Lesson Plan: Writing Lyric Poetry

Author: B. Wu, Murry Bergtraum HS, New York, NYSubject: EnglishGrade Level: 9-12

Overview:This lesson is designed to help students review the literary elements in lyric poems. Through this lesson, students will be able to compare different types of lyric poems and appreciate them from different perspectives. They will also learn, through this lesson, how the stylistic techniques used in the poems help illustrate the theme.

Objective:The student will

Read and discuss the poem Recall and interpret facts and extend meanings

Respond to critical opinion about the poem

Analyze lyric poetry and the use of stylistic devices in a poem

Discuss following themes in the poems.

Materials:Poem" I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordworth , "I Hear an Army" by James Joyce, and " The Sky is Low" by Emily Dickinson, "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman, "Women" by Alice Walker, "maggie and milly and molly and may" by E.E. Cumming, "Dream Deferred"& "Dreams" by Langston Hughes.

Procedures and Activities:

1. Motivation: Divide the class into six groups( 3-5 students in each group). Each group will read and discuss a different lyric poem. After discussing the questions on each work sheet, each group will choose a speaker to report to the class the following things about the poem and each group will be given a grade based on the presentation).

o What's the title of the poem? Who is the poet?

o What is described in the poem?

o Who is the speaker (may not be the poet)? What's the tone?

o Give two examples of stylistic devices used in the poem.

o The best line(s)-the most beautiful, or impressive or vivid, etc.

o Give one example of the unusual choice of words. Explain why.

o What emotions are evoked? Use one word to describe the feeling.

2. Reading and response:

Group One: " I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth

I WANDERED lonely as a cloudThat floats on high o'er vales and hills,When all at once I saw a crowd,A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees,Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. 

Continuous as the stars that shineAnd twinkle on the milky way,They stretched in never-ending lineAlong the margin of a bay:10 Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but theyOut-did the sparkling waves in glee:A poet could not but be gay,In such a jocund company: I gazed--and gazed--but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lieIn vacant or in pensive mood, 20 They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils. 1804.

3. (a)Discuss the following themes: memory, nature (b) identify and analyze the use of personification in the poem

4. Respond and answer the following questions:

o Describe the scene the speaker suddenly comes upon in his wandering.

o Find two similes in which the comparison is indicated by the word "as". In each simile, what is compared to what? What is suggested by each simile?

o What effect does the scene have on the speakers while he is present? What "wealth" is he later aware of?

o According to the speaker, in what activity do the flowers take part?

o What was the speaker's mood before he saw the daffodils? How do you know?

o Find three examples of personification in the poem. What human characteristics are given to nonhuman things?

o What is the speakers" inward eyes"? Why is it the "bliss of solitude"?

o Of what value to humans are natural scenes as the one presented in the poem?

o Wordsworth once described poetry as "powerful feelings recollected in tranquillity". Explain how this famous phrase relates to "I Wonder Lonely in the Clouds".

Extension: Write a short poem that leads up to a simile that suggests your view of or feelings about the experience. You might begin with a simple literal description of the experience, and then use simile to convey its meaning. Be sure to let your imagination suggest an appropriate, effective simile.

Group Two: "I Hear an Army" by James Joyce

I hear an army charging upon the land,And the thunder of horses plunging, foam about theirKnees:Arrogant, in black armor, behind them stand,Disdaining the reins, with fluttering whips, the Charioteers.

They cry unto the night their battle-name: I moan in sleep when I hear afar their whirling laughter.They cleave the gloom of dreams, a blinding flame,Clanging, clanging upon the heart as upon an anvil.

They come shaking in triumph their long, green hair"They come out of the sea and run shouting by the Shore.My heart, have you not wisdom thus to despair?My love, my love, my love, why have you left me alone?

a. Discuss the theme: nightmaresb. Identify the use of onomatopoeia (imitation of sounds)

Discuss the following questions:

1. How do your moods influence your dreams?2. Describe the army that the poet hears.

3. What has the speaker's love done to him?

4. Is the army the poet describing real? Explain your answer.

5. How do words like "plunging". "fluttering", "whirling", and "clanging" contributes to the mood of the poem?

6. A famous poet once said that it is easier to write about heartbreak than about happiness in love. Comment on this remark.

Extension: In Joyce's poem the speaker seems to be describing a nightmare caused by his great despair. Dreams, and particularly nightmares, can leave a very strong impression. Write a poem about a vivid dream or nightmare. Use words that appeal to the senses to create vivid images.

Group Three: " The Sky is Low" by Emily Dickinson

The Sky is low-the Clouds are meanA Traveleling Flake of SnowAcross a Barn or through a RutDebates if it will go-

A Narrow Wind complains all DayHow some one treated him.Nature, like Us is sometimes caughtWithout her Diadem.

Diadem: n. crown

a. Discuss the theme: nature and human natureb. Identify the use of personification in the poem.

Discuss and answer the following questions:

1. Why do you think people so often interpret natural phenomenon terms of human nature?2. Describe the scene in the poem.

3. What does " mean" suggest about nature?

4. What does "debates" suggest about the movement of the snowflake?

5. What impression of the wind do you get from lines 5-6?

6. Restate in your own words the meaning of lines 7-8.

7. How would you reply to someone who said that this poem is merely a weather report in rhyme?

8. Point out two examples of personification in the poem.

Extension: Write a poem in which you describe an outdoor scene. You can describe a day in the park, a walk on the beach, or a stroll down the city street. Use personification in your poem.

Group Four:   "I Hear America singing" by Walt Whitman

I HEAR America singing, the varied carols I hear;Those of mechanics--each one singing his, as it should be, blithe andstrong;The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam,The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves offwork;The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat--the deckhandsinging on the steamboat deck;The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench--the hatter singing ashe stands;The wood-cutter's song--the ploughboy's, on his way in the morning,or at the noon intermission, or at sundown;The delicious singing of the mother--or of the young wife at work--orof the girl sewing or washing--Each singing what belongs toher, and to none else;The day what belongs to the day--At night, the party of youngfellows, robust, friendly,Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodioussongs.

a. Discuss the following themes: the nature of work; individualityb. Analyze the total effect of the poem, including the use of parallelism and repetition

Discuss and answer the following questions:

1. List at least five occupations of the singers in the poem.2. To whom does each song belong? Explain. Are the people literally singing, or should

"singing" be interpreted figuratively?

3. Explain the title. In what sense does the speaker hear America singing?

4. What does the poem imply about American worker?

5. Whitman is known for his love of democracy. Explain how the poem is democratic.

6. Describe the tone and spirit of the poem. Explain how a person's attitude toward his or her work affects the efficiency and enjoyment of her work.

7. Some critics comment on the poem that it presents a image of America that America would like to believe true-an image of proud and healthy and individualists engaged in productive and happy labor, which implies that Whitman's image may not be true. Do you agree" Explain.

Extension: Whitman's poem presents a vision of America from 1800's. Consider what a modern version of Whitman's poem would be like. Brainstorm to list some modern occupations, and then write a poem about modern American worker.

Group Five: "Women" by Alice Walker

They were women thenMy mama's generationHusky of voice- Stout ofStepWith fists as well asHandsHow they battered downDoorsAnd ironedStarched whiteShirtsHow they ledArmiesHeaddragged GeneralsAcross minedFieldsBooby-trappedDitchesTo discover booksDesksA place for usHow they knew what weMust knowWithout knowing a pageOf itThemselves.

a. Discuss the following themes:o relations between generations

o social change

b. Identify and analyze the use of imagery and parallelism in a poem

Discuss and answer the following questions:

1. From what generation do the woman of the poem come?2. What physical characteristics are given the woman in the first 6 lines?

3. Find three activities of these women. What three things did they discover?

4. What words and images in the poem shoe the strength of the women?

5. Explain the last 5 line of the poem. Why do you think the poet italicized the word "must"?

6. What improvements does the poem imply have taken place from one generation to the next? What has been lost?

7. Explain how sacrifice and hardship can be positive experience.

Extension: Write a lyric poem on women in the 1990s.

