The Inspiration of Jabberwocky & Dr. Seuss: A Lesson in Nonsense

For the uninitiated, "Jabberwocky" is a nonsense verse found in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass.  As Alice is conversing with the White King and White Queen (chess pieces) she finds a book in seemingly unintelligible language.  Realizing that she's traveling through an inverted world, she holds a mirror to the poem and reads the reflected verse of "Jabberwocky" which to her disappointment still makes little sense.

 "Jabberwocky"

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought--
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! and through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

”

from Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1872).

'It seems very pretty,' she said when she had finished it, 'but it's rather hard to understand!' (You see she didn't like to confess, even to herself, that she couldn't make it out at all.) 'Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas—only I don't exactly know what they are! However, somebody killed something: that's clear, at any rate' (Carroll, Lewis (2010) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass pp 64–65 Createspace ltd ISBN 1-4505-7761-X)

The concept of nonsense verse was not new to Carroll. Nonsense verse existed in Shakespeare's work as well as the brothers Grimm's fairytales. Shakespeare, in fact, is well-known for coining many new words.  Martin Gardner (The Annotatted Alice:  The Definitive Edition.  NY Norton & Company, 1999), however,  wrote that "Few would dispute that Jabberwocky is the greatest of all nonsense poems in English." 

Dr. Seuss  was also a genius with nonsense words as he invited kids to explore parallel worlds, language, and morality!!!!

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities. Dr. Seuss US author & illustrator (1904 - 1991)

The genius and fun of nonsense verse is that while many of the words are nonce words (words invented to meet a need that is not expected - often for a particular occasion), the syntax and poetic forms are observed (as you can tell the poem is written in ABAB rhyme scheme and iambic meter). The rhythm and sound of the words make this somewhat scary poem a lot of fun to read and 'feels' solvable.

Nonce words are often used to study the development of language in children. They enable researchers to investigate kids' understanding of morphemes, prefixes, suffixes, and syntax (grammar, sentence structure).  Jean Berko developed the "Wug test" (1958) to observe and better understand the acquisition of the 'plural' in English-speaking children:

"This is a wug.  Now there are two of them.  There are two.....?"

The point is that creating nonce or nonsense words in verse is FUN while being an excellent exercise in language, sentence structure and comprehension. This is particularly important as kids are developing vocabulary and comprehension skills.  So often, when they come to words they can't read or don't quite recognize, readers can use context to help them.  This is the power of playing with nonsense words.  By understanding how the location of a word in a sentence can tell readers if it is an action, a name, a description can help them better figure out its meaning.  Nonsense can be used to teach kids the power of context, rhyme, alliteration, and sentence structure. It also makes language learning more fun and less intimidating.

Instructional Ideas:

• Jabberwocky: 
• Ask your kids to act out the lines.  
• Ask them what the words mean.  
• Ask them to supply their own words to help explain the verse.

• Dr. Seuss' ABC's - While Jabberwocky can be used and read with older kids, this is ideal for younger ones. It teaches the alphabet and letter sounds and it plays with language in an engaging, enticing manner.  Here are some instructional ideas:
• Ask your child what the nonsense might mean (the illustrations will help too).
• Come up with your own version of this book full of alliteration and nonsense words.

Here is a YouTube clip of the book read in Jamaican Patois:

• And of course there's Dr. Seuss' The Lorax.  Below is an older animated version.  
• Listen / read this together.  Make a list of the nonsense words.
• Can you identify what they mean in isolation when reading the list?  What about when you read them in the book.  Why?
• Come up with your own definitions of the words.  Insert them into the story and read it again.  Is it as much fun to read?  Why/why not?
• Talk about the value of using nonsense words and HOW masters like Dr. Seuss use them so masterfully.

 

Language learning should be meaningful and fun.  I can't think of a better way to teach sense, than using nonsense!  What do you think?

Interpretations, Ideas, and Inspiration

Today's post is guest hosted by Talia Hurwich - a middle school teacher who has wonderfully insightful and creative ideas.  We hope you enjoy it.

Interpretations, Ideas, and Inspiration

When we observe the world around us, we don't simply observe, we interpret it in our own way. 

