We Are Seven - poem

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5

Who wrote We Are Seven?
When was it written?

In which poetic form is We Are Seven written?

What are characteristics of a medieval ballad?
Name 5 characteristics

Medieval Ballad

1. Song poem (people didn't know how to read and write in the Middle Ages) & oldest form of poetry
2. Simple (folk) language
3. Simple story
4. Stanzas of 4 lines & Rhyme scheme ABCB
5. First + Third line = 8 syllables; Second and Fourth line= 6 syllables (so: 8/6/8/6 syllables)
6. Iambs (unstressed/stressed syllable) -> creates brisk, musical tempo
7. Sometimes repetition of a closing line(s) (refrain -> people listening could actively participate in telling the tale)
8. Ballad topics: love, death, betrayal, revenge
9. Superstition + the supernatural play an important role
10. Epic/narrative poem, recounting events/actions & Author often anonymous
11.  Dialogue form (series of questions and answers)
    

Difference Medieval vs Romantic period ballad:

Romantic period ballads were creative with the format & were no longer epic but lyrical (=concerned with the thoughts, feelings, emotions of the poet)

Which other Romantic poem we discussed was written in the form of a ballad

1. To Autumn
2. It is a Beauteous Evening Calm and Free
3. La Belle Dame Sans Merci
4. I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud

Q. 1: What do you know about the girl in the poem? (looks, character, age, where does she live?)

Q. 2: What point of view does the girl represent OR How does she differ from the/an adult?

Q. 3 + 4: What do you know about the I-figure?
Why can't the I-figure understand the little girl?

Q. 5: On whose side is Wordsworth: on the girl's or the I-figure's?
Why? Give evidence from the poem

Q. 6: This poem consists of two parts. Where does the second part begin?

1. Stanza 2
2. Stanza 4
3. Stanza 14
4. Stanza 16

Which Romantic period characteristics can be found in this poem?
Name six

Romantic period characteristics

1. Role of nature
2. Role of children
3. Association of the lower classes and nature
4. Poem is anti-intellectual
5. Power of imagination rather than logic
6. Use of the ballad form

Q. 8: Which stanza is different rom the rest of the poem?

1. Stanza 2
2. Stanza 4
3. Stanza 14
4. Stanza 17

Q. 9: Which characteristics of a Ballad can be found in this poem?
Name six

Ballad characteristics in poem

1. Four-line stanzas
2. Simple story
3. Dialogue
4. Iambic rhythm (unstressed/stressed syllables)
5. Repetition ("How many are you?" "We are seven")
6. Subject poem = death

Q. 10: Which characteristics of a Ballad are missing in this poem?
Name six

Ballad characteristics NOT in poem

1. Rhyme scheme is NOT ABCB, but ABAB
2. The poem is NOT anonymous, Wordsworth wrote it
3. The poem is NOT epic (long narrative), it is 17 stanzas long
4. The poem does NOT have simple language only, it uses lyrical language (thoughts, feelings, emotions of poet shine through)
5. The poem does not have a refrain or recurring closing line in every stanza
6. The supernatural is alluded to, but open to interpretation. The girl believes death is no reason to be excluded from everyday life