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ICSE Class X Notes 2019 : English Paper 2 (English Literature) Poems with Explanations by Stanza

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Omkar Shintre
Christ Academy, Koparkhairane, Navi Mumbai
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The Heart of the Tree: About the poem The Heart of the Tree by the American poet and novelist Henry Cuyler Bunner is a fine piece of poetry with a simple theme and a simpler structure. The poem was originally published in 1912. Planting a tree is always a great work for the mankind. But, the poet has found out new ways to look at the plants and plantation. In his poem The Heart of the Tree he glorifies the act further, shows how a tree helps life on earth and says that it has a direct connection to a nation s growth. All the three stanzas of the poem The Heart of the Tree starts with a refrain with the poet asking what the man actually plants who plants a tree. Then he chooses to reply it by himself and shows what a tree means to the humankind and to the nature, thus proving how great that man is. The Heart of the Tree: Line by line Explanation First Stanza What does he plant who plants a tree? He plants a friend of sun and sky; The poem opens with the refrain which asks What does he plant who plants a tree? and that sets the tone for the entire poem. We instantly realize that the poet is going to explain the usefulness of planting a tree. However, the poet himself answers by stating that the man plants a friend of sun and sky by planting a tree. A plant grows upwards and aims to reach the sun and the sky. So it is as if the sun and the sky get a new friend in a tree. Secondly, the tree needs sunlight and air to survive. And finally, the trees seem to absorb the heat and save the earth from the scorching sun, giving an implication that the sun becomes friendly in the presence of the trees. He plants the flag of breezes free; The shaft of beauty towering high; The speaker now adds that the man plants a flag that flies freely in the mild breeze. The poet here compares the leafy branches of the tree to a flag and the stem to the beautiful shaft (pole) of the flag that stands tall. He plants a home to heaven anigh; For song and mother-croon of bird 1 By planting a tree the man plants a home for the sweet singing birds high in the sky, near the heaven. So, he keeps the earth habitable for birds and helps in maintaining the eco-system. In hushed and .who plants a tree. In quiet and happy twilight we can hear those birds chirping which is harmonious to heaven s own tunes. In the entire first stanza of The Heart of the Tree, the poet accentuates the importance of trees in maintaining the holistic beauty of nature. Moreover, the use of words like heaven anigh , heaven s harmony and towering high is aimed at giving an impression that the work of planting a tree is indeed a heavenly and glorious deed. The finishing line of the stanza forms a logical whole with the opening line, one asking a question and the other completing the answer. Second Stanza What does he plant who plants a tree? He plants cool shade and tender rain, So, the poet repeats the question to begin a new stanza and attempts to answer again in the subsequent lines. The tree he plants provides us with cool shade and helps in bringing rain. And seed flush again; A tree will produce seed and bud in future. Years will pass silently but the tree will remain there through its seeds producing new trees. He plants the glory of the plain; He plants the forest s heritage; Trees are the main elements that make a plain area green and beautiful. So the poet describes trees as the glory of the plain . Moreover, today s single tree may turn into a forest someday, so by planting a tree now the man plants a forest s heritage . The harvest who plants a tree. The speaker mentions that planting a tree today would give fruits in coming days. Our next generations would be delighted seeing so much vegetation and reap its benefits, so all the credit goes to the man who plants a tree. In this stanza of the poem The Heart of the Tree the poet stresses on the importance of planting a tree for making this earth a better living place for future generations. 2 Third stanza What does he on the neighbourhood, By planting a tree the man shows his love and loyalty for this earth (his home), his sense of civic duty and his blessings on the neighbourhood. All these are reflected in the sap and leaf and wood , in every cell of the tree. Who in the hollow of His hand Holds all the growth of all our land A nation s growth from sea to sea Stirs in his heart who plants a tree. By planting a tree the man directly or indirectly contributes to the nation s growth. When a tree is planted, it sets in motion the progress of a nation from sea to sea. And all these start from the progressive thought in the man s heart who plants a tree. The capitalization in His indicates that the man who plants a tree is all-powerful and the destiny-maker of a nation. This last line is very important as it talks about the man s heart, his feelings, dreams and wishes behind planting the tree. This also leads to the poem s title The Heart of the Tree . Thus the poet Henry Cuyler Bunner ends up composing an uncommon piece of poetry in The Heart of the Tree out of a common and clich topic the usefulness of planting a tree. Themes of the poem: The poem The Heart of the Tree might actually have a number of themes, though the primary focus is on why trees are essential for human existence. The usefulness of trees: This is the prominent theme in the poem as the poet describes how a tree helps in keeping this earth habitable. This is detailed in another answer here: Why trees are important for us to survive in this world. Appreciation for natural beauty: Henry Bunner here shows his appreciation and demands the same from the readers for the beautiful aspects of nature. He wants us to love nature and its objects in order to help ourselves live better. The comparison of a tree to a flag of breezes free and to a heavenly home for birds says it all. Responsibility for future generations: In the entire second stanza the poet has talked about our responsibility to make this world a better living place for our future 3 generations. And seed and bud of days to be , The harvest of a coming age; / The joy that unborn eyes shall see the lines express this theme very well. Duties to fellow men and nation: In the third stanza of the poem, Bunner talks about how a man can perform his duties towards his neighbours and to his nation by planting a tree. In love of home and loyalty / And far-cast thought of civic good , His blessings on the neighbourhood , A nation s growth from sea to sea these lines all convey the theme of responsibility to our fellow men. The Cold Within by James Patrick Kinney About the poem Irish American poet, James Patrick Kinney uses his poetic parable, The Cold Within to illustrate the folly of falling prey to discrimination that shortchanges our own humanity. Written in the 1960s- during the African American Civil Rights movement (19541968) Kinney was outraged by inhuman discriminatory attitudes at the time and wrote this poem to prompt some serious soul searching. How often are we wise enough to rise above our egos? How foolish are we when we give in to our prejudices? Its message is relevant even today, when we face divisive outlooks in the world that lead to hatred and violence. The poem is a reminder to overcome our personal demons and be open to the wisdom of an egalitarian view an attitude where everyone is considered equal in worth. Kinney employs the medium of prose poetry a kind of narrative poetry that is a hybrid of a poem and very short story to protest against bigotry and racism. The piece comprises of 8 quatrains 4 lines per stanza with an approximate abcb end rhyme scheme. The Cold Within uses simple language and structure to ensure the message is not diluted. Given the delicate subject matter, note Kinney s skillful use of visual imagery to engage the reader through: Environment: In dark and bitter cold (Line 2) ; the dying fire (Line 5) Mannerisms: The first man held his back (Line 6); He gave his coat a hitch (Line 14) Physical appearance: He noticed one was black (Line 8); The third one sat in tattered clothes (Line 13) 4 The delivery too is straightforward no fancy words or meandering metaphors. We see allegories in the wood logs which can be seen to represent a person s abilities and resources; while the fire itself symbolizes the common good. Another language device used by Kinney is Personification where you give personal characteristics to something non-human. He does it with Death by speaking of Death having cold hands. Their sticks held tight in death s stilled hands (Line 29) Kinney does not preach; he wants the reader to draw inferences from the visual and symbolical cues that he gives each character to arrive at a conclusion the futility of exclusion. The Cold Within : Explanation by Stanza First Stanza: Six humans ..the story s told. We open up to a bleak tableau. The poet recounts a tale he has heard, of six persons caught together in the grip of a severe winter. Each of them probably had a single stick of wood. Note the poet s use of the word humans ; he wants to draw attention to the gathering as specific individuals, rather than as a collective group. They were trapped by happenstance implying no escape from a situation created by chance. The adjectives dark and bitter describing the cold add to the ominous feeling. Second Stanza: Their dying ..one was black. The second stanza cuts into a key character in this story the dying fire. The group s prospects do not look good. In the heart of winter keeping warm is critical to survival. The fire offers a chance for salvation if each person would use their respective logs to feed it. The dying fire is a silent appeal to the group to help themselves by helping each other. The next verses reveal how the situation unfolds. We find that the first person withheld his log from the fire only because it would benefit a black person. This is racism, where there is discrimination because of a person s race. The man will not even warm himself