AC EWEN Brinda Canadian taught herself Greek Arabic Hebrew and French High school drop out wrote what she wanted not what the teachers wanted her to write her wonderment at life and death makes her writing ID: 663605
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Slide1
YOU CANNOT DO THIS
GWENDOLYN MACEWEN
BrindaSlide2
Canadiantaught herself Greek, Arabic, Hebrew and French.High school drop out- wrote what she wanted, not what the teachers wanted her to write
her wonderment at life and death, makes her writing unique *hint* Emily Dickinson
Held
a fascination for ancient Egypt and GnosticsNot a muggle- she believed in magic
About the authorSlide3
you cannot do this to them, these are my people;I am not speaking of poetry, I am speaking of art.you cannot do this to them, these are my people.you cannot hack away the horizon in front of their eyes.
the tomb, articulates, will record your doing;I will record it also, this is not art.
this is a kind of science, a kind of hobby,
a kind of personal vice like coin collectingit has something to do with horsesand signet rings and school trophies;it has something to do with the pride of the loins;it has something to do with good food and music,and something to do with power, and dancing.
you cannot do this to them, these are my people.
The poemSlide4
you cannot do this to them, these are my people;
I am not speaking of poetry, I am speaking of art.you cannot do this to them, these are my people.
y
ou cannot hack away the horizon in front of their eyes.the tomb, articulates, will record your doing;I will record it also, this is not art.
this is a kind of science, a kind of hobby,a kind of personal vice like
c
oin
c
ollectingit has something to do with horsesand signet rings and school trophies;it has something to do with the pride of the loins;it has something to do with good food and music,and something to do with power, and dancing.you cannot do this to them, these are my people
Words should be capitalizedRepetitionFour lines in each stanzaSpeaker is straight forward Tone is confrontational“loins” instead of Lions
Did you notice?Slide5
you
cannot do this to them, these are my people;
I am not speaking of poetry, I am speaking of art.
you cannot do this to them, these are my people.you cannot hack away the horizon in front of their eyes.
Initial feeling about what the poem is about was oppression or some
kind of injustice.. Social class.
The first line indicates that the speaker (assuming that
i
t’s the author) feels strongly towards the current state. The possessive “my” suggests that the poet feels a sense of belonging and responsibility. Repetition of the first line reinforces the speaker’s strong feeling towards the injustice“hack” suggests brutality. “horizon” could represent the world around the speaker and so therefore “hacking away the horizon” could mean they they’re having their freedom (forcefully) taken away from them.“in front of their eyes” could mean that it’s happening right in front of them but because of the class system, they have no say in it.Interpretationfirst stanzaSlide6
the
tomb, articulates, will record your doing;
I will record it also, this is not art.
this is a kind of science, a kind of hobby,a kind of personal vice like coin collectingFirst line: the grave or the headstones, will have the truth on them i.e how they were
really treated.
The second line could have a literal meaning
o
r metaphorical. Perhaps the speaker will “record” the injustice witnessed in a diary or some other form literature or they will record it into their mind and remember it as a memory.
Like Eminem once said “maybe they'll admit it when we're gone Just let our spirits live on”:D“This is not art” shows the seriousness of the situation. It is reality and one is not allowed to be free and imaginative like art itself.
Second stanzaArticulate: speak clearly; not speechlessSlide7
it has something to do with horses
and signet rings and school trophies;it has something to do with the pride of the loins;
it has something to do with good food and music,
and something to do with power, and dancing.you cannot do this to them, these are my people.“horses” show that the poem has a older setting
“pride of the lions” is reversed, generally it would’ve been Lions instead of loins.
“good food and music/power/dancing” could be describing the upper class peoples life
Or what the speaker thinks every person should have the right to
Ending the poem with the line that it started with emphasizes the speaker’s disagreement with the current state of treatment.
Stanza 3Signet: a small seal, as on a finger ring