In 1899, American poet Hughes Mearns wrote Antigonish, a poem inspired by reports of a ghost of a man roaming the stairs of a haunted house in Nova Scotia, Canada.
1. The poem has three stanzas, two of which are 4 lines long and one is 6 lines. Read the poem and with a line indicate where you would divide the stanzas to better communicate the message of the poem. 2. How did you decide on dividing the stanzas?
The grim dawn lightens thin bleak clouds;
In the hill clefts beyond the flooded meadows Lies death-pale, death-still mist.
We trudge along wearily,
Heavy with lack of sleep,
Spiritless, yet with pretence of gaiety.
The sun brings crimson to the colourless sky; Light gleams from brass and steel—
We trudge on wearily—
O God, end this bleak anguish
Soon, soon, with vivid crimson death, End it in mist-pale sleep!
3. Read the poem Dawn by Richard Aldington and answer the following questions:
a) How many stanzas are there?
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b) How many lines does each stanza have?
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c) What is the name of the stanza?
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