BUSHED
By Earle Birney
He invented a rainbow but lightning struck it
shattered it into the lake-lap of a mountain
so big his mind slowed when he looked at it
Yet he built a shack on the shore
learned to roast porcupine belly and
wore the quills on his hatband
At first he was out with the dawn
whether it yellowed bright as wood-columbine
or was only a fuzzed moth in a flannel of storm
But he found the mountain was clearly alive
sent messages whizzing down every hot morning
boomed proclamations at noon and spread out
a white guard of goat
before falling asleep on its feet at sundown
When he tried his eyes on the lake ospreys
would fall like valkyries
choosing the cut-throat
he took then to waiting
till the night smoke rose from the boil of the sunset
But the moon carved unknown totems
out of the lakeshore
owls in the beardusky woods derided him
moosehorned cedars circled his swamps and tossed
their antlers up to the stars
Then he knew though the mountain slept the winds
were shaping its peak to an arrowhead
poised
And now he could only
bar himself in and wait
for the great flint to come singing into his heart
[1951]
“Bushed”
1) What lines indicate that the speaker became adept at living in the wild?
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2) What has occurred to the speaker throughout his time in the wilderness?
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3) Identify a metaphor and personification that has been used in the poem. What
effect is created through the use of these literary devices?
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4) There are areas within the poem that have spaces. What are the spaces meant to
communicate to the reader?
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5) The diction, or choice of words, that Earle Birney has chosen communicates the
narrator’s paranoia. Find four examples of words that communicate this state of
mind.
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6) How would you cope alone in the wilderness for a lengthy amount of time?
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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.
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”
1) Identify the rhyme scheme of the first stanza.
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2) Identify the rhyme scheme of the last stanza.
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3) What line do you think is the most significant in the last stanza? Why?
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4) What do you think the meaning is of the line identified in number three?
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5) What is the mood of the poem? What creates the mood?
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Written Response
In a well-formulated response, contrast these two poems with regards to their ideas
concerning nature.
And
Explain how the form, diction, and/or figurative language in each poem creates different
moods.
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