. Then, in “Arithmetic,” one can imagine a grade-school child cramming and crunching in numbers and calculations in their noggins in a class with a big window, only to either solve the problem and daze into the sky, or to get the problem wrong and baffle over the entire problem yet once again. Finally, in “A Sphinx,” one can see a sphinx as a mystical and lifeless structure that is five millennia old that still holds plenty of mystery. – Justin Effendi
Yes! You made several connections with the poems. Make sure to support your thoughts with text evidence. What line in “Sphinx” makes you picture the ageless cat?
The line “…asking questions you answered with grey eyes never blinking, shut lips never talking,” in “A Sphinx” makes me think about a weathered structure that stands the ageless test of time, still standing. Also, in “Fog,” “The fog comes on little cat feet” makes me think about how sneaky and slow fog comes in, slowly, yet surely approaching to encompass the city or harbor. Finally, in “Arithmetic,” the lines, “Arithmetic is numbers you squeeze from your head to your hand to your pencil to your paper till you get the answer. Arithmetic is where the answer is right and everything is nice and you can look out of the window and see the blue sky — or the answer is wrong and you have to start all over and try again and see how it comes out this time” reminds me about how difficult, annoying, tiring, and time-consuming doing arithmetic was in elementary school!
“Fog”,”Between Two Hills”, and “Sphinx” all include imagery. For example, in “Fog” Carl Sandburg writes about fog in the air: “It sits looking over harbour and city on silent haunches and then moves on.” According to “Between Two Hills”, “The house loom and roofs and trees and the dusk and the dark, the damp and the dew are there.” Sandburg helps you picture the old town in your head with his word choice. In “Sphinx”, Carl Sandburg writes about going 1,000 years without even opening your mouth. According to “Sphinx”, “Processions came by, marchers asking questions you answered with grey eyes never blinking, shut lips never talking.” Sandburg allows you to picture the person that isn’t allowed to open his mouth, let alone let out a whisper.
Awesome use of text evidence! Sandburg uses plenty of imagery indeed. 🙂
“Arithmetic,” “Between Two Hills,” and “A Sphinx” all create images in my mind. In “Arithmetic” it says, “Arithmetic is where numbers fly like pigeons in and out of your head.” You can see an image of pigeons flying out of someone’s head. Also, in “A Sphinx” it says, “Closed-mouthed you sat five thousand years and never let out a whisper.” I imagine an old man who looks like he is meditating! Finally, in “Between Two Hills” it says, “The old town stands. The houses loom.” This makes me think of an old town where the houses hang somewhat ominously above you as you walk down the streets. All of these poems put images into your head that help you understand the poem in a way that you can understand.
Yes. It makes me wonder if Sandburg was a world traveller. Are all these poems about places? Math class–maybe?
“Silver”, “The Listeners”, and “All But Blind” by Walter de la Mare all use different types of imagery. For example in “The Listeners” Mare says ” Knocking on the moonlit door; And his horse in the silence champed the grasses Of the forest’s ferny floor: And a bird flew up out of the turret,” when reading this I imagined a man riding a white horse in a forest; the road they are on is covered with rich green moss and the moonlight shines down on a small cabin in the middle of the forest. As well as in Silver Mare writes “she peers, and sees Silver fruit upon silver trees.” When I first read this poem the thought of a young child peeking into her parents party and seeing the dessert table; not wanting to touch it but having a hard time staying away from the temptation. I also believe that Walter de la Mare writes his poetry to share his feelings and make people wonder because in “All But Blind” he ends the poem with ” And blind as are These three to me, So blind to someone I must be.” in this part I believe he was trying to let people know that he was blind to others and that made him realize that others thought he was blind to them as well.
I like that line, too: “Knocking on the moonlit door.”
“Arithmetic,” “Between Two Hills,” and “A Sphinx” all create images in my mind. In “Arithmetic” it says, “Arithmetic is where numbers fly like pigeons in and out of your head.” You can see an image of pigeons flying out of someone’s head. Also, in “A Sphinx” it says, “Closed-mouthed you sat five thousand years and never let out a whisper.” I imagine an old man who looks like he is meditating! Finally, in “Between Two Hills” it says, “The old town stands. The houses loom.” This makes me think of an old town where the houses hang somewhat ominously above you as you walk down the streets. All three of these poems use imagery to help you better understand them.
Nice. You’re the first to analyze WHY the poet might have written the poems. Great text evidence.
I read three poems by Christina Rossetti: Flint, Uphill, and Mix a Pancake. Flint includes a lot of imagery, as does Mix a Pancake. Uphill included an “ABAB” rhyme scheme, the only rhyming poem of the three. Mix a Pancake had onomatopoeias, too, and Flint had a little bit of alliteration. These all, no matter how short, had imagery, though. Uphill was not as descriptive as the other two, but this poem still used imagery.
