Robert Frost

Robert Frost (1874 – 1963), Fire and Ice, from New Hampshire (1923)
Text a
some say the world will end in fire some say in ice from what I’ve tasted of desire I
hold with those who favour fire but if I had to perish twice I think I know enough of
hate to say that for destruction ice is also great and would suffice
TASKS
1. The poem above is written all together. After having read it, re-arrange the
layout and punctuation to your own criterion to make a poem out of it.
2. Then, with the help of your teacher, compare your text and the original poem, and
discuss the differences between your division and that of the author. What ideas did
the poet want to highlight, and how did he use the layout to do so?
The original version
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.
But if I had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice
Geoffrey Hill (1932 -) A Prayer to the Sun from King Lo, 1968
Text b
A Prayer to the Sun
i. m. Miguel Hernández
(1)
Darkness
above all things
the Sun
makes
rise
(2)
Vultures
salute their meat
at noon
(Hell is
silent)
(3)
Blind Sun
Our ravager (= devastatore)
bless us
so that
we sleep
These fragments of elegy, written in memory of the Spanish poet Miguel Hernández, create a strong
visual impact thanks to the layout.
Tasks
1. Consider the source of inspiration and the word “prayer” in the title: what does the layout of the
poem suggest?
2. If you also concentrate on words like “vultures” and “ravager”, what might you also see, at a
second glance ?
Roger McGough (1937 - ), 40 – Love, from The Mersey Sound (1967).
The title of this poem may suggest love at the age of forty, or a score in a game of tennis.
Text c
40 –
middle
couple
ten
when
game
and
go
the
will
be
tween
Love
aged
playing
nis
the
ends
they
home
net
still
be
them
3. What does the layout compel the reader to do? How does it relate to a game of tennis?
4. What other meaning is also conveyed by the words of the poem?
SOUND DEVICES
Rhyme:
a repetition of identical or similar sounds in two or more different words and is most
often used in poetry and songs.
Example of Rhyme
“I met a little cottage Girl:
She was eight years old, she said;
Her hair was thick with many curl
That clustered round her head”.
“Conobbi una ragazzina di campagna:
Otto anni aveva – disse;
I suoi capelli eran folti e con tanti riccioli
Che si addensavano intorno alla testa ”.
W. Wordsworth, from “We are Seven”
Internal Rhyme: rhyme between a word within a line and another at the end of the same line.
Example of Internal Rhyme
“At length did cross an Albatross”
“Infine arrivò un Albatro”
S.T. Coleridge, from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
Rhyme scheme
the pattern of rhyming lines in a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using
letters to indicate which lines rhyme
Example of Rhyme scheme
“Jellicle Cats are black and white,
Jellicle Cats are rather small;
Jellicle Cats are merry and bright,
And pleasant to hear when they caterwaul.
Jellicle Cats have cheerful faces,
Jellicle Cats have bright black eyes
They like to practise their airs and graces
And wait for the Jellicle Moon to rise
a
b
a
b
c
d
c
d
“I gatti (di) Jellicle sono bianchi e neri,
I gatti (di) Jellicle sono piuttosto piccoli;
I gatti (di) Jellicle sono felici e radiosi,
E piacevoli da ascoltare quando miagolano.
I gatti (di) Jellicle hanno facce allegre,
I gatti (di) Jellicle hanno occhi neri brillanti
A loro piace darsi dellle arie
E aspettano che sorga la Luna (di) Jellicle
T.S. Eliot, from “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats”
Rhythm
Rhythm is a musical quality produced by the repetition of stressed and unstressed
syllables. Rhythm is particularly important in poetry. Writers also create rhythm by repeating
words and phrases or even by repeating whole lines and sentences.
Example of Rhythm
Tyger, tyger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
W. Blake, from “The Tyger”
Tigre, tigre, che risplendi luminosa
Nelle foreste della notte,
Quale mano o occhio immortale
Ha saputo plasmare la tua terribile simmetria?
