Explain what the "sky's starry questions" might mean.

"Night travel" is Neruda's image for sleep, but to what else might it refer? What emotions or feelings does the extended metaphor of sleep as a "black flame ... that snips. .." convey?

Explain the simile in line $3$. What feeling or emotion does it convey?

The central metaphor of the poem is that of the lovers' hearts being tied together. What will this accomplish for the lovers?

Soon after this poem was finished, Thomas sent it to Princess Caetani in Rome, hoping she might publish it in her literary magazine. In an accompanying letter he wrote: "The only person I can't show the little enclosed poem to is, of course, my father, who doesn't know he's dying." Given the fact that the poem became one of the most famous elegies of the century, do you think Thomas's reluctance was justified? Explain why or why not. What would you have done in his situation?

The elegy form goes back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who used the term to refer to any serious meditation, including poems about love, war, and death. Today elegy is used exclusively to refer to poems of mourning. In what way does Thomas's poem fit both definitions?

The elegy form goes back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who used the term to refer to any serious medication, including poems about love, war, and death. Today elegy is used exclusively to refer to poems of mourning. In what way does Thomas's poem fit both definitions?

Why would any son beg his father to "Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears"? What might this strange request indicate about the relationship between this father and son?

Identify at least three metaphors for death or dying in the poem. How do the ideas you recorded in your Quickwrite notes compare with the images that Thomas uses?

What is the "good night"? (Explain the pun, or play on words, on this phrase.)

What does the speaker pray for at the end of the poem?

Given the speaker's feelings about the "good night," do you see anything contradictory in his use of the word good? Explain.

What feelings does the speaker reveal about his father's death? Are these feelings at all contradictory? Explain.

Is Okeke's change of heart at the end of the story believable or unbelievable? Explain your reasoning.