Theme
The central idea or message of a poem
What is theme?
The attitude or mood of a poem
What is tone?
Summarize stanza 1 in your own words.
It is morning time on a nice spring day. There are people playing in the grass.
A comparison using like or as.
What is a simile?
What is the rhyme scheme of this poem?
AABBCCDDEE
A common theme among many poems we have read
What is nature?
What is the tone of the first stanza of "The Echoing Green?" What words from the first stanza told you the tone?
What is cheerful or happy?
"merry", "happy", "cheerful"
Summarize stanza 2 in your own words.
John is sitting under an oak tree with other older people. He is laughing with them as they watch the children play in the grass. The old people are thinking about when they were young doing the same things as the children.
Comparing two things without using like or as.
What is a metaphor?
How many lines are in this poem? How many stanzas are in this poem?
30 line, 3 stanzas
What is the theme of the poem "The Echoing Green"
We all grow up and reflect on our childhood when life was more carefree
What is the tone of the second stanza? What words from the second stanza helped you find the tone?
What is nostalgic, joyful, or carefree?
"When we all, girls and boys, In our youth time were seen On the echoing green"
"laugh away care"
Summarize stanza 3 in your own words.
The children are tired after playing all day. They all go home as the sun is setting.
What is the figurative language that is used in the last stanza?
"Like birds in their nest"
What words or phrases in the poem "The Echoing Green" helped you determine the theme of the poem?
"In our youth time we were seen on the echoing green"
"Like birds in their nest, are ready for rest"
"And sport no more seen on the darkening green"
What is the tone in the third stanza of "The Echoing Green?" What words in the third stanza helped you find the tone?
What is reflective, solemn, or sentimental?
"weary", "no more can be merry", "ready for rest",
"darkening green"
How do "Old John, with white hair" and "old folk" feel as they watch the children play? Be sure to use words from the poem to support your answer.
They feel joyful and happy. "laugh at our play"
What does the simile in the last stanza mean figuratively?
The children are being comforted by their mothers as they are tired just like birds stay in their nest with their mothers as they sleep.
How does theme influence the meaning of a poem?
It tells us the message that the author wants us to take away from the poem.
In what ways does the tone connect to William Blake's theme of "we all grow old"? How does he show the theme through the tone of each stanza?
William Blake shows the theme of we all grow up by creating a happy tone at the beginning that changes to a reflective tone by the last stanza. This change in tone shows us that as we grow older we reflect back on our carefree childhood as life becomes more complex.
What do the "Many sisters and brother" have in common with "birds in their nest"?"
The birds are resting in their nest in the comfort of their mothers as the children are resting the laps of their mothers for comfort.
Why do authors include figurative language in their poems?
They use figurative language to emphasize meaning in the poem. It allows the reader to see a picture inside of their head as they are reading.
The phrase "On the echoing Green" appears in stanza 1 and 2. In stanza 3 it changes to "On the darkening green." What are some reasons the poem might make this change?
The repetition is to emphasize this phrase in the poem. It shows the passage of time. It shows a change in tone as the childhood is coming to an end.