The Norton Introduction to

LITERATURE

S H O R T E R S I X T H E D I T I O N

Carl E. Bain

Jerome Beaty

J. Paul Hunter

•A

W • W • NORTON & COMPANY • NEW YORK • LONDON

CONTENTS

FICTION

Fiction: Reading, Responding, Writing 3SPENCER HOLST The Zebra Storyteller 3ELIZABETH TALLENT No One's a Mystery 6GUY DE MAUPASSANT The Jewelry 11Questions Writing Suggestions, 17

Understanding the.Text 181 PLOT, 18 MARGARET ATWOOD Happy Endings 26

JOHN CHEEVER The Country Husband 28

: JAMES BALDWIN Sonny's Blues 47Glossary Questions Writing Suggestions, 71

2 POINT OFVIEW, 73

3 CHARACTER-IZATION, 92

4 SETTING, 142

5 SYMBOLS, 180

EDGAR ALLAN POE The Cask of Amontil-lado 77

AMBROSE BIERCE An Occurrence at Owl CreekBridge 82

Glossary Questions Writing Suggestions, 90

HENRY JAMES The Real Thing 97CHARLES BAXTER Fenstad's Mother 115DORIS LESSING Our Friend Judith 125Glossary Questions Writing Suggestions, 139

WILLIAM FAULKNER A Rose for Emily 145AMY TAN A Pair of Tickets 151ANTON CHEKHOV The Lady with the DogQuestions Writing Suggestions, 178

166

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE Young GoodmanBrown 183

MARGARET LAURENCE The Loons 192

Glossary Questions Writing Suggestions, 200Student Writing, The Struggle to Surface in the

Water of "Sonny's Blues" 202

vi • Contents

6 THEME, 208

7 THE WHOLE TEXT,230

LEO TOLSTOY How Much Land Does a ManNeed? 212

KATHERINE MANSFIELD Her First Ball 223

Glossary - Questions Writing Suggestions, 228

JOSEPH CONRAD The Secret Sharer 230

LOUISE ERDRICH Love Medicine 262

Questions Writing Suggestions, 278Student Writing, "Like the Sand of the Hour-

glass . . .", 281

Exploring Contexts8 THE AUTHOR'S

WORK ASCONTEXT: D..H.LAWRENCE, 287 .

287

Odour of Chrysanthemums 293The Rocking-Horse Winner 307Passages from Essays and Letters 319

Glossary .Questions Writing Suggestions, 325

9 LITERARY KIND ASCONTEXT:INITIATIONSTORIES, 327 . . . .

1 0 FORM AS CON-TEXT: THE SHORTSHORT STORY, 355

JAMES JOYCE Araby 329

TONI CADE BAMBARA Gorilla, My LoveALICE MUNRO Boys and Girls 338

333

Glossary Questions Writing Suggestions, 348Student Writing, To See the Light, 350

KATE CHOPIN The Story of an Hour 356ERNEST HEMINGWAY A Very Short Story 358YASUNARI KAWABATA The Grasshopper and the

Bell Cricket 360Questions Writing Suggestions, 363

Evaluating Fiction1 364RICHARD CONNELL The Most Dangerous

Game, 364

Why "The Most Dangerous Game" Is Good Liter-ature, 380

Why "The Most Dangerous Game" Is Not GoodLiterature, 381

WILLIAM FAULKNER Barn Burning 385BHARATI MUKHERJEE The Management of

Grief 403

Reading More Fiction 418CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN The Yellow Wall-

paper 418

Contents • vii'

FRANZ KAFKA A Hunger Artist 430MORDECAI RICHLER The Summer My Grand-

mother Was Supposed to Die 436FLANNERY O'CONNOR Everything That Rises

Must Converge' 447GAB'RIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ A Very Old Man with

Enormous Wings 458GRACE PALEY A Conversation with My

Father 463JAMAICA KINCAID Girl 467DENISE CHAVEZ The Last of the Menu: Girls 468

POETRY

Poetry: Reading, Responding, Writing 489ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING How D o I Love

