YOUTH INITIATIVE HIGH SCHOOL
Waldorf Initiative in Viroqua, Wisconsin, USA
COURSES AND CLASSES
POETRY MAIN LESSON
Sophomores
4 December – 22 December 2006
Teacher ~ Donna Simmons
Sea-Fever
I must go
down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking.
I must go
down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must go
down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like
a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.
-John Masefield
Our aim in this class will be to immerse ourselves in the beauty and excitement of living language. Though we will certainly spend time examining the workings of poetry – meter, metaphor, alliteration, rhyme and so on – our objective will be to increase our simple bold love of language, expressed in poetic form.
And so, much time in this class will be devoted to speaking, reading, sharing, reciting and listening to poetry – all kinds of poetry. We will also spend considerable time in writing poetry, both together as a class as we consider various forms and individually as we experiment with possibilities.
The main requirements of the class are:
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focused and enthusiastic participation
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a beautiful main lesson book (no half hearted or slap dash efforts accepted)
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in-class and at home writing assignments
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a willingness to read aloud, memorize, share and discuss poems
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a short report (oral and written) on an assigned poet and his/her poetry
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completion of a couple of harmless little quizzes