"Windigo"
What mood is established by the first line of the poem, “You knew I was coming for you, little one”?
Dark and foreboding. It also suggests there may be some connection between the child and the windigo.
Words like “darkness,” “silence,” and “nothing more” in stanzas 4–5 contribute most to what tone?
One of emptiness and isolation. It is clear that the speaker is alone, cut off from others.
What do the lines in stanza 2, “her / whole life became the / mirrors” suggest? What is Reed saying with these lines?
The mirrors represent her isolation and obsession with her own reflection.
When the speaker asks if there is “balm in Gilead,” what does this allusion suggest?
His hope for spiritual healing and comfort. He wants something that can take away of the pain of his loss.
The speaker says, “Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore - / What this grim, ungainly, vastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore / Meant in croaking, ‘Nevermore.’ ” What does the word ominous mean here?
It means giving the impression that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen; threatening; inauspicious. The speaker sees the raven as some sort of omen.
In the first stanza, how do the verbs “jumped,” “flapped,” and “crept” contribute to the poem’s atmosphere?
They establish a restless, tense atmosphere filled with movement and fear. The reader anticipates what his to come.
How does the repeated refrain “Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore’” affect the poem?
It increases the speaker’s obsession and despair each time it occurs. It illustrates how the speaker's love, Lenore, is lost and will never reunite with him again. it builds to his final decent into madness and confusion with no hope.
The woman in the mirror takes “first a little girl / then a young woman / then the young woman’s husband.” Why might the woman focus on these victims?
They represent innocence and the vulnerability of youth. They have what she wants, and she takes it from them. Shows the degree to which she is consumed by her desire to be young.
What is the "Plutonian Shore" that the speaker in "The Raven" alludes to?
It represents the dark border between the world of the living and the dead, often symbolized by the shore of the River Styx, which souls must cross to reach the afterlife. The phrase evokes a sense of despair, death, and the unknown.
the speaker says, “Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore! / Leave no black plume as a token of the lie thy soul hath spoken!” What is a tempest?
A tempest is a violent storm. The speaker is fed up with the raven and sees him as an omen of the underworld, wanting him to leave.
What effect is created by the repetition of the “h” and “l” sounds in “child hide and lie still”?
A soft, whispering rhythm that builds suspense and quiet tension.
How does the image of the “silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain” contribute to the poem’s suspenseful atmosphere? What is the significance of the "purple"?
The soft alliteration and movement heighten unease and anticipation. It's as if one can visualize the movement and the sound of the curtain. The purple is also significant because it helps to show his class, his status. it is also a color often associated with mystery.
Why does Reed include the informal line “this poem aint got no manners” after describing the poem’s “belch”?
To reflect the poem’s rebellious, unrefined nature. This illustrates a departure from traditional poetic form in order to comment on how people are consumed by a need for poetry and other areas of life to be a certain way.
To what does "Pallas" allude to in "The Raven"?
"Pallas" refers to Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, and her bust is a key symbol in Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven." The raven perching on the bust of Pallas represents the triumph of grief, irrationality, and the dark unknown over the narrator's reason, sanity, and intellect.
When the speaker says he seeks to “borrow / From my books surcease of sorrow,” what does this reveal about his emotional state?
He is grieving deeply and trying to ease his pain through reading. He hopes reading will help to cease, to end his sorrow.
Erdrich uses ambiguity in her writing. One way she does this is with the word "Mother." Explain.
She doesn't state whose mother, so the reader is left to consider that it may just be the child's mother or also be related to the windigo.
In stanza 18, the raven’s eyes are described as having “all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming.” How does this image contribute to the poem’s theme of torment and psychological horror?
It implies that the raven symbolizes the speaker’s own haunting thoughts, his own inner demons, and inner torment.
Which detail (or stanza) from the poem best supports the idea that the poem blurs the line between fiction and reality?
The mention of a “missing persons report” where Reed provides statistics that are jarring and make the reader uneasy.
At the end of stanza three of "Windigo," Erdrich describes the bushes as “naked, spread like the cleaned spines of fish.” What does this simile convey?
The bushes are lifeless, stripped bare, and cold, enhancing the winter setting.
In stanza 8, when the speaker says the raven “beguiles” his “sad fancy into smiling,” how is the raven personified?
As a mischievous being capable of charm
What are some conflicts established in this poem?
Conflicts in Louise Erdrich's "Windigo" poem include the internal struggle within the Windigo itself between the monstrous outer form and the buried human, and the external conflict between the Windigo and the child, which is complicated by the Windigo's simultaneous threat and desire for connection
In the final stanza, the raven’s shadow “on the floor” while the speaker’s soul “shall be lifted—nevermore” most likely symbolizes what?
The eternal weight of grief and despair consuming the speaker’s spirit. It signifies that he will never be free of his grief.
What does the line “this poem is the reader & the / reader is this poem” suggest about the relationship between readers and poetry?
Readers and poems share responsibility for meaning; each shapes the other. It also suggests the ways in which we become engaged with and sometimes consumed by what we read.
What are some examples of repetition in "beware: do not read this poem"? What purpose do they serve?
repetition of cautionary phrases like "beware," and "back off" to create a suspenseful, hypnotic tone that draws the reader in, mirroring the poem's theme that curiosity can lead to dangerous obsession. The repetition of phrases like "this poem" and "you" further blurs the line between the poem, the reader, and the story within it, making the reader a participant in the poem's cautionary tale. The poem uses this repetition to build a sense of urgency and show how the poem itself acts as a consuming entity.
The speaker says in "The Raven," - “Then methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer / Swung by seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor.” What is a censer and what do these lines reveal about the speaker?
A censer is a container in which incense is burned, typically during a religious ceremony. He is clearly smelling something that is not there, which illustrates his changing mental state.