8.5: Pursuing the Dream as a Central Idea in Poetry
Question 1 • (OC27) ENG 4-1001400-S2-VRobinson-VOL7006P
Read these stanzas from the poem "A Poet and His Song" by Paul Laurence Dunbar.My days are never days of ease;I till my ground and prune my trees.When ripened gold is all the plain,I put my sickle to the grain.I labor hard, and toil and sweat,While others dream within the dell;But even while my brow is wet,I sing my song, and all is well. Sometimes the sun, unkindly hot,My garden makes a desert spot;Sometimes a blight upon the treeTakes all my fruit away from me;And then with throes of bitter painRebellious passions rise and swell;But—life is more than fruit or grain,And so I sing, and all is well.How is the message of this poem similar to the poet’s message in "Mother to Son"?
Answer
A
Both poems celebrate American agriculture.
B
Both poems suggest that physical labor is enjoyable.
C
Both poems encourage endurance through hardships.
D
Both poems insist that hard work leads to wealth.
Explanation
Both poems encourage people to keep going despite difficulties. In “A Poet and His Song,” the speaker faces failed crops and painful feelings but continues singing and says “all is well.” In “Mother to Son,” the mother urges her child to keep climbing even when life is rough. The shared message is endurance through hardship, not that labor is always enjoyable or guarantees wealth.
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