4^TH SEM, ENGLISH HONS.

ENG-HC-4026

 

The Lamb

                                                                                                By-  William Blake

 

1.      What is the Lamb a metaphor of?

Ans. The Lamb of the poem is a metaphor for a child, someone innocent and unmarked by life’s experiences. It may also refer to Christ, the Lamb of God.

2.       How, according to the speaker, are the Little Lamb and its creator similar?

Ans. The speaker reminds the Little Lamb that its creator, God, is often referred to as Lamb (Jesus Christ), and like the Little Lamb, he once took the form of a child on Earth.

3.      What type of rhyme scheme is the poem written in?

Ans. The first stanza of the poem is written in rhyming couplets. The second stanza features a circular/symmetrical rhyme scheme of a/a/b/c/d/d/c/b/a/a.

4.      What is the main idea of the lamb?

Ans. “The Lamb” is a poem by William Blake, which was published in 1789 in Songs of Innocence. This poem centres on Christianity, having the “Lamb” as the symbol of Jesus as “The Lamb of God.” Innocence is the ultimate theme of this poem. So the main idea here revolves around a child asking a lamb about who created them.

5.      Is the Lamb a romantic poem?

Ans. “The Lamb” is a poem that has been written as an illustration depicting nature. This is romantic in the sense that it places spirituality in a natural setting through God. The Lamb itself also serves as a Christian sign of innocence, which can also reflect the same thing only in terms of nature.

6.      What two things does the lamb symbolize?

Ans. Traditionally, lambs stand for innocence. Jesus Christ is compared to a lamb in the Christian Gospels because he marches meekly to be sacrificed on behalf of mankind. In fact, lambs as baby sheep are related to the childhood theme that runs throughout the Songs of Innocence.

7.      What does the lamb symbolize in Christianity?

Ans. The lamb in Christianity represents Christ as both suffering and victorious; it a sacrificial animal, and can also symbolize gentleness, innocence, and purity. The lamb also symbolizes sweetness, forgiveness, compassion and meekness.

8.      Who do you think has made the lamb?

Ans. This question is one of the most profound and spiritual questions asked by the poet William Blake and he is well familiar that it’s the same Omni-potent that created the tiger who created the lamb as well. The lamb is gentle and meek and the lamb can be turned into a child

 

Qs. Critically analyse the poem ‘The Lamb’ by William Blake.

Ans.

William Blake was the most remarkable poet among the precursors of the Romantic Revival in English literature. The wide appeal of Blake’s poetry ranges from the deceptive cadence of his lullaby-lik pastorals and songs to the troubling notes of the tragedy of the unhappy souls and the stormy music of the prophetic works. However, Blake’s most widely read poems are contained in Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience. ‘The Lamb’ is taken from the Songs of Innocence which was published in 1789. It is a didactic poem. In this poem the poet pays a tribute to Christ who is innocent and pure like a child and meek and mild like a lamb. The little child asks the lamb if he knows who has created it, who has blessed it with life and with the capacity to feed by the stream and over the meadow. The child asks him if the lamb knows who has given it bright and soft wool, which serves as its clothing, who has given it a tender voice which fills the valley with joy.

 

In the first stanza of ten lines of William Blake’s poem ‘The Lamb’, the child who is supposed to be speaking to the lamb, gives a brief description of the little animal as he sees it. In the poem, the innocent child repeatedly asks the lamb as to who made him. The child addresses Little Lamb to ask him who made him and wants to ascertain whether he knows who made him. The child wants to know who gave the Lamb his life, who fed him while living along the river on the other said of the meadow. H also wants to know from the Lamb who supplied him with pleasant body-cover (clothing) which is so soft. The lamb is also asked by the child who gave him such delicate bleating voice, which causes an echo of a happy note in the surrounding valleys. The poem is marked by the child’s innocence which is the first stage in Blake’s search of truth. In the second stanza of the poem, there is an identification of the lamb, Christ, and the child. Christ has another name, that is, Lamb, because Christ is meek and mild like lamb. Christ was also a child when he first appeared on this earth as the Son of God.

 

            The child in this poem speaks to the lamb, as if the lamb was another child and could respond to what is being said. The child shows his deep joy in the company of the lamb who is just like him, meek and mild. The poem conveys the spirit of childhood – the purity, the innocence, the tenderness of childhood and the affection that a child feels for little creatures. So, the child himself proceeds to answer the questions he has asked the Lamb in the first stanza. The child says that the person, who has created the Lamb and has given many gifts described in the first stanza, is himself by the name of the Lamb. It is Jesus Christ who calls himself a Lamb. ‘The Lamb’ identifies with Christ to form a Trinity of Child, Lamb and Redeemer (Jesus).

 

The first stanza depicts the lamb in its natural habitat, a beautiful pastoral scene in which the lamb is free to run around. All that the lamb needs is provided for it, making the lamb a symbol of freedom and innocent joy. As the first stanza asks the question about the lamb’s existence, the second gives the clear reply. Here, the poem takes up the lamb as a symbol. In John 1:29 in the Bible, Jesus Christ is given the title “Lamb of God.” So the poem is not just marveling at the lamb itself, but also at the way in which

the lamb is God, just as the Bible describes Jesus himself to be God. Both the lamb and the speaker, who is a child, are “called by his name.”

 

In the next stanza, the speaker attempts a riddling answer to his own question: the lamb was made by one who “calls himself a Lamb,” one who resembles in his gentleness both the child and the lamb. The poem ends with the child bestowing a blessing on the lamb. The poem is a child’s song, in the form of questions and answers. The first stanza is rural and descriptive, while the second focuses on abstract spiritual matters and contains explanation and analogy. The child’s question is both naive and profound. The question (“who made thee?”)is a simple one, and yet the child is also tapping into the deep and timeless questions that all human beings have, about their own origins and the nature of creation. The poem’s apostrophic form contributes to the effect of naiveté, since the situation of a child talking to an animal is a believable one, and not simply a contrived one. Yet by answering his own question, the child converts it into a rhetorical one, thus counteracting the initial spontaneous sense of the poem. The answer is presented as a puzzle or riddle, and even though it is an easy one—child’s play— this also contributes to an underlying sense of ironic knowledge in the poem. The child’s answer, however, reveals his confidence in his simple Christian faith and his innocent acceptance of its teachings.

 

The lamb, of course, symbolizes Jesus. The traditional image of Jesus as a lamb underscores the Christian values of gentleness, meekness, and peace. The image of the child is also associated with Jesus: in the Gospel, Jesus displays a special solicitude for children, and the Bible’s depiction of Jesus in his childhood shows him as guileless and vulnerable. These are also the characteristics from which the child-speaker approaches the ideas of nature and of God

 

 

 

The Tyger

 

1.       What other animal is mentioned in the poem?

Ans.  The other animal mentioned in the poem is the lamb.

2.      Whose is the only hand that can handle the awe-inspiring tiger?

Ans.  The God’s hand is the only hand that can handle the awe-inspiring tiger.

3.      Give some examples of alliteration from the poem.

Ans.  Some examples of alliteration are -Burning bright, frame fearful, distant deeps and began beat.

4.      Why do you think the hand or eye is referred to as immortal?

Ans.  The immortal hand or eye symbolizes sight and creation.

5.      Why is symmetry termed fearful?

Ans. In the poem, symmetry is termed fearful because the tiger is scary and dangerous and can kill and wound easily.

6.      How does the speaker present the Tyger, as compared to the lamb in Blake’s other poem?

Ans. The Tyger is more complex and more ferocious than the lamb. It lacks the innocence of the lamb, and serves as a hunter rather than hunted. Lastly, the Tyger is fiery coloured, while the lamb is pure white.

7.       Explain the implications of the two words ‘immortal’ and ‘fearful’ about the image of the tiger.

Ans. The poet expresses wonder at the awful beauty of the creature and asks what “immortal hand or eye” could have framed it. Note the two words “immortal” and “fearful”. They signify the fact that the tiger is a symbol of both terror and divinity.

8.      Q. What does the Tyger by William Blake mean?

Ans. The Tyger is drawn from The Songs of Experience written by William Blake. The’ Tyger’ is a symbolic tiger symbolic of the evil force of the human soul. It is created in the fire of imagination by God, who has a supreme imagination, spirituality and ideas.

9.      What does the Tyger symbolize?

Ans. The ‘tiger’ in William Blake’s poem “The Tyger” is a symbol of evil. The terms used to characterize the tiger include “burning” and “fire”, both of these mean hell fires. Blake also uses “fearful” , “dread”, and “deadly terrors” to characterize feeling with which the tiger is associated.

10.  What does burning bright mean in the Tyger?

Ans. Burning Bright “may describe the Tyger’s appearance , or it may describe a kind of strength or force that this Tyger holds at a deeper level. Thus, The burning bright means being so fierce, being so capable, so intelligent, and owning the power to do anything. “what immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?” The usage of the immortal hand or eye refers to God.

 

Qs. Critically analyse Blake's poem, ‘The Tyger’ in Songs of Experience.

 

Ans.     Blake wrote Songs of Innocence as contrary to the Songs of Experience, both, together forming the central tenet in his philosophy. ‘The Lamb’, like many of the Songs of Innocence, accepts what Blake saw as the more positive aspects of conventional Christian belief. But it does not provide a completely adequate doctrine, because it fails to account for the presence of suffering and evil in the world. Taking together, the two poems, ‘The Lamb’ and ‘The Tyger’, give a perspective on religion that includes the good and clear as well as the terrible and inscrutable. These poems complement each other to produce a fuller account of Blake’s vision. The Tyger, as part of Songs of Experience, was published in 1794. The poem begins with the speaker asking a fearsome tiger what kind of divine being could have created it.

 

The opening question enacts what will be the single dramatic gesture of the poem, and each subsequent stanza elaborates on this conception. Blake is building on the conventional idea that nature, like a work of art, must in some way contain a reflection of its creator. The tiger is strikingly beautiful yet also horrific in its capacity for violence. What kind of a God, then, could or would design such a terrifying beast as the tiger? In more general terms, what does the undeniable existence of evil and violence in the world tell us about the nature of God, and what does it mean to live in a world where a being can at once contain both beauty and horror? The tiger initially appears as a strikingly sensuous image. However, as the poem progresses, it takes on a symbolic character, and comes to embody the spiritual and moral problem the poem explores: perfectly beautiful and yet perfectly destructive, Blake’s tiger becomes the symbolic center for an investigation into the presence of evil in the world. Since the tiger’s remarkable nature exists both in physical and moral terms, the speaker’s questions about its origin must also encompass both physical and moral dimensions. The poem’s series of questions repeatedly ask what sort of physical creative capacity the “fearful symmetry” of the tiger bespeaks; assumedly only a very strong and powerful being could be capable of such a creation.

 

The smithy represents a traditional image of artistic creation; here Blake applies it to the divine creation of the natural world. The “forging” of the tiger suggests a very physical, laborious, and deliberate kind of making; it emphasizes the awesome physical presence of the tiger and precludes the idea that such a creation could have been in any way accidentally or haphazardly produced. It also continues from the first description of the tiger the imagery of fire with its simultaneous connotations of creation, purification, and destruction. The speaker stands in awe of the tiger as a sheer physical and aesthetic achievement, even as he recoils in horror from the moral implications of such a creation; for the poem addresses not only the question of who could make such a creature as the tiger, but who would perform this act. This is a question of creative responsibility and of will, and the poet carefully includes this moral question with the consideration of physical power. One should note, in the third stanza, the parallelism of “shoulder” and “art,” as well as the fact that it is not just the body but also the “heart” of the tiger that is being forged. The repeated use of word the “dare” to replace the “could” of the first stanza introduces a dimension of aspiration and willfulness into the sheer might of the creative act.

 

The reference to the lamb in the penultimate stanza reminds the reader that a tiger and a lamb have been created by the same God, and raises questions about the implications of this. It also invites a contrast between the perspectives of “experience” and “innocence” represented here and in the poem, ‘The Lamb’. ‘The Tyger’ consists entirely of unanswered questions, and the poet leaves us to awe at the complexity of creation, the sheer magnitude of God’s power, and the inscrutability of divine will. The perspective of experience in this poem involves a sophisticated acknowledgment of what is unexplainable in the universe, presenting evil as the prime example of something that cannot be denied, but will not withstand facile explanation, either. The open awe of ‘The Tyger’ contrasts with the easy confidence, in ‘The Lamb’, of a child’s innocent faith in a benevolent universe.

 

So, Blake has structured the poem to ring with incessant repetitive questioning, demanding of the creature, "Who made thee?" In the third stanza, the focus moves from the tiger, the creation, to the creator – of whom Blake wonders "What dread hand? & what dread feet?” In ‘The Lamb’ and ‘The Tyger’, Blake presents similar ideas from a different perspective which is known as his concept of "contraries". With ‘The Lamb’ bringing our attention to innocence, ‘The Tyger’ presents a duality between aesthetic beauty and primal ferocity, and Blake believes that to see one, the hand that created ‘The Lamb’, one must also see the other, the hand that created ‘The Tyger’: "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?"The Songs of Experience were written as a contrary to the Songs of Innocence – a central tenet in Blake's philosophy, and central theme in his work. The struggle of humanity is based on the concept of the contrary nature of things,

 

The fiery imagery used throughout the poem conjures the tiger’s aura of danger: fire equates to fear. The first stanza and sixth stanza, alike in every respect except for the shift from  ‘Could frame’ to ‘Dare frame’, frame the poem, asking about the immortal creator responsible for the beast. The second stanza continues the fire imagery established by the image of the tiger ‘burning bright’, with talk of ‘the fire’ of the creature’s eyes, and the notion of the creator fashioning the tiger out of pure fire, as if He had reached his hand into the fire and moulded the creature from it. In the third stanza and fourth stanza, Blake introduces another central metaphor, explicitly drawing a comparison between God and a blacksmith. It is as if the Creator made the blacksmith in his forge, hammering the base materials into the living and breathing ferocious creature which now walks the earth.

 

The fifth stanza is more puzzling, but ‘stars’ have long been associated with human destiny. When the Creator fashioned the tiger, Blake asks, did he look with pride upon the animal he had created? The broader point is one that many Christian believers have had to grapple with: if God is all-loving, why did he make such a fearsome and dangerous animal? We can’t easily fit the tiger into the ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ view of Christian creation. As Blake himself asks, ‘Did he who made the Lamb make thee?’ In other words, did God make the gentle and meek animals, but also the destructive and ferocious ones? Presumably the question is rhetorical. Indeed, we might take such an analysis further and see the duality between the lamb and the tiger as being specifically about the two versions of God in Christianity: the vengeful and punitive Old Testament God, and the meek and forgiving God presented in the New Testament. So far as the significance of the fire in the poem, it’s worth noting that this fiery imagery also summons the idea of Greek myth – specifically, the myth of Prometheus, the deity who stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind. From that daring act of transgression, man’s development followed. Once man had fire, he was free, and had the divine spark. Blake’s question ‘What the hand, dare seize the fire?’ alludes to the figure of Prometheus, seizing fire from the gods and giving it to man. The Tyger seems to embody, in part, this transgressive yet divine spirit. But, ultimately, ‘The Tyger’ remains, like the creature itself, an enigma, a fearsome and elusive beast.

 

Here also, we are exhorted to have a look at Blake’s illustration in relation to the poem. ‘The Tyger’ clearly works on a metaphorical level. It is full of references to rebellion: to Satan’s revolt in Paradise Lost , to Prometheus, and, perhaps to Icarus.  Such images have led some critics to see the tiger as a metaphor for revolution. Another complex aspect of Blake’s metaphor is that, unlike the lamb, who is ‘made’ by God, the tiger owes its existence to a combination of human labour and industrial process. Stanza three focuses on human effort, the shoulder and the art which ‘twist the sinews of thy heart’. Stanza four conceives of the tiger’s creation in terms of industry, using a series of metonyms for the blacksmith’s forge: ‘hammer’, ‘chain’, ‘furnace’, ‘anvil’. While, like all the Romantics, Blake was repelled by the Industrial Revolution and its objectification of human beings, this stanza has undeniable energy and a fascination with what industry can produce: ‘what dread grasp | Dare its deadly terrors clasp?’ It’s interesting that both the worker and the tiger are represented by a strange combination of body parts (‘shoulder’, ‘heart’, ‘sinews’, ‘hand’, ‘feet’, ‘brain’). Where ‘The Lamb’ offers the reader simple certainties and the loving, benign God of the New Testament, ‘The Tyger’ presents creation as enigmatic and unknowable. Some critics see this as indicative of the painful, fallen world of experience where faith is impossible, ‘the distant deeps’ offering only insecurity and epistemological chaos. ‘The Tyger’ thus becomes part of the Experience poems’ pessimism and anguish.

 

The Chimney Sweeper

 

1.       Why did little Tom Dacre cry?

Answer: Little Tom Dacre cried because his head’s hair was being shaved off.

