Poems before Candide
THREE simple rules for understanding poetry?
1. Literal before Figurative
2. Know the meaning of every word
3. Know the antecedent of every
pronoun.
Group/Room Poem�1. “To You”�2. “Eldorado”�3. “Not Waving But Drowning”�4. “Lines Indicted with All the Depravity….”�5. “Travel”�6. “Pompeii”�7. “A Burnt Ship”�8. “Cocoa Beans”�9. “Socorro”�
To You BY KENNETH KOCH
I love you as a sheriff searches for a walnut
That will solve a murder case unsolved for years
Because the murderer left it in the snow beside a window
Through which he saw her head, connecting with
Her shoulders by a neck, and laid a red
Roof in her heart. For this we live a thousand years;
For this we love, and we live because we love, we are not
Inside a bottle, thank goodness! I love you as a
Kid searches for a goat; I am crazier than shirttails
In the wind, when you’re near, a wind that blows from
The big blue sea, so shiny so deep and so unlike us;
I think I am bicycling across an Africa of green and white fields
Always, to be near you, even in my heart
When I’m awake, which swims, and also I believe that you
Are trustworthy as the sidewalk which leads me to
The place where I again think of you, a new
Harmony of thoughts! I love you as the sunlight leads the prow
Of a ship which sails
From Hartford to Miami, and I love you
Best at dawn, when even before I am awake the sun
Receives me in the questions which you always pose.
To You BY KENNETH KOCH
I love you as a sheriff searches for a walnut
That will solve a murder case unsolved for years
Because the murderer left it in the snow beside a window
Through which he saw her head, connecting with
Her shoulders by a neck, and laid a red
Roof in her heart.
To You BY KENNETH KOCH
Roof in her heart. For this we live a thousand years;
For this we love, and we live because we love,
we are not
Inside a bottle, thank goodness!
To You BY KENNETH KOCH
Inside a bottle, thank goodness! I love you as a
Kid searches for a goat; I am crazier than shirttails
In the wind, when you’re near, a wind that blows
from
The big blue sea, so shiny so deep and so unlike us;
To You BY KENNETH KOCH
I think I am bicycling across an Africa of green
and white fields
Always, to be near you, even in my heart
When I’m awake, which swims, and also I believe
that you
Are trustworthy as the sidewalk which leads me to
The place where I again think of you, a new
Harmony of thoughts!
To You BY KENNETH KOCH
Harmony of thoughts! I love you as the sunlight
leads the prow
Of a ship which sails
From Hartford to Miami, and I love you
Best at dawn, when even before I am awake the sun
Receives me in the questions which you always pose.
To You BY KENNETH KOCH
I love you as a sheriff searches for a walnut
That will solve a murder case unsolved for years
Because the murderer left it in the snow beside a window
Through which he saw her head, connecting with
Her shoulders by a neck, and laid a red
Roof in her heart. For this we live a thousand years;
For this we love, and we live because we love, we are not
Inside a bottle, thank goodness! I love you as a
Kid searches for a goat; I am crazier than shirttails
In the wind, when you’re near, a wind that blows from
The big blue sea, so shiny so deep and so unlike us;
I think I am bicycling across an Africa of green and white fields
Always, to be near you, even in my heart
When I’m awake, which swims, and also I believe that you
Are trustworthy as the sidewalk which leads me to
The place where I again think of you, a new
Harmony of thoughts! I love you as the sunlight leads the prow
Of a ship which sails
From Hartford to Miami, and I love you
Best at dawn, when even before I am awake the sun
Receives me in the questions which you always pose.
To You BY KENNETH KOCH
I love you as a sheriff searches for a walnut
That will solve a murder case unsolved for years
Because the murderer left it in the snow beside a window
Through which he saw her head, connecting with
Her shoulders by a neck, and laid a red
Roof in her heart. For this we live a thousand years;
For this we love, and we live because we love, we are not
Inside a bottle, thank goodness! I love you as a
Kid searches for a goat; I am crazier than shirttails
In the wind, when you’re near, a wind that blows from
The big blue sea, so shiny so deep and so unlike us;
I think I am bicycling across an Africa of green and white fields
Always, to be near you, even in my heart
When I’m awake, which swims, and also I believe that you
Are trustworthy as the sidewalk which leads me to
The place where I again think of you, a new
Harmony of thoughts! I love you as the sunlight leads the prow
Of a ship which sails
From Hartford to Miami, and I love you
Best at dawn, when even before I am awake the sun
Receives me in the questions which you always pose.
Eldorado by Edgar Allen Poe
Gaily bedight,
A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
Had journeyed long,
Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.
But he grew old-
This knight so bold-
And o'er his heart a shadow
Fell as he found
No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.
And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow-
"Shadow," said he,
"Where can it be-
This land of Eldorado?"
"Over the Mountains
Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,"
The shade replied—
"If you seek for Eldorado!"
Not Waving But Drowning by Stevie Smith
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.
Not Waving But Drowning by Stevie Smith
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.
Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.
Not Waving But Drowning by Stevie Smith
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.
Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.
Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.
Lines Indicted With All The Depravity Of Poverty by Ogden Nash
One way to be very happy is to be very rich�For then you can buy orchids by the quire and bacon by the flitch.�And yet at the same time People don't mind if you only tip them a dime,�Because it's very funny�
Lines Indicted With All The Depravity Of Poverty by Ogden Nash
One way to be very happy is to be very rich�For then you can buy orchids by the quire and bacon by the flitch.�And yet at the same time People don't mind if you only tip them a dime,�Because it's very funny�But somehow if you're rich enough you can get away with spending�water like money�While if you're not rich you can spend in one evening your salary for�the year�And everybody will just stand around and jeer.�
Lines Indicted With All The Depravity Of Poverty by Ogden Nash
One way to be very happy is to be very rich�For then you can buy orchids by the quire and bacon by the flitch.�And yet at the same time People don't mind if you only tip them a dime,�Because it's very funny�But somehow if you're rich enough you can get away with spending�water like money�While if you're not rich you can spend in one evening your salary for�the year�And everybody will just stand around and jeer.�If you are rich you don't have to think twice about buying a judge or a�horse,�Or a lower instead of an upper, or a new suit, or a divorce,�And you never have to say When,�And you can sleep every morning until nine or ten,�All of which�Explains why I should like very, very much to be very, very rich.
Structure and Meaning
Travel by Edna St. Vincent Milay
The railroad track is miles away,
And the day is loud with voices speaking,
Yet there isn't a train goes by all day
But I hear its whistle shrieking.
All night there isn't a train goes by,
Though the night is still for sleep and dreaming,
But I see its cinders red on the sky,
And hear its engine steaming.
My heart is warm with friends I make,
And better friends I'll not be knowing;
Yet there isn't a train I'd rather take,
No matter where it's going.
Travel by Edna St. Vincent Milay
The railroad track is miles away,
And the day is loud with voices speaking,
Yet there isn't a train goes by all day
But I hear its whistle shrieking.
Travel by Edna St. Vincent Milay
The railroad track is miles away,
And the day is loud with voices speaking,
Yet there isn't a train goes by all day
But I hear its whistle shrieking.
All night there isn't a train goes by,
Though the night is still for sleep and dreaming,
But I see its cinders red on the sky,
And hear its engine steaming.
Travel by Edna St. Vincent Milay
The railroad track is miles away,
And the day is loud with voices speaking,
Yet there isn't a train goes by all day
But I hear its whistle shrieking.
All night there isn't a train goes by,
Though the night is still for sleep and dreaming,
But I see its cinders red on the sky,
And hear its engine steaming.
My heart is warm with friends I make,
And better friends I'll not be knowing;
Yet there isn't a train I'd rather take,
No matter where it's going.
Imagery and Structure
Pompeii BY CHARLES BERNSTEIN
The rich men, they know about suffering
That comes from natural things, the fate that
Rich men say they can't control, the swell of
The tides, the erosion of polar caps
And the eruption of a terrible
Greed among those who cease to be content
With what they lack when faced with wealth they are
Too ignorant to understand. Such wealth
Is the price of progress. The fishmonger
Sees the dread on the faces of the trout
And mackerel laid out at the market
Stall on quickly melting ice. In Pompeii
The lava flowed and buried the people
So poems such as this could be born.
Pompeii BY CHARLES BERNSTEIN
The rich men, they know about suffering
That comes from natural things,
Pompeii BY CHARLES BERNSTEIN
The rich men, they know about suffering
That comes from natural things, the fate that
Rich men say they can't control, the swell of
The tides, the erosion of polar caps
Pompeii BY CHARLES BERNSTEIN
The rich men, they know about suffering
That comes from natural things, the fate that
Rich men say they can't control, the swell of
The tides, the erosion of polar caps
And the eruption of a terrible
Greed among those who cease to be content
With what they lack when faced with wealth they are
Too ignorant to understand. Such wealth
Is the price of progress.
Pompeii BY CHARLES BERNSTEIN
The fishmonger
Sees the dread on the faces of the trout
And mackerel laid out at the market
Stall on quickly melting ice.
Pompeii BY CHARLES BERNSTEIN
The fishmonger
Sees the dread on the faces of the trout
And mackerel laid out at the market
Stall on quickly melting ice. In Pompeii
The lava flowed and buried the people
So poems such as this could be born.
Pompeii BY CHARLES BERNSTEIN
The rich men, they know about suffering
That comes from natural things, the fate that
Rich men say they can't control, the swell of
The tides, the erosion of polar caps
And the eruption of a terrible
Greed among those who cease to be content
With what they lack when faced with wealth they are
Too ignorant to understand. Such wealth
Is the price of progress. The fishmonger
Sees the dread on the faces of the trout
And mackerel laid out at the market
Stall on quickly melting ice. In Pompeii
The lava flowed and buried the people
So poems such as this could be born.
