Programme 11 - Activities

LANGSTON HUGHES (1902–1967)
From Advertisement For The Waldorf-Astoria (1931)

* Talk about who you think the audience is for Hughes's poem? How does the poet show the gap between rich and poor?

* The 'menu' section of Hughes's poem was 'found' and used by him. Write your own poem based on a piece of 'found' text.

GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS (1844–1889)
Pied Beauty (1877)

* Hopkins seeks ways in his poetry to praise God and to celebrate God's glory in the creation of the natural world. Compare his poem with one of Wordsworth's. How do they differ in the 'voice' that is used?

* Hopkins uses adjectives to give vivid, unusual 'images'. Think of some everyday items and describe them using adjectives in an alliterative (beginning with the same first letter) or unusual style such as 'fresh-firecoal chestnut'.

MARGARET CAVENDISH (1623–1673)
Of Many Worlds in This World (1653)

* How does the poem relate to the other poems featured in the series which deal with broadly similar subject matter?

* In your group talk about how you think the poem is typical of its period? Is it conventional, do you think, or is it in any way challenging the reader's expectations?

SYLVIA PLATH (1932–1963)
The Arrival of the Bee Box (1965)

* What is the form of the poem? Is it drawing upon an established tradition? Does it, for example, use a strict verse form in terms of metre and rhyme? Is its language formal or colloquial?

* 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 11, draw up and complete a grid like the one below.

Arrows of Desire III – Programme 11