2.       How did the speaker console him?

Answer: The speaker consoled him by saying that when your head is bald soot will not be able to spoil your white hair.

3.       What do these lines tells us about the speaker?

Answer: These lines tell us that the speaker is a very emotional and caring person.

4.       At what time did Tom and the speaker wake up?

Answer: Tom and the speaker woke when it was still dark.

5.       What kind of life did the speaker and the other children have?

Answer: The speaker and the other children had a very terrible life because they were working from morning to night without having sufficient food.

6.       Why was Tom happy and warm on a cold morning?

Answer: Tom was happy and warm on a cold morning because the Angel told him that if he’d be a good boy, he’d have God for his father.

7.       Who is the speaker of these lines?

Answer: The speaker of these lines is a very young boy who is employed as a chimney sweeper.

8.       Why does the child cry ‘Weep! Weep! Weep! Weep!? Explain the significance of the lisping and the repetition of the word ‘sweep’?

Answer: The child is saying so to announce that a chimney sweeper has arrived. Blake has tried to create pity for the young boy to show that the boy was very young when he was sold off to work as a chimney sweeper. The lisping shows that the child was so small that the child could not speak properly.

9.       So your chimneys I sweep and in soot I sleep. What is the signification of this line?

Answer: This line also makes us feel pity for him because he says that he cleans our chimneys and so is covered in soot and perhaps sleeps without a bath as they lived in inhuman conditions.

10.  Who is Tom? What is the speaker’s relationship to little Tom?

Answer: Tom was a young chimney sweeper like the narrator. The narrator had comforted Tom because his head was shaved off.

11.  Describe Tom’s dream.

Answer: Tom saw thousands of chimney sweepers ‘locked up’ in black coffins. Some were perhaps his friends because he remembers their names.

12.   What does Tom’s dream mean?

Answer: In his dream, Tom saw that thousands of children like him are leading very unhappy lives. They worked as chimney sweepers, led miserable lives and perhaps slept in the bags that contained the soot, hence the reference of ‘coffins of black’. Since they worked in unhygienic conditions, they probably died young too. Hence the reference of being locked in coffins.

13.   Who are ‘they’ in these lines? Why are they ‘naked and white’? What could be the ‘bags’ they leave behind?

Answer: ‘They’ in these lines are the chimney sweepers whom Tom saw in his dream. They are ‘naked and white’ because they have been set free from their miserable lives by an angel. The ‘bags’ they left behind could be the bags containing the chimney-cleaning equipment which they wouldn’t need anymore.

14.   Who is the Angel? How has the Angel helped Tom and the others?

Answer: The Angel is perhaps God’s messenger. He released Tom and the others from their miserable lives.

15.   What does the Angel tell Tom?

Answer: The Angel tells Tom that if he is good, God will be his father and he will never lack joy.

16.   How old was the speaker when his mother died?

Answer: The speaker was very young when his mother died.

17.   What did his father do with him?

Answer: His father sold him.

18.   What is meant by ‘in soot I sleep’?

Answer: By ‘in soot I sleep’ the poet means that where he is sleeping it is covered with black powder which is there when the chimney is cleaned.

19.   Who was Tom Dacre?

Answer: Dom Dacre was a little boy who was a companion of the poet.

20.   What did Tom see in his dreams?

Answer: Tom saw that thousands of sweepers were locked up in the coffins of black and then an Angel who had a bright key and he opened the coffins and set them all free. They were playing, running and laughing and they were washing in a river and shinning in the sun.

21.   What does ‘coffins of black’ refer to?

Answer: By coffins of black the poet refers to images of soot and ash.

22.   What did the Angel do with the ‘bright key’?

Answer: The Angel opened the coffins with the bright key.

23.   What did the Angel tell Tom?

Answer: The Angel told Tom that he’d be a good boy, he’d have God for his father and he will never want joy.

24.   Why is Tom ‘happy and warm’ although the ‘morning was cold’?

Answer: Tom is ‘happy and warm’ although the ‘morning was cold’ because he was comforted that his life would improve one day.

25.   Describe the terrible conditions in which the young chimney sweepers lived.

Answer: The young chimney sweepers were innocent boys who did not have a proper childhood. They were sold by their parents when they were young. They had to work in the dark sooty chimneys and they would be covered in soot. And since their hair would become covered with soot, their heads would be shaved.

 

Qs. Critically discuss the summery of the poem ‘The Chimney Sweeper’

Ans.

The Chimney Sweeper" is the title of a poem by William Blake, published in two parts in Songs of Innocence in 1789 and Songs of experience in 1794. The poem "The Chimney Sweeper" is set against the dark background of child labour that was prominent in England in the late 18th and 19th century. At the age of four and five, boys were sold to clean chimneys, due to their small size. These children were oppressed and had a diminutive existence that was socially accepted at the time. Children in this field of work were often unfed and poorly clothed. In most cases, these children died from either falling through the chimneys or from lung damage and other horrible diseases from breathing in the soot. In the earlier poem, a young chimney sweeper recounts a dream by one of his fellows, in which an angel rescues the boys from coffins and takes them to a sunny meadow; in the later poem, an apparently adult speaker encounters a child chimney sweeper abandoned in the snow while his parents are at church or possibly even suffered death where church is referring to being with God. In 'The Chimney Sweeper' of Innocence, Blake can be interpreted to criticise the view of the Church that through work and hardship, reward in the next life would be attained; this results in an acceptance of exploitation observed in the closing lines 'if all do their duty they need not fear harm.' Blake uses this poem to highlight the dangers of an innocent,... naive view, demonstrating how this allows the societal abuse of child labour.

 

The speaker of the poem tells us about his early childhood. His mother died when he was a kid and his father sold him to the chimney sweeping business. At that time, the speaker could hardly weep and was not even able to speak properly and then he started sweeping the chimneys and sleeping in the soot coming out of them. The speaker then tells us about one of his new fellow sweepers. His name was Tom. He was also a small kid when he came to this business.  He started crying when his beautiful curly hair just like lamb’s back was shaved for working in the chimneys.  The speaker relieved him and asked him to be quiet. He told him that he will be glad when his curly white hair will not get dirty because of the soot coming out of the chimneys.

 

The little Tom became quiet and he went to sleep. While he was sleeping, he had a strange vision in his dream. He saw that thousands of sweepers, some of them were Dick, Joe, Ned and Jack, were all locked up in the black coffins. He saw that an angel came to them with a bright key and he opened their locked coffins and set them all free. After getting free, all the sweepers went to a plain green land where they became very happy and started to enjoy. They laughed together and ran here and there, enjoying their freedom. Then they washed in the river and also basked in the sun. The little Tom saw them all naked and white. They started flying on the clouds in the wind and they left their bags and all their burdens behind and flew freely and happily.

The angel came to Tom and told him that he will become a good boy then God will become his father and he will never be deprived of happiness and joy. After that Tom woke up. The speaker and Tom woke up early in the morning when it was almost dark and they took their bags and brushes and went to work. The speaker tells us that though it was a cold morning yet Tom looked warm and satisfied. In the end, the speaker suggests if everyone does his duty properly then no one needs to fear any punishment or harm.

The Chimney Sweeper consists of six quatrains, each following the AABB rhyme scheme, with two rhyming couplets per quatrain. Through this poem, the poet sheds light on the pitiable condition of the chimney sweepers who were being exploited by their Masters. This is a poem which describes the rampant bondage labor, child labor, exploitation of children at tender age, and the pitiable condition of the orphaned children or the poor children who were sold by their poor parents. In all, this poem sarcastically attacks the advanced societies that keep their eyes shut toward these children, but act as being generous among their near and dear ones by holding or attending some charity shows/functions for the poor and down-trodden people in their country. Moreover, it is surprising to note here that these social evils even today prevail in our society.

 

‘Introduction to the Songs of Innocence’

 

1.      1. What conventional figures of innocence are introduced in Introduction to Songs of Innocence?

Ans: The poem introduces us to conventional figures of innocence: a shepherd with his pipe, and a child in a rural setting.

2.       Who is the piper referred to in Introduction to Songs of Innocence?

Ans: The piper referred to in this poem is the poet Blake himself.

3.       What did the poet do while wandering through the valleys?

Ans: He was piping songs of joy on his pipe while wandering through the valleys.

4.      What did the poet see in his vision while piping songs of joy on his pipe?

Ans: In his vision he saw a child on a cloud while piping songs of joy on his pipe.

5.       What kind of child did the poet see on a cloud?

Ans: The poet saw a mystic child on a cloud.

6.      What does the child on a cloud represent?

Ans: The child may refer to Jesus Christ who speaks from a cloud i.e. heaven or it may be an angel representing innocence.

7.      What does the “Lamb” symbolize?

Ans: The “Lamp” symbolizes innocence and Christ.

 

Qs. Write down the critical analyses of the poem ‘Introduction to the Songs of Innocence’.

 

Ans.     ‘Introduction to the Songs of Innocence’ is the first poem in William Blake’s collection of poetry the ‘Songs of Innocence’ written in 1789. The poems present in this collection expresses a naive, childlike view of salvation, as most of the poems are addressed to children. In his simple perspective of life, the world is beautiful and Jesus died for our sins. This poem titled ‘Introduction’ sets the tone for the entire sequence. The poet is projected as a visionary who is divinely inspired by angels. ‘Introduction’ also reflects the process of poetic composition. It defines the composition of poetry as a process of making what was formless into artistic creation.

The poem ‘Introduction’ introduces the poet’s purpose and inspiration behind penning down poetry.  In this poem, the narrator is described as a piper. He is happily piping when he sees a child on a cloud. The child asks him to pipe a song about a lamb, when he does sing, the child weeps on hearing it. Again, the child asks the piper to sing and he sings the same song. But now the child cries with joy when he hears it. Further, the child tells the narrator to write a book before he disappears. Inspired by the child, the piper takes a reed to make a pen. With it, he writes happy songs for children to bring them joy. Therefore, the voice of the poems is written as that of a child and/or accessible to children.

 The poem Introduction gathers momentum gradually and naturally and each stanza plays an important role in the Songs of Innocence in this process with its individual contribution. The first stanza describes how the poet comes across the spiritual infant: the second stanza goes on to say that the child requests the poet to "pipe a song about a Lamb". The poet who pipes the tune is again requested to play the music on his pipe. In the third stanza the poet is implored to sing the Lamb's song vocally and on both occasions-when the poet pipes and sings, the child weeps with joy. After these two stages, the child bids him to write it down so as to enable all to read and enjoy it. The poet does so and brings 'Introduction' to an end.

Introduction to the Songs of Innocence’ is the first poem in the series. Following the poetic convention, Blake sets the scene for his collection in this first poem. It is written in the form of lyric. This poem consists of five quatrains, with some following heroic stanza form. The rhyme scheme of the poem varies depending upon the stanza form. Stanzas 1 and 4 follow the “ABAB” pattern, while stanzas 2, 3, and 5 use an “ABCB” pattern. Being the first of the series it serves as a preface and gives a brief overview to the ‘Song of Innocence.’ The poem is structured like a conversation between the child and the speaker who describes it to his audience.

The theme of the poem ‘Introduction to the Songs of Innocence’ is about the poet’s inspiration for writing poetry. Like the other poems in this series the poem alludes to the poet’s simple perspective of life and his religious beliefs. Blake, as a young boy had visions of seeing angels in the trees, which returned throughout his life. As he disclosed about his dreams: “I am under the direction of Messengers from Heaven, Daily & Nightly; but the nature of such things is not, as some suppose, without trouble or care.”

Further, the setting of the poem substantiates the theme. The speaker is “piping down the valleys” before seeing the child on the cloud. There begins the conversation that the poet describes in the poem. The poet using the “reed as a pen” denotes the rustic setting. The theme and the setting evoke an ideal, idyllic world of innocence and simplicity, before the industrial revolution which is considered by many as a Fall of humankind.

Blake uses a number of symbols in ‘Introduction to the Songs of Innocence’ to best support his idea or the theme. The ‘child’ on the cloud symbolizes the angels of God. ‘The lamb’ also refers to God, alluding to the innocence and the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ on the cross. The place ‘Valleys wild’ where the piper is singing the happy songs, symbolize the rural/rustic life, evoking a world of simplicity and innocence. ‘Stain’d the water clear’ refers to coloring of the water to make ink, but this could be seen as the way the poet’s view on the blood of Christ being stained by the sins of the people. On the other hand, writing down the poet’s vision is seen by some critics as an act of destroying the purity as the poet corrupting the purity of vision/imagination by the act of writing.

Introduction introduces the Songs of Innocence within the context of the pastoral poem. This style of writing evokes an ideal, idyllic world of innocence and simplicity, a Golden Age before the Fall of humankind. The genre recognises, however, that such a state does not exist unalloyed in the present world. Innocence here is presented as a state of happiness and obedience. The piper is happy to do whatever he is told. He has no fear or suspicion regarding the voice he hears and no reluctance to do its bidding. He acts as one child responding to another.

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‘A Bard’s Epitaph’

                                                                                                                        By--Robert Burns

 

1. Who is the author of the poem ‘A Bard’s Epitaph’? To what country did the poet belong?

Ans. Robert Burns was the author of the poem ‘A Bard’s Epitaph’. He belonged to Scotland.

2. What is the sense of the title ‘A Bard’s Epitaph?

 Ans. A bard means a roving or strolling poet. In Scotland of the time of Burns, such strolling poets, moving from place to place and singing, particularly in rural areas, were quite common. A bard is such a strolling poet of rural areas. The epitaph means some words or expressions written or inscribed about a dead person, on his burial place or ground . Here the epitaph is inscribed about a dead bard.

3. “… a whim-inspired of fool.” -What is meant by the ‘whim-inspired fool’? Who was such a whim-inspired fool?

Ans. The whim-inspired fool is one who is rather whimsical and follows his own whims rather foolishly. Here the ‘whim-inspied fool‘ is the bard of Burns’s A Bard’s Epitaph.

4. How did the bard’s song impress the local crowd?

Ans. The crowd of local rustics were charmed by the song of the bard. They were kept spell-bound by him and deeply stirred and moved by the bard’s song.

5. Why did the bard try to improve the local people?

Ans. The bard was friendly and helpful to other local people. He taught others how to steer their course clearly to reach their goal.

6. What drawbacks of the bard were mentioned in the poem?

Ans.The bard, though friendly and helpful to others, had faults in his own nature. He was too impulsive and rash. He turned his career as wild as the wave. Even he loosely indulged in thoughtess follies, whereby he stained his name.

8. What is the teaching of the poem to the readers?

Ans. The poem concludes with the poet’s teaching to his reader. This is how to learn wisdom to refrain from wrongs and stains. He reminds his reader of the need of prudent, caution and self-restraint to make life happy and successful.

9. When and how was Burns’s poem ‘A Bard’s Epitaph’published?

Ans. Burns’s poem ‘A Bards Epitaph’ forms the concluding poem of his collection of poems ‘Poems Chiefly in the Scotish Dialect’ in the Kilmarnock Edition, published in 1786.

10. What is the rhyming scheme of the poem ‘A Bard’s Epitaph’?

Ans. AAABAB

 

 

‘Qs. Write a critical appreciation of the poem ‘A Bard’d Epitaph’.

Ans.

‘A Bard’s Epitaph’ by Robert Burns talks about the poet’s imaginary grave in the first stanza. It draws the attention of the people who throng around it at times. Moreover, the lines written in the poet’s grave remind of his contribution to Scottish literary tradition. There is a wise person who stands by the grave of the poet. Even the person drops a tear to see the “whim-inspired fool” who once pleased people with his rusting songs. Whereas in the last two stanzas, the poet talks about his mindless follies that stained his “name”. At last, the poet requests the readers to learn from his life. One should know that prudence, alertness, and self-control are the three ingredients that make one wise in life.

‘A Bard’s Epitaph’ by Robert Burns consists of five six-line stanzas. In this poem, the poet uses the rhyme scheme invented by him. For reference, the rhyme scheme of the poem is “AAABCB” and it goes on like this in the following stanzas. Thus, each sestain begins with a rhyming tercet and the following tercet contains alternative rhyming lines. Moreover, the metrical scheme of the poem is regular. The overall poem is composed of iambic tetrameter and iambic dimeter alternatively. However, some lines begin with a trochaic foot. As an example, in the third stanza, the line, “Wild as the wave”, contains a trochaic foot in the beginning. And, in the last stanza, the first foot of the first line contains a trochaic foot.

 ‘A Bard’s Epitaph’ by Robert Burns begins with a metaphor. Here, the poet compares himself to a “whim-inspired” or fanciful fool. There is a repetition in the following two lines and those lines contain anaphora. Moreover, in “grassy heap” the poet uses a synecdoche. Here, the poet refers to his grave. In the second stanza, there is an apostrophe in “O, pass not by!” In the line following it, the poet uses a hyperbaton. This stanza also contains alliterations in “frater-feeling” and “Here, heave”. In the third stanza, “life’s mad career” is a metaphor, and the line “Wild as the wave” presents a simile.

