1a. In lines 1–4, what does the speaker say that love is not? According to lines 5 and 6, what can love not do?
2a. According to lines 7 and 8, what might drive a person to make friends with death?
3a. According to lines 9–13, what might move the speaker to sell his or her love for peace? to trade the memory of that love for food?
4a. Does the speaker believe that love is a fundamental need? Support your answer with evidence from the poem.
5a. Do you agree with the speaker's conclusions? Does the speaker seem convinced that he or she would not trade love for food or release from pain? Explain.
1b. According to lines 1 and 2, what other things does a person need besides love? In what ways do people, in the course of their lives, "sink/ And rise and sink and rise and sink again"? What do the circumstances mentioned in lines 5 and 6 have in common? What needs do people sometimes have that cannot be met by love?
2b. How important is love to such a person?
3b. What question does the speaker consider in lines 9–14 of the poem? How does he or she answer that question?
4b. What do you think are people's most basic needs? Make a list of these. Is your list the same as the speaker's? How does it differ?
5b. Think of the kinds of love you have had in your life: love from parents and family, from friends, or from a significant other. What can love do for a person? What would happen to you if you had never experienced love?
Sonnet. What is the subject of the first quatrain of "Sonnet XXX"? of the second quatrain? of the third quatrain? of the concluding couplet? Paraphrase each of these sections of the poem by stating its main idea in your own words.
Rhyme Scheme. The end rhymes of the first four lines of "Sonnet XXX" have the rhyme scheme abab. What is the rhyme scheme of the rest of the poem?
Repetition. What effect does the author's repetition of the words rise and sink have?
Alliteration. What examples of alliteration can you find in Millay's poem, other than the ones highlighted on page 20? In your opinion, what does alliteration add to the poem?
1a. What does the son want? What does the father think the son will do soon?
2a. What does the father imagine he will offer his son to keep him from leaving? How does he imagine his son will react?
3a. What words does the father use to describe the "equation" of his relationship with his son? What does he say the equation is not?
4a. Analyze the father's imagined screams at the end of stanza 5. Based on these lines, what do you think the father realizes about himself, his son, and their relationship? For example, is the father capable of being a "god"? What frustrates him?
5a. What kind of a father do you think the man will be as his son grows up? Explain your answer.
1b. Why might the man feel sad at not being able to think of a story?
2b. Why is the father silent? What could the father do to keep his son from leaving home one day? Would it be possible, or even healthy, for him to make his son stay?
3b. Through this description, what is the father saying about the nature of relationships?
4b. Why do you think "...a boy's supplications / and a father's love add up to silence"? What is the father's worry? Do his worries have to do with telling stories, or do they extend to other areas? Explain.
5b. Describe a time when you enjoyed a story that someone told you. What did you learn by hearing that story? Did it make you feel closer to the storyteller? Why, or why not?
Free Verse.Into how many stanzas is this poem divided? Are the stanzas regular in length? What do the first and last stanzas have in common?
Narrative Poem.What is the story told in this poem?
1. What adjective describes the man who is asked for a story but cannot come up with one?
2. Who is waiting to be told a story?
3. What does the man see "far ahead"?
4. What sort of equation is it?
5. What adds up to silence?
1. What does the italicized text in this poem represent?
2. What is the mood of this poem?
3. How does this poem qualify as free verse?
Functions of Sentences. Write whether each sentence below is declarative, interrogative, imperative, or exclamatory.
1. Edna St. Vincent Millay was born and raised in Maine.
2. I love her poetry!
3. Have you read the interview that Bill Moyers conducted with Li-Young Lee?
4. It is published in Moyer's book, The Language of Life.
5. Get Li-Young Lee's memoir, The Winged Seed, from the library.
Oral Interpretation of Poetry.As you listen to the oral presentations of others in your group, record whether each poem is narrative, dramatic, or lyric.
Researching Poets. Researching Poets. With a partner, research an American poet who interests you. Find out the type of poetry written by this poet and write a paragraph summarizing his or her accomplishments and listing his or her published works. Then make a list of your four favorite poems by the poet. Identify the form of each poem and the techniques of meter and stanza form, sound, or meaning used in each. Use this log to keep track of the sources you use, the information you find, and your reactions to what you learn.
American Poet:
Summary of Poet's Accomplishments and Published Works:
Sources Used:
