Nightfall by Occtavio Paz translated by Eliot Weinberger

Instructions:

Submit a five-paragraph essay with an introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. In the paper, you should interpret the meaning of your chosen poem and discuss its literary elements. You must quote from the poem in the essay to support your ideas.

Each paragraph should begin with a clear topic sentence. For example, a sentence like The last two lines of the poem say I rub my eyes: the sky walks the land does not state the main point of the paragraph, so it would not be a good topic sentence.

When quoting poetry inline with the text, use quotation marks, and use a slash (/) to indicate line breaks. Don’t use either one for inset passages. You do not need to inset a passage unless you are quoting more than four full lines of text. Your quotations should mostly be short

Poem: Nightfall by Octavio Paz translated by Eliot Weinberger

What sustains it,
half-, the clarity of nightfall,
the light let loose in the gardens?

All the branches,
conquered by the weight of birds,
lean toward the darkness.

Pure, self-absorbed moments
still gleam
on the fences.

Recieving night,
the groves become
hushed fountains.

A bird falls,
the grass grows dark,
edges blur, lime is black,
the world is less credible.