题目 1 · essay
25 分Read this poem, and then answer the question that follows it:
**Report to Wordsworth**
You should be here, Nature has need of you.
She has been laid waste, smog-gilded, she gasps
for breath. Our cities multiply, their giant arms
strangle the green hills, concrete and steel
everywhere. The sky is no longer blue,
but a sickly grey, and the winds are foul.
We have forgotten how to hear her song,
and how to see her face in the wild flowers.
Now Proteus cannot rise from the sea,
for the waters are poisoned with our waste;
no Triton blows his horn to wake the waves,
for the oceans are silent, choked with oil.
O Wordsworth, look upon this dying land,
and weep for what we have so blindly done.
(Boey Kim Cheng)
**Explore how Boey Kim Cheng uses striking words and images to convey his feelings about the destruction of nature in this poem.**
**Report to Wordsworth**
You should be here, Nature has need of you.
She has been laid waste, smog-gilded, she gasps
for breath. Our cities multiply, their giant arms
strangle the green hills, concrete and steel
everywhere. The sky is no longer blue,
but a sickly grey, and the winds are foul.
We have forgotten how to hear her song,
and how to see her face in the wild flowers.
Now Proteus cannot rise from the sea,
for the waters are poisoned with our waste;
no Triton blows his horn to wake the waves,
for the oceans are silent, choked with oil.
O Wordsworth, look upon this dying land,
and weep for what we have so blindly done.
(Boey Kim Cheng)
**Explore how Boey Kim Cheng uses striking words and images to convey his feelings about the destruction of nature in this poem.**
查看答案详解收起答案详解
解题
To achieve high marks, a response should explore the following aspects of Boey Kim Cheng's poem:
1. **Direct Address to Wordsworth:**
* The opening line ("You should be here, Nature has need of you") establishes a tone of urgent pleading, invoking the famous Romantic poet to witness the current environmental crisis.
* This allusion contrasts the romanticized reverence of nature in Wordsworth's era with the modern reality of exploitation and decay.
2. **Personification of Nature as a Suffering Victim:**
* Nature is personified as a vulnerable female figure who "has been laid waste" and is "smog-gilded" as she "gasps for breath."
* The term "smog-gilded" is a bitter oxymoron, turning the industrial pollution into a mock-ornament that is suffocating her.
* The "giant arms" of multiplying cities are described as actively "strangling" the green hills, evoking a brutal, violent assault by urbanization.
3. **Decline of the Senses and Connection:**
* The poet Laments that humanity has "forgotten how to hear her song" and "see her face," emphasizing a profound spiritual and sensory disconnection from the natural world.
* The color palette shifts from natural colors to artificial ones: "no longer blue, / but a sickly grey," and the winds are "foul," signaling contamination.
4. **Classical Allusions and Modern Pollution:**
* The mythological figures of Proteus and Triton (traditionally representing the living, divine force of the sea) are rendered powerless.
* Proteus "cannot rise" because the waters are "poisoned," and Triton's horn is silenced because the oceans are "choked with oil." This juxtaposition of classical myth with industrial pollution (supertankers/oil) highlights the irreversible death of nature's sacred magic.
5. **The Final Elegy:**
* The poem ends with a direct, sorrowful appeal to Wordsworth to "look upon this dying land" and "weep."
* The word "blindly" emphasizes human ignorance and lack of foresight, leaving the reader with a deep sense of collective guilt and mourning.
1. **Direct Address to Wordsworth:**
* The opening line ("You should be here, Nature has need of you") establishes a tone of urgent pleading, invoking the famous Romantic poet to witness the current environmental crisis.
* This allusion contrasts the romanticized reverence of nature in Wordsworth's era with the modern reality of exploitation and decay.
2. **Personification of Nature as a Suffering Victim:**
* Nature is personified as a vulnerable female figure who "has been laid waste" and is "smog-gilded" as she "gasps for breath."
* The term "smog-gilded" is a bitter oxymoron, turning the industrial pollution into a mock-ornament that is suffocating her.
* The "giant arms" of multiplying cities are described as actively "strangling" the green hills, evoking a brutal, violent assault by urbanization.
