American Literature / Unit 10 AML 0909 short lesson, about 20 seconds
"Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking"
Captions available
The idea
A boy on a beach watches a pair of birds, and when the female disappears he listens to the male's song of loss until the sea whispers the word death. The poem tells the story of a poet's making: the discovery that song comes out of grief.
In practice
A lament, and a word from the sea.
Where people slip
The poem explains the poet.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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