•••,-• Thee?: 490JAROLD RAMSEY T h e Tally Stick 491

EZRA POUND T h e River-Merchant's Wife:

'- ' •••'•. A Letter 493MARY, LADY CHUDLEIGH T o the Ladies 495

; T O M WAYMAN Wayman in Love 496

BEN JONSON O n My First Son 497

HOWARD NEMEROV T h e V a c u u m 498

: . . SHARON OLDS T h e Glass 500

, - >' RITA DOVE Fifth Grade Autobiography 502

; ANNE SEXTON T h e Fury of Overshoes 502

•. ;• • WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE [Let m e not to the mar-

i riage of true minds] 507EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY [I, being born a

woman and distressed] 507ERIN MOURE Thir teen Years 508

Questions Writing Suggestions, 508

Understanding the Text 5091 TONE, 509 • ; MARGE PIERCY . Barbie Doll 509

. w'.'D. SNODGRASS Leaving the Motel . 510LINDA PASTAN love poem 513

.••••. . ETHERIDGE KNIGHT Hard Rock Returns to Prisonfrom the Hospital for the CriminalInsane 515

viii • Contents

2 SPEAKER, 531

3 SITUATION ANDSETTING, 555 -

WILLIAM BLAKE London 516MAXINE KUMIN Woodchucks 518ADRIENNE RICH Aunt Jennifer's Tigers 519ALAN DUGAN Elegy 520SIR WALTER RALEGH The Author's Epitaph,

Made By Himself 521APHRA BEHN On Her Loving Two Equally 521ROBERT HAYDEN Those Winter Sundays 522SYLVIA PLATH Daddy 522THOMAS GRAY Elegy Written in a Country

Churchyard 525WILLIAM BLAKE ' The Tyger 528Glossary Questions Writing Suggestions, 529

THOMAS HARDY The Ruined Maid 531x. j . KENNEDY In a Prominent Bar in Secaucus

One Day 533ADRIENNE RICH Letters in the Family 535ROBERT BROWNING Soliloquy of the Spanish

Cloister 537TESS GALLAGHER Sudden Journey 540DOROTHY PARKER A Certain Lady 541A. R. AMMONS Needs 543WILLIAM WORDSWORTH She Dwelt among the

Untrodden Ways 544SHARON OLDS The Lifting 545HENRY REED Lessons of the War: Judging Dis-

tances 547AUDRE LORDE Hanging Fire 548JUDITH ORTIZ COFER The Changeling 549GWENDOLYN BROOKS We Real Cool 549SIR THOMAS WYATT They Flee from Me 550STEVIE SMITH I Remember 550SEAMUS HEANEY The Outlaw 551MARGARET ATWOQD Death of a Young Son by

Drowning 552WALT WHITMAN [I celebrate myself, and sing

myself] 552Glossary Questions Writing Suggestions, 553

JAMES DICKEY Cherrylog Road 556• JOHN DONNE The Flea 559

RITA DOVE Daystar 561LINDA PASTAN To a Daughter Leaving

Home 562

Contents • ix

JOHN MILTON On the Late Massacre in Pied-mont 563

SYLVIA PLATH Point Shirley 565MATTHEW ARNOLD Dover Beach 568ADRIENNE RICH Walking down the Road 569ROBERT BROWNING My Last Duchess 570ELIZABETH ALEXANDER Boston Year 572EMILY BRONTE The Night-Wind 572SUSAN MUSGRAVE I Am Not a Conspiracy

Everything Is Not ParanoidThe Drug Enforcement Administration IsNot Everywhere 573

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE [Full many a gloriousmorning have I seen] 574

JOHN DONNE The Good-Morrow 575MARILYN CHIN Aubade 576JONATHAN SWIFT A Description of the

