Poetry
‘The Poplar Field’ by
William Cowper
L Wright 2006
Last week you looked at some
different poems.
Can you remember which
poems you studied?
What did you learn about
poetry last week?
L Wright 2006
Today we are going to learn to:
Explore chronology in poetry
(What does chronology mean?);
Find clues which tell us that a poem
may be older.
L Wright 2006
This week we are going to look at
two poems, one called ‘The Poplar
Field’ and one called ‘The
Lamplighter’.
‘The Poplar Field’ was written in
the eighteenth century by
William Cowper.
How long ago was the eighteenth
century?
L Wright 2006
As we read the first poem,
note down any words that
you do not understand on
your whiteboards.
We will look them up in
dictionaries when we have
read the whole poem.
L Wright 2006
The Poplar Field
The poplars are fell’d, farewell to the shade;
And whispering sound of the cool colonnade;
The winds no longer sing in the leaves,
Nor the river on this surface their images receives.
Twelve years have elapsed since I first took a view
Of my favourite field, and the bank where they grew;
And now in the grass, there they are laid,
And the tree is my seat that once gave me shade.
The blackbird has fled to another retreat
Where the hazels afford him a screen from the heat;
And the scene where his music so charmed me before
Resounds with his sweet-flowing music no more.
My fugitive years are all hasting away,
And I will before long lie as lowly as they,
With a turf on my breast and a stone at my head,
Before another such grove shall rise in its stead.
Are there any
words which
you do not
understand?
The Poplar Field
The poplars are fell’d, farewell to the shade;
And whispering sound of the cool colonnade;
The winds no longer sing in the leaves,
Nor the river on this surface their images receives.
Twelve years have elapsed since I first took a view
Of my favourite field, and the bank where they grew;
And now in the grass, there they are laid,
And the tree is my seat that once gave me shade.
The blackbird has fled to another retreat
Where the hazels afford him a screen from the heat;
And the scene where his music so charmed me before
Resounds with his sweet-flowing music no more.
My fugitive years are all hasting away,
And I will before long lie as lowly as they,
With a turf on my breast and a stone at my head,
Before another such grove shall rise in its stead.
What has
happened to the
poplar trees?
The Poplar Field
The poplars are fell’d, farewell to the shade;
And whispering sound of the cool colonnade;
The winds no longer sing in the leaves,
Nor the river on this surface their images receives.
Twelve years have elapsed since I first took a view
Of my favourite field, and the bank where they grew;
And now in the grass, there they are laid,
And the tree is my seat that once gave me shade.
The blackbird has fled to another retreat
Where the hazels afford him a screen from the heat;
And the scene where his music so charmed me before
Resounds with his sweet-flowing music no more.
My fugitive years are all hasting away,
And I will before long lie as lowly as they,
With a turf on my breast and a stone at my head,
Before another such grove shall rise in its stead.
How long ago is
it since the poet
first saw the
trees?
The Poplar Field
The poplars are fell’d, farewell to the shade;
And whispering sound of the cool colonnade;
The winds no longer sing in the leaves,
Nor the river on this surface their images receives.
Twelve years have elapsed since I first took a view
Of my favourite field, and the bank where they grew;
And now in the grass, there they are laid,
And the tree is my seat that once gave me shade.
The blackbird has fled to another retreat
Where the hazels afford him a screen from the heat;
And the scene where his music so charmed me before
Resounds with his sweet-flowing music no more.
My fugitive years are all hasting away,
And I will before long lie as lowly as they,
With a turf on my breast and a stone at my head,
Before another such grove shall rise in its stead.
Where are they
now? How does
the author feel
about this?
The Poplar Field
The poplars are fell’d, farewell to the shade;
And whispering sound of the cool colonnade;
The winds no longer sing in the leaves,
Nor the river on this surface their images receives.
Twelve years have elapsed since I first took a view
Of my favourite field, and the bank where they grew;
And now in the grass, there they are laid,
And the tree is my seat that once gave me shade.
The blackbird has fled to another retreat
Where the hazels afford him a screen from the heat;
And the scene where his music so charmed me before
Resounds with his sweet-flowing music no more.
My fugitive years are all hasting away,
And I will before long lie as lowly as they,
With a turf on my breast and a stone at my head,
Before another such grove shall rise in its stead.
Are there any
words which
you do not
understand?
The Poplar Field
The poplars are fell’d, farewell to the shade;
And whispering sound of the cool colonnade;
The winds no longer sing in the leaves,
Nor the river on this surface their images receives.
Twelve years have elapsed since I first took a view
Of my favourite field, and the bank where they grew;
And now in the grass, there they are laid,
And the tree is my seat that once gave me shade.
The blackbird has fled to another retreat
Where the hazels afford him a screen from the heat;
And the scene where his music so charmed me before
Resounds with his sweet-flowing music no more.
My fugitive years are all hasting away,
And I will before long lie as lowly as they,
With a turf on my breast and a stone at my head,
Before another such grove shall rise in its stead.
Which words
tell us that this
is a very old
poem?
Tenses
• What does the poet say has happened in the
past? Discuss in pairs.
• What does the poet say is happening in the
present? Discuss in pairs.
• What does the poet say will happen in the
future? Discuss in pairs.
L Wright 2006
Group Work
• Red Group –Think about the verbs used in the
poem. List the verbs used for the past, the present
and the future.
• Orange Group – Show what the poet says happens
at different times. Copy and complete the table:
Happened in the past.
Happening now.
Will happen.
He is in a field
• Blue Group - Re-write the verses in your books
using different tenses, for example: verse 1 in the
past tense (The poplars were fell’d…); verse 2 in
the future tense (Twelve years will elapse…)
L Wright 2006
Plenary
• Red group, what did the poet say what happened
in the past? What did he say is happening now?
What does he think will happen in the future?
• Orange group, which verbs did the poet use for
the past? The present? The future?
• Blue group, who would like to read their new
verses?
L Wright 2006