Name: _____________________________________________ Date: ______________________ Class: ________
Comin’ Thro’ the Rye
Robert Burns, 1782
O, Jenny's a' weet1, poor body,
Jenny's seldom dry:
She draigl't a' her petticoatie,
Comin thro' the rye!
Chorus:
Comin thro' the rye, poor body,
Comin thro' the rye,
She draigl't2 a' her petticoatie,
Comin thro' the rye!
Gin3 a body meet a body
Comin thro' the rye,
Gin a body kiss a body,
Need a body cry?4
(chorus)
Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro' the glen,
Gin a body kiss a body,
Need the warl'5 ken?6[
(chorus)
1. How accurate is Holden’s memory of the poem?
Does this fact surprise you? Why or why not?
2. Describe the image in this poem in your own words.
How is it similar to or different from the image Holden
describes of himself acting as The Catcher in the Rye?
3. Is the theme or message of the poem similar to or
different from that expressed by Holden’s wish to be
The Catcher in the Rye?
4. What do you feel is more significant to The Catcher in
the Rye, meaning of the original poem itself, or the
distortion of the meaning due to Holden’s memory?
Why?
5. What is the irony in Holden using this specific poem
to express his desire for the perpetuation of innocence?
For the sake of comparison, Holden’s rendition can be found
on page 173.
Nothing Gold Can Stay
Robert Frost, 1923
Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro' the grain;
Gin a body kiss a body,
The thing's a body's ain.
(chorus)
Ilka lassie has her laddie,
Nane, they say, ha’e I
Yet all the lads they smile on me,
When comin' thro' the rye.
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower,
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
1. What is nature's gold? Why is it the "hardest hue to
hold?
2. To what does "Eden" refer? How does it relate to
"nature's first green?"
1
weet - wet
2
draigl’t - draggled
3
gin – if, should
4
cry – call out for help
5
warl - world
6
ken - know
3. Why does "dawn going down to day" relate to the
loss of innocence?
4. Has Holden realized that "nothing gold can stay"? If
so, when? If not, why not?