if someone he looks down upon simply because of skin color will gain. Third Stanza 5 The next man his stick of birch. The second person looked across the fire and saw someone who he knew didn t share his religious ideology. And just because of that, he can t bear to give up his log to the communal fire. This is bigotry, which speaks of intolerance to a person because they do not share the same opinions or ideas. Fourth Stanza The third one the idle rich? The focus now shifts. Here is a person who seems poor. His tattered clothes in the cold weather hint at poverty. He perhaps felt the cold more than the others as we notice that he gave his coat a hitch adjusting it closer to his body to wry out some warmth from the inadequate clothing. But here too is a dead end. We see that he is a victim of classism or discrimination based on social or economic class considering those favorably placed than him to be idle . He is defensive and in his eyes, the rich do not deserve his meager ration and he will not part with his stick. Fifth Stanza The rich ..lazy shiftless poor. At cross purposes, we find the next exhibit of apathy the rich man. Caught up hoarding his riches in his head, he is oblivious to reality. Greed blinds him as he selfishly connives to keep his wealth. He even miserly holds onto his stick, keeping it from the poor whom he perceives as aimless and lazy. Sixth Stanza The black man s ..spite the white. Even the victim becomes an abuser here. We know the black person had experienced racism. Revenge for the atrocities he had faced from the white people was the only thing on his mind. One wonders if he had already resigned himself to dying he saw the fire pass from his sight he realized that the fire was fast getting spent. But the spark of human kindness had died in him and literally too, he chose to let the group s fire die. He would perish, but he would take the others he hated down with him as well. Seventh stanza The last man .played the game. For the first time in the poem The Cold Within , the poet foreshadows the fate of the group by finally describing the bunch as forlorn or hopeless. Until then, the poet had reserved judgement, allowing the reader instead to examine each individual in turn and derive his/her own conclusion. 6 Unfortunately, we find that the last person also perpetuates the vicious circle of inertia. There is a word for this person s attitude and it is not in the English language. Mahmilapinapatai , is a word in the indigenous South American language of the Yaghan people. It refers to a look shared between people, where each hopes that the other will do something that all of them want, but none are willing to initiate. In giving just to get, the last person played a losing move in the game a metaphor for the game of Life. Eighth Stanza Their logs ..from the cold within. We witness the grim aftermath of the group s rigidity of spirit. Death comes and it is personified here with stilled hands. Each individual became their own agent of death their hands frozen stiff with their refusal to act. The fact that each of them still possessed their firewood when they died suggests the twisted motives in retaining their firewood, proof enough of sin. The final lines abound with Irony. We realize it was not the cold weather outside that really killed the group after all, it was the cold in their hearts, the lack of warm human spirits the cold within. The Bangle Sellers About the poem Written by the prominent Indian poet and politician Sarojini Naidu, The Bangle Sellers is a poem exploring the life of Indian women, the Indian culture and traditions revolving around women. In most of her poems, Sarojini Naidu writes on the theme of Indian culture and people. Her poems are focused on Indian settings and this poem makes no exception. In its Indianness, the poem resembles another poem of hers, In the Bazaars of Hyderabad. The poem revolves around bangles, which is an important ornament for embellishment of women in Indian Society. In the poem, the bangle sellers are at the temple fair and they shout out to the people passing by to have a look at their bangles. They urge them to buy bangles for their daughters and wives. Form and language of the poem 7 The entire poem has a structure where each stanza focuses on a particular theme. The first stanza depicts the merchants touting at the temple fair to attract the attention of the people passing by. The consequent stanzas focus on bangles of various colours the seller have for women of all different ages. The poem The Bangle Sellers has a simple rhyme scheme of aabbcc for each stanza. With mostly octasyllabic lines the poem has no distinctive metre, but one has an apprehension of the same due to the use of easy language and a general fluidity of words. Use of clever similes has made it a beauty. Explanation by stanza Stanza One: Bangle sellers ..daughters and happy wives. The poem begins with the speakers introducing themselves as bangle sellers who sell their articles at the temple fair. They call out to the people to buy their bangles. These hawkers describe their bangles as delicate, bright, rainbow-tinted circles of light. They advertise by questioning who will buy these bangles for their daughters and wives. It is important to note here that though the speakers of the poem are several, it appears as if there is a single speaker. This is due to the fact that they all have the same purpose and are thus seen singularly as a class essence . Also, the Bangles here are called lustrous tokens of radiant lives . It shows us the Indianness of the poem, where bangles are bought on special occasions and are associated with happiness and prosperity. Stanza two: Some are meet ..of new born leaves The second stanza onward, the speakers talk of the kinds of bangles they have. Some of these bangles are suited for a maiden s, that is, a young unmarried woman s wrist. They are Silver and Blue in colour like the mountain mist. Some of them are flushed , that is pink and light red in colour like flower buds growing beside a woodland stream. Still others are bright green like the colour of new born leaves. In Indian society, bangles have an important cultural and religious place. Different coloured bangles are worn by women in different stages of life. Blue, Silver, and Green are generally worn by young maidens. It is interesting to note that the poet here uses the words flushed like the buds that dream. The word buds here is suggestive of chastity. Buds that dreams present before us an image of young girls 8 dreaming of marriage. In this stanza, the poet presents the stage of youth in a woman s life. Stanza Three: Some are ..bridal tear. In the third stanza, the bangle sellers say that some of their bangles are yellow like fields of sunlit corn . Bangles of this colour are perfect for a bride on her bridal morn. Some of the bangles they have are bright red. They represent the flame of a newly turned bride s marriage fire, that is, the passion of her newly made relation. The red bangles also stand for her heart s desire. The bangles are tinkling, luminous, tender and clear . They express both her joy of starting a new life with her husband and the sorrow of leaving her parents behind. What we find striking is the use of the words bridal laughter and bridal tears. These words convey the whole of a woman s transition in life from a maiden to a wife and all the emotions attached with it in a single line. This stanza marks the transition of life from a maiden to a wife. Stanza Four: Some are ..husband s side. In the final stanza of the poem The Bangle Sellers, the speakers continue to advertise their bangles. They shout that some of their bangles are purple and gold flecked grey. These are suited for a middle-aged woman who has journeyed through life . They are for her who has raised her children well, and has remained faithful to her husband and family. These bangles are, they say, perfect for she who has maintained her household with pride and worships the gods at her husband s side . In this stanza, the poet writes down what she perceives as the qualities of a good wife. Such a woman is truly deserving of the purple and gold flecked grey bangles in her eyes. Here we should pay attention to the word sons used to mean offspring. While it could be a happy coincidence, it could also suggest the ingrained attitude of male preference in the society of Sarojini Naidu s times. The poem, The bangle Sellers is a celebration of the female life. It shows us the various stages of a woman s life and attempts to represent the Indian culture through the rainbow-tinted bangles. 9 The theme of this poem is that there are common steps taken throughout the life of a woman. While I'm not suggesting that every woman must follow these steps, the poem represents three major moments in life that seem to define women. The bangles are used to represent those moments. The first stanza is an introduction to the idea of the bangles representing the women's stages of life. They establish that the bangles are for "happy daughters and happy wives." This sets up for the rest of the poem, where the stages of lives are described by the colors of the bangles being sold by the bangle sellers to the various women. The second stanza discusses women in adolescence, or, maidenhood. These women wear bangles of "silver and blue" and the entire section is tinged with nature references as the blooming plants are related to the blooming women. The third stanza discusses women at the age of marriage. Some, like the flame of her marriage fire, Or, rich with the hue of her heart's desire, Tinkling, luminous, tender, and clear, These descriptions hone in on passion and tenderness, the qualities of a wife and someday a mother. The last stanza discusses women who have had children and have families. These bangles are "purple and gold flecked grey." These are rich colors, representative of a woman who is rich in experience with a husband, family, and religion. After Blenheim After Blenheim by Robert Southey is an anti-war poem that centres around one of the major battles of eighteenth century the Battle of Blenheim. Written in 1796 in the form of a ballad, it offers deep insights on war and its consequences. The 1704 