English poet and man of letters.

Author of political, philosophical, and religious poetry and prose in Latin and English.

Served in Oliver Cromwell’s government.

Lost his eyesight while on public service.

1 When I consider how my light is spent 2     Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,              3     And that one talent which is death to hide              4     Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul more bent              5 To serve therewith my Maker, and present              6     My true account, lest he returning chide,              7     "Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"              8     I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent            9 That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need            10     Either man's work or his own gifts: who best            11     Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state            12 Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed            13     And post o'er land and ocean without rest:            14     They also serve who only stand and wait."

A major American poet.

Unrecognized and almost unpublished during her lifetime.

Lived an extremely lonely life.

Enjoyed gardening and literature, communicating to people mostly through correspondence.

1. Does the poem clearly fall into a certain category (type, genre)?

2. What kind of a speaker do we encounter?

3. Does the speaker have a set identity (personality type, occupation, gender, etc.) or is he/she anonymous?

4. Whom does the speaker address?5. Do you, personally, connect to the

speaker? Why?

The Tone: the speaker’s attitude toward the subject or the audience, expressed through word choices, sentence structure, imagery, meter, rhyme, etc. What kinds of tone can a poem have? Does the tone stays the same orcan it change as the poem unfolds?

Serious Comic Ironic Sarcastic Formal Joyful Sad (elegiac) Playful CondescendingEt cetera…

English poet, not prolific but influential.

Most famous for “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” (1751).

General James Wolfe said in 1759: "Gentlemen, I would rather have written that poem than take Quebec tomorrow.”

The Ode: a genre of lyrical poetry; a relatively lengthy poem, serious in subject matter, elevated in its diction and style; written in praise or commemoration of a person or an event.

Irony involves a difference or contrast between appearance and reality - that is a discrepancy between what appears to be true and what really is true.

There are three common types of irony in literature.

 http://serc.sogang.ac.kr/erc/Literature/Irony.htm

A. Verbal irony occurs when people say the opposite of what they mean.

There are two kinds of verbal irony : Understatement occurs when one minimizes the nature of something.

Overstatement occurs when one exaggerates the nature of something.

Verbal irony in its most bitter and destructive form becomes sarcasm. Someone is condemned by a speaker pretending to praise him or her.

http://serc.sogang.ac.kr/erc/Literature/Irony.htm

 B.  In situational irony, the situation is different from what common sense indicates it is, will be, or ought to be.     Situational irony is often used to expose hypocrisy and injustice.

http://serc.sogang.ac.kr/erc/Literature/Irony.htm

C. Dramatic irony occurs when a character states something that they believe to be true but that the reader knows is not true. The key to dramatic irony is the reader's foreknowledge of coming events.

http://serc.sogang.ac.kr/erc/Literature/Irony.htm

A poem written in elegiac couplets.

A song or poem expressing sorrow or lamentation especially for one who is dead;

Something (as a speech) resembling such a song or poem;

A pensive or reflective poem that is usually nostalgic or melancholy.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/elegy

British-born American poet, critic, feminist, and political activist.

Prominent representative of American avant-garde.

Claimed to have been a poet since age five.

“What Were They Like?”

A major American poet.

Associated with New England.

Author of works of deep philosophical and psychological complexity “disguised” as “realistic” poems.

Winner of four Pulitzer Prizes.

“Fire and Ice” (1920)