poetry HW 4

HW 4. Revised.

The poet William Blake was a man of enormous talent who painted, wrote poetry, and engraved illustrations. The above image is his version of one of the beasts mentioned in the Italian poem “The Inferno” by Dante. It is a three headed beast of hell, but Blake also created many of his own animals, as well as drawing pictures of the ones he saw in the London zoo. We discussed two of his more famous poems, “The Tyger” and The Lamb” (228), and showed how poems about simple creatures could be used to present profound philosophical and theological speculations.

So popular is Blake that school children in the UK often read his work, even in elementary school. There is an annual “Tyger Day” there, a day that commemorates his poem. I have downloaded a link to the special event that was held in the London zoo in which the children visited a real tiger and the recited his poem and several that they had written in response.

I would ask that you do the same—create a short poem about this wonderful animal. It must use at least two lines from the original, but you should then add some of your own poetry, trying to place the beast into contemporary contexts. As we discussed, tigers are now endangered species but they are also used to sell cereal and other products. A “tiger” is the mascot of sports teams and the first name of a famous golfer. I could go on and on, but we see that this animal offers many opportunities for symbolism.

Do some casual research and find out how you want to portray this animal. Then start jotting down some ideas that you want to use in your poem. Try and keep some of the basic frame—ask questions of the beast and keep a focus on its appearance and strength.

I would ask that you submit any notes on research and also the initial drafts of your poem. It should be at least 14-15 lines.

Try and use other figurative elements (metaphor, rhyme, etc.), but you will get full credit if you simply do the assignment.