Poem #1 (Re-type or photo copy the passage in this column)

Analysis of Close Reading (Essentially a prose passage or poetry essay; synthesize the texture of the passage to the left.)

God's Garden
God made a beauteous garden With lovely flowers strewn, But one straight, narrow pathway That was not overgrown. And to this beauteous garden He brought mankind to live, And said: 'To you, my children, These lovely flowers I give. Prune ye my vines and fig trees, With care my flowerets tend, But keep the pathway open Your home is at the end.' Then came another master, Who did not love mankind, And planted on the pathway Gold flowers for them to find. And mankind saw the bright flowers, That, glitt'ring in the sun, Quite hid the thorns of av'rice That poison blood and bone; And far off many wandered, And when life's night came on, They still were seeking gold flowers, Lost, helpless and alone. O, cease to heed the glamour That blinds your foolish eyes, Look upward to the glitter Of stars in God's clear skies. Their ways are pure and harmless And will not lead astray, Bid aid your erring footsteps To keep the narrow way. And when the sun shines brightly Tend flowers that God has given And keep the pathway open That leads you on to heaven.

Robert Frost

Robert Frosts poems are always either life lessons that sounds like they were carefully over the years they were handed down, or very lyrical and confusing ballads. This particular poem is a narrative of sorts, with lyrical versus and also a moral of the story attached to the end. Like Fitzgerald, Frosts pieces are very descriptive and lovely sounding, the imagery and symbolism within is of their works is plentiful. This particular poem does not have a specific rhyme scheme it does not contain the typical components. The first stanza is talking about how God created this beautiful garden for mankind to dwell in and enjoy forever. The only condition was that they must stay on the straight, narrow pathway (Frost), if they wanted to go home or if they wanted to one day reach heaven. In the next stanza, another master who did not share the same love for mankind as God did played a trick on mankind. He planted distracting beautiful golden flowers so that mankind would stray from their path. The flowers in the poem signify all the harmful temptations in the world that sidetrack us from our ultimate goals in life. In the last stanza, tells his audience to cease to heed (Frost) or stop paying attention to the glamour that blinds your [our] foolish eyes (Frost). In order to stay out of trouble, Frost suggests we look up at the sky at the stars, I assume in prayer or to remind us that one day, if we remain on the straight, narrow pathway (Frost), we could make it up to heaven. In two of Fitzgeralds pieces Tender Is The Night and Babylon Revisited alcohol is the golden flower. In Dick Divers case, he was a very successful doctor with a practice of his own until his patient started to smell the liquor on his breath, his partner decided he should be removed from the practice once they lost one of their biggest clients due to Dick Divers drinking. In Charlie Wales case, his incessant partying and heavy drinking lead to the loss of his daughter. Neither of these mens stories turned out the way they expected. In fact, in all three of the pieces I

read, none of them had a happy ending. All of the characters were led astray and never found their way back.