Classic Poetry Assignment

For your assigned poem, complete the assigned questions first. Then, as a
culmination, write a one page response/analysis of the poem for which you are
responsible. In your response, note the meaning of the poem in relation to specifics
from the actual text itself.

1. “Sonnet 147” by William Shakespeare p. 61

a. What is the format and style of a Shakespearean sonnet?

b. Highlight the words and phrases related to illness. Why would
a poet use images of disease in a love poem?
c. Questions 2 and 4 p. 73

2. “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” by John Donne p. 62

a. A short background of the poet and the time period in which

he lived.
b. Questions 1 a, b, 3, 4 p. 73-74
c. What is the effect of the rhyme and rhythm of the poem?

3. “Sailing to Byzantium” by W.B. Yeats p. 68

a. Read the footnotes on page 69. View the painting The Glory
of Byzantium at www.metmuseum.org/explore/Byzantium. Is
art one way for the soul to achieve immortality?
b. Questions 1 a,b,c, 2,4

4. “Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” by Dylan Thomas p. 70

a. What are the associations we have with the word “night”. In

your answer, include symbolic associations. What does
Thomas mean by the use of “night”?
b. Questions 1 a,b, 2,3,5

5. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot p. 109

a. Examine the title of the poem. What do you expect the poem
to be about? What does “love song” suggest to you?
b. Highlight all the references to death in the poem. How does it
affect the meaning of the poem.
c. Note all the allusions in the poem. How do the allusions add
meaning to the poem.
d. Questions 3,4

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