April
by Yvor Winters
The little goat
crops
new grass lying down
leaps up eight inches
into air and
lands on four feet.
Not a tremor -
solid in the spring and serious
he walks away
crops
new grass lying down
leaps up eight inches
into air and
lands on four feet.
Not a tremor -
solid in the spring and serious
he walks away
Vocabulary
- crops - cuts off short
- tremor - a trembling or shaking usually caused by weakness or disease
Discussion Questions and Activities
- Read the poem as a class and discuss unfamiliar words.
- What qualities does the goat have? Why might he suddenly leap into the air?
- How does the poet want the reader to feel about the little goat?
- Explain in your own words what the little goat is doing in the poem.
- What two meanings does the word "spring" have in this poem?
- Why does the poet call this poem "April?" How is the little goat like April? The comparison of the goat to April is an example of what kind of figurative language?
- Find examples of alliteration in the poem.
- Why does the poet feel the need to say the goat lands on four feet without without a tremor.
- Draw a picture or a cartoon of the scene described in the poem.