Morning 576SYLVIA PLATH Morning Song 577Glossary Questions Writing Suggestions, 578Student Writing, A Letter to an Author, 579

4- LANGUAGE, 583 Precision and Ambiguity, 583

RICHARD ARMOUR Hiding Place 583YVOR WINTERS At the San Francisco Air-

port 584WALTER DE LA MARE Slim Cunning

Hands 587PAT MORA Gentle Communion 587BEN JONSON Still to Be Neat 589ROBERT HERRICK Delight in Disorder 590EMILY DICKINSON [After great pain, a formal feel-

ing comes—] 592THEODORE ROETHKE My Papa's Waltz 593SHARON OLDS Sex Without Love 594GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS Pied Beauty 596WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS The Red Wheel-

barrow 596E. E. CUMMINGS [in Just-] 597,EMILY DICKINSON [I dwell in Possibility—]

597

Metaphor and Simile, 598

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE [That time of year thoumayst in me behold] 599

x r Contents

5 THE SOUNDS OFPOETRY, 627

LINDA PASTAN Marks 601DAVID WAGONER My Father's Garden 602ROBERT FRANCIS Hogwash 603ROBERT BURNS A Red, Red Rose 605ADRIENNE RICH . Two SongS 606RANDALL JARRELL The Death of the Ball Turret

Gunner 608CAROLYN FORCHE Taking Off My Clothes 608AGHA SHAHID ALI The Dacca Gauzes 609JOHN DONNE [Batter my heart, three-personed

God . . . ] 610

Symbol, 611

SHARON OLDS Leningrad Cemetery, Winter of1941 612

JAMES DICKEY The Leap 613JOHN CLARE Love's Emblem 616WILLIAM BLAKE The Sick Rose 618EDMUND WALLER Song [Go, lovely rose!] 620ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON Now Sleeps the Crim-

son Petal 620DOROTHY PARKER One Perfect Rose 621ROO BORSON After a Death 621GEORGE PEELE A Farewell to Arms 622HOWARD NEMEROV The Town Dump 622Glossary Questions Writing Suggestions, 624

HELEN CHASIN The Word Plum 627MONA VAN DUYN What the Motorcycle

Said 629KENNETH FEARING Dirge 630ALEXANDER POPE Sound and Sense 632SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE Metrical Feet 635WENDY COPE Emily Dickinson 636ANONYMOUS [A staid schizophrenic named

Struther] 636SIR JOHN SUCKLING Song [Why so pale and wan,

fond Lover?] 636JOHN DRYDEN To the Memory of Mr.

Oldham 637, GWENDOLYN BROOKS Queen of the Blues 638WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE [Like as the waves make

towards the pebbled shore] 641ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON Break, Break,

Break 641 •• .EDGAR ALLAN POE The Raven 642GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS Spring and Fall 644

Contents ? xi

6 INTERNALSTRUCTURE, 649

7 EXTERNALFORM, 674

MARGE PIERCY To Have Without Holding 645EMILY DICKINSON [A narrow Fellow in the

Grass] 646ROBERT HERRICK To the Virgins, to Make Much

of Time 646

Glossary Questions Writing Suggestions, 647

EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON M r . Flood 's

Party 649 .HOWARD NEMEROV The Goose Fish 652PHILIP LARKIN Church Going 655PAT MORA Sonrisas 658JAMES WRIGHT Arrangements with Earth for

Three Dead Friends 659SHARON OLDS The Victims 660ANONYMOUS Sir Patrick Spens 663T. s. ELIOT Journey of the Magi 664WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS The Dance 665PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY Ode to the West

Wind 666LOUISE BOGAN Cartography 668

Glossary Questions Writing Suggestions, 669Student Writing, Structure and Language in "The

