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How Poems Are Made by Alice Walker

In 'How Poems Are Made,' Alice Walker explores the emotional complexities involved in creating poetry, emphasizing the interplay of joy and pain. The poem reflects on how experiences of love, loss, and memory contribute to the poetic process. Ultimately, it conveys that poetry is shaped by both the joyful and painful aspects of life.

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Annica Roetz
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2K views2 pages

How Poems Are Made by Alice Walker

In 'How Poems Are Made,' Alice Walker explores the emotional complexities involved in creating poetry, emphasizing the interplay of joy and pain. The poem reflects on how experiences of love, loss, and memory contribute to the poetic process. Ultimately, it conveys that poetry is shaped by both the joyful and painful aspects of life.

Uploaded by

Annica Roetz
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How Poems Are Made by Alice

Walker
Letting go
In order to hold on
I gradually understand
How poems are made.

There is a place the fear must go.


There is a place the choice must go.
There is a place the loss must go.
The leftover love.
The love that spills out
Of the too full cup
And runs and hides
Its too full self
In shame.

I gradually comprehend
How poems are made.
To the upbeat flight of memories.
The flagged beats of the running
Heart.

I understand how poems are made.


They are the tears
That season the smile.
The stiff-neck laughter
That crowds the throat.
The leftover love.
I know how poems are made.

There is a place the loss must go.


There is a place the gain must go.
The leftover love.
Questions:

1. In line one, the poet says Letting go /in order to hold on. Identify and explain this figure of
speech.
2. Put the following words into two columns, one labelled ‘joyful’ and the other labelled ‘painful’.

Fear; choice; loss; love; shame; tears; smile; laughter; gain

3. What does the word ‘gradually’ imply about the poets understanding of how poems are made
(stanza 1)?
4. What tone is expressed in stanza 2 with the phrase “There is a place where…”
5. What does the refrain leftover love mean?
6. Name and explain the figure of speech in the following extract:

The love that spills out


Of the too full cup
And runs and hides
Its too full self
In shame.

7. Study stanza 3. What is meant by the upbeat flight of memories?


8. How does tone of the poem change from stanza 4.
9. Write down ONE word from stanza 4 that shows us poems are personified.
10. Complete: If poems season a smile, they make your life ___________.
11. Why would stiff-neck laughter crowd your throat?
12. Explain the last stanza in your own words.
13. What is the theme of the poem?
14. What type of poem is this?

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