Sit in a garden—yours or a public one—and write sketches of what you see as if you were painting still-life portraits. Do not worry about creating a story, instead concentrating on the images that you are creating with words. Give life to your sketches, so that when you read them in front of your class, your classmates will be able to envision what you saw.

Choose one of the stanzas in Barot's poem and paint or draw a picture to illustrate it.

Choose a poem from Seamus Heaney's Death of a Naturalist and compare it to Barot's “Bonnard's Garden.” In an essay, consider how they are alike and how they differ. Which poem presents a more unified meaning? Which poet creates more realistic images? Present your findings to your class.

Lead a class discussion regarding the significance of the “sleepwalking...