by Robert Francis
Keep me from going to sleep too soon
Or if I go to sleep too soon
Come wake me up. Come any hour
Of night. Come whistling up the road.
Stomp on the porch. Bang on the door.
Make me get out of bed and come
And let you in and light a light.
Tell me the northern lights are on
And make me look. Or tell me clouds
Are doing something to the moon
They never did before, and show me.
See that I see. Talk to me till
I'm half as wide awake as you
And start to dress wondering why
I ever went to bed at all.
Tell me the walking is superb.
Not only tell me but persuade me.
You know I'm not too hard persuaded.
I think the title is referring to the meaning of summoning as in witchcraft, where they summon the dead to life, because he is asking for some one to come while he is trying to sleep. I think going to sleep in this poem means wasting time and waiting the days for death to come, so he is asking to be summoned from this so called death bed to live and see things on the living see, while the people in their deathbeds miss out.
What is the tone of the poem?
The tone of the poem is adventurous, he doesn't want to sit back and do nothing. He wants you to come get him out of boring and pull him to adventure. He wants to see things he's never seen, feel things he's never felt, be something he's never been, but he is waiting for you to come and convince him to.
What is your mood as you read it?
As I read the poem I feel a sudden urge to go out and stay under the stars with friends, sleep in a little makeshift tent, sit around a campfire, talk about things that you never speak of anymore, and live.
Is there a Shift? Where? From what to what?
I think the poem shifts from statements and remarks about what he wants, but in the last line it shifts to a call of action from you by him asking you to persuade him to go out with you.
What is the theme of the poem?
I believe the theme of the poem is to go out and live life, don't waste any precious moments.
No comments:
Post a Comment