The Comet, Poem is written by Norman Littleford (18 May 1889 – 20 May 1947). He was an American Poet who was born in Maryland, USA.

Norman Littleford’s works were about life and nature. Most of his are simple and deep in thought. His poems provoke the readers to absorb abnormal ideas.

Rampaging through the heavens
Never stopping day or night,
A spectacle of a lifetime
A comet in full flight.  ----4
Faster than a cheetah
With a tail that’s miles long,
Bigger than a mountain
So powerful and strong. ----8
The outer ice is melting
Causing vapor from the force,
And leaves a trail behind it
As it travels on its course.   ---12
If one should come too close to earth
The atmosphere will shake,
With shockwave reaching to the ground
Causing the land to quake. ----16
Scientists say the chemicals
In the dust they leave behind,
Could have started life on the earth
Which resulted in mankind. ---20
I cannot say if this is true
I do not have the right,
But I know no better spectacle
Than a comet in full flight. ---24

Figures of Speech

Before finding figures of speech from the comet poem kindly check this post ‘Figures of Speech‘ for a better understanding.

Important Lines

Metaphor

• Faster than a cheetah – The comet is compared to Cheetah. Also, it is Simile.

Repetition

• This line ‘comet in full flight‘, is repeated in lines 4 and 24.

Alliteration

• scientists say – Letter ‘s’ is repeated twice in the same line.
• full flight – Letter ‘f’ is repeated twice in the same line.

Rhyming Words

• Night-Flight, long-strong, force-course, shake-quake, behind-mankind, right-flight

Rhyming Scheme

• This poem has Rhyming words in the 2nd and 4th lines of every stanza. So the rhyming scheme is AA -AA-AA-AA-AA-AA.

Rampaging through the heavens
Never stopping day or night

How does the comet travel?

Ans. The comet travel, rampaging through the heavens. That is the comet is travelling through heaven by making a lot of noise and causing damage to the area.

Which word could you replace ‘rampaging’ with?

a. charging b. rolling c. speeding d. flying

Ans. Charging might be replacing the ‘Rampaging’. Rampaging meaning is ‘going through an area making a lot of noise and causing damage’

2.

Faster than a cheetah
With a tail that’s miles long,

Why is the comet compared to a cheetah?

Ans. The comet is compared to a cheetah, because of the speed at which the comet travels through space, and the time it takes to cover several thousand kilometres within a few hours.

Whose tail is compared here?

Ans. The comet’s tail is compared in the above lines of the poem.

3.

With shockwave reaching to the ground
Causing the land to quake

What is reaching to the ground?

The comet reaches the ground on the earth. It travels through space, reaches the earth by hitting the ground and causes shockwaves.

What is causing the land to quake?

The cause of the land to quake is a comet. The comet hits the ground with great velocity and due to the force of gravity, the mass of the comet, and also acceleration generated due to gravity, makes the comet hit the ground with great force. This creates a shockwave, which even causes the land to quake.

4.

In the dust they leave behind,
Could have started life on the earth
Which resulted in mankind

What doe the word ‘they’ refer to?

In the above lines, the word ‘they‘ refers to the ‘Comet‘.

According to scientists, how did life start on earth?

The comets, when hit the ground leave dust behind. This dust could have started life on the earth, which also could have resulted in mankind.

5.

But I know no better spectacle
Than a comet in full flight.

Who does ‘I’ refer to?

In the above lines ‘I’, refers to the poet ‘Norman Littleford‘.

What is the best spectacle mentioned in the above lines?

The best spectacle mentioned in the above line is a comet, which is in full flight.

Poetry Appreciation

If one should come too close to earth
The atmosphere will shake,
With shock wave reaching to the ground
Causing the land to quake

Pick out the rhyming words.

Ans. The rhyming words from the above lines as shake, quake

Mention the rhyme scheme of the stanza.

If one should come too close to earth
The atmosphere will shake,  --------------------  A
With shock wave reaching to the ground
Causing the land to quake   --------------------- A

Ans. The Rhyme scheme of the above lines is – AA

River, river, little river!
Bright you sparkle on your way;
O’er the yellow pebbles dancing,
Through the flowers and foliage glancing,
Like a child at play.
River, river! Swelling river!
On you rush through rough and smooth;
Louder, faster, brawling, leaping.
Over rocks, by rose-banks, sweeping
Like impetuous youth.
River, river! Brimming river!
Broad and deep, and still as time;
Seeming still, yet still in motion,
Tending onward to the ocean,
Just like mortal prime.
River, river! Headlong river!
Down you dash into the sea,
Sea that line hath never sounded,
Sea that sail hath never rounded,
Like eternity.

It takes much time to kill a tree,
Not a simple jab of the knife
Will do it. It has grown
Slowly consuming the earth,
Rising out of it, feeding
Upon its crust, absorbing
Years of sunlight, air, water,
And out of its leperous hide
Sprouting leaves.
No,
The root is to be pulled out –
Out of the anchoring earth;
It is to be roped, tied,
And pulled out – snapped out
Or pulled out entirely,
Out from the earth-cave,
And the strength of the tree exposed
The source, white and wet,
The most sensitive, hidden
For years inside the earth.
Then the matter
Of scorching and choking
In sun and air,
Browning, hardening,
Twisting, withering,
And then it is done.

A silly young cricket, accustomed to sing

Through the warm, sunny months of gay summer and spring,
Began to complain when he found that, at home,
His cupboard was empty, and winter was come.

