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Transcript

Poetic Devices

Visual Imagery

"the flash of summer lightning, the thermos toppling

over, spilling out on the grass"

"I fill the long flower boxes, then

press into rows the limp roots of red

impatiens"

Personification

"plants singing with lifted faces"

"the instant hand of Death

always ready to burst forth from the

sleeve of his voluminous cloak"

"Then

the wheelbarrow is a wilder

blue, the clouds a

brighter white,"

"the heart, no

valentine, decides to

quit after lunch"

About the Author

Billy Collins

-born March 22, 1941

-appointed as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003.

-distinguished Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York (retired, 2001)

-Senior Distinguished Fellow of the

Winter Park Institute, Florida

- recognized as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library

- New York State Poet for

2004 through 2006

Similes

Theme

"the heart, no

valentine, decides to quit after

lunch, the power shut off like a

switch"

Death

The End

Summary

The main idea of this poem is that life can happen in an instant. You can read your newspaper and get crushed by a safe or go buy a soda and win the lottery. The narrator expresses irony in that while he maintains these introspective ideas, he remains at his small residence completing medial tasks like planting flowers. However, subsequently the narrator introduces the idea that even with so little excitatory objects that surround him;he has come to appreciate the beauty in his life and is therefore living his life to the fullest.

Type of Poem

Appreciation of Life

Free Verse -----> No Rhyme and No Meter

"bits of

leaf like flakes off a fresco,"

  • The poem's style (being free verse) is very representative of narrator's cumulative message in that life is short and unpredictable, so you must come to terms with the concept of death and live your life to the fullest while you are able to.

PIcnic, Lightning

By Emily, Zach, Jason, and Elia

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