Victims" by Sharon Olds, 670

Stanza Forms, 678The Sonnet, 679

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Nuns Fret Not 679HENRY CONSTABLE [My lady's presence makes

the roses red] 680JOHN KEATS On the Sonnet 682PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY Ozymandias 683WILLIAM WORDSWORTH London, 1802 683CLAUDE MCKAY The Harlem Dancer 684JOHN MILTON [When I consider how my light is

spent] 684GWENDOLYN BROOKS First Fight. Then

Fiddle. 685CLAUDE MCKAY The White House 685SIR PHILIP SIDNEY [When Nature made her chief

work, Stella's eyes] 686WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE [My mistress' eyes are

nothing like the sun] 686DIANE ACKERMAN Sweep Me Through Your

Many-Chambered Heart 687

xii • Contents

8 THE WHOLE TEXT,700

THE AUTHOR'SWORK INCONTEXT:ADRIENNE RICH,719

EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY [What lips my lipshave kissed, and where, and why] 687

Examples of Stanza Forms, 688

DYLAN THOMAS Do Not Go Gentle into ThatGood Night 688

MARIANNE MOORE Poetry 688ELIZABETH BISHOP Sestina 689ISHMAEL REED beware : do not read this

poem 690

The Way a Poem Looks, 692FRANKLIN p. ADAMS Composed in the Compos-

ing Room 692E. E. CUMMINGS [Buffalo Bill 's] 693GEORGE HERBERT Easter Wings 695ROBERT HERRICK The Pillar of Fame 695BARBARA HOWES Mirror Image: Port-au-

Prince 696E. E. CUMMINGS [l(a] 696NORA DAUENHAUER Tlingit Concrete

Poem 697Glossary Questions Writing Suggestions, 697

ELIZABETH JENNINGS Delay 700ANONYMOUS Western Wind 703ROBERT HERRICK Upon Julia's Clothes 704w. H. AUDEN Musee des Beaux Arts 706GEORGE HERBERT The Collar 707ANNE SEXTON With Mercy for the Greedy 708EMILY DICKINSON [My Life had stood—a Loaded

Gun — ] 709ROBERT FROST Design 710

Questions Writing Suggestions, 710Student Writing, Tragedy in Five Stanzas: "Wood-chucks," 711

At a Bach Concert 721Storm Warnings 721Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law 722Orion 726Diving into the Wreck 728Power 730For the Record 730Passages from Interviews and Essays 731Chronology 739Question Writing Suggestions, 740

Contents • xiii

1 0 LITERARY TRADI-TION AS CONTEXT,742

11 HISTORY ANDCULTURE ASCONTEXT, 766

Imitating and Answering 743

CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE The PassionateShepherd to His Love 745

SIR WALTER RALEGH The Nymph's Reply to theShepherd 745

WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS Raleigh WasRight 7 46

ANDREW MARVELL To His Coy Mistress 747E. E. CUMMINGS [(ponder,darling,these busted

statues] 748PETER DE VRIES To His Importunate

Mistress 749KENNETH KOCH Variations on a Theme by

William Carlos Williams 750DESMOND SKIRROW Ode on a Grecian Urn

Summarized 750ANTHONY HECHT The Dover Bitch 751WENDY COPE [Not only marble, but the plastic

toys] 751

Mythology and Myth, 752

JOHN HOLLANDER Adam's Task 753CHRISTINA ROSSETTI Eve 754

ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON Ulysses 756

JAMES HARRISON Penelope 758EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY An Ancient Ges-

ture 758LANGSTON HUGHES The Negro Speaks of

Rivers 759MAYA ANGELOU Africa 759JUDITH ORTIZ COFER How to Get a Baby 760ALBERTO ALVARO RIOS Advice to a First