 ‘A Bard’s Epitaph’ by Robert Burns begins with a humorous tone. The poet metaphorically calls himself a “whim-inspired fool”. It means the fanciful thoughts of the poet. Moreover, he says he was too fast to think and too hot-headed to accept rules. For his shyness, he restrained himself from seeking and his pride blocked his mind from stooping to someone for insight. Thereafter, the poet requests the readers to come near to his grave and think about his poetic contributions. Burns thinks his death might cause one to drop a tear. However, the mood of the last line becomes emotional in comparison to that of the first line.

‘A Bard’s Epitaph’ by Robert Burns highlights the quality of the poet’s compositions and how his countrymen feel about him. Burns was popular for his “rustic” poetry that has the essence of rural Scotland. Moreover, the poet says his grave steals the crowds from the other poet’s grave, and the crowd throngs around his grave weekly. By using a litote, the poet says they don’t pass by. Rather, people feel sad about the loss of one of their brothers. With a strong brotherly feeling, they heave a sigh to think about the dead poet.

The third stanza of ‘A Bard’s Epitaph’ by Robert Burns refers to a specific man standing among the crowd. He appears to be wide and judgemental. The poet thinks he can teach others how to live life wisely. But, he is also busy in his career like the poet. His professional life controls him like a boat floating on the wild sea. The person is as restless as the poet was in his life. Such a person can understand the poet’s state of mind better. That’s why he surveys the grave and tear trickles down.

The fourth stanza of ‘A Bard’s Epitaph’ by Robert Burns anticipates what might have tarnished the poet’s name. According to Burns, he was quick to learn something new and he was wise. Moreover, the poet says once he had many friends and felt the “softer flame” of friendship and brotherhood. The feeling of camaraderie is like a “flame” that ignites one’s soul unlike the flames of passion that burn the heart. At last, the poet says the “thoughtless follies” stained his “name”. He doesn’t shy away from accepting his flaws.

            The last stanza of ‘A Bard’s Epitaph’ by Robert Burns, using an apostrophe, alerts the readers. The poet specifically draws the attention of those who soar in fanciful thoughts leaping over the limits. And, he refers to those who pursue lowly dreams. The poet advises them to know the value of prudence, awareness, and self-control. These three qualities form the foundation of a wise person.

 ‘A Bard’s Epitaph’ by Robert Burns was composed in 1786, 10 years before the poet’s death. In this poem, the poet anticipates how people would remind him after his death. However, Robert Burns is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement that flourished in the last decade of the 18th century. Likewise, in this poem, there are several romantic elements. Moreover, the poet also presents his liberal mindset and socialist bent in the association of the poet as a voice of rural Scotland. That’s why he was also known as the “Ploughman Poet”.

‘Scots Wha Hae’

 

1.      When did Burn write the poem ‘Scots Wha Hae’?

Ans. In 1793

2.      Who is Bruce as referred in the poem ‘Scots Wha Hae’?

Ans.

3.      When the poem ‘Scots Wha Hae’ was published?

Ans. 1799

4.      Name the book where the poem was published.

Ans. ‘A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice’.

5.      In which language the poem originally was written?

Ans. Scottish language.

 

Qs. Write  the summery of the poem ‘Scots Wha Hae’ in your own words.

Ans.       Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is generally thought to be the national poet of Scotland because he is the most widely read among all poets who have written in the Scots language. Burns has also written in English and a light Scots dialect so that his poetry would be understood by an audience beyond Scotland. He has even written in standard English. The volume of works by Burns, which came to be known as Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish dialect, came out in 1786. “Scots Wha Hae” translates in English as “Scots who have.” It is in the form of a speech given by Robert the Bruce before the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, where Scotland maintained its sovereignty from the Kingdom of England. It consists of 6 stanzas. Each of these stanzas is again made up of 4 lines. Hence, the entire poem is composed of 24 lines in total.

The Battle of Bannockburn took place on the 23rd  and 24th June 1314. It was part of the First War of Scottish Independence. The army of King of Scots Robert Bruce won over the army of King Edward II of England. This battle didn’t end the war, but it is still considered a milestone in Scottish history and independence. Robert Burns, in the postscript of the poem, said that the song was inspired by Robert Bruce’s “glorious struggle for Freedom, associated with the glowing ideas of some other struggles of the same nature, not quite so ancient”. This can be related to the Radical movement of Scotland of that time 

At the beginning Burns introduces those who fought with Sir Wallace and Robert Bruce. The lyrical voice addresses the Scottish troop directly and tells them to prepare for battle (“Welcome to your gory bed,/Or to victory!”). Notice how the third line uses the metaphor “gory bed” to refer to death. Thus, there are two possible outcomes according to the lyrical voice to this battle, either death or victory. Robert the Bruce reminds the Scottish people of how they have fought for independence from the British before, under Sir Wallace and under him. He is urging them to prepare for another fight. He says they must be ready either for defeat and death or, conversely, for victory.

                The second stanza refers to the moment of battle. The lyrical voice says: “Now’s the day, and now’s the hour”. Moreover, he also references the scene and what these soldiers are looking at “See the front o’ battle lour;/See approach proud Edward’s power”. The lyrical voice points out the English forces approaching and the result of a possible defeat. Notice the repetition of the first line to emphasize the moment in which the lyrical voice is referring to and the repetition of “See” to gain the attention of listeners and readers and direct them to what is happening on the battlefield.

The third stanza of ‘Scots Wha Hae’ draws attention to soldiers who might affect the outcome of the battle. The lyrical voice mentions three types of men: traitors, cowards, and slaves (“Wha will be a traitor knave?/Wha can fill a coward’s grave!/Wha sae base as be a slave?”). All three are told to “turn and flee”, meaning to leave the battle as they can’t be trusted. Notice how this stanza notes on the characteristics of a bad soldier (traitorousness, cowardice, and acceptance of slavery) and how these are unfit for the army.

The fourth stanza describes the ideal soldier. A man who fights “for Scotland’s king and law” and who is willing to live and die as a freeman rather than becoming a slave. This type of soldier is clearly different from the soldier in the previous stanza, stressing the type of man the lyrical voice looks for in battle. The stanza ends by urging this ideal soldier to join the lyrical voice into battle. says that an ideal soldier would be one who would fight not just for himself but in order to uphold the name and honor of the Scottish king and Scotland’s law.

The fifth stanza explains what the fight is about. The lyrical voice explains how this army will fight oppression “By oppression’s woes and pains!”, free the enslaved “By your sons in servile chains!” and battle until the end “We will drain our dearest veins” to free their people from the English. Notice how the lyrical voice uses the plural “we” to talk about the army that he is part of and talking about and how he uses the metaphor “drain our dearest vanes” to talk about fighting.

The last stanza of ‘Scots Wha Hae’ instructs the troops. The lyrical voice explains how they have to eliminate those who usurp their land and the tyrants. Notice how Liberty is personified and appears “in every blow” as a way of portraying hope. Finally, the troops must accomplish this or they will die in battle (“Let us do or die!”). Thus the poem is a traditional Scottish song, taken from a poem by Robert Burns celebrating the victory of the Scots over the English at Bannockburn. The first line in full is 'Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled' (Scots, who have with Wallace bled), referring to the Scottish soldiers who fought with William Wallace.

 

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Tintern Abbey

                                                                                                By--William Wordsworth

 

1. What is the full title of the poem Tintern Abbey?

Ans: “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798.

2. What is an Abbey?

Ans: An Abbey is a large church together with a group of buildings in which monks and nuns live as a community in the service of God and religion.

3. What is the name of Wordsworth’s sister?

Ans: The name of his sister is Dorothy.

4. What are the three stages?

Ans: The stages are: (1) the poet’s boyish animal pleasure in Nature; (2) his love of sensuous beauty of Nature; and (3) his spiritual and intellectual love of Nature.

5. What do you mean by the ‘aching joys’?

Ans: It means joy mixed with pain. The joy felt by the poet on seeing the beauty of Nature is so intense that it causes pain for him.

6. What do you mean by ‘dizzy raptures’?

Ans: ‘Dizzy raptures’ are ecstatic joys that caused giddiness. Seeing the beauty of Nature, the poet is so delighted that he sometimes lost mental balance.

7. What do you mean by the phrase ‘sad music of humanity’?

Ans: It means the sorrows and sufferings of mankind.

8. What does the poet advice his sister Dorothy?

Ans: The poet advices his sister to cultivate friendship with Nature because “Nature never did betray”, that is, Nature never deceives anyone.

9. What do you know about Dorothy?

Ans: Dorothy is the sister of Romantic poet, William Wordsworth.

10. What is sycamore?

Ans: Sycamore is a kind of fig tree. It is a tree of the maple family with leaves that have five points and seeds shaped like a pair of wings.

11. What do you mean by ‘hedge-row’?

Ans: ‘Hedge-row’ is a lines of bushes or plants planted along the edge of a field or road for protecting the field or the road.

12. What is a hermit?

Ans: A hermit is a person who, usually for religious reasons, lives a very simple life alone and does not meet and talk to other people.

13. What is ‘sensations sweet’?

Ans: It means the sweet memories of the lovely scenes of Nature.

14. What is the ‘blessed mood’?

Ans: It means the happy and spiritual state of mind that seems to be a blessing.

15. What is the ‘mystery’ of the world?

Ans: It is the origin and significance of our life in this world which weighs on our mind.

16. Who is the queen-mother of solace?

Ans: Nature is the queen-mother of solace.

.17.What was the occasion of writing Tintern Abbey?

Ans: The occasion of writing ‘Tintern Abbey’ was Wordsworth’s second visit to the river Wye along with his sister Dorothy. 

18. Where is Tintern Abbey situated?

Ans: Tintern Abbey is situated adjacent to the village of Tintern in Monmouthshire, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye.

19.What is an abbey?

Ans: An abbey is a Catholic or Anglican monastery or convent.

20.Name the river mentioned in 'Tintern Abbey'.

Ans: The name of  the river mentioned in 'Tintern Abbey' is Wye.

21. What is the Wye?

Ans: The Wye is a river in Monmouth shire in England.

22. When did Wordsworth visit Tintern Abbey for the first time?

Ans: Wordsworth visited Tintern Abbey for the first time in 1793.

23. When did Wordsworth visit Tintern Abbey for the second time?

Ans: Wordsworth visited the Tintern Abbey for the second time in the year 1798.

24. Who accompanied Wordsworth along the river Wye?

Ans: Dorothy, Wordsworth’s sister, accompanied Wordsworth along the river Wye.

25. Who is Dorothy?

Ans: Dorothy is the sister of William Wordsworth. She accompanied the poet in his second visit to the Wye.

26. What is sycamore?

Ans: Sycamore is a kind of trees with dark green leaves and thick shadows. 

27. What is the blessed mood?

Ans: The blessed mood is the mood of happiness and spirituality, the mood when one feels to be blessed by God.

28. Who is the queen-mother of solace?

Ans: Nature is the queen mother of solace.

29. What are the three stages of the poet's development of attitude towards nature?

Ans: The three stages of the poet's development of attitude towards nature are (i) his boyhood or the period of getting animal pleasure in nature, (ii) his growing youth or the period of showing physical love for nature, and (iii) maturity or spirituality.  

30. What do you mean by "aching joys"?

Ans: Aching joys mean excessive joys that cause pains.

31. What do you mean by "dizzy raptures"?

Ans: "Dizzy raptures" mean giddiness caused by ecstasy amid nature.

32. What do you mean by "sad music of humanity"?

Ans: The phrase ‘sad music of humanity’ means the pains and pangs suffered by human beings.

33. What did the poet advise his sister Dorothy?

Ans: The poet advises his sister Dorothy to establish friendship with nature.

34. Why does Wordsworth advise his sister Dorothy William to cultivate friendship with nature?

Ans: Wordsworth advises his sister Dorothy William to cultivate friendship with nature because nature never betrays anyone who loves it.

35. What does nature never betray as Wordsworth demands in Tintern Abbey'?

Ans: In “Tintern Abbey” Wordsworth demands that nature never betrays the heart that loves her.

36. What was Wordsworth's exhortation towards his sister Dorothy?

Ans: Wordsworth's exhortation towards his sister Dorothy was to build friendship with nature because “Nature never did betray / The heart that loved her.”

37. What does the phrase 'coarser pleasures" mean in Tintern Abbey?

Ans: In Tintern Abbey, the phrase 'coarser pleasures" means glad animal pleasures in nature without philosophic understanding.

38. After how many years did the poet revisit the ‘Tintern Abbey’?

Ans. After five years

39.Who did accompany the poet in the tour to ‘Tintern Abbey’?

Ans. Dorothy, his sister.

40. What does the poet feel at Tintern Abbey?

Ans.  The poet is full of joy and happiness.

 

 

Qs. Discuss the Critical Analysis of the poem ‘Tintern Abbey’ by William Wordsworth.

 

Ans.     The full title of this poem is “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798.” It opens with the speaker’s declaration that five years have passed since he last visited this location. The poem Lines Composed A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey is generally known as Tintern Abbey written in 1798 by the father of Romanticism William Wordsworth. Tintern Abbey is one of the triumphs of Wordsworth's genius. It may he called a condensed spiritual autobiography of the poet. It deals with the subjective experiences of the poet, and traces the growth of his mind through different periods of his life. Nature and its influence on the poet in various stage forms the main theme of the poem. The poem deal with the influence of Nature on the boy, the growing youth, and the man. The poet has expressed his tender feeling towards nature. He has specially recollected his poetic idea of Tintern Abbey where he had gone first time in 1793. This is his second visit to this place. Wordsworth has expressed his intense faith in nature. There is Wordsworth’s realization of God in nature. He got sensuous delight in it and it is all in all to him. Tintern Abbey impressed him most when he had first visited this place. He has again come to the same place where there are lofty cliffs, the plots of cottage ground, orchards groves and copses. He is glad to see again hedgerows, sportive wood, pastoral farms and green doors. This lonely place, the banks of the river and rolling waters from the mountain springs present a beautiful panoramic light. The solitary place remands the poet of vagrant dwellers and hermits’ cave.

 

The poem is in five sections. The first section establishes the setting for the meditation. But it emphasizes the passage of time: five years have passed, five summers, five long winters… But when the poet is back to this place of natural beauty and serenity, it is still essentially the same. The poem opens with a slow, dragging rhythm and the repetition of the word ‘five’ all designed to emphasize the weight of time which has separated the poet from this scene. The following lines develop a clear, visual picture of the scent. The view presented is a blend of wildness and order. He can see the entirely natural cliffs and waterfalls; he can see the hedges around the fields of the people; and he can see wreaths of smoke probably coming from some hermits making fire in their cave hermitages. These images evoke not only a pure nature as one might expect, they evoke a life of the common people in harmony with the nature.

 

            The second section begins with the meditation. The poet now realizes that these ‘beauteous’ forms have always been with him, deep-seated in his mind, wherever he went. This vision has been “Felt in the blood, and felt alone the heart” that is. It has affected his whole being. They were not absent from his mind like form the mind of a man born blind. In hours of weariness, frustration and anxiety, these things of nature used to make him feel sweet sensations in his very blood, and he used to feel it at the level of the impulse (heart) rather than in his waking consciousness and through reasoning. From this point onward Wordsworth begins to consider the sublime of nature, and his mystical awareness becomes clear. Wordsworth’s idea was that human beings are naturally uncorrupted. The poet studies nature with open eyes and imaginative mind. He has been the lover of nature form the core of his heart, and with purer mind. He feels a sensation of love for nature in his blood. He feels high pleasure and deep power of joy in natural objects. The beatings of his heart are full of the fire of nature’s love. He concentrates attention to Sylvan Wye – a majestic and worth seeing river. He is reminded of the pictures of the past visit and ponders over his future years. On his first visit to this place he bounded over the mountains by the sides of the deep rivers and the lovely streams. In the past the soundings haunted him like a passion. The tall rock, the mountain and the deep and gloomy wood were then to him like an appetite. But that time is gone now. In nature he finds the sad music of humanity.

 

The third section contains a kind of doubt; the poet is probably reflecting the reader’s possible doubts so that he can go on to justify how he is right and what he means. He doubts, for just a moment, whether this thought about the influence of the nature is vain, but he can’t go on. He exclaims: “yet, oh! How often, amid the joyless daylight, fretful and unprofitable fever of the world have I turned to thee (nature)” for inspiration and peace of mind. He thanks the ‘Sylvan Wye’ for the everlasting influence it has imprinted on his mind; his spirit has very often turned to this river for inspiration when he was losing the peace of mind or the path and meaning of life. The river here becomes the symbol of spirituality.