Meaning and Conceit
A Burnt Ship by John Donne
Out of a fired ship, which by no way
But drowning could be rescued from the flame,
Some men leap'd forth, and ever as they came
Near the foes' ships, did by their shot decay;
So all were lost, which in the ship were found,
They in the sea being burnt, they in the burnt ship drown'd.
LITERALLY what is Happening in this short poem?
A Burnt Ship by John Donne
Out of a fired ship, which by no way
But drowning could be rescued from the flame,
fired ship
A Burnt Ship by John Donne
Out of a fired ship, which by no way
But drowning could be rescued from the flame,
Some men leap'd forth, and ever as they came
Near the foes' ships, did by their shot decay;
A Burnt Ship by John Donne
Out of a fired ship, which by no way
But drowning could be rescued from the flame,
Some men leap'd forth, and ever as they came
Near the foes' ships, did by their shot decay;
So all were lost,
all
A Burnt Ship by John Donne
Out of a fired ship, which by no way
But drowning could be rescued from the flame,
Some men leap'd forth, and ever as they came
Near the foes' ships, did by their shot decay;
So all were lost, which in the ship were found,
They in the sea being burnt, they in the burnt ship drown'd.
Now, that we understand the Literal – propose a figurative, a metaphorical meaning of this poem?
A Burnt Ship by John Donne
Out of a fired ship, which by no way
But drowning could be rescued from the flame,
Some men leap'd forth, and ever as they came
Near the foes' ships, did by their shot decay;
So all were lost, which in the ship were found,
They in the sea being burnt, they in the burnt ship drown'd.
Juxaposition
Cocoa Beans by Freda Dennis Cooper
Little chocolate hands in a vast chocolate land, a world of lovers inexcusably oblivious, can't taste baby's blood mixed in.
Little chocolate hands lead to small chocolate faces, eyes filled with the hope of more than just $1 a day.
Wishes of a comfy bed and enough food to stop the pangs they've come to know all too well.
Industry fed by high demand and little chocolate hands, hands full of precious cocoa beans in baskets on their heads however they can.
A world of lovers sinfully unaware can't taste baby's blood mixed in.
The finest confections delight connoisseurs and the lay alike.
Perhaps, if we all knew about those chocolate hands, there wouldn't be a need for those chocolate hands to work like they do.
Five-, six-, seven-year-old hands slave to make my candy bar I can't live without.
We love to taste and indulge while little chocolate hands rub little bellies that bulge from too little food they can't do without.
Hypocrites are we who shed a tear, tell a friend, fast on Valentine's Day.
Then, just like a predator lures its prey with a deceiving smile, take hold of little chocolate hands saying, `It's going to be all right,' and lead them to the fields for just one more harvest.
Cocoa Beans by Freda Dennis Cooper
Little chocolate hands in a vast chocolate land, a world of lovers inexcusably oblivious, can't taste baby's blood mixed in.
Little chocolate hands lead to small chocolate faces, eyes filled with the hope of more than just $1 a day.
Wishes of a comfy bed and enough food to stop the pangs they've come to know all too well.
Industry fed by high demand and little chocolate hands, hands full of precious cocoa beans in baskets on their heads however they can.
A world of lovers sinfully unaware can't taste baby's blood mixed in.
The finest confections delight connoisseurs and the lay alike.
Perhaps, if we all knew about those chocolate hands, there wouldn't be a need for those chocolate hands to work like they do.
Five-, six-, seven-year-old hands slave to make my candy bar I can't live without.
We love to taste and indulge while little chocolate hands rub little bellies that bulge from too little food they can't do without.
Hypocrites are we who shed a tear, tell a friend, fast on Valentine's Day.
Then, just like a predator lures its prey with a deceiving smile, take hold of little chocolate hands saying, `It's going to be all right,' and lead them to the fields for just one more harvest.
"Socorro!" by Nicanor Parro
I don't know how I wound up here
I was running happy and content
With my hat in my right hand
After a phosphorescent butterfly
Who drove me wild with joy
"Socorro!" by Nicanor Parro
I don't know how I wound up here
I was running happy and content
With my hat in my right hand
After a phosphorescent butterfly
Who drove me wild with joy
When suddenly pow! I tripped
And I don't know what happened to the
garden
The landscape changed completely!
"Socorro!" by Nicanor Parro
I don't know how I wound up here
I was running happy and content
With my hat in my right hand
After a phosphorescent butterfly
Who drove me wild with joy
When suddenly pow! I tripped
And I don't know what happened to the
garden
The landscape changed completely!
My mouth and nose are bleeding.
"Socorro!" by Nicanor Parro
I don't know how I wound up here
I was running happy and content
With my hat in my right hand
After a phosphorescent butterfly
Who drove me wild with joy
When suddenly pow! I tripped
And I don't know what happened to the
garden
The landscape changed completely!
My mouth and nose are bleeding.
Really I don't know what happened
Save me once and for all
Or shoot me in the back of the neck.
One Quote
The gardener's work is never at end; it begins with the year, and continues to the next: he prepares the ground, and then he sows it; after that he plants, and then he gathers the fruits....�- John Evelyn,
Kalendarium Hortense,
1706