When I first assigned copia as part of my class’s study of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem, “The Lady of Shallot,” I only meant for them to work on language expression as a relatively quick warm-up to begin Literature class. That is, I wanted them to rewrite Tennyson’s poem in their own words while staying True to his meaning. As expected, most students wrote their copias in paragraph format.
But a few students took it upon themselves to add the extra challenge of writing in verse. I was amazed as they replicated Tennyson’s language patterns, including his rhyme scheme and meter!
Next thing I knew, everyone was trying to do the same thing with their copias. Our “little” writing warm-up had turned into something gigantic. We ended up using entire class periods to annotate and rewrite single stanzas. It looked something like this:
10 minutes discussing the stanza and marking up Tennyson’s original ideas. We would come up with synonyms, unpack symbolism, and unveil as much hidden meaning as we could.
10 minutes to rewrite the stanza as a single sentence. Our goal was to not only illustrate comprehension of Tennyson’s meaning, but to represent it in a beautiful, artistic way.
15 minutes to rewrite the stanza in poetic form. Once again, our goal was to stay true to Tennyson’s original meaning, but we also wanted to capture his rhyme scheme and meter.
10 minutes for students to share their copias, which most were eager to do. They would applaud one another’s readings with “ooohs” and “aaaahs” and “wows,” secretly hoping theirs would outshine the rest. It was a little like an evening at a poetry club.
Since that first group of students, I have played around with how to structure class periods, but I have stuck with the basic method of instruction. From year-to-year, the end products are consistently beautiful.
The following examples are based on Part III, Stanza I of the poem, which introduces Sir Lancelot. Here are Tennyson’s original words.
A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
He rode between the barley-sheaves,
The sun came dazzling thro’ the leaves,
And flamed upon the brazen greaves
Of bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight for ever kneel’d
To a lady in his shield,
That sparkled on the yellow field,
Beside remote Shalott.
Once we analyzed the stanza, students were ready to rewrite it as a single sentence.
Here are three short student copias.
EXAMPLE ONE
Sir Lancelot, graced with honor and beauty, flashed across her mirror.
EXAMPLE TWO
She saw a man unlike any other, more handsome and noble, and she longed to reach out to him.
EXAMPLE THREE
The mighty Sir Lancelot emblazed his image on her heart.
Here are three long student copias.
EXAMPLE ONE
In the mirror sparkling clear,
Between the barley far and near,
Between the many emerald tears,
Came he whose very name is feared,
The knight Sir Lancelot.
His shield shone with an image clear,
Of a red-crossed knight with gleaming spear,
Who knelt before his lady dear,
As if for she he fought.
EXAMPLE TWO
From further than the longest night,
Came man on horseback riding light,
A young, handsome, and noble knight,
Not strong in virtue but strong in fight,
The bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight forever sworn
To protecting all by word and sword,
There she stood and could not ignore,
The bold Sir Lancelot.
EXAMPLE THREE
When he rides it gives a fright,
One of Arthur’s near-perfect knights,
They say he’s never lost a fight,
Could cut you down with a single strike,
The brave Sir Lancelot.
She reflects upon his armor’s sheen,
She looks at how his broad sword gleams,
She knows not that her face does beam,
The Lady of Shalott.
Not surprisingly, each copia example reflects a considerable investment of time and energy by the student. Though the writing came easier for some than others, all had to carefully work through the process.
What may be surprising is that each of the students experienced tremendous joy and satisfaction in the midst of toiling through the writing. Of course they were happy when they were done, but so too were they excited as they worked. And that makes for beautiful poetry.