Year 9: Poetry

Name:

1

Poetry

Contents

‘Wherever I Hang’ by Grace Nichols (1950-) Page 2

‘The Night Mail’ by W. H. Auden (1907-1973) Page 3

‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ by Wallace Willis (1820-1880) Page 5

‘The Canterbury Tales’ by Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343-1400) Page 7

‘Paradise Lost’ (extract from Book 1) by John Milton (1608-1674) Page 10

Compare the ways poets present fictional journeys Page 12

‘The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost (1874-1963) Page 13

‘My Father Thought It’ by Simon Armitage (1963-) Page 14

Compare how poets reflect on journeys Page 17

‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ (extract) by T. S. Eliot (1888-

1965)

Page 18

Essay Writing Practice Page 20

2

Wherever I Hang – Grace Nichols (1950-)

I leave me people, me land, me home

For reasons I not too sure

I forsake de sun

And de humming-bird splendour

Had big rats in de floorboard

So I pick up me new-world-self

And come to this place call England

At first I feeling like I in a dream -

De misty greyness

I touching the walls to see if they real

They solid to de seam

And de people pouring from de underground system

Like beans

And when I look up to de sky

I see Lord Nelson high – too high to lie.

And is so I sending home photos of myself

Among de pigeons and de snow

And is so I warding off de cold

And is so, little by little

I begin to change my calypso ways

Never visiting nobody

Before giving them clear warning

And waiting me turn in queue

Now, after all this time

I get accustom to de English life

But I still miss back-home side

To tell you de truth

I don’t know really where I belaang

Yes, divided to de ocean

Divided to the bone

Wherever I hang me knickers – that’s my home.

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3

The Night Mail – W. H. Auden (1907-1973)

This is the Night Mail crossing the border,

Bringing the cheque and the postal order,

Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,

The shop at the corner and the girl next door.

Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb:

The gradient's against her, but she's on time.

Past cotton-grass and moorland boulder

Shovelling white steam over her shoulder,

Snorting noisily as she passes

Silent miles of wind-bent grasses.

Birds turn their heads as she approaches,

Stare from the bushes at her blank-faced coaches.

Sheep-dogs cannot turn her course;

They slumber on with paws across.

In the farm she passes no one wakes,

But a jug in the bedroom gently shakes.

Dawn freshens, the climb is done.

Down towards Glasgow she descends

Towards the steam tugs yelping down the glade of cranes,

Towards the fields of apparatus, the furnaces

Set on the dark plain like gigantic chessmen.

All Scotland waits for her:

In the dark glens, beside the pale-green sea lochs

Men long for news.

Letters of thanks, letters from banks,

Letters of joy from the girl and the boy,

Receipted bills and invitations

To inspect new stock or visit relations,

And applications for situations

And timid lovers' declarations

And gossip, gossip from all the nations,

News circumstantial, news financial,

Letters with holiday snaps to enlarge in,

Letters with faces scrawled in the margin,

Letters from uncles, cousins, and aunts,

Letters to Scotland from the South of France,

Letters of condolence to Highlands and Lowlands

Notes from overseas to Hebrides

Written on paper of every hue,

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Beattock –

village in

Scotland;

moorland –

a piece of

land

yelping – a

sharp cry

loch – lake

timid –

scared

scrawled –

written

quickly

Hebrides –

islands off

4

The pink, the violet, the white and the blue,

The chatty, the catty, the boring, adoring,

The cold and official and the heart's outpouring,

Clever, stupid, short and long,

The typed and the printed and the spelt all wrong.

Thousands are still asleep

Dreaming of terrifying monsters,

Or of friendly tea beside the band at Cranston's or Crawford's:

Asleep in working Glasgow, asleep in well-set Edinburgh,

Asleep in granite Aberdeen,

They continue their dreams,

And shall wake soon and long for letters,

And none will hear the postman's knock

Without a quickening of the heart,

For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?

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the coast

of Scotland

Cranston's

or

Crawford's

– tea shops

5

‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ by Wallace Willis

The poem we are learning about today is an African American spiritual

song. It is believed to have been composed by Wallace Willis, a black

American slave in the 19th century.

Wallace Willis was a slave who worked on a plantation in Mississippi. He

and his family were moved to a farm in Oklahoma, and it is believed that the

song was composed on the cotton plantation there. Some believe that the

song was used as a coded message about escaping their slavery and

moving to the north of America, where slaves could have freedom.

During this time in American history, slaves did not receive an education.

