Written BY: Rebecca Lindenberg Created by: Lexie Cook
Carnival Written BY: Rebecca Lindenberg Created by: Lexie Cook To-
Vainly my heart had with thy sorceries striven:
It had no refuge from thy love,no Heaven But in thy fatal
presence;from afar It owned thy power and trembled like a star
Oerfraught with light and splendor. Could I deem How dark a shadow
should obscure its beam? Could I believe that pain could ever dwell
Where thy bright presence cast its blissful spell? Thou wert my
proud palladium;could I fear The avenging Destinies when thou wert
near? Thou wert my Destiny;thy song, thy fame, The wild
enchantments clustering round thy name, Were my souls heritage, its
royal dower; Its glory and its kingdom and its power! To- Carnival
Structure of the poem: 1 stanza 17 lines
The mask that burns like violin, the mask That sings only dead
languages, that loves The destruction of being put on. The mask
That sighs like a woman even though A woman wears it. The mask
beaded with Freshwater pearls, with seeds. The plumed mask, The
mask with a sutured mouth, a moonface, With healed gash that means
harvest. A glower That hides wanting. A grotesque pucker. Heres A
beaked mask, a braided mask, heres a mask without eyes, a mask that
looks like a mask But isnt- please dont try to unribbon it. The
mask that snows coins, the mask full of wasps. Lace mask to net
escaping thoughts. Pass me The roughed mask, the one made of sheet
music Or the jackal mask, the hide-bound mask That renders lovers
identical with night. Carnival Structure of the poem: 1 stanza 17
lines There is no rhyme scheme. Rebecca Lindenberg Lindenberg was
awarded a 2013 Amy Lowell Travelling Fellowship, a National
Endowment for the Arts Literature Grant, a Fellowshipfrom the Fine
Arts Work Center in Provincetown, and a 2012 Residency fromthe
MacDowell Arts Colony. She won the 2015 Utah Book Award, too. She
has a Ph.D. in Literature and Creative Writing from the University
ofUtah. She also earned a BA from the College of William &
Mary. Lindenberg now teaches Creative Writing program at the
University ofCincinnati. Speaker The speaker seems to be a person
whos not confident in their looks and hasself esteem issues. This
person also wants to fit into the crowd better than he/she already
is. Tone The tone is more or less, depressing and emotional. This
helps us comprehendwhat its like to difficulties with the way you
feel about yourself. Simile The mask that burns like a violin, This
compares amask burning yourfeelings and a violin which is made out
of wood, so it will burn to ashes. Sensory Language Throughout the
whole entire poem, Lindenberg uses sensory language. Lacemask to
net escaping thoughts. Personification A mask is said to only sing
dead languages, the mask that sings only deadlanguages. Conflict
There is also a lot of conflict between the speaker and his/her
feelings, A glowerthat hides wanting. A grotesque pucker. The mask
beaded with freshwater pearls, with seeds.
Imagery The mask beaded with freshwater pearls, with seeds. This
made me think of a mask that had freshwater pearls in it. Pass me
the rouged mask, the one made of sheet music. This brought an image
of sheet music to my head. Heres a beaked mask, A mask with a beak
came to my mind. Literal Meaning The literal meaning of this poem
is that there are people putting on masks ofdifferent kinds to
represent different things at a carnival. Figurative Meaning The
figurative meaning is that there is someone who is hiding
themselvesfrom everybody behind a mask, where there is no shame in
who you trulyare. They dont want anybody to see the real them, or
expose them. As it says,heres a mask that looks like a mask but
isnt-please dont try to unribbonit. This poem refers to people at a
carnival where everyone is the same,because of their masks. Authors
Purpose The authors purpose is to tell people not to hide from
themselves and to notcover up what makes you, you. Theme The theme
of this poem is that people will hide what they truly are, but
itdoesnt make them any less than what everyone else may be. The
person in the poem is hiding their identity behind masks
throughoutthe whole poem. Sites used www.rebeccalindenberg.com
www.poetryoutloud.org
Music/dp/B00RY6QUDO https://www.pinterest.com/pin/ /
lindenberg/