Image of people climbing Mt. Everest
Daniel Prudek/Alamy Stock Photo
Poetry,

Mount Everest Speaks

A thoughtful poem inviting the reader to imagine themselves as Mount Everest

By Rebecca Kai Dotlich
From the February 2025 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will identify how the language the poet uses in the poem makes it seem like Mount Everest is alive.

Complexity Factors
  • Levels of Meaning
    The poem “Mount Everest Speaks” explains how it feels to be a mountain that is constantly being hiked on.
  • Structure
    The poem contains five stanzas. This poem is a free verse poem with no set rhyming scheme.
  • Language
    The language is mostly simple, but does include a few trickier terms such as thrill seekers, Hula-Hoop, and gear.
  • Knowledge Demands
    Some familiarity with Mount Everest may aid comprehension.
Featured Skill: Personification, Figurative Language,
Other Key Skills: main idea, supporting details, interpreting text, inference, expressing an opinion, text features, explanatory writing, poetry writing
Standards
  • Common Core
    RL.3.1, RL.3.2, RL.3.3, RL.3.4, RL.3.5, RL.3.7, RL.3.9, RL.4, W.3.2, SL.3.1, SL.3.2, L.3.4
  • TEKS Grade 3
    1a, 1c, 3a, 3b, 4, 6a, 6c, 6f, 6g, 6i, 7b, 7c, 7g, 9b, 10a, 10b, 10d, 10e, 12b, 12c

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Personification

As you read, think about how the poet makes the mountain seem human.

Mount Everest Speaks

Here they come,

the hikers, the dreamers,

the thrill seekers.

One 

       by one 

                   they climb. 


I hear them

with tools and tents,

backpacks and boots

(the wind whips around me

like a wild Hula-Hoop).



The climbers and their gear

are heavy (a pick digs in, ouch!),

but I’m strong enough

to carry thousands of dreams

and hopes of reaching the top.

 

Look!

A group has made it!

Soon they will make their way

back down

                   down 

                             down. 


Sigh. Finally.

A bit of peace and quiet

up here in the frozen air and clouds.

Reprinted by permission of THE POET. All Rights Reserved.

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Table of Contents

1. Preparing to Read

2. Close Reading

3. SEL Focus

4. Skill Building

5. Differentiate and Customize

Struggling Readers, Multilingual Learners, Advanced Readers, Creative Writing

1. Preparing to Read

Set a Purpose for Reading

  • Read the title of the poem along with the poet’s name. Ask students to describe the photograph and predict what the poem will be about. Review the predictions after reading the poem.
  • Explain that the poem contains five stanzas. Some of the words are arranged on the page to help convey action.

2. Reading and Discussing the Poem 

  • Read the poem to the class, play the audio Read-Aloud, or use Text-to-Speech.
  • Next ask students to take turns reading aloud each line in the poem.
  • Discuss the Close-Reading Questions.

Close-Reading Questions

  • Who does the mountain see in the first stanza or group of lines? The mountain sees the climbers. The climbers are hikers, dreamers, and thrill seekers. (main idea)
  • What different sounds does the mountain hear in the second stanza? The mountain hears the different sounds made by the climbers. The climbers carry tools, tents, and backpacks, and they are wearing boots. (supporting details)
  • In the second stanza the mountain says, “the wind whips around me like a wild Hula-Hoop.” What does comparing the wind to a “wild Hula-Hoop” help you imagine? This helps me imagine how quickly the wind moves around the mountain. (figurative language)
  • What does the mountain feel in the third stanza? The mountain feels how heavy the climbers and their equipment are. When a climber’s pick digs into it, the mountain says “ouch!” (personification)
  • Read the fifth stanza. What does the mountain think when a group of climbers make it to the top? The mountain knows that the group will soon make their way back down, down, down the mountain. (main idea)
  • Read the last stanza. Why do you think the mountain says, “Finally. A bit of peace and quiet up here in the frozen air and clouds”? The mountain feels happy that all the climbers are gone and now there is peace and quiet. (interpreting text, inference)
  • Do you think “Mount Everest Speaks” is a good title for this poem? Why or why not? Answers may vary. Sample response: I think this is a good title for the poem because the mountain is speaking to the readers about its thoughts and feelings. It is a popular mountain that many climbers climb. So it is speaking out about how it feels about it. (expressing an opinion)

3. Skill Building

Featured Skill: Figurative Language: Personification

Distribute or digitally assign our Figurative Language: Personification Skill Builder and have students complete it in class or for homework.

Text-to-Speech