Not a crumb to be found
On the snow-covered ground;
Not a flower could he see,
Not a leaf on a tree.

“Oh! what will become,” says cricket, “of me?”
At last by starvation and famine made bold,
All dripping with wet, and all trembling with cold,
Away he set off to a miserly ant,
To see if, to keep him alive, he would grant

Him shelter from rain.
And a mouthful of grain.
He wished only to borrow;
He’d repay it tomorrow;
If not, he must die of starvation and sorrow.

Says the ant to the
cricket, “I’m your servant
and friend,
But we ants never
borrow; we ants never
lend.

But tell me, dear cricket,
Did you lay anything by
When the weather was
warm?” Quoth the cricket,

“Not I!”
My heart was so light
That I sang day and night,
For all nature looked gay.”
“For all nature looked gay”.
“ You sang, Sir, you say?

Go then”, says the ant, “and dance the winter away”.
Thus ending, he hastily lifted the wicket,
And out of the door turned the poor little cricket.
Folks call this a fable. I‘ll warrant it true:
Some crickets have four legs, and some have two.

We were taken from the ore-bed and the mine,
We were melted in the furnace and the pit
We were cast and wrought and hammered to design,
We were cut and filed and tooled and gauged to fit.
Some water, coal, and oil is all we ask,
And a thousandth of an inch to give us play:
And now, if you will set us to our task,
We will serve you four and twenty hours a day!
We can pull and haul and push and lift and drive,
We can print and plough and weave and heat and light,
We can run and race and swim and fly and dive,
We can see and hear and count and read and write!

But remember, please, the Law by which we live,
We are not built to comprehend a lie,
We can neither love nor pity nor forgive,
If you make a slip in handling us you die!
Though our smoke may hide the Heavens from your eyes,
It will vanish and the stars will shine again,
Because, for all our power and weight and size,
We are nothing more than children of your brain!

A woman is beauty innate,
A symbol of power and strength.
She puts her life at stake,
She's real, she's not fake!
The summer of life she's ready to see in spring.
She says, "Spring will come again, my dear.
Let me care for the ones who're near.”
She's The Woman – she has no fear!
Strong is she in her faith and beliefs.
"Persistence is the key to everything,"
says she. Despite the sighs and groans and moans,
She's strong in her faith, firm in her belief!
She's a lioness; don't mess with her.
She'll not spare you if you're a prankster.
Don't ever try to saw her pride, her self-respect.
She knows how to thaw you, saw you – so beware!
She's today's woman. Today's woman, dear.
Love her, respect her, keep her near...

This poem is written by Henry Van Dy-ke. Henry Van Dy-ke lived between 1852 to 1933. He was an American poet. Henry Van Dy-ke served as Professor at Princeton University between 1899 to 1923 in the subject of English Literature.

He received many honours such as the American Academy of Arts and Letters, etc.

Let me but live my life from year to year,
With forward face and unreluctant soul;
Not hurrying to, nor turning from the goal;
Not mourning for the things that disappear
In the dim past, nor holding back in fear
From what the future veils; but with a whole
And happy heart, that pays its toll
To Youth and Age, and travels on with cheer.

So let the way wind up the hill or down,
O'er rough or smooth, the journey will be joy:
Still seeking what I sought when but a boy,
New friendship, high adventure, and a crown,
My heart will keep the courage of the quest,
And hope the road's last turn will be the best.

Summary

Let me but live my life from year to year,
With forward face and unreluctant soul;

In this line, the poem asks the third person to live his life year after year, longer year or longer life. Then in the second line, the poem tells them he carries his life to look straight ahead and willingly (unreluctant). That is the poet is concerned with or planning for the future willingly.

Not hurrying to, nor turning from the goal;
Not mourning for the things that disappear

In these, the poem tries to convey that he is not hurrying in life and also not deviating from the goal he set to achieve in his life. In the second line, the poet says that he is not going to feel or express sorrow or grief (mourne) about the things that disappear such as Material things, relationships etc.

This is because everything at some point in time will leave us, whether it is money, youth, friends, parents, wife, children etc.

In the dim past, nor holding back in fear
From what the future veils; but with a whole

In these line the poet tries to convey, that he does not worry or feel grief about his past and also he does want get struck with fear of whats going to happen in the future(velis). That is the poet tries to convey that he is living happily in the present by not worrying about the past and fearing about the future.

And happy heart, that pays its toll
To Youth and Age, and travels on with cheer.

In these lines, are the continuation of previous lines. That is without worrying about the past, or future, he is living his life with a happy heart that pays its consequences. He also says that he travels with a happy heart from his young days to a mature age with an expression of good wishes.

So let the way wind up the hill or down,
O'er rough or smooth, the journey will be joy:

The poet compares life with travel. That the in the travel even there is an unexpected or unpleasant situation such as up and downs of the hill, or travelling through the rough or smooth path, the overall journey of life will be a happy one or happy life.

wind up – To bring to a conclusion. The informal meaning of ‘Wind Up’ is – to find yourself in an unexpected or unpleasant situation.

O’er – This is a variant form of ‘over‘.

Still seeking what I sought when but a boy,
New friendship, high adventure, and a crown,

In these lines, the poet says that he is still searching for the things that he had been searching for when he was a young kid. In the second the poet mentions the things that he had searched for during his childhoods days such as New friendship, high adventure and a crown (top of something, like a king of a country, a boss in the business etc).

My heart will keep the courage of the quest, 
And hope the road's last turn will be the best.