Discussion of the poem. 1. Give your opinion on the possible motive why R

 

1. Give your opinion on the possible motive why R. Frost included this poem as an introduction to the complete collection of his poetry. Who may the addressee be?

2. What is the general lyrical mood as revealed by the repetition of the lines of each stanza?

3. Point out the features typical of colloquial speech.

 

Stopping by Woods on

a Snowy Evening*

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.

 

*Frost R. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening: Reader in Modern American Literature (1917-1941). Moscow: Higher School, pp. 257-258.

 

Discussion

1. Comment on the inverted word-order in the opening line of the poem which attracts the reader's attention to the owner of the forest. How is he described: directly or indirectly?

2. How is the beauty of the forest accentuated? Find means that imitate the sounds of the wind and snow.

3. Speak of the role of detachment and alliteration of the sound «d» in the last stanza.

4. Interpret the line «The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep». Comment on the contextual meaning of the word «promises».

5. Why is the phrase «And miles to go before I sleep» repeated? Does it serve to enhance the author's conclusion?

6. Pay attention to the compositional peculiarities of the poem, i.e. peculiar rhythm. Does it serve to link the stanzas with each other?

7. Study professor Galperin's commentary in the book «Учебник английского языка для первого курса», Mocквa, 1975, pp. 308-314.

 

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL TO BE USED FOR

INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS

 

EMILY DICKINSON

Indian Summer*

These are the days when birds come back,

A very few, a bird or two,

To take a backward look.

 

These are the days when skies put, on

The old, old sophistries of June; -

A blue and gold mistake.

 

Oh, fraud that cannot, cheat the bee,

Almost thy plausibility

Induces my belief,

 

Till ranks of seeds their witness bear,

And softly through the altered air

Hurries a timid leaf!

 

Oh, sacrament of summer days,

Oh, last communion in the haze,

Permit a child to join,

 

Thy sacred emblems to partake,

Thy consecrated bread to break,

Taste thine immortal wine!

 

*Anthology of English and American Verse. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1972, p.490.

 

Note

 

«bread to breake … immortal wine» - an allusion to the Bible:

«And as they were eating, Jesus

took bread, and blessed it, and brake it,

and gave it to the disciples, and said:

«Take, ear, this is my body». And he

took the cup, and gave thanks, and

gave to them, saying: «Drink ye all of it; For

this is my blood of the new testament,

which is shed for many for the remission of sins».

The poet hints at the feast when Christians break bread, drink wine and thank Jesus for die gift of himself. This feast is called the feast of Corpus Christi. The words «Corpus Christi» are the words for the body of Christ. The feast is celebrated about eight weeks after Easter.

 

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

The Rainy Day*

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,

But at every gust the dead leaves fall,

And the day is dark and dreary.

 

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,

But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;.

Behind the clouds in the sun still shining;

Thy fate is the common fate of all,

Into each life some rain must fall,

Some days must be dark and dreary.

 

*Anthology of English and American Verse. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1972, p. 451-452.

A.E.HOUSMAN

When I Was One-And-Twenty**

When I was one-and-twenty

I heard a wise man say,

«Give crowns and pounds and guineas,

But not your heart away,

Give pearls away and rubies

But keep your fancy free.»

But I was one-and-twenty,

No use to talk to me.

When I was one-and-twenty

I heard him say again,

«The heart out of the bosom

Was never given in vain;

‘This paid with sighs a plenty

And sold for endless rue.»

And I am two-and-twenty,

And oh, ‘tis true, 'tis true.

 

**Prokhorova, V.I., Soshalskaya, E.G. Oral Practice through Stylistic Analysis. Moscow: Higher School, 1979, p. 46.

 

 

CARL SANDBURG

Grass*

Pile the bodies, high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.

Shovel them under and let me work –

I am the grass; I cover all.

 

And pile them high at Gettysburg

And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun,

Shovel them under and let me work

Two years, ten years, and passengers

ask the conductor

«What place is this?

Where are we now?»

I am the grass,

Let me work.

 

*Prokhorova, V.I., Soslavskaya, E.G. Oral Practice through Stylistic Analysis. Moscow: Higher School, 1979, p. 47.

 

WYSTAN HUGH AUDEN

O Where Are You Going?*

«O where are you going?» said reader to rider,

«That valley is fatal where furnaces burn,

Yonder's the midden whose odours will madden.

That gap is the grave where the tall return».

«O do you imagine,» said fearer to farer,

«That dusk will delay on your path to the pass,

Your diligent looking discover the laching

Your footsteps feel from granite to grass?»

«O what was that bird,» said horror to hearer,

«Did you see that shape in the twisted trees?

Behind you swiftly the figure comes softly,

The spot on your skin is a shocking disease».