• Historians interpret events with the hope of gaining greater insight into a culture's past, present and future.  
• Writers are constantly interpreting and reinterpreting stories and histories. Shakespeare did this with many of his plays (whose plots were largely taken from other sources). 
• We constantly interpret social situations (particularly awkward ones!) to decide what our best response or course of action should be (or should have been).  
• We interpret speeches, movies, books, songs, and poetry.  
• We interpret a person's facial expressions, their posture, their hair and clothing.  
• We interpret what others say and don't say - all to gain insights into relationships, events, and the world around us.
• We can call it "spin" or "bias" when we talk about news stories or opinions that do not necessarily represent all 'parties' or 'sides' - but these too are reflections or interpretations.

Children similarly are always interpreting the world around them.  In fact, the act of interpretation is the first step to learning. 

This is especially true for language acquisition.  Babies will interpret and imitate the sounds they hear until they begin producing those sounds in closer and closer approximations of recognizable speech. They use these approximations to express needs.  As these approximations become more intelligible, they are reinforced.

When faced with a question about the world, children often try to come up with their own answers - which are often quite creative, and quite entertaining.  Art Linkletter and later Bill Cosby had television shows "Kids Say the Darndest Things" based on kids' interpretations of the world around them.  James Thurber wrote a wonderful children's book  Many Moons which illustrates this (and I highly recommend it).

Here is a clip form The Lion King  which also clearly imitates and interprets kids' views of the world as Pumba, Simba, and Timon contemplate what the stars are made of:

Interpretations are made by incorporating various existing ideas in 'original' ways and combinations, or by taking new information or questions and attempting to explain or answer them by 'brainstorming' and combining various existing ideas that may not have originally been associated one with the other.

Interpretations:

•  Feed creativity.  Many works of art including Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet (to name two), Michelangelo's Moses and the Sistine Chapel, Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, and A Muppet Christmas Carol are all interpretations of others works.  And while inspirational on their own, they lead us to think of and create other stories and versions. 
• Inspire. Exposing kids (or oneself) to interpretive works inspire us to read more about them, or inspire us to create our own versions or similar versions, to think of multiple perspectives, and allow us to look at the world somewhat differently.  
• Entertain.
• Teach us to think.  First, they show us how 'tweaking' or rearranging stories, facts, or ideas can inspire, entertain, and help us generate rules and greater knowledge about the world around us.  Often, when these interpretations or 'rules' proof false this creates what Jean Piaget termed 'cognitive dissonance' which forces us to rethink and reinterpret that question or issue to form a more lasting schema, rule, or response (which is hopefully closer to the 'truth').

How to help inspire our kids to interpret:

• Shows like Sesame Street are FULL of interpretations of classic works.  Super Grover is pretending to be a super hero; many of the songs are interpretations or 'takes' on existing classic songs. After watching these 'interpretations' show your kids the 'originals'. Ask young kids what was 'different' and what was "the same.'
• Do the same with books. Compare The Wizard of Oz and Wicked;  nursery rhymes and modern interpretations for younger kids (Jon Scieszka has some wonderful versions of "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs" and "The Frog Prince Continued"). Make up your own versions. Talk about what you like and don't like; what is same and different. With older kids talk about what worked and what didn't.
• Ask kids to take stories further; ask them how they might tell that same story today, in 100 years, or how they might have told it a few centuries ago. 
• After reading a book or story ask your child, "if you could retell this story any way you choose, would you make it a video, a book, a comic, a song, or something else? Why?"
• Greek myths and fairy tales are great sources of 'interpretation' told across a variety of mediums.  If your child liked the Disney movie Hercules, show your child the episode Hercules and Cerberus from the television show The Storyteller:  Greek Myths; have them read the graphic novel Zeus, Hera, or Athena (all beautifully done graphic novels by First Second Books). Here too ask questions of comparison and inference.
• Create challenges for them!  Ask your child to summarize a story in under two minutes. There's a series of videos called "The 90-second Newbery" where kids and adults make videos summarizing plots of Newbery Award winning books in 90 seconds.  You may want to try this too.

The point is to have fun with interpretations.  They are entertaining, they make us think, and manipulate ideas and perspectives. 

In closing, here are two more (related) clips illustrating how interpretations can be entertaining, humorous, educational, and inspirational.  They are from The Complete Works of Shakespeare, Abridged.  (It is a must see show for fans of all ages). 

In this clip, Shakespeare's histories are reinterpreted in a football game.

Here we have "The Othello Rap"

Thanks for your visit -  please, leave your own interpretations and ideas in the comments - and have a great week.

Heroes for All

Everyone needs heroes and the wonderful thing about life, books, graphic novels, movies, and entertainment is that our heroes come in all shapes, sizes, and costumes; they go solo or have sidekicks and foils, and ALL give us a run for our money.

Hero was coined in English in the 1300's and is derived from the Greek ἥρως, hḗrōs  which means protector or defender.

But what is a HERO (aside from a very big messy sandwich)?

 While we all have variations in our definitions / opinions of "hero"  Here are a few:

• "A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer" - Ralph Waldo Emerson
• "The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts.  An immense difference" - Henry Miller
• "A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself"  - Joseph Campbell
• "A real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else" - Umberto Eco (in Travels in Hyper reality)
• "A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles" - Christopher Reeve

On the importance of heroes in our kids' lives:

• Heroes serve as role models to learn from and emulate;
• Heroes introduce values that are both universal and culture specific;
• Heroes inspire us tobe 'better' and set loftier goals and expectations for ourselves and others;
• Heroes teach us courage, compassion, resourcefulness, and perseverance to rise against our own weaknesses or against stifling oppression;
• Heroes often teach creative problem solving while fighting for unselfish goals.

Kids need to have, enjoy, and evaluate these figures as they select role models and begin to shape who they want to become. There are heroes everywhere, right in front of us, with powers of dedication, charity, compassion, selflessness, and strength of will, character, and muscle.  It's important for us to talk about these everyday heroes and how they face life's problems.

Below, are some of my favorite children's picture book, prose and graphic novel heroes. I have passed over the obvious choices, hoping to introduce less-known gems to boost your treasure trove of heroes.

PICTURE BOOK AND EASY READING ILLUSTRATED CHAPTER BOOK HEROES:

Tacky from Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester.  Tacky is an odd bird who has his own special 'way' about him and does not fit in with the others. Tacky, in his own inimitable way not only shows the others that different can be fun, he uses his 'special (awkward) powers' to save the day.

Ping from The Empty Pot by Demi - is a Chinese boy who faces a stiff challenge set by the Emperor with honor, grace and courage.

Princess Elizabeth from The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch - had planned to marry Prince Ronald, until a dragon arrives, kidnaps Ronald and burns everything in sight.  Elizabeth challenges the dragon and saves the prince but on her journey she ends up doing a lot more than that...she saves herself.

Pippi from Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren, illustrated by Michael Chesworth - (an early reader chapter book this can be read aloud to younger children and savored by older ones as well).  Pippi is a feisty, red-headed unconventional nine-year-old with superhuman strength (she can lift her horse) who lives in a small Swedish village with her monkey and horse - no adults, no relatives.  She befriends the kids next door and together they have many adventures.  Pippi, shows kids how to be alone and independent, how to embrace being different, and how to come to terms with what life has to offer.

Pink and Say from Patricia Polacco's Pink and Say - a story about her great, great, grandfather Sheldon Curtis (Say) a white boy fighting for the Union, who is found unconscious and left for dead on a battlefield by Pinkus Aylee, a black boy also fighting for the Union. Their lives become intricately intertwined as they fight to stay alive and save their families during the Civil War. Here is a YouTube clip of Patricia Polacco introducing the book, the real life background, and reading Part 1 of her book to students.  It's not a super quality but the content is well worth the look:

PROSE BOOKS FOR AGES 9-12:

Cimorene from Patricia Wrede's Dealing With Dragons is sick of learning etiquette and would like to learn fencing, math, Latin, and the ways of the world.  One morning an enchanted frog tells her she should seek help from the Dragons, and her life as an independent young woman begins.  She ends up not only saving herself, but her kingdom as well.(Grades 3+)

Jonah from Lois Lowry's The Giver - lives in a dystopian society that has eliminated pain and suffering.  Their collective societal pains and memories are entrusted to a Giver and in his twelfth year Jonas learns he is to be the next Giver. Jonas must incorporate societal memories, pains and fears and decide not only how to cope with them, but how to act for betterment of his culture.