 

Though the poet has become serious and perplexed in the fourth section nature gives him courage and spirit enough to stand there with a sense of delight and pleasure. This is so typical of Wordsworth that it seems he can’t write poetry without recounting his personal experiences, especially those of his childhood. Here he also begins from the earliest of his days! It was first the coarse pleasures in his ‘boyish days’, which have all gone by now. “That time is past and all its aching joys are now no more, and all its dizzy raptures”. But the poet does not mourn for them; he doesn’t even grumble about their loss. He has gained something in return: “other gifts have followed; for such loss… for I have learned to look on nature, not as in the hour of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes The still, sad music of humanity”. This is a philosophic statement about maturing, about the development of personality, and the poetic or philosophic mind as well. So now the poet can feel the joy of elevated thought, a sense sublime, and far more deeply interfused. He feels a sense of sublime and the working of supreme power in the light of the setting sun, in round oceans and the blue sky. He is of opinion that a motion and a spirit impel all thinking things. Therefore Wordsworth claims that he is a lover of the meadows and of all which we see from this green earth. Nature is a nurse, a guide and the guardian of his heart and soul. The poet comes to one important conclusion: for all the formative influences, he is now consciously in love with nature. He has become a thoughtful lover of the meadows, the woods and the mountains. Though his ears and eyes seem to create the other half of all these sensations, nature is the actual source of these sublime thoughts.

The fifth and last section continues with the same meditation from where the poet addresses his younger sister Dorothy, whom he blesses and gives advice about what he has learnt. He says that he can hear the voice of his own youth when he hears her speak, the language of his former heart; he can also “read my former pleasure in the soothing lights of thy wild eyes’. He is excited to look at his own youthful image in her. He says that nature has never betrayed his heart and that is why they had been living from joy to joy. Nature can impress the mind with quietness and beauty, and feed it lofty thoughts, that no evil tongues of the human society can corrupt their hearts with any amount of contact with it. The poet then begins to address the moon in his reverie, and to ask the nature to bestow his sister with their blessings. Let the moon shine on her solitary walk, and let the mountain winds blow their breeze on her. When the present youthful ecstasies are over, as they did with him, let her mind become the palace of the lovely forms and thought about the nature, so that she can enjoy and understand life and overcome the vexations of living in a harsh human society. The conclusion to the poem takes us almost cyclically, back to a physical view of the ‘steep woods’, ‘lofty cliffs’ and ‘green pastoral landscape’ in which the meditation of the poem is happening.

                                                                

The poet has expressed his honest and natural feelings to Nature’s Superiority. The language is so simple and lucid that one is not tired of reading it again and again. The sweetness of style touches the heart of a reader. The medium of this poem is neither ballad nor lyric but an elevated blank verse. The blank verse that is used in it is low-toned, familiar, and moves with sureness, sereneness and inevitable ease. It has the quiet pulse, suggestive of 'central peace', which is felt in all his great poetry. This is the beauty of Wordsworth’s language. Thus, the subject of “Tintern Abbey” is memory—specifically, childhood memories of communion with natural beauty.

 

Qs. Discuss Wordsworth’s Conception of Nature in “Tintern Abbey”

 

Ans.     William Wordsworth’s "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798," written in blank verse is a monologue, imaginatively spoken by a single speaker to himself, referencing the specific objects of its imaginary scene, and occasionally addressing others – once the spirit of nature, occasionally the speaker's sister. The poem's imagery is largely confined to the natural world in which he moves, though there are some castings-out for metaphors ranging from the nautical (the memory is "the anchor" of the poet's "purest thought") to the architectural (the mind is a "mansion" of memory). The poem also has a subtle strain of religious sentiment; though the actual form of the Abbey does not appear in the poem, the idea of the abbey – of a place consecrated to the spirit – suffuses the scene, as though the forest and the fields were themselves the speaker's abbey. This idea is reinforced by the speaker's description of the power he feels in the setting sun and in the mind of man, which consciously links the ideas of God, nature, and the human mind – as they will be linked in Wordsworth's poetry for the rest of his life, from

 

William Wordsworth’s "Tintern Abbey" opens with the speaker's declaration that five years have passed since he last visited this location, encountered its tranquil, rustic scenery, and heard the murmuring waters of the river. He recites the objects he sees again, and describes their effect upon him: the "steep and lofty cliffs" impress upon him "thoughts of more deep seclusion"; he leans against the dark sycamore tree and looks at the cottage-grounds and the orchard trees, whose fruit is still unripe. He sees the "wreaths of smoke" rising up from cottage chimneys between the trees, and imagines that they might rise from "vagrant dwellers in the houseless woods," or from the cave of a hermit in the deep forest.

 

The speaker then describes how his memory of these "beauteous forms" has worked upon him in his absence from them: when he was alone, or in crowded towns and cities, they provided him with "sensations sweet, / Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart." The memory of the woods and cottages offered "tranquil restoration" to his mind, and even affected him when he was not aware of the memory, influencing his deeds of kindness and love. He further credits the memory of the scene with offering him access to that mental and spiritual state in which the burden of the world is lightened, in which he becomes a "living soul" with a view into "the life of things." The speaker then says that his belief that the memory of the woods has affected him so strongly may be "vain" – but if it is, he has still turned to the memory often in times of "fretful stir." Even in the present moment, the memory of his past experiences in these surroundings floats over his present view of them, and he feels bittersweet joy in reviving them. He thinks happily, too, that his present experience will provide many happy memories for future years.

The speaker acknowledges that he is different now from how he was in those long-ago times, when, as a boy, he "bounded o'er the mountains" and through the streams. In those days, he says, nature made up his whole world: waterfalls, mountains, and woods gave shape to his passions, his appetites, and his love. That time is now past, he says, but he does not mourn it, for though he cannot resume his old relationship with nature, he has been amply compensated by a new set of more mature gifts; for instance, he can now "look on nature, not as in the hour / Of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes / The still, sad music of humanity." And he can now sense the presence of something far more subtle, powerful, and fundamental in the light of the setting suns, the ocean, the air itself, and even in the mind of man; this energy seems to him "a motion and a spirit that impels / All thinking thoughts.... / And rolls through all things." For that reason, he says, he still loves nature, still loves mountains and pastures and woods, for they anchor his purest thoughts and guard the heart and soul of his "moral being."

 The speaker says that even if he did not feel this way or understand these things, he would still be in good spirits on this day, for he is in the company of his "dear, dear (d) Sister," who is also his "dear, dear Friend," and in whose voice and manner he observes his former self, and beholds "what I was once." He offers a prayer to nature that he might continue to do so for a little while, knowing, as he says, that "Nature never did betray / The heart that loved her," but leads rather "from joy to joy." Nature's power over the mind that seeks her out is such that it renders that mind impervious to "evil tongues," "rash judgments," and "the sneers of selfish men," instilling instead a "cheerful faith" that the world is full of blessings. The speaker then encourages the moon to shine upon his sister, and the wind to blow against her, and he says to her that in later years, when she is sad or fearful, the memory of this experience will help to heal her. And if he himself is dead, she can remember the love with which he worshipped nature. In that case, too, she will remember what the woods meant to the speaker, the way in which, after so many years of absence, they became dearer to him--both for themselves and for the fact that she is in them.

The subject of "Tintern Abbey" is memory – specifically, childhood memories of communion with natural beauty. Both generally and specifically, this subject is hugely important in Wordsworth's work, reappearing in poems as late as the "Intimations of Immortality" ode. "Tintern Abbey" is the young Wordsworth's first great statement of his principle great theme: that the memory of pure communion with nature in childhood works upon the mind even in adulthood, when access to that pure communion has been lost, and that the maturity of mind present in adulthood offers compensation for the loss of that communion – specifically, the ability to "look on nature" and hear "human music"; that is, to see nature with an eye toward its relationship to human life. In his youth, the poet says, he was thoughtless in his unity with the woods and the river; now, five years since his last viewing of the scene, he is no longer thoughtless, but acutely aware of everything the scene has to offer him. Additionally, the presence of his sister gives him a view of himself as he imagines himself to have been as a youth. Happily, he knows that this current experience will provide both of them with future memories, just as his past experience has provided him with the memories that flicker across his present sight as he travels in the woods.

 

 

Upon Westminster Bridge

 

 

1) ‘Earth has not anything to show more fair.” – What prompts the poet to say so?

Ans. The beauty of the early morning observed from the Westminster Bridge prompts the poet to say so.

2) ‘Earth has not anything to show more fair.” – What is the fairest thing mentioned in the line?

Or. Which city, according to Wordsworth, is the fairest one?

Ans. The fairest thing mentioned in the line is the city of London in the early morning.

3) ‘Dull would he be of soul’. – Who would be called a ‘dull of soul’? Or. Whom does the poet call ‘dull’ in the poem ‘Upon Westminster Bridge’?

Ans. A person who neglects the majestic sight of the early morning would be called a ‘dull of soul’.

4)Which city does the poet refer to in the poem ‘Upon Westminster Bridge’?

Ans. The poet refers to the city of London in the poem ‘Upon Westminster Bridge’.

5)What garment did the city wear?

Or. What is described as the garment of the city in the poem ‘Upon Westminster Bridge’?

Ans. The city wore the garment of the beauty of the morning.

6)How does Wordsworth describe the beauty of the morning?

Ans. Wordsworth describes the beauty of the morning as silent and bare.

7)Why is the city of London silent and bare?

Ans. The city of London is silent because there is hardly any noise of people and vehicles so early in the morning and it is bare because the air was smokeless.

8)What does the poet see from the Westminster Bridge?

Ans. The poet sees ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples from the Westminster Bridge.

9)How does Wordsworth describe the air in the city?

Ans. Wordsworth describes the air in the city as smokeless.

10)Why is everything bright and glittering?

Ans. Everything is bright and glittering because the air is smokeless.

11) ‘Never did sun more beautifully steep.’ – What do you mean by the word ‘steep’?

Ans. The word ‘steep’ means bathe or flood.

12) ‘In his first splendour, valley, rock or hill.’ – What does the word ‘splendour’ signify?

Ans. The word ‘splendour’ signifies here the radiance of the sun.

13) ‘In his first splendour, valley, rock or hill.’ – Who is referred to by the word ‘his’?

Ans. The sun is referred to by the word ‘his’.

14)What is the feeling that Wordsworth experiences which has never experienced before?

Or. What did the poet never feel before he experienced that early morning?

Ans. Wordsworth has never experienced a profound calmness before.

15) ‘The river glideth at his own sweet will.’ – Which river flows gently at his own sweet will? Or. Which river is referred to in the poem “Upon Westminster Bridge”?

Ans. The Thames flows gently at his own sweet will.

16) ‘Dear God’- What feeling does the expression convey?

Ans. A feeling of immense delight, wonder and gratitude is conveyed by the expression ‘Dear God’.

17)How do the houses seem to the poet?

Ans. The houses seem to be asleep.

18) ‘And all that mighty heart is lying still.’ – What does the expression ‘mighty heart’ refer to here? Or. What is referred to as ‘mighty heart’?

Ans. ‘Mighty heart’ refers to the city of London.

19)How does William Wordsworth personify the city of London?

Ans. William Wordsworth personifies the city of London by describing that the mighty heart i.e. city of London is still lying.

20)When did the poet view the city?

Ans. The poet viewed the city in the early morning.

21)What was the date of composition of the poem?

Ans. The date of composition of the poem was 31 July 1802.

22) Who accompanied William Wordsworth during his journey from London to France?

Ans. Dorothy Wordsworth accompanied her brother William Wordsworth during his journey from London to France.

23)What was the occasion of the poem?

Ans. The poem was written on Westminster Bridge during the poet’s journey from London to France between five and six o’clock.

24)What kind of sonnet is the poem, “Upon Westminster Bridge”?

Ans. The poem “Upon Westminster Bridge” is a Petrarchan sonnet divided into octave and sestet.

25)What is the object of Wordsworth’s celebration in the poem ‘Upon Westminster Bridge’?

Ans. The object of Wordsworth’s celebration in the poem ‘Upon Westminster Bridge’ is to worship natural beauties and to glorify the great city of London

26.  What is the scene that William Wordsworth is describing and what time of the day is it?

Ans.  William Wordsworth is describing the scene of London early in the morning at dawn break

27. What does the city of London wear?

Ans. The poet imagines that the city of London wears the beauty of the morning (silence) like a garment.

28. How does the poet feel when he beholds such a breathtaking sight?

Ans. The poet is touched by the silent majesty of the city and feels calm in the splendour of the quiet dawn.

29. What is the ‘garment’ the speaker refers to? Who is wearing it?

Ans. The ‘garment’ referred by the poet is the early morning beauty of the city of London. The garment is worn by the city of London.

30. What do you understand by ‘The beauty of the morning: silent, bare’?

Ans. The early morning hours are beautiful because there is no noise or crowd on the streets as everyone in the city is sleeping.

31. What does ‘dull of soul’ mean? Who would be a person dull of soul?

Ans. ‘Dull of soul’ means a person who will not have a sense of appreciation for things of beauty. A person who will pass by without being moved by the beauty of the early morning of the city of London will be dull of soul.

32. Three things are said about ships, domes, theatres and temples. One is that they are ‘all bright and glittering in the smokeless air’. What are the other two?

Ans. The two other words are – silent and bare.

33. Where do you find things like ‘valley, rock and hill’? Why does the speaker mention them in describing a city like London?

Ans. We can normally find ‘valley, rock and hill’ in rural settings. He is using these words to compare the brilliance of the sunrise in the countryside and in London.

34. How does the early sun beautify the valley, rock and hill?

Ans. With its first splendour, the early sun beautifies the valley, rock and hill.

35. What is meant by “houses seem asleep”?

Ans. All the people are asleep in their houses. Therefore, the poet personifies the houses as seeming to be asleep.

36. What does the word ‘majesty’ tell about how Wordsworth feels about London?

Ans. The word ‘majesty’ shows us that Wordsworth thought the city was beautiful, grand and awe-inspiring. Majesty here refers to the grandeur of the city.

37. What impression of London does the speaker create and how is this achieved?

Ans. The poet draws a grand and imposing picture of London. He builds the feeling of awe and grandeur through the choice of words like majesty, open unto sky, mighty, etc.

38. What things lie open in the field?

Ans:  Towers, domes, theatres and temples lie open in the field.

39.  Who wrote the poem, ‘Upon Westminster Bridge’?

Ans: William Wordsworth wrote the poem ‘Upon Westminster Bridge’.

40. What is the date of composition of the poem, ‘Upon Westminster Bridge’?

Ans: The poem was composed on September 3, 1802.

41. When does the city look so beautiful?

Ans: In the early morning, the city looks so beautiful.

42.How does the river glide?

Ans:  The river Thames glides according to its own sweet will.

43. Where does the Westminster Bridge lie?

Ans:  The Westminster Bridge lies over the river Thames in London.

44. Where is the city of London viewed from?

Ans: The city of London is viewed from the Westminster Bridge.

45. What seemed asleep?

Ans: The very houses seemed asleep in the city of London.

46.  Which things glitter in the smokeless air?

Ans:  Ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples are glittering in the smokeless air.

47.  Whose mighty heart is lying still?

Ans:  The heart of the city of London is lying still.

48. Who is referred to as ‘his’ in the line “In his first splendour, valley, rock or hill” ?

Ans:  The rays of the early sun is referred to as ‘his’ in the line “In his first splendour, valley, rock or hill”.

49.  What is meant by the expression ‘mighty heart’ ?

Ans:  The expression ‘mighty heart’ means the heart of the City of London, here the use of heart is metaphorical.

50.  Where does the poet find the splendour of the Sun?

Ans:  The poet finds the splendour of the Sun upon the valleys, rocks and hills.

 

 

Qs. Write down the summery of the poem ‘Upon Westminster Bridge’.

 

Ans.    

The poem is a Petrarchan or Italian sonnet, arranged into an octave or eight-line section and a sestet or six-line section (although unlike some Petrarchan sonnets, Wordsworth does not have a blank line dividing the eighth and ninth line), rhyming abbaabba and cdcdcd (the abba abba rhyme scheme in the first eight lines is the giveaway that this is a Petrarchan sonnet). The first eight lines praise the beauty of London in the early morning light, as the poet stands on Westminster Bridge admiring the surrounding buildings.

The speaker declares that he has found the most beautiful scene on earth. You'd have to be someone with no spiritual sense, no taste for beauty, to pass over the Westminster Bridge that morning without stopping to marvel at the sights. London is wearing the morning's beauty like a fine shirt or cape. London, you're lookin' good. The time is so early that all is quiet. The various landmarks visible from the bridge, including St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London, stand before him in all their grandeur in the morning light. Fortunately, there happens to be no "London fog" to obscure the view. The speaker compares the sunlight on the buildings to the light that shines on the countryside, and he seems surprised to feel more at peace in the bustling city than he has anywhere else. The River Thames day moves slowly beneath him. In a burst of emotion, he pictures the city as blissfully asleep before another busy.

