How to Attack a Poem
1. Read the poem
2. Define unknown words
3. Analyze form (Rhyme scheme/division)
4. Paraphrase (Put it into your own words)
5. Identify figurative language
6. Identify theme
Name: _________________________________
Imagery
While reading the following poems, we will be focusing on
imagery.
Imagery is defined as writing that appeals to our five senses of
touching, tasting, feeling, hearing, and seeing.
Additional notes below:
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The Courage That My Mother Had
Edna St. Vincent Millay
The courage that my mother had
Went with her, and is with her still:
Rock from New England quarried;
Now granite in a granite hill.
The golden brooch my mother wore
She left behind for me to wear;
I have no thing I treasure more:
Yet, it is something I could spare.
Oh, if instead she’d left to me
The thing she took into the grave!—
That courage like a rock, which she
Has no more need of, and I have
Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
SARAH CYNTHIA SYLVIA STOUT
by Shel Silverstein
Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
Would not take the garbage out.
She'd wash the dishes and scrub the pans
Cook the yams and spice the hams,
And though her parents would scream and shout,
She simply would not take the garbage out.
And so it piled up to the ceiling:
Coffee grounds, potato peelings,
Brown bananas and rotten peas,
Chunks of sour cottage cheese.
It filled the can, it covered the floor,
It cracked the windows and blocked the door,
With bacon rinds and chicken bones,
Drippy ends of ice cream cones,
Prune pits, peach pits, orange peels,
Gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal,
Pizza crusts and withered greens,
Soggy beans, and tangerines,
Crusts of black-burned buttered toast,
Grisly bits of beefy roast.
The garbage rolled on down the halls,
It raised the roof, it broke the walls,
I mean, greasy napkins, cookie crumbs,
Blobs of gooey bubble gum,
Cellophane from old bologna,
Rubbery, blubbery macaroni,
Peanut butter, caked and dry,
Curdled milk, and crusts of pie,
Rotting melons, dried-up mustard,
Eggshells mixed with lemon custard,
Cold French fries and rancid meat,
Yellow lumps of Cream of Wheat.
At last the garbage reached so high
That finally it touched the sky,
And none of her friends would come to play,
And all of her neighbors moved away;
And finally, Sarah Cynthia Stout
Said, "Okay, I'll take the garbage out!"
But then, of course it was too late,
The garbage reached across the state,
From New York to the Golden Gate;
And there in the garbage she did hate
Poor Sarah met an awful fate
That I cannot right now relate
Because the hour is much too late
But children, remember Sarah Stout,
And always take the garbage out.
Analyzing Checklist
•Read Poem
•Define unknown words
•Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
•Paraphrase
•Figurative Language
•Theme
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Miracles. by Walt Whitman
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Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
WHY! who makes much of a miracle?
As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach, just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with any one I love—or sleep in the bed at night with any one I love,
Or sit at table at dinner with my mother,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive, of a summer forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds—or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sun-down—or of stars shining so quiet and bright,
Or the exquisite, delicate, thin curve of the new moon in spring;
Or whether I go among those I like best, and that like me best—mechanics, boatmen,
farmers,
Or among the savans—or to the soiree—or to the opera,
Or stand a long while looking at the movements of machinery,
Or behold children at their sports,
Or the admirable sight of the perfect old man, or the perfect old woman,
Or the sick in hospitals, or the dead carried to burial,
Or my own eyes and figure in the glass;
These, with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,
The whole referring—yet each distinct, and in its place.
To me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same,
Every foot of the interior swarms with the same;
Every spear of grass—the frames, limbs, organs, of men and women, and all that
concerns
them,
All these to me are unspeakably perfect miracles.
To me the sea is a continual miracle;
The fishes that swim—the rocks—the motion of the waves—the ships, with men
in
them,
What stranger miracles are there?
in Just- by E. E. Cummings
in Justspring when the world is mudluscious the little lame baloonman
whistles far and wee
and eddyandbill come
running from marbles and
piracies and it's
spring
when the world is puddle-wonderful
the queer
old baloonman whistles
far and wee
and bettyandisbel come dancing
from hop-scotch and jump-rope and
it's
spring
and
the
goat-footed
baloonMan whistles
far
and
wee
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Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
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Immigrants
by Pat Mora
wrap their babies in the American flag,
feed them mashed hot dogs and apple pie,
name them Bill and Daisy,
buy them blonde dolls that blink blue
eyes or a football and tiny cleats
before the baby can even walk,
speak to them in thick English,
hallo, babee, hallo,
whisper in Spanish or Polish
when the babies sleep, whisper
in a dark parent bed, that dark
parent fear, “Will they like
our boy, our girl, our fine American
boy, our fine American girl?”
Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
"My Father Is a Simple Man"
by Luis Omar Salinas
I walk to town with my father
to buy a newspaper. He walks slower
than I do so I must slow up.
The street is filled with children.
We argue about the price of pomegranates. I convince
him it is the fruit of scholars .
He has taken me on this journey
and it's been lifelong.
He's sure I'll be healthy
so long as I eat more oranges,
and tells me the orange
has seeds and so is perpetual ;
and we too will come back
like the orange trees.
I ask him what he thinks
about death and he says
he will gladly face it when
it comes but won't jump
out in front of a car.
I'd gladly give my life
for this man with a sixth
grade education, whose kindness
and patience are true...
The truth of it is, he's the scholar,
and when the bitter-hard reality
comes at me like a punishing
evil stranger, I can always
remember that here was a man
who was a worker and provider,
who learned the simple facts
in life and lived by them,
who held no pretense.
And when he leaves without
benefit of fanfare or applause
I shall have learned what little
there is about greatness.
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Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
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"Mama Is a Sunrise"
by Evelyn Tooley Hunt
When she comes slip-footing
through the door,
she kindles us
like lump coal lighted,
and we wake up glowing.
She puts a spark even in Papa's
eyes
and turns out all our darkness.
When she comes sweet-talking in
the room,
she warms us
like grits and gravy,
and we rise up shining.
Even at nighttime Mama is a
sunrise
that promises tomorrow and
tomorrow.
Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
Personification
While reading the following poems, we will be focusing on
personification.
Personification is defined as giving human characteristics to
non-living things.
“The desk tripped me,” said the student.
Additional notes below:
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Fog
by Carl Sandburg
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
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Take a Poem to Lunch
by Denise Rodgers
I'd love to take a poem to lunch
or treat it to a wholesome brunch
of fresh cut fruit and apple crunch.
I'd spread it neatly on the cloth
beside a bowl of chicken broth
and watch a mug of root beer froth.
I'd feel the words collect the mood,
the taste and feel of tempting food
popped in the mouth and slowly
chewed,
and get the smell of fresh baked bread
that sniffs inside and fills our head
with thoughts that no word ever said.
And as the words rest on the page
beside the cumin, salt and sage,
and every slowly starts to age,
like soup that simmers as it's stirred,
ingredients get mixed and blurred
and blends in taste with every word
until the poet gets it right,
the taste and smell
and sound and sight,
the words that make it fit.
Just write.
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Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
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Jack Frost, Artist
by Denise Rodgers
There's a pattern on my window
When the night's been very cold.
The artist who created it
Is Jack Frost, I am told.
He only deals in abstracts
And in geometric lines.
He's not much for still lifes
Or Renaissance designs.
He doesn't paint in color;
His designs are all in white.
The sunlight shows their beauty
In the early morning light.
I never hear him working;
Not a scratch, a sigh, or cough.
It's not too bad for Jack, though;
He gets the summer off.
Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
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I Am of the Earth
By Anna Lee Walters
I am of the earth
She is my mother
She bore me with pride
She reared me with love
She cradled me each evening
She pushed the wind to make it sing
She built me a house of harmonious
colors
She fed me the fruits of her fields
She rewarded me with memories of
her smiles
She punished me with the passing of
time
And at last, when I long to leave
She will embrace me for eternity
Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
Simile and Metaphor
While reading the following poems, we will be focusing on
similes and metaphors.
A simile is defined as comparing two unlike things using like or as.
Example: John is as fast as a jaguar.
A metaphor is defined as comparing two unlike things without using
like or as.
Example: John is a jaguar.
Additional notes below:
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I'm nobody! Who are you?
Emily Dickinson
I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us -- don't tell!
They'd banish -- you know!
How dreary to be somebody!
How public like a frog
To tell one's name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!
Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
My Father Is a Simple Man
By Luis Omar Salinas
I walk to town with my father
to buy a newspaper. He walks slower
than I do so I must slow up.
The street is filled with children.
We argue about the price
of pomegranates, I convince
him it is the fruit of scholars.
He has taken me on this journey
and it's been lifelong.
He's sure I'll be healthy
so long as I eat more oranges,
and tells me the orange
has seeds and so is perpetual;
and we too will come back
like the orange trees.
I ask him what he thinks
about death and he says
he will gladly face it when
it comes but won't jump
out in front of a car.
I'd gladly give my life
for this man with a sixth
grade education, whose kindness
and patience are true . . .
