From the Ground Up- lesson one

Part One

A Road Not Taken by Robert Frost


Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, A  9
And sorry I could not travel both B  9 
And be one traveler, long I stood A    9
And looked down one as far as I could  9
To where it bent in the undergrowth;  B  9


Then took the other, as just as fair, A  9
And having perhaps the better claim, B  9
Because it was grassy and wanted wear; A  10
Though as for that the passing there A  8
Had worn them really about the same, B  10


And both that morning equally lay A  9
In leaves no step had trodden black. B  8
Oh, I kept the first for another day! A  10
Yet knowing how way leads on to way, A  9
I doubted if I should ever come back.  B    10


I shall be telling this with a sigh A  9 
Somewhere ages and ages hence: B  6
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- A  9
I took the one less traveled by, A  8
And that has made all the difference. B  9


Identify the rhyme scheme and tone.
The rhyme scheme is ABAAB
The tone appears to be that of an elder, more experienced person telling their tale.

Does the poem have a rhythm?
Yes - I imagine it has a fancy name.


Does it have flow?
Yes


How many syllables per line?
Between 8 and 10 with 9 being the most common.  There is one line with 6 syllables.


How many lines per stanza?
Five


Alliteration:
Alliteration occurs frequently. This is mostly due to the use of the same words in single lines. E.g. way, as, ages






Chosen poem - Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas


Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.


Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.


Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.


Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.


Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.


And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.


Identify the rhyme scheme and tone.
The rhyme scheme is ABA until the last stanza, which is ABAA
The tone is one of warning and encouragement. I think.


Does the poem have a rhythm?
Yes


Does it have flow?
Yes


How many syllables per line?
Ten - apart from line 14, which has nine syllables


How many lines per stanza?
Three


Alliteration:
Alliteration occurs frequently. It also occurs due to the use of the same words in single lines. E.g. rage, the,

Part Two

Aging Woman in Repose

She gathers and guards her treasures - gathers/guards
there is little else to measure
a lifetime now in the past tense.
She mutters not making much sense. Mutters/much

Yellowed letter from her husband,
envelope opened and reopened, opened/reopened
a twist of lovely golden hair
from when he was young and fair. (*7) when/was

Ragged heart shapes with childish scrawls,
"I love you, Mom," the message calls
to old memories of days gone by. (*9) old/of
Oh, how quickly the time can fly!

Ink penned poems in a journal, penned/poems
paint a picture like a mural, paint/picture
of woman's romantic soul, (*7)
composed when her mind was still whole.

She gathers and guards her treasures. Gathers/guards
These tokens provide a measure
of a lifetime now in the past tense. (*9)
She mutters and to God makes sense.

For me, this doesn't flow as well as perhaps it could. Maybe it needs less lines per stanza.

Part Three

My poem - Driven Up the Wall

You are driving me up the wall
I used to stand up proud and tall
Now I wish to cringe in caves
As your wallowing hits in waves

I need to get out of this town
You really do act the clown
Looking at your facetious face
Makes me surely need my own space

Yet if the honest truth be told
Without you I'll never grow old
I live, love and value it all
Despite driving me up the wall

Really, this is supposed to be a Quatrain poem using a, a, b, b rhyme scheme: with eight syllables in each line, using alliteration at least once in each stanza.