Before Reading

The Sharks Poem by Denise Levertov

The Peace of Wild Things Poem by Wendell Berry

What are the different faces of NATURE ? RL 4 Analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone. RL 10 Read and comprehend poems.

What do you think of when you hear the word nature? Storms? Flowers? Insects? Nature can have a variety of associations, such as peace, beauty, danger, and destruction. In the poems “The Sharks” and “The Peace of Wild Things,” two poets describe sharply different faces of nature. DISCUSS List eight elements of nature, four that you view as unsettling or frightening and four that you view as peaceful or soothing. After you have completed your list, get together with one or two classmates and compare notes.

406

Meet the Authors text analysis: imagery and mood To create mood in poetry, writers rely on imagery—words and phrases that appeal to the reader’s senses. Dark fins appear, innocent as if in fair warning. In the above example from “The Sharks,” note how the visual image of “dark fins” helps establish a mood of sinister foreboding. As you read each poem in this lesson, use a chart to keep track of words and phrases that evoke a particular mood. Imagery

Mood Created

“Dark fins appear, innocent as if in fair warning.”

foreboding, threatening

reading strategy: connect Reading poetry can be a meaningful experience when you connect your own experiences and knowledge with the thoughts and feelings expressed in a poem. For example, consider the speaker’s tone in “The Peace of Wild Things,” the attitude the speaker takes toward nature. Your experiences in nature may have led you to form similar feelings—or left you with a different impression altogether. By allowing yourself to connect with the experience revealed in a poem, you enhance your understanding of the speaker and the ideas conveyed. As you read, make use of the “connect” strategy whenever appropriate. Complete the activities in your Reader/Writer Notebook.

Denise Levertov 1923–1997 Destined for Poetry Born in England, Denise Levertov (lDvPEr-tôvQ) grew up in a home full of books, reading, and lively conversation. She began writing when she was five, and once said that she knew “from an early age—perhaps by 7 . . . that I was an artist-person and had a destiny.” She wrote all of her life, publishing more than 30 volumes of poetry and prose. In commenting ting on her work, she emphasized zed the need for “precision in poetry.” Levertov immigrated grated to the United States in 1948 and, in addition to her writing, was passionately committed mitted to causes of peace and social justice.

Wendell Berry born 1934 A Love for the Land A novelist, essayist, and poet, Wendell Berry grew up on a farm in Kentucky. After starting a promising career as a writer and college professor in California and then New York City, Berry chose to return to Kentucky. There he has combined farming and writing in a life committed to conserving the land and preserving the values of small farms and communities. Berry’s novels, essays, and poems reflect his love of nature, the richness ness of farm and family life, and his concerns about the world and its problems.. He writes in a direct style that evokes the rural world he knows so well.

Authors Online Go to thinkcentral.com. KEYWORD: HML9-407

407

the

sharks Denise Levertov

5

10

15

Well then, the last day the sharks appeared. Dark fins appear, innocent as if in fair warning. The sea becomes sinister, are they everywhere? a I tell you, they break six feet of water.1 Isn’t it the same sea, and won’t we play in it any more? I liked it clear and not too calm, enough waves to fly in on. For the first time I dared to swim out of my depth. It was sundown when they came, the time when a sheen of copper stills the sea, not dark enough for moonlight, clear enough to see them easily. Dark the sharp lift of the fins.

a

IMAGERY AND MOOD Reread lines 1–4. What is the mood at the beginning of this poem? Which words and images help establish this mood?

How does the photograph reflect the mood of the poem?

1. they break . . . water: Sharks often show their dorsal fin if water is shallow enough.

408

unit 3: setting, mood, and imagery

The Peace of Wild Things Wendell Berry

5

10

When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake1 rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. b 1. wood drake: a type of male duck.

410

unit 3: setting, mood, and imagery

b

CONNECT Think about how you feel when you walk in the woods, alongside a lake, or through a scenic park. In what ways does your experience connect with the speaker’s ideas?

After Reading

Comprehension 1. Recall What situation is presented in “The Sharks”? 2. Summarize What problem does the speaker in “The Peace of Wild Things” experience, and what does he do about it?

RL 4 Analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone. RL 10 Read and comprehend poems.

Text Analysis 3. Connect As you read the poems, what connections were you able to make? Which of these had the strongest impact? Explain why , citing specific words and details in each poem. 4. Identify Speaker In “The Sharks,” whom do you imagine the speaker to be? Consider the evidence in the poem about the speaker’s age and situation. Remember that the speaker and the poet are not necessarily the same person. 5. Analyze Speaker Reread line 1 of “The Peace of Wild Things.” Considering the speaker’s “despair for the world,” how would you describe the speaker? 6. Compare and Contrast Describe the faces of nature presented in each poem. What differences do you see in the comfort level each speaker has with his or her natural surroundings? Are there any similarities in their attitudes toward nature? Support your conclusions. 7. Evaluate Mood Review the charts you filled in as you read the poems. What overall mood is created by each poem? How effective are the images in creating each mood? Explain your opinion. 8. Compare Literary Works Reread Wallace Stegner’s “Wilderness Letter” on pages 401–404. Which of Stegner’s ideas does “The Peace of Wild Things” support?

Text Criticism 9. Historical Perspective Reread “The Peace of Wild Things.” Is Berry’s perspective strictly a modern one? Might a person living 200 years ago, for example, have felt this same “despair for the world”? Give reasons for your opinions.

What are the different faces of NATURE? How does your definition of nature influence the way you interact with it?

the sharks / the peace of wild things

411