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Instructions

Thoughts

by Myra Viola Wilds

1        What kind of thoughts now, do you carry

2        In your travels day by day

3        Are they bright and lofty visions,

4        Or neglected, gone astray?

5        Matters not how great in fancy,

6        Or what deeds of skill you’ve wrought;

7        Man, though high may be his station,

8        Is no better than his thoughts.

9        Catch your thoughts and hold them tightly,

10      Let each one an honor be;

11      Purge them, scourge them, burnish brightly,

12      Then in love set each one free.

Understanding Poetry

  • Lines are the rows of words in a poem.
  • Stanzas are a group of lines in a poem.

1 / 5

1.  

Which of these best describes the structure of the poem?

  • Consider the whole poem.
  • Why does the speaker ask the reader to consider his or her thoughts in the first stanza?

2 / 5

2.  

Which line best indicates the speaker's view of a person's thoughts?

  • Look at the two lines that follow in the last stanza. What does the speaker encourage the reader to do with his or her thoughts?

3 / 5

3.  

Catch your thoughts and hold them tightly,

Let each one an honor be;

In the lines above, "Let each one an honor be" most likely means:

  • Consider the whole poem. Is this poem mainly about amount of travel, goals, daily thoughts, or missteps?

4 / 5

4.  

In the first stanza, the speaker asks the reader to consider his or her

  • Which two lines create two different feelings?

5 / 5

5.  

Which lines indicate a slight shift in feeling?

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