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Lessons
A thoughtless student leaves
ooAn orange on the window sill
Without an afterthought
Today they learn to put
ooTheir money in a treasury
And plumb the life ahead
The orange navel green
ooReminds of summer by its tilt
Compounding with a knot.
The teacher stands in back
ooAssessing with an autumn nod
Smiling at a guess
Too small, a hope too grand
ooAn estimate of happiness
Such whimsy spry, unfought.
Another group he chides
ooFor seeming lackadaisical
By talk and foolery
A foot kicked up to rest
ooA colored hood to hold a fleer
Hands formed into a cot
These, he says, in burst
ooOf scorn and indignation—have
Decided what will be.
And in the window hind
ooStands the little clementine
Chiming—oh, for naught!
ooAn orange on the window sill
Without an afterthought
Today they learn to put
ooTheir money in a treasury
And plumb the life ahead
The orange navel green
ooReminds of summer by its tilt
Compounding with a knot.
The teacher stands in back
ooAssessing with an autumn nod
Smiling at a guess
Too small, a hope too grand
ooAn estimate of happiness
Such whimsy spry, unfought.
Another group he chides
ooFor seeming lackadaisical
By talk and foolery
A foot kicked up to rest
ooA colored hood to hold a fleer
Hands formed into a cot
These, he says, in burst
ooOf scorn and indignation—have
Decided what will be.
And in the window hind
ooStands the little clementine
Chiming—oh, for naught!
I'm kind of stumped as to what this means. Bored students during an economics lecture, I think? But I don't know what the orange is supposed to be symbolic of, and I don't know what's happening at the end. How is it chiming? Is this a dream? The split between the teacher's and students' attitude doesn't seem to come to a point. A few of the lines are a syllable off or have a stress pattern a little off. I do like the mood it creates.
>>Pascoite
Hmm.
A major part of the premise of this poem was left out: the students are children, maybe eleven or twelve. Something like a home economics class. The orange then symbolizes the kind of thoughtlessness kids have, vis-à-vis the large struggle of life with which the teacher is familiar (summer & autumn).
Thanks for reading, as always.
Hmm.
A major part of the premise of this poem was left out: the students are children, maybe eleven or twelve. Something like a home economics class. The orange then symbolizes the kind of thoughtlessness kids have, vis-à-vis the large struggle of life with which the teacher is familiar (summer & autumn).
Thanks for reading, as always.