Learning Paths » 5A Interacting
EXERCISES ON PAGE 326-327
Ex 1
The poet starts imagining a possible other place from line 16 to line 29
Ex 2
In the first 15 lines the narrative voice describes a desert, Wheel there is no water but only rock, mountain and sand.
Right from the start there is a contraposition between water and rock, as a matter of fact the terms are repeated twelve time, in addition there are a lot of words connected to rock like mountains, sandy, sand, dry and sterile.
From the 16th line there is a change of landscape; the new landscape is created by a mixture of water and rock. The mixture brings life: cicada, grass, hermit and pine trees. In all two scene, or landscape there is the presence of water and rock.
Ex 3
The difference between the two places described in the extract is the relation between water and rock. Water could be a metaphor for life and hope, as a matter of fact the firs land has not got water and it is a eco of death given by " dead mountain", "sterile", " solitude"; otherwise in the second scene there is a eco of life given by " spring", "grass" or "cicada".
Ex 5
The extract of the poem is not written in regular metre and it has not got regular stanzas, it is written in free verses. Like other modernist works, like V. Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, the stanzas are connected by the juxtaposition of sounds and scenes.
ANALISYS
In the first part the presence of rocks is made tangible through the frequent repetition of the word and the absence of water. All the other desert images derive from the central one "the sandy road", "sweat is dry", "feet in the sand", "carious teeth that cannot spit", "sterile thunder without rain". the monotonous rhythm and the compact layout suit the quality of the barren rocky landscape. In the second part the presence of water is created through the repetition of the word and seems to take several shapes, those of " a spring" "a pool among the rock", "the sound of water", "the pine trees". Water has a more melodious sound than rock, in addition water suit's the pleasant aspects of the imaginary landscape. The lively rhythm seems to eco the flowing water. The juxtaposition of the two sets is effective. Desert images suggest spiritual barrenness, solitude, absence of life and so death. The second scene convey the idea of what gives life, pleasure and joy.