Duration Study Questions & Topics for Discussion

Duration Topics for Further Study

Draw a picture of a fan of bees, a canoe of lightning, or a tower of birds to show what Paz means by using these images in stanza VI.

Take one of the six sections of this poem, and build around it to create your own six-section poem.

In section IV, the poem states that "what the thunderclap says, the woods understand." Write an extended dialog between the thunderclap and the woods that shows readers what they talk about. Give each character a distinct personality.

Since this poem was inspired by a line from the I Ching , the proper background music for it might be Chinese; then again, the proper soundtrack for reading it might be Mexican music, because of Paz's life story; or it could be a different piece that has nothing to do with either of these cultures. Choose a piece of music that...
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