“When in April the sweet showers fall / And pierce the drought of March to the root, and all / The veins are bathed in liquor of such power / As brings about the engendering of the flower.”  ―  Nevil Coghill, The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue, modern translation

Welcome April!  My second favorite month, after November.  And what better way to start it off than with a Chaucer quote!  The OG of British literature, and my personal favorite.  (Sorry, Will, your tragedies have nothing on the pilgrimage to Canterbury!)  Of course, the better known ditty goes “April showers bring May flowers,’ and being National Poetry month, April is chockablock full of more great rhymes than these classic, little gems.

Students notoriously hate poetry, so when ELA teachers opt to really utilize April for the likes of Dickinson or Longfellow, there is often much groaning and use of hyperbole about how displeased they are.  Yet poetry really needn’t be such an academic chore for students or teachers.  When they can properly analyze a poem and really understand what is going on within those, usually, brief verses, it can go smoothly.  And sometimes my students have ended up preferring poems even if only because they’re short and, thus, faster to break down.  Emily Dickinson has been the bane of many students’ literary existence.  With heavy rhetorical language and interesting punctuation—her poems can drive students batty.  (See what I did there with a classic Dickinson dash, haha.)  If you happen to be fortunate enough to fit some of Dickinson’s poems into your curriculum, I have some solid resources to help students break them down, bite by rhetorical bite.   

And since I mentioned Longfellow above, I do have something for him also.  This unit features an original article on the historical context of Paul Revere’s ride so students can compare history with poetry.

And okay, just because I was hating on Shakespeare above, I have a poetry unit for him, too.  Unfortunately, though I much prefer Chaucer, I have no lesson put together for his Canterbury Tales masterpiece.  He’s been on my to-do list for years…sigh.

Happy Teaching and happy poetry analyzing!

M.D. Saints
Reading the Rapids
Liberty Dog Writing Co.

My Nike, she wags, she wiggles, she curls
My Novah, she flops, she plops, she is one silly girl
My Nike seeks comfort, soft and plush
My Novah seeks comfort–but not nearly as much
The girls they snooze and munch special treats
For to be this cute is no easy feat!