Interpreting Poems
In each of the poems below an object is being described as if it were alive.
Next to each poem, write down the ways in which the object is described to make it seem as if it is alive. The first one has been done as an example.
Tulip Sunday
In the Botanical Gardens
bright tulips
spread out
like a yellow tablecloth
on a table with thousands of legs.
Some tulips
have red lips
and dark black eyes.
They bow and curtsy
in the wind.
By Laura Ranger
 Rags
The night wind
rips a cloud sheet
into rags,
then rubs, rubs
the October moon
until it shines
like a brass doorknob.
By Judith Thurman
 Paperclips
A jumbled sight,
The sheets I write –
High time for paperclips
To take a bite
And clasp them tight
Between bright bulldog lips!
By X. J. Kennedy
 Lawnmower
The lawnmower
Grinds its teeth
Over the grass,
Spitting out a thick
Green spray;
Its head is too full
Of iron and oil
To know
What it throws
Away:
The lawn's whole
Crop of chopped
Soft,
Delicious
Green hay.
By Valerie Worth
 Sun
The sun
Is a leaping fire
Too hot
To go near,
But it will still
Lie down
In warm yellow squares
On the floor
Like a flat
Quilt, where
The cat can curl
And purr.
By Valerie Worth
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The tulips in this poem seem alive because they:
The wind in this poem seems alive because it:
The paperclips in this poem seem alive because they:
The lawnmower in this poem seems alive because it:
The sun in this poem seems alive because it:
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