To Helen

BY EDGAR ALLAN POE How Do I Love Thee?

Helen, thy beauty is to me
Like those Nican barks of
yore,
That gently, o'er a perfumed
sea,
The weary, way-worn
wanderer bore
To his own native shore.
On desperate seas long wont to
roam,
Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic
face,
Thy Naiad airs have brought me
home
To the glory that was Greece,
And the grandeur that was
Rome.
Lo! in yon brilliant window-niche
How statue-like I see thee
stand,
The agate lamp within thy hand!
Ah, Psyche, from the regions
which
Are Holy-Land!
(Sonnet 43)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How do I love thee? Let me
count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and
breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling
out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal
grace.
I love thee to the level of every
days
Most quiet need, by sun and
candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive
for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn
from praise.
I love thee with the passion put
to use
In my old griefs, and with my
childhoods faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed
to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee
with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and,
if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after
death.

To Helen Questions
1. What is this poem about?
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2. Is this poem about a one- or two-sided love? How do you know that?
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3. What literary devices are included?
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How Do I Love Thee Questions

1. What is this poem about?
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2. Is this poem about a one- or two-sided love? How do you know that?
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3. What literary devices are included?
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The Fist
Derek Walcott, 1930
The fist clenched round my
heart
loosens a little, and I gasp
brightness; but it tightens
again. When have I ever not
loved
the pain of love? But this has
moved
past love to mania. This has the
strong
clench of the madman, this is
gripping the ledge of unreason,
before
plunging howling into the abyss.
Hold hard then, heart. This way
at least you live.
To My Dear and Loving
Husband Anne Bradstreet
If ever two were one, then
surely we.
If ever man were loved by wife,
then thee.
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye women, if
you can.
I prize thy love more than whole
mines of gold,
Or all the riches that the East
doth hold.
My love is such that rivers
cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee
give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way
repay;
The heavens reward thee
manifold, I pray.
Then while we live, in love lets
so persevere,
That when we live no more, we
may live ever.
The Fist Questions
1. What is this poem about?
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2. Is this poem about a one- or two-sided love? How do you know that?
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3. What literary devices are included?
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To My Dear and Loving Husband Questions

1. What is this poem about?
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2. Is this poem about a one- or two-sided love? How do you know that?
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3. What literary devices are included?
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General Question
Which poem is your favorite and why?
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Ballad Poetry Assignment Name:
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For this assignment you are to write your own love poem. This poem
must have a rhyme scheme and should tell a love (two- or one-sided)
story. This poem should have at least 5 stanzas and must be school
appropriate.

Title:
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