Arnold Spirit, Jr., from The Absolutely True Story of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is a bright, motivated, budding cartoonist living on his impoverished reservation. His high school teacher encourages him to go to an off-reservation all-white school in the nearby town.  Arnold must deal with racism (both from his reservation friends and his peers in his new school), poverty and how to follow his own path while keeping and following his family's traditions. (Grades 5+)

Johnny from Esther Forbes' Johnny Tremain is a budding silversmith apprentice in Colonial Boston when he suffers a debilitating accident.  He tries to find his way in a series of odd jobs and finds himself by a twist of fate, working for The Observer, a Whig publication.  As Johnny grows in strength and character he must wrestle with his fate and with his personal and political beliefs.  On the way he meets and interacts with historical leaders including Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Doctor Joseph Warren, Paul Revere, James Otis, Jr., Governor Thomas Hutchinson, Thomas Gage, John Pitcairn, Francis Smith and Josiah Quincy II (lawyer and member of the Sons of Liberty).  It is a powerful journey in history and of self-discovery. (Grades 5+)


Billie Jo from Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse lives with her mother and father who are struggling to keep their Oklahoma farm during the Dust Bowl years.  After two tragic accidents, Billie Jo's remote father becomes unreachable and she must struggle to keep up the farm while learning to rehabilitate herself after a debilitating accident.  This story is told completely in free verse and is an absolute gem.  Billie Jo is a real, incredibly strong young woman who faces life's hardships with as much grace and courage her pre-teen years can give her. (Grades 4+)

OUTSTANDING GRAPHIC NOVEL HEROES:

Paul and his sister Marie from Resistance (and the sequel Defiance) by Carla Jablonski and Leland Purvis are growing in World War II France as the Germans have just occupied it. Not only do they have to struggle for food and survival in war-torn France, they are faced with the dilemma of how to help their best friend Henri (a Jew) and whether to help the Germans, try to survive by being indifferent, or whether to join the Resistance forces and help as much as two young teens can.  (Grades 4+)

Zita from Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke.  When her friend Joseph is reluctant to touch a "button" they found in a field, Zita just cant resist.  The button, however, zaps Joseph into a black hole that whisks him off to another world.  Zita, determined to find and return Joseph leaps to his rescue to find herself chasing his trail through a strange planet with humanoid chickens, neurotic robots and sweet-talking con-men.  Before long the aliens and ancient prophecies don't seem to phase her. Zita scrambles to save her friend the the new world she finds herself in. Here is a link to Ben Hatke's web pages for more characters and glimpses at Zita. (Grades 2+)

Jack Long from The Silence of Our Friends by Mark Long, Jim Demonakos, and Nate Powell. Jack is a white male reporter living in Texas during the Civil Rights Movement who must make career and life choices while trying to do the 'right' thing.  It is a powerful story about the pull of friendship and commitment to family values.  It is based on a true story of Civil Rights Movement in 1967 Texas. (Grades 5+)


Amelia from Amelia Rules by Jimmy Gownley.  Amelia McBride has to adjust to life in a new town after her parents' divorce.  She and her new friends face adolescence, bullies, gym class, cheerleaders, clubs, cliques, and many other knocks life seems to hand them. Amelia has spunk and character which in times of stress are eased by her super-coo, famous aunt. Amelia and her friends are real life characters with real life problems and Jimmy Gownley tells their story with grace and humor.  These are super-read books for kids of all ages.

Here is the trailer that introduces Amelia and her super-hero (almost, kinda') friends:

Barbara from I Kill  Giants by Joe Kelly. Barbara is a fifth grader who tells anyone who will listen that she kills giants.  Initially we're uncertain if she really kills giants, or lives in a world of her own out of touch with others, or if this is one giant metaphor for her having to face huge scary issues in her life. And, while I won't ruin this powerfully told story, Barbara is an awesome fifth grader who while uncertain about herself and her physical or mental strength, faces social and personal issues valiantly. (Recommended for Grade 5 +)

Be they cartoon, fictional, historical, or real people, heroes are truly inspirational and should have a regular place in your and your children's lives.  Heroes and superheroes are important - for all of us not only to learn from, but to aspire to become.  I hope you check out and enjoy my choices.

