“FORGIVE MY GUILT”
BY
ROBERT P. TRISTRAM COFFIN
ROBERT P. TRISTRAM COFFIN
Robert won the Pulitzer Prize
for his poem “Strange
Holiness” in 1936. His poems
were based on his New
England farm life. His poems
were committed to cheerful
acts for the world.
Robert P. Tristram
Coffin was born on
March 18, 1892
(1892-1955) grew up
in Brunswick, Maine
on a “saltwater farm.”
He attended Bowdoin,
Princeton, and Oxford
University, where he
was a Rhodes Scholar
before, as well as
after, serving two
years in World War I.
ROBERT P. TRISTRAM COFFIN
He taught at Wells
College in Aurora,
New York from
1921-1934 and
eventually returned
to Bowdoin College,
where he was Pierce
Professor in English
from 1934 until his
death in 1955.
Frost flowers are rare. They
form in areas where the
ground is still warm but the air
is quite cold. You usually see
them after a sudden but
intense cold snap.
What’s likely happening is
this: Water is rising from the
warm ground into the stems of
certain plants. It then flows out
of cracks in the stems and
suddenly freezes. The water
may be supercooled, i.e.
below freezing, but still a
liquid. As it extrudes from the
cracks in the stem, the water
touches ice crystals on the
stem, and ice immediately
forms.
The piping plover is a small,
stocky, sandy-colored bird
resembling a sandpiper. The
adult has yellow-orange legs,
a black band across the
forehead from eye to eye,
and a black ring around the
base of its neck. Like other
plovers, it runs in short starts
and stops. When still, the
piping plover blends into the
pale background of open,
sandy habitat on outer
beaches where it feeds and
nests. The bird's name
derives from its call notes,
plaintive bell-like whistles
which are often heard before
the birds are seen.
Flashback
Flashback:
In a literary work, a flashback is an
interruption of the action to present
events that took place at an earlier time.
A flashback provides information that can
help a reader better understand a
character’s current situation.
“It was years ago, and I was a boy…”
Line 3 of “Forgive My Guilt”
Mood
The mood is the feeling or
atmosphere that a writer creates
for the reader. Descriptive
words, imagery, and figurative
language all influence the mood of
a work.
Be ready to describe the mood of the poem,
“Forgive My Guilt.”
Summarization
Summarizing is telling the
important events or ideas in a
story in your own words.
A summary of a story is:
*much shorter than the story
*gives only the most important
events or ideas in a story
*does not give your ideas or
opinions.
YOU CAN EASILY
SUMMARIZE BY
USING THE FOLLOWING
STRATEGY:
SOMEBODY
Character
WANTED
Plot
BUT
SO
Conflict Resolution
AHA MOMENT
Watch for this moment in the poem, “Forgive
My Guilt.” Watch for the character to realize,
understand, or figure out something .
and ask yourself, “How might this change
things?” If it is about a problem, it will lead
to the conflict.
If it is a life lesson,
it will lead you to the theme.
GET READY TO READ
TURN AND TALK
Feeling guilty for
doing something
wrong feels bad,
but can there be good