"Between the Traveller and the Setting Sun"

"Between the Traveller and the Setting Sun"

By Henry David Thoreau


Between the traveller and the setting sun,
Upon some drifting sand heap of the shore,
A hound stands o'er the carcass of a man.



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"Jumper Cable" Questions:

1. Why is the deceased person referred to as "the carcass of a man" and not "a dead man", or "a man's body"?

2. Why is the author showing us this scene?

3. Is the location of the poem notable for any reason?

4. There are three "characters" in this poem: the traveller, the hound, and the "carcass of a man". How do they relate (or can they relate) to each other?

5. What is the tone or mood of this poem?

(TRY TO BACK UP YOUR COMMENTS WITH EVIDENCE FROM THE TEXT!)