The Death of the Flowers
THE melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year, Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sere. Heaped in the hollows of the grove, the autumn leaves lie dead; They rustle to the eddying gust, and to the rabbit's tread; The robin and the wren are flown, and from the shrubs the jay, And from the wood~top calls the crow through all the gloomy day. Where are the flowers, the fair young flowers, that lately sprang and stood In brighter light and softer airs, a beauteous sisterhood? Alas! they all are in their graves, the gentle race of flowers Are lying in their lowly beds, with the fair and good of ours. The rain is falling where they lie, but the cold November rain Calls not from out the gloomy earth the lovely ones again. The wind-flower and the violet, they perished long ago, And the brier-rose and the orchis died amid the summer glow; But on the hills the golden~rod, and the aster in the wood, And the yellow sun-flower by the brook in autumn beauty stood, Till fell the frost from the clear cold heaven, as falls the plague on men, And the brightness of their smile was gone, from upland, glade, and glen. And now, when comes the calm mild day, as still such days will come, To call the squirrel and the bee from out their winter home; When the sound ofdropping nuts is heard, though all the trees are still, And twinkle in the smoky light the waters of the rill, The south wind searches for the flowers whose fragrance late he bore, And sighs to find them in the wood and by the stream no more. And then I think of one who in her youthful beauty died, The fair meek blossom that grew up and faded by my side. In the cold moist earth we laid her, when the forests cast the leaf, And we wept that one so lovely should have a life so brief: Yet not unmeet it was that one, like that young friend of ours, So gentle and so beautiful, should perish with the flowers. -William Cullen Bryant
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Vocabulary Place a letter in the appropriate blank on the left. (worth 2 pts each) - -1.
sere
a. die
2. rustle
b. having more than one meaning
3. eddying
c. dry; barren
4. perish
d. whipped
- -5.
pensive
e. weak; frail
- -6.
scourged
£ moving against the stream; swirling
7. meek
g. quick shuffling sound
- -8.
equivocal
h. sorrowful; thoughtful and serious
- -9.
anomalous
i. not normal
10. communion
j. the taking of a religious sacrament
Bonus Questions (worth 5 pts each)
There is a word in "The Fall ofthe House ofUsher" which means "something
nightmarishly burdensome." What current alternative band has this word as their band
name?
I discussed a scene in a movie that illustrates the vocabulary word "eddying." What movie
was it and what was occurring during the scene?
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November 25, 2002
1. When the speaker says "various language," he is referring to two different ways nature
speaks to a person when the person is in two different kinds of moods. What are these
two different moods?
2. How does Nature speak to you in this first mood? And in the second?
3. Why will the sun not see you anymore?
4. With whom else will you retire to the "eternal resting placeT'
5. What does the full sentence in lines 48 through 50 mean?
6. In line 75, what is meant by the "mysterious realm?"
7. List three instances ofimagery.
8. Why does he use the image of a quarry-slave?
9. What is the author's advice about approaching death?
to. What is the overall tone of this poem and how does the imagery add to it?
11. On the back, write ten sentences, in paragraph form, about what sustains you in your
varying moods. For WeB, it was nature. Be specific and use examples.
NamelDate __________._____
PoemIPoet
Tone
Diction
Figurative Language (simile, metaphor, hyperbole, understatement, metonymy, etc.)
Other Rhetorical Devices
Imagery
Symbolism
NamelDate
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PoemIPoet
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I Diction
Figurative Language (simile, metaphor, hyperbole, understatement, metonymy, etc.)
i Other Rhetorical Devices
Imagery
Symbolism
MeterlRhythm/ Structure
SubjectslTheme
Poem Title: Poet: Year Written: Structure of poem:
Defmitions of difficult words:
Writing techniques used:
Summary of the poem:
What basic idea or general meaning was the author trying to convey?
What allusions are being made to other works (his own or the works of others) or to other
artists or famous people (poets or painters, architects, photographers, philosophers,
politicians, etc)?
Is this poem/poet identified with any particular movement (e.g. Romanticism, Modernism)? If so, what are the characteristics that place it in this category? How does this poem relate to you or to your world today?
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Date
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1. Write three hyperboles--one sentence for each hyperbole.
2. Write two sentences that use alliteration.
3. Write three sentences that contain onomatopoeias.
4. Write two sentences that contain similes.
5. Come up with one metaphor. Then, extend that metaphor in at least two more
sentences.
Questions over "The Tunnel"
1. List some adjectives that could describe the man in "The Tunnel" during the first
paragraph.
2. Do the same as above, but for the third paragraph.
3. What is the tone of this poem?
4. Why do you think the author wrote this poem?
5. What does the poem say about society and the individual?
Questions over "Mexicans Begin Jogging"
1. Why do you think the boss tells the workers to start running?
2. Why did Soto go ahead and run even though he is an American?
3. Why did Soto yell "vivas"?
4. Why do you think Soto wrote this poem?
5. What does it say about our society and the individual?
Questions over "The Great Hunt"
1. Why does the author include the first stanza since it almost seems not to fit with the
rest ofthe poem?
2. Why do you suppose he points out all of the people who are not like him or who are
"weird"?
3. Why do you suppose the author wrote this poem?
4. What does it say about society and the individual?