Guided_Practice_Activity

Guided Practice 4.2 B1: Mr. Browning’s Lyric - A Think Aloud Exercise

Introduction

Let's take a few minutes to consider how Robert Browning (a poet best known for his longer narrative poems) applies poetic techniques in his short, traditional lyric poem, "Meeting at Night."

The speaker in "Meeting at Night" is describing the scenery and intense feelings of the moments leading up to a secret rendezvous with his love. We do not learn about who the two people are or why they are meeting so secretly, but we do know from the words and the increasing rhythm that intense feelings of joy and anticipation and love are described.

Instructions

Listen to Meeting at Night. Listen the first time to simply follow the poem in a literal way. Then listen to the poem two more times while reading along, focusing on the imagery and rhyme scheme. When you have finished the listening and reading part of this activity, answer the questions that follow.

Meeting At Night

The gray sea and the long black land; And the yellow half-moon large and low: And the startled little waves that leap In fiery ringlets from their sleep, As I gain the cove with pushing prow,And quench its speed i' the slushy sand.

Then a mile of warm sea-scented beach; Three fields to cross till a farm appears; A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch And blue spurt of a lighted match,And a voice less loud, through joys and fears, Than the two hearts beating each to each!

Think Aloud! Ponder these questions and their answers out loud.

1. How many stanzas are there?

**Answer**
There are two stanzas separated by a blank line. Notice in this poem each stanza has 6 lines.

2. What is the rhyme scheme of the first stanza?

**Answer**
The rhyme scheme is ABCCBA. The gray sea and the long black land; AAnd the yellow half-moon large and low: BAnd the startled little waves that leap CIn fiery ringlets from their sleep, CAs I gain the cove with pushing prow, BAnd quench its speed i' the slushy sand. A

3. Is this a free verse poem?

4. Why is this poem a lyric?

**Answer**
It is short, personal, and recalls a mood. There is a sense of a story as in narrative poetry… but no sense of character or plot.