I picked Up-Hill, Mix a pancake and Flint. Up-Hill makes me think of a lodge or in on the top of a hill, quoting the title, Up-Hill. Also the inn is very open and friendly. Mix a Pancake was very short but I liked it because I had pancakes for breakfast this morning! I can connect to it because I love pancakes. Flint makes a connection to how many things are beautiful but something’s can be underappreciated and not loved.
I read “Flint”, “uphill”, and “mix a pancake”. All of these use imagery. Uphill is not as descriptive as the other two but they all manage to use imagery. Uphill also used a rhyme scheme unlike the other two. The rhyme scheme is “ABAB”. Mix a pancake had much onamonapei and flint had some alliteration and used similes … “An emerald is as green as grass.” The similarity is that they all had imagery.
Famous, The Rider, and The Art of Disappearing all use Imagery, and use things in nature to describe other things.In the Rider, the author compares azaleas to happiness.In Famous, shoes are compared to things suck as Earth and a floor.Lastly, in the art of disappearing, Cabbage and leaves are used to describe people the author knew in the poem.
I read uphill, mix a pancake, and flint. i noticed that all three were very descriptive and showed imagery.I also noticed that uphill was the only poem that rhymed
I read “Mix a Pancake”, “Up-hill” and “Flint” by Christina Rossetti. In all three of these poems she uses imagery to capture the readers attention and make them feel as if they are in the poem. In “Flint” Rossetti uses similes to compare different stones to colors. For example, she says ” A ruby red as blood.” This allows you to picture what the ruby looks like. In “Mix a Pancake” Rossetti uses words that apply to all of your senses. She uses the words stir,pop, catch, toss, and fry. These let you imagine what it sounds, looks, and smells like. In “Up-Hill” Rossetti describes time to give you a feel for what the journey in the poem is like. She also uses imagery to make you feel like you are on the journey. For example, she says ” Does the road wind up-hill all the way?” For me this painted a picture of a long twisty road. In all three of these poems Christina Rosseti uses imagery to create a scene for the reader.
I read Christina Rossetti’s poems: “Flint”, Mix a Pancake”, and “Up-Hill”. In all the poems, Rossetti used imagery to describe the scene or the object. In “Flint” she used similes to describe the stones, for example “A sapphire shines as blue as heaven”. When you think of heaven you think of sunshine and light. Rossetti has you thinking of a rock shining very bright. Also when you read “Mix a Pancake” you imagine someone flipping a pancake ad failing at catching when she wrote “catch it if you can”. In “Up-Hill”, you imagine a long winding road when it says, “Does the road wind up-hill all the way? Yes to the very end”. Christina Rossetti is very good at using imagery to have the readers cast a vision in all three poems.
In the poems written by Carl Sandburg, they all are describing something. They all also have imagery. The poem, “Between the Hills” is describing a town that does not have a lot of excitement. I picture a small town in Europe with colorful roofs, that have snow covering them. The people are mostly older and have a routine. They all know everyone and no one has any secrets. In the poem, “Fog” is describing a town that is by the coast and that town usually has a lot of storm because it is by the coast. I imagine a place that has some secrets hidden, but people do not question each other. I also think that there is usually fog there and could be dangerous at night, but when the sun is out, there is no signs of danger and the fog only comes during the night. In the last poem “A Sphinx” is describing some creature that never talks and never gives any clues to what it is thinking. I imagine a big cat that is sitting on a mountain and people try to make it move or give any reason why it is there. I think that it is trying to protect a secret. In the poem, it states, “Processions came by, marchers, asking questions…” That is explaining that people come to the creature trying to get answers. In the three poems that I read written by Carl Sandburg, they all have imagery and are all describing something.
I read “Fog”, “Between Two Hills”, and “A Sphinx” by Carl Sandburg. He uses imagery to help the readers picture what he was imagining while he was writing the poem. In “Fog” Sandburg describes with much detail for the little that the poem was about. He says “It sits looking over harbor and city
on silent haunches and then moves on”, it makes me imagine a very clear image of a cat looking over the harbor. In “Between Two Hills” Sandburg again describes a very clear image. Some of the words that he uses help me imagine a better picture too. In the poem he says, “Between two hills The old town stands. The houses loom And the roofs and trees And the dusk and the dark, The damp and the dew Are there.” The key words that he uses such as between, old, dusk, dark, damp, dew, and loom help me create a better picture in my mind. In “A Sphinx” Sandburg does the same with his phrases. He says, “Close-mouthed you sat, grey eyes never blinking, and shut lips never talking. Help me imagine something very detailed and interesting. All three poems by Carl Sandburg, he helps let the reader in on what he wants them to imagine through his words, imagery.
