Reading and pronunciation

NO No is next to the shortest word in the English language. It is the concentrated Declaration of Independence of the human soul. It is the central citadel of character, and can remain impregnable forever. It is the only path to reformation. It is the steam-gauge of strength, the barometer of temperament, the electric indicator of moral force. It is an automatic safety-first device. It has saved more women than all the knights of chivalry. It has kept millions of young men from going over the Niagara Falls of drunkenness, profligality, and passion. It is the updrawn portcullis and barred gate of the castle of self-respect. It is the dragon that guards beauty’s tower. It is the high fence that preserves the innocence of the innocent. It is the thick wall of the home, keeping the father from folly, the mother from indiscretion, the boys from ruin, and the girls from shame. It is the one word you can always say when you can’t think of anything else. It is the one answer that needs no explanation. The mule is the surest footed and most dependable of all domestic animals. No is the mule-power of the soul. Say it and mean it. Say it and look your man in the eye. Say it and don’t hesitate. A good round No is the most effective of known shells from the human howitzer. In the great parliament of life the Noes have it. The value of any Yes you utter is measured by the number of Noes banked behind it. Live your own life. Make your own resolutions. Mark out your own program. Aim at your own work. Determine your own conduct. And plant all around those an impregnable hedge of Noes, with the jaggedest, sharpest thorns that grow. The No-man progresses under his own steam. He is not led about and pushed around by officious tugboats. The woman who can say No carries the very best insurance against the fires, tornadoes, earthquakes, and accidents that threaten womankind. Be soft and gentle as you please outwardly, but let the centre of your soul be a No, as hard as steel. Dr Frank Crane

FLINCH - a verb that means to make a sudden, small movement in response to pain or fear FLICKERS - plural noun: 
an unsteady movement of a flame or light causing rapid variations in brightness. a tiny movement. Verb - (of light or a source of light) shine unsteadily; vary rapidly in brightness. make small, quick movements.
 FLEEING - verb gerund(A gerund is a verb form that functions as a noun, and is usually identified by the "-ing" ending. Gerunds can be used in a variety of positions in a sentence, including as a subject, direct object, or object of preposition.) OR present participle: run away from a place or situation of danger HAMMERS - verb 3rd person present: hammers
hit or beat (something) repeatedly with a hammer or similar object. attack or criticize forcefully and relentlessly. TONGUE - noun
the fleshy muscular organ in the mouth of a mammal, used for tasting, licking, swallowing, and (in humans) articulating speech.
used in reference to a person's style or manner of speaking. verb
music - sound (a note) distinctly on a wind instrument by interrupting the air flow with the tongue.
 PRANK - noun a practical joke or mischievous act. verb )INFORMAL) play a trick or practical joke on (someone).

WANDERS - present tense third-person singular of wander. walk or move in a leisurely or aimless way. RARE - adjective (of an event, situation, or condition) not occurring very often.
 SHADOW - noun
a dark area or shape produced by a body coming between rays of light and a surface.
 RAGE - noun
violent uncontrollable anger.
 TRASHES - damages or destroys. SURPRISE - an unexpected or astonishing event, fact, etc. PELTED - to throw a number of things quickly at someone or something DESPAIR - the complete loss or absence of hope. GRIEF - very great sadness, especially at the death of someone BLAME - feel or declare that (someone or something) is responsible for a fault or wrong.

A Bronze God, or a Letter on Demand I like to think of your silence as the love letters you will not write me, as two sax solos from two ages across a stage, learning the languages of kissing with your eyes closed. I like to think of you as a god to whom I no longer pray, as a god I aspire to. I like the opening of your joined palms, which is like an urn where my ashes find a home. The music of your lashes; the silent way your body wears out mine. Mostly, I like to think of you at night when a black screen of shining dust shines from your mines to the edge of my skin, where you are a lamp of flutters. I remember the spectral lashes–marigold, tamarind, secret thing of closed kissing eyes. At night, the possibility of you is a heavy sculpture of heavy bronze at the side of my bed, a god. And I pray you into life. Into flesh. BY CLIFTON GACHAGUA

