Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- What kind of person is this speaker? What clues in the poem give you a sense of his personality?
- What do you think the speaker describes the good poetry as being "in the pines"? What is it about pine trees that allows this good stuff to flow?
- What was it that blinded the speaker (when he was alive) to the richness of life around him? What parts of the poem support your answer?
- Do you think the speaker could have come to this realization (about the smallness of his own poetry) if he were still alive? Why or why not?
- Why is this poem written without any kind of pre-set form?
- What is it about poetic forms particularly does the speaker seem to have a problem with?