The Man He Killed by Thomas Hardy – “No: yesterday he went to wed Rue: small evergreen

“Had he and I but met One of the brightest wealth has bred. plant with bitter-tasting
Nipperkin: a half-pint of ale ‘It cannot hurt her now,’ he said,
By some old ancient inn, leaves formerly use in
We should have sat us down to wet Trap: simple personal belongings ‘That I should not be true.’ “ medicine.
Right many a nipperkin!
Half-a-crown: an English coin “Then who is digging on my grave? Kin: family, relations
worth about sixty-three cents in My nearest dearest kin?”
“But ranged as infantry, Mound: mass of piled
Hardy’s day – “Ah, no: they sit and think, ‘What use!
And staring face to face, up earth.
I shot at him as he at me, What good will planting flowers produce?
*’list = enlist
And killed him in his place. No tendance of her mound can loose Gin: trap or snare for
Her spirit from Death’s gin.’ “ catching animals, etc.
“I shot him dead because – Prod: push or poke with
Because he was my foe, “But some one digs upon my grave?
something pointed.
Just so: my foe of course he was; My enemy? – prodding sly?”
That’s clear enough; although – “Nay: when she heard you had passed the Gate Sly: deceitful; keeping
That shuts on all flesh soon or late, or doing things secretly.
“He thought he’d ‘list, perhaps, She thought you no more worth her hate,
And cares not where you lie.” Nay: (old use) no.
Off-hand like – just as I –
Was out of work – had sold his traps –
No other reason why. “Then, who is digging on my grave?
Say – since I have not guessed!”
“Yes; quaint and curious war is! – “O it is I, my mistress dear,
You shoot a fellow down Your little dog, who still lives near,
You’d treat if met where any bar is, And much I hope my movements here
Or help to half-a-crown.” Have not disturbed your rest?”
 How wealthy do you think the speaker is? What leads you to this
conclusion? In particular, does he use any words which suggest his social “Ah, yes! You dig upon my grave . . .
class? Why flashed it not on me
 Why does the speaker repeat himself in stanza three? That one true heart was left behind!
What feeling do we ever find
 For what reasons does he go to war? Are these unusual motives, do you
To equal among human kind
think?
A dog’s fidelity!”
“Mistress, I dug upon your grave
“Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?” by Thomas Hardy To bury a bone, in case
“Ah, are you digging on my grave I should be hungry near this spot
My loved one? – planting rue?” When passing on my daily trot.
I am sorry, but I quite forgot
It was your resting-place.”
 What does the dead girl hope for? Is there any specific order to her
questions?
 What does the poem imply, through the answers to each question?
 How would you describe the overall effect of this poem on you as a
reader?
To an Athlete Dying Young by A. E. Housman
The time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.
Today, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.
Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay,
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.
Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears.
Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.
So set, before its echoes fade,
Betimes: (liter.) early; in
good time.
Rout: disorderly, noisy
crowd.
Renown: fame
Fleet: quick-moving
Sill: flat shelf or block of
wood or stone at the base
of a window.
Lintel: horizontal piece of
wood or stone forming the
top of the frame of a door
or window.
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge cup.
And round that early-laureled head
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl’s.
 The poem describes two processions. Compare and contrast them.
 What does the speaker mean by “a stiller town”? List all the details he
gives which describe it.
 Why does the speaker consider the athlete a “Smart lad”?
When you are old by William Butler Yeats
When you are old and gray and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
And bending down beside the glowing bars
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
 What do you think is the speaker’s attitude toward old age? Find words
or phrases to support your answer.
 (a) Which man loved “the pilgrim soul in you”? (b) What happened to this
love and why?
 Tell the “story” of this poem in your own words.