In this activity you will write a lyric poem. Consider what you have learned about poetry so far in this lesson and unit. Write a lyric poem on an appropriate topic of your choice. Because lyric poetry focuses on exploring and evoking the speaker's moods and thoughts without telling a story, your poem should do this as well. Your poem should include these elements: • a clear purpose or goal
• a focused exploration of a particular theme
• figurative language
• some major aspect of poetry discussed in the course so far, such as a rhyme scheme, meter, or poetic structure

Introduce your topic and theme effectively and provide some degree of resolution to your topic. Do so by introducing the subject, developing the theme, and exploring how that theme has affected you. Your poem should be at least 16 lines long.

These guidelines may be helpful:

• Make sure your poem has an intended purpose and conveys an idea.
• Don't talk about multiple events or topics. Focus on one theme or idea.
• Consider using figurative language to express emotions.
• For a poem to be lyrical, it often needs a basic rhyme scheme, meter, and structure. Keep your poem short and maintain the same rhyme scheme in the stanzas.

in our power to make a world happy - to teach mankind the art of being so - to a character hitherto unknown - and to have, as it were, a new creation intrusted to our hands, are honors that command reflection, and can neither be too highly estimated,

throughout the ancient epic of gilgamesh, the protagonist, gilgamesh of course, exhibited many character traits that made him a true epic hero. one great trait that gilgamesh acquires of an epic hero is that he's a courageous and confident leader. in the text enkidu is too afraid to fight, but he's positive that gilgamesh has the ability to triumph against humbaba. gilgamesh tells enkidu to not be afraid and then continues on to remind him of all the victories he's had against similar foe. gilgamesh proves that he's confident by encouraging enkidu and shows he's courageous when enkidu ask gilgamesh to battle humbaba alone because he knows that gilgamesh will reign victorious.

another characteristic that makes gilgamesh an epic hero is that he's brave and takes risks. "dread surged through gilgamesh, terror flooded his muscles, his heart froze, his mouth went dry, his legs shook, his feet were rooted to the ground. / gilgamesh felt his courage return. they charged at humbaba like two wild bulls." when reading the first part of the quote you see that gilgamesh is terrified of humbaba, and realizing that humbaba is the antagonist he's about to battle is taking a big risk. gilgamesh soon shows how brave he is by not letting his fear of humbaba overtake him, instead he went charging into the face of fear and triumphs.