Not Just a Platform for my Dance
by Marilyn Dumont
this land is not
just a place to set my house my car my fence
this land is not
just a plot to bury my dead my seed
this land is
my tongue my eyes my mouth
this headstrong grass and relenting willow
these flat-footed fields and applauding leaves
these frank winds and electric sky lines
are my prayer
they are my medicine
and they become my song
this land is not
just a platform for my dance
Consider…
1. Why does the poet choose to use the word "just" when referring to the land?
2. Look at the adjectives that the poet uses in this three line stanza to describe the elements of nature. What do these adjectives have in common?
3. How does this author view the land? How do you know?
4. What is your favourite line(s)in this poem and why?
The Lonely Land
by A.J.M. Smith
Cedar and jagged fir
uplift sharp barbs
against the gray
and cloud-piled sky;
and in the bay
blown spume and windrift by the wind
and thin, bitter spray
snap
at the whirling sky;
and the pine trees
lean one way.
A wild duck calls
to her mate,
and the ragged
and passionate tones
stagger and fall,
and recover,
and stagger and fall,
on these stones -
are lost
in the lapping of water
on smooth, flat stones.
This is a beauty
of dissonance,
this resonance
of stony strand
this smoky cry
curled over a black pine
like a broken
and wind-battered branch
when the wind
bends the tops of the pines
and curdles the sky
from the north
This is the beauty
of strength
broken by strength
and still strong.
Consider…
1. What effect is achieved by the choice of words such as "bitter" "ragged" and "broken"?
What do you think poet means by the phrase "a beauty of dissonance"?
2. What is your favourite line(s)in this poem and why?
3. How does this poet view the land? How do you know?
My Father
by Russell Wallace
On the land where he was born
my father built his house.
Beside the roads he travelled
and under the mountains he climbed
the house stands singing
where dragonflies dwell
and bears eat crab apples.
My father always at table’s head
beside windows watching
the sun and clouds
through green fields rush by.
All the sky long
among eagles and owls
and coyote’s dreams borne on the dust
my father walks heaven’s trail on showshoes
made by his hands.
On the land where he was born
Now cut by poles, roads and rail
The crab apples still grow sweet.
Consider…
1. What is your favourite line(s)in this poem and why?
2. How does this poet view the land? How do you know?
3. What in the meaning of the last stanza?
I’m a Canadianby Duke Redbird
I'm a lobster fisherman in Newfoundland
I'm a clambake in P.E.I.
I'm a picnic, I'm a banquet
I'm a mother's homemade pie
I'm a few drafts in a Legion hall in Fredericton
I'm a kite-flyer in a field in Moncton
I'm a nap on the porch after a hard day's work is done.
I'm a snowball fight in Truro, Nova Scotia
I'm small kids playing jacks and skipping rope
I'm a mother who lost a son in the last great war
And I'm a bride with a brand new ring
And a chest of hope
I'm an Eastener
I'm a Westener
I'm from the North
And I'm from the South
I've swam in two big oceans
And I've loved them both
I'm a clown in Quebec during carnival
I'm a mass in the Cathedral of St. Paul
I'm a hockey game in the Forum
I'm Rocket Richard and Jean Beliveau
I'm a coach for the little league Expos
I'm a baby sitter for sleep-defying rascals
I'm a canoe trip down the Ottawa
I'm a holiday on the Trent
I'm a mortgage, I'm a loan
I'm last week's unpaid rent
/ I'm Yorkville after dark
I'm a walk in the park
I'm a Winnipeg gold-eye
I'm a hand-made trout fly
I'm a wheat-field and a sunset
Under a prairie-sky
I'm Sir John A. Macdonald
I'm Alexander Graham Bell
I'm a pow-wow dancer
And I'm Louis Riel
I'm the Calgary Stampede
I'm a feathered Sarcee
I'm Edmonton at night
I'm a bar-room fight
I'm a rigger, I'm a cat
I'm a ten-gallon hat
And an unnamed mountain in theinterior of B.C.
I'm a maple tree and a totem pole
I'm sunshine showers
And fresh cut flowers
I'm a ferry boat ride to the Island
I'm the Yukon
I'm the North-West Territories
I'm the Artic Ocean and the Beaufort Sea
I'm the prairies, I'm the Great Lakes
I'm the Rockies, I'm the Laurentians
I am French
I am English
And I am Métis
But more than this
Above all this
I am a Canadian and proud to be free.
Consider…
- Duke Redbird is Ojibway and was born on the Saugeen Reserve near Owen Sound, Ontario. Why does he then identify himself with other people and things in his poem?
- What is the author’s connection to the land?
- What is your favourite line(s)in this poem and why?
Assignment #1 Personal Response Analysis Paragraph
In a well-developed paragraph, identify which of the first three poems best reflects your own ideas of Canada.
Include the following in your answer:
an answer to the above question in your opening sentence
an explanation of why you chose the poem you did using examples directly from the poem to illustrate your ideas (textual evidence). Also consider:
- examples from your own life experience to illustrate your ideas
- reference to your knowledge of Canada from outside experiences such as literature, magazine, movies etc.
Assignment #2 “I Am” Poem
Redbird builds his poem through a series of metaphors, wherein he compares himself to other objects, places and people. You will write your own poem, “I Am”, also using metaphors.
Be creative and use thoughtful comparisons that you believe best represent you. Try to draw on the places you’ve been, the things you’ve done, the things in your life that have been the most important to you.
The poems must be typed or neatly printed on unlined paper.
(minimum 8 lines – maximum 25)