Cousin 761DUNCAN CAMPBELL SCOTT The Onondaga

Madonna 761CATHY SONG A Mehinaku Girl in Seclu-

sion 762LOUISE ERDRICH Jacklight 763Questions Writing Suggestions, 764

RAYMOND R. PATTERSON You Are t he

Brave 768THOMAS HARDY Channel Firing 769SANDRA GILBERT Sonnet: The Ladies' Home

Journal 771

xiv • Contents

Time, Places, and Events, 774

LANGSTON HUGHES Harlem (A DreamDeferred) 774

ROBERT HAYDEN Frederick Douglass 774THOMAS HARDY The Convergence of the

Twain 775WILFRED OWEN Dulce et Decorum Est 776RICHARD EBERHART The Fury of Aerial Bombard-

ment 777MARY jo SALTER Welcome to Hiroshima 778DUDLEY RANDALL Ballad of Birmingham 779AI Riot Act, April 29, 1992 780

Ideas and Consciousness, 781

ANNA LAETITIA BARBAULD Washing-Day 781MARGE PIERCY What's That Smell in the

Kitchen? 783ELIZABETH When I Was Fair and Young 784KATHERINE PHILIPS L'amitie: To Mrs. M.

Awbrey 785EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY [Women have loved

before as I love now] 785ADRIENNE RICH Delta 786JUDITH ORTIZ COFER Unspoken 786ERICA JONG Penis Envy 787DOROTHY PARKER Indian Summer 788KAY SMITH Annunciation 788

Questions Writing Suggestions, 789

Evaluating Poetry 791WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE [Th' expense of spirit in a

waste of shame] 795JOHN DONNE Song [Go, and catch a falling

star] 797IRVING LAYTON Street Funeral 800GAL WAY KINNELL Blackberry Eating 800EMILY DICKINSON [The Brain —is wider than the

Sky-] 801

Questions Writing Suggestions, 801

Reading More Poetry 804W. H. AUDEN In Memory of W. B. Yeats 804SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE Kubla Khan: or, a

Vision in a Dream 806

Contents • xv

H. D. (HILDA DOOLITTLE)

Sea Rose 807Garden 808

EMILY DICKINSON

[Because I could not stop for Death — ] 808[I reckon—when I count at all — ] 809[We do not play on Graves—] 810[Wild Nights-Wild Nights!] 810[She dealt her pretty words like

Blades-] 810JOHN DONNE

The Canonization 811[Death, be not proud, though some have called

thee] 812A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning 813

RITA DOVE Parsley 814

PAUL LAWRENCE DUNBAR We Wear theMask 816

T. s. ELIOT The Love Song of J. Alfred Pru-frock 816

ROBERT FROST

Range-Finding ' 820The Road Not Taken 820Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening 821

GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS

God's Grandeur 821The Windhover 822

LANGSTON HUGHES Theme forEnglish B 823

JOHN KEATS

Ode to a Nightingale 824Ode on a Grecian Urn 826

RICHARD LOVELACE To Amarantha, that SheWould Dishevel Her Hair 828

ROBERT LOWELL Skunk Hour 829ANDREW MARVELL The Garden 830SYLVIA PLATH

Black Rook in Rainy Weather 832Lady Lazarus 833

EZRA POUND

The Garden 835 . • 'In a Station of the Metro 836

JOHN CROWE RANSOM Bells for John Whiteside'sDaughter 836

THEODORE ROETHKE

- The Dream 836

xvi T Contents

I Knew a Woman 837The Waking 838

MURIEL RUKEYSER

Reading Time : 1 Minute 26 Seconds 839Myth 839

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

[Hark, hark! the lark at heaven's gatesings] 840

[Not marble, nor the gilded monuments] 840[Two loves I have of comfort and despair] 841

WALLACE STEVENS

Anecdote of the Jar 841The Emperor of Ice-Cream 842Sunday Morning 842

DYLAN THOMAS

Fern Hill 845In My Craft or Sullen Art 847

WALT WHITMAN

Facing West from California'sShores 847

I Hear America Singing 848A Noiseless Patient Spider 848

WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS T h i s Is Just to

Say 849WILLIAM WORDSWORTH Lines Composed a Few

Miles above Tintern Abbey on Revisiting theBanks of the Wye During a Tour, July 13,1798 849

