TPCASTT number 2
Mason Payne
Beside a German Waterfall
Beside a German waterfall
On a very bright summer day
Beside a shattered airplane a navigator lay.
His pilot hung from a coconut tree
He was not yet quite dead
So listen to the very last words the navigator said.
We're going to a better land
Where everything's all right
Where whiskey flows from telephone poles
Play poker every night
We'll never have to work again
Just sit around and listen
We'll have beaucoup wild women
Oh death where is thy sting.
- Anonymous
Paraphrase
A plane crashed next to a waterfall one bright summer day and a pilot might die.
The pilot said that he is going to die but he is going to a better place and he won't have to worry about anything.
Connotation
Shattered means destroyed or broken up into multiple pieces.
Beaucoup means many or much so it says, "We'll have many wild women."
Attitude of the Speaker
The attitude of the speaker is shown when the pilot talks is almost happy because he wanted to go to heaven cause it is a better, less stressful, more peaceful place to live.
Shift
The poem shifted when the pilot started talking about how he wanted to go ahead and die so he could move on to a better place so he wouldn't have to worry about anything while he is in heaven.
Title Revisited
The title still means that something will happen next to a waterfall but I now know that there will be a plane crash and someone will die right next to it.
Theme
This poem could be tragic, sad, and relieving all at the same time. It can be tragic and sad because there was a plane crash and people are going to die from it. It can also be relieving because the pilot wanted to die after the crash had happened and he wanted to be put out of this stressful world and be at peace in heaven.