First, a few words about the poem’s title: although it’s dated ‘September 3, 1802’, the London morning scene which inspired the poem probably occurred on 31 July of that year, when Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy left London for Dover, before heading to France. Although the title announces that it was ‘Composed Upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802’, this was probably the date on which Wordsworth completed the poem, a few days after he and Dorothy had returned to London.

Wordsworth begins by offering the view from Westminster Bridge the highest possible praise: there is nothing fairer in the entire world. And anyone who could see such a sight and just carry on walking past without stopping to appreciate the view would be soulless indeed. London appears to wear the morning’s beauty like a piece of clothing. The ships, towers, and other buildings that make up the London skyline are silent and ‘bare’. Here there is no gaudiness but plain and simple beauty, despite the man-made origins of these structures.

These buildings appear to be submitting to nature: they ‘lie / Open’ to the fields and the sky, those earthly and ethereal landscapes that sandwich them, as if the London buildings are between earthly beauty and the beauty of the heavens, and exist not in contrast to them but as a natural bridge between them. Because the workaday world hasn’t started yet and the wheels of industry are still, the air is ‘smokeless’ at the moment: clear and clean. This is high praise indeed from Wordsworth, well-known as a nature poet: the sun never rose among anything, not even the natural features of valleys, rocks, or hills, more beautifully than it now scales the outlines of these city buildings.

Even the Thames appears to be taking its time, languidly flowing through the city and under Wordsworth’s very feet. Wordsworth returns to the buildings of the city in his reference to the houses: the inhabitants are indoors asleep, but the bricks and mortar of the houses themselves seem to be existing in a state of soporific calm. The heart of London, the people who make it what it is, are all lying asleep, still and calm.

Yet Wordsworth finds London a glorious sight in the early morning light, because the city has not yet woken up and these industrial processes and governmental activities have not yet begun. Wordsworth, standing on Westminster Bridge, is a stone’s throw away from the seat of government. London is instead ‘bright and glittering in the smokeless air’, ‘silent, bare’, and at one with nature: the man-made buildings lie ‘Open unto the fields, and to the sky.’ Indeed, the sun shines as beautifully on these structures as it does on the natural world of ‘valley, rock, or hill’.

London is described as a ‘mighty heart’ in the final line, which reminds us of its centrality as the seat of government, empire, and trade, but also presents this centrality by way of a natural metaphor: just as the heart slows while one is asleep, only to speed up when one wakes, so London seems to lie still, plunged into a calm state that is not unlike a pleasant sleep. The ‘river glideth at his own sweet will’ now, but once London wakes from its slumber this gentle calm will be disrupted by man-made activity. The world of trade, of ships and boats coursing along the Thames, will override the river’s own natural pace.The ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples appear to lie in passive submission to the natural world now but this will be overturned when London wakes: in reality, the world of nature is at the mercy of mankind and the systems of trade and industry which rule from the city, just as the sky will be polluted by the plumes of smoke from the chimneys of factories.

                                                               ***************

 

 

Kubla Khan

                                                                                                            By- S. T. Coleridge

1. What kind of poem is Kubla Khan?

Ans: Kubla Khan is a romantic dream poem.

2. Why is “Kubla Khan” called a dream Poem?

Ans: Kubla Khan is called a dream poem because it has the quality of jumpiness. Moreover it came to the poet in his dream.

3. Why did S. T. Coleridge take opium?

Ans: S. T. Coleridge used to take opium as a dose to get relief from the pain of swelling in his knees.

4. Who was Kubla Khan?

Ans: Kubla Khan was the grandson of Genghis Khan. He was the first emperor of Yuan dynasty.

5. What is the setting of 'Kbula Khan'?

Ans: Xanadu is the setting of Kubla Khan.

6. Where is Xanadu?

Ans: Xanadu is situated in Inner Mongolia in north China.

7. What is the name of the river that Coleridge mentions in Kubla Khan?

Ans: The name of the river that Coleridge mentions in Kubla Khan is Alph.

8. What is the Alph?

Ans: The Alph in Kubla Khan is an imaginary sacred river that ran through the caverns of Xanadu.

9. What does 'the sacred river' symbolise?

Ans: ‘The sacred river’ symbolizes life.

10. What does 'a sunless sea' signify in "Kubla khan"? [NU 2018]

Ans: In "Kubla khan", 'a sunless sea' signifies ‘death’.

11. For whom was the woman wailing in Kubla Khan?

Ans: The woman was wailing for her demon lover in “Kubla Khan”.

12. What is the central image in the poem 'Kubla Khan'?

Ans: The central image in the poem 'Kubla Khan' is the ‘pleasure-doom’.

13. What is meant by the pleasure dome?

Ans: The pleasure dome means a large building or place exclusively used for getting entertainment or recreation.

14. What is the specialty of the pleasure dome?

Ans: The specialty of the pleasure dome is that it is cold inside but sunny outside.

15. What was the Abyssinian maid doing?

Ans: The Abyssinian maid was playing on a dulcimer and singing of Mount Abora.

16. What is a 'dulcimer'? [NU 2018]

Ans: Dulcimer is a musical instrument.

17. Where will the poet combine the architecture of the dome with the music of the dulcimer?

Ans: The poet will combine the architecture of the dome with the music of the dulcimer in his own creation of the dome of poetry.

18. With what meter and rhyme schemes does Coleridge achieve musical and rhythmic sound?

Ans. The poem is written in iambic tetrameter. The first stanza has a rhyme scheme of

A/B/A/A/B/C/C/D/E/D/E.

The second stanza has a rhyme scheme of

A/B/A/A/B/C/C/D/D/F/F/G/G/H/I/I/H/J/J, expanding upon the scheme from the previous stanza.

The third stanza has a scheme of A/B/A/B/C/C, while the fourth has a scheme of A/B/C/C/B/D/E/D/E/F/G/F/F/F/G/H/H/G.

19. How does the fourth stanza differ in content from the poem’s first three stanzas?

Ans. In the first three stanzas, the speaker is explaining a vision of Xanadu to readers. In the poem’s concluding stanza, he is stating the poem’s theme as a whole.

20. “Five miles meandering with a mazy motion” is an example of what literary device?

Ans. The repetition of the ‘m’ sound is called alliteration.

21. According to the introduction to Coleridge’s poetry, what may have aided him in making this poem so fantastical?

Ans.  According to the introduction, Coleridge had a longtime addiction to narcotics. Coleridge admitted this poem was inspired by an opium dream, which may explain some of its strange and nonsensical content.

22. At the end of the poem, why does the speaker believe others would be fearful of the creator of this “dome in the air”?

Ans.  Others may be fearful of the creator’s “flashing eyes” and “ his floating hair,” but most especially they would fear that fact that “he on honey-dew hath fed,” and that he has “drunk the milk of Paradise.”

23. What is the full title of the poem ‘Kubla Khan’?

Ans.  A Vision in a Dream; A Fragment

24. When was the poem ‘Kubla Khan’ published?

Ans. The poem was written in 1997, and published in 1816.

25. Why has Kubla Khan been called a dream poem?

Ans: The whole poem came to the poet in a dream and the poem has a quality of jumpiness. For this reason, it has been called a dream poem.

26. At whose request did the poet publish the poem Kubla Khan?

Ans: Coleridge published the poem Kubla Khan at the request of Lord Byron, another romantic poet.

27. What is the source of the poem Kubla Khan?

Ans: The source of the poem is a travel book, Purchas’s ‘Pilgrimage’.

28. Who was Kubla Khan?

Ans: Kubla Khan was a historical figure. He was the grandson of Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongolian Empire. Kubla Khan ruled from 1257 to 1294. As a great conqueror, he completed the subjugation of China.

29. What did the Kubla Khan order?

Ans: Kubla Khan ordered a pleasure house to be built for him in Xanadu on the bank of the sacred river, the Alph.

30. What is Xanadu?

Ans: Xanadu was the summer capital of Kubla Khan.

31. What is meant by the ‘pleasure-dome’?

Ans: It means a pleasure-house with a dome; a house to which one retires for recreation or pleasure. Thus it is meant to be a place of enjoyment.

32. What is the Alpheus?

Ans: It is the name of a river, perhaps a contraction of Alpheus, a river of Arcadia in Greece.

33. What does ‘the sacred river’ symbolize?

Ans: ‘The sacred river’ symbolizes life.

34. What does ‘a sunless sea’ signify?

Ans: ‘A sunless sea’ signifies an ‘infinity of death’.

35. What is chasm? Why is it called romantic?

Ans: Chasm is a deep hollow on the surface of the earth. It is said to be romantic because it arouses feelings of awe, mystery and strangeness.

36. What is cedar?

Ans: The cedar is a large evergreen tree remarkable for the durability and fragrance of its wood.

37. For whom was the woman wailing?

Ans: The woman was wailing for her demon-lover who deserted her after having made love to her.

38. What was the Abyssinian maid doing?

Ans: Coleridge saw in a vision that the Abyssinian maid was playing on her dulcimer and singing of mount Abora.

39. What is a dulcimer?

Ans: A dulcimer is a kind of stringed musical instrument. It is played by striking the strings with two small hammers held in the hands.

40. What was the Abyssinian maid singing?

Ans: The Abyssinian maid was singing a sweet song about Mount Abora.

 Does the poem have a real geographical location? How does the poet mix up the real and the imaginary to give a sense of the surreal?

Ans:  In the poem, Coleridge mentions how Kubla wanted to build a dome untroubled by any of the natural forces. He wanted to create a private world deprived of change. The poet wanted to build a dome in the air with the forces of nature, which would reveal poetics and truth. He wanted to build something that would easily fit into the natural movements of the world. One example of how a poet connects reality with imagination is the Alf River. In this way, the poet adopts certain figures from the real world and binds them with imaginary concepts.

 

Qs. Critically analyse of the poem ‘Kubla Khan’ in your own words.

 

Ans.

Kubla Khan was written in 1798 but not published until 1816. It was then issued in a pamphlet containing Christabel and The Pains of Sleep. It is one of those three poems which have made Coleridge, one of the greatest poets of England, the other two being The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Christabel.

Coleridge himself describes this poem as the fragment of a dream, a vision seen perhaps under the influence of opium-which he saw when he had fallen asleep after reading the account of Kubla Khan in an old book of travels written by Purchas. Kubla Khan is a brilliant achievement in the field of supernatural poetry. Coleridge beautifully imagined and skillfully described what he had imagined about a palace about which he had read. He has achieved remarkable success in making the description lively and complete. He writes as if he has seen it before him.

The poem begins with the description of the kingdom of Kubla Khan. The action takes place in the unknown Xanadu (a mythical city). Kubla Khan was the powerful ruler who could create his pleasure dome by a mere order. Alpha was the sacred river that passed through Xanadu. It followed through the measureless caverns (caves) to the sunless sea. There were gardens in which streams were following in a zigzag manner. The gardens had many flowers with sweet smells and the forests had many spots of greenery. The poet gives a beautiful description of the remote and distant land cape of Xanadu. There was a wonderful chasm sloping down the green hill. The cedar trees were growing on both sides of the chasm. The place was visited by fairies and demons. Coleridge then gives a medieval tale of love and romance. When the moon declined in the night it was visited by a woman. She was sad for her lover. Form the chasm shot up a fountain violently. It threw up stones. They were falling down in every direction. The sacred river Alpha ran through the woods and dales. Then it reached the unfathomable caverns and sank noisily into a lifeless ocean with a tumult. In that tumult Kubla Khan heard the voices of his ancestors. They warned him of approaching war and danger.

In the second part of the poem Coleridge describes the pleasure dome of Kubla Khan. Its shadow floated midway on the waves. There was mixed music of the fountains as well as of the caves. It was bright with sunlight and also had caves of ice. Then the poet tells the reader about his vision. In his vision he saw an Abyssinian maid playing upon her dulcimer. The poet desires to revive their symphony and song. Her music world inspires with divine frenzy. With the divine frenzy he would recreate all the charm of Kubla Khan’s pleasure dome. The poet would be divinely inspired so people would draw a circle around him, and close their eyes with divine fear. The poet must have fed on honeydew and drunk the milk of paradise.

The supreme strength of Coleridge as a poet lay in his marvelous dream faculty; one might say that the dream faculty lay at the root of his greatness as a poet and his weakness as a man." It is this dream element which makes Kubla Khan a thing of wonder in English poetry. Actually the poem had its origin in a dream. One morning Coleridge fell asleep in his chair after taking a dose of opium when he was reading about Kubla Khan in Purchas' Pilgrimage. In his dream he composed, as he himself believes, about two to three hundred lines. On awakening, he appeared to have a distinct recollection of the whole and instantly and eagerly started writing down the lines. When he had written fifty lines he was unfortunately interrupted by a man who had come to him on some business, and detained by him above an hour. On his return to his room, he found that the rest of the dream had passed away from his memory and therefore he could never finish the poem. So the poem is only a dream fragment. In itself the poem possesses the qualities of a dream. It has no logical consistency of ideas. It is a procession of images expressed in language of haunting melody. It contains no story, no thought, no moral, no allegory or symbolism. It is appreciated for its shadowy vision and haunting music.

Kubla Khan is a poem of pure romance. All the romantic associations are concentrated in this short poem. It contains many sensuous phrases and pictures like bright gardens, incense bearing trees laden with blossoms, sunny spots of greenery etc. Supernaturalism is also a romantic quality. Kubla Khan is a supernatural poem, based on a dream. There are images and expressions in it which are supernatural in character and create an atmosphere of mystery and awe: for example 'caverns measure-less to man', 'a sunless sea', 'that deep romantic chasm' etc. Kubla Khan is a triumph of supernaturalism. It transports us out of the world of everyday life into a world of wonder and romance.

 

Dejection: An Ode

 

1. What does the appearance of the new moon in the lap of old moon signify?

Ans. The appearances of the new moon in the lap of old moon signify the coming of rain and a furious storm. In a few moments, the winds actually develop into a storm and rain starts falling with a loud sound

2. Why is the poet in a mood of dejection?          

Ans. The poet is in a dejected mood because he fears that he has lost his creative faculty.

3. To whom does the poet address the second stanza of the poem?

Ans. The poet addresses his wife Sara in the second stanza of the poem.

4. What is the conviction of the poet in the poem about Nature?

Ans. The poet says that nature is inanimate and it reflects our mood only. If we are in a cheerful mood, we will find nature also in harmony with our mood. If we are sad and dejected then the whole nature also appears gloomy to us.

5. To whom did poet address in the poem?

Ans.  Sara Hutchinson

 

Qs. Critically analyse the poem ‘Dejection: An Ode’ in your own words.

 

Ans.     The Poem ‘Dejection: An Ode’, is a confession of the poet Coleridge’s failure, and one of the saddest of all human utterances. The poem is written in the year 1802, in a way it is considered to be a swan song .In the poem Coleridge laments the loss of his creative imagination and also mourns his moral and spiritual loss. It is a deeply personal and autobiographical poem which depicts the poet’s mental state at the time. It records a fundamental change in his life and is a lament on the decline of his creative imagination. Coleridge at this time felt that his inborn gift of imagination was decaying and that his interest was shifting to philosophy.

The poet sees the old moon in the lap of the new and this, according to an old belief, foretells the coming, of rain and a furious storm. In a few moments the wind actually develop into a storm and rain starts falling with a loud sound, The sounds of rain and storm have often in the past raised the poet’s spirits, though at the same time they filled him with awe. He welcomes the rain and the storm now because it is possible that their sounds might awaken his dull pain and make it move and live.

The poet then describes the kind of grief that has been weighing upon his heart. It is a dark, dear, drowsy and unimpassioned grief. Although the poet has been gazing at the western sky and ‘its peculiar hue of yellow green throughout the peaceful and balmy evening, he has been in a cheerless and spiritless mood. He has watched the beauty of the clouds and the stars but he has not been able to feel that beauty because of the grief that has taken a firm hold on his mind. The poet laments for all happiness and joy in his life. His spirits are drooping. All the beautiful objects of Nature are unable to remove the weight of this grief from-his heart. Indeed, it is not from external objects that happiness can flow to a man’s heart. The heart itself is the real source of animation and excitement. When this inner source of animation and excitement had dried up, a man cannot expect to experience these feelings by gazing at the’ beauty of external objects.

Addressing his wife Sara’, the poet says that we get from Nature what we give to Nature. Nature seems to be full of life because we ourselves endow it with life. In our life alone does Nature live? If we find Nature to be in a joyful or festive mood, it is because we are ourselves in that mood. If we find Nature in a mood of mourning, it is because we are ourselves in that mood. The objects of Nature themselves are cold and lifeless. If we want to see anything noble or sublime in Nature, our own souls must send forth a light, a lustre, or a radiance to envelop the objects of Nature. Our own souls must send forth a sweet and potent voice which will endow the sounds of Nature with sweetness and power. This light or this glory which our souls can send forth is not only beautiful in itself but it enables us to create beautiful things also. The Source of this light or glory is joy in the heart. This joy is given by Nature to pure hearted persons only. All the sweet sounds that delight the ear, and all the beautiful sights that delight the eyes, flow from the joy in our hearts. All music is an echo of that sweet voice, the source of
47which is the joy in our hearts, and all beautiful paintings are the reflection of the light which flows from the joy in our hearts.

