My poetry anthology

By Mariela

A set of poems aboutThree men experiencing different feelings

“ In my childhood trees were greenAnd there was plenty to be seen.

Come back early or never come.

My father made the walls resound,He wore his collar the wrong way round.

Come back early or never come.

My mother wore a yellow dress; Gently, gently, gentleness.

Come back early or never come.

When I was five the black dreams came;Nothing after was quite the same. Come back early or never come.

The dark was talking to the death;The lamp was dark beside my bed.

Come back early or never come.

When I woke they did not care; Nobody, nobody was there.

Come back early or never come.

When my silent terror cried, Nobody, nobody replied.

Come back early or never come.

I got up; the chilly sunSaw me walk away alone.

Come back early or never come.”

By Louis MacNeice

• The autobiography of a man who, despite his violent father,

had a happy childhood, but after his mother’s death

everything changed.

• I chose this poem because I liked how the writer expressed his

feelings. He used bright colours for his happiness and his

beloved mother, and dark colours for his sadness and fear. I

also liked the use of paradox (eg. silent terror cried) since it

makes his emotions look deeper.

• I think the pictures show the tears he must have shed when

he went through all these situations as well as the ones he

must have shed every time he remember them.

The Hind

Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,

But as for me, helas! I may no more.

The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,

I am of them that furthest come behind.

Yet may I, by no means, my wearied mind

Draw from the deer; but as she fleeth afore

Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore,

Since in a net I seek to hold the wind.

Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,

As well as I, may spend his time in vain;

And graven with diamonds in letters plain

There is written, her fair neck round about,

Noli me tangere, for Caesar’s I am,

And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.

By Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542)

• A man who gave up courting a lady. He realised it was useless to do

so since she belonged to the King.

• I chose this poem because I liked the way in which feelings are

expressed. I found the use of metaphor really interesting (eg.

hunting: courting, deer: beloved), also when it says: “…in a net I

seek to hold the wind.” to show the pointlessness of the persistence.

• I think the first picture shows his physical and emotional tiredness.

In second one the bench shows the empty place for another hunter

and the fact that is autumn the end of his pursuit.

“…It would take too long to tell how I repaid

the terror of the land for every life he took

and so won credit for you, my king,

and for all your people. And although he got away

to enjoy life’s sweetness for a while longer,

his right hand stayed behind him in Heorot,

evidence of his miserable overthrow

as he lived into murk on the mere bottom…”

An extract from “The Battle of Maldon and Beowulf”

• A man telling the tale of a fight.

• I enjoyed reading the extracts from The Battle of Maldon and

Beowulf a lot. I found extremely interesting to learn Anglo

Saxon Society’s characteristics in detail as well as the Old

English rhetorical devices. So I chose this extract which shows

some of the central beliefs such as loyalty, revenge and fame.

• The first picture shows the thirst for revenge and the second

one all the seas that have been crossed as well as the fury the

warriors felt.

Literature in English I

My poetry anthology