3. **Decline of the Senses and Connection:**
* The poet Laments that humanity has "forgotten how to hear her song" and "see her face," emphasizing a profound spiritual and sensory disconnection from the natural world.
* The color palette shifts from natural colors to artificial ones: "no longer blue, / but a sickly grey," and the winds are "foul," signaling contamination.
4. **Classical Allusions and Modern Pollution:**
* The mythological figures of Proteus and Triton (traditionally representing the living, divine force of the sea) are rendered powerless.
* Proteus "cannot rise" because the waters are "poisoned," and Triton's horn is silenced because the oceans are "choked with oil." This juxtaposition of classical myth with industrial pollution (supertankers/oil) highlights the irreversible death of nature's sacred magic.
5. **The Final Elegy:**
* The poem ends with a direct, sorrowful appeal to Wordsworth to "look upon this dying land" and "weep."
* The word "blindly" emphasizes human ignorance and lack of foresight, leaving the reader with a deep sense of collective guilt and mourning.
评分标准
**Level 8 (23-25 marks):**
- Demonstrates excellent, detailed knowledge of the poem, incorporating well-selected references with flair.
- Sustains a critical understanding of how Boey Kim Cheng uses language, poetic devices (allusion, personification, imagery), and structure to create a powerful environmental critique.
- Responds sensitively and in detail to the evocative and suffocating effects of the imagery.
- Sustains a highly persuasive, personal, and evaluative response to the task.
**Level 7 (20-22 marks):**
- Demonstrates thorough knowledge by integrating many well-selected references.
- Shows a clear critical understanding of the poem's themes (modernity vs. romanticism, environmental grief).
- Responds sensitively and in detail to the poet's use of language and imagery (e.g., the strangling cities, the poisoned seas).
- Sustains a perceptive, convincing, and relevant personal response.
**Level 6 (17-19 marks):**
- Demonstrates good knowledge supported by careful reference to the text.
- Shows a clear understanding of the poem and its deeper implications (such as the modern loss of spiritual connection with nature).
- Makes a developed response to the ways the writer achieves striking effects through personification and classical illusions.
- Communicates a well-developed, detailed personal response.
**Level 5 (14-16 marks):**
- Shows understanding of the surface meaning of the poem and some of its deeper implications.
- Makes some relevant responses to the language and structural choices of the poem.
- Supports the argument with a range of text references.
**Level 4 (11-13 marks):**
- Shows some understanding of the poem's literal meaning and the theme of environmental damage.
- Makes limited or straightforward references to the language of the text.
- Begins to develop a relevant personal response, though it may be repetitive or loosely supported.
- Demonstrates excellent, detailed knowledge of the poem, incorporating well-selected references with flair.
- Sustains a critical understanding of how Boey Kim Cheng uses language, poetic devices (allusion, personification, imagery), and structure to create a powerful environmental critique.
- Responds sensitively and in detail to the evocative and suffocating effects of the imagery.
- Sustains a highly persuasive, personal, and evaluative response to the task.
**Level 7 (20-22 marks):**
- Demonstrates thorough knowledge by integrating many well-selected references.
- Shows a clear critical understanding of the poem's themes (modernity vs. romanticism, environmental grief).
- Responds sensitively and in detail to the poet's use of language and imagery (e.g., the strangling cities, the poisoned seas).
- Sustains a perceptive, convincing, and relevant personal response.
**Level 6 (17-19 marks):**
- Demonstrates good knowledge supported by careful reference to the text.
- Shows a clear understanding of the poem and its deeper implications (such as the modern loss of spiritual connection with nature).
- Makes a developed response to the ways the writer achieves striking effects through personification and classical illusions.
- Communicates a well-developed, detailed personal response.
**Level 5 (14-16 marks):**
- Shows understanding of the surface meaning of the poem and some of its deeper implications.
- Makes some relevant responses to the language and structural choices of the poem.
- Supports the argument with a range of text references.
**Level 4 (11-13 marks):**
- Shows some understanding of the poem's literal meaning and the theme of environmental damage.
- Makes limited or straightforward references to the language of the text.
- Begins to develop a relevant personal response, though it may be repetitive or loosely supported.