《美国文学》教学课件comeupfromthefields

1、Pre-1914 PoetryYear 10How would you react if one of your relatives was killed fighting in a war?Come up from the fields, father.This poem was written by Walt Whitman.It is a dramatic poem in which a family receives news that their son has been injured in the American Civil War.Unknown to them, altho

2、ugh the letter says that he will soon be better, Pete, the boy, is already dead by the time they receive it.Walt Whitman was an American poet as we can tell by the poems setting in Ohio. The poet creates an idyllic, farm setting in OhioCome up from the Fields FatherThe following is one of Whitmans b

3、est poems. It is a short, well-written epic that tells a story about one family expecting a letter from their son who is fighting in the battlefields during the Civil War But when his letter comes, the mother finds that “a strange hand writes for our dear son”, “the only son” of the family. The stri

4、cken mother grieves deeply for the death of her son and wants “to follow, to seek, to be with her dear dead son.” We feel a strong affection of the mother, of the family for the son, and the indelible effect of the American Civil War on one of the common families. Come up from the fields, fatherCome

5、 up from the fields father, heres a letter from our Pete,And come to the front door mother, heres a letter from thy dear son.Lo, tis autumn,Lo, where the trees, deeper green, yellower and redder,Cool and sweeten Ohios villages with leaves fluttering in themoderate wind,Where apples ripe in the orcha

6、rds hang and grapes on the trellisd vines,(Smell you the smell of the grapes on the vines?Smell you the buckwheat where the bees were lately buzzing?)Above all, lo, the sky so calm, so transparent after the rain, andwith wondrous clouds,Below too, all calm, all vital and beautiful, and the farm pros

7、pers well.Down in the fields all prospers well,But now from the fields come father, come at the daughters call.And come to the entry mother, to the front door come right away. Dialogue used at the startrepetitionAutumn setting created. Life is goodAppeals to the sensesWhose perspective?Come up from

8、the fields, fatherFast as she can she hurries, something ominous, her steps trembling,She does not tarry to smooth her hair nor adjust her cap.Open the envelope quickly,O this is not our sons writing, yet his name is signd,O a strange hand writes for our dear son, O stricken mothers soul!All swims b

9、efore her eyes, flashes with black, she catches the mainwords only,Sentences broken, gunshot wound in the breast, cavalry skirmish,taken to hospital,At present low, but will soon be better.Ah now the single figure to me,Amid all teeming and wealthy Ohio with all its cities and farms,Sickly white in

10、the face and dull in the head, very faint,By the jamb of a door leans.Image createdSwitches to mothers perspectiveBack to daughterAgain, the mother readsCome up from the fields, fatherGrieve not so, dear mother, (the just-grown daughter speaks throughher sobs,The little sisters huddle around speechl

11、ess and dismayd,)See, dearest mother, the letter says Pete will soon be better.Alas poor boy, he will never be better, (nor may-be needs to bebetter, that brave and simple soul,)While they stand at home at the door he is dead already,The only son is dead.But the mother needs to be better,She with th

12、in form presently drest in black,By day her meals untouchd, then at night fitfully sleeping, often waking,In the midnight waking, weeping, longing with one deep longing,O that she might withdraw unnoticed, silent from life escape and withdraw,To follow, to seek, to be with her dear dead son.Narrator

13、 takes overGrief is powerfulTry to comfort herContent and Theme1) How does the poet set the scene?2) How does the mother react to the letter?3) How do the daughters try to comfort her?4) How does the mother react when she realises her only son is dead?Imagery5) How does the poet create an idyllic vi

14、ew of the farm in the first 4 stanzas?Language:6) Find examples of repetition in the poem. How are these used for different effect in lines 6-10 and 12-13?7) How do the following aspects of the poem add to the suspense/drama of the events?- the use of speech marks- the use of brackets- long lines- short linesExploring You