Alliteration:
repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of several words in the same line
Example of Alliteration
“Full fathom five thy father lies”
“A più di dieci metri tuo padre giace”
W. Shakespeare, from “The Tempest”
Assonance:
repetition of vowel sounds with different end consonants to create internal rhyming within a line
Example of Assonance
“She walks in beauty, like the night” “Lei avanza in bellezza, come la notte…”
G. Byron, from “She walks in beauty”
Consonance
The repetition of consonants at the end of words (but whose vowels differ). Also, a kind of
inverted alliteration, in which final consonants, rather than initial ones, repeat in nearby words.
Example of Consonance
“Curse, bless me now with thy fierce tears
I pray”
D. Thomas, from “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”
“Maledicimi, benedicimi con le tue fiere lacrime
Ti prego”.
Onomatopoeia
a word that imitates the sound it is describing, such as animal noises like "oink“, "buzz",
or "meow", or suggesting its source object, such as "boom", "click", "clang", or "bang".
Example of Onomatopoeia
“A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch
And blue spurt of a lighted match”
“Un colpo sul vetro, il rapido veloce sfregare
E la fiamma azzurra di un fiammifero acceso”
R. Browning, from “Meeting at Night”
Task
1.
a
Below you find more examples of these sound devices. Read them aloud, and decide what
each of them represents. One example has been provided.
“It cracked and growled, and roared and howled”
“Si spaccò, ringhiò, ruggì, e ululò”
(S.T. Coleridge, from “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”).
The line above is an example of Onomatopoeia
b
“Than you shall hear the surly sullen bell”.
(W. Shakespeare, from “Sonnet 7”)
“più a lungo dei tetri rintocchi della campana”
c
d
“Pelle scarlatta, cucita insieme”
“Scarlet leather, sewn together”
(W. Allingham, from The Lepricaun Or, Fairy Shoemaker).
“Those are pearls that were his eyes”
“Quelli che erano I suoi occhi ora sono perle”
(W. Shakespeare, from The Tempest)
e
“Till now the doubtful dusk reveal’d
The Knolls once more where, couch’d
at ease”
“Sinora l’indeciso imbrunire ha rivelato
le collinette ancora una volta dove,
disteso comodamente
A. Tennyson, from In Memoriam
f
“Cobbler, cobbler, mend my shoe
Get it done by half-past two.
Half-past two is far too late
Get it done by half-past eight”
“Ciabattino, ciabattino, ripara la mia scarpa
Riparala per le due e mezza.
Le due e mezza è troppo tardi
Riparala per le otto e mezza”
A. A. Milne, from Winnie-the Pooh.
g
“The curfew tolls the knell of parting day.
The lowing herd wind slowly o’er the lea.
The ploughman homeward plods his
weary way.
And leaves the world to darkness and
To me”.
(Th. Gray. From Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard)
“La campana della sera annuncia
La fine della giornata .
La mandria muggendo
Lentamente si snoda sopra I campi.
L’aratore si trascina affaticato
verso casa.
E lascia il mondo all’oscurità e a me”.
Another example of rhythm. Read the following poem
Ronald Stuart Thomas
(1913 – 2000), “Tramp”,
From “Complete Poems” (1945 –
1990)
This short poem presents
the attempt of the poet to
cross the enormous
distance separating him
from the tramp who has
knocked at his door, and
sums up their different
problems facing life. What
is peculiar here is the
rhythm: the poem is in
two stressed lines
A knock at the door
And he stands there,
A tramp with his can
Asking for tea,
Strong for a poor man
On his way – where ?
He looks at his feet,
I look at the sky;
Over us the planes
build
The shifting rafters
Of that new world
We have sworn by
I sleep in my bed ,
He sleeps in the old
Dead leaves of a ditch
My dreams are
haunted;
Are his dreams rich?
If I wake early,
He wakes cold.
Un colpo alla porta
E lui è lì all’impiedi ,
Un barbone con la sua latta
Che chiede del thè,
Forte per un povero
Mentre va – dove ?
Lui si guarda i piedi,
Io guardo il cielo;
Sopra di noi gli aerei costruiscono
Le travi in movimento
Di quel mondo nuovo
In cui noi abbiamo ciecamente
creduto
Io dormo nel mio letto ,
Lui dorme tra le vecchie
Foglie morte di un fosso
I miei sogni sono tormentati;
I suoi sogni sono divertenti?
Se io mi sveglio presto,
Lui si sveglia freddo.
