Edwin Arlington Robinson: Naturalist Poet

Name______

Edwin Arlington Robinson: Naturalist Poet

Edwin Arlington Robinson grew up in Gardiner, Maine, where he absorbed many of the characters for his poetry during his formative years during the Industrial era. His work is filled with these people—most of them residing in fictional New England areas similar to his hometown—who are studies in personal failure, frustrated desires, and simple bad luck. In his portraits of these people, Robinson uses a naturalistic approach, analyzing the forces that move individuals to success or failure.
Assignment:

Step 1: Carefully read all 3 poems, using active reading techniques to mark up the text, ask questions, circle key phrases, and examine author's techniques. One method that works well for this purpose is TPCASTT:

T-title: The meaning of the title without reference to the poem.

P-paraphrase: Put the poem, stanza by stanza, into your own words. At this point, read on the surface level.

C-connotation: look for deeper meaning using figurative language and style.

 Form/structure/rhyme scheme

 Diction and syntax

 Metaphors, similes, personification, imagery

 Allusions

A-attitude: Look for the author’s tone. How is the speaker addressing the subject matter?

S-shifts: Look for shifts in tone, action, and rhythm. Discuss how the shift(s) affects the poem’s meaning.

T-title: Reevaluate the title as it pertains to the poem. Does the title carry a hidden meaning?

T-theme: What is the poem’s message? What is it saying about life or human nature?

POEM 1:

Miniver Cheevy

Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn,

Grew lean while he assailed the seasons

He wept that he was ever born,

And he had reasons.

Miniver loved the days of old

When swords were bright and steeds were prancing;

The vision of a warrior bold

Would send him dancing.

Miniver sighed for what was not,

And dreamed, and rested from his labors;

He dreamed of Thebes and Camelot,

And Priam's neighbors.

Miniver mourned the ripe renown

That made so many a name so fragrant;

He mourned Romance, now on the town,

And Art, a vagrant.

POEM 2:

Richard Cory

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,

We people on the pavement looked at him:

He was a gentleman from sole to crown,

Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,

And he was always human when he talked;

But still he fluttered pulses when he said,

"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich - yes, richer than a king -

And admirably schooled in every grace;

In fine we thought that he was everything

To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,

And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;

And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,

Went home and put a bullet through his head.

POEM 3:

The Mill

The miller's wife had waited long,

The tea was cold, the fire was dead;

And there might yet be nothing wrong

In how he went and what he said:

"There are no millers any more,"

Was all that she heard him say;

And he had lingered at the door

So long it seemed like yesterday.

Sick with a fear that had no form

She knew that she was there at last;

And in the mill there was a warm

And mealy fragrance of the past.

What else there was would only seem

To say again what he had meant;

And what was hanging from a beam

Would not have heeded where she went.

And if she thought it followed her,

She may have reasoned in the dark

That one way of the few there were

Would hide her and would leave no mark:

Black water, smooth above the weir

Like starry velvet in the night,

Though ruffled once, would soon appear

The same as ever to the sight.

Step 2: With your partner, thoroughly discuss and answer all or most of the questions below until you feel you are an “expert” on your assigned poem. Tomorrow, you will be teaching your poem to others who have concentrated on a different poem in the packet.

1.  What is the form of the poem? (i.e. Is it organized by stanza? How many? What is the general length of lines? What “feel” does the form give the poem?)

2.  Do you see a general conflict between the form of the poem and the content? Why do you think Robinson chose such a form?

3.  Describe the rhythm and rhyme scheme. Identify rhyme scheme by assigning the letter “A” to the last word of the first line, then B to the last word of the second line, then reassigning letters to coordinating rhyming words.

4.  What are some of the sound techniques used, and what are their effects? (Look for alliteration, assonance, euphony, cacophony, repetition, and parallelism, and jot down examples of each.)

5.  Identify any examples of figurative language (metaphors, similes, personification). Be on the lookout for any implied metaphors.

6.  How about any allusions to other literary works or historical events?

7. What is the central irony of this poem? How does the point of view make this irony all the more apparent?

8. What is the initial tone of the poem? Where do you note a transition? What is the tone following?

9. Through what techniques does Robinson enhance the power of his ending?

10. What are the major themes of the poem?