Discussion. 1. Comment on the inverted word-order in the opening line of the poem which attracts the reader's attention to the owner of the forest

1. Comment on the inverted word-order in the opening line of the poem which attracts the reader's attention to the owner of the forest. How is he described: directly or indirectly?

2. How is the beauty of the forest accentuated? Find means that imitate the sounds of the wind and snow.

3. Speak of the role of detachment and alliteration of the sound «d» in the last stanza.

4. Interpret the line «The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep». Comment on the contextual meaning of the word «promises».

5. Why is the phrase «And miles to go before I sleep» repeated? Does it serve to enhance the author's conclusion?

6. Pay attention to the compositional peculiarities of the poem, i.e. peculiar rhythm. Does it serve to link the stanzas with each other?

7. Study professor Galperin's commentary in the book «Учебник английского языка для первого курса», Mocквa, 1975, pp. 308-314.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL TO BE USED FOR

INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS

EMILY DICKINSON

Indian Summer*

These are the days when birds come back,

A very few, a bird or two,

To take a backward look.

These are the days when skies put, on

The old, old sophistries of June; -

A blue and gold mistake.

Oh, fraud that cannot, cheat the bee,

Almost thy plausibility

Induces my belief,

Till ranks of seeds their witness bear,

And softly through the altered air

Hurries a timid leaf!

Oh, sacrament of summer days,

Oh, last communion in the haze,

Permit a child to join,

Thy sacred emblems to partake,

Thy consecrated bread to break,

Taste thine immortal wine!

*Anthology of English and American Verse. Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1972, p.490.

Note

«bread to breake … immortal wine» - an allusion to the Bible:

«And as they were eating, Jesus

took bread, and blessed it, and brake it,

and gave it to the disciples, and said:

«Take, ear, this is my body». And he

took the cup, and gave thanks, and

gave to them, saying: «Drink ye all of it; For

this is my blood of the new testament,

which is shed for many for the remission of sins».

The poet hints at the feast when Christians break bread, drink wine and thank Jesus for die gift of himself. This feast is called the feast of Corpus Christi. The words «Corpus Christi» are the words for the body of Christ. The feast is celebrated about eight weeks after Easter.