The poet then recalls the time in his past life when, though there were difficulties in his way, the joy in his heart enabled him to make light of his distress. In those days even his misfortunes served as material for his fancy to weave Visions of delight. That was the time of hopefulness. But now the sorrows of life have crushed him. But it is not the loss of his joy that makes him sad. What grieves him is the decline and the weakening of his inborn gift of the creative power of imagination. His mind is now chiefly occupied with metaphysical speculation which tends to suppress his poetic imagination. Metaphysical thinking has taken almost complete possession of his soul and is crushing his poetical powers.

The poet then dismisses the depressing thoughts that have been haunting his mind, and turns his attention to the storm that has been raging outside. Hearing the sound produced by the wind blowing against the strings of the lute, he feels that it is like the prolonged scream of a human being who is being tortured and who cries in his agony. He thinks that it would have been much better if the wind, instead of playing upon the lute, were to blow against a bare rock, a mountain lake, a lightning-struck tree, a high Pine-grove, or a lonely house haunted by evil spirits. It seems – to him that the wind is celebrating a devils’ Christmas. He addresses the wind as an actor and as a mighty poet who can reproduce kinds of tragic sounds. The sounds that the wind is producing are compared by the poet to those produced ‘by the panicky retreat a defeated army and to the cries of pain uttered by trampled men groaning in their pain and shuddering with cold. Then there is a pause, a brief interval at deep silence. This pause is followed again by sounds which are this time less deep and less loud than before. These sounds are compared by the poet to the pathetic poem written by Thomas Otway about a lost child some-times crying in bitter grief and fear and sometimes screaming aloud in the hope that its mother would come to its rescue.

It is midnight, says the poet, but there seems to be little possibility of his falling asleep. He would not like his beloved wife to have such an experience of sleeplessness. He would like her to enjoy a sound sleep and to forget her worries. He ends the poem with a prayer for her happiness, and joy. Thus, “Dejection: an Ode” that the poem is an amazing piece of literature. It strengthens the God gifted creativity of S. T. Coleridge. Simultaneously, it is ironic. The poet mourns on his loss; he feels that he has lost his poetic genius even then the poem is a masterpiece. He cries on the most valuable thing of life. He possesses a precious thing viz. imagination. It helped him gaining fame. It also gave him pleasure. Besides, it helped him altering his mood; therefore, he felt dejected on loss of the most valuable thing of his life.

 

‘Ode to the West Wind’

                                                                                                                        By---P.B SHELLEY

15.  What is the poet’s wish in the first line?

Ans. The poet wants to be the lyre of the WestWind.

2. What does the poet compare his thought to?

Ans. The poet compares his thought to the dead leaves.

3. What kind of help does the poet seek from the West Wind?

Ans. The poet wants to scatter his verses all over the earth like the leaves.-

4. What is the message conveyed in the last line of the poem?

Ans. It is a message of hope. Joy would come after grief.

15.  Explain the term “trumpet of a prophecy”.

Ans. By the term, the trumpet of prophecy means that the poet’s verses would proclaim the beginning of a new joyful life. The poet shows his optimism here.

15.  Describe the effect of the West Wind on the leaves, the clouds and the sea waves?

Ans. As the WestWind comes the leaves of trees turn pale in fear. They fall from the trees. They fly away like ghosts running away from a magician. Their hue turns yellow, black and hectic red. They look like pestilence driven multitudes. The West Wind scatters the dark clouds which look like the bright hair uplifted from the head of fierce maenad. The West Wind disturbs the ocean also.

15.  How is the West Wind harbinger of a new life?

Ans. It destroys all that is dead. The dead leaves are taken away by the West Wind. Along with the dead leaves, the seeds are also transported to new places on the right opportunity. These seeds sprout into new buds. In this way, the West Wind becomes the harbinger of a new life.

15.  What effect does the West Wind have on the ocean?

Ans. The WestWind creates a storm in the ocean. It divides the waves of the ocean. Even the sea flowers at the bottom of the ocean are disturbed.

15.  What is the effect of the West Wind in the sky?

Ans. It scatters the clouds in the sky. It brings about rain. It comes near the end of the year and seems to be the mourning song for the dying ear. The poet feels that West Wind brings rain, shiver and thunder.

15.  How does the poet compare himself to the West Wind?

Ans. The WestWind is very powerful. It cannot be tamed. The poet was also equally powerful when he was young. He was also untamed and wild. But now because of the burden of time, he has become weak. He has fallen on the thorns of life and he is bleeding.

15.  How is the West Wind both a destroyer and a preserver?

Ans. According to the poet, the West Wind is both a destroyer and preserver. When it blows it drives away the dead and dry leaves. But it is a preserver as well. It takes the seeds also with it and buries them in distant places. Given the right condition, these seeds grow into big trees. In this sense, the West Wind is a preserver also.

15.  What is the message the poem gives at the end?

Ans. The poet wants to suggest that after grief there will be joy. After winter there will be spring. He seeks the help of the West Wind to bring a message of hope and joyful life.

13. What is the wintry bed?

Ans. The cold earth is the wintry bed.

14. Why are the leaves called pestilence-stricken multitudes?

Ans. They are dead and rotten and they are in large numbers.

15. Who is the azure sister of the West Wind?

Ans. Spring is the azure sister.

16. Who are the angles of rain and lightning?

Ans. The clouds are the angles of rain and lightning.

17. For whom the Atlantic waves part?

Ans. They part for the West Wind.

18. Why do the plants at the bottom of the ocean turn grey?

Ans. The plants turn grey out of the fear for the West Wind.

19. What is the message of the poem?

Ans. The message of the poem is to have hope for the future.

20. Which season if referred in the poem?

Ans. Autumn season.

 

 

Qs.  Write a critical appreciation of the poem ‘Ode to the West Wind’.

 

Ans.

 

“Ode to the West Wind” is an ode, written in 1819 by the British Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley near Florence, Italy. It was first published a year later in 1820, in the collection Prometheus Unbound. The poem is divided into five sections, each addressing the West Wind in a different way. The first three sections describe the Wind’s power to bring Autumn to the land, sky and sea respectively. The fourth section laments that the poet, since his boyhood, has been “chain’d and “bow’d” and lost the freedom he once shared with the wind. The fifth and final section invokes the Wind as a force of inspiration that can breathe life into the poet’s words and spread them throughout the world. The poem’s final lines look ahead to the Spring that follows Winter.

 

Each of the poem’s five parts contains five stanzas: four stanzas of three lines and one couplet. These stanzas follow the rhyme scheme known as terza rima (made famous by its use in Dante’s Divine Comedy). In each terza rima stanza, the first and third lines rhyme, while the second line does not. The final sound of the second line becomes the rhyme for the first and third lines of the next stanza. The final couplet rhymes with the second line of the preceding stanza. The overall scheme of each part of the poem is, therefore: ABA BCB CDC DED EE. “Ode to the West Wind” is written in iambic pentameter.

 

The poem opens by invoking its subject: “O Wild West Wind.” The first two stanzas focus on the Wind’s role as a bringer of death to the natural world, causing leaves to fall like “Pestlience-stricken multitudes” and blowing seeds to the earth, where they lie “Each like a corpse within its grave.” At the end of the third stanza, the poet notes that the Wind’s “azure sister of the Spring” (the East Wind) will eventually cause these seeds to bloom, and fresh buds to return to the trees. The section concludes by observing that the West Wind is “destroyer and preserver”: destroyer because it brings Winter and death, and preserver because it plants seeds and creates the conditions for Spring to bring them to fruition.

 

Section II looks upwards to the sky, expanding our sense of the Wind’s power. “Loose clouds,” too “are shed” by the force of the Wind, as easily as leaves. The poet looks ahead to the fierce, stormy weather the West Wind will bring. He says that the current cloudscape is just a mild foretaste of the weather to come, like the flying hair of a possessed dancer. In the final two stanzas of the section, the poet again reminds us that the wind is a deathly force. Its sound is a “dirge”  and by shrouding the night in dark clouds, it will turn the sky into “the dome of a vast sepulcher”.

 

The third section of the poem turns from the sky to the sea. First, the poet celebrates the Wind’s power to “waken” the Mediterranean Sea. He describes a scene of ancient ruins on the Mediterranean coast: “old palaces and towers/Quivering within the wave’s intenser day” before again expanding our sense of the Wind’s power by switching focus from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. The Wind can “cleave” the ocean as easily as the sea. The imagery of flying foliage which began the poem returns again, but transformed, as the poet describes the “sapless foliage” of the undersea landscape, the “sea-blooms and oozy woods,” disturbed by the Wind as surely as the trees on land.

 

At the beginning of Section IV the poet laments that if he were any of the things he has described so far—a leaf, a storm-cloud or a wave—he would feel no need to address the Wind in verse, as he is doing, because as a natural part of the landscape he would “share/The impulse of thy strength.” He adds that even in his own boyhood, he was more like the Wind than he is now, the “comrade of thy wanderings.” The poet prays to the Wind, “lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!” As an adult, he complains, he is too burdened by life, by the “heavy weight of hours,” to share naturally in the freedom and power of the Wind. This line may refer to the death of the poet’s son, William, earlier in the year the poem was written.

 

The final section offers a different prayer to the Wind. Now the poet asks the Wind to “Make me thy lyre.” He imagines himself as a musical instrument, producing, like the leaves “a deep, autumnal tone” as the Wind blows through him. He asks the Wind to let his spirit merge with the Wind’s mightier one: “Be thou me, impetuous one!”

 

Finally, the poet imagines the Wind as a spirit infusing his poetry with power, driving “my dead thoughts over the universe.” He prays that his poem, “Ode to the West Wind,” infused with this power, will like the Wind itself hasten the destruction of the old world and the beginning of a new one: “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”  “Ode to the West Wind” contributes to Shelley’s reputation as one of the foremost English Romantic poets.

 

 

‘Hymn to Intellectual Beauty’ 

 

1.      When did Shelley compose the poem ‘Hymn to Intellectual Beauty’?

Ans. Percy Bysshe Shelley conceived and composed the poem, ‘Hymn to Intellectual Beauty’ during a sailing trip around Lake Geneva with Lord Byron in the summer of 1816.

2.      When was the poem Hymn to Intellectual Beauty’ composed?

Ans. 1817

3.      How many lines are there in the poem Hymn to Intellectual Beauty’ ?

Ans. 84 lines. ( 7 stanzas of 12 lines each )

4.      Which poems of Wordsworth influenced Shelley to write the poem Hymn to Intellectual Beauty’ ?

Ans. Wordsworth’s poem ‘Intimations of Immorality’.

5.      What is a hymn?

Ans. Hymn is a devoted  song or religious verse.

 

 

Qs. Critically analyse the poem ‘Hymn to Intellectual Beauty’ 

 

Ans.     Percy Bysshe Shelley conceived and composed the poem, ‘Hymn to Intellectual Beauty’ during a sailing trip around Lake Geneva with Lord Byron in the summer of 1816. “Intellectual Beauty”, though Platonic in concept, is an expression not used by Plato but widely current in contemporary writing, especially that of Radical intellectuals associated with Godwin, where it meant non-sensuous beauty, “the beauty of the mind and its creations”. Shelley’s title seems closer in meaning to the “universal beauty” which he intended by the phrase two years later when translating a passage of Plato’s Symposium. Shelley’s Intellectual Beauty in his “Hymn” is not exclusively mental; it is contained or reflected in forms as well as in thoughts.

The shadow of a strange power floats unseen throughout the world, entering into man, coming and going mysteriously. Shelley asks this shadow, which he calls a “Spirit of Beauty,” where it has gone and why it disappears and leaves us desolate. Then he acknowledges that it is vain to ask this question; one might as well ask why rainbows disappear or why man can love and hate, despair and hope. No voice from another world has ever answered these questions. The “names of Demon, Ghost, and Heaven” are the record of men’s vain attempts to get answers to such questions. Only the light of the Spirit of Beauty gives grace and truth to the restless dream which life is. If the Spirit of Beauty remained constantly with man, man would be immortal and omnipotent. It nourishes human thought. The poet beseeches this spirit not to depart from the world. Without it, death would be an experience to be feared.

When Shelley was a boy, he sought spiritual reality in ghosts and the dead. In his search, the shadow of the Spirit of Beauty suddenly fell on him and filled him with elation. He vowed that he would dedicate himself to this Spirit and he has kept his vow. He is convinced that it will free the world from the state of slavery in which it is. He prays that this power will bring calm to his life, for he worships it. It has taught him to fear himself and love all mankind.

The “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty” was conceived and written during a boating excursion with Byron on Lake Geneva, Switzerland, in June 1816. The beauty of the lake and of the Swiss Alps is responsible for Shelley’s elevating what he calls “Intellectual Beauty” to the ruling principle of the universe.

Alpine scenery was new to Shelley and unutterably beautiful. He was profoundly moved by it, and the poem, he wrote to Leigh Hunt, was “composed under the influence of feelings which agitated me even to tears.” Thanks to the Alps, Shelley, who had given up Christianity, had at last found a deity which he could wholeheartedly adore. The worship of beauty is Shelley’s new religion, and it is significant that he calls his poem a hymn, a term used almost exclusively for religious verse. Later, in August 1817, Shelley read Plato’s Symposium and his faith in beauty was no doubt strengthened by Plato’s discussion of abstract beauty in that work and in the Phaedrus, which Shelley read in August 1818. It was daily intercourse with stunning beauty, not Plato, however, that brought Shelley to his new faith. Joseph Barrell, in his Shelley and the Thought of His Time: A Study in the History of Ideas, makes it abundantly clear that the “Hymn” is not Platonic.

The central thought of “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty” is that there is a spiritual power that stands apart from both the physical world and the heart of man. This power is unknown to man and invisible, but its shadow visits “this various world with as inconstant wing / As summer winds that creep from flower to flower” and it visits also “with inconstant glance / Each human heart and countenance.” When it passes away it leaves “our state, / This dim vast vale of tears, vacant and desolate.” Shelley does not profess to know why Intellectual Beauty, which he calls “unknown and awful,” is an inconstant visitor, but he is convinced that if it kept “with [its] glorious train firm state” within man’s heart, man would be “immortal and omnipotent.” But since the Spirit of Beauty visits the world and man’s heart with such irregularity, Shelley pleads with his deity rather than praises it. It remains remote and inaccessible. In the concluding stanza Shelley is a suppliant praying that the power of the Spirit of Beauty will continue to supply its calm “to one who worships thee, / And every form containing thee.”

In Stanza V, Shelley confesses that as a boy, while he was searching for spiritual reality (chiefly by reading Gothic romances, it would appear), the shadow of Intellectual Beauty suddenly fell on him. He shrieked and clasped his hands in ecstasy. As a consequence of this experience, he tells us in Stanza VI, he vowed that he would dedicate his “powers / To thee and thine,” and he has kept his vow. The experience also left him with the hope that the Spirit of Beauty would free “this world from its dark slavery.” In this stanza, Shelley seems to combine two of the major interests of his life, love of beauty and love of freedom.

In regard to the “Intellectual Beauty” of the title, Barrell remarks that it implies an approach by means of the mental faculties but that Shelley probably meant to convey the idea that his concept of beauty was abstract rather than concrete. His approach is romantic and emotional. Shelley, however, seems to think of his Spirit of Beauty as personal, like the God of Christianity. He addresses it, pleads with it, worships it, but he may be using only the rhetorical device of personification. The “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty” is more remarkable for what it tells us about Shelley than it is as a work of art by his very nature.

The poem concludes with the speaker recognizing the “serenity” of the day after the “noon” has past and “autumn” approaches. This is a metaphor for the poet’s life; he thinks he is past the dawn of youthful misunderstanding and is even past the midpoint of realizing the difference between superstition and knowledge. He thus has entered a new age of understanding. Superstition works people up unnecessarily, while knowledge is “solemn” and calming. The final two lines define intellectual beauty for the reader as a “spirit” with spellbinding powers. Knowledge is awesome and fearsome, yet humans are by nature able to know, which makes each person lovable for his or her intellectual potential.

 

 

THE CENCI

1.      Name the two sons of Cenci that were sent to Spain.

Ans. Rocco and Cristofano

2.      Who is Lucretia?

Ans. Wife of Cenci

3.      Who did murder Cenci?

Ans. His own daughter Beatrice.

4.      Who is Giocomo?

Ans. Caenci’s son.

5.      Who were hired by Beatrice to kill Cenci?

Ans. Olimpio and Marzio

6.      Where did Rocco and Cristofano send by Cenci and why?

Rocco and Cristofano were sent to Salamanca, Spain in the expectation that they will die of starvation.

7.      Name the place where Cenci was murdered.

Ans. Castle of Petrella.

