4.7 "Show, Don't Tell" and Free Verse
Dog
As you explore a new kind of poem and then write one of your own, think about the idea of showing, not telling.
Read through the poem below once. Then, go to your Learning Guide and answer:
- What is the gist of the poem?
Dog - Poem by Valerie Worth
Under a maple tree
the dog lies down,
Lolls his limp
Tongue, yawns,
Rests his long chin
Carefully between
Front paws;
Looks up, alert;
Chops, with heavy
Jaws, at a slow fly,
Blinks, rolls
On his side,
Sighs, closes
His eyes: sleeps
All afternoon
In his loose skin.
(Source: Worth, V., & Babbitt, N. (1994). All the small poems and fourteen more. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.)