Here it is one more time (The Daly Show - Episode 7 -with Nathan Fillion - I just can't seem to get enough of this)... because... some superheroes just don't die (especially the geeky kinds)...nor should they:

Please share your heroes with us in the comment, and have a great week!

Graveyards

I realize that when you hear 'graveyards' macabre thoughts and images often come to mind, but truth be told, I love graveyards.  I find them peaceful, soothing and full of information, especially old ones - I just love the weathered stones.  And, while I DON'T advocate class trips or holidays spent there with your child, there is actually a lot to be said about visiting them.

Some graveyard tidbits:

• Graveyards were originally used by families (often of middle or lower social class status) in the 8th-14th centuries who could not afford to be buried inside or beneath the places of worship which administered them.
• From the early 19th century cemeteries replaced graveyards as burial sites.  Cemeteries are typically not affiliated with a specific church or parish, often for reasons of public hygiene and sharp population rises.

Aside from being serene and full of information, graveyards offer so many educational bends and themes...and one of my favorite kids' books take place in a graveyard:

Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book - about a boy named Nobody Owens who after his family's murder is adopted and raised by graveyard occupants, and is befriended by a lonely girl, Scarlett Perkins.  Together they learn about life and friendship (and as Gaiman notes, "the glorious tragedy of being a parent"- about growing up and moving on), while being embroiled in the mystery of Nobody's family's tragedy.  It is a great book to be enjoyed by kids and parents, and is similar to The Jungle Book  which could be read with this and be a wonderful point for comparison.

Some lessons you can build around graveyards:

Life Lessons - This is probably the most obvious one, but there are so many 'life lesson' angles to chose from:

• Life and death, cycles of life - from Lion King to goldfish sometimes pets and loved ones die and there are so many ways to say 'goodbye'
• You can talk about city planning - cemeteries and graveyards take up space - talk about where you usually find them, talk about planning and zoning options people and cities might have.  This allows you to problem solve and look at graveyards from a totally different perspective.

Math - I love going to the particularly weathered stones looking at dates of birth and death.  Have fun figuring out:

• How old these people were when they died?
• How long ago did they die?
• How many decades did they live (every 10 years); how many scores did they live (20 years..."Four score and seven years ago....) how many dozen years (multiples of 12), etc.  You can even create names for year chunks (is there a term for "8 years" besides '8 years'? If not you and your child / student can coin your own).

History - Look at the dates on the tombstones, talk about what life was like when these people were living.  You can brainstorm about

• the political issues and leaders during the life of the times on the tombstone;
• types of transportation and entertainment - books, stories from that time- they used and enjoyed;
• what the fashions and homes were like...

Poetry and Language

• Look at the language and words chosen to describe the life of the deceased.  Talk about the importance of the wording and how to relate the essence of someone's life in just a few words.
• Read books and poetry about graveyards.  Here 's a poem by Robert Frost

In a Disused Graveyard - by Robert Frost

The living come with grassy tread
To read the gravestones on the hill;
The graveyard draws the living still,
But never anymore the dead.
The verses in it say and say:
"The ones who living come today
To read the stones and go away
Tomorrow dead will come to stay."
So sure of death the marbles rhyme,
Yet can't help marking all the time
How no one dead will seem to come.
What is it men are shrinking from?
It would be easy to be clever
And tell the stones: Men hate to die
And have stopped dying now forever.
I think they would believe the lie

Creativity

• Take photographs of the tombstones in different types of lighting; graveyards in different locations and containing stones from different periods in time
• Go to museums, look for various graveyard works
• Music - talk/write songs about graveyards.  I always loved Fantasia's Night on Bald Mountain

 

How do you feel about graveyards?  Would you integrate them into lessons or outings with your kids?

Frost...For Fun

In honor of "F" Week at ABCWednesday, I thought we'd have some fun with Frost.  His poetry is so clear on the surface, but so deep - so  much can be 'read' into it.  I say read, and not overanalyze - there's a difference, don't you think?

