Lit01- Literatures of the World

LIT01- LITERATURES OF THE WORLD

UNIT 3: UNDERSTANDING POETRY

UNIT OBJECTIVES

At the end of the unit, you must have:

1. identified essential elements/ ingredients of poetry;
2. established unique characteristics in the language of poetry as evinced from the different
literary devices and techniques used;
3. identified and discussed the human situations depicted in the various poems;
4. reacted to the different poems in various ways;
5. reflected on the theme/s of the various pieces of poetry;
6. expressed appreciation of the literary works of the different countries in the world;
7. gained insights on the parallelisms in American, European, African, Latin American and
Asian cultures and histories through the poems discussed; and
8. applied the knowledge gained from the course in their written projects and other
creative outputs.
Lit01- Literatures of the World

REQUIRED READINGS
I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD by Wiliam Wardsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

ONCE UPON A TIME by Gabriel Okara

Once upon a time, son,

they used to laugh with their hearts
and laugh with their eyes:
but now they only laugh with their teeth,
while their ice-block-cold eyes
search behind my shadow.

There was a time indeed

they used to shake hands with their hearts:
Lit01- Literatures of the World

but that’s gone, son.

Now they shake hands without hearts
while their left hands search
my empty pockets.

‘Feel at home!’ ‘Come again’:

they say, and when I come
again and feel
at home, once, twice,
there will be no thrice-
for then I find doors shut on me.

So I have learned many things, son.

I have learned to wear many faces
like dresses – homeface,
officeface, streetface, hostface,
cocktailface, with all their conforming smiles
like a fixed portrait smile.

And I have learned too

to laugh with only my teeth
and shake hands without my heart.
I have also learned to say,’Goodbye’,
when I mean ‘Good-riddance’:
to say ‘Glad to meet you’,
without being glad; and to say ‘It’s been
nice talking to you’, after being bored.

But believe me, son.

I want to be what I used to be
when I was like you. I want
to unlearn all these muting things.
Most of all, I want to relearn
how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror
shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs!

So show me, son,

how to laugh; show me how
I used to laugh and smile
Lit01- Literatures of the World

once upon a time when I was like you.

PSALM OF LIFE by Henry Wardsworth Longfellow

What The Heart Of The Young Man Said To The Psalmist.

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world’s broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,— act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;
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Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

TO WHOM SHOULD I SPEAK TODAY by Thomas Eric Peet

I.
To whom should I speak today?
Brothers are evil;
The friends of today love not.

II.
To whom should I speak today?
Hearts are covetous;
Every man plundereth the goods of his fellow.

III.
To whom should I speak today?
The peaceful man is in evil case;
Good is cast aside everywhere.

IV.
To whom should I speak today?
Yesterday is forgotten;
Me do not as they were done by nowadays.

V.
To whom should I speak today?
There is no heart of man
Whereon one might lean.

VI.
To whom should I speak today?
The righteous are no more;
The land is given over to evil-doers.

VII.
To whom should I speak today?
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There is a lack of confidants;

Men have recourse to a stranger to tell their troubles.

VIII.
To whom should I speak today?
I am laden with misery,
And am without a comforter.

BONSAI by Edith Tiempo

All that I love

I fold over once
And once again
And keep in a box
Or a slit in a hollow post
Or in my shoe.

All that I love?

Why, yes, but for the moment-
And for all time, both.
Something that folds and keeps easy,
Son’s note or Dad’s one gaudy tie,
A roto picture of a queen,
A blue Indian shawl, even
A money bill.

It’s utter sublimation,

A feat, this heart’s control
Moment to moment
To scale all love down
To a cupped hand’s size

Till seashells are broken pieces

From God’s own bright teeth,
And life and love are real
Things you can run and
Breathless hand over
To the merest child.

NOTE
If you have questions for clarification or if you have any idea that you want to add to the
discussion, feel free to reach out to me via mVLE or thru my e-mail: ksgaleon@mmsu.edu.ph. Enjoy
learning!