Modern Poetry: Nightmare ICA (Blocks 2 & 3)

Read the poems indicated below and answer the questions for each.  N.B. While it is generally a GOOD idea to include a quoted passage from a text as part of your answer, it is generally a BAD idea to use a quote from a text alone as an answer.

USE MLA PARENTHETICAL CITATION FOR ANY QUOTATIONS OR PARAPHRASES.

DO NOT INCLUDE THE TEXT OF THE QUESTIONS IN YOUR RESPONSES.

NO COLLUSION.

Read Yeats' "The Second Coming," (pp. 552-553) and answer the questions below

1. What does "the centre cannot hold" seem to suggest about what is coming?
2. Are lines 7-8 relevant in today’s world?  How so?
3. How does this poem’s vision of the event of the second coming differ from the traditional Christian anticipation of that event? (Nicene Creed: "He [Jesus] shall come again in glory to judge the living and the dead; and His kingdom shall have no end.")
4. Explain what you think lines 19-20 mean.

"To Death" (Ahkmatova), p. 592

1. Who is the "you" in the poem?
2. What might explain the attitude expressed in the lines "I can't stand much more./I've put out the light and opened the door/ For you" (2-4)?

The remaining several poems: Download several poems:

"Dulce et Decorum Est" by Owen (pdf) Download "Dulce et Decorum Est" by Owen (pdf)

"The Dance" by Siamato (pdf) Download "The Dance" by Siamato (pdf)

"Break of Day in the Trenches" (pdf) Download "Break of Day in the Trenches" (pdf)

"Dulce et Decorum Est" (Wilfred Owen, England)

1. How do we see the influence of Realism in this poem?
2. In what way(s) is the traditional notion of patriotism and heroic soldiering refuted ("the old lie") by the poem?  How might the specifics of how World War One was fought support this rejection?

"The Dance" (Siamanto, Armenia)

N.B. This poem was inspired by the genocide of Armenians by the Turks (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site.. Siamanto himself was captured, tortured and killed not long after this poem was written.

1. How does the attitude/mood of the speaker change through the four stanzas in the poem?
2. Would digging out one's eyes be of any real help? Explain.

"Break of Day in the Trenches" (Rosenberg, England)

1. Of what significance is the time of day suggested by the title?
2. How is the "rat" cosmopolitan? (You should know what this word means from last semester.) What does this suggest about the differences between British and German soldiers?

Summative Question:  What's the value of writing or reading poems like this? (Better answers will be several sentences long.)

After submitting your responses to the above, please complete this short PearDeck (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site..