8.      What is the full title of the play ‘TheCenci’?

Ans. Cenci: A Tragedy in Five Acts.

9.      When ‘The Cenci’ was published?

Ans. In 1819

10.  What is the full name of Cenci?

Ans. Count Francisco Cenci.

 

Qs. Justify ‘The Cenci’ is a The Cenci, a tragedy by Shelley.

 

Ans.    

‘The Cenci’ is Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poetic tragedy of the moral depravity that he believed tyranny fosters. It treats Shelley’s favorite theme: the moral imagination as the faculty that awakens, through its capacity to empathize with others, sympathetic love, which defeats despotism.  The vertex of Shelley’s episode was a tragedy “Cenci” (1819), predicated on the Italian material. Shelley noticed the tragedy as the main dramatic genre, such as the episode the hero goes through the pain and problems, overcomes them, and morally goes up; the greater he suffers, the greater strengthened his desire to eradicate the evil becomes. The tragedy of Shelley advances the customs of English movie theater that are going from Shakespeare. That is one of the very most “Shakespearean” works of English Romanticism in line with the passions and the energy of images: the ominous shape of Francesco Cenci, and his avenging daughter Beatrice — the true success of the author. The poet himself directed the similarity of this tragedy to Shakespeare’s “King Lear” in the degree of dramatic anxiety. The discord of love is given the extra role, while the primary thing is the have difficulties against wicked, which also creates bad. Shelley shows how breaks the brand between good and wicked, and he is against such indistinction of good and bad. In the preface he creates that Beatrice, following a way of revenge to her dad, made a tragic oversight: she was to do something with love and kindness rather than violence. Her death is the purchase price paid for the blunder.

The plot is dependent on manuscript, that was found by Shelley during his visit to Italy. It instructs about the occasions of 1599: atrocities and excesses of the Italian Count number Cenci, who wiped out his sons and dishonored the little princess. Papal judge didn’t pay attention on the crimes of the Count number, who paid large sums to the court docket. Then the little princess of Matter, Beatrice, chosen assassins to put an end to her father’s evils. However the murder was revealed, and Beatrice, her sibling and stepmother were performed by word of the daddy.

All these happenings are shown in the tragedy of Shelley in a typically passionate way. At the start of the tragedy, Beatrice is portrayed as humiliated and crying person. By the end, having gone through the misery brought by her father, and through the flour jail wall surfaces, she becomes more and more courageous. In the final, she goes to the chopping block with proudly raised head, recognizing the fate as punishment for her deeds.

Shelley will try to avoid her idealization, since he will not see the way to avoid it of the heroine’s avenue — the path of revenge, which is fake, relating to Shelley. It condemns violence in all its manifestations. In any case, the author paints a romantic image; the rest of the individuals in the dilemma are considerably inferior compared to the power of the spirit of Beatrice — that is her kind and compassionate stepmother Lucretia, and her wavering brother Giacomo. Each of them desire the death of the hated tyrant — Count number Cenci, but after the disclosure of the murder, they all cannot stand the fighting and torture, they break, indulge in despair, in support of Beatrice keeps a occurrence of head.

The writer makes an effort to divert the reader from the point of view of love, this collection is reduced, love as a sense of offset. Beatrice refuses her wish to Orsino in the name of revenge and abuse of the villain. Orsino is one of the instigators and main organizer of the Count up Cenci’s murder. He actually turns out to be a villain and a traitor: following the disclosure the murder, he disappears, betraying the trust of people. His declaration of love to Beatrice is incorrect. In the ultimate monologue, the author finally starts his essence. The true carrier of bad in the tragedy appears to be not the Count number Cenci; in his behavior and words it is not hard to see clear signs or insanity, or total depravity. For instance, he arranges to enjoy when he gets to know that his both sons were wiped out so he doesn’t need to keep up them any longer. The main evil in this tragedy is the papal court and the Pope who made the trust to be a justification of crime. They not only didn’t stop the villain, but seriously punish his killers, experiencing it as a danger to morality and order, which they promote and support.

Pope is weighed against a mechanism that will not realize what goes on the truth is and what exactly are the results for the others of people. He puts the rules of rules and order, which replace humanity. These words show that the discord goes beyond the private, family tragedy and sees social interpretation. Beatrice, her brothers and step-mother are the victims of not just a mad old man but of the interpersonal system which is based on injustice. Their crime is generated by the Count’s crimes, and they in turn are the result of pope’s complacency. The heroes end up in circumstances whenever there are two ways out: either death from the hands of Cenci, or on the scaffold. Most revenge tragedies end with a scene of carnage that disposes of the avenger as well as his victims.

 

 

Qs. Narrate a short plot summery of the play ‘The Cenci’.

 

Ans.

            The action takes place in Italy in the 16^th century, when Pope Clement VIII sits on the papal throne. Count Chenci, a wealthy Roman nobleman, the head of a large family, became famous for his dissoluteness and heinous atrocities, which he does not even consider it necessary to hide. He is confident in his impunity, because even the pope, condemning his sins, is ready to forgive their count for generous offerings. In response to the exhortations and reproaches of those around, Chenchi declares without a trace of embarrassment: “SI am sweet in the sight of agony and feeling / That someone will die there, but I live. / There is neither remorse nor fear in me / Which torment others so much.”

Even his own wife and children, Count Chenchi feels nothing but anger, contempt, and hatred. Not embarrassed by the presence of the papal cardinal Camillo, he sends curses to his sons, whom he himself sent from Rome. A little later, he arranges a magnificent feast, at which, completely happy, he praises God for the reward of his sons. The nearby daughter of Chenchi, the beautiful Beatrice, begins to suspect that a misfortune happened to the brothers — otherwise why would the father rejoice like that. Indeed, Chenchi announces to her and her stepmother Lucretia that his two sons are dead: one was crushed by a collapsed church vault, the other was mistakenly killed by a jealous husband. Beatrice knows that the elder brother of Giacomo is ruined by his father and drags a miserable existence with his family. The girl feels that she can become the next victim, her father has long cast lascivious glances at her. In desperation, Beatrice turns to distinguished guests, seeking their protection and protection. But the guests, knowing the hot-tempered and vengeful character of the owner, embarrassedly disperse.

 

Beatrice, from her youth in love with Orsino, who became a priest, still hoped that Orsino’s petition to the pope would be accepted, the pope would remove the dignity from his beloved, they could get married, and then she would be able to slip away from the power of the murderer-father; however, the news comes that Orsino’s petition has returned unopened, the pope did not want to delve into this request. Cardinal Camillo, who is close to papa, makes it clear that papa, confident that the children offend the old father, supports the count’s side, although he declares that he intends to maintain neutrality. Beatrice feels that she cannot get out of her father’s spider web.

In Act III, Beatrice appears in her lazy stepmother Lucretia in complete despair, she seems to have a widespread wound in her head: her mind cannot comprehend the enormity of what happened. The violence happened, Beatrice dishonored by his own father. The girl rejects the idea of suicide, because in the eyes of the church it is a great sin, but where should she seek protection? The crafty Orsino advises to sue, but Beatrice does not believe in the justice of the court, since even the pope does not consider it necessary to intervene in her father’s evil deeds, and heaven even seems to help Chenci.

 

Not hoping to find understanding and support anywhere, Beatrice, along with the previously meek and God-fearing stepmother Lucretia, begins to make plans to kill the tyrant. Orsino proposes to use two strollers as performers, who «do not care what a worm is, what a person is». According to Beatrice’s plan, the killers should attack Chenci on the bridge over the abyss on the way to the castle, where the count intends to send his daughter and wife to mock them without interference. The conspirators are joined crushed by the cruelty and treachery of Father Giacomo.

 

All of them are waiting with hope for news of Chenchi’s death, but it turns out that the tyrant was lucky again: he drove the bridge an hour earlier than the appointed time. In a mountain castle, in front of his wife, Chenchi gives vent to his low feelings and thoughts. He is not afraid to die without repentance, he is not afraid of God’s judgment, believing that his black soul is «the scourge of God». He longs to enjoy the humiliation of the proud Beatrice, dreams of depriving his heirs of everything except the dishonored name. Hearing that the daughter shows rebellion and is not on the orders of her father, Chenchi unleashes numerous monstrous curses on her. His soul knows neither love nor remorse.

 

Clearly aware that there is simply no other way to avoid new torments and humiliations for her and her relatives, Beatrice finally decides on patricide. Together with her brother and stepmother, she is waiting for the assassins, hoping that Chenchi is already dead, but they come and admit that they did not dare to kill the sleeping old man. In desperation, Beatrice grabs a dagger from them, ready to herself execute the tyrant’s execution. Ashamed, the killers retire and after a short time they announce that Chenchi is dead.

 

But Beatrice, her younger brother Bernardo, Lucretia and Orsino do not have time to relieve this news, as the legate of Savella appears and demands Count Chenchi — he has to answer a number of serious accusations. The legate is informed that the count is asleep, but Savella’s mission is urgent, he insists, they will lead him to the bedroom, it is empty, but soon under the window of the tree, Chenchi’s dead body is found in the branches of a tree. Enraged, Savella demands that everyone go with him to Rome to investigate the count’s murder. The conspirators are panicked; Beatrice alone does not lose her courage. She angrily accuses the servants of the law and the papal throne of inaction and indulgence in the crimes of her father, and when retribution has taken place, those who had previously requested but did not receive protection from the oppression of the tyrant are now readily condemned as criminals.

 

However, their trial is inevitable; they are all sent to Rome. The captured assassin under torture confesses to the deed and confirms the charges torn up on his hind legs. Beatrice then turns to the court with an impassioned speech about the dubious value of the confessions obtained in this way. Her speech is so shocking to the killer that, ashamed of his own cowardice at the sight of the courage of this beautiful girl, he renounces his testimony and dies on the rack. However, Beatrice’s brother and stepmother lacked the courage, and under torture they also confessed to conspiring to kill Chenchi. Beatrice reproaches them for their weakness, but he does not reproach the main reproaches. She condemns “justice, miserable earthly, heavenly ruthlessness” for condoning villainy. At the sight of such a firmness of spirit, her relatives repent of their own weakness, and Beatrice has the strength to console them.

The pope, whom the youngest son of Chenchi, not involved in the murder of his father, asked to have mercy on his relatives, remains deaf to his prayers. The papal cruelty struck even Cardinal Camillo, who knew him well. The papal verdict is unchanged: conspirators must be executed. The news of the imminent death first confuses Beatrice’s soul: she, so young and beautiful, is sorry to part with her life; besides, she was frightened by the thought: what if, behind the tombstone, «there is no heaven, no God, no earth — only darkness, and emptiness, and the abyss ...» Suddenly, and there she is waiting for a meeting with a hated father. But then she takes control of herself and unexpectedly calmly says goodbye to her family. She corrects the hair of Lucretia, asks her to tie her hair with a simple knot. She is ready to face death with dignity.

 

Ode to a Nightingale

                                                                                                            By—John Keats

 

15.  Why does the poet’s heart ache?

Ans: In “Ode to a Nightingale”, as the poet John Keats listens to the joyful rapture of the Nightingale, his heart aches. This ache is due to the excessive joy given by the Nightingale’s song that puts the poet’s heart into a trance of numbness by making it brim over with the excess of happiness.

2) Which states does the poet compare his own benumbed state with?

Ans: In Ode to a Nightingale, the poet John Keats compares his own benumbed state caused by the excessive joy given by the Nightingale’s song with the drowsy state caused by the drinking of Hemlock, a poisonous plant-juice, the dull state caused by the drinking of Opium-like drug and the state of oblivion caused by the drinking of the water of Lethe which is, according to Greek mythology, is the river of forgetfulness in Hades.

3) Explain the phrase “blushful Hippocrene”.

Ans: In “Ode to a Nightingale”, the poet John Keats wants to escape the mundane world of frets, fevers and weariness with the help of wine. To do this he takes the help of the genuine tempting and coloured wine of the southern region of France. Hippocrene is the name of fountain which was struck by the hoof of the winged horse Pegasus out of Mount Helicon, the haunt of the Muses. The poet imagines that the spring runs with wine instead of water because he looks upon wine as a powerful source of poetic inspiration.

4) Describe after Keats the mundane world of death and decay.

Ans: In “Ode to a Nightingale, the poet Keats describes the world of frets, fevers and weariness which he wants to escape to go to the ideal world of joy and happiness of the Nightingale. According to Keats, the mundane world is full of sorrows and sufferings. Here men always groan in pain of their ailments. Here youth and beauty are subjected to decay and sadness and depression prevail all over.

5) Explain the phrase “Bacchus and his pards”.

Ans: In “Ode to a Nightingale”, the poet John Keats at first wants to escape the mundane world of frets, fevers and weariness with the help of wine. But later he rejects the idea of riding the chariot of Bacchus, the god of wine, which is drawn by leopards, to escape the mundane world. He seeks poetic imagination as a means of escape to the world of the Nightingale.

6) Describe the world of the Nightingale.

Ans: In Ode to a Nightingale, the poet John Keats gives a vivid and picturesque description of the world of the Nightingale. It is a moonlit night with the starry sky. But there is no light on the ground. Only a faint light is oozing through the gloomy verdure and a mild breeze is blowing. Amidst this lavoreriz, different flowers like hawthorn, eglantine, violet and musk-rose flaunt their identity by their fragrance. The bees and flies being intoxicated by the dew gathered on the flowers are buzzing and humming over them.

7) Why is the poet half in love with wasteful death?

Ans: In “Ode to a Nightingale” the poet John Keats wants to die with ears full of the Nightingale’s joyful rapture. But this kind of happy and musical death is not fully appreciated by the poet because he knows very well that if he dies, he will no longer listen to the Nightingale’s song. In that case his ears will be vain to appreciate the Nightingale’s song. That is why, the poet is half in love with easeful death.

8) Explain the phrase “rich to die”.

Ans: In “Ode to a Nightingale” the poet John Keats seeks to die in the Nightingale’s world with the bird’s joyful rapture in his ears. He thinks that for his death this dulcet and romantic moment is ideal and in this moment if death takes away his breath quietly, nothing will bring him greater happiness than death at this moment. It is actually this happy and blissful moment that can give him beatitude and a halcyon calm.

9) Why is the Nightingale’s song called a “requiem”?

Ans: In “Ode to a Nightingale”, the poet John Keats enjoys the joyful rapture of the Nightingale and wants to die at this romantic moment. But soon he realizes that if he dies at this moment, the song of the Nightingale will serve the purpose of a requiem or song of the mourning to the poet’s death.

10) Why is the Nightingale called an immortal bird?

Ans: In “Ode to a Nightingale” the poet calls the Nightingale an immortal bird. By calling so he actually stresses the eternal and everlasting influence of the bird’s song. He thinks that the same song soothed and beguiled the ancient emperors, clowns, the biblical Ruth and the lonely girl of the fairy land.

11) Explain the biblical reference of Ruth.

Ans: To explain the immortal quality of the Nightingale’s song, the poet John Keats in Ode to a Nightingale gives the biblical allusion of Ruth. Ruth is a biblical figure who came from Moab. After her husband’s death she went to Judah in Palestine with her mother-in-law, Naomi. There she gleaned corn in the field of Boaz-a-Kinsman. At the time of gleaning, her heart bled for her native land and then the Nightingale’s joyful rapture brought consolation to her sad heart.

12) Why does the word “forlorn”  bring the poet back to reality?

Ans: In “Ode to a Nightingale”, the poet John Keats at first wants to dissolve his own self and identify himself with the Nightingale. After enjoying the joyful rapture of the Nightingale, the poet describes the everlasting quality of the Nightingale’s song. In course of his description, he uses the word “forlorn”. This word reminds him of the ever loneliness of an individual in the mundane world and this lavoreriz of the fact that one has to accept the reality brings the poet back to reality.

13) Why is fancy called a “deceiving elf”?

Ans: In “Ode to a Nightingale” the poet Keats wants to escape the frets and fever of the mundane world with the help of fancy or poetic imagination. He is borne to the Nightingale’s world and enjoys the joyful rapture of the Nightingale. But a single word “forlorn” brings him back to reality. Then the poet lavore that poetic imagination can not make one forget the reality forever. It only gives one a temporary relief and creates an illusion of immortal happiness that can not last long. That is why the poet calls fancy a “deceiving elf”.

14) In what sense Ode to a Nightingale is an ode?

Ans: John Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale, is an ode in the sense that its subject is serious and meditative i. e the metal’s unending pursuit of the ideal and the eternal and his ultimate acceptance of the reality. Structurally also it is an Ode. It is usually composed of equal length stanzas having the same rhyme scheme and meter. Actually it is a Horatian ode.

15) What is the theme of the poem “Ode to a Nightingale”?

Ans: Being fed up with the frets, fever and weariness of the mundane world, the poet wants to escape to the world of the Nightingale, which is the world of ideal beauty and happiness. But at last, he realizes that the ideal can not make one forget the real long. This lavoreriz of the mortal is the central theme of John Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale”

 

Qs. Write a critical appreciation of the poem ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ in your own words.

