Grade 10 Poetry and Language Study Guide: Terms 1 & 2 2026

Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802 by William Wordsworth

  • Poem Text:
    • Earth has not any thing to show more fair:
    • Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
    • A sight so touching in its majesty:
    • This City now doth, like a garment, wear
    • The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
    • Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
    • Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
    • All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
    • Never did sun more beautifully steep
    • In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
    • Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
    • The river glideth at his own sweet will:
    • Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
    • And all that mighty heart is lying still!

Analysis of "i carry your heart with me(i carry it in" by E.E. Cummings

  • Thematic Elements:

    • Love: The central theme exploring deep emotional connection.
    • Unity: The oneness of the speaker and the beloved.
    • Fate: The idea that the beloved is the speaker's entire destiny.

  • Tone:

    • Loving and gentle.
    • Passionate and romantic.
    • Admiring and hopeful.

  • Mood:

    • Warm and emotional.

  • Structural and Stylistic Annotations:

    • Lower Case "i": Used to show the speaker making himself smaller than the other person, indicating respect or putting them both on the same level.
    • Lack of Title Completion: The transcript notes the speaker is "too excited to even finish [the] title."
    • Parentheses: Used throughout to contain intimate, internal thoughts (e.g., "i carry it in my heart").
    • Repetition: The phrase "i carry your heart" is repeated at the beginning and the end to symbolize everlasting, cyclical love.
    • Fear and Reality: The line "i fear" suggests the speaker is intimidated by reality, but finds safety because the beloved is his "fate" and "world."

  • Poem Excerpt and Commentary:

    • "i carry your heart with me(i carry it in / my heart)i am never without it(anywhere / i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done / by only me is your doing, my darling)"
    • "i fear / no fate(for you are my fate, my sweet) i want / no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)"
    • "and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant / and whatever a sun will always sing is you"
    • "here is the deepest secret nobody knows / (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud / and the sky of the sky of a tree called life which grows / higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)"
    • "and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart"
    • "i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)"

Literary Concepts: Meaning and Tone

  • Dictionary Information: A dictionary typically provides:

    • The meaning of the word.
    • The pronunciation of the word.
    • The different parts of speech derived from the word.
    • The origin or source of the word (also referred to as etymology).

  • Tone vs. Mood:

    • Tone: The author's feeling toward the subject.
    • Mood: The audience's feeling or the atmosphere created by the text.

  • Word Meaning Types:

    • Denotative: The literal, dictionary definition of a word.
    • Connotative: The emotional, cultural, or implied meaning associated with a word.

Sentence Structure and Classification

  • Sentence Relationships:

    • Result: Indicated by phrases like "so… that" (e.g., "She was so ill that she was hospitalised").
    • Concession: Indicated by words like "though," "although," and "however" (e.g., "although the weather was threatening").
    • Purpose: Indicated by "so that" (e.g., "so that he could have a better view").
    • Condition: Indicated by "if" or "unless" (e.g., "If you choose the correct numbers").

  • Types of Sentences:

    • Statements: Supply information.
    • Questions: Ask for information.
    • Exclamations: Express strong emotions.
    • Commands (Imperatives): Give orders or instructions.

  • Complexity Classification:

    • Simple Sentence: Contains one finite verb and deals with one idea (e.g., "Anne reads a book").
    • Compound Sentence: Contains two or more finite verbs. It may be made up of two or more simple sentences joined by a co-ordinating conjunction (e.g., "Dan plays soccer at school and works on his computer at home").
    • Complex Sentence: Contains one main clause and one or more subordinate clauses which provide additional information. They are joined by subordinating conjunctions (e.g., "Candice received her results / while she was recuperating in hospital / after she had broken her leg").

Dictionary Skill: Calligraphy

  • Entry Example: calligraphy ka-lig-ra-fy, n.
    • Definition 1: Fine penmanship; characteristic style of writing.
    • Definition 2: Artistic script produced with a brush or special nib/pen.
    • Definition 3: Line or lines suggesting this.
  • Derivatives:
    • Calligrapher / Calligraphist: One who practices calligraphy.
    • Adjectives: calligraphic / calligraphical.
    • Calligramme: (n.) A design using the letters of a word.

Phrases and Clauses

  • Phrases (Group of words without a finite verb):

    • Adjectival Phrases: Tell us more about the noun.
    • Noun Phrases: Answer the questions "who" or "what" in connection with the noun.
    • Adverbial Phrases: Modify the verb and answer questions of manner (How), time (When), place (Where), or reason (Why).

  • Clauses (Group of words containing a finite verb):

    • Main Clause (Independent Clause): Represents the main idea of the sentence. It can stand alone and make complete sense (e.g., "The van came to a halt").
    • Subordinate Clause (Dependent Clause): Always contains a verb but cannot stand alone for its meaning; it depends on the main clause. A comma often separates the two (e.g., "while the engine was running").