Repetition:
Repetition of a sound, syllable, word, phrase, line, stanza, or metrical pattern is a
basic unifying device in all poetry. Mainly used to emphasize the ideas and/or the
musical effect of a literary work.
Examples of repetition:
“O horrible!, O horrible! Most horrible!”
“Oh orribile!, orribile! Veramente orribile!”
W. Shakespeare, from “Hamlet”, Act I, Scene V
“Alone, alone, all all alone,
Alone on the wide wide Sea”
“Solo, solo, tutto, tutto solo
Solo sul vasto, vasto mare”
S.T. Coleridge, from the” Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
Enjambment (run-on line):
The continuation of a syntactic unit from one line of a poem to the next with no
pause. In other words, it is a sentence continuing beyond the end of a line of poetry.
Example of enjambent:
“O thou,
Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed
The winged seeds, where they lie cold and low,
Each like a corpse within its grave, until
Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow
Her clarion o’er the dreaming earth, and fill
(Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air )
(With living hues and odours plain and hill)
P. B. Shelley, from “Ode to the West Wind”
“O tu,
Che porti ( sul tuo cocchio ) al loro oscuro letto invernale
I semi alati , dove giacciono freddi e bassi ,
Ognuno come un cadavere nella sua tomba, fino a quando
La tua azzurra sorella della Primavera (Ze f i r o ) suonerà
La sua tromba sulla sognante terra, e riempirà
( Spingendo dolci germogli come greggi a pascolare nell ’aria)
Con vividi colori ed odori, pianura e collina”
Another examples of enjambent:
“I think I know enough of hate ,
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice”.
“Penso di conoscere abbastanza l’odio ,
Per dire che per distruggere il ghiaccio
Va anche bene
E basterebbe”.
R. Frost, from “Fire and Ice”
MEANING DEVICES
Simile:
A comparison between two things, which is made explicit through the use of a
specific word of comparison such as "like“, "as" , “than” or “resembles”.
Example of Simile
“You are my true and honourable wife,
As dear to me as are the ruddy drops
That visit my sad heart”
W. Shakespeare, from “Julius Caesar”, Act II, Scene I
“Tu sei la mia sincera e onorevole moglie,
A me cara come lo sono le rosse gocce
Che visitano il mio triste cuore”
Another examples of Simile
“Like the bright hair uplifted from the head
Of some fierce Maenad”
P.B. Shelley, from “Ode to the West Wind”
Metaphor:
“Come la fulgida chioma che s'innalza sopra la testa
d'una fiera Menade” (= Baccante)
Unlike similes, metaphors are a means of comparison between two things
that are basically dissimilar without the use of connective words such as
“like” or “as”.
Key-elements of a metaphor
1. “Tenor”, ( the subject of the metaphor)
2. “vehicle” (what the subject is compared to)
The analogy between them, i.e. the ideas they share, is called “common ground”.
Tenor
……..
Common Ground
………
Vehicle
………
In the metaphor, “LOVE IS A JOURNEY”.
Tenor
Love
Common Ground
1. Leaving one’s own area of comfort;
2. exploration;
3. learning.
Vehicle
Journey
The thing described through the metaphor, i.e. LOVE, is the tenor. The different thing, A JOURNEY, with
which you equate the tenor, is the vehicle. LOVE and A JOURNEY both involve leaving our area of
comfort, exploration and learning. This commonality is the common ground.
“But that dread of something after death,
The undiscover’d country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns”
“Ma quella paura di qualcosa dopo la morte
Il paese inesplorato, dai cui confini
Nessun viaggiatore è mai tornato”
W. Shakespeare, from “Hamlet”, Act III, Scene I
Tenor
Common Ground
death
Fear; anxiety, alarm, terror
Vehicle
Undiscover’d country
Not knowing what death or an undiscovered country are like is a source of fear, anxiety, alarm in
human beings.
“My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me”
W. Shakespeare, from “Julius Caesar”, Act III, Scene II
Tenor
My heart
“Il mio cuore è lì nella tomba con Cesare
E io devo fermarmi finché non ritorna da me”
W. Shakespeare, from “Julius Caesar”, Act III, Scene II
Common Ground
death
Vehicle
In the coffin with Caesar
Caesar and my heart share the same condition, they’re both in the coffin: i.e. they’re both dead. My heart
is spiritually dead, while Caesar is physically dead.
