sampler Poetry Parallax

Poetry Parallax: An Exploration of Poetry (7th-9th grade or 9th-12th grade)

As a preface to an essay about developing a later-in-life appreciation for poetry, editor Jacob Brogan notes, "Perhaps we learn the basic form of the haiku in grade school or the shape of the Shakespearean sonnet a few years later, but at some point, two Frostian roads diverge in a yellow wood and most of us take the one with fewer poems on it. In general, that choice makes no difference at all." But Brogan goes on to write about his discovery that learning a poem, taking it to heart, "will make you more: more in touch with language, with other minds, maybe with what you might yet become. Or maybe you’ll just go on living, blessed with a little more than you need."*

"Poetry Parallax" introduces students to 58 classic and contemporary poems specifically chosen to engage teens in meaningful discussion. Even though the class weaves in a generous dose of poetry vocabulary -- as well as asides about history, poets, and artistic movements -- we will not seek to, in the words of former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins, "tie the poem to a chair with rope / and torture a confession out of it."

Here are short excerpts from some of our poems.

Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
(Langston Hughes)

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
(Jenny Joseph)

We give because someone gave to us.
We give because nobody gave to us.
We give because giving has changed us.
We give because giving could have changed us.
(Alberto Rios)

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
(John McCrae)

And on the pedestal, these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
(Percy Bysshe Shelley)

No, I'm not bald under the scarf
No, I'm not from that country
where women can't drive cars
No, I would not like to defect
I'm already American
(Mohja Kahf)

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even
in your dreams.
(Kahlil Gibran)

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Have you ever read a poem you liked? If so, do you remember the title or poet or anything about it? (Trust me, having liked a poem is not a requirement for this class!) *

The Jenny Joseph poem is about behaving conventionally now but looking forward to behaving UNconventionally when she gets old. What unconventional thing might you want to do when you get old? *

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You can find out more about "Poetry Parallax: An Exploration of Poetry" here.

*from "Ode to Learning Poems" (print title) https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/07/25/memorizing-poetry-dickinson-derrida/

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