War of Spanish Succession, in which a coalition of forces including the English, defeated the Franco-Bavarian army on the land of Blenheim, a small village in Southern Germany, supplies its ingredients. Through a conversation between an old farmer, Kaspar and his grandchildren, Wilhelmine and Peterkin the poet gradually reveals the scene of a former battlefield. One of the kids has found something large and round which his grandfather explains is a skull, one of many to be found nearby. Similar instances run through the poem to 10 support the main ideas tragic end of war & the vulnerability of human life. The poem After Blenheim makes us ponder on the purpose and result of a war and even questions its validity. The war caused huge devastation and thousands of casualties. But Old Kaspar seems to have an unconcerned attitude towards this as he claims that it was a famous victory and things like that must be . His gruesome descriptions, followed by his casual sayings create an effect of irony. It is ironic that it was a great war but no one knows why. Form and Style This ballad is separated into 11 equal verses. The poet has followed the rhyming scheme abcbdd in all the stanzas except the second one. The style used by the poet is a conversation between two people of very different ages the younger age representing vigor, restlessness and curiosity whereas the old age depicts experience, knowledge and passivity. In several stanzas of After Blenheim, Southey uses alliteration to promote rhyme and euphony. Here are some perfect examples. Now tell us what twas all about, With wonder-waiting eyes; They say it was a shocking sight Southey s use of archaic speeches (Nay nay my little girl, quoth he) and apostrophe by removing a silent vowel (as in twas) helps to create an atmosphere of antiquity and makes the ballad more entertaining. A recurring line comes at the end of some stanzas: But twas a famous victory. And such use of repeatition is another prominent feature of a ballad. Old Kaspar continuously repeats this sentence as this is all he knows about the war. But this is certainly not what the poem is saying. Rather, Southey uses this phrase to emphasize the exact opposite that it wasn t really a great victory; war can never be great . It s a highly effective way of making his point. Explanation by stanza It was a summer evening, Old Kaspar s work was done, And he before his cottage door Was sitting in the sun, And by him sported on the green 11 His little grandchild Wilhelmine. The poem begins by picturizing a vivid scene of a summer evening. It is the time when most people return from work. The days are long and tiring in summers, and the sun sets late in the evening. An elderly farmer named Kaspar sits in front of his cottage watching his grandchildren Wilhelmine and Peterkin at play on the lush green field. She saw her brother Peterkin Roll something large and round, Which he beside the rivulet In playing there had found; He came to ask what he had found, That was so large, and smooth, and round. As Wilhelmine was playing, she saw her brother Peterkin rolling something large, smooth and round which he had found beside the river. Meanwhile Kaspar was sitting around observing his actions. Out of curiosity, Peterkin takes that something to his grandfather, wanting to know about it. That was so large, and smooth, and round. Old Kaspar took it from the boy, Who stood expectant by; And then the old man shook his head, And, with a natural sigh Tis some poor fellow s skull, said he, Who fell in the great victory. The elderly Kaspar took that round thing from the boy, who was left in anticipation. After a brief look at it, the old man shook his head with a sigh and found it to be a skull of some poor fellow which refers to a soldier who had died in the war in the Battle of Blenheim in the great victory . I find them in the garden, For there s many here about; And often when I go to plough, The ploughshare turns them out. For many thousand men, said he, Were slain in that great victory. 12 The Battle of Blenheim lead to the death of thousands of soldiers whose corpses lie deep scattered in the field. Further, Kaspar relates how he had found many such objects while plowing the fields. The great victory refers to the triumph in the battle which also happens to be an example of sheer patriotism. Kaspar believed that the soldiers sacrificed their life for the country and did not die in vain. Their death served the purpose of victory in the battle. Now tell us what twas all about, Young Peterkin, he cries; And little Wilhelmine looks up With wonder-waiting eyes; Now tell us all about the war, And what they fought each other for. Hearing about the battle, the children were restless to know more about it. For them the battle seemed to bring thrill and excitement along with certain amazement. Little Wilhelmine was so curious to know about the war and the reason behind it that it reflected in her eyes gleaming for a wonder to unfold. The poet reflects upon the zeal and enthusiasm associated with young age. The ability to question things is a peculiar quality of kids which fades away with growing age. It was the English, Kaspar cried, Who put the French to rout; But what they fought each other for, I could not well make out; But everybody said, quoth he, That twas a famous victory. History books tell us that the British defeated the Franco-Bavarian army in the Battle of Blenheim. Kaspar tries to answer the questions posed by his grandchildren by telling them this piece of information. The interesting point to note here is he doesn t know the reason behind the war. In fact, he doesn t try to find it! He remembers what everybody told him the victory was famous, and he repeated it to himself time and again and put some belief in the words. My father lived at Blenheim then, Yon little stream hard by; They burnt his dwelling to the ground, And he was forced to fly; So with his wife and child he fled, 13 Nor had he where to rest his head. At this juncture of the poem After Blenheim , Kaspar recollects from the past, some of the scenarios of the war. He begins by remembering his father who lived in a small village of Blenheim near a river. The French wrecked havoc in the village and burnt homes of several innocent people to the ground. Consequently, the villagers were forced to migrate in search for shelter. The young Kaspar along with his parents fled to a different place but could not find a home because of the impending war. They had to roam from one place to another seeking rest. With fire and sword the country round Was wasted far and wide, And many a childing mother then, And new-born baby died; But things like that, you know, must be At every famous victory. In the above stanza of After Blenheim , the poet describes the severity of battle. Fire and sword are symbols of man s cruelty for man. They represent destruction, death and horror. Wasted is an emotionally charged word. It conjures an image of a land raped of any use, purpose and dignity. It shows both the futility of war and its power to destroy. The image of mother and baby killed in war here makes us see battle as catastrophic of both present and future. It powerfully evokes the death of innocence. Whether he believes it or not, Kaspar has resigned to the inevitability of death. That s why he takes those killings casually and thinks it must be there at every such victory. Famous victory is intentionally repeated by the poet to create a sense of irony. They say it was a shocking sight After the field was won; For many thousand bodies here Lay rotting in the sun; But things like that, you know, must be After a famous victory. The poet goes on to depict the terror of war. When the battle was over, thousands of dead bodies of soldiers lay rotting in the field. There are some sound effects in this stanza helped by the assonance of shocking and rotting and the alliteration in the first line. Combined, they give greater resonance to the horrendous image of death. The scene of rotting reduces dead men to carrion. An emotive, vivid word, it shows how war not only takes away life but also dignity and humanity. Great praise the Duke of Marlbro won, 14 And our good Prince Eugene. Why, twas a very wicked thing! Said little Wilhelmine. Nay nay my little girl, quoth he, It was a famous victory. The Duke of Marlbro & Prince Eugene representing Britain won the battle which lasted for days. Here Kaspar praises the Duke and the Prince for having defeated the French and bringing glories to the nation. A confused Wilhelmine exclaimed that it (war) was a wicked thing and wondered how her grandpa could sing praises of such a bloody war. Again, Kaspar quotes that it was a famous victory . It is obvious that the old man is hiding all the destruction and agony caused by the war by repeating these two words. He seems to be afraid of breaking the romantic ideals of war so carefully brought up in his mind. And everybody praised the Duke Who this great fight did win. But what good came of it at last? Quoth little Peterkin. Why that I cannot tell, said he, But twas a famous victory. Victory has many fathers but defeat is an orphan. Staying true to these words, many people praised the Duke for having won the war and Kaspar recalls this with some delight. Peterkin then anticipated on the very purpose of war and what it led to. What good did it do? But the old man did not have any answers to such questions. All he knew was that it was a famous victory. The poet again repeats the line But twas a famous victory . This line is an epitome of irony. The war was fought over a trivial dispute but cost lives of thousands and thousands of soldiers. The only thing inevitable in a war is destruction of life and property. Victory cannot bring back all the lives which were lost during the war. Hence, the poet questions the purpose and need of war. Thus the poem After Blenheim successfully conveys his message war is futile and should be avoided. 