Excellent use of text evidence! Which was your favorite?
“Fog”, “arithmetic”, and “between two hills” all have imagery. “Fog” gives you vivid detail on the fog and how it’s moving. “Arithmetic” gives lots of detail on all of the things brought up, creating a big picture in your head. “Between two hills” says what’s between the two hills gives detail about the town and paints a picture in your brain.
I read “Flint”, “Uphill”, and “Mix a pancake” by Christina Rosetti. In all three of these poems imagery is used. However, different ways are used to describe what is happening in these poems. In “Flint”, many similes are used to describe objects. For example, one line says, “A ruby red as blood.” Rosetti is comparing the ruby’s color to blood which helps the readers form an image in their head. In the poem “Mix a Pancake”, they use several motions to describe the pancake. They also use onomatopoeia. One line says, “pop a pancake”. As well as using onomatopoeia, this line delivers a picture in the readers mind. Lastly, “Uphill”, the most descriptive of the three, uses imagery throughout the whole poem. The author describes the road as uphill and the night as dark and slow. The line, “A roof for when the slow, dark hours begin”, provides a chance for the readers to imagine nighttime. As you can see, these three poems use imagery to convey a message.
I read “Flint”, “Mix a Pancake”, and “Uphill”. “Flint” and “Uphill” are two that rhymed. “Flint” use similes like, “An emerald is as green as grass”. “Mix a Pancake” has onomatopoeias like “Pop”, and “Uphill” makes you feel like you’re in an adventure. All three poems uses imagery.
I read “All But Blind”, “Me”, and “Silver” by Walter de la Mare. I think he uses a lot of likenesses in his poems that most of us wouldn’t think to make connections between. For example, in “Me”, he compares himself to “a willow or elder, an aspen, a thorn, or a cypress forlorn,” which are all different types of trees. He is implying that, as all trees are only themselves and no other kind, we are the same way; there is only one of us. in “All But Blind,” he also uses unfamiliar likenesses. He writes about a “four-clawed mole [that]… gropes for worms” and a “barn owl [that] blunders on her way”, then continues to write that though those things seem blind to us, we must be the same way and seem blind to things that are different from us (“so blind to someone I must be”). I think he wrote that poem to express that we have a hard time looking through the eyes of other species (and even humans!) so we dismiss them as blind and oblivious, when to other things, WE must seem blind as well.
I read “Me”, “All But Blind”, and “Silver” by Walter de la Mare. I think that one think he does constantly in his writing is create likenesses that we typically wouldn’t think to connect together. For example, in the poem “Me”, he compares himself to “a willow or elder, an aspen, a thorn, or a cypress forlorn”, which are all types of trees. I think that he is trying to make a point that as all of those types of trees are only themselves (i.e., you can’t be both an oak AND a maple tree), we humans are the same way: all different from each other. Then, in “All But Blind”, he writes about “A four-clawed mole [that]… gropes for worms” and a “barn owl [that] blunders on her way”, then continues to write that they seem blind to us, but we must be blind to them, too (“so blind to someone I must be”). I believe that he was implying that we always dismiss the thoughts of other species and types of people because we think they are blind and oblivious. But in reality, we are foreign to them too, either as a different species entirely or just a different type of human, so we are regarded as blind to all of the things that think in different ways than we do. Both of these poems compare unlikely things, and make us think about how everything in the world is inter-connected.
So the author used all these tools–likenesses, etc.– to communicate a theme. It’s pretty amazing how such a short poem can have such a powerful theme. Which was your favorite?
I read “Flint”, “Mix a Pancake”, and “Uphill” by Christina Rossetti. “Flint” and “Uphill” are the two that ryhmes. “Flint” uses simile like,”An emerald is as green as grass.” “Mix a Pancake” had onomatopoeias like “Pop”, and “Uphill” makes the readers feel like they’re in an adventure. All three poems use imagery.
Yes! You noticed the onomatopoeia, too! How do you think CR achieved that feeling of adventure with flat words on a page?
I read “flint”, “mix a pancake”, and “uphill” by Christina Rossetti “Flint” and “Uphill” are the two poems that ryhme. “Flint” uses similies. “Mix a Pancake” had onomatopoeias like “Pop” and “Uphill” made me feel like I was in an adventure. All the poems used imagery.
A similarity in the poemes “Flint,” “Uphill” and “Mix a Pancake” by Christina Rosetti, is that they all have intense imagery in them. In “Flint”, it says ” a sapphire shines as blue as heave.” By using a simile, they show you how blue the sapphire is by comparing it to heaven. in ” Uphill”, it describes an inn at the top of the hill. That makes you imagine the scenery that Rosetti is describing in the poem. “Mix a Pancake” includes words that describe the actions of what you are doing to the pancake. Rosetti uses words like stir, pop, fry, and toss. All the specific imagery word choice shows the similarities between Christina Rosettis work.
