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Gone Forever
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Halfway through shaving, it came—
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the word for a poem.
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I should have scribbled it
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on the mirror with a soapy finger,
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Or shouted it to myself till it ran
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in my head like a tune.
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But now it’s gone with the whiskers
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down the drain. Gone forever,
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like the girls I never kissed,
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and the places I never visited—
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the lost lives I never lived.
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Barriss Mills
6
The French painter, Degas, was also a writer of sonnets. However, he was often frustrated by his inability to achieve the desired effect.
He once complained to thc poet Mallarmé, “I cannot understand it. My poems refuse to come although I am full of excellent ideas.” Mallarmé, a master of written art, replied, “But my dear Degas, poetry is not written with ideas; it is written with words.”
7
Understand that if a creative force like Degas’ missed the obvious, teachers can do the same. In order to teach poetry effectively, teachers must infuse students with the ability to handle words as they do clay: shaping, adding, streamlining, completely altering their choices until the word combinations produce the desired effect.
We begin, then, with the epithet, a word which describes an object in a new and often surprising way. It particularizes the object and makes it different from any others that may “on the surface” be like it. Students must begin to see through stock combinations. But how do we break their resistance? Imagination must be dealt with as a personal issue. No image, no epithet is wrong or unusable. All minds become fertile, but the teacher must pick the fruit during the first couple of harvests. Three interesting exercises offer the student an opportunity to experiment with epithets and create imagery without having to think up his or her own words.
Exercise 1: In Seareh Of A Picture—The City
Directions
In the column on the left are objects to which epithets have been applied; on the right the epithets used to replace them.
Match the description to the object.
1.
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skyscraper
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A. rumbling locomotive cars with horrible
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2.
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tenement
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angry fronts
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3.
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small child
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B. Iittle gifts of cool spray
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4.
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garbage cans
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C. dulled silver records of past life
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5.
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street gang
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D. glistening towering smiling giants
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6.
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fire hydrants
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E. tiny fragile plant sprouting from the pavement
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F. empty dirty eyes staring down through corroding scarred flesh
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Supplement
Students should make up lists of five ordinary objects, and then recreate them using epithets.
**********
Suddenly, objects are more than they were assumed to be. How do we arrive at these new definitions? The answer is complicated, but, for the moment, let us reduce it to a matter of feelings or impulses. Make your students aware of shades of difference in, for example, colors. Azure is not just blue; crimson is not just red; lemon is not simply yellow. The same can be done with ages (“young willow,” “old oak”), conditions (“fitful sleep,” “drug-like sleep”), or temperatures (tepid, warm, blazing, hot). The next exercise relies on free association to accomplish two things: spur students’ interest, and create a more fluid image. Similarly, in the third exercise, students are allowed to choose from a variety of words, all in a given category. Using these word choices in conjunction with the cinquain framework, students will write a second, more succinct poem.
Exercise 2: Unguarded Responses
Directions
Do Not
write in complete sentences, but respond in three, four, or five word phrases. Answer in any order. Use a separate sheet of paper.
1.
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What do you hear if you are in a car and it is raining outside?
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2.
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What do you feel if you are standing outside in the rain?
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3.
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Describe the odor of gasoline.
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4.
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What sounds do you hear if you are walking with heavy boots in a deep snow? (Don’t use the word “crunch.”)
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5.
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Describe the texture of skin. Feel it.
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6.
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What does hair feel like? Anybody’s hair.
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7.
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How would you describe fear? (Think of a time you have been afraid.)
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8.
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Describe the odor of freshly cut grass.
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9.
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Describe the sensation of placing an ice cube against your lips.
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10.
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Is there a particular odor in the air
before
a rainfall? Describe it.
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11.
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Is there a particular odor in the air
after
a rainfall? Describe it.
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12.
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If your hand slides across a piece of silky fabric, what do you feel?
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13.
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If you were to walk barefoot down your street, what would you feel?
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14.
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What does your hand feel like?
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15.
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What does someone else’s hand feel like? (Your mother’s? Father’s?)
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16.
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Describe the taste of a lemon.
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17.
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Describe a jet taking off.
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Note
In order to achieve good results with Exercise 2, students must relax. Sentence structure should be down-played with the intention of accenting good word choice. In this exercise, the entire group, smaller groups, or individuals are encouraged to respond in fragments that are then thrown together to form free association poetry. (Groups may in fact prove more successful.) All sensory-descriptive in nature, each collection of phrases is a piece of original lyric creativity. Voilˆ! A first poem can be produced by each student, or group of students. They are now ready to approach the cinquain.