The truth of it is, he's the scholar,
and when the bitter-hard reality
comes at me like a punishing
evil stranger, I can always
remember that here was a man
who was a worker and provider,
who learned the simple facts
in life and lived by them,
who held no pretense.
And when he leaves without
benefit of fanfare or applause
I shall have learned what little
there is about greatness.
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Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
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Mama is a Sunrise
By Evelyn Tooley Hunt
When she comes slip-footing through
the door,
she kindles us
like lump coal lighted,
and we wake up glowing.
She puts a spark even in Papa's eyes
and turns out all our darkness.
When she comes sweet-talking in the
room,
she warms us
like grits and gravy
and we rise up shining.
Even at night-time Mama is a sunrise
that promises tomorrow and
tomorrow.
Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
"THE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH"
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Under a spreading chestnut tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.
His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
His face is like the tan:
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate'er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.
Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.
And children coming home from school
Look in at the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing floor.
He goes on Sunday to the church,
And sits among his boys;
He hear the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter's voice,
Singing in the village choir,
And it makes his heart rejoice.
It sounds to him like her mother's voice,
Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies;
And with his hard, rough hand he wipes
A tear out of his eyes.
Toiling,--rejoicing,--sorrowing,
Onwards through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close;
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night's repose.
Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought!
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Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
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Life
By Naomi Long Madgett
Life is but a toy that swings on a
bright gold chain
Ticking for a little while
To amuse a fascinated infant,
Until the keeper, a very old man,
Becomes tired of the game
And lets the watch run down
Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
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Fog
by Carl Sandburg
THE fog comes
on little cat feet.
It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
Sound Devices
(Onomatopoeia, Alliteration, Rhyme, and
Rhythm.)
While reading the following poems, we will be focusing on sound
devices.
Onomatopoeia- Putting sounds into word form (Boom, bang, pop)
Alliteration- The repetition of consonant sounds in words
(John jumped joyously in the air.)
Rhyme- Two or more words having the same sound
(Rat, cat, mat, fat)
Rhythm- The pattern a poem follows.
Additional notes below:
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SARAH CYNTHIA SYLVIA STOUT
by Shel Silverstein
Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
Would not take the garbage out.
She'd wash the dishes and scrub the pans
Cook the yams and spice the hams,
And though her parents would scream and shout,
She simply would not take the garbage out.
And so it piled up to the ceiling:
Coffee grounds, potato peelings,
Brown bananas and rotten peas,
Chunks of sour cottage cheese.
It filled the can, it covered the floor,
It cracked the windows and blocked the door,
With bacon rinds and chicken bones,
Drippy ends of ice cream cones,
Prune pits, peach pits, orange peels,
Gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal,
Pizza crusts and withered greens,
Soggy beans, and tangerines,
Crusts of black-burned buttered toast,
Grisly bits of beefy roast.
The garbage rolled on down the halls,
It raised the roof, it broke the walls,
I mean, greasy napkins, cookie crumbs,
Blobs of gooey bubble gum,
Cellophane from old bologna,
Rubbery, blubbery macaroni,
Peanut butter, caked and dry,
Curdled milk, and crusts of pie,
Rotting melons, dried-up mustard,
Eggshells mixed with lemon custard,
Cold French fries and rancid meat,
Yellow lumps of Cream of Wheat.
At last the garbage reached so high
That finally it touched the sky,
And none of her friends would come to play,
And all of her neighbors moved away;
And finally, Sarah Cynthia Stout
Said, "Okay, I'll take the garbage out!"
But then, of course it was too late,
The garbage reached across the state,
From New York to the Golden Gate;
And there in the garbage she did hate
Poor Sarah met an awful fate
That I cannot right now relate
Because the hour is much too late
But children, remember Sarah Stout,
And always take the garbage out.
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Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
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Full Fathom Five
By William Shakespeare
Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his
eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
Ding-dong.
Hark! now I hear them,--dingdong, bell.
Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
Onomatopoeia by Eve Merriam
The rusty spigot
sputters,
utters
a splutter,
spatters a smattering of drops,
gashes wider,
slash,
splatters,
scatters,
spurts,
finally stops sputtering
and plash!
gushes rushes splashes
clear water dashes.
Analyzing Checklist
•Read Poem
•Define unknown words
•Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
•Paraphrase
•Figurative Language
•Theme
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maggie and milly and molly and may
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by E. E. Cummings
maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach(to play one day)
and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles, and
milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;
and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and
may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.
For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea
Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
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Weather
By Eve Merriam
Dot a dot dot dot a dot dot
Spotting the windowpane.
