(credit: Wikimedia Commons)

親も斯見られし山や冬篭

 

My old father, too

Looked long on these white mountains,

Through lonely winters

 

                           Kobayashi Issa

 

 

 

 

My Old Father, Too                           questions

1. Describe the person who is speaking the lines in this poem. What evidence in the poem gave you these impressions of the speaker?

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2. What scene is this speaker looking at as he says these lines? What evidence in the poem tells you so?

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3. What poetic form is this poem an example of? How closely does this poem fit the traditional form?

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4. Who is beside the speaker as he speaks these lines? What evidence in the poem tells you so? Who could be with him, but is not? (Explain fully.)

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5. Does the speaker of the poem think his current situation is what he deserves? Why or why not? (Explain fully.)

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6. What kinds of people in society generally probably relate most deeply to this poem? Why do you think so?

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                   “Grace”            (credit: Eric Enstrom, via Wikimedia Commons)