Semi-Splendid You flinch. Something flickers, not fleeing your face. My Heart hammers at the ceiling, telling my tongue To turn it down. Too late. The something climbs, leaps, is Falling now across us like the prank of an icy, brainy Lord. I chose the wrong word. I am wrong for not choosing Merely to smile, to pull you toward me and away from What you think of as that other me, who wanders lost among ...     Among whom? The many? The rare? I wish you didn’t care. I watch you watching her. Her very shadow is a rage That trashes the rooms of your eyes. Do you claim surprise At what she wants, the poor girl, pelted with despair, Who flits from grief to grief? Isn’t it you she seeks? And If you blame her, know that she blames you for choosing Not her, but me. Love is never fair. But do we — should we — care? BY TRACY K. SMITH

SAX - sax· o· phone: a musical instrument of the woodwind class consisting of a usually curved metal tube with finger keys and a reed mouthpiece SOLOS - plural noun: solos
a piece or passage of vocal or instrumental music for one performer. LANGUAGES - plural noun: languages
the principal method of human communication, consisting of words used in a structured and conventional way and conveyed by speech, writing, or gesture.
 ASPIRE - verb: direct one's hopes or ambitions towards achieving something. PALMS - the underside of the human hands, located between the wrists and the bases of the fingers URN - An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. SCREEN - noun
a fixed or movable upright partition used to divide a room, give shelter from draughts, heat, or light, or to provide concealment or privacy. verb conceal, protect, or shelter (someone or something) with a screen or something forming a screen. FLUTTERS - plural noun: flutters
an act of fluttering. to make a series of quick delicate movements up and down or from side to side, or to cause something to do this:
 SPECTRAL - adjective of or like a ghost.
 TAMARIND - sticky brown acidic pulp from the pod of a tree of the pea family POSSIBILITY - noun a thing that may happen or be the case. a chance that something might exist, happen, or be true : the state or fact of being possible. SCULPTURE - noun the art of making three-dimensional representative or abstract forms, especially by carving stone or wood or by casting metal or plaster. verb make or represent (a form) by carving, casting, or other shaping techniques.



Berryman I will tell you what he told me in the years just after the war as we then called the second world war don't lose your arrogance yet he said you can do that when you're older lose it too soon and you may merely replace it with vanity just one time he suggested changing the usual order of the same words in a line of verse why point out a thing twice he suggested I pray to the Muse get down on my knees and pray right there in the corner and he said he meant it literally it was in the days before the beard and the drink but he was deep in tides of his own through which he sailed chin sideways and head tilted like a tacking sloop he was far older than the dates allowed for much older than I was he was in his thirties he snapped down his nose with an accent I think he had affected in England as for publishing he advised me to paper my wall with rejection slips his lips and the bones of his long fingers trembled with the vehemence of his views about poetry he said the great presence that permitted everything and transmuted it in poetry was passion passion was genius and he praised movement and invention I had hardly begun to read I asked how can you ever be sure that what you write is really any good at all and he said you can't you can't you can never be sure you die without knowing whether anything you wrote was any good if you have to be sure don't write BY W. S. MERWIN

second - next after the first; being the ordinal number for two. 2. being the latter of two equal parts. 3. next after the first in place, time, or value. world - the earth, together with all of its countries and peoples."he was doing his bit to save the world" arrogance - an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions replace - take the place of, put (something) back in a previous place or position. suggested - put forward for consideration, cause one to think that (something) exists or is the case. muse - (in Greek and Roman mythology) each of nine goddesses, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, who preside over the arts and sciences. a person or personified force who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist. literally - actually; without exaggeration or inaccuracy accent - a distinctive way of pronouncing a language, especially one associated with a particular country, area, or social class. a distinct emphasis given to a syllable or word in speech by stress or pitch. affected - influenced or touched by an external factor. artificial, pretentious, and designed to impress. advised - acting in a way that would be recommended; sensible; wise. trembled - to shake slightly in a way that you cannot control, for example because you are frightened, angry, or excited, or because of illness: vehemence - great forcefulness or intensity of feeling or expression transmuted - to change something completely, especially into something different and better genius - exceptional intellectual or creative power or other natural ability. an exceptionally intelligent person or one with exceptional skill in a particular area of activity. whether - expressing a doubt or choice between alternatives. expressing an inquiry or investigation (often used in indirect questions). indicating that a statement applies whichever of the alternatives mentioned is the case.

