Third Activity: In the third stanza, why does the poet say a leaf is "softly rattling down" -- how could a falling leaf be softly falling and rattling at the same time? It is important to use one's imagination to conjure up as many possibilities as one can. Think back to spring when the leaf was just a bud on a branch. Is a leaf's annual growth and death like human life in any way? Make a rough drawing of a leaf in its growing stages and under each stage give the year in human years. In other words, take the leaf through its seasonal life on its branch and compare its various stages with a human life. When the bud first appears and has not opened yet is that like a baby still in its mother's womb? What does it look like -- in comparison to a human's life -- when it is one-year-old? When it is 18 years old. When it is 50 years old?
Fourth Stanza: "I end not far from my going forth / by picking the faded blue / of the last remaining aster flower / to carry again to you."
Fourth Activity: Who is the poet going to give the...
In the first stanza is the garden's path open for him to walk through? In the first stanza he is walking through the "mowing field" but in the last stanza he has not gone very far? Is this about a lost love? Is that why "withered weeds" are "sadder than any words"? Explain in your own words what two overlying meanings this poem might be presenting.
Fifth Activity: Rewrite the entire poem in narrative in your own words. If an individual can re-write a poem with a full understanding of the meaning -- yet not using the poet's words -- that shows comprehension of images and symbols. Nothing should rhyme in your narrative. You cannot use any of the words that Frost uses; your little story has to be entirely created using fresh and different words that convey the same meaning to the reader.
Works Cited
Frost, Robert. "A Late Walk." Retrieved August 29, 2012, from…