Many were unable to read and write. The Bible still played an important part

of slaves’ lives, though. This poem is part of the call and response tradition.

This means that the leader would sing a line and then the others would

repeat the line together. Often the songs were not written down, but they

were passed down between generations orally. The songs were often about

the struggle of slavery, oppression and the hope they had for the future. This

type of music influenced gospel music traditions we have today.

The content of the poem is based on a passage in the Bible. It is about a

man called Elijah. Elijah was a prophet and miracle worker. This is the

moment Elijah is walking to the river Jordan, he strikes the water and it is

divided. He is then taken to heaven on a chariot that passes between the

water. His assistant Elisha witnesses the miracle.

As they were walking along and talking together,

suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire

appeared and separated the two of them, and

Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha

saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The

chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw

him no more. Then he took hold of his garment

and tore it in two.

(2 Kings chapter 2 verses 11-12)

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Swing Low, Sweet Chariot – Wallace Willis (1820-1880?)

Swing low, sweet chariot, Coming for to carry me home,

Swing low, sweet chariot, Coming for to carry me home.

I looked over Jordan and what did I see,

Coming for to carry me home?

A band of angels coming after me,

Coming for to carry me home.

If you get there before I do,

Coming for to carry me home,

Tell all my friends I’m coming too,

Coming for to carry me home.

The brightest day that ever I saw,

Coming for to carry me home.

When Jesus washed my sins away,

Coming for to carry me home.

I’m sometimes up and sometimes down,

Coming for to carry me home,

But still my soul feels heavenly bound,

Coming for to carry me home...

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‘The Canterbury Tales’ by Geoffrey Chaucer

We are going to be studying a section of a poem called ‘The Canterbury Tales’. This is a

very long poem that includes 24 stories told by different pilgrims on a journey in

Springtime. They travel the 50 miles from the Tabard Inn in Southwark (London) to the

shrine of Thomas à Becket in Canterbury in Kent.

Map of the route taken by the pilgrims

The 29 pilgrims are referred to as a ‘company’ in the poem. These people came from

varying walks of life. In ‘The Canterbury Tales’ the company was made up of a knight, a

cook, a man of law, a seamstress, a friar, a sailor, a monk and many more. They take it in

turns to tell stories as they travel to Canterbury. Their stories reflect their personalities and

their social status. A pilgrimage was a rare occasion when people from different parts of

society would interact as they had the same purpose.

Journeys in Medieval England

The pilgrimage to Canterbury would have taken three or four days on horseback,

depending on how many times they stopped for rest. But the company would travel at

just faster than walking pace, so traditionally it would have taken longer. Chaucer uses

this context to write his poem.

The fictional pilgrims were travelling from a city to the country. They would have seen the

landscape change as they completed their journey. The tavern owner, Harry Bailly,

suggests that they tell stories to pass the time and to entertain themselves. In Medieval

England, the oral tradition of storytelling was a key part of life. Chaucer’s characters and

stories are still famous today.

Language

The poem would have originally been written in Middle English which was a combination

of French and English. This is because of the Norman invasion in 1066 when those in power

spoke French. England at this time was undergoing great political and linguistic change,

Chaucer wanted to create a snapshot of society at this time. We are going to read and

study the poem in a modern translation.

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The Canterbury Tales – Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343-1400)

The General Prologue

When April with his showers sweet with fruit

The drought of March has pierced unto the root

And bathed each vein with liquor that has power

To generate therein and sire the flower;

When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath,

Quickened again, in every holt and heath,

The tender shoots and buds, and the young sun

Into the Ram one half his course has run,

And many little birds make melody

That sleep through all the night with open eye

(So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)-

Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage,

And palmers to go seeking out strange strands,

To distant shrines well known in sundry lands.

And specially from every shire's end

Of England they to Canterbury wend,

The holy blessed martyr there to seek

Who helped them when they lay so ill and weak.

Befell that, in that season, on a day

In Southwark, at the Tabard, as I lay

Ready to start upon my pilgrimage

To Canterbury, full of devout homage,

There came at nightfall to that hostelry

Some nine and twenty in a company

Of sundry persons who had chanced to fall

In fellowship, and pilgrims were they all

That toward Canterbury town would ride.

The rooms and stables spacious were and wide,

And well we there were eased, and of the best.

And briefly, when the sun had gone to rest,

So had I spoken with them, every one,

That I was of their fellowship anon,

And made agreement that we'd early rise

To take the road, as you I will apprise.