Words and their meanings (3) No - not any, not at all concentrated - contained or existing or happening together in a small or narrow space or area; not spread out; intense, intensive citadel - a fortress, typically one on high ground above a city impregnable - unable to be captured or broken into, defeated or overcome reformation - the act of changing to a better state or character, way of operating, lifestyle, etc steam-gauge - an instrument for measuring the pressure of steam, as in a boiler. an instrument for indicating the pressure of the steam in a boiler. automatic - of a device or process) working by itself with little or no direct human control chivalry - polite, kind, and unselfish behavior, especially by men toward women Niagara - niagrah Profigality- wildly extravagant : very wasteful 2 : abandoned to vice and corruption : shamelessly immoral. passion - strong and barely controllable emotion portcullis - a heavy iron gate that can be lowered to prevent entrance (as to a castle) innocence - the quality or state of being innocent; freedom from sin or moral wrong. 2. freedom from legal or specific wrong; guiltlessness. folly - the fact of being stupid, or a stupid action, idea, etc indiscretion - lack of care in saying or doing things that should be kept secret, or an act or statement that shows such lack of care ruin - to spoil or destroy something completely mule - a very stubborn person hesitate - to stop or pause because of uncertainty or indecision. hesitate before answering 2. : to be unwilling howitzer - a short cannon capable of firing a shell in a high arc a large gun which fires shells (= very large bullets) high into the air so that they drop onto the place at which they are aimed parliament - An assembly of representatives, usually of an entire nation, that makes laws banked - heap (a substance) into a mass or mound resolutions - firm decisions to do or not to do something jaggedest - a form of the adjective "jagged" which means something has an uneven edge or surface, or a harsh, rough, or irregular quality officious - objectionably aggressive in offering one's unrequested and unwanted services, help, or advice; meddlesome; intrusively enthusiastic in offering help or advice; interfering tugboat - a small, powerful boat used for towing larger boats and ships, especially in harbour threaten - state one's intention to take hostile action against (someone) in retribution for something done or not done; cause (someone or something) to be vulnerable or at risk; endanger. gentle - having or showing a mild, kind, or tender temperament or character moderate in action, effect, or degree; not strong or violent. Someone who is gentle is kind, mild, and calm

Words and their meanings:- Faster - capable of moving at high speed. Bridge - a structure carrying a road, path, railway etc. across a river, road or other obstacle. Charging - to rush forward in or as if in assault or to ask/set a price. Meadow - a piece of low ground near a river. “Driving rain” - a phrase that describes rain is falling quickly and being blown by the wind. Station - a place on a railway line where trains regularly stop so that passengers can get on or off. Whistle - a clear, high-pitched sound by forcing breath through a small hole between partly closed lips, or between one’s teeth. Clambers and scrambles - verbs that mean to move up, across, or into something with difficulty, often using your hands and feet. Clamber/Scramble - to climb awkwardly or with effort, especially by using both hands and feet. Brambles - a prickly scrambling shrub of the rose family eg blackberry. Tramp - walk heavily or noisily. Stringing - hang something so that it stretches in a long line. Cart - a strong open vehicle with two or four wheels, typically used for carrying loads and pulled by a horse. Lumping - carry a heavy load somewhere with difficulty. Mill - a building equipped with machinery for grinding grain into flour. Glimpse - a momentary or partial view. Abroad - in or to a foreign country or countries. Foreign - - strange and unfamiliar. Adorned - made more beautiful or attractive. Pleasant - giving a sense of happy satisfaction or enjoyment. Dimple - a small, natural indentation in the surface of the body/an imperfection/a small piece of paper. Dusty - covered with, full of, or resembling dust Dust - fine, dry powder consisting of tiny particles of earth or waste matter lying on the ground or on surfaces or carried in the air. Farther - a greater distance. Either - one or the other of two. Onward - moving toward to a later time or a more distant faraway place. Plaything - a toy