  • Subordinate Clause Classifications:

    • Noun Clause: Can be replaced by "it" or "that." Acts as the subject or object and answers "who" or "what" (e.g., "what they learnt at school helped them in the work place").
    • Adjectival Clause: Usually begins with "who," "which," "that," "whom," or "whose." Provides additional info often found in parenthesis (e.g., "The girl who had the longest hair won the beauty competition").
    • Adverbial Clause:
      • Time: "when the sun set"
      • Place: "where it hung suspended"
      • Manner: "as fast as she could run"
      • Reason: "because it was raining"
      • Concession: Uses "although" or "even though."

Punctuation Marks

  • Comma (,): Separates words or phrases in a list; indicates where one phrase/clause ends and another begins; sets off additional information; placed before and after words like "however" and "nevertheless."
  • Semi-colon (;): Indicates a long pause that balances two equally important, related, or parallel ideas. It can indicate opposite ideas or join two main clauses without a conjunction. It may be replaced by a full stop.
  • Colon (:): Indicates that a list, explanation, or idea follows; introduces a quotation or direct speech.
  • Quotation Marks ("") or (' '): Used to quote direct speech or designate foreign words, slang, or metaphoric usage. Single quotation marks are often used for the latter.
  • Parenthesis (Brackets): Used for an explanation, an aside, or additional information.
  • Hyphen (-): Links prefixes to words or links two words to form a compound word; differentiates meanings.
  • Dash (-): Separates parts of a sentence and forces a pause; gives additional information; separates a commentator's afterthought; used for dramatic pause leading to a climax.

Parts of Speech vs. Figures of Speech

  • Parts of Speech:

    • Nouns: Naming words.
      • Proper: Names of specific people, countries, or places.
      • Common: Names of ordinary things.
      • Collective: Names for a collection or group.
      • Abstract: Non-tangible concepts like intelligence or perseverance.
    • Pronoun: Stands in place of a noun.
    • Adjective: Describing word.
    • Verb: Doing word.
    • Adverb: Tells more about the verb (how, where, when, why).
    • Conjunction: Joining words.
    • Preposition: Small words relating one word to another.
    • Article: "A," "an," or "the" which precede nouns or adjectives.

  • Figures of Speech:

    • Comparisons:
      • Simile: Direct comparison using "as" or "like."
      • Metaphor: Refers to one person or object as being another.
      • Personification: Gives human qualities to inanimate objects or abstract ideas.
    • Sound Devices:
      • Assonance: Repetition of vowel sounds.
      • Onomatopoeia: Words that imitate real-life sounds.
      • Alliteration: Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.
      • Rhyme: Depends on sounds rather than the written word.
    • Contradictions:
      • Paradox: Seemingly absurd statement that is found to be true upon analysis.
      • Irony: Implies the opposite of what is actually said.

Analysis of "i thank You God for most this amazing" by E.E. Cummings

  • Form and Structure:

    • English Sonnet: Comprises three quatrains and a rhyming couplet.
    • Rhyme Scheme: Pattern includes "a," "b," "a," "b," etc., ending in a couplet.
    • Enjambment: Lack of punctuation at line ends creates a quick pace.
    • Caesura: A break in the middle of a line or sentence.

  • Content and Tone:

    • Tone: Characterized by being thankful and grateful for life.
    • Sensory Awareness: The speaker feels sensual and sentient (capable of feeling), mentioning "tasting touching hearing seeing ;; breathing."
    • Spiritual Rebirth: Line 4 states, "(i who have died am alive again today," seeing nature's beauty and the "sun's birthday."

  • Poetic Devices:

    • Personification: "leaping greenly spirits of trees."
    • Alliteration: "blue true," "sun's birthday… birth day."
    • Assonance: Repeated vowel sounds in phrases like "everything rolling up."
    • Punctuation Mastery: Uses colons before explanations and dashes to add information.

Analysis of "Pet Panther" by A.R. Ammons

  • Extended Metaphor: The poem compares human attention to a wild animal (a panther).

    • Qualities of the Panther/Attention: Stealthy, beautiful, predatory, active, but occasionally idle/lazy; a "killing machine."

  • Poem Excerpt and Annotations:

    • "My attention is a wild assertive / animal: it will if idle / make trouble where there / was no harm:"
    • Enjambment: Used to show the speaker's attention drifting.
    • Alliteration: Used in the title and throughout (e.g., "sniff and scratch," "breath's sills").
    • Internal Tension: The line "it will wind itself tight / around the pulse" hints at anxiety.
    • Overthinking: The "panther" pounces on a "stalled riddle" (something from the past) and "wrestle the mind numb," representing constant mental chatter.
    • Conclusion: The speaker cries as the animal "coughs in my / face," but eventually seeks a "song" to calm the beast and find peace.