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    "St. George" is a satirical poem about a knight Who kills a dragon. Is the ridicule justified? is the issue important? Discuss the meaning and the appropriateness of the title.

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    "St. George" is a satirical poem about a knight Who kills a dragon. Is the ridicule justified? is the issue important? Discuss the meaning and the appropriateness of the title.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    252 views2 pages

    Satirical Poetry

    Uploaded by

    mckee_jem
    "St. George" is a satirical poem about a knight Who kills a dragon. Is the ridicule justified? is the issue important? Discuss the meaning and the appropriateness of the title.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 2

    Poetry 11: Satirical Poetry

    St. George

    Nancy Senior

    My dragon always loved walks


    He used to go to the wall
    where the golden chain hung
    and take it in his mouth
    laying his head on my lap
    sideways, so the fire wouldn’t burn my skirt

    He looked so funny that way


    with his wings dragging the floor
    and his rear end high up
    because he couldn’t bend his hind legs

    With him on the leash, I could go anywhere


    No band of robbers dared attack

    This morning in the woods


    we had stopped for a drink
    where a spring gushes out of a cave

    when suddenly, a man in amour


    riding a white horse
    leapt out of the bushes
    crying “Have no fear I will save you”

    And before I could say a word


    he had stabbed my dragon in the throat
    and leaping down from the horse
    cut off his head
    and held it up for me to see
    the poor eyes still surprised
    and mine filling with tears
    He hadn’t even had time to put out his claws

    And the man said


    “Don’t cry, Maiden
    You are safe now
    But let me give some good advice Don’t ever walk alone in the woods
    for the next time you meet a dragon
    there might not be a knight around to save you”
    “St. George” Questions:

    1. What is the theme of the poem?


    2. What literary techniques does the poet use?
    3. Who or what is the satirist ridiculing in the poem?
    4. In your opinion, is the ridicule justified? Is the issue important? Explain.
    5. How would you describe the tone? Did you find it funny?
    6. Why would the knight consider a maiden with a dragon in need of rescue?
    7. What does this poem reveal about society in the Middle Ages? About contemporary
    society?
    8. Imagine that you are the speaker of the poem. What would you say to the knight after
    he killed your dragon?
    9. Discuss the meaning and the appropriateness of the title.
    10. Read the definition of allegory and the legend of St. George. How is the poem an
    allegory? What behavior or beliefs does the satirist wish to change?

    Allegory: a story, poem or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning,
    typically a moral or political one - presented symbolically.

    St. George: was a soldier in the Roman Empire and later a Christian Martyr. The legend
    of St. George and the dragon begins with a dragon making his nest near a spring which
    provided water to a city-state. Consequently, the citizens had to remove the dragon from
    the spring by offering it a human sacrifice daily. The victim was chosen by drawing lots:
    one day, the local princess was chosen. She is offered to the dragon however, at this
    point St. George arrives and rescues her by slaying the dragon. The grateful citizens then
    abandon their pagan beliefs and convert to Christianity because their hero, St. George is a
    Christian.

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