Group Six: "maggie and milly and molly and may" by E.E. Cumming

maggie and milly and molly and maywent down to the beach(to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sangso sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles, and

milly befriend a stranded starwhose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thingwhich raced sideways while blowing bubbles and

may came home with as mooth round stoneas small as a world and as large as alone.

for whatever we lose(like a you or me)it's always ourselves we find in the sea

a. Discuss the following themes:o the effect of nature

o self-awareness

b. Analyze the total effect of the poem, including the use of alliteration, assonance, and figurative language.

Discuss and answer the following questions:

1. Where did Maggie, Milly, Molly, and May go? Why?2. What did Maggie find? What effect did it have on her?

3. Describe the item that Milly "befriended".

4. Give two details to describe the thing that chased Molly.

5. What item did May bring home? Explain the only capital letter in the poem.

6. Why do you think the speaker choose not to name the "horrible thing" that chased Molly?

7. Explain the last two lines of the poem.

8. What can we infer about the personality of each girl from what she found in the sea?

Extension: Write a poem describing a person you know or in your imagination or yourself.

Group Seven: "Dreams" "Dream Deferred" by Langston Hughes

Dream Deferred

HarlemWhat happens to a dream deferred?Does it dry uplike a raisin in the sun?Or fester like a sore-And then run?Does it stink like rotten meat?Or crust and sugar over-like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sagslike a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Dreams

Hold fast to dreamsFor if dreams dieLife is a broken-winged birdThat canot fly.

Hold fast to dreamsFor when dreams goLife is a barren fieldFrozen with snow.

(a)Discuss the following theme: dream, disillusionment, poverty and frustrations. (b) Identify the use of similes and metaphors in the poems.

Discuss and answer the following questions about" Dream Deferred":

1. List the verbs used to indicate what can happen to "a dream deferred."2. What does the mention of Harlem imply about the subject of this poem?

3. With what kind of dream do you think the poem is concerned? Identify five similes in the poem. What do you think the speaker is suggesting in each simile?

4. Interpret the last line. Why people need to feel they can fulfill their dreams?

Discuss and answer the following questions about "Dream":

1. To what does the speaker compare life in the first stanza?2. Interpret the metaphors. What does each suggest about life?

3. Restate in your own words the advice that this poem offers. The American poet Delmore Schwarts once wrote," In dreams begin responsibilities." How might Hughes interpret this statement? Base your answer on the poems you have just read.

Extension: Write a poem reflecting your attitude toward "dreams". Base your understanding of the dream on Hughes's poems.

The Waking Year.

A lady red upon the hill

Her annual secret keeps;A lady white within the fieldIn placid lily sleeps!The tidy breezes with their broomsSweep vale, and hill, and tree!Prithee, my pretty housewives!Who may expected be?The neighbors do not yet suspect!The woods exchange a smile--Orchard, and buttercup, and bird--In such a little while!And yet how still the landscape stands,How nonchalant the wood,As if the resurrectionWere nothing very odd!

V. To March.

Dear March, come in!

How glad I am!I looked for you before.Put down your hat--You must have walked--

How out of breath you are!Dear March, how are you?And the rest?Did you leave Nature well?Oh, March, come right upstairs with me,I have so much to tell!I got your letter, and the birds';The maples never knewThat you were coming,--I declare,How red their faces grew!But, March, forgive me--And all those hillsYou left for me to hue;There was no purple suitable,You took it all with you.Who knocks? That April!Lock the door!I will not be pursued!He stayed away a year, to callWhen I am occupied.But trifles look so trivialAs soon as you have come,That blame is just as dear as praiseAnd praise as mere as blame.

. With a Flower.

When roses cease to bloom, dear,

And violets are done,When bumble-bees in solemn flightHave passed beyond the sun,The hand that paused to gatherUpon this summer's dayWill idle lie, in Auburn,--Then take my flower, pray!