 

Ans.     ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ is one of the five great odes John Keats composed in the summer and autumn of 1819. It was first published in July that year, in a journal called Annals of the Fine Arts, and subsequently in Keats’s third and final publication, Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St Agnes, and Other Poems (1820). The weather in the summer of 1819 was exceptionally fine. Keats was living in semi-rural Hampstead; he had fallen in love with his lavore, Fanny Brawne, and was enjoying a period of fruitful and confident composition. Keats’s friend and housemate Charles Brown later recalled a particularly memorable day that month. A nightingale had built a nest near their house and one morning Keats, who been delighted by the nightingale’s song, sat under a plum tree in the garden and remained there for several hours, composing. He eventually returned with some scraps of paper which, according to Brown, contained the ‘Ode to a Nightingale.

 

Keats’s Ode to a Nightingale is considered one of the finest odes in English Literature. The poem was inspired by the song of a nightingale, which the poet heard in the gardens of his friend Charles Brown. The sweet music of the nightingale sent the poet in rapture and one morning he took his chair from the breakfast table, put it on the grass-plot under the plum tree and composed the poem. Thus the poem is an expression of Keats’s feelings rising in his heart at the hearing of the melodious song of the bird. He thinks that the bird lives in a place of beauty. When he hears the nightingale’s song, he is influenced by its sweetness and his joy becomes so excessive that it changes into a kind of pleasant pain. He is filled with a desire to escape from the world of caring to the world of beautiful place of the bird.

 

 In the beginning, On hearing the musical voice of the nightingale, he feels that it ia an immortal voice of happiness. Keats feels that his body is getting benumbed. But, he also feels an acute pain because he is conscious of his mortality and suffering. He fantasizes of having drunk hemlock or ‘some dull opiate’: “My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains, / my sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk.” The tragic awareness of suffering inflicts on him a peculiar kind of ache because the opposing effect of dullness, which is the effect of desire, is increasing. The awareness is a burden that makes him ‘sunk’ gradually towards the world of oblivion. After describing his plight, Keats is jealous of the bird’s ‘happy lot’ and participates in its permanent happiness. He identifies the bird with dryad, the Greek Goddess of the tree. He contrasts the mortality and suffering of human being with the immortality and perfect happiness of the nightingale. Keats immortalizes the bird by considering it the symbol of universal and undying musical voice. This universal and eternal voice has comforted human beings embittered by life and tragedies. The poet is longing for the imaginative experience of a perfect world. At this stage in the poem, the poet is trying to escape from the reality, and experience the ideal world. Keats begins by urging for poison and wine, and then desires for poetic imagination. As the poem develops, poet’s numbness and intoxication imposed upon his senses slowly disappear and he is awakened to a higher sense of experience. The vintage, dance and song, the waters of poetic inspiration are the warmth of the south together make a compound and sensuous appeal.

The fretful life of human beings and eternal happiness of the nightingale are in sharp contrast with each other. Keats now feels revived into a special awareness of the conflict and wants to create a balance between the transient life of human beings, which is full of sufferings and pain, and the eternal life of happiness, which the nightingale has. In fact, Imaginative minds can have a momentary flight into the fanciful reduced. The poet makes imaginative flights into the ideal world, but accepts the realities of life despite its ‘fever, fret and fury’. The song of the bird symbolizes the song of the poet. Keats is contrasting the immortality of poetry with the mortality of the poet. This is the climax of the poem, where the beauty of the nightingale’s song, the loveliness of the Spring night, the miseries of the world, the desire to escape from those miseries by death, by wine, or by poetry are brought together in harmony.

The Ode is not the expression of a single mood, but of a succession of moods. From being too happy in the happiness of the bird’s song, Keats becomes aware of the contrast between the bird’s apparent joy and the misery of the human condition, from the thought of which he can only momentarily escape by wine, by poetry, by the beauty of nature, or by the thought of death. In the seventh stanza the contrast is sharpened: the immortal bird, representing natural beauty as well as poetry, is set against the ‘hungry generations’ of mankind. Keats expresses the desire to escape from reality, and yet he recognizes that no escape is possible.

One kind of mastery displayed by Keats in this ode is worth noting—the continuous shifting of view-point. We are transported from the poet in the garden to the bird in the trees; in the second stanza we have glimpses of Flora and Provence, followed by one of the poets drinking the wine; in the fourth stanza we are taken up into the starlit skies, and in the next we are back again in the flower-scented darkness. In the seventh stanza we rang furthest in time and place. The nightingale’s song is unrestricted by either time or space. The voice of the nightingale is made immune first to history, and then to geography. It can establish a rapport with dead generations or with fairy lands. In the last stanza we start again from the Hampstead garden, and then follow the nightingale as it disappears in the distance.

The “Ode to a Nightingale” is a regular ode. All eight stanzas have ten pentameter lines and a uniform rhyme scheme. Although the poem is regular in form, it leaves the impression of being a kind of rhapsody; Keats is allowing his thoughts and emotions free expression. One thought suggests another and, in this way, the poem proceeds to a somewhat arbitrary conclusion. The poem impresses the reader as being the result of free inspiration uncontrolled by a preconceived plan. The poem is Keats in the act of sharing with the reader an experience he is having rather than recalling an experience. The experience is not entirely coherent. It is what happens in his mind while he is listening to the song of a nightingale.

The poem has been divided into 8 stanzas of 10 lines each and the rhyme scheme of the poem is a b a b c d e c d e. The poet has made use of many figures of speech such as alliteration, personification, simile, apostrophe, onomatopoeia and allusions. It is needless to say that there is an exuberance of imagery touching the sense of sight, the sense of taste of and the auditory senses. The poem is a beautiful expression of the felicity of Keats’s expression, imagination and sensuousness.

 

To sum up, Keats soars high with his ‘wings of poesy’ into the world of ideas and perfect happiness. But the next moment, consciousness makes him land on the grounds of reality and he bids farewell to the ideal bird. At this moment, Keats must also have been conscious that the very bird, which he had idealized and immortalized, existed in the real world, mortal and vulnerable to change and suffering like himself.

 

Qs. Analysis Keats ‘ “Ode To A Nightingale” as a Romantic Poem.

 

Ans.     ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ is one of the five great odes John Keats composed in the summer and autumn of 1819. It was first published in July that year, in a journal called Annals of the Fine Arts, and subsequently in Keats’s third and final publication, Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St Agnes, and Other Poems. The weather in the summer of 1819 was exceptionally fine. Keats was living in semi-rural Hampstead; he had fallen in love with his lavore, Fanny Brawne, and was enjoying a period of fruitful and confident composition. Keats’s friend and housemate Charles Brown later recalled a particularly memorable day that month. A nightingale had built a nest near their house and one morning Keats, who been delighted by the nightingale’s song, sat under a plum tree in the garden and remained there for several hours, composing. He eventually returned with some scraps of paper which, according to Brown, contained the ‘Ode to a Nightingale.

            The Ode To A Nightingale is a romantic poem like Keats ‘ other odes and deals with a world and experience which are different and remote from the real ones. It presents a contrast between the real world and the world of imagination, of between the world of human being and that of the Nightingale. John Keats belonged to the second generation of the Romantic Age. He is famous for his odes which are written in 1819. His influences as a poet emerge from his famous odes because of his unique writing skills. His writings embody the Romantic essence of negative capability, lavorer, sensuousness, imagination, interconnection between man and nature, beauty, medievalism and others. The poem explores Keatsian imagination where the connection between conscious and unconscious creative mind is done with representation of conflict between thought and feeling.

Keats occupies a distinctly remarkable place in the realm of romantic poetry . His fame rests on his odes. It is in these odes, that one comes into personal contact with the mind of Keats. And it is here that we experience the depth of Keats ‘ struggle to control his personal experience and to give poetic expression. In the bitter sweet poignancy of his experiences lies his romanticism. In his control over them lies the Hellenism and classical quality of his poetry. The odes of Keats are as all great poetry is, romantic and classical at the same time.

 

The Ode To A Nightingale is a romantic poem like Keats ‘ other odes and deals with a world and experience which are different and remote from the real ones. It presents a contrast between the real world and the world of imagination, of between the world of human being and that of the Nightingale. According to Cleanth Brooks the theme of the poem lies in the paradox — The world of imagination offers a release from the painful actuality yet at the same time it sounds the world of actuality more painful by contrary.

 

The Ode To A Nightingale, embodying the very spirit of old romance, is the most voluptuous and passionate in its emotions. At points the emotion threatens to overpower the writer, and a hysterical euphemism here and there jars on the reader. But for the most part the passion, for all its intensity, is focused and controlled. David Masson observes one of the most remarkable characteristics of Keats is the universality of his sensuousness. All of his five senses are equally keen. For example his acute awareness of ‘ taste ‘ is reflected in passage like the following:

                     “ O , for a draught of vintage , that hath been

                     --------------------------------- 

                    -----------------------------------------------      

                     The grass, the thicket, and fruit — tree wild”.

 

The Ode To A Nightingale shows the ripeness and maturity of his poetic faculty. This poem is truly a masterpiece showing the lavore of Keats’ imagination on its pure romantic side and remarkable also for its note of reflection and meditation. The pictorial quality accompanied by sensuousness provides us a picture gallery. If there are lines of fun and frolic, of merry making, dancing and drinking, there is also the magnificent picture of the moon shining in the sky ‘ clustered around by all her starry Fays ‘. Keats also draws a romantic image of Ruth. Standing in the corn field she listens to the song of Nightingale and her tears rolls down her cheeks. Her sorry heart is soothed by the song of the Nightingale.

 

According to Courthope , poetry and plastic art merge and mingle in the works of Keats .The poem Ode To Nightingale is written superb in style. It displays Keats power as a master of poetic language at its highest. Keats here shows consummate skill in a choice of works and in making original and highly expressive phrase .Keats has used several marvelous pictorial phrases, which condense the essence of an image . For example   -----

‘ Laden eyed despair ‘, ‘ beaded bubbles winking at the brim ‘ ‘the murmurous haunt of flies ‘, ‘ charm’d magic casements, opening on the foam / of perilous sea , in faery lands forlorn , etc.

 

The touch of supernatural; the mystery and its suggestiveness adds medievalism which is a romantic trend. The charm’d magic casements, ‘ story of Ruth ‘ are two beautiful examples. Again his love for classical Greek literature is reflected in the reference of Lethe, Dryad, Flora, Bacchus, Hippocrene etc.

Keats observes and portrays the various aspects of nature in his Ode To A Nightingale like his Sleep and Poetry, Endymion etc. He follows the genuine poetic art and his is the beauty perceived through senses. In his poetry there is addition of strangeness to beauty with slight medieval touches. In Ode To A Nightingale Keats remains a great romantic poet with classical strain in his nature and poetic expression. His influences as a poet emerge from his famous odes because of his unique writing skills. Thus, his writings embody the Romantic essence of negative capability, lavorer, sensuousness, imagination, interconnection between man and nature, beauty, medievalism and others.

To Autumn

 

15.  Where did Keats write the poem Ode to Autumn?

Ans. On September 19, 1819, John Keats, while lodging in Winchester, the old West Saxon capital of England, wrote his famous ‘Ode to Autumn’

2.  Who are depicted as friends in the first two lines?

Ans. The maturing sun and autumn are depicted as friends in the first two lines.

3.  What is the connection between the flowers and the bees?

Ans.  Bees carry pollens from the flowers which help flowers to grow.

4.  Why is the season of mists called the ‘close bosom-friend’ of the sun?

Ans.  The season of mists called the ‘close bosom-friend’ of the sun as it helps the sun in replenishing nature and ripening of the fruits and growth of vegetables.

15.  How do the season of mist and the sun conspire?

Ans. The season of mist and the sun conspire or make a plan to load trees with fruits, fill sweetness to their core and also load creepers and vines with vegetables.

15.  In what way has the summer helped the bees?

Ans.  Bees think that summer will never cease. The summer has heled the bees to make the budding flowers bloom and produce honey in abundance.

15.  Why is the gleaner’s head said to be laden?

Ans.  The gleaner’s head said to be laden with the leftover grains that he/she collected from the field. This is because this time the harvest/produce was enormously abundant and he/she has gathered as much as to laden his/her head.

15.  Why is the Autumn said to be very careless?

Ans.  By the time autumn comes, the harvest is over and grains are securely stored inside the granaries. So, this season is said to be careless because there is no need to look after the crops from enemies and invaders any more. Moreover, during autumn season, the nature takes rest for some time and therefore, it is said to be very careless.

15.  In the later lines, the speaker says that autumn is found sleeping on a half-reaped furrow. What has induced it to sleep?

Ans. The fragrance of poppy flowers has induced it to sleep. Poppies are those red flowers from which opium and other drugs are made.

10  Why does the poet ask the Autumn not to think of the songs of Spring?

Ans. The poet has asked so because he believes that even the very dull Autumn has got its own music.

15.  What constitutes the music of autumn?

Ans. The ‘wailful choir’ of gnats, crickets, bleating lambs, whistling robins and twittering swallows constitute the music of Autumn.

15.  The theme of ‘Ode to Autumn’ is the fleeting quality of nature. Do you agree? Give reasons.

Ans.  Yes, I do agree that the theme of the poem is the fleeting quality of nature. Fleeting means lasting for a very short time. The theme of the poem is ‘change’ which is natural and beautiful. The poet says that the time passes by but this change usually possesses something new and better than what came before. A particular season is indeed fleeting as it lasts for a very short span of time.

13.  How are autumn and summer related to spring?

Ans.  Spring comes before the arrival od summer and autumn starts with the departure of summer. That is how both the seasons are related to spring.

14.  How does the poet personify autumn in the poem?

Ans. In the poem, the autumn season is personified as ‘bosom friend’ of the sun who are conspiring on how to yield a rich ripened harvest.
Autumn is personified as a goddess in the second stanza and as a gleaner and a cider presser. Also, there is a description of the ‘soft dying day’ in the last stanza which equates with death.

15. When was the poem Ode to Autumn published?

Ans. In 1820

 

 

 

Qs. In this poem, Autumn is personified. What personality is indicated? What does descriptive detail in each of the three stanzas contribute to the definition of that personality? How is this personality related to the mood of the poem-and the theme?

 

Ans.    The poem embodies the fruitfulness and fulfillment of autumn. Autumn is personified as a full-grown entity lingering and dying. It is the season of dying as well as of fulfilling. The ripeness of Autumn is the prelude to death. There is a suggestion of fertility and ripeness on the edge of dissolution. These paradoxical qualities make up the personality of Autumn as indicated by Keats.

 The first stanza heavily weighted with natural richness. The fertility images suggest maturity products readiness harvesting. The grapes, the apples, the gourds and nuts ripe the core suggesting thereby their impending destruction. Late flowers supply honey for the months winter.  

The second stanza with the picture harvester, gleaner and cider presser complete the images lingering and passing. Provides human embodiment autumn last stage. There tragic pathos the picture the gleaner with hook sparing next swath and the cider presser squeezing every drop fertility. With patient look, she watches “the last lavor hours hours.” Symbol the passing time. Thought death unobtrusively present the bare stubble and sunset of last stanza. But the sense sadness merged the feeling the continuous life Nature which eternally renews itself insect and animal and bird; and the close the ode, though solemn breathes the spirit hope. The last four lines swell with new promise ‘full-grown lambs’ bleating loud, crickets singing the robin and when the music thins again the masterly reserve the final line, we may feel the swallows preparing for their departure distant reference tragic destiny.

The personality depicted the three stanzas related the mood sadness and theme ripeness. Keats gives here very ordered concept of the season. Ripeness which the theme the poem has joys and sorrows, has dimensions and complex savour. Full and soft well acrid, rough and vigorous has clammy cells, the fume poppies well as the stubble plains, the gnats and the river sallow’s represents rich fund experience which has been examined and weighed by delicately balanced mind.

 

Qs. Write a critical appreciation of the poem ‘Ode to Autumn’.

 

Ans.    The poem Ode to Autumn is written by John Keats. In this poem John Keats describes the beauty and characteristics of autumn season. He says that autumn season is good season because in this season people are happy. They feel very good because this season is neither hot nor very cool. Wind blows very friendly. In this season new leaves and fruits grow on the trees. In this season nature looks very beautiful because there is greenery everywhere. All people feel to work in this season even the birds also sing. The sun rays of this season make the fruit fleshy, fat and tasty. In this season nature remains calm and cool.

Ode to Autumn is the lavor product of Keats’s genius. In this poem, we see genius having at its disposal a perfected sensibility. The poem exhibits a radically original, first-hand response to experience, and exhibits it, moreover, with the Keatsian virtues of density and definition, weight and pressure. Autumn is neither a stale convention, nor a misty abstraction. It is an individual entity with dimensions and complex savour. It gives us not only the lavore and softness of Autumn, but also its more masculine qualities—the acