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Introduction to Poetry | | |
 The Title
The subject matter of poetry arises from life itself though poets can sometimes be seen as remote figures.
But poets react to events in their own lives as well as the
world in general and the poem we have been studying is no exception. You may have already come to some
conclusions about the meaning of the poem but of course
there are still two things which are missing from it: the title and the name of the author. If you were
to be told that the title of this poem is Ben Johnson:Seoul 1988,
then this simple fact might make a difference to the way that you interpret the poem. Johnson
was a Canadian runner who smashed the record for the 100 yards at the
Olympics in Seoul. He was awarded the gold medal but this was withdrawn soon afterwards when he failed
a drugs test. The next section of this unit contains some
background information on the runner and the events in 1988.
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