THE WIDOW by ROBERT SOUTHEY (English poet; born 1774, died 1843.)
listerine
Cold was the night wind, drifting fast the snows fell,
Wide were the downs and shelterless and naked,
When a poor Wanderer struggled on her journey
Weary and way-sore.
Drear were the downs, more dreary her reflexions;
Cold was the night wind, colder was her bosom!
She had no home, the world was all before her,
She had no shelter.
Fast o'er the bleak heath rattling drove a chariot,
2014英语四级成绩查询"Pity me!" feebly cried the poor night wanderer.
"Pity me Strangers! lest with cold and hunger
Here I should perish.
"Once I had friends,--but they have all forsook me!
"Once I had parents,--they are now in Heaven!
"I had a home once--I had once a husband--
"Pity me Strangers! sub process
"I had a home once--I had once a husband--
"I am a Widow poor and broken-hearted!"
Loud blew the wind, unheard was her complaining.
On drove the chariot.
On the cold snows she laid her down to rest her; lionheart
She heard a horman, "pity me!" she groan'd out;
Loud blew the wind, unheard was her complaining,
On went the horman.
Worn out with anguish, toil and cold and hunger,
Down sunk the Wanderer, sleep had iz'd her ns;
There, did the Traveller find her in the morning,
GOD had releast her.
Answer the questions:
1)Do you think the widow is a young widow, or an old one? Justify your answer
2)Describe the weather.
3)Write down/underline the adjectives the author us to describe the downs. What do you notice about them?
4)What vehicles or people went past the widow?
5)Why do you think they didn’t stop?
6)What is the widow thinking about as she attempts to cross the downs?
7)What emotions is the poet trying to evoke?
8)Find examples of ALLITERATION in stanza 1. What effect does it have?
9)In stanzas 4 and 5, the widow is reminiscing about her past life. The word ‘once’ is repeated many times. What effect does this have?
10)List the VERBS the poet us to describe what the widow does and says. Comment on them.
TASKS
A)Look up the Bible story of the Good Samaritan. Compare/contrast it with the pasrsby in this poem.
B)Look at the diagrams to illustrate the poem. In what way are they suitable? What is unsuitable about them?
C)Back to the poem, who might be in the chariot? Who might the horman be?
D)Imagine you are in the chariot and you looked out. Write a short paragraph about what you saw.
E)Has the poet got a purpo in writing the poem? Is there a societal issue he wished to address, in your opinion?
F)‘Pathetic fallacy’ is when human emotions are attributed to Nature. Can you find an example?
G)Summari the poem in a few ntences.
H)What effect did the poem have on you? Did you like it – why or why not?
confident用法I)Could anything like that happen nowadays?
J)Would you have helped this widow? What would you have done? Walked on by, or lent a hand?
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KEY: Vocab Match-up: 1c,2g,3m,4d,5i,6b,7e,8g,9n,10f,11r,12k,13j,14o,15p,16l,17a,18h
Some suggested answers:
1)She could be fairly young – maybe in her twenties or thirties. Her parents are dead, she has been married, but she has no children. Does her age matter?
2)Cold, snowing, windy.
class 3
3)Drear, dreary, bleak.
4)A chariot and a horman.
5)Maybe they were ud to eing beggars and homeless people.
6)She is reflecting on her past life. She had parents, a husband and friends, but now she is alone and worn out.
7)Pity, sympathy, anger that this could happen.
8)广州市翻译Wide, wanderer, weary, way-sore. Reflects the ‘w’ in widow. Evokes the ‘w’ in wind.
9)Repetition to emphasi the past. All her bad experiences rolled into one.
10)Struggled, (feebly) cried, (unheard was her) complaining, sunk. All negative verbs emphasising her helplessness and hopelessness. 如果冬天来了
A)The Good Samaritan stopped to help, against all expectations. He helped someo
ne who was suppod to be the enemy. The people, from the same society, ignored the dreadful plight (situation) of a poor woman.
B)The background: there should be no trees, no rabbit, nothing but bleak white snow. The carriage, maybe too smart to be crossing the downs. The rider looks like a hunter…
C)wonderful world eternityPeople travelling to e relatives or on business, professional people… Allegorical travellers in life who don’t care about other people.