Exercise 3: Keys To Imagination
Directions
A
cinquain
is a five-line poem of two, four, six, eight, and two syllables respectively. Here is an example:
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Reflections
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Today
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A bare stark whisp
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Of all the rich days past
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Why must yesterday disappear?
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Alone
The cinquain is an easy and fun way to explore the limited and limitless qualities of poetry. For the moment, however, put poetry, cinquain, everything, and everyone out of your mind. Just create!
1.
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Glance through the columns in the grid below. CHOOSE ONLY ONE ITEM FROM EACH COLUMN. No rational reasons are required. The responses may be personal and impulsive. It’s your choice!
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2.
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After choosing five words, select one of the words as a theme for a cinquain. Attempt to use at least three of the circled words in your poem. GOOD LUCK!
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Color
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Weather
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Temperature
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Time
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Mood
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Red
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Breezy
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Warm
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Morning
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Excitable
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Orange
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Frosty
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Hot
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Evening
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Calm
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Pink
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Humid
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Cold
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Later
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Lazy
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Yellow
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Fair
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Tepid
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Now
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Active
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Gold
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Dry
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Cool
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Night
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Surprised
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Green
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Icy
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Freezing
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Day
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Happy
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Blue
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Snowy
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Steaming
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Noon
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Glum
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Black
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Mild
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Lukewarm
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Then
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Depressed
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White
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Windy
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Scalding
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Forever
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Shocked
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Brown
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Cloudy
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Cozy
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Never
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Shy
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Tan
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Stormy
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Comfortable
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Sunrise
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Sly
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Rose
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Foggy
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Sunset
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Shrewd
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Beige
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Misty
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Early
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Careful
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Purple
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Crisp
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Late
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Bold
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Nervous
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Peaceful
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Anxious
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Appreation/Analysis
The following questions apply to three pieces which feature interesting examples of word choice: “Motto” by Langston Hughes; “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks; and “Play It Cool” by Stephen Sondheim (from
West Side Story
). The two poems, as well as the song, are structured around one important word: “cool.” However, what students should note here are the differences in the ways “cool” is defined. Because it is a common word in urban vernacular, “cool” should be rethought by students in terms of their own usages of the word. What is synonymous with “cool”? In what diverse circumstances can the word be used? After answering the questions below, students should write a second cinquain using either “cool” plus another one-syllable word, or an equivalent two-syllable term. Their cinquains should become imagistic definitions of the expressions chosen. A discussion of connotation and denotation would be useful at this point also. See the glossary for definitions.
Questions
1.
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Explain how “cool” is defined in each poem. Notice that these definitions
are
different.
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2.
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Explain how the speakers in each poem “play it coo1.” In other words, what
actions
are supposed to be “cool”?
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3.
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Try to think of one word which could be substituted for “cool” in each poem. (Two different words)
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4.
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Find two differences in the ways the poems are punctuated. (Periods, commas, dashes) How does each mark of punctuation relate to the different versions of “cool”?
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5.
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Why do you think Ms. Brooks has “We” at the end of each line? Why is there no “We” at the end of the last line?
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6.
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Explain what you think “dig and be dug in return” means in “Motto.”
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7.
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Explain what you think “dig all jive” means.
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8.
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Try to explain the picture you get from these phrases from “We Real Cool”:
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a.
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lurk late
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b.
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strike straight
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c.
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sing sin
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d.
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thin gin
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9.
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In your own words, explain the advice the first speaker is giving the second in “Play It Coo1.” Does your impression of the song change after hearing the music? If so, how? (
Note
: Here it is recommended that the students read the lyrics before hearing the song with music.)
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10.
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Pick one of the two poems and compare its definition of “cool” with that in the song. Give specific examples from the song (quotes) to prove your answer.
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Following is the first stanza of “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke. As previously mentioned, one stanza of the poem will be examined in the Appreciation/Analysis section of each chapter.
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My Papa’s Waltz
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The whiskey on your breath
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Could make a small boy dizzy;
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But I hung on like death.
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Such waltzing was not easy.
8
In this first stanza, the dancing forms of father and son blend together. The memory of the “dizziness” from the liquor fumes is accompanied by the mixture of joy and fear the child feels as he clings to his father. Here, the potency of the scene will be determined by these first few lines. Rhythm, rhyme, and figurative language all work with the original word choices in these beginning lines. The irony of the smoothness of the waltz that is not felt in the piece, is amplified by the other technical aspects of the poem.