Autumn Poetry

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

For thousands of years, people have created poetry. Poems take us out of our everyday lives into higher thoughts about life, the world, nature, love, and art.

Many poets have been inspired by the season of autumn. When the warm days of summer start to fade away and the calm winds of autumn come, it's the perfect time to reflect on the meaning of the world around us.

While reading or listening to poetry, it is always good to get someone else's perspective on it. Poems can mean different things to different people, so discussing a poem is a great way to experience it fully.

Take, for example, the poem Mary Oliver wrote about fall. Some of the words or images may be hard to understand at first. But it will make more sense as you think about and discuss it. Here, it is written out.

Fall Song

• Another year gone, leaving everywhere
• its rich spiced residues: vines, leaves,

• the uneaten fruits crumbling damply
• in the shadows, unmattering back

• from the particular island
• of this summer, this NOW, that now is nowhere

• except underfoot, moldering
• in that black subterranean castle

• of unobservable mysteries - roots and sealed seeds
• and the wanderings of water. This

• I try to remember when time's measure
• painfully chafes, for instance when autumn

• flares out at the last, boisterous and like us longing
• to stay - how everything lives, shifting

• from one bright vision to another, forever
• in these momentary pastures.

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• How could you contribute to a group discussion about this poem?

Good discussions involve the following.

• asking good questions
• giving interesting answers
• adding on what others have said to "build" a conversation

Asking Questions

Start with questioning. Even if you dislike poetry or don't understand this particular poem, it's not difficult to come up with a question or two to ask.

To be more specific, you could ask about a particular word or phrase. Right now, look back at the poem and choose a word or phrase to ask about.

Write it down.

Then, write down two more questions you could ask.

Answering

Next, let's discuss giving exciting answers. Asking questions starts a conversation, but providing good answers is what really gets it going. Try to give as much detail as you can in your answers.

For example, if you like the poem, rather than saying, "I like this poem," tell why! Add some details.

• I like this poem because it makes me think of walking in the woods during fall.
• I like this poem because fall is my favorite season.
• I like this poem because the poet uses some interesting word-images.

Adding On

If asking questions starts a conversation and giving exciting answers gets it going, adding on is what keeps it going!

When a group member makes a statement, try to add to what they said.

For example:

"I like this poem because it makes me think of walking in the woods during the fall" could be followed by "It made me think of going fishing with my dad at the lake, and watching the leaves fall into the water."

Discussion Example

Pretend you are listening in on a discussion about this poem. The group consists of three students: Max, Christa, and Andre.

Max: What is this poem about?

Andre: It's about fall.

Christa: It's about how fall makes things change. But I don't understand the term "spiced residues." What do you think that means?

Andre answers: I know a residue is something that's left behind. For example, if you're dirty and take a bath, there may be a residue of dirt left in the tub. So, is it something left over from the summer?

Max: Yes, I think that's right because the vines, leaves, and uneaten fruits are left over from the trees and plants. But I'm not sure why she describes them as spiced.

Christa: To me, spiced means good smelling or good tasting, like pumpkin spice cake.

Andre: But I don't think the leaves and fruits would smell good, rotting on the ground, would they?

Christa: Maybe, in this case, it doesn't mean good-smelling, but strong-smelling. You can't help but smell it because it's so intense. It just smells like fall.

Max: That's a good thought. But what does this mean: "unmattering back from the particular island of this summer, this now?"

Andre: Un-mattering? I've never heard that word before. Maybe that means becoming not-matter? Like breaking apart and wearing away into nothing? How do the leaves and fruit wear away and eventually become dirt? So the things that grew in the summer are going away.

Christa: Yes, that's good! What about "moldering in that black subterranean castle of unobservable mysteries - roots and sealed seeds and the wanderings of water"? What in the world does that mean?

Max: "That black subterranean castle" must be the earth; the mysteries are how things grow under the dirt, where we can't see, and how water flows under the ground.

Christa: OK, that sounds good. Let's look at the last part.

This I try to remember when time's measure painfully chafes, for instance, when autumn flares out at the last, boisterous and like us longing to stay - how everything lives, shifting from one bright vision to another forever in these momentary pastures.

Max: Time goes by so quickly that it hurts sometimes. I think that's what she means.

Andre: Yes, and even autumn "flares out at the last."--it's done, but it wants to hang on. Like everything else, its time on earth is short!

Christa: Great job, guys! So here's our summary.

This poem is about how fall causes plants to drop their leaves and fruit on the ground, break down in the earth, and become part of the mysterious underground world. The passing of the seasons—from summer to fall and on to winter—reminds us that life is short and everything changes.

• Did you notice how the students asked questions, gave detailed answers, and added to what others said?
• That was a good discussion.

Now that you've learned about group discussion, move on to the Got It? section and prepare to discuss another poem.