1843.)
Cold was the night wind, drifting fast the snows fell, Wide were the downs and shelterless and naked, When a poor Wanderer struggled on her journey Weary and way-sore.
Drear were the downs, more dreary her reflexions; Cold was the night wind, colder was her bosom! She had no home, the world was all before her, She had no shelter.
Fast o'er the bleak heath rattling drove a chariot, \"Pity me!\" feebly cried the poor night wanderer. \"Pity me Strangers! lest with cold and hunger Here I should perish.
\"Once I had friends,--but they have all forsook me! \"Once I had parents,--they are now in Heaven! \"I had a home once--I had once a husband-- \"Pity me Strangers!
\"I had a home once--I had once a husband-- \"I am a Widow poor and broken-hearted!\" Loud blew the wind, unheard was her complaining. On drove the chariot.
WORD STUDY: Match up the synonyms/like terms. 1.The downs a. grab, hold 2.Shelterless b. dingy, gloomy, bleak 3.Wanderer c.the heath, fields On the cold snows she laid her down to rest her;
4.Way-sore d. sick of the journey She heard a horseman, \"pity me!\" she groan'd out;
5.Journey e.thoughts Loud blew the wind, unheard was her complaining,
6.Dreary f.die On went the horseman.
7.Reflexions g.chest
8.Bosom h.let go Worn out with anguish, toil and cold and hunger, 9.Lest i.trip, voyage Down sunk the Wanderer, sleep had seiz'd her senses; 10.Perish j. Have mercy 11.Forsake,forsaken,forsook k.carriage There, did the Traveller find her in the morning,
12.Chariot l. go under GOD had releast her.
13.Pity me m. traveller 14.Anguish n. in case O’er = over 15.Toil o.anxiety, upset Seiz’d = seized 16.Sink (sunk, sank) p. hard work Groan’d = groaned 17.Seize q.nowhere to take cover Realeast = released 18.Release r. desert, abandon (POETIC USE OF LANGUAGE, to help with pronunciation) Answer the questions: 1) Do you think the widow is a young widow, or an old one? Justify your answer 2) Describe the weather.
3) Write down/underline the adjectives the author uses to describe the downs. What do
you notice about them?
4) What vehicles or people went past the widow? 5) Why do you think they didn’t stop?
6) What is the widow thinking about as she attempts to cross the downs? 7) What emotions is the poet trying to evoke?
8) Find examples of ALLITERATION in stanza 1. What effect does it have?
9) In stanzas 4 and 5, the widow is reminiscing about her past life. The word ‘once’ is
repeated many times. What effect does this have?
10) List the VERBS the poet uses to describe what the widow does and says. Comment on
them.
TASKS
A) Look up the Bible story of the Good Samaritan. Compare/contrast it with the passersby in this poem.
B) Look at the diagrams to illustrate the poem. In what way are they suitable? What is unsuitable about them?
C) Back to the poem, who might be in the chariot? Who might the horseman be? D) Imagine you are in the chariot and you looked out. Write a short paragraph about what you saw.
E) Has the poet got a purpose in writing the poem? Is there a societal issue he wished to address, in your opinion?
F) ‘Pathetic fallacy’ is when human emotions are attributed to Nature. Can you find an example?
G) Summarise the poem in a few sentences.
H) What effect did the poem have on you? Did you like it – why or why not? I) Could anything like that happen nowadays?
J) Would you have helped this widow? What would you have done? Walked on by, or lent a hand?
Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called \"Lake Poets\1813 until his death in 1843. You can visit his house in Keswick, in the Lake District of England. KEY: Vocab Match-up: 1c,2g,3m,4d,5i,6b,7e,8g,9n,10f,11r,12k,13j,14o,15p,16l,17a,18h Some suggested answers:
1) She could be fairly young – maybe in her twenties or thirties. Her parents are dead, she has
been married, but she has no children. Does her age matter? 2) Cold, snowing, windy. 3) Drear, dreary, bleak. 4) A chariot and a horseman.
5) Maybe they were used to seeing beggars and homeless people.
6) She is reflecting on her past life. She had parents, a husband and friends, but now she is alone
and worn out.
7) Pity, sympathy, anger that this could happen.
8) Wide, wanderer, weary, way-sore. Reflects the ‘w’ in widow. Evokes the ‘w’ in wind. 9) Repetition to emphasise the past. All her bad experiences rolled into one.
10) Struggled, (feebly) cried, (unheard was her) complaining, sunk. All negative verbs emphasising
her helplessness and hopelessness.
A) The Good Samaritan stopped to help, against all expectations. He helped someone who
was supposed to be the enemy. These people, from the same society, ignored the dreadful plight (situation) of a poor woman.
B) The background: there should be no trees, no rabbit, nothing but bleak white snow. The
carriage, maybe too smart to be crossing the downs. The rider looks like a hunter… C) People travelling to see relatives or on business, professional people… Allegorical
travellers in life who don’t care about other people.
D) Decide: are you going to write with sympathy and understanding, or are you going to be
looking down on her/feeling superior to her?
E) The widow has no real individuality. She stands for an idea. The poet is commenting on
society and people’s selfish attitudes. In those days, there was no social security and people did perish (die) from hunger and neglect. People should care is the poet’s point. F) ‘Wild were the downs, and shelterless and naked’ This sounds like the description of a
person.
G) A widow woman who has no possessions, no family and no friends is crossing the downs in
terrible weather conditions. She is worn out from hard work and fed up with the journey. (This journey, or the journey of life?) She thinks about her past life, all the things she had and lost. We don’t know much about her, how she lost her husband or how she came to have nothing. A carriage and then a horse rider go past her. She begs for help, but they don’t stop. Finally, she lays down and dies. She is ‘released’ a positive word, from this world’s cares. H) Up to you….
I) Do you see homeless people on the streets? Do they get ignored or even attacked? J) I would have helped the widow! What about you?
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