Personification
It is a type of metaphor which attributes to abstract things or to inanimate
objects the characteristics of a living being. Personification can be recognised
by the use of the capital letter, of personal pronouns, adjectives or verbs.
Examples of Personification
“And ‘tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes”
“E io credo che ogni fiore
Goda dell’aria che respira”
W. Wordsworth, from “Lines Written in Early Spring”
“The sea-blooms and the oozy woods which wear
The sapless foliage of the ocean, know
Thy voice, and suddenly grow gray with fear,
And tremble and despoil themselves: Oh, hear”
“i fiori del mare e i boschi fradici di fango, che indossano
le foglie senza linfa dell'oceano, conoscono
la tua voce e si fanno all'improvviso grigi
per la paura e tremano e si spogliano: oh, ascolta ”
P.B. Shelley, from “Ode to the West Wind”
Sense impressions
The creation of images resulting from senses. In poetry this is
achieved through the use of the language of the senses, i.e. phrases
and expressions appealing to the five senses: smell, taste, touch,
sight and hearing.
Example of Sense impressions
“To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel;
“Per piegare sotto le mele i muscosi alberi della capanna,
Ed empire tutti i frutti di maturità fino al torso,
Per gonfiare la zucca, e arrotondare i gusci delle nocciuole
con un dolce nòcciolo;
Synaesthesia: the description of one kind of sense impression by using words that
normally describe another. For example, sounds are smelled, colours are
tasted or heard and so on.
“And taste the music of that vision pale”
“E assapori la musica di quella pallida visione ”
J. Keats, “Isabella or the Pot of Basil”, from stanza XLIX
Metre:
the regular arrangement of syllables in poetry according to the number and
type of (strong and weak) beats in a line.
Foot/feet:
Metrical unit resulting from the combinations of stressed and
unstressed syllables.
Main types of metrical unit:
Iamb
an unstressed
(short/weak) syllable
followed by a stressed
(long/strong) one
trochee
a stressed (long/strong)
syllable followed by an
unstressed (short/weak)
one
anapaest
two unstressed
(short/weak) syllables
followed by a stressed
(long/strong) one
dactyl
a stressed (long/strong)
syllable followed by two
unstressed (short/weak) ones
Example of iamb
˘
˘
/
˘
/
˘
/
˘
/
/
“To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells”
From “Ode to Autumn” by J. Keats
Example of trochee
˘
/
˘
/
˘
/
˘
/
˘
/
˘
/
/
˘
/
“ONCE up- | ON a | MID-night | DREAR-y, | WHILE I | PON-dered, | WEAK and | WEAR-y…”
From “The Raven” by E.A. Poe
Example of anapest
˘
˘
˘
/
˘
˘
/
˘
˘
/
˘
/
“twas the NIGHT before CHRISTmas and ALL through the HOUSE”
Clement Moore
Example of dactyl
/
˘
˘
/
˘
˘
/
˘
˘
/
˘
“Half a League, Half a League, Half a League, onward”
From “The Charge of the Light
Brigade” by A. Tennyson
Different line lengths
monometer
line of verse consisting of a single metrical foot
dimeter
a line of verse consisting of two metrical feet
Trimeter
a line of verse consisting of three metrical feet
Tetrameter
a line of verse consisting of four metrical feet
Pentameter
a line of verse consisting of five metrical feet
Hexameter
a line of verse consisting of six metrical feet
Heptameter
a line of verse consisting of seven metrical feet
Metre of verse
=
Type of foot
+
Line length
The iambic pentameter is the most common metre of verse in English poetry
Example of iambic pentameter
˘
/
˘
/
˘
/
˘
/
˘
/
“To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells”
“Perchè si gonfi la zucca, e si riempino i gusci delle nocciuole…” From “Ode to Autumn” by J. Keats
Stanza
One of the divisions of a poem, composed of two or more lines
usually characterized by a common pattern of meter, rhyme, and
number of lines
Most common stanza forms:
The couplet:
A pair of rhymed lines
The tercet:
Three- line stanza.
