Literature in English Grade X Project Beyond Words

Literature in English, Grade X, Project: Beyond Words The Flower-fed Buffaloes Fatima Aizaz, Ayesha Siraj, Reja Tahir and Ayesha Nasir

The Flower-fed Buffaloes by: Vachel Lindsay The flower-fed buffaloes of the spring In the days of long ago, Ranged where the locomotives sing And the prairie flowers lie low: The tossing, blooming, perfumed grass Is swept away by the wheat, Wheels and wheels spin by In the spring that is still sweet. But the flower-fed buffaloes of the spring Left us, long ago. They gore no more, they bellow no more,

Background � The settlers attempted to settle on the land developed it to the point where it changed and drove away the natural flora and fauna. � The Pawnees and Blackfoot are two Native American tribes, both of which may have been dependent on the buffalo. A member of the Pawnees

Annotation imagery The flower-fed buffaloes of the spring In the days of long ago, Ranged where the locomotives sing And the prairie flowers lie low: The tossing, blooming, perfumed grass Is swept away by the wheat, Wheels and wheels spin by In the spring that is still sweet. But the flower-fed buffaloes of the spring Left us, long ago. They gore no more, they bellow no more, They trundle around the hills no Long vowel sound personification repetition

Vocabulary Word Meaning Blackfeet American Indian people of Montana, Alberta and Saskachewan Bellow To make the loud deep hollow sound characteristic of a bull Ranged To roam at large or freely Locomotive A self propelled vehicle that runs on rails and is used for moving railroad cars Prairie A wide area of land in North America without many trees and originally covered with grass Pawnees American Indian people originally from Kansas and Nebraska Buffalo Also called Bison Lie low To lie prostrate, defeated, disgraced Gore To pierce or wound with something pointed Trundle To move on or as if on wheels

TONE �From lines 1 -8 the tone is very calm and peaceful. ‘The flower-fed buffaloes of the spring’ ‘The tossing, blooming, perfumed grass…. ’ �From line 8 onwards the tone of the poem changes to regret, loss, and nostalgic. Tone becomes more morbid, and tragedy seeps into the text. ‘Left us, long ago’ ‘They gore no more, they bellow no more’ ‘Lying low’

IMAGERY � And the prairie flowers lie low: - A picture of hidden splendor and nature’s buried/unseen beauty depicted � The tossing, blooming, perfumed grass A scene evoking sensory images (smell, sight) of the scent of the prairies � Wheels spin by An image of a regular and constant act of the wheels shown as if to show the mundane activity which happens daily � They trundle around the hills Helpless movement of the buffaloes described, makes them appear to the reader’s eye as carefree and wandering aimlessly � With the Blackfeet, lying low, With the Pawnees, lying low A scene of pure human nature shown here, when the tribe of Native Americans are hidden and out of sight. � Imagery evokes a sense of lost beauty.

WHAT THE POEM ACTUALLY MEANS ‘Flower –fed buffaloes’ implies that the buffaloes were a part a nature and they just simply blended in with the scenery. It brings to mind images of buffalo roaming wild, and also of the beauty nature ("grass-fed" wouldn't have sounded beautiful). The poet first describes how everything used to be so beautiful and natural but then how it abruptly changed as civilization settled in and destroyed all the beauty with its ‘progress’ This is a sentimental poem that takes you to long lost prairies with grazing cattle, flower-speckled greenery and all that which is now lost with the human race’s development. Also, there is a strong comparison between the past and present. ‘In the days of long ago’ ‘Left us, long ago’

Jazak Allah