Meeting at night"

the gray sea and the long black land;
and the yellow half-moon large and low;
and the startled little waves that leap
in fiery ringlets from their sleep,
as i gain the cove1 with pushing prow2,
and quench its speed i’3 the slushy sand.

then a mile of warm sea-scented beach;
three fields to cross till a farm appears;
a rap at the pane4, the quick sharp scratch
and blue spurt of a lighted match,
and a voice less loud, thro’5 its joys and fears,
than the two hearts beating each to each.
.
—robert browning
1 a cove is a small inlet from the sea.
2 a prow is the front end of a boat.
3 i’ is short for in.
4 pane refers to a windowpane.
5 thro’ is short for through.

each stanza in this poem has six lines. which lines rhyme within each stanza?

what is the main idea of this poem?

in ordinary language, describe the mental pictures you get from the first stanza.

in the first stanza, why do you think the poet says that little waves look like “fiery ringlets”?

what does the last line of the poem tell you?

I can help with one question the rymeing lines are the 3rd and 4th

the swan might be a metaphor for our soul, which is ancient and timeless. the speaker wants to know where it's going and what it wants, what's the purpose in life. he asks our soul to follow him in knowing that god is us and the answer to the question "who am i" that was written on the wind of god's whim to know himself that blew over his being in the beginning of creation. and to connect to god consciously on the path to knowing him is the joy of loving him, like a bee that will grow and end our sorrows by ending desire. in that connection there is no doubt about god and existing forever.

the answer:

in the first part of the story running is all that matters to squeaky. running gives her confidence and defines who she is. at the beginning of the story she says that other kids call her mercury because she runs very fast. in the text she refers to herself as "miss quicksilver".

the line that provides the best evidence that squeaky has self-confidence is

" and i continue with my breathing exercise, strolling down broadway toward the ice cream man on 145th with not a care in the world cause i am miss quicksilver herself".