PLEASE ANSWER!!


1. Read the poem.


Come Up From the Fields, Father

excerpt from Drum-Taps

by Walt Whitman


Come up from the fields father, here’s a letter from our Pete,

And come to the front door mother, here’s a letter from thy

dear son.


Lo, ’tis autumn,

Lo, where the trees, deeper green, yellower and redder,

Cool and sweeten Ohio’s villages, with leaves fluttering in the

moderate wind,

Where apples ripe in the orchards hang and grapes on the

trellis’d vines,

(Smell you the smell of the grapes on the vines?

Smell you the buckwheat where the bees were lately buzzing?)


Above all, lo, the sky so calm, so transparent after the rain, and with

wondrous clouds,

Below too, all calm, all vital and beautiful, and the farm

prospers well.


Down in the fields all prospers well,

But now from the fields come father, come at the daughter’s call,

And come to the entry mother, to the front door come right away.


Fast as she can she hurries, something ominous, her steps trembling,

She does not tarry to smooth her hair nor adjust her cap.


Open the envelope quickly,

O this is not our son’s writing, yet his name is sign’d,

O a strange hand writes for our dear son, O stricken

mother’s soul!


All swims before her eyes, flashes with black, she catches the

main words only,

Sentences broken, gunshot wound in the breast, cavalry

skirmish, taken to hospital,

At present low, but will soon be better.


Ah now the single figure to me,

Amid all teeming and wealthy Ohio with all its cities and

farms,

Sickly white in the face and dull in the head, very faint,

By the jamb of a door leans.


Grieve not so, dear mother, (the just-grown daughter speaks

through her sobs,

The little sisters huddle around speechless and dismay’d,)

See, dearest mother, the letter says Pete will soon be better.


Alas poor boy, he will never be better, (nor maybe needs to be

better, that brave and simple soul,)

While they stand at home at the door he is dead already,

The only son is dead.


But the mother needs to be better,

She with thin form presently drest in black,

By day her meals untouch’d, then at night fitfully sleeping,

often waking,

In the midnight waking, weeping, longing with one deep

longing,

O that she might withdraw unnoticed, silent from life escape

and withdraw,

To follow, to seek, to be with her dear dead son.

Question

Which statement best explains the impact the imagery in Stanza 3 has on the overall meaning of the poem?


Responses


The imagery suggests that, ultimately, the family will carry on, continue to work the fields, and survive this tragedy.

The imagery suggests that, ultimately, the family will carry on, continue to work the fields, and survive this tragedy.


The indication that it's a lovely day and the farm is prosperous makes the news of the son's death more shattering.

The indication that it's a lovely day and the farm is prosperous makes the news of the son's death more shattering.


The imagery of the clear sky after a rainstorm suggests that the family has survived difficulties before.

The imagery of the clear sky after a rainstorm suggests that the family has survived difficulties before.


The indication that all is tranquil and untroubled makes the son's death seem, though sad, necessary.

The indication that all is tranquil and untroubled makes the son's death seem, though sad, necessary.
_______________________________________________________
2. Read the poem.

Seacoast Silhouette

All up and down the dunes,

the tall green grasses dance,

as the wind plays lively tunes

across the sandy expanse.



But the moon above is a statue, 5

silent and somber and still,

its reflection on the sea is a tattoo,

that we watch from upon the hill.

Question
How does the metaphor in line 7 affect the poem's meaning?

Responses

The comparison to a tattoo suggests that the reflection of the moon seems artificial and forced.
The comparison to a tattoo suggests that the reflection of the moon seems artificial and forced.

The comparison to a tattoo implies that the reflection of the moon is a temporary phenomenon.
The comparison to a tattoo implies that the reflection of the moon is a temporary phenomenon.

The metaphor conveys the eternal and permanent connection between the moon and the ocean.
The metaphor conveys the eternal and permanent connection between the moon and the ocean.

The metaphor implies that tattoos are part of the natural world just as the sea and the moon are.
The metaphor implies that tattoos are part of the natural world just as the sea and the moon are.