 

«Out of this house» - said rider to reader,

«Yours never will» - said farer to fearer,

«They're looking for you» - said hearer to horror,

As he left them there, as he left them there.

 

*Anthology of English and American Verse. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1972, pp. 404-405.

 

 

OGDEN NASH

Just a Piece of Lettuce and Some Lemon Juice, Thank You*

The human body is composed

Of head and limbs and torso,

Kept slim by gents

At great expense,

By ladies, even more so.

The human waistline will succumb

To such and such a diet.

The ladies gnaw

On carrots raw,

Their husbands will not try it.

 

The human bulk can be compressed

By intricate devices

Which ladies hie

In droves to buy

At pre-depression prices.

 

The human shape can be subdued

By rolling on the floor.

Though many wives

Thus spend their lives

To husbands it's a bore.

 

Though human flesh can be controlled,

We're told, by this and that,

You cannot win:

The thin stay thin,

The fat continue fat.

 

**Vesnic D.A., Natanson E.A., Tokareva N.D. English by Correspondence: Third Year. Moscow, p. 231.

 

 

DYLAN THOMAS

And Death shall Have No Dominion*

And death shall have no dominion.

Dead men naked they shall be one

With the man in the wind and the west moon;

When their bones are picked clean

and the clean bones gone,

They shall have stars at elbow and foot;

Though they go mad they shall be sane,

Though they sink through the sea they

shall rise again;

Though lovers be lost love shall not;

And death shall have no dominion.

 

And death shall have no dominion.

Under the windings of the sea

They lying long shall not die mindily;

Twisting on racks when sinews give way,

Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break;

Faith in their hands shall snap in two,

And the unicorn evils run them through;

Split all ends up they shan't crack;

And death shall have no dominion.

 

And death shall have no dominion.

No more may gulls cry at their ears

Or waves break loud on the seashores;

Where blew a flower may a flower no more

Lift its head to the blows of the rain;

Though they be mad and dead as nails,

Heads of the characters hammer through daises;

Break in the sun till the sun breaks down,

And death shall have no dominion.

 

*Anthology of English and American Verse. Moscow; Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1972, p.410.

ROBERT FROST

The Roads Not Taken*

1. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveller, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

 

2. Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

 

3. And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

 

4. I shall be telling this with, a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.

 

*Prokkorova V.I, Soshtavskaya E.S. Stylistic Analysis. Moscow, 1976, pp. 28-29.

 

WALT WHITMAN

I Hear America Singing*

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,

Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it,

should be blithe and strong,

The carpenter singing his as he measures

his plank or beam,

The mason singing his as he makes ready for

work, or leaves off work,

The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat,

the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,

The shoemaker singing as he sits on his hench,

the hatter singing as he stands,

The wood-cutter's song, the plowboy's on his way

in the morning, or at noon intermission or

at sundown,

The delicions singing of the mother, or of the young

wife at world, or of the girl sewing or washing,

Each singing what, belongs to him or her and

to none else,

The day what belongs to the day - at night the party

of young fellows, robust, friendly,

Singing with open mouths their strong

melodious songs.

 

*Anthology of English and American Verse. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1972, p. 485.

 

 

LANGSTON HUGHES

Black Maria*

Must be the Black Maria

That I see,

The Black Maria that I see -

But I hope it

Ain't comin' for me.

 

Hear that music playin’ upstairs?

Aw, my heart is

Full of cares -

But that music playin’ upstairs

Is for me.

Babe, did you ever

See the sun

Rise at dawnin' full of fun?

Says, did you ever see the sun rise

Full of fun, full of fun?

Then you know a new day's

Done begun.

 

Black Maria passin' by

Leaves the sunrise in the sky –

And a new day,

Yes, a new day's

Done begun!

 

*Anthology of English and American Verse. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1972. pp. 549-550.

Note

Black Maria - van for taking prisoners from and to jail

 

 

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Sonnet 66*

Tired with all these, for restful death I cry,

As, to behold desert a beggar born,

And needy nothing trimm'd in jollity,

And purest faith unhappily forsworn,

And gilded honour shamefully misplaced,

And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted,

And right perfection wrongfully disgraced,

And strength by limping sway disabled,

And art made tongue-tied by authority,

And folly, doctor-like, controlling skill,

And simple truth miscalled simplicity,

And captive good attending captain ill:

Tired with all these, from these would I be gone,

Save that to die, I leave my love alone.

 

*Galperin I.R. An Essay in Stylistic Analysis. 1968.

 

 

PART THREE

 

EXPRESSIONS

 

…to orient the reader in a particular time and place

…to ring true = to make believable

The setting makes the whole story ring true.

…a true-to-life story = a realistic story

…to render reality

…to represent life

…to lead (to enable, to convince) the reader to infer that…

…to report

Events are reported though N’s eyes.

…to bring out

The conflict brings out some revealing traits of his character.