15 Television by Roald Dahl: About the poem Roald Dahl is one of the most prolific modern writers in English and is well known as a children s author. The poem Television is a famous poem of Dahl that advises and inspires to read books instead of watching the television. This is one of the most relevant poems of our time. The poem takes a comic look at a serious problem among young children today. It warns us about the dangers of watching television excessively. TV robs our minds of the power of imagination and creativity. He advises us to read books as it will enable us to discover deeper levels of joy, find fulfillment in life and open a whole new and exciting world for us. The poem is a long one but very simple in language and form. It follows rhymed Iambic tetrameter lines throughout the poem with no stanza division. The poet has capitalized the important portions especially where he talks about the undesired consequences of watching television. Paraphrase & Explanation of the poem The most important thing we ve learned, So far as children are concerned, Is never, NEVER, NEVER let Them near your television set Or better still, just don t install The idiotic thing at all. Dahl advises from his experience that people should never ever allow their children to go near the television set. It is even better not to install the idiotic thing called television. But why is a television an idiotic thing according to the poet? Throughout the entire poem, Dahl attempts to answer it. In almost every house we ve been, We ve watched them gaping at the screen. They loll and slop and lounge about, And stare until their eyes pop out. (Last week in someone s place we saw A dozen eyeballs on the floor.) 16 The poet shares his experience here. In almost every house he has visited, he has watched children gaping at the screen. They were staring with their eyes wide open and with absolute concentration of mind. For sitting a long time before the television set, they become tired. Sometimes they sit or lie in a lazy and casual manner (loll and slop and lounge about) and get sloppy. But still, they stare at the television until their eyes are too tired to watch any more (their eyes pop out). All these are not Dahl s imagination. He indeed saw a dozen eyeballs, i.e., half a dozen children sitting on the floor at someone s house very recently, say last week. They sit and stare and stare and sit Until they re hypnotised by it, Until they re absolutely drunk With all that shocking ghastly junk. When the children are before a television set, they sit and stare and stare and sit for long hours. They don t seem to be moving from there, as they probably forget everything around them in the real world. Rather, the one they watch on the television becomes real for the time being. They are almost hypnotized by this idiotic box. They are absolutely drunk , their minds are filled with those shocking ghastly junk which are mostly unreal and inappropriate for the age. Those TV shows kill their valuable time and make them lazy with no room for their physical play and exercise. They have no scope of spending time with books and nature, and interacting with others. Their minds, filled with the images and stories of a virtual world, are compared to a drunk man s imaginary world in an apt metaphor here. Oh yes, we know it keeps them still, They don t climb out the window sill, They never fight or kick or punch, They leave you free to cook the lunch And wash the dishes in the sink The poet now says that he knows that the television keeps the naughty children calm. When they are in front of a TV set, they no more do mischievous things like climbing out the window sill, fighting, kicking and punching. They let the mother free to cook the lunch and wash the dishes in the sink without any disturbance. But that can t be an 17 excuse to let them sit before a TV, because the poet thinks that the idiotic device does more harm than good. But did you ever stop to think, To wonder just exactly what This does to your beloved tot? IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD! IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD! The poet-speaker now asks the parents whether they ever spent a moment to think exactly what harm this television does to their loving child. He himself answers it in a brilliant way. Watching the television regularly damages the sense in the head. Children are drawn away from the reality, the real world around him. He just believes what he watches, without considering the context. His own environment hardly matches with the ones he sees on screen, but still he thinks all that are real and applicable to him. It also kills the power of imagination in the mind. Children start to live in a pre-set imaginary world that they see on the screen. They slowly lose their own creative thinking, their own imagination. Though what TV shows display are mostly fictional, that is a close imitation of the real world, not a completely different world as in a fairy tale. IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND! IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND Roald Dahl continues to argue on how television affects a child s mind. Children watch different shows on different channels. Sometimes there are contradictory ideas. Sometimes, it does not match with reality and they are surprised. Thus these things clogs and clutters up the mind messes up the organised ideas and thoughts. Moreover, the child forgets to think on his own. His entire mind is full of the images he has seen on the TV. So how would he get the time and scope to think over other things? His important time is wasted in the thoughts that are fictional and not related to his own life. Thus his study and thoughts on how to improve his skills and personality are neglected. This is as if the child gradually becomes dull and blind . HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND! 18 The poet feels that due to the imposed limitation on thoughts, the children can no longer understand a fantasy or a fairy tale. They cannot extend their imaginative power to that level. They are now used to see an image of the likely real world a virtual reality. HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE! HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE! HE CANNOT THINK HE ONLY SEES! Dahl now opines that by watching television, the brain becomes soft like cheese. Children now believe everything they watch or hear on TV. They cannot find their own logic to analyse and interpret a thing. The power of thinking, the thought process freezes and gets rusty. They cannot think on their own. All they do is watching and believing what others say on TV. All right! you ll cry. All right! you ll say, But if we take the set away, What shall we do to entertain Our darling children? Please explain! Now the poet says that he knows what the readers or especially the parents would ask him. The question is how parents shall entertain their affectionate children if they take the TV set away from them. The poet has the answer in the following lines. We ll answer this by asking you, What used the darling ones to do? How used they keep themselves contented Before this monster was invented? Have you forgotten? Don t you know? The poet answers the above question only by throwing a question. What people used to do to keep themselves entertained when television was not invented? TV set is a dreaded device, a monster to him. He wants people remind what they used to do in the absence of such a device. We ll say it very loud and slow: THEY USED TO READ! They d READ and READ, AND READ and READ, and then proceed To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks! One half their lives was reading books! 19 The poet himself reminds us that children in earlier times used to read lots of books. Surprisingly people then spent half of their lifetime by reading books. ( Great Scott! Gadzooks! is an expression of surprise or amazement.) The nursery shelves held books galore! Books cluttered up the nursery floor! And in the bedroom, by the bed, More books were waiting to be read! In those earlier days the nursery selves were full of bools. In nursery schools, books remained scattered on the floor. Even in their home, the bedroom and the bed books cluttered up everywhere. Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales And treasure isles, and distant shores Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars, And pirates wearing purple pants, And sailing ships and elephants, And cannibals crouching round the pot, Stirring away at something hot. (It smells so good, what can it be? Good gracious, it s Penelope.) Here the poet talks about the popular books of adventures that children used to read in his time. In those days boys and girls read fantastic stories of dragons, gypsies, queens, whales, treasure islands, smugglers, pirates, ships, elephants, cannibals and so on. The younger ones had Beatrix Potter With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter, And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland, And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle andJust How The Camel Got His Hump, And How the Monkey Lost His Rump, And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul, There s Mr. Rat and Mr. MoleOh, books, what books they used to know, Those children living long ago! The younger children used to read stories written by Helen Beatrix Potter, an author of children s books featuring animals with colourful illustrations. Dahl here pays a tribute to the children author for her fantastic stories on animals. He also mentions some of the 20 stories like How the camel got his hump and some characters like Mr. Toad, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle etc. from those stories. This shows the poet s love for those books and how he enjoyed them in his childhood days. So please, oh please, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install A lovely bookshelf on the wall. Roald Dahl, the poet now requests the parents for their own good to throw away their television set and install a book shelf in its place. Then fill the shelves with lots of books, Ignoring all the dirty looks, The screams and yells, the bites and kicks, And children hitting you with sticksAfter installing the book shelf in place of a TV set, the parents will face some dirty looks, screams, yells, bites and kicks from their children. They may even hit them with sticks. But the poet insists on filling that shelf with