Twelve poems about law and justice from the public domain are added to the author's series. Inquiry suggestions arising for each poem from this new collection are given.
Poetry and Social Action
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| Punch and Jack Ketch from The National Nursery Book |
This is a good time to continue with my Twelve Great Poem Series by adding celebrated public domain poems about the theme of Law and Justice and related themes such as democracy, poverty, racism, sexual equality, etc. You can find these poems as usual in my Pages section in the growing collection there or as a classroom-ready pdf. at lcommons.org in the group "Integrating the Learning Commons."
As Percy Byshe Shelley observed: "Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world" (In Defense of Poesie, 1821). As such, poets have been prophets, advocates, and touchstones of social change. It is a natural fit to bring such poets and their works into all subjects, especially in the social sciences.
Historical Recovery
To make them as relevant and interesting as possible to contemporary students, such poems require teacher intervention before, during, and after reading and study. But instead of doling out the allusions, references, and secondary critical sources, why not team-teach with the teacher-librarian and engage students in an inquiry that deepens their ownership of the thoughts and feelings of the poems. A library has the necessary print, media and electronic resources at-hand and the staff expertise to ease students into complex poems.
Below are suggested inquiry questions to generate valuable background information for each poem:
The Great City by Walt Whitman
Is Whitman speaking of a particular city in his own time? Has his social vision been fulfilled in the modern city?
The Law for the Wolves by Rudyard Kipling
What other works by Kipling are related to the jungle theme of this poem? What human connections are being suggested?
Honour by Ada Cambridge
What do we know about Cambridge's life and times. How does her poem suggest universal themes outside a particular time and place.
Harriet Beecher Stowe by Paul Lawrence Dunbar
Who was Harriet Beecher Stowe. How does this poem capture her significance?Oaks Tutt by Edgar Lee Masters
This poem is taken from Masters' The Spoon River Anthology. How does that knowledge affect our understanding of this particular poem?
Here Pause: The Poet Claims At Least This Praise by William Wordsworth
How true is Wordsworth's claims that, as a poet, he championed liberty? What other poems by him can you find that are related to this theme?
The Searchlights by Alfred Noyes
What war is Noyes alluding to? What are the larger themes of this poem (e.g., as suggested by the introductory quotation from General von Bernhardi)?
Watching the Reapers by Po Chü-i
What do we know of the Chinese poet Po Chü-i? Does this knowledge matter to our appreciation of the poem?
Holy Thursday: Is This a Holy Thing To See by William Blake
What is the meaning of Blake's reference to Holy Thursday. What other works by Blake demonstrate his social concerns?
Market Day by Mary Webb
Is this just a pretty "nature" poem or is there a social "subtext?" Who might Webb's original audience have been for this poem?
Godiva by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Lady Godiva was one of England's most "notorious" heroines. How does Tennyson find important social meaning for his own time in her story?
Color, Cast, Denomination by Emily Dickinson
Compare this poem with another of Dickinson's poems dealing with the theme of death. How does this poem use the theme of death to address social inequality?
Dylan Thomas
Poetry matters because of the matter of poetry. In the young, poetry can rouse social conscience as easily as it develops an appreciation for natural and human beauty.
As Dylan Thomas writes in "On Poetry" from his collection Early One Morning:
A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps to to change the shape and significance of the universe, helps to extend everyone's knowledge of himself and the world around him.
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