Spack a spack speck flick a flack
fleck
Freckling the windowpane.
A spatter a scatter a wet cat a
clatter
A splatter a rumble outside.
Umbrella umbrella umbrella
umbrella
Bumbershoot barrel of rain.
Slosh a galosh slosh a galosh
Slither and slather a glide
A puddle a jump a puddle a jump
A puddle a jump puddle splosh
A juddle a pump a luddle a dump
A pudmuddle jump in and slide!
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Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
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Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
By Robert Frost
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
Annabel Lee
By Edgar Allen Poe
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.
I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than loveI and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.
And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.
The angels, not half so happy in heaven,
Went envying her and meYes!- that was the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
But our love it was stronger by far than the love
Of those who were older than weOf many far wiser than weAnd neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.
For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
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Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
Madam and the Rent Man
By Langston Hughes
The rent man knocked.
He said, Howdy-do?
I said, What
Can I do for you?
He said, You know
Your rent is due.
I said, Listen,
Before I'd pay
I'd go to Hades
And rot away!
The sink is broke,
The water don't run,
And you ain't done a thing
You promised to've done.
Back window's cracked,
Kitchen floor squeaks,
There's rats in the cellar,
And the attic leaks.
He said, Madam,
It's not up to me.
I'm just the agent,
Don't you see?
I said, Naturally,
You pass the buck.
If it's money you want
You're out of luck.
He said, Madam,
I ain't pleased!
I said, Neither am I.
So we agrees!
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Analyzing Checklist
Read Poem
Define unknown words
Analyze Form (Rhyme
scheme/division)
Paraphrase
Figurative Language
Theme
You Are Old, Father William
by Lewis Carroll
"You are old, Father William," the young man said,
"And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head-Do you think, at your age, it is right?
"In my youth," Father William replied to his son,
"I feared it might injure the brain;
But now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again."
"You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before,
And you have grown must uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned back a somersault in at the door-Pray, what is the reason of that?"
"In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his gray locks,
"I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment--one shilling a box-Allow me to sell you a couple."
"You are old," said the youth, "and your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak-Pray, how did you manage to do it?"
"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,
Has lasted the rest of my life."
"You are old," said the youth, "one would hardly suppose
That your eyes was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose-What made you so awfully clever?"
"I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"
Said his father; "don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you downstairs!"
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Analyzing Checklist
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Jim
By Gwendolyn Brooks
There never was a nicer boy
Than Mrs. Jackson's Jim.
The sun should drop its greatest
gold
On him.
Because, when Mother-dear was
sick,
He brought her cocoa in,
And brought her broth, and
brought her bread.
And brought her medicine.
And, tipping, tidied up her room.
And would not let her see
He missed the game of baseball
Terribly.
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Other poems to investigate:
One—page 585
Train Tune—page 591
Martin Luther King—page 600
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Symbolism
While reading the following poems, we will be focusing on
symbolism.
Symbolism is defined as an object representing something greater
than itself. For example, a heart is much more than a heart. It can
symbolize, life, love, and happiness.
Additional notes below:
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The Runaway
by Robert Frost
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Once when the snow of the year was beginning to fall,
We stopped by a mountain pasture to say 'Whose colt?'
A little Morgan had one forefoot on the wall,
The other curled at his breast. He dipped his head
And snorted at us. And then he had to bolt.
We heard the miniature thunder where he fled,
And we saw him, or thought we saw him, dim and grey,
Like a shadow against the curtain of falling flakes.
'I think the little fellow's afraid of the snow.
He isn't winter-broken. It isn't play
With the little fellow at all. He's running away.
I doubt if even his mother could tell him, "Sakes,
It's only weather". He'd think she didn't know !
Where is his mother? He can't be out alone.'
And now he comes again with a clatter of stone
And mounts the wall again with whited eyes
And all his tail that isn't hair up straight.
He shudders his coat as if to throw off flies.
'Whoever it is that leaves him out so late,
When other creatures have gone to stall and bin,
Ought to be told to come and take him in.'
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Mother to Son by Langston
Hughes
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal
stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the
floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So, boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps.
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now—
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no
crystal stair.
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The Courage That My Mother Had
Edna St. Vincent Millay
The courage that my mother had
Went with her, and is with her still:
Rock from New England quarried;
Now granite in a granite hill.
The golden brooch my mother wore
She left behind for me to wear;
I have no thing I treasure more:
Yet, it is something I could spare.
Oh, if instead she’d left to me
The thing she took into the grave!—
That courage like a rock, which she
Has no more need of, and I have.
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