Choose a stanza from any poem, including those in this lesson. write a paraphrase of those lines. then compare the original stanza with the paraphrase. what has changed in the transition from poetry to prose?

Here is the second stanza of "The Sparrow":

So birds of peace and hope and love

Come fluttering earthward from above,

To settle on life's window-sills,

And ease our load of earthly ills;

But we, in traffic's rush and din

Too deep engaged to let them in,

With deadened heart and sense plod on,

Nor know our loss till they are gone.

And here is a paraphrase of the stanza:

Peace, hope, and love are like birds that come fluttering down and sit upon our window sills. They try to draw our attention, but we ignore them because our lives are busy. We fail to notice that these elements are missing from our lives, but we regret that failure only when we realize that we have lost them.

The paraphrase does not have the same effect as the poem because it does not use the sound devices. It sounds like a flat statement of facts. However, the ideas gain clarity in the paraphrase.

Explanation:

PLATO sample answer