Heading – Poetry 9
Define love.
What is love?
Objective
 To
examine a new poet, an even
happier poet.
 Have
your homework out and ready.
Will we work together – Marge Piercy.
My heart wags me, a big dog
I want to
Like
But
make
when
sheep
with you
You wake in the early gray
with a bigger tail. I am
of
some
I am
whose
with
bold
hair
you,
new
isI made
thing
light
morning
in bed
alone and
a new
coin printed
with curse
to
up
blankets
stand
the corners,
inand
the coats,
marketplace,
I am Ibright
want
your
face.
MyI am
bodyonly
wears
me,
that
to force
the
asstatue
afrom
fireplace
of
this
a fierce
goddess,
roaring
sturdy
sore before I can express
sometimes
there.
with
rampant
laughing,
love,
love
every
armed
some
bone
and
useful
inwearing
mything.
back
on yours the smallest part
and
flowers
my fingers
and feathers.
is singing
of what moves me. Words
like a tea kettle on the boil.
shred and splinter
Everyone

Read through the poem on your own for
one minute and then answer me this:

Is it a boy or a girl in the poem talking?

Is the speaker a male or a female?
Theme: Love
The speaker in the poem is deeply in love with
someone. They have a strong physical and intellectual
connection.
There raw animal love is powerful now but they are
aware that it shall weaken over time (as do all things).
The intention of the poem might be to show people this
intense relationship and teach them that what comes
next must be considered.
What comes after that intense part at the beginning of a relationship?
Theme: Language
Language is not good enough to express some
things. It is limited, as are we. (?)
(Interesting fact – Eskimos have 100 words for snow.)
The speaker has to compare himself and his
partner to other things. If what he says is not
possible, it is a metaphor. If he uses the words
‘as’ or ‘like’, it is a simile.
(Let’s find and underline some metaphors and similes.)

You wake in the early gray
morning in bed alone and curse

I want to make with you
me, that I am only
some bold new thing
sometimes there. But when
to stand in the marketplace,
I am with you, I light
up the corners, I am bright
as a fireplace roaring
with love, every bone in my back
and my fingers is singing
like a tea kettle on the boil.
My heart wags me, a big dog
with a bigger tail. I am
a new coin printed with
your face. My body wears
sore before I can express
on yours the smallest part
of what moves me.
the statue of a goddess,
laughing, armed and wearing
flowers and feathers. Like sheep
of whose hair is made
blankets and coats, I want
to force from this fierce sturdy
rampant love some useful thing.

You wake in the early gray
morning in bed alone and curse

I want to make with you
me, that I am only
some bold new thing
sometimes there. But when
to stand in the marketplace,
I am with you, I light
up the corners, I am bright
as a fireplace roaring
with love, every bone in my back
and my fingers is singing
like a tea kettle on the boil.
My heart wags me, a big dog
with a bigger tail. I am
a new coin printed with
your face. My body wears
sore before I can express
on yours the smallest part
of what moves me.
the statue of a goddess,
laughing, armed and wearing
flowers and feathers. Like sheep
of whose hair is made
blankets and coats, I want
to force from this fierce sturdy
rampant love some useful thing.
Choose one of the following:
I light up the corners,
I am bright as a fireplace roaring with love,
every bone in my back and my fingers is singing like a tea kettle on
the boil.
My heart wags me, a big dog with a bigger tail.
I am a new coin printed with your face.
Finish the following sentence: The speaker is like a ......
which means that ......
Write your opinion.

Do you understand why the poet used
her own language?
Homework
 FOR
FRIDAY Compare Mahon’s three
poems.
Reflection
I
think...
I
like...
I
want to know...