…to experience internal conflict

The character experiences internal conflict.

…to sympathize with

We sympathize with P. As he struggles to understand what is happening to him.

…conflict with nature (society, the unknown)

…to have symbolic significance

…first of all

First of all, we feel that…

…second

Second, it is clear, that…

…at last=finally

At last, we are convinced that…

…at the very least

At the very least, we have learnt that…

…in this sense

In this sense the reader sympathizes…

…to sustain the mood

The mood is sustained until the very end.

…upon closer examination

…to point up

The talk points up his level of education, manner, temperament…

…to add a touch of reality to

The dialogue adds an important touch of reality to the story.

…to draw the reader into

The dialogue draws the reader into the situation.

…to come from

The humour comes from the absurdity of the idea.

…implication

The implication here seems to be that… The implication is that…

…to mount

Tension and suspense mount very gradually in the extract.

…in retrospect

The little details become important in retrospect, or upon rereading the extract.

…to provide ideas for the reader to think about

The story provides ideas for the reader to think about.

…to become known

The true nature of the character becomes known gradually.

…to seem

From this action and conversation the character seems highly intelligent.

…thought-provoking

The reader finds the story thought-provoking.

…all in all

All in all, these well-chosen details portray him as…

…to be built around

The plot is built around a conflict.

…to establish the atmosphere of

…the opening sentence (paragraph) of the story

…the closing sentence (paragraph) of the story

…to interrupt the narration with digressions (foreshadowing, flashbacks to the past)

…to contribute to characterization (individualization, verisimilitude)

…an onlooker = observer = a character who participates in events

…to increase the immediacy and freshness of the impression

…to stimulate the reader to make his own judgements

…to make the reader draw his/her own conclusions

…to awaken interest = to arouse interest

…to retain interest

…to hold the interest of the reader

…to stir one’s imagination

…to express smth implicitly = indirectly

…to understand the implied meaning

…to reveal different aspects of human nature

…to approach the idea

The idea is approached in an indirect way.

…to offer explicit characterization of personages

The author seemingly offers explicit characterization of personages.

…juxtaposition

The juxtaposition of two characters carries out all levels of textual structure.

…ambivalent

The title of the story is ambivalent.

…pronominally

The protagonists have no names. They are referred to pronominally.

…to set a definite expectation

The title sets a definite expectation of the possible development of events.

…to be given a flashback

The past is given in a flashback.

…to sustain the effect

All these elements (details) sustain the effect.

…to individualize

… N is individualized.

…the arrangement of compositional elements

The author’s viewpoint is realized through the arrangement of compositional elements.

…to foreground

The choice of epithets foregrounds…

…an open end

The story has an open end, the impending fate of the characters remains unknown.

…to prognosticate

It is possible to prognosticate the character’s future actions.

…to arouse warmth (affection, compassion, delight, admiration, dislike, disgust, resentment, antipathy…)

…to mock at (to sneer, to satirize, to ridicule)

…to reinforce characterization

…to arouse the reader’s excitement (curiosity, concern)

…to lay bare (to expose, to reveal)

 

 

Contents

PART ONE. PROSE Ernest Hemingway On the American Dead in Spain Old Man at the Bridge In Another Country James B. Henderson Fear John Cheever Reunion Stephen Crane The Open Boat ADDITIONAL MATERIAL TO BE USED FOR INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS 1. Ernest Hemingway A Day’s Wait 2. Jerome K. Jerome Three Men in a Boat 3. S. Maugham Mr. Know-All 4. S. Maugham The Unconquered 5. Nigel Kneale The Putting Away of Uncle Quaggin 6. O. Henry The Cop and the Anthem 7. Harper Lee To Kill a Mockinbird 8. William Saroyan The Faraway Night 9. Sherwood Anderson Adventure 10. George Sheffield A Sad Story 11. Arnold Bennet The Wind 12. John Galsworthy The Apple Tree 13. Richard Wright Black Boy PART TWO. POETRY William Shakespeare Sonnet 18 All the World’s a Stage Siegfried Sassoon Does It Matter? Gerald Manley Hopkins Spring and Fall Robert Frost The Pastures Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening ADDITIONAL MATERIAL TO BE USED FOR INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS 1. Emily Dickinson Indian Summer 2. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The Rainy Day 3. A. E. Housman When I Was One –And-Twenty 4. Carl Sandburg Grass 5. Wystan Hugh Auden O Where Are You Going? 6. Ogden Nash Just a Piece of Lettuce and Some Lemon Juice, Thank You 7. Dylan Thomas And Death Shall Have No Dominion 8. Robert Frost The Roads Not Taken 9. Walt Whitwan I Hear America Singing 10. Langston Hughes Black Maria 11. William Shakespear Sonnet 66 PART THREE Expressions