Reckless Poem
Mary Oliver
Today again I am hardly myself.
It happens over and over.
It is heaven-sent.
It flows through me
like the blue wave.
Green leaves – you may believe this or not –
have once or twice
emerged from the tips of my fingers
somewhere
deep in the woods,
in the reckless seizure of spring.
Though, of course, I also know that other song,
the sweet passion of one-ness.
Just yesterday I watched an ant crossing a path, through the
tumbled pine needles she toiled.
And I thought: she will never live another life but this one.
And I thought: if she lives her life with all her strength
is she not wonderful and wise?
And I continued this up the miraculous pyramid of everything
until I came to myself.
And still, even in these northern woods, on these hills of sand,
I have flown from the other window of myself
to become white heron, blue whale,
red fox, hedgehog.
Oh, sometimes already my body has felt like the body of a flower!
Sometimes already my heart is a red parrot, perched
among strange, dark trees, flapping and screaming.
1. Summarize this poem.
2. Identify how the author uses literary techniques to help develop the poem.
3. Give a personal comment on the poem.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
The flowers are in bloom
BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE PLEASE DO THE FOLLOWING:
Change your display name to your first name and last initial. I know, I know. Not very creative, but it will make it so much easier for me and your classmates to follow your blog. : )
Next - type up your Marianne Moore inspired poem. Print and turn in a copy to me. You may post to your blog, but if you do please be sure to say at the beginning of the post that this poem was modeled after her poem. You do not want to be accused of thievery. : )
Finally - continue posting on your classmates' pages. Go to the blogs I am following and make sure YOU are also following all of your classmates blogs. Go outside of the people you simply know and post away!!!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Whimsical Wednesday
Did you see what I did there? I used alliteration. : )
Today you are going to type up your two metaphor poems. Please be sure to type up and save each poem individually in your student directory. Once you have typed them up, I would like you to turn them in with the rubrics. Then I would like to choose one to post to your blog. You may post both if you wish.
Next I would like for you to comment on 10 other blogs. Try to choose blogs that you did not already comment on the other day. Be sure to provide one positive statement about a classmate's poem and one suggestion. Keep you comments appropriate.
Finally, take a minute to read the following poem. Any thoughts?
In Blackwater Woods
Look, the trees
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars
of light,
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,
the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders
of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is
nameless now.
Every year
everything
I have ever learned
in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
~ Mary Oliver ~
Today you are going to type up your two metaphor poems. Please be sure to type up and save each poem individually in your student directory. Once you have typed them up, I would like you to turn them in with the rubrics. Then I would like to choose one to post to your blog. You may post both if you wish.
Next I would like for you to comment on 10 other blogs. Try to choose blogs that you did not already comment on the other day. Be sure to provide one positive statement about a classmate's poem and one suggestion. Keep you comments appropriate.
Finally, take a minute to read the following poem. Any thoughts?
In Blackwater Woods
Look, the trees
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars
of light,
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,
the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders
of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is
nameless now.
Every year
everything
I have ever learned
in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
~ Mary Oliver ~
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Friday's job
Okay, now that you have created your blog and uploaded your first poem to your blog, you need to start following your classmates' blogs. Do the following things today:
1. Follow all the blogs on my blog.
2. Once you have done this, choose 10 blogs to read AND comment on. You will be asked to do this regularly. Step outside of your comfort zone and look at NOT only your friends' blogs, but people you don't know well. Keep in mind that you should be commenting in a positive and constructive manner.
3. Create a new post for today called Favorite Friday Poem. Go online and explore some poetry and then post the lyrics to your site and then write a few sentences explaining WHY you like this poem. Be sure to include the author AND title of poem. Also attempt to keep the proper format for the poem.
1. Follow all the blogs on my blog.
2. Once you have done this, choose 10 blogs to read AND comment on. You will be asked to do this regularly. Step outside of your comfort zone and look at NOT only your friends' blogs, but people you don't know well. Keep in mind that you should be commenting in a positive and constructive manner.
3. Create a new post for today called Favorite Friday Poem. Go online and explore some poetry and then post the lyrics to your site and then write a few sentences explaining WHY you like this poem. Be sure to include the author AND title of poem. Also attempt to keep the proper format for the poem.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
One of my favorites.
The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
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