Show:
Vs. 1-3
vs. 4-7
vs. 8-10
vs 11...
Bonus
100
Name the figures of speech used in verse 1
Consonance and Assonance: Wake, sleep, take, waking
100
What figure of speech is "I hear my being dance from ear to ear" ?
Metaphor/ hyperbole: You can't really hear you entire being dance from ear to ear
100
Why is ground capitalized?
The ground is not a simple object but a life force. It is where dead bodies decompose, where the ground nourishes new birth and life, and continues the circle of life.
100
What does the lowly worm climbing the stair show us?
That we are like a worm on the forest floor. We slowly journey through life and will meet death once we reach the top of the stairs. We cannot explain what drives the cycle of life but we can feel and be a part of it.
100
What is the meaning of the first line of the final stanza?
The "shaking" is both the fear of accepting mortality and the willing openness to experience life to the fullest. The point where fear and excitement meets, where logic becomes vision, where death changes into life, and where we must find balance.
200
What figures of speech is used in verse 2
Alliteration: feel, fate, fear
200
What is the meaning of verse 4?
By stating that "We think by feeling" and "what is there to know" implies that there is nothing "to know". Life can only be felt, no one knows his fate or future.
200
What does the repetition in verse 9 reveal?
It makes clear that the speaker in the poem has realized that the fate which he “cannot fear” is death.
200
What is an example of personification in verses 13-15?
“Great Nature has another thing to do”
200
Name the rhyme patterns of the whole poem (Ex. ABAC…)
ABA ABA CDA EDA CDA ABAA
300
Give an example of a paradox in verses 1-3
I wake to sleep
300
hawhaw bonus points: What is the title of the poem?
The Waking
300
What are some figures of speech in verse 7? Name 2
Assonance: Those, close, anastrophe: Of those so close beside me, which are you?
300
What is the meaning in verse 13-14?
It shows that we have reached a point of enlightenment and understand that death is part of the cycle of life. With this new knowledge, we should take “the lively air” and let fate, our partner, lead us in the dance and live life to the fullest. The speaker than learns by going where to go.
300
What is so significant about the worm climbing the stairs?
It may refer to a struggle against all odds.
400
What does verse 3 mean?
To learn by going means to move without a specific goal and simply accepting where you have to go. In this case, where you have to go is your fate.
400
What does verse 5 mean?
It proves that we are in a dream and part of a visionary experience.
400
Name an example of personification in verse 10.
“Light takes the Tree”
400
What is an example of a paradox in verse 16?
“This shaking keeps me steady”
400
What is does “I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow” mean?
Although being awake means a conscious state, in the poem, being awake means to release our logical intellect and to allow our visionary experience to unravel the mysteries of fate. Basically it shows the speaker’s reluctance to wake up from his dream and go back to the logical world. He wants to hold onto the visionary experience or dream he is experiencing as long as possible. To wake up slowly is to gradually become aware that we are in a dream and logic will soon engulf us.
500
What does "I feel my fate in what I cannot fear," mean?
Normally fate is something that scares us because it cannot be felt or anticipated. By feeling fate instead of fearing it, you are accepting rather than resisting it.
500
Who are the "those" in verse 7?
It might imply a friend, lover, are you “waking” or “sleeping”, are you alive or dead?
500
Why is Tree capitalized?
It is the tree of life
500
What figure of speech is used in verse 17?
Anastrophe
500
Who wrote this poem?
Theodore Roethke