Terza rima:
A tercet rhyming aba bcb cdc followed by a rhymed couplet.
The quatrain:
Four- line stanza.
The cinquain:
five- line stanza.
The sestet:
six- line stanzas.
The seven line stanza:
The octave:
Ottava rima.
Eight-line stanzas.
Iambic pentameters rhyming abababcc
The nine-line stanza:
Spenserian stanza:
Blank verse:
Stanza made up of seven lines.
Stanza made up of nine lines.
Eight lines of iambic pentameter + one line of iambic
hexameter rhyming ababbcbcc
Lines of iambic pentameters which do not rhyme
J. Keats (1795 -1821). On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer (1817)
Text e
Much have I travell’d in the realms of gold
Molto ho viaggiato pei reami dell’oro,
And many goodly states and kingdom seen;
E prosperi stati molti ne ho visti, e regni;
Round many western islands have I been
Per le isole d’Occidente sono andato,
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Rette dai bardi, vassalli d’Apollo,
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
E spesso d’una grande terra mi fu narrato,
That deep-brow’d Homer ruled as his demesne;
Governata dal pensieroso Omero;
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Ma non ne avevo mai respirato il puro sereno
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Sin quando Chapman udii parlare, audace e potente,
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
E mi sentii come uno studioso del cielo
When a new planet swims into is ken;
Quando un nuovo pianeta nuota nel suo sguardo,
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
O come il valoroso Cortez, quando con occhi d’aquila
He star’d at the Pacific – and all his men
Look’d at each other with a wild surmise –
Silent, upon a peak in Darien .
Fissò il Pacifico – e tutti I suoi uomini
Si guardavano stupefatti
In silenzio, dall’alto di un picco, a Darien
1. Consider the number of lines, the rhyme scheme and the structure of this poem, and state
what it is.
2. The first eight lines are built on metaphors of voyaging. What do the “realms of gold”, “the
goodly states and kingdoms” and the “wide expanse” represent?
a
c
newly discovered lands
ancient art
d
b
the “golden land of great literature”
ancient Greece
e
Unexplored lands of the New world
2. Another thing to note is that, in this context, the “western islands which bards in fealty to
Apollo hold” indicate English literature.
3. What expression indicates the extraordinary moment when the poet actually discovered
Homer through Chapman’s translation?
4. Lines 9 – 14 contain two beautiful similes. Point them out, and discuss their meaning. What
state of mind do they convey?
a
b
A sense of grandiose discovery
c
Intense admiration
d
f
awe
g
emotion
h
exaltation
k
happiness
l
incredulity
Excitement
The extent of his amazement
e
bliss
= Perfect happiness
a feeling of great respect sometimes mixed with fear or surprise
i
incredibility
j
Ecstasy
4. The two similes are in line 9 “Then I felt like some watcher of the skies…” and
in line 11 “Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes…”.
The poet feels like an astronomer who discovers a new planet or like Cortez when he
discovered the Pacific Ocean. The similes here convey ……
Brian Patten (1949 - ), A Small Dragon (1967)
Text f
1. Read the poem and fill in the blanks with the words listed below.
nest fed want small would place say eyes
I’ve found a
_____ dragon in the woodshed.
Think it must have come from deep inside a forest
because it’s damp and green and leaves
are still reflecting in its _____
I _____ it on many things, tried grass,
the roots of stars, hazel-nut and dandelion,
but it stared up at me as if to ____ , I need
foods you can’t provide.
It made a _____ among the coal,
not unlike a bird’s but larger,
it is out of _____ here
and is quite silent.
If you believed in it I _____ come
hurrying to your house to let you share my wonder,
but I _____ instead to see
if you yourself will pass this way.
2. Highlight the features which point to the strange and the supernatural.
3. The dragon is an imaginary fire-breathing monster, representative of
evil. Numerous legends (e.g. the legend of St George) and literary
works of the past include a knight – a hero – who had to fight against a
dragon. Do you think this poem is keeping with tradition? Give reasons
for your answer.
4. The poem sounds as if the poet were telling his strange adventure to
somebody. Find evidence, and state what makes this person different
from the poet.
5. Focus on the features of the dragon, which appears to be “out of place”
and is silent. What could it represent ? How would you interpret the last
stanza?