Modern Love And what is love? It is a doll dress’d up For idleness to cosset, nurse, and dandle; A thing of soft misnomers, so divine That silly youth doth think to make itself Divine by loving, and so goes on Yawning and doting a whole summer long, Till Miss’s comb is made a pearl tiara, And common Wellingtons turn Romeo boots; Then Cleopatra lives at number seven, And Antony resides in Brunswick Square. Fools! if some passions high have warm’d the world, If Queens and Soldiers have play’d deep for hearts, It is no reason why such agonies Should be more common than the growth of weeds. Fools! make me whole again that weighty pearl The Queen of Egypt melted, and I’ll say That ye may love in spite of beaver hats. BY JOHN KEATS

Words and their meanings 2 Idleness - laziness, inaction, inactivity Cosset - care for and protect in an overindulgent way Misnomer - a wrong or inaccurate name of designation Divine - of or like God, very pleasing, delightful Resides - having a permanent home in a particular place Passions - strong and barely controllable emotions Melted - become liquified by heating Growth - the process of increasing in size

Love Song My own dear love, he is strong and bold And he cares not what comes after. His words ring sweet as a chime of gold, And his eyes are lit with laughter. He is jubilant as a flag unfurled— Oh, a girl, she’d not forget him. My own dear love, he is all my world,— And I wish I’d never met him. My love, he’s mad, and my love, he’s fleet, And a wild young wood-thing bore him! The ways are fair to his roaming feet, And the skies are sunlit for him. As sharply sweet to my heart he seems As the fragrance of acacia. My own dear love, he is all my dreams,— And I wish he were in Asia. My love runs by like a day in June, And he makes no friends of sorrows. He’ll tread his galloping rigadoon In the pathway of the morrows. He’ll live his days where the sunbeams start, Nor could storm or wind uproot him. My own dear love, he is all my heart,— And I wish somebody’d shoot him. BY DOROTHY PARKER

From a Railway Carriage Faster than fairies, faster than witches, Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches; And charging along like troops in a battle, All through the meadows the horses and cattle: All of the sights of the hill and the plain Fly as thick as driving rain; And ever again, in the wink of an eye, Painted stations whistle by. Here is a child who clambers and scrambles, All by himself and gathering brambles; Here is a tramp who stands and gazes; And there is the green for stringing the daisies! Here is a cart run away in the road Lumping along with man and load; And here is a mill and there is a river: Each a glimpse and gone for ever! Robert Louis Stevenson

Foreign Lands Up into the cherry tree Who should climb but little me? I held the trunk with both my hands And looked abroad on foreign lands. I saw the next door garden lie, Adorned with flowers, before my eye, And many pleasant places more That I had never seen before. I saw the dimpling river pass And be the sky's blue looking-glass; The dusty roads go up and down With people tramping in to town. If I could find a higher tree, Farther and farther I should see, To where the grown-up river slips Into the sea among the ships; To where the roads on either hand Lead onward into fairy land, Where all the children dine at five, And all the playthings come alive. Robert Louis Stevenson.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways HOW do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I love thee to the level of every day’s Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I love thee freely, as men strive for Right; I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I love thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith. I love thee with a love I seemed to lose With my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose, I shall but love thee better after death. Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861)

I Have Folded My Sorrows I have folded my sorrows into the mantle of summer night, Assigning each brief storm its allotted space in time, Quietly pursuing catastrophic histories buried in my eyes. And yes, the world is not some unplayed Cosmic Game, And the sun is still ninety-three million miles from me, And in the imaginary forest, the shingled hippo becomes the gray unicorn. No, my traffic is not with addled keepers of yesterday’s disasters, Seekers of manifest disembowelment on shafts of yesterday’s pains. Blues come dressed like introspective echoes of a journey. And yes, I have searched the rooms of the moon on cold summer nights. And yes, I have refought those unfinished encounters. Still, they remain unfinished. And yes, I have at times wished myself something different. The tragedies are sung nightly at the funerals of the poet; The revisited soul is wrapped in the aura of familiarity. Bob Kaufman

