All the Poetry...

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus...click for info

I'm not sure we could ever read enough poetry in the course of a school-year. I'm not even sure what enough poetry is. We have satisfied the curriculum and you are better readers of poetry, so is that enough? 

There are many, many more poets, guys, and enough Poems You Must Read to last us for months. There are so many more poetry induced shivers to be had! (Just please go read this right now, because we might not/probably won't have time to do it justice, but just go now, now! and read this.) 

But maybe that's the point -- I'm not sure we should ever feel like we've read enough poetry. (This is how I feel -- read this, too) 

I have found our poetry unit both incredibly inspiring and somewhat frustrating. I am, as always, impressed and inspired by what you students find in literature, and the series of poems we've studied has been no exception. 

A few memorable moments for me have been: 

• Nyah's in-class reading of "Hate Poem" 
  
• The toiling over the extended metaphor projects
  
• Liam's spot on TP-CASTT of "To An Athlete Dying Young"
  
• Alona's insights into "The Summer Day" 
  
• The collective gasp and hilarity of the realization of "she being brand new"
  
• How many of you found "Mother to Son" relatable 
• The look in your eyes with the lines, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do/with your one wild and precious life?" 
  
  

And what is frustrating is that we have, as mentioned above, only begun to skim the surface. Maybe that's something I'll rethink for next year, or maybe I'll accept the breadth of the curriculum with a Zen-like peace. But for now, I have promises to keep and miles to go before we sleep and miles to go before we sleep. 

For this blog post, I'd like you to read, post, and reply. 
Let's treat this, as much as we can, like a class discussion. I ask that you stay curious and think less about how accurate or academic your comments sound and think more about how authentic they are.  

1. Read "Musee des Beaux Arts" by W.H. Auden. (One of the last poems in your anthology) 
2. Post a comment in which you discuss the content of the poem -- what it might mean, how the poet achieves what he does, what is striking, what is memorable, what makes this poem great-with-a-capital-G. 
3. Reply to a classmate's post. 


* New Critical approach & Reader Response both acceptable. 
* No shortcuts or study sites until after your initial reading and post.


Comment & Reply posts DUE by MONDAY, MARCH 9.

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