lots of books on various topics ignoring all those screaming and such. Fear not, because we promise you That, in about a week or two Of having nothing else to do, They ll now begin to feel the need Of having something to read. Dahl here assures us that after a week of two, those children would find nothing to do without a TV set around. So they will finally feel the need to read books. They will come closer to books on their own. And once they start oh boy, oh boy! You watch the slowly growing joy That fills their hearts. They ll grow so keen They ll wonder what they d ever seen In that ridiculous machine, 21 That nauseating, foul, unclean, Repulsive television screen! And once they start reading, the only way is ahead of them. They will find it interesting to read more and more books. That will give them the imagination and thoughts, the knowledge and wisdom, the satisfaction of mind and heart. And at one stage they will grow so keen on reading books that they will wonder what they had found in that silly machine called television. They will find the television screen disgusting and unclean then, as they will discover the real joy of reading books. And later, each and every kid Will love you more for what you did. And finally each and every kid will love the parents for giving them the opportunity to find real joy in reading books. Even when they would grow up, they would thank their parents for taking that television set away and installing the book shelf there. The poet advocates for reading and only reading. Dahl thinks TV can never be a substitute for books. Books are the only things that can deliver real wisdom. I wandered lonely as a Cloud (Daffodils) William Wordsworth The speaker was walking around through the hills and valleys, but he felt all lonely and mopey. Suddenly, as he passed a lake, he noticed a big group of yellow daffodils waving in the breeze. This wasn't just some scattered patch of daffodils. We re talking thousands and thousands around this particular bay. And all these flowers were dancing. Yes, the daffodils danced, and so did the waves of the lake. But the daffodils danced better. The speaker s loneliness was replaced by joy, but he didn't even realize what a gift he has received until later. Now, whenever he s feeling kind of blah, he just thinks of the daffodils, and his heart is happily dancing. I wandered lonely as a Cloud That floats on high o'er vales and Hills, The speaker describes how he walked around and felt as lonely as a cloud. He doesn t say, "walked around," but uses the much more descriptive word "wandered." "Wandered" means roaming around without a purpose, like when you explore something. So it s not necessarily a bad thing. But in its metaphorical use, "wandered" 22 can mean feeling purposeless and directionless in general. As in, you have questions like, "What s the meaning of my life?" The first concept that we want to take a look at is that the cloud is "lonely." Asking questions about what this means will help us get into the poem. Are clouds lonely? Well, maybe the ones that float about valleys ("vales") and hills are lonely. It's more likely, the speaker is projecting his own loneliness on the clouds. But that still doesn t explain the strange image, because clouds usually travel in groups. (Except in cartoons where you can have a single rain cloud following Wiley E. Coyote around just to ruin his day.) Maybe a cloud is lonely because it is so far above the rest of the world. Its thoughts are just so "lofty," and maybe the speaker s thoughts are, too. Also, the cloud could be lonely because it floats over a natural landscape with no people in it. Maybe the speaker has thought of hills and valleys because he happens to be "wandering" through such a landscape. These are some of the questions we re hoping the poem will help us sort out after this mysterious beginning. When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden Daffodils; Suddenly ("all at once"), the speaker sees a group of daffodil flowers. We tend to think of daffodils as "yellow," but he uses the more majestic-sounding "golden." He calls them a "crowd," so they must be packed tightly together. Then he elaborates on "crowd" by adding the noun "host." A host is just a big group. Yes, "host" and "crowd" mean pretty much the same thing. Ah, but that s where the connotations come in, those vague associations that attach to certain words. A "crowd" is associated with groups of people, while "host" is associated with angels, because people often refer to a "host of angels." Coupled with the description of their angelic "golden" color, we seem to be dealing with some very special daffodils. Beside the Lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. He sees the daffodils beside a lake and underneath some trees. It s a breezy day, and the flowers "flutter" and "dance" on their stems. Maybe now is a good time to step outside the poem for just a second to note that Wordsworth lived in a part of England known as the Lake District, which is filled with lots of hills, valleys and, of course, lakes. We can assume he s walking in a fairly remote and wild part of the countryside. Now, back to the poem. "Fluttering" suggests flight, which could bring us back to the angels or even birds or butterflies. "Dancing" is something that usually only humans do. 23 The daffodils are given the qualities of humans and also of some kind of otherworldly creatures, perhaps. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, The poet emphasizes the point that there are a whole lot of daffodils. More daffodils than he has probably ever seen before. After all, these are flowers that usually grow in scattered groups in the wild or in people s well-tended gardens. The flowers stretch "continuously," without a break, like the stars in the Milky Way galaxy, each one gleaming like a star. The comparison to stars provides new evidence that the speaker is trying to make us think of angels or other heavenly beings. They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Like the Milky Way galaxy, the flowers are roughly concentrated in a line that seems to stretch as far as the eye can see ("never-ending"). They flowers line the shore ("margin") of a bay of the lake, which must be a relatively large lake. If you ve ever seen the Milky Way (or the photo in the link above), you know that the galaxy appears to be a band that has more stars and a brighter appearance than the night sky around it. It s not a perfectly clear line, but more like a fuzzy approximation of a line. We imagine the same effect with the flowers. It s not as if there are no flowers outside the shore of the lake, but most are concentrated on the shore. Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The speaker takes in "ten thousand" dancing flowers at once. That s a lot of daffodils. Wow, he s fast at counting if he knows the number after only a quick glance. But, of course, the speaker is not actually counting, but just guessing. (It's like when you try to guess the number of gumballs in a jar.) The flowers "toss their hands" while dancing to the wind. By "heads" we think he means the part of the flower with the petals, the weight of which causes the rest of the flower to bob. "Sprightly" means happily or merrily. The word derives from "sprite," which refers to the playful little spirits that people once thought inhabited nature. "Sprites" are supernatural beings, almost like fairies. The waves beside them danced; but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: 24 The waves also dance in the breeze, but the daffodils seem happier than the waves. We know from Dorothy Wordsworth s journal (see "In a Nutshell") that the day that inspired this poem was a stormy one, so the waves on this medium-to-large sized lake must have been larger than usual. Maybe they were even cresting into whitecaps. The point is that the entire scene has suddenly been invested with a joyful human-like presence. Since waves do not bring as much joy as the yellow flowers, the flowers "outdid" the water with their happiness. The waves "sparkle," which creates yet another association with the stars. Everything seems to be gleaming and twinkling and shining and sparkling. A Poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company: The speaker reenters the poem. (We ve haven t seen you since the first line, buddy.) Except he refers to himself in the first person, by his vocation, "a poet." Despite his earlier loneliness, the speaker now can t help but feel happy, or "gay," with such a beautiful vision to look at. Or, as he puts at, with such joyful and carefree ("jocund") "company" to hang out with. The flowers and waves feel like companions to him. They are all pals. Group hug! I gazed--and gazed--but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: The repetition of "gaze" tells us that he kept looking at the flowers for a long time. It's as if the speaker enjoys looking at these daffodils at the time, but doesn t realize exactly how great of a gift he has just received with this vision. Apparently, the speaker doesn't think that he fully appreciated the vision at the time. This is a bit odd, because he seems to be reallyenjoying those daffodils. The word "wealth" expresses a more permanent kind of happiness. It also carries a hint of money that does not quite fit with the supernatural language that has come before. For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, Now the speaker explains why the daffodils were such a great gift to him. He moves suddenly into the future, back from the lake and the windy day. He s describing a habitual action, something he does often. First, he sets the scene: he often sits on his couch, kind of feeling blah about life, with no great thoughts and sights. Sometimes his mind is empty and "vacant," like a bored teenager sitting on the sofa after school and trying to decide what to do. At other times 25 he feels "pensive," which means he thinks kind-of-sad thoughts. You can t be both "vacant" and "pensive" because one means "not thinking," and the other means "thinking while feeling blue." But he groups the two experiences together because both are vaguely unpleasant and dissatisfying. They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; So, often when our speaker gets in these downer moods, the image of the daffodils "flashes" through his mind. The "inward eye" expresses what Wordsworth felt to be a deeper, truer spiritual vision. A person cannot share his or her own spiritual vision completely with others, and so it is a form of "solitude." But its truth and beauty make it "blissful." Why does the speaker think of daffodils in exactly these moments? Maybe it's because the contrast between their joy and his unhappiness is so striking. Nonetheless, the vision is spontaneous, like a crack of lightning. And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the Daffodils When the memory of the flowers and the lake flashes into his head, he feels happy again. It s almost like the same experience he had while "wandering" through nature at the beginning of the poem, when the real daffodils pushed the loneliness out of his head. The memory of the daffodils is as good as the real thing. His heart is set to dancing, just like the flowers. He dances along "with" them they are his cheerful companions once again. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: About the poem I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a free verse written by the American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou is widely regarded as the Black Woman s Poet Laureate. Her reflections on the society and the times she lived in are vividly expressed in her poetry. Outwardly the poem I know why the caged bird sings or Caged Bird as it is often interchangeably known, can be seen as a reflection on social disparity, and the ideals of freedom and justice. Angelou, with the metaphor of birds, represents the inequality of justice seen in the society of her time which differentiates between the AfricanAmerican community and its White American counterpart. Through her poem, she also illustrates the nature of both freedom and captivity by creating a stark contrast between the two using birds as the metaphor. 26 The poem is divided into six stanzas, describing the state of two birds, where one is free and floats and dares to claim the sky , while the other is caged in his bar of rage . The first and the third stanza shows the delight of the free bird experiencing freedom, whereas the rest of the stanzas concentrate on the plight of the caged bird. Angelou puts greater emphasis on the lamentable state of the caged bird, and contrasts this with that of the free bird. Although the poem I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings has no definitive rhyme scheme, it creates the illusion of rhyme with the clever use of consonance. The enjambment in the poem draws the reader s eye to things of importance in a blunt manner. Stanza wise analysis : I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings First Stanza The free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends and dips his wings in the orange sun rays and dares to claim the sky. The opening lines show a bird leaping on the back of the wind demonstrating the freedom it experience to move about and glide freely through the air. It hovers over a stream of wind and floats downwards to where the current of the stream ends and the wind is calm. It dips its wing in the sea of orange sunlight. The bird is shown in a state of great tranquility. It has the freedom to move about wherever it desires. It is so utterly free and without restraints that it dares to claim the sky . The whole firmament is his one big home. Second stanza: But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing. Here, poet Maya Angelou contrasts the situation by presenting the image of a caged bird. The caged bird tries to go after his cage in vain. The cage is narrow and its 27 metaphorical bars are of rage. The caged bird is seen to be angry with its situation. It desires with all its heart to escape its plight. But the caged bird cannot see beyond his cage. Its wings are clipped, that is, its freedom is taken away. Wings are associated with flight, which in turn is associated with freedom. The words his wings are clipped mean that its freedom is forcibly taken away. It cannot fly even if it desires to. Its feet are tied. A bird tied to the ground represents an image completely opposite to its true nature of flight. This represents the fact of alienation of the bird. But the most important thing is that despite being in this utterly despondent predicament, the caged bird opens his throat to sing. That seems to be his only joy and achievement in life. Third Stanza: The caged bird sings with fearful trill of the things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom The caged bird has a wavering voice. He is singing of freedom, something he does not have. The idea of freedom is his dream, one he cannot achieve. So, he sings about it. There is fear in his voice. He had never known what freedom tastes like, but hopes to have it for his own. His voice can be heard from distant places, on hills where it inspires others to dream of freedom. The caged bird doesn t sing of sadness, but of hope, inspiration and of freedom. Fourth stanza: The free bird thinks of another breeze and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn and he names the sky his own. The free bird on the other hand revels in his freedom. He enjoys flying through the trade wind that blows through the trees. Sighing trees probably refers to the sighing sound made by the breeze while passing through the leafy branches. It gives an indication to their lack of freedom, as the trees are also tied to the ground like the caged bird. 28 The free bird thinks of the fat worm that will be his food. With the wind in his feathers, water and earth beneath him, and the whole sky with him, he feels majestic in his freedom and calls the entire sky his own domain. By names the sky his own the poet s wishes to express that the bird knows himself to be the proprietor of this whole universe. Here the sky stands for the universe. Fifth stanza: But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing. The caged, inversely, knows that he is not flying in the sky, that he is not free, but a captive, a prisoner. He thus stands on the grave of dreams He knows his dreams of flying in a free firmament, to experience freedom is futile. He had lost all hope of freedom. His shadow shouts on a nightmare scream . It is more pitiable, more adverse than a nightmare. His wings are clipped and feet are tied; there is only a little hope of freedom, and so the bird opens his throat to sing. The bird wishes to travail against all adversities. There is a faint but kindling voice of hope in his song. Sixth stanza: The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom. This refrain recurring as a stanza justifies the bird s stout determination to keep going after his dream of freedom. Moreover, the caged bird chooses to sing as this is the only freedom available to him, that he can enjoy without any restriction. His wings are clipped, feet are tied, but his throat is not chocked yet. This is something the poet have felt at heart and that s why she uses the title I Know Why the Cages Bird Sings . This might be seen as the poet s message to raise our voice, to express ourselves even though the stronger wants to suppress the weaker and to never ever give up, no matter what situation we are in. * 29 In many ways the poem I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings can be considered as the poet s personal expression. Maya Angelou can be regarded as the caged bird in the poem. A stanza in the poem is repeated to catch the attention to the idea of the caged bird singing for freedom. The poem uses a metaphor to compare caged birds to African Americans fighting for equality during the civil rights movement. The Patriot About the poem The Patriot is a dramatic monologue written by the renowned English poet and playwright Robert Browning. He is well known for his dramatic monologues and is widely celebrated as one of the foremost poets of the Victorian era. In this poem, Browning talks about Politics, Patriotism, Religious faith, and the harsh reality of the leaders who are true to their sense of patriotism. It speaks about the sacrifice of such leaders who are misunderstood by the people. The speaker of the poem is a patriot. The poem is a monologue of this patriot speaker who narrates his tale to us as he has been taken to the scaffold to be executed publicly for his misdeeds . He tells us of his situation: how he was once well loved by everyone, and how he is now despised by the same people. The patriot is innocent of having done any misdeeds, and it is only out of the misunderstanding of the people that he is being put to death. His death sentence is for the wrong reason, and although he s tried to persuade the people to listen to him, it has done him no good. The Patriot is a harsh critique on public sentiment and morality. It stresses on the point that not all decisions made or supported by the people are the right decisions, or even in their own interest. The poem has a sense of universality to it as history has witnessed the rise and fall of many such patriots throughout its course a grim reminder that life is uncertain!. Form and structure of the poem The Patriot has a curious structure of six stanzas of five lines each. A quick scansion reveals that the poem in not based on a strict metre. The length of a majority of lines is nine syllables, with a few going a syllable or two beyond that mark. Instead of the metre the musical quality is achieved by the careful placement of words. The poem has a clear rhyme scheme of ababa which is carried and maintained throughout all the stanzas of the poem. As with any good poem with a definitive rhyme, this one too seems to have made a prodigal use of assonance and consonance. 