Imagery in Poetry
(A.) Read the following poem by T.S. Eliot
Preludes
- T.S. Eliot
The winter evening settles down
With smell of steaks in passageways.
Six o’clock.
The burnt-out ends of smoky days.
And now a gusty shower wraps
The grimy scraps
Of withered leaves about your feet
And newspaper from vacant lots;
The showers beat
On broken blinds and chimney-pots,
And at the corner of the street
A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps.
And then the lighting of the lamps.
The morning comes to consciousness
Of faint stale smells of beer
From the sawdust-trampled street
With all its muddy feet that press
To early coffee-stands.
With the other masquerades
That time resumes,
One thinks of all the hands
That are raising dingy shades
In a thousand furnished rooms
(B.) On a separate piece of paper, answer the following questions in complete sentences.
1. Where does this poem take place? During what season? How do you know? Find 3 lines/words from the poem that demonstrate the season and setting.
2. Identify examples of personification, simile, and alliteration (yes – all of them!). How do they add emphasis to the poem? Be sure to explain.
3. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? Write it on the poem.
4. On the back of this page (or in your notebook), draw a detailed picture of this scene. Be sure to include as many details as possible!
5. What kind of emotions do you feel when you read this poem? In 5-7 sentences, explain how this poem makes you feel and use examples from the poem to support your points.
6. This poem has no title. Why do you think it has no title? What title would you give it? Provide an alternative title and explain your choice.
Hand in your work when you are finished! Thank you!
Memory
Daylight
See the dew on the sunflower
And a rose that is fading
Roses whither away
Like the sunflower
I yearn to turn my face to the dawn
I am waiting for the day . . .
Midnight
Not a sound from the pavement
Has the moon lost her memory?
She is smiling alone
In the lamplight
The withered leaves collect at my feet
And the wind begins to moan
Memory
All alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days
I was beautiful then
I remember the time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again
Every streetlamp
Seems to beat a fatalistic warning
Someone mutters
And the streetlamp gutters
And soon it will be morning
Daylight
I must wait for the sunrise
I must think of a new life
And I musn't give in
When the dawn comes
Tonight will be a memory too
And a new day will begin
Burnt out ends of smoky days
The stale cold smell of morning
The streetlamp dies, another night is over
Another day is dawning
Touch me
It's so easy to leave me
All alone with the memory
Of my days in the sun
If you touch me
You'll understand what happiness is
Look
A new day has begun