By: Michael McClure PowerPoint By: Liam Evans The Mystery of The Hunt By: Michael McClure PowerPoint By: Liam Evans

Biographical Information Born on October 20, 1932, in Marysville, Kansas to Thomas and Marian Dixie Johnston McClure. His parents had divorced when he was five years old, and he was raised both in Marysville and Seattle. McClure studied at the University of Wichita, the University of Arizona and San Francisco State College, where he received his B.A. in 1955. When he was 22 years old, McClure took part in San Francisco's infamous Six Gallery poetry reading, where he read the poem “For the Death of 100 Whales.”

1 It’s the mystery of the hunt that intrigues me, That drives us like lemmings, but cautiously— The search for a bright square cloud—the scent of lemon verbena— Or to learn rules for the game the sea otters Play in the surf. 2 It is these small things—and the secret behind them That fill the heart. The pattern, the spirit, the fiery demon That link them together And pull their freedom into our senses, 3 The smell of a shrub, a cloud, the action of animals 4 —The rising, the exuberance, when the mystery is unveiled. It is these small things 5 That when brought into vision become an inferno.  Structure of The Poem McClure uses 5 stanzas and 14 lines in this poem. This is a Free Verse poem, but is lyric. It was organized like this because the author did not want to follow the ordinary rules, when it comes to writing poems.

1 It’s the mystery of the hunt that intrigues me, That drives us like lemmings, but cautiously— The search for a bright square cloud—the scent of lemon verbena— Or to learn rules for the game the sea otters Play in the surf. 2 It is these small things—and the secret behind them That fill the heart. The pattern, the spirit, the fiery demon That link them together And pull their freedom into our senses, 3 The smell of a shrub, a cloud, the action of animals 4 —The rising, the exuberance, when the mystery is unveiled. It is these small things 5 That when brought into vision become an inferno.  Speaker of The Poem In this poem the speaker notices all the small things in nature. He realizes what how the affect the different sides of man over their long existence. We see the that the mystery of the hunt intrigues him/her. The mystery of hunt is just the secrets and actions that are existent within nature.

1 It’s the mystery of the hunt that intrigues me, That drives us like lemmings, but cautiously— The search for a bright square cloud—the scent of lemon verbena— Or to learn rules for the game the sea otters Play in the surf. 2 It is these small things—and the secret behind them That fill the heart. The pattern, the spirit, the fiery demon That link them together And pull their freedom into our senses, 3 The smell of a shrub, a cloud, the action of animals 4 —The rising, the exuberance, when the mystery is unveiled. It is these small things 5 That when brought into vision become an inferno.  Literary Elements Repetition – McClure uses repeating words to emphasize certain details. Here he is trying to emphasize a group of people or things. Simile – McClure uses similes to change certain details so that they are more alike with the central idea of the poem. Sensory Details – McClure uses words that refer to our natural senses. In this case he uses words to refer to our sense of smell.

Literary Elements 1 It’s the mystery of the hunt that intrigues me, That drives us like lemmings, but cautiously— The search for a bright square cloud—the scent of lemon verbena— Or to learn rules for the game the sea otters Play in the surf. 2 It is these small things—and the secret behind them That fill the heart. The pattern, the spirit, the fiery demon That link them together And pull their freedom into our senses, 3 The smell of a shrub, a cloud, the action of animals 4 —The rising, the exuberance, when the mystery is unveiled. It is these small things 5 That when brought into vision become an inferno Imagery: Here McClure uses the different images to reflect the different sides of man. It shows how each of those things make us who we are, it shows our minds’ senses. Imagery: Here McClure uses a simile to give us an idea about what the mystery of the hunt does to us. Imagery: Here McClure uses the speaker to share its opinion on the subject. He uses the speaker’s thoughts and ideas about his outlook on “the hunt.” Imagery: Here McClure gives us an idea of what it would look like when the small things in nature make up the different sides of man.

Imagery “The pattern” – The stratagem of man. “the spirit” – The beliefs of man. “The fiery demon” – the wickedness of man. Connection: McClure uses the different images to reflect the different sides of man. It shows how each of those things make us who we are, it shows our mind’s basic idea. “That drives us like lemmings”- A reference to how a gerbil-like animal tends to randomly run off cliffs to their deaths for no reason. “but cautiously”- it obviously means that it tries to warn us. Connection: It is saying, that the mystery of the hunt drives us to do things that might be our end. But it still tries to warn us or it hints to us to be ready for what is ahead.

Imagery “It’s the mystery of the hunt that intrigues me,” – A question about something hidden within nature. Connection: The mystery of the hunt intrigues him/her. The mystery of hunt is just the secrets and actions that are existent within nature. “It is these small things, That when brought into vision become an inferno” – Those small things that make up the different sides of man , when brought together, become something destructive. Connection: It shows that the when the hidden secrets and actions of nature are revealed, they bring freedom into our senses. But when everything in nature is brought together to create man. The outcome is the creation of something destructive and fiery.

Literal Meaning The literal meaning of this poem is quite odd and quite confusing to some people. There are many things that nature has an affect on us. They do different things for us. But when we become greedy things go bad. When our greed takes over we take everything and nature becomes engulfed by a large fire.

Figurative Meaning The figurative meaning to this poem is unique. There is a mystery within nature. It has hidden secrets and actions that stew within it. All the small things in nature however, have a lot to do with man. Those small things work together and make the different sides of man. But when the mystery of the hunt is revealed, everything in nature is brought together to create man. The outcome is the creation of something destructive and fiery.

Author’s Purpose The author’s purpose in the poem is quite simple. His purpose is to give us all a well rounded idea of the many different things around us without being super precise.

Theme The theme that this poem shares is a little odd. It shows that the different sides of man from all the things around us both small, large, or the nonliving.

Tyger Tyger 1757–1827 By: William Blake Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies. Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare seize the fire? And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet? What the hammer? what the chain, In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp, Dare its deadly terrors clasp! When the stars threw down their spears And water'd heaven with their tears: Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee? Tyger Tyger burning bright, In the forests of the night: Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? Tyger Tyger 1757–1827 By: William Blake

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