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Mad Song

By William Blake

The wild winds weep, Commented [1]: alliteration


And the night is a-cold;
Come hither, Sleep,
And my griefs infold: Commented [2]: sleep comes to me and i show my
sadness
But lo! the morning peeps
Commented [3]: he sings because of the sadness?
Over the eastern steeps,
Commented [4]: already? it was just night
And the rustling birds of dawn
Commented [5]: sun rises in the east
The earth do scorn.
Commented [6]: why does the earth scorn?

Lo! to the vault


Of paved heaven, Commented [7]: vault of paved heaven?
With sorrow fraught
My notes are driven: Commented [8]: he's singing?
They strike the ear of night, Commented [9]: he's singing towards heaven

Make weep the eyes of day;


They make mad the roaring winds,
And with tempests play.

Like a fiend in a cloud


With howling woe, Commented [10]: mad song
After night I do croud, Commented [11]: ???
And with night will go; Commented [12]: crowd

I turn my back to the east, Commented [13]: he turns away from the sun
From whence comforts have increas'd; Commented [14]: he got comfort from the east
For light doth seize my brain Commented [15]: so why does he turn away?

With frantic pain. Commented [16]: because of the light


Commented [17]: he doesn't like the light.
Method of Analysis: TPCASTT

Beside each element of the TPCASTT method, you will find an explanation. For each poem assigned, and each
poem you find on your own, you will be required to analyze each part of the TPCASTT method as it applies to the
poem.

Title & Author of the Poem:

Mad Song - William Blake

T Title 1. Based on the title, what do you 1. I think the poem will be about a crazy
think the poem is about? person’s song.
2. Based on clues given in the title, 2. I think the author will focus on
what do you think the author describing the song and the person
will focus on? singing it.

P Paraphrase 1. What is the literal meaning of The winds are very loud,
the poem? Paraphrase the poem
And the night is cold;
in your own words based on the
literal meanings of what’s on the Let me sleep,
page. Keep the same sequence
and ideas that the author has. And my griefs layer on themselves:
You should have the same
But look! the morning comes
number of lines as the actual
poem, since you are keeping Over the eastern mountains,
with the true ideas and form of
And the rustling birds of dawn
the poet.

The earth doesn't like.

Look! to the

sky,

With sad stress

My notes are headed to:


They strike the ear of night,

Make the day's eyes weep;

They make the roaring winds mad,

And with windy storms play.

Like a wicked person in a cloud

With howling woe,

I follow close to the night,

And with night will go;

I turn my back to the east,

From where I have had comforts;

For the light seizes my brain

With frantic pain.

C Connotation 1. Identify and explain any poetic 1. In stanza 1, line 1, “The wild winds
devices you found in the poem. weep,” there is alliteration
Do this by offering meaningful
In stanza 2, lines 4-8, “My notes are
annotations in the margins.
driven: / They strike the ear of night, /
Insert comments on the
Make weep the eyes of day; / They make
document to annotate.
mad the roaring winds, / And with
2. Connotation is a word that
tempests play,” the narrator’s song is
describes how a word is used in
given personification.
context and generally refers to
emotion. Based on this, what In stanza 3, lines 7-8, “For light doth
connotation does each poetic seize my brain / With frantic pain,” light
device have in the poem? is given personification.
3. What conclusions can you draw
about the meaning of the poem 2. In the second example, the
by analyzing the words’ personification has a wild, lamenting
connotations? connotation.
In the third example, the light has a
scary, fearful connotation.

3. I can draw the conclusion that the


narrator’s madness and sadness is
reflected in his song, and that he is
scared of the light.

A Attitude 1. You’ve taken a look at the poem 1. The personality of the poem is wild, like
in literal terms. Now it’s time to the narrator.
explore the figurative meaning 2. The tone is fearful and mad.
of the poem. What personality 3. I couldn’t find anything that would
do you see used in the poem? influence this poem directly, but the
2. What is the tone of the poem? author was described as a mystic who
3. What was going on in the could see visions, which might have
author’s life / the world when influenced his poems.
this poem was written and how
might that have influenced this
poem?

S Shifts 1. What shifts in mood / tone do 1. The poem doesn’t really have any shifts
you see throughout the poem? in mood or tone.
Which words signal to you a 2. There aren’t any effects.
shift? 3. The poem begins with the same
2. What effect(s) does this shift thoughts, emotions, and opinions.
have on the poem’s meaning?
3. Does the poem begin and end
with the same emotions,
thoughts, and opinions?

T Title 1. Revisit the title. Were you 1. I was pretty accurate in my initial ideas,
correct in your initial ideas, or and the poem hasn’t really taken on any
has the poem taken on a new new meaning.
meaning? Explain.
T Theme 1. What is the poem trying to 1. I don’t think this poem is trying to
explain to us about the human explain anything about the human
experience? experience, I think it’s just telling a
2. What are the main themes and story.
subjects of the poem? What have 2. I think the main themes are gloom and
you learned to be true, from the fear. It’s true that fear and pain can
author’s point of view, about cause one to turn away from something
these subjects? that comforts them.
3. What do you think the author 3. I don’t think the author wants me to
wants you to learn from this learn anything from this poem.
poem? 4. I’d like to know if there were any
4. What else do you want to know influences in the author’s life that
about this poem? would have affected the writing of this
poem.

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