Winter Dark [1969]
Lilian Moore (1909-2004)
Winter dark comes early
mixing afternoon
and night.
Soon
there’s a comma of a moon,
and each streetlight
along the
way
puts its period
to the end of day.
Now
a neon sign
punctuates the dark
with a bright
blinking
breathless
exclamation mark!
Questions for Discussion
1. The poet probably compares the moon to a comma because of its
A) shape
B) location
C) purpose
D) importance
2. The poet probably associates streetlights with periods to suggest that streetlights
A) are too dim to be exclamation points
B) signal that something has ended
C) are smaller than the moon
D) represent a change in activity
3. The poet compares various sources of light to
A) punctuation marks
B) neon signs
C) the end of day
D) the darkness of winter
4. The poet’s main purpose in writing this poem is probably to make the reader
A) feel the cold of winter
B) imagine the fading of the light
C) visualize how lights appear on winter nights
D) understand the difference between natural and artificial light