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Wincing You can't go back, to Love, a home. memories of Pearl Bailey even a scatterbrained job curled like a Morning Glory about the ribs of day. Everyone repeats not going back. A sly ripple on the cape of wind, peaking with absentminded glee, into that bulge from within your past, beyond your left arm, called "before". Dismissing angels, refusing to court hardship, not to mention wincing that comes from attaching the mouth too fiercely on privale parts and all flasks with firm memory; wheeling drunkenly on her thought. her sayings, sculling backwaters of your mind with little fingers each repeating sane warnings. By Paul Cameron Brown

On A Political Prisoner She that but little patience knew, From childhood on, had now so much A grey gull lost its fear and flew Down to her cell and there alit, And there endured her fingers' touch And from her fingers ate its bit. Did she in touching that lone wing Recall the years before her mind Became a bitter, an abstract thing, Her thought some popular enmity: Blind and leader of the blind Drinking the foul ditch where they lie? When long ago I saw her ride Under Ben Bulben to the meet, The beauty of her country-side With all youth's lonely wildness stirred, She seemed to have grown clean and sweet Like any rock-bred, sea-borne bird: Sea-borne, or balanced on the air When first it sprang out of the nest Upon some lofty rock to stare Upon the cloudy canopy, While under its storm-beaten breast Cried out the hollows of the sea. By William Butler Yeats

The Wind And The Moon By George MacDonald Said the Wind to the Moon, "I will blow you out! You stare In the air As if crying Beware, Always looking what I am about: I hate to be watched; I will blow you out!" The Wind blew hard, and out went the Moon. So, deep On a heap Of clouds, to sleep Down lay the Wind, and slumbered soon, Muttering low, "I've done for that Moon!" He turned in his bed: she was there again! On high In the sky With her one ghost-eye The Moon shone white and alive and plain: Said the Wind, "I will blow you out again!" The Wind blew hard, and the Moon grew slim. "With my sledge And my wedge I have knocked off her edge! I will blow," said the Wind, "right fierce and grim, And the creature will soon be slimmer than slim!" He blew and he blew, and she thinned to a thread. "One puff More's enough To blow her to snuff! One good puff more where the last was bred, And glimmer, glimmer, glum will go that thread!" He blew a great blast, and the thread was gone. In the air Nowhere Was a moonbeam bare; Larger and nearer the shy stars shone: Sure and certain the Moon was gone! The Wind he took to his revels once more; On down And in town, A merry-mad clown, He leaped and holloed with whistle and roar-- When there was that glimmering thread once more! He flew in a rage--he danced and blew; But in vain Was the pain Of his bursting brain, For still the Moon-scrap the broader grew The more that he swelled his big cheeks and blew. Slowly she grew--till she filled the night, And shone On her throne In the sky alone A matchless, wonderful, silvery light, Radiant and lovely, the queen of the night. Said the Wind, "What a marvel of power am I! With my breath, In good faith, I blew her to death!-- First blew her away right out of the sky, Then blew her in: what a strength am I!" But the Moon she knew nought of the silly affair; For, high In the sky With her one white eye, Motionless miles above the air, She never had heard the great Wind blare.

poetic licence noun noun: poetic license the freedom to depart from the facts of a matter or from the conventional rules of language when speaking or writing in order to create an effect. "he used a little poetic licence to embroider a good tale"

What does intonation mean in poetry? Intonation is primarily a matter of variation in the pitch of the voice. In such languages as English, it is often accompanied by stress and rhythm to produce meaning. (Tone is also a form of pitch modulation, but the term describes the use of pitch to differentiate words and grammatical categories.)

How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways HOW do I hate thee? Let me count the ways. I hate thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight For the ends of Being and ideal Grace. I hate thee to the level of every day’s Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light. I hate thee freely, as men strive for Right; I hate thee purely, as they turn from Praise. I hate thee with the passion put to use In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith. I hate thee with a hate I seemed to lose With my lost saints,—I hate thee with the breath, Smiles, tears, of all my life!—and, if God choose, I shall but hate thee better after death.