Please enjoy the poem below - along with some other 'food' (it is "F" week) for thought.  Please write your impressions, feelings, questions about this poem. On Friday, I will post some professional poets' and literary critiques' impressions (not mine).  I hope you join in reflecting on the poem now and come back and react to the "professional" responses as well. [But, if you don't have time skim the poem, take a look at the JFK inaugural clip, and please leave a comment.]

Some Background:
Lawrence Rabb, (Morris Professor of Rhetoric at Williams College and an award-winning poet), discusses "How to Pay Attention to a Poem."  He notes that:

"Any poem...is best read with what Henry James called "the spirit of fine attention," It's about noticing, and then noticing what you notice...

"A good poem resists paraphrase, refuses to let its meaning become too simple..." 

"No good poem, especially one as mysterious and reticent as 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,' ever exhausts itself, even as it turns itself over to you, the reader. So you may secretly carry it around, discovering - perhaps by surprise... remembering it as a kind of revelation and finding it has changed, since you yourself have changed."

A few things to keep in mind:

• Lawrence Rabb also provides a slew of questions to focus on while reading this poem.
• Frost typically repeats the last line of the poem - his way of telling us its complete.  Does this send us an additional message?
• Keep in mind the visual and musical imagery relayed through the words he uses.
• In a letter to Louis Untermeyer, Frost called this poem, "my best bid for remembrance." Why?

Extra tid-bit I couldn't resist:
A clip of JFK reciting Frost at his inauguration, discussing the role and significance of poetry to statesmen and an incredible glimpse into a world gone by.

The Poem:
What images come to mind? What do you think it's about?  Any surprises, questions, insights? 

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.

For educators and parents:

• This type of exercise is wonderful for building what Levine termed "Higher Order Cognitive Functions" or what others might refer to as analytical thinking.  Asking readers to think about the poem, however, not only builds cognition, but a more acute awareness of language, rhythm and rhyme, while helping to focus attention to details.  Savoring poetry provides great 'games' to play with kids of all ages as they explore language, thought, and the world around them. 
• Not always providing immediate answers is a typical Piagetian (after Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget) approach to helping learners progress to higher levels of understanding.  When intellectual challenges are presented, the thinker must devise 'rules' or 'schema' that are tested and reconstructed as needed.

In closing: 
The Dead Poet's Society:

Have a great few days, I hope you return after Friday for Part II which will be filled in below

In the meantime, please leave your thoughts, insights and comments.

Frost's "Stopping by Woods..." Part II

(to be posted on Friday...)

Here now, are more morsels and tid-bits to help reflect and understand this poem:

John T. Ogilvie (from "From Woods to Stars: A Pattern of Imagery in Robert Frost’s Poetry." South Atlantic Quarterly. Winter 1959) reflected:

Frost relays a recurrent image of "the world of the woods...offering perfect quiet and solitude" that  exists "side by side with teh realization that there is also another world, a world of people and social obligations.  Both worlds have claims on the poet."

" We are not told, however, that the call of social responsibility proves stronger than the attraction of the woods...the poet and his horse have not moved at the poem's end.  The dichotomy of the poet's obligations both to the woods and to a world of promises... conisists in the way the two worlds are established and balanced.... What appears to be 'simple' is shown to be not really simple, what appears to be innocent not really innocent..."

                                              

Reuben A. Brower (from The Poetry of Robert Frost: Constellations of Intention. New York: Oxford UP, 1963. Copyright © 1963 by Reuben A. Brower) wrote:

 "The dark nowhere of the woods, the seen and heard movement of things, and the lullaby of inner speech are an invitation to sleep - and winter sleep is again close to easeful death... [Forst's] poetic suggestions are in the purest sense symbolic...though we feel their power. There are critics who have gone much further in defining what Frost 'meant'; but perhaps sleep is mystery enough... Frost might be described as a poet of rejected invitations to voyage in the 'definitely imagined regions' that Keats and Yeats more readily enter."

Richard Poirier (from Robert Frost: The Work of Knowing. Copyright © 1977 by Oxford University Press) wrote:

For greater depth of discussion and reference, please see:Modern American Poetry: On "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"

Have a great weekend and come visit again soon!