ChefTitanium9687
The Idler BY ALICE MOORE DUNBAR-NELSON The poem Text-based…
The Idler
BY ALICE MOORE DUNBAR-NELSON
The poem Text-based Questions
An idle lingerer on the wayside’s road,
He gathers up his work and yawns away;
A little longer, ere the tiresome load
Shall be reduced to ashes or to clay.
No matter if the world has marched along,
And scorned his slowness as it quickly passed;
No matter, if amid the busy throng,
He greets some face, infantile at the last.
His mission? Well, there is but one,
And if it is a mission he knows it, nay,
To be a happy idler, to lounge and sun,
And dreaming, pass his long-drawn days away.
So dreams he on, his happy life to pass
Content, without ambitions painful sighs,
Until the sands run down into the glass;
He smilescontentunmoved and dies.
And yet, with all the pity that you feel
For this poor mothling of that flame, the world;
Are you the better for your desperate deal,
When you, like him, into infinitude are hurled?
What action is described in lines 14 of the poem, and how does this action set up the rest of the poem? ?Be specific and cite textual evidence from the text to support your answer.
Use context clues to determine the meaning of the word throng as it is used in the poem. Write your definition of throng here, then explain which clues helped you arrive at that meaning?
1. What is the idler’s mission?
2. What does the speaker ask about the idler?
Standards-based questions
The poet includes the third stanza most likely to .
A. show that the idler is not someone focused on a specific goal
B. indicate the setting of the poem
C. evoke specific imagery
D. suggest that the speaker was once an idler as well
The poem contains stanza(s) line(s).
A. 5; 25
B. 6; 25
C. 6; 20
D. 5; 20
3. Which of the following is most closely a central theme of the poem?
A. Life is impermanent, and finding happiness may be as important as achieving specific goals.
B. It’s important for every person to have a suitable career path.
C. People who do not achieve great things in life have only themselves to blame.
D. Poets tend to lean toward idleness.
4. Which line from the poem best supports the correct answer to Question 3?
A. “He gathers up his work and yawns away;”
B. “His mission? Well, there is but one”
C. “Are you the better for your desperate deal,”
D. “He smilescontentunmoved and dies.”
5. What is the mood of this poem? How does it make you feel? Cite evidence from the text to support your response.