Yes. You’re the first to mention her word choice. Are those onomatopoeia?
I read “Mix a Pancake”, “Flint”, and “Uphill” by Christina Rossetti. I think that all three poems have imagery in common. The way Rossetti worded these poems really gave the reader a chance to imagine what is going on. For example, in “Mix a Pancake” the poem is mostly directions, but you can imagine someone doing those instructions very easily. Also, in “Flint”, each item in the poem has a description that is easy to compare and visualize, like “A ruby red as blood…”
Yes. Did you notice anything else that was poetic about this poems?
I read “Flint”, “Mix a pancake”, and “Up-Hill”. All three had something about them. “Mix a pancake” gave you that imagery of actually making a pancake. “Flint” was about how these different types of rocks give characteristics to rocks, and even though the flint was clearly not the best it had something the other rocks didn’t, so this story gave you a theme. “Up-Hill” had a “ABAB” pattern to it, and it gave me that sense of me actually going through the story. So Christina Rossetti did a fantastic job with these stories and what they tell you.
Yes, the flint had something the other rocks didn’t. When we talk about WHY poets decide to write poetry, why do you think CR decided to write that one?
I read “Fog”, “Between Two Hills”, and “The Sphinx” by Carl Sandburg. In “Fog” when it said, “The fog comes on little cat feet.” It had imagery because I could imagine the fog coming in slowly like a cat. “The Sphinx” and “Between Two Hills” had good imagery too. In “The Sphinx” though I could really imagine what the Sphinx looked like. It was like I was actually there. “Not one croak of anything you know has come from your cat crouch of ages.” said “The Sphinx.” I thought “…from your cat crouch of ages, sounded really cool and clever because it makes you wonder things like, How long has it been here?, or What does this have to do with a cat?. There is lots of imagery throughout all of Carl Sandburg’s works and it makes his poems come to life, which think makes it better for the reader to understand what is happening.
I wonder if Carl Sandburg used any other figurative language aside from his use of imagery?
“Flint”, “What is Pink?”, and “Mix a Pancake” all have a major idea that is summed up in a short form. In “Flint”, she talks about how flint may not be the best looking but it can do many things. In “What is Pink?”, she talks about how some things aren’t as they appear. Poppy may seem to be pink but actually it is red. In “Mix a Pancake”, she is saying that if u start something make sure u are able to finish it. Christina Rosetti manages to have a main point in her poems while still keeping it in a short fashion
Yes. Do all her poems mention colorful things?? Even though short poetry might seem easier, do you think it always is?
I compared “Mix a Pancake”, “What is Pink”, & “Flint” by Christina Rosetti. One comparison I made is that all the themes were very hard to dicipher and were presented in interesting ways. A theme I found in “Mix a Pancake” is “When you start something, make sure you can finish it”. In “What is Pink” it is “Somethings aren’t as the appear”. Lastly, in “Flint” I found “Even the distasteful things can have the most inner beauty”.
I compared “Sphinx” , “Arithmetic” ,and “Fog”. All three of these stories have imagery/ you can really see his poetry in in your mind. In Sphinx you can really see how shy he is and just wants to sit in the shadows and never come out. “CLOSE-MOUTHED you sat five thousand years and never let out a whisper.” In Arithmetic it really takes you to someone’s real life and their every day things that they do. “If you ask your mother for one fried egg for breakfast and she
gives you two fried eggs and you eat both of them,” Fog also gives imagry about how quick something can happen or go away. “It sits looking over harbor and city on silent haunches and then moves on.
I read “Me”, “Silver”, and “The Listeners” by Walter de la Mare. These poems all use images to capture the reader. In “Me”, Walter del la Mare describes himself as different types of trees and flowers. I like the fourth stanza in particular, it says, “Like a flower, For its hour A primrose, a pink, Or a violet – Sunned by the sun,And with dewdrops wet”, in this part I think he is talking about the good and bright sides of himself. In the second stanza it says, “Like a willow or elder, An aspen, a thorn, Or a cypress forlorn” here I think he is talking about the not so good parts of himself. In “Me” he uses imagery to show us how he is on the inside and not just the outside. In “Listeners” almost every single line gives images. For example, “Knocking on the moonlit door;” means that it is dark outside, ” ’Neath the starred and leafy sky;” means that the character is in a location with a lot of trees. In “Silver” by Walter de la Mare, Walter makes me see the moon as a person. He talks about her walking around and looking at everything. What I think he is describing though, is the moon reflecting onto everything, but he makes it seem as if the moon was a person.