A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
In line 5, the speaker urges “us” to melt. What else does the speaker urge “us” to do?
What is The speaker urges "us" to make no noise.
To whom or what is this poem written?
What is sleep
What does the speaker meet the neighbor to do?
What is to set a wall between them
Who “kindly stopped” (line 2) for the speaker of the poem?
Who is Death
Read lines 1 and 2 from the poem:
Who or what does the word “She” refer to?
What is “my song” (line 1)
The poet uses stanzas to organize the ideas of this poem. What is the structure of each stanza?
What is Each stanza is four lines long with a rhyming pattern of ABAB.
The rhyme scheme of the first eight lines of this poem is ABABCDCD. What is the rhyme scheme of the last six lines?
What is EFEFGG
Read this line from the poem: “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.”
What lines in the poem support this statement?
What is lines 2-4
How has the poet structured each stanza of the poem?
What is Each stanza is constructed as a single sentence
What tone does the phrase “O master poet” help create?
What is a formal, respectful tone
What is a Valediction?
What is saying goodbye
What do "the peasant," "the poor sea boy," and "the village girl" have in common?
What is They all sleep well
The poem describes a wall. How does the structure of the poem contribute to that description?
What is As one long block of text without any breaks between lines, the poem suggests the image of a wall.
Death is polite.
Which stanza besides the first supports this conclusion?
What is the second stanza
The speaker of the poem believes that the addressee is superior to him or her.
What lines from the poem support this conclusion?
What are lines 6 and 7
What is the speaker's message to his or her addressee?
What is Do not be sad about me leaving, because our love will bring me back to you.
What is a theme of this poem?
What is Falling asleep is difficult for people who are sad and anxious.
What does the speaker’s neighbor probably believe about good neighbors?
What is Good neighbors keep a certain amount of distance from each other.
What is a main theme of the poem?
What is Death may signify the end of life, but it is also linked to immortality.
What might be an example of the “jingling” ornaments that the speaker refers to in lines 3-5?
What is rhyme
The speaker has to leave the person he or she is addressing.
What is a phrase or line that supports this conclusion?
What is "Though I must go" (line 22)
What is one way that sleep is personified in this poem?
What is Sleep is capitalized as though it were someone’s name.
What is a theme of the poem?
What is the nature of social relationships
Why might the poet have personified death in this poem?
What is to make death seem like a human being instead of an event
What is a theme of the poem?
What is One should try to achieve simplicity in art and in life.