NAME: < type your response here>
QUOTING FROM A POEM -- WORKSHEET
Respond to the following questions and prompts. Make sure your answers are as complete as you can
possibly make them. Be sure to follow directions. You will deposit this in the drop box at the end of
class. IMPORTANT: Be sure to first read “Rules for Quoting from a Poem.”
Using the poem below by William Wordsworth, answer the following questions or prompts. Refer to the
rules for quoting from a poem to properly complete this exercise. Do not consult or copy from internet
sources to complete this exercise. If you do you will receive a zero.
1. Write a sentence that explains what this poem is about. Use the title of the poem and the writer’s
name in your sentence.
type your answer here
2. In another sentence, point out a striking image or comparison in the poem. Quote a phrase, not a
complete sentence. Integrate with your own words. NO QUOTE LUMPS!
type your answer here
3. In another sentence, cite an example of personification and explain what it reveals about the
speaker. Quote a phrase that begins on one line and continues on the next.
type your answer here
4. In a sentence that contains at least three lines of the poem, comment on how those lines help
reveal the poem’s meaning. Introduce the lines, quote exactly, and explain them afterwards.
type your answer here
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
By William Wordsworth
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
< over for part two >
Part 2
Now read John Donne’s Sonnet 10, “Death Be Not Proud,” and respond to the following prompts.
Prompt
1. In one or two sentences, identify the speaker, the occasion, and the purpose of the poem. Use
the title of the poem and the writer’s name in your first sentence.
type your answer here
2. Paraphrase each of the sonnet’s three quatrains and the paradoxical couplet (last two lines).
type your answer here
3. Describe Donne’s use of apostrophe and personification. How do these devices enhance our
experience of the poem? Be sure to provide at least one quotation for both apostrophe and
personification.
type your answer here
Sonnet 10. Death Be Not Proud
By John Donne (1572-1631)
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou'art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy'or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
Paraphrasing worksheet
Mr. Rose 2