Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 1-3
After the teacher asked if anyone had
a sacred place
and the students fidgeted and shrank
- Let's dive in , Shmoopers. What do we have? Well, we've got a teacher and some fidgeting students. What do we know? We're probably in a classroom, and the teacher has just asked a question that made the students slightly uncomfortable (since they "shrank").
- Line 2 is indented and, thanks to some enjambment, isolates the phrase "a sacred place." This places a special emphasis on these words because they get a whole line to themselves. In fact, it's almost as if the words are claiming a spot in the poem as "sacred." The teacher is asking the students if any of them have a place they consider sacred and, at the same time, line 2 is like a sign saying that a line of poetry can be a "sacred place."
- Now to those uncomfortable students: They might be bored, they may not want to be there, or they might just feel put off by the question. The teacher is asking a simple question, though the answer might not be so simple. (After all, do you go around thinking of places as sacred all the time? If so, you might be the exception in this modern age of iTechnology and perpetual distraction.)
- Also, notice how the words, lines and characters seem to be mimicking each other. See how there are three lines, and the indented second line creates a visual little fidget in the first stanza? It's as if the lines are squirming a bit, just like the students. We better keep our eyes out for other instances where the shape of the poem imitates its content. (Check out "Form and Meter" for more on this.)