For each poem, there are a separate set of questions to consider. Discuss the questions and prepare
answers for each to help you understand the poem. Then be prepared to offer a summary of the poem
touching on a few aspects of your analysis.
“Waiting for Icarus”
1. Read the poem once. Based on your reading, identify the probable speaker of the poem.
2. Based on the first stanza determine
i) the context of the lines (when, where, and why they were spoken)
ii) the relationship between the speaker and Icarus
iii) the relationship between Icarus and his father
iv) the character of Daedalus
v) Icarus’ projected outcome of his flight
3. Based on stanza two
i) comment on the context of the events
ii) how is the speaker received in society?
iii) what is the relationship between the speaker and the mother?
iv) what social and cultural attitudes are conveyed about inventors, women and poets?
v) are these attitudes still prevalent today? How do they relate to present day situations?
4. Reread the final stanza. Comment on the speaker’s attitude. Is the speaker aware of Icarus’ tragic
outcome? Provide evidence.
5. Are there any literary devices in the poem that help convey meaning?
6. Define anaphora and explain how, where and perhaps why it is used in the poem.
“Icarus”
Carefully read and reread the poem. Based on your reading of the poem
1. Identify the probable speaker of the poem.
2. Identify the reaction of the police and witnesses to “the spectacle”. Try to account for the
behaviour described. What does it tell us about the society in which the poem is set?
3. Based on stanza 1, what differences are there in the Greek Myth “Daedalus” and the outcome
described in the last few lines?
4. Based on stanza 2, how is Mr. Hicks/Icarus characterized? Provide evidence.
5. What is the meaning of the line “No, he could not disturb their neat front yards” ?
6. How does Icarus’ “current reality” conflict with history?
7. Based on stanza 3 and 4, explain the tragedy of Icarus?
8. Considering the poem was written in 1989, what current issues might connect to the main themes
of the poem? What is the main theme of the poem?
Can you think of any “genius” or “heroes” that have experienced a fall “to the middling stature of the
merely talented”?
9. Are there any literary devices used throughout the poem that help convey meaning?
The following songs all make reference to Icarus and the story of “Daedalus”.
Kanye West – “Wolves”
Demi Lovato – “Heart Attack”
Indigo Girls – “Go”
Haken – “Falling Back to Earth”
Kansas – “Icarus: Borne on Wings of Steel”
Using your electronic devices, locate the song/lyrics using a search engine. Locate the allusion in the
lyrics, and then explain the significance and message relayed through the song. Why, in each case, it is
relevant or necessary for the singer/songwriter to make use of Greek Mythology in their lyrics?
“Landscape With the Fall of Icarus”
(reflects the “story” told by Pieter Bruegal’s painting)
Pieter Bruegal was a Renaissance painter from the Netherlands. He was famous for painting landscapes
and rural, peasant scenes.
1. Identify the main theme conveyed by the poet.
2. What is the irony of the setting in which the events outlined in the poem occur?
3. In this particular poem, each stanza does not present a complete thought. What effect or significance
is created since the last line of each stanza is actually the first sentence of the next?
“To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Triumph”
Sexton’s poem is written in the form of a sonnet. This highly conventional 14 line poem was made
famous by many classical poets. We will study them at a later date.
For now, know that the poem is made of 3 – quatrains (set of 4 lines) and each has a definitive rhyme
scheme. The last two lines are called a rhyming couplet.
Each quatrain presents a unique idea. Usually each presents a perspective about an event or a topic.
The last two lines bring closure to the ideas or arguments presented.
With this in mind, answer the following questions:
1. Read the poem and then reread it again. Based on your comprehension
2. Who might the probable speaker be of the poem?
3. Looking only at the first quatrain, select key words that reveal the speaker’s attitude towards Icarus’
experience. What tone is revealed by the diction you selected?
4. What is meant by the line “Think of the difference it made!”? To whom, when?
5. Looking only at the second quatrain, identify the message conveyed by the speaker focusing on
specific words used throughout these 4 lines.
6. Based on the language in the third quatrain, is Icarus worried or fearful about his current situation?
7. What main message is conveyed through the rhyming couplet and the last line in the last quatrain?
8. What irony is created through the final sentence in the poem?
9. How and why is the title significant and tied to your answers for questions #6 and 7?