VI. Song.

Summer for thee grant I may be

When summer days are flown!Thy music still when whippoorwillAnd oriole are done!For thee to bloom, I 'll skip the tombAnd sow my blossoms o'er!Pray gather me, Anemone,

Thy flower forevermore!Robert Burns

My Bonie Bell

The smiling Spring comes in rejoicing, And surly Winter grimly flies; Now crystal clear are the falling waters, And bonie blue are the sunny skies. Fresh o'er the mountains breaks forth the morning, The ev'ning gilds the ocean's swell; All creatures joy in the sun's returning, And I rejoice in my bonie Bell.

The flowery Spring leads sunny Summer, The yellow Autumn presses near; Then in his turn comes gloomy Winter, Till smiling Spring again appear: Thus seasons dancing, life advancing, Old Time and Nature their changes tell; But never ranging, still unchanging, I adore my bonie Bell.

A Red, Red, Rose

O, my Luve's like a red, red rose, That's newly sprung in June. O, my luve's like the melodie, That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonie lass, So deep in luve am I, And I will luve thee still, my Dear, Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my Dear, And the rocks melt wi' the sun! O I will luve thee still, my Dear, While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only Luve, And fare thee weel a while! And I will come again, my Luve, Tho' it were ten thousand mile!

N O V E M B E R 1 9 9 3

WHAT I DID ON A RAINY DAY

by May Swenson

Breathed the fog from the valleyInhaled its ether fumesWith whittling eyes peeled the hillsto their own blue and boneSwallowed piercing pellets of raincaught cloudsful in one colorless cupExhaling stung the earth with sunlightstruck leaf and bristle to green fireTurned tree trunks to gleaming pillarsand twigs to golden nailsWith one breath taken into the coilsof my blood and given again when vibrantI showed who's god around here

May Swenson died in 1990. Her poem in this issue is from her book Nature.

Strawberry Stuff!

Strawberrying

by May Swenson

My hands are murder-red. Many a plump headdrops on the heap in the basket. Or, ripe

to bursting, they might be hearts, matchingthe blackbird's wing-fleck. Gripped to a reed

he shrieks his ko-ka-ree in the next field.He's left his peck in some juicy cheeks, whenat first blush and mostly white, they showed

streaks of sweetness to the marauder.

We're picking near the shore, the morning sunny, a slight wind moving rough-veined leavesour hands rumple among. Fingers find by feelthe ready fruit in clusters. Flesh was perfectyesterday . . . June was for gorging . . .sweet hearts young and firm before decay.

"Take only the biggest, and not too ripe,"a mother calls to her girl and boy, barefootin the furrows. Don't step on any. Don't

change rows. Don't eat too many." Mesmerizedby the largesse, the children squat and pulland pick handfulls of rich scarlets, halffor the baskets, half for avid mouths.Soon, whole faces are stained.

A crop this thick begs for plunder. Ripenesswants to be ravished, as udders of cows when hard,the blue-veined bags distended, ache to be stripped.Hunkered in mud between the rows, sun burningthe back of our necks, we grope for, and rip loosesoft nippled heads. If they bleed - too soft -let them stay. Let them rot in the heat.

When, hidden away in a damp hollow under moldyleaves, I come upon a clump of heart-shapesonce red, now spiderspit-gray, intact but empty,still attached to their dead stems -families smothered as at Pompeii - I riseand stretch. I eat one more big ripe loppedhead. Red-handed, I leave the field.

Claude Mckay

THE TROPICS IN NEW YORK

Bananas ripe and green, and ginger-root, Cocoa in pods and alligator pears, And tangerines and mangoes and grape fruit, Fit for the highest prize at parish fairs,

Set in the window, bringing memories Of fruit-trees laden by low-singing rills, And dewy dawns, and mystical blue skies In benediction over nun-like hills.

My eyes grew dim, and I could no more gaze; A wave of lollging through my body swept, And, hungry for the old, familiar ways, I turned aside and bowed my head and wept

by Robert Frost

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.

Dust Of Snow

by Robert Frost

The way a crow Shook down on me The dust of snow From a hemlock treeHas given my heart A change of moodAnd saved some part Of a day I had rued.