W. B. YEATS

Easter 1916 853The Second Coming 855Leda and the Swan 856Sailing to Byzantium 856Among School Children 858

DRAMA

Drama: Reading, Responding, Writing 863HAROLD PINTER The Black and WhiteSUSAN GLASPELL Trifles 871Questions Writing Suggestions, 882Student Writing, Trifles, 884

Contents w xvii

Understanding the Text 8881 CHARACTERIZA- MARSHA NORMAN Getting Out 895

TION, 888 HENRIK IBSEN Hedda Gabler 942Glossary Questions Writing Suggestions, 1001

2 STRUCTURE, 1005 WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE Hamlet 1014LILLIAN HELLMAN The Little Foxes 1113Glossary Questions Writing Suggestions, 1165Student Writing, The Play's the Thing: Deception in

Hamlet, 1169

3 THE WHOLE TEXT, BERNARD SHAW Pygmalion 11751174 Questions Writing Suggestions, 1253

Exploring Contexts 1256

4 THE AUTHOR'S The Bear 1261WORK AS On the Injurious Effects of Tobacco 1272CONTEXT: The Cherry Orchard 1275ANTON Passages from Letters 1315CHEKHOV 1256

Questions Writing Suggestions, 1317

Evaluating Drama 1319TENNESSEE WILLIAMS A Streetcar Named

Desire 1326WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE A Midsummer Night's

Dream 1394

Reading More Drama 1450SOPHOCLES Antigone 1450AUGUST WILSON Fences 1483

WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE

INTRODUCTION,1537

REPRESENTING Copying, 1538T H E Paraphrase, 1539LITERARY TEXT, _ 1 c o n

1 5 3 8 Summary, 1539

xviii • Contents

REPLYING TO THETEXT, -1542

EXPLAINING THETEXT, 1545

CRITICALAPPROACHES,1556

WRITING ABOUTFICTION, POETRY,DRAMA, 1569

Imitation and Parody, 1542

Re-creation and Reply, 1543

Description, 1545

Analysis, 1546

Interpretation, 1547

Principles and Procedures, 1547Reading and Theme Making, 1548Opinions, Right and Wrong, 1550Reader and Text, 1552

Objectivism, 1556Formalism, 1556

NEW CRITICISM, 1556

Structuralism, 1557Post-Structuralism, 1558

DECONSTRUCTION, 1559

Subjectivism, 1560Psychological Criticism, 1560

FREUDIAN CRITICISM, 1560

LACANIAN CRITICISM, 1560

JUNGIAN CRITICISM, 1561

Phenomenological Criticism, 1561Reader-Response Criticism, 1561

Historical Criticism, 1562Dialogism, 1562

SOCIOLOGICAL CRITICISM, 1563

MARXIST CRITICISM, 1564

FEMINIST CRITICISM, 1565

New Historicism, 1566

Pluralism, 1567

Further Reading on Critical Approaches, 1567

Narrative, 1569

Dramatization, 1571

Words, 1572

Sample Topics and Titles, 1573

Fiction, 1573Poetry, 1574Drama, 1574Intergeneric Topics, 1574Creative Topics, 1575

Contents • xix

DECIDING WHATTO WRITE ABOUT,1576

FROM TOPIC TOROUGH DRAFT,1581

FROM ROUGHDRAFT TO COM-PLETED PAPER,1588

A SUMMARY OFTHE PROCESS,1593

BIOGRAPHICALSKETCHES, A1

INDEX OFAUTHORS, A33

INDEX OF TITLESAND FIRST LINES,A39

INDEX OFLITERARYTERMS, A45

Having Something to Say, 1576

Choosing a Topic, 1577

Considering Your Audience, 1579

Gathering Evidence, 1581

Organizing Your Notes, 1584

Developing an Argument, 1585

Writing the First Draft, 1587

Revising, 1588

Reviewing Your Work and Revising Again, 1589