Sample page from Stories with a View

            At the Aquarium

            Serene the silver fishes glide,
            Stern-lipped, and pale, and wonder-eyed!
            As through the aged deeps of ocean,
            They glide with wan and wavy motion.
            They have no pathway where they go,
            They flow like water to and fro,
            They watch with never-winking eyes,
            They watch with staring, cold surprise,
            The level people in the air,
            The people peering, peering there:
            Who wander also to and fro,
            And know not why or where they go,
            Yet have a wonder in their eyes,
            Sometimes a pale and cold surprise.

                                                Max Eastman  

Assignment 17

"At the Aquarium" by Max Eastman (1883-1969)

Discussion:

1. What are your favorite lines of the poem?
2. How does the author compare the fish in the aquarium to the people who come to watch them?
3. What is the main idea of the poem?
4. Draw a picture of a scene from an aquarium.

Writing:

Imagine you are a fish and write about the people you see at the aquarium.