Song for Naomi Who is that in the tall grasses singing By herself, near the water? I can not see her But can it be her Than whom the grasses so tall Are taller, My daughter, My lovely daughter? Who is that in the tall grasses running Beside her, near the water? She can not see there Time that pursued her In the deep grasses so fast And faster And caught her, My foolish daughter. What is the wind in the fair grass saying Like a verse, near the water? Saviours that over All things have power Make Time himself grow kind And kinder That sought her, My little daughter. Who is that at the close of the summer Near the deep lake? Who wrought her Comely and slender? Time but attends and befriends her Than whom the grasses though tall Are not taller, My daughter, My gentle daughter. --Irving Layton (1912-) 1956 *************************** Canada's Irving Layton is an elder statesman of Canadian poetry. His major themes are the importance of really living life; he said that he leaves it up to the "lying poets" to tell you what it "feels like to be a potato". For Layton, life is an experience and poetry should evoke emotions in the reader. Some of his poems about death and in particular the Holocaust, are filled with evocative, often disturbing images, while at other times, as in this poem, he can be quite moving in a more philosophical way. In this poem he laments the aging of his daughter; however,many of the girls in a Grade 11 class thought that he was just being selfish and he was just trying to keep her as his "little girl" rather than letting her grow and be free. Does Layton dislike the personified Time because it steals his daughter's youth, or does he see his own aging in his daughter's growth, or does Layton fear for his daughter who is about to enter a big, violent world? Make up a set of questions that reflect the age and maturity of your students as well as any concepts that you want to teach, such as personification, carpe diem, or the use of the rhetorical question or the varying last lines.