30 In the first two stanzas the poem introduces the conditions of the past. The third stanza is the poet s revelation on how and why the conditions changed, and that too against him. The fourth and the fifth stanza contrasts the past with the present. The last stanza is the poet s acceptance of his condition and an expression of his hope. It can be seen that the poem follows an orderly sequence of a story where the conditions of the past are told, the impetus for the change is discussed, the present state is shown and a final conclusion is drawn on all things as a whole. This makes the sub-title of the poem An old story all the more relevant. The Patriot: Stanza wise Explanation First Stanza It was roses, and roses all the way With myrtle mixed in my path like mad: The house-roofs seemed to heave and sway, The church-spires flamed, such flags they had, A year ago on this very day. The poem starts with the patriot describing an event a grand public welcome that took place a year ago on that very same day. He is reminiscing the past, and he builds a picture for us as he remembers that day. His walking path was covered with lots and lots of rose petals, with myrtle mixed in them. The path was festooned with these flower for him. People standing on the roofs of their houses cheered for him as he passed by. They were overjoyed to see him. The spires of the church pointed tapering roofs we generally see on old cathedrals and similar buildings were covered with flaming flags that the people had put up for a celebration. People were overwhelmingly delighted to greet their hero and were enthusiastic to see him as he passed by. It is only logical to assume that this grand celebration must be as a result of some achievement on the speaker s part. Perhaps it was a victory in war or the assemblage for fighting one, or winning a popular election to an office, or being nominated as a ruler, or maybe something else. It can be assumed at this point in the poem that it concerned the common people highly, and they were happy on the occasion. The patriot is seen as a public hero in this stanza who is greeted with much love and affection by the commoners. Second Stanza: The air broke into a mist with bells, The old walls rocked with the crowd and cries. 31 Had I said, Good folk, mere noise repels But give me your sun from yonder skies! They had answered, And afterward, what else? In the second stanza of the poem, the speaker continues narrating the old story from the same day a year ago. He describes the event to the readers. People were rejoicing by ringing bells and the entire atmosphere was thick with its noise. They were standing on some kind of old structure and cheering for the patriot with their cries rocking the walls. Now the patriot says, had he asked the public for anything even the dearest things on which their sustenance depends they would have readily given it to him; such great was his image. They would then ask him what else he wanted. We can see the exuberance of the people at the sight of the. The poet is trying to establish the kind of popularity the speaker had through this stanza. Third Stanza: Alack, it was I who leaped at the sun To give it my loving friends to keep! Nought man could do, have I left undone: And you see my harvest, what I reap This very day, now a year is run. The third stanza of the poem is the speaker s discourse on what all he did for his country. It begins with the poet giving a subtle reference to the old Greek mythological tale of Icarus and Daedalus. Icarus was the son of the great Inventor Daedalus and the story revolves around the escape of these two men from a high tower where they were held prisoners by making wings out of bird feathers and wax. Icarus, taken aback with the ability of flight, flies too close to the sun, which causes the wax in his wings melt and his eventual fall which kills him. Just like Icarus, the speaker admits that he too was overly ambitious and leaped at the sun . Giving the sun his loving friends to keep may suggest that his actions somehow caused the death of his close friends. Here again, we can hypothesize that the patriot is talking about some battle that claimed the lives of his dear ones. He did everything a man could have done to make things right. Despite this he is facing his undeserved end. He calls to attention the miserable state he is in. The terms harvest and reap are closely seen as common metaphors for karma, and the poet uses this to convey that what he is facing is not what he truly deserves. He says it has been a year since that day. Here, the poet ends the speaker s flashback. 32 Stanza Four: There s nobody on the house-tops now Just a palsied few at the window set For the best of the sight is, all allow, At the shambles gate or, better yet By the scaffold s very foot, I trow. The speaker returns to the present and talks about what he sees. He describes the present setting and in a way contrasts it with the one on the same day a year ago. Now he has been convicted and is being led to the gallows to be put to death. As opposed to the setting in the first stanza, now the place is all empty. Now there s nobody on the roof-tops cheering him. Only old men who are taken down by palsy (a disease) and unable to cross the threshold of their houses are watching the patriot as he marches towards his death. The reason why no one is there to see the speaker is because people have gathered at the Shambles gate, the gate of the gallows, to see him die. The people want to be where the action is. The speaker further makes the heart-touching comment that the best sight is at the gate of the slaughterhouse, or at the very foot of the scaffold. Stanza Five: I go in the rain, and, more than needs, A rope cuts my wrists behind; And I think, by the feel, of my forehead bleeds For they fling, whoever has a mind, Stones at me for my year s misdeeds. The fifth stanza is the continuation of the previous one and further describes the speaker s humiliation at the hands of the people. The poet starts with filling up the setting even more. It is raining as the speaker is walking towards the scaffold. His hands are tied behind by a tight rope so tight that it cuts his wrists. He has now arrived closer to the Shambles Gate where all the people are gathered. The patriot is in his own mind, knowing the steadfast certainty of death ahead of him. As he is walking, he thinks he is bleeding from his forehead. He can only feel the trickling of blood. People throwing stones at him are causing the injuries. So stones have replaced the petals of roses! He says that the people who are throwing stones are the ones who have an active mind, and are aware of his misdeeds . The speaker doesn t seem to be angry with these people for throwing stones at him. It suggests, that despite the treatment he is receiving, he doesn t blame the people; he knows that they have misunderstood him. 33 Stanza Six: Thus I entered, and thus I go! In triumphs, people have dropped down dead. Paid by the world, what dost thou owe Me? God might question; now instead, Tis God shall repay: I am safer so. The last stanza of the poem reflects on the patriot s death. It is full of philosophical and religious ideas. Thus I entered and thus I go his entry and exit from life, position and people s minds in the presence of so many others sums up the speaker s life well. He says that in (his) triumphs, people have dropped (him) down dead. This suggests that he looks at his predicament as a triumph. He believes that he stood by the right things and thus considers himself victorious in defeat. The final three lines of the stanza deal with the ideas of the speaker. Yet again we see Browning s stout religious belief. He believes that god might say Your sins were already washed away when you died. The people sought to it. They punished you; what now do you expect from me? You are now free of all corruption . Thus, the patriot thinks that the punishment he got in the mortal world has purged him, and that he hopes to go to heaven instead of hell. He feels safer knowing that god knows he stood for what he thought was right and thus he will be safe under him. * As a conclusive note, we must remember that it is not possible to establish the gullibility or innocence of the patriot in the poem. On one hand we see the speaker himself admitting that he did some misdeeds, whilst on the other hand we see him as a patriot who is mistaken at least the title suggests that. It might be so that he is guilty of some things he did which he thought were right. It might even be so that he is truly innocent and is simply put to death because the people wish so. However, the poem ends on a note of optimism with Browning s own philosophy God s in His Heaven, and all s Right with the World . The Patriot believes that it is God who will reward him according to his true merit. On the closing tone, this poem resembles Browning s another poem, The Last Ride Together. 34 Abou Ben Adhem Abou Ben Adhem by James Henry Leigh Hunt (1784-1859) is a literary gem based on the spirit of Fraternity. The poem is Hunt s rendering of a divine encounter between an angel and the Sufi mystic, Ibrahim Bin Adham. This is a narrative poem, where Hunt uses the storytelling technique to convey a profound reflection loving one s fellowmen is perhaps more virtuous, if not at par, with loving the Almighty Himself. Incidentally, the poem draws from Arabian lore, where in the Islamic month of Nous Sha aban, God takes the golden book of mankind and chooses those dear to Him who He will call in the coming year. Thus indirectly, this is also a poem about a blessed death . It is a fitting tribute then, that the verse Write me as one who loves his fellow men came to be used in Hunt s epitaph. The legend of Abou Ben Adhem , was picked up by Hunt from a French book, the Biblioth que Orientale (1697). Hunt s choice of subject and setting an Arabian tale with idealistic and supernatural overtones is an example of Romantic Orientalism. Against this backdrop, the otherworldly quality of the poem is enhanced. Hunt added more flavor to context by employing an archaic style of writing here. The speech style of the characters What writest thou? ; Nay, not so. lends to the old world feel of the poem. Another aspect is Hunt s practice of using an apostrophe to omit a vowel that does not have a sound rais d; answer d; vanish d. This is an early English practice that hails from the 16th century. As a reader, you can feel that this is a tale from yore. Line by line analysis First Stanza: Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!) The poem opens with the name of the protagonist and a blessing upon him. The use of the parenthesis in (May his tribe increase!) indicates that this portion is not directly linked to the poem itself. Yet this is a gesture by the poet to declare that here is a man worth remembering for generations to come. Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, And saw, within the moonlight in his room, Making it rich, & like a lily in bloom, An angel, writing in a book of gold. These lines are full of visual imagery and Metaphors; they describe an Awakening. A deep dream of peace refers to a meditative, restful state that Abou Ben Adhem was in. Abou awakens to the presence of the angel which has already effected a transformation 35 of the room, gilding it, making it look like a lily in bloom . The angel is writing something in a golden book. The simile like a lily in bloom conveys the potential of this encounter to bloom into something pure and noble. The fabled book of gold symbolizes its richness and the great value placed on its contents. Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold, And to the Presence in the room he said, What writest thou? The Vision rais d its head, And, in a tone made of all sweet accord, Answer d The names of those who love the Lord. It is not every day that one has a divine visitor calmly writing away in one s room. Imagine Abou Ben Adhem s astonishment. Then again, feel the tranquil awareness that still comes through. The angel s nonchalant actions could have emboldened him to satisfy his curiosity. Without any preamble, he asks the angel What writest thou? an old-fashioned way of asking What are you writing? . The angel replies in a tone of sweet accord a voice full of patience and kindness- that it is writing the names of those who have been honored by heaven for their love of God. Another feature to consider in this portion are the ways by which the poet refers to the angel viz. as a Presence and as a Vision . And is mine one? said Abou. Nay, not so; Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low, But cheerily still, and said I pray thee then, Write me, as one that loves his fellow men. Eagerly, Abou asks if his love for God has been worthy enough to earn him a place in the angel s heavenly book. The angel s negative answer comes in a kind but matter-of-fact way. But he still perseveres and humbly but cheerfully makes his iconic request to write his name as one who loves his fellow men . Contemplate on the fact that Abou Ben Adhem is unsure about his love for God, in contrast to the confidence he has of his love for mankind. Write me as one that loves his fellow men. These are the words that hold the poem s essence and render this poem immortal. Second Stanza: The angel wrote, & vanish d. The next night It came again, with a great wakening light, Our angelic host complies and leaves only to return in the next night. Our poet now speaks of a second awakening. Here, we see a great wakening light so bright that it rouses Abou Ben Adhem awake. On a metamorphic level, this speaks of an enlightenment. Contrast this with the earlier waking scenario, which is inherently more 36 gentle and subtle. Our heavenly messenger apparently comes with some important news. And showed the names whom love of God had bless d, And lo! Ben Adhem s name led all the rest. This is the moment of truth, the point where most readers either smile or scoff. Whatever your reaction, this is where the poem bares the priorities of God. The angel now reveals the names whom God has blessed. To Abou Ben Adhem s astonishment, it is his name that leads everyone else s. His love for mankind proved to be valued greater than the others love of God. Hunt brings charm and idealism to his interpretation of Religion that finds more virtue in acts of Compassion rather than just Faith. This is what makes this poem memorable. Abou Ben Adhem was a religious person. One night when he was sleeping peacefully in his room, a sparkling light woke him up. He found out that this bright light was due to the presence of an angel who was writing something in a golden book. Being a pious man, Abou was not afraid of the Angel and the silence in the room made him more courageous. He asked the angel what he was writing in the book. The reply Abou heard was that he was writing the names of all those people who love God. About asked the angel curiously if his name was in the list. The angel replied was negative. He then politely requested the angel to write his name as those people who love God s fellow men. The angle wrote and disappeared. The other night, it came again with a still glistening light and displayed the names of people whom God had blessed. Abou Ben Adhem saw that his name was gon the top of the list and it led all the rest. Abou was the king of Balkh but later became sufi saint. Nine Gold Medals About the poem Nine Gold Medals , written by the American Rock vocalist David Roth, is a song that inspires human compassion and cooperation. The poem is based on a story about the nine differently-abled athletes in a Special Olympic event. In a race, when one runner fell to the ground, all the others stopped and returned back to help him stand on his feet and then they walked hand-in-hand to finish the race. Each of the athletes was awarded a gold medal in recognition of their outstanding show of empathy and compassion. Variations of the song are available on the internet. But the version sung by the Scottish singer Iain MacKintosh in 1996 is included in the ICSE board collection Treasure 37 Trove . Though MacKintosh mentioned it as a true story in his introduction, an online reportclaims it to be partly true. According to the folks at the Special Olympics Washington office, the incident happened at a 1976 track-and-field event held in Spokane, Washington. A contestant did take a tumble, and one or two of the other athletes turned back to help the fallen one, culminating in their crossing the finish line together, but it was only one or two, not everyone in the event. The others continued to run their race. However, beyond the authenticity of the incident, the poem Nine Gold Medals conveys a great message to the humanity that the world now needs no more competition, but more cooperation and collaboration. This is very much relevant in our times when people forget to help one another in an unhealthy rat-race in every aspect of life. Nine Gold Medals: Explanation by lines The athletes had come from so many countries To run for the gold and the silver and bronze Many weeks and months in training All building up to the games Athletes have come from many countries all over the world to take part in the Special Olympics. They were there to compete for medals gold, silver and bronze. They have gone through strenuous training for months to participate in the events with high hopes and dreams of winning medals. All round the field spectators were gathered Cheering on all the young women and men Then the final event of the day was approaching The last race about to begin A large audience was present at the ground to cheer the participants of different events. They cheered and enjoyed throughout the day. Now it was time for the final event of the day the race. People were eagerly waiting for the event to begin. The loudspeakers called out the names of the runners The one hundred metres the race to be run And nine young athletes stood there determined And poised for the sound of the gun The names of the runners who would take part in the hundred-metre race were announced. There were nine participants, all determined to win the competition and lined up behind the starting point. They were ready to start, waiting for the sound of the gun. 38 The signal was given, the pistol exploded And so did the runners on hearing the sound But the youngest among them stumbled and staggered And he fell on his knees to the ground The pistol exploded signalling the start of the race. All the runners charged ahead along their respective tracks. But suddenly, there occurred an unexpected thing. The shortest athlete among them stumbled and staggered, and fell on his knees to the ground, the asphalt track. He gave out a cry of frustration and anguish His dreams and his efforts dashed in the dirt But as sure as I m standing here telling the story Now it s a strange one, but here s what occurred Nothing could be more frustrating for a differently abled athlete after such tough training. The moment he fell, he knew all his dreams, hopes and efforts were dusted. His pain and disappointment made him give out a cry. But it did not end here. There occurred something really strange following his fall. The eight other athletes stopped in their tracks The ones who had trained for so long to compete One by one they turned round and came back to help him And lifted the lad to his feet Strangely enough, the eight other athletes who were ahead of him stopped in their tracks. Though they had trained hard for so long to compete with one another and win medals, the fall of one athlete changed their minds. They now returned one by one and helped the fallen one stand up on his feet. Then all nine runners joined hands and continued The one hundred metres reduced to a walk And the banner above that said Special Olympics Could not have been nearer the mark Then all the nine athletes joined hands and walked to the finishing line together. The hundred metre race was reduced to a walk. But still, it was special for the great display of human compassion, cooperation and sportsman spirit. It could not have been more special in any way. That s how the race ended, with nine gold medals They came to the finish line holding hands still 39 Thus the race ended with nine athletes holding their hands right to the finishing mark. They won nine gold medals one for each very deservingly. And the banner above and nine smiling faces Said more than these words ever will Said more than these words ever will The nine sportsmen stood in smiling faces under the banner that declared it as a Special Olympics . Those smiling faces touched the heart of everyone present there. It delivered something special a great feeling and a great lesson this mere poem is not enough to express. It was beyond words. 40

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