Question

Choose a Romantic poem from the nineteenth century that you intend to rewrite in a way that incorporates typically modernist qualities. Pick a romantic poem that we covered in class in unit 1 which can be found in your Journeys anthology.
(poems you may choose from)
Lines Written in Early Spring
Kubla Kahn
When We Two Parted
Ode to the West Wind
La Belle Dame sans Merci; a Ballad
Ode on Melancholy

1. Copy the text of the poem here. This includes the title, the poem, and the author.

2. In a single paragraph, describe the Romantic poem that you selected. Focus on the language, style, literary elements, and themes of the work. What is the poem about? Is there a rhyme scheme? Did the author use any figurative language? If so, give some examples. Answer: Type your answer here.

3. Rewrite the Romantic poem you selected. Focus particularly on making your rewrite read like a modernist poem in terms of its language, style, literary elements, and themes.
Be sure to incorporate into your rewrite at least three of the six qualities of modernist poetry listed below.
Remember that modernist poems
Capture the cynicism and disappointment many people felt toward outdated nineteenth-century ideas.
Focus on the complexities of modern life Highlight the alienation of the individual in the modern world.
Break with past literary traditions and styles
Employ references to diverse cultures, belief systems, and histories.
Use experimental language and techniques, such as drawing a distinct line between the poet and the speaker and writing from multiple perspectives and in different voices.

4. In response of at least two paragraphs, provide an explanation of the steps you took to rewrite the Romantic poem you selected. Your explanation should point out at least three typically modernist qualities in your work with regards to to things such as language, style, literary elements, and themes.


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Answer 1

Answer:

When We Two Parted

788-1824

When we two parted

  In silence and tears,

Half broken-hearted

  To sever for years,

Pale grew thy cheek and cold,

  Colder thy kiss;

Truly that hour foretold

  Sorrow to this.

The dew of the morning

  Sunk chill on my brow—

It felt like the warning

  Of what I feel now.

Thy vows are all broken,

  And light is thy fame;

I hear thy name spoken,

  And share in its shame.

They name thee before me,

  A knell to mine ear;

A shudder comes o'er me—

  Why wert thou so dear?

They know not I knew thee,

  Who knew thee too well—

Long, long shall I rue thee,

  Too deeply to tell.

In secret we met—

  In silence I grieve,

That thy heart could forget,

  Thy spirit deceive.

If I should meet thee

  After long years,

How should I greet thee?—

  With silence and tears.

Not mine. Quoted from someone else-""When We Two Parted" was written in 1816 by the British Romantic poet Lord Byron. It describes the pain and disillusionment that follow a break-up between the speaker and his lover. Though little detail is provided, it's implied that the original relationship was secret—most likely an extramarital affair—and that the speaker now feels bitter upon hearing about his lover having an affair with someone else. Most scholars believe this poem to be about Byron's relationship with Lady Frances Wedderburn-Webster, a married aristocrat with whom Byron had an alleged affair. She was later rumored to have also had an illicit relationship with the Duke of Wellington—a prominent British military leader—which in turn, the theory goes, prompted the writing of this poem."