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drought – dryness

vein – root of each

plant

Zephyr – the west

wind

Ram – zodiac sign

of Aries (so it is

mid-April)

palmers –

dedicated pilgrims

holy blessed

martyr – St Thomas

à Becket

Tabard, hostelry –

an inn that

provides food,

drink and lodging

sundry – varied

fellowship -

company

eased –

comfortable

accommodation

anon – soon

apprise – tell

9

The Canterbury Tales (Stanza 1)

When April with his showers sweet with fruit

The drought of March has pierced unto the root

And bathed each vein with liquor that has power

To generate therein and sire the flower;

When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath,

Quickened again, in every holt and heath,

The tender shoots and buds, and the young sun

Into the Ram one half his course has run,

And many little birds make melody

That sleep through all the night with open eye

(So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)-

Then do folk long to go on pilgrimage,

And palmers to go seeking out strange strands,

To distant shrines well known in sundry lands.

And specially from every shire's end

Of England they to Canterbury wend,

The holy blessed martyr there to seek

Who helped them when they lay so ill and weak.

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Paradise Lost (extract from Book 1) – John Milton (1608-1674)

Original Poem Modern Prose

Of Man’s First Disobedience, and the Fruit

Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste

Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,

With loss of Eden, till one greater Man

Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,

Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top

Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire

That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed,

In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth

Rose out of Chaos: Or if Sion Hill

Delight thee more, and Siloa's Brook that flow'd

Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence

Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song,

That with no middle flight intends to soar

Above th' Aonian Mount, while it pursues

Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime.

And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that dost prefer

Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure,

Instruct me, for Thou know'st; Thou from the first

Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread

Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss

And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark

Illumin, what is low raise and support;

That to the highth of this great Argument

I may assert Eternal Providence,

And justifie the wayes of God to men.

Say first, for Heav'n hides nothing from thy view

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Lines 1 – 5: Tell me about man's first sin, when he tasted the

forbidden fruit and caused all our troubles, until Jesus came

and saved us.

Lines 6 – 11: Muse, inspire me with this knowledge. You are

the Holy Spirit who inspired Moses in his teachings.

Lines 12 – 16: I'm asking for your help because I want to write

a great work different from any that have ever been written

before.

Lines 17 – 18: I want you to teach me, Holy Spirit, because

you value goodness more than fancy churches.

Lines 19 – 22: You know everything. You were there at the

Beginning. You sat like a dove with your wings spread over

the dark emptiness and made it come to life.

Lines 23 – 26: Holy Spirit, enlighten me where I am ignorant

and strengthen my abilities so that I can correctly explain

God's great purpose to men.

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Nor the deep Tract of Hell, say first what cause

Mov'd our Grand Parents in that happy State,

Favour'd of Heav'n so highly, to fall off

From thir Creator, and transgress his Will

For one restraint, Lords of the World besides?

Who first seduc'd them to that foul revolt?

Th' infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile

Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd

The Mother of Mankind, what time his Pride

Had cast him out from Heav'n, with all his Host

Of Rebel Angels, by whose aid aspiring

To set himself in Glory above his Peers,

He trusted to have equal'd the most High,

If he oppos'd; and with ambitious aim

Against the Throne and Monarchy of God

Rais'd impious War in Heav'n and Battel proud

With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power

Hurld headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Skie

With hideous ruine and combustion down

To bottomless perdition, there to dwell

In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire,

Who durst defie th' Omnipotent to Arms.

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Lines 27 – 32: Holy Spirit, you know everything about Heaven

and Hell, so tell me, what was it that made Adam and Eve go

against God's orders? They seemed so happy. He had given

them the whole world, except for one little thing.

Lines 33 – 36: Who made them do this awful thing? It was that

snake from Hell, wasn't it? His envy and thirst for revenge

made him trick Eve the way he did.

Lines 37 – 43: Satan’s pride got him thrown out of Heaven

with all his followers. They supported his ambition to glorify

himself - even to the point of waging war against God.

Lines 44 – 49: But Satan was doomed to fail. After a terrible

war, God threw him into Hell for daring to fight him.

12

Compare the ways poets present fictional journeys in ‘The Canterbury Tales’ and ‘Paradise Lost’.

13

The Road Not Taken – Robert Frost (1874-1963)

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.

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diverged – separated

undergrowth – plants

that grow under trees in

the woods

better claim – looked

more appealing

12 – 13: Both roads

looked the same in the

morning

ages hence – in the

future

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The 1970s – The era of punk

The rebellious youth of the 1970s and 1980s found shocking

ways to show their identities. This was most evident in the

punk movement. Punk was a fashion and music style that

defied the social norms.

Punks wore shredded clothing and dyed their hair bright

colours and shaved and shaped it into spikes and ridges

such as the Mohawk (a ridge of hair sticking straight up,

running down the centre of the head). They got tattoos and

pierced their bodies in many places rarely seen in modern

Western culture, performing many of the piercings

themselves. It was typical to see punk youth wearing safety

pins in their pierced ears, noses, eyebrows, and cheeks. Their

appearance was scandalous – many people blamed the

rising crime rates on the establishment of this subculture!

If the early punk piercings were all about rebellion and

shock, later piercings had a more fashionable purpose. The

ears were still a popular spot to pierce, but instead of

one earring now each ear might hold several earrings,

ranging from the lobe to the top of the ear.

The clothes were never cheap, but the Punks improvised

their own gear and the look spread rapidly. It provoked

open hostility and is still potent today.

Fashion designers at the time viewed the

punk movement as 'a heroic attempt to

confront the older generation'. Over time,

the radical nature of punk was absorbed

by mainstream culture and fashion, and

became less dangerous and revolutionary.

A front-page newspaper article on punk

band The Sex Pistols

A POP group shocked millions of viewers last night with the filthiest language heard on British television.

The Sex Pistols, leaders of the new “punk rock” cult, hurled a string of four-letter obscenities at interviewer Bill Grundy on Thames TV’s family teatime programme, “Today”.

The Thames switchboard was flooded with protests. Nearly 200 angry viewers telephoned the Mirror. One man

was so furious he kicked in the screen of his £380 colour TV. Grundy was immediately carpeted by his boss and will

apologise in tonight’s programme. SHOCKER

A Thames spokesman said: “Because the programme was live, we could not foresee the language which would be used. We apologise to all viewers.”

Lorry driver James Homes, 47, was outraged that his eight-year-old son Lee heard the swearing… and kicked in the screen of his TV.

“It blew up and I was kicked backwards,” he said. “But I was so angry and disgusted with this filth that I took

a swing with my boot. “I can swear as well as anyone, but I don’t want this sort of

muck coming into my home at teatime.”

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My Father Thought It – Simon Armitage (1963 – )

My father thought it bloody queer,

the day I rolled home with a ring of silver in my ear

half hidden by a mop of hair. "You’ve lost your head.

If that’s how easily you’re led

you should’ve had it through your nose instead."

And even then I hadn’t had the nerve to numb

the lobe with ice, then drive a needle through the skin,

then wear a safety-pin. It took a jeweller’s gun

to pierce the flesh, and then a friend

to thread the sleeper in, and where it slept

the hole became a sore, became a wound, and wept.

At twenty-nine, it comes as no surprise to hear

my own voice breaking like a tear, released like water,

cried from way back in the spiral of the ear. If I were you,

I’d take it out and leave it out next year.

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My Father Thought It – Simon Armitage (1963 – )

My father thought it bloody queer,

the day I rolled home with a ring of silver in my ear

half hidden by a mop of hair. "You’ve lost your head.

If that’s how easily you’re led

you should’ve had it through your nose instead."

5

Stanza 1 questions:

1. What is the context of this poem?

2. Which people are referred to in this stanza?

3. How does the speaker feel about the experience?

4. What is the relationship between the father and son

like?

And even then I hadn’t had the nerve to numb

the lobe with ice, then drive a needle through the skin,

then wear a safety-pin. It took a jeweller’s gun

to pierce the flesh, and then a friend

to thread the sleeper in, and where it slept

the hole became a sore, became a wound, and wept.

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Stanza 2 questions:

5. What happens to the piercing?

6. What evidence do we have that the speaker regrets

the decision to get a piercing?

7. How does the repetition of ‘and’ show the passing of

time?

8. The final line in this stanza describes what happens to

the piercing. How could this line also be a metaphor?

At twenty-nine, it comes as no surprise to hear

my own voice breaking like a tear, released like water,

cried from way back in the spiral of the ear. If I were you,

I’d take it out and leave it out next year.

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Stanza 3 questions:

9. How is the passing of time indicated?

10. The poem is nostalgic and emotional. Highlight phrases

that show this.

11. Why are italics used for the last line of the poem?

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Compare how poets reflect on journeys in ‘The Road Not Taken’ and ‘My Father Thought It’.

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‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ (extract) – T.S. Eliot (1888 – 1965)

Let us go then, you and I,

When the evening is spread out against the sky

Like a patient etherized upon a table;

Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,

The muttering retreats

Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels

And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:

Streets that follow like a tedious argument

Of insidious intent

To lead you to an overwhelming question ...

Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”

Let us go and make our visit.

In the room the women come and go

Talking of Michelangelo.

The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,

The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes,

Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,

Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,

Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,

Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,

And seeing that it was a soft October night,

Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.

And indeed there will be time

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etherized – medicated for an operation

sawdust – an inferior wood

insidious intent – deceptive purposes

muzzle – the nose and mouth

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For the yellow smoke that slides along the street,

Rubbing its back upon the window-panes;

There will be time, there will be time

To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;

There will be time to murder and create,

And time for all the works and days of hands

That lift and drop a question on your plate;

Time for you and time for me,

And time yet for a hundred indecisions,

And for a hundred visions and revisions,

Before the taking of a toast and tea.

In the room the women come and go

Talking of Michelangelo.

And indeed there will be time

To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”

Time to turn back and descend the stair,

With a bald spot in the middle of my hair —

(They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”)

My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,

My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin —

(They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”)

Do I dare

Disturb the universe?

In a minute there is time

For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

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mounting – rising up to

asserted – held there

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Essay Writing

Writers’ names

You should refer to the author of a text by their surname.

Which of these sentences would be correct?

Fix up the incorrect sentences.

1. Eliot presents the speaker in ‘Love Song’ as a procrastinator.

2. Grace is an immigrant from Guyana to England – she is not treated very well.

3. Milton speaks about Satan’s rebellion against God and why he was ‘hurld’ from

heaven.

4. In ‘The Road Not Taken’, Forst presents the predicament of choosing between two

roads.

5. By using vivid imagery, Simon Armitage shows that he regrets getting the piercing.

Pronouns

It is important to be able to distinguish between the writer, speaker and characters in your

writing. You should avoid using ‘he’, ‘him’, ‘she’ and ‘her’ if it could be unclear who you

are talking about.

Here are some passages for ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ and ‘Paradise Lost’.

Correct the unclear parts.

1. Willis and Milton describe journeys between heaven and earth. The poem is set in

the present, but he also refers to the future hope that he has.

2. Milton and Willis describe the bliss of home. He speaks of the terrible mistake Adam

and Eve made when they ate from the ‘forbidden tree’ and were expelled from

the Garden of Eden.

3. Both poets speak of the future. Willis says his ‘soul feels heavenly bound’ whilst

Milton speaks of us being restored by ‘one greater man’. He speaks of Jesus

washing his sins away.

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Tone

These two essays make the same points in different ways. Which is better? Why?

A) But Satan didn’t want to do what God said so he fight him and LOST!!! So he fell into

hell when God kicked him and there he stayed and it was hot and nasty to be

there and he was miserable.

B) However, Satan was disobedient and did not want to follow God’s rule. He rebelled

and was sent out of heaven to gruesome hell. Milton describes hell as an

unpleasant place and not one his readers would want to go to suggesting that the

poem has a moral.

Vocabulary

Where relevant, you can use the words and terms we have studied in your essay.

What are the missing terms, definitions, or examples?

Term: Extended metaphor

Definition: ____________________________________________________________________

Example from ‘The Road Not Taken’: Frost describes two roads as life choices that people

need to decide on.

Term: _______________

Definition: A person who moves to live in another country permanently. This may be out of

choice or sometimes people are forced to move because of war, natural disasters or

financial difficulty.

Example from ‘Wherever I Hang’: Nichols describes her move from Guyana to England in

the 1970s.

Term: Procrastinate

Definition: to wait a long time before doing something that you must do.

Example from ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’:

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

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Term: Epic poetry

Definition: a type of poetry that uses big themes, invocation of the Muse and epithets.

Example(s) from ‘Paradise Lost’:

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Proof reading

A student has written a paragraph about time in ‘The Canterbury Tales’.

Fix up the errors in this paragraph.

Chaucer uses time to celebrate the season of Spring. In the

opening of the poem he describes how the weather makes the

land ferti le. The poem is set during the astrological sign of Aries

which means that the seasons are changing. I t also reminded

Christians to be more holy because it was soon Easter. Spring

spreads to every part of the land, including the birds. Chauncer

says that ‘many l ittle birds make melody’ which shows how

idyl l ic the time of year is. I t is during this season that people are

motivated and reminded to go on a pilgrimage.