On the Grasshopper and Cricket

On the Grasshopper and Cricket

THE poetry of earth is never dead: 
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun, 
And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run 
From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead; 
That is the Grasshopper’s - he takes the lead 
In summer luxury,- he has never done 
With his delights; for when tired out with fun 
He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed. 
The poetry of earth is ceasing never: 
On a lone winter evening, when the frost 
Has wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills 
The Cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever, 
And seems to one in drowsiness half lost, 
The Grasshopper’s among some grassy hills. 

Discussion “On the Grasshopper and Cricket”

Please note that in most cases you are expected to say “how” and “why”, not just “yes” or “no” (frankly, that’s up to you).

Do you recognize whose poem is that?

What can you say about the form of the poem?

Do you encounter any difficulties as far as language (diction),

form (meter, rhythm, rhymes), and syntax are concerned?

Do you feel like changing anything (for instance, in diction, word order)?

Are there any striking images in the poem?

What is (are) the central image(s) of the poem?

What can you say about the mood and the tone of the poem?

Who is the speaker of the poem?

What can you say about the underlying ideas?

What is the subject of the poem?

Can you relate to it?

Please also use

1)      Charles Bernstein’s “Poem profiler”

2)      Read and then use “Basic definition”

3)      Later we will try also Helen Vendler’s “Step-by-Step method to thoroughly explicating the poem

(All attached).