Programme 12 - Activities

SIR THOMAS WYATT (1503–1542)
They fle from me that sometyme did me seke (1540)

* Compare this sixteenth century poem with one written by a contemporary poet. Is it a love poem? How does it compare with Shakespeare's Sonnet 130? (Arrows of Desire III, Programme 10)

* Read the poem and match the meanings below with the following terms:
Term
Line 2 stalking
Line 5 in danger
Line 9 in speciall
Line 12 small
Line 15 broad waking
Line 19 new-fangleness

Meaning
walking carefully in a stealthy way
wide awake
following the fashion
in my debt
slender
especially

CHRISTOPHER SMART (1722–1771)
From Jubilate Agno (1761)

* Make a list of the activities performed by Smart's cat Jeoffry.

* Read a longer extract from the poem 'Jubilate Agno' (see weblink above). Do the lines in the longer extract add a different meaning to the poem? What picture do you have of the poet from these additional lines?

EZRA POUND (1885–1972)
In a Station of the Metro / Alba

* How does it relate to other poems in the series in terms of its style?

* What can you say about the simplicity in these two poems? 'In a Station of The Metro' and 'Alba' Pound uses very few words. If they were paintings, what kind of colours would they be? What style would they be?

* Create a tableau - a 'snapshot' of one of the poems.

LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI (1919–present)
History of the Airplane (2001)

* Follow the weblinks to find out about the 'Beat' counterculture in America? Who else was involved in it and what effect did it have on the arts at that time? (See also Gary Snyder, Arrows of Desire III, Programme 9)

* Compare the poems of Lawrence Ferlinghetti with those of e e cummings (Arrows of Desire I, Programme 1). Are they stylistically similar?

* Several of the poems have a common theme or subject or some shared feature of approach, style or structure - for example, poems spoken by a character as monologues or themes such as nature, love, family and relationships, past and present, interesting characters, growing up … Having considered all the poems in Programme 12, draw up and complete a grid like the one below.