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“Curiosity” by Alastair Reid
may have killed the cat; more likely
the cat was just unlucky, or else curious
to see what death was like, having no cause
to go on licking paws, or fathering
litter on litter of kittens, predictably.
Nevertheless, to be curious
is dangerous enough. To distrust
what is always said, what seems
to ask odd questions, interfere in dreams,
leave home, smell rats, have hunches
do not endear cats to those doggy circles
where well-smelt baskets, suitable wives, good lunches
are the order of things, and where prevails
much wagging of incurious heads and tails.
Face it. Curiosity
will not cause us to die-only lack of it will.
Never to want to see
the other side of the hill
or that improbable country
where living is an idyll
(although a probable hell)
would kill us all.
Only the curious have, if they live, a tale
worth telling at all.
Dogs say cats love too much, are irresponsible,
are changeable, marry too many wives,
desert their children, chill all dinner tables
with tales of their nine lives.
Well, they are lucky. Let them be
nine-lived and contradictory,
curious enough to change, prepared to pay
the cat price, which is to die
and die again and again,
each time with no less pain.
A cat minority of one
is all that can be counted on
to tell the truth. And what cats have to tell
on each return from hell
is this: that dying is what the living do,
that dying is what the loving do,
and that dead dogs are those who do not know
that dying is what, to live, each has to do.
106753261
“Departmental” by Robert Frost
An ant on the tablecloth
Ran into a dormant moth
Of many times his size.
He showed not the least surprise.
His business wasn't with such.
He gave it scarcely a touch,
And was off on his duty run.
Yet if he encountered one
Of the hive's enquiry squad
Whose work is to find out God
And the nature of time and space,
He would put him onto the case.
Ants are a curious race;
One crossing with hurried tread
The body of one of their dead
Isn't given a moment's arrestSeems not even impressed.
But he no doubt reports to any
With whom he crosses antennae,
And they no doubt report
To the higher-up at court.
Then word goes forth in Formic:
"Death's come to Jerry McCormic,
Our selfless forager Jerry.
Will the special Janizary
Whose office it is to bury
The dead of the commissary
Go bring him home to his people.
Lay him in state on a sepal.
Wrap him for shroud in a petal.
Embalm him with ichor of nettle.
This is the word of your Queen."
And presently on the scene
Appears a solemn mortician;
And taking formal position,
With feelers calmly atwiddle,
Seizes the dead by the middle,
And heaving him high in air,
Carries him out of there.
No one stands round to stare.
It is nobody else's affair
It couldn't be called ungentle
But how thoroughly department
106753261
Questions for “Curiosity”
This poem isn’t just about cats. Think deeper and fill in the sentences below after you
mark up the poem.
Mark up the poem after you read it aloud:
o Rhyme scheme: Put a different letter in the margin when a new rhyme begins
o Alliteration: Underline repeated letters
o Assonance: Underline repeated vowel sounds
o Repetition: Circle words that repeat throughout the poem
½. What do you already know about the differences between cats and dogs?
______________________________________________________________________
1. List the cat behavior in the poem: ________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
2. List the dog behavior in the poem: _______________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
3. “Curiosity” is really about ______________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________.
4. Therefore, cats symbolize people who ____________________________________
__________________________________________________________________,
while dogs symbolize people who ________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________.
5. The tone of this poem is ___________________________________ because
__________________________________________________________________.
6. The speaker of the poem is someone who _________________________________
__________________________________________________________________.
7. The title is “Curiosity” because __________________________________________.
106753261
Questions for “Departmental”
This poem isn’t just about ants. Think deeper and fill in the sentences below after you
mark up the poem.
Mark up the poem after you read it aloud:
o Rhyme scheme: Put a different letter in the margin when a new rhyme begins
o Alliteration: Underline repeated letters
o Assonance: Underline repeated the vowel sound
o Repetition: Circle words that repeat throughout the poem
½. What do you already know about the word “departmental”? Think about a
department store.
______________________________________________________________________
1. The ant in the poem dies when _________________________________________.
2. The other ants feel _____________ about the dead ant. Evidence of this feeling is
found in these words: _________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________.
3. The ants symbolize ___________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________.
4. Therefore, “Departmental” is really about __________________________________
__________________________________________________________________.
5. This poem has a _________________________________ meter. Examples
include ____________________________________________________________.
6. The tone of this poem is ___________________________________ because
__________________________________________________________________.
7. The speaker of the poem is someone who _________________________________
__________________________________________________________________.
8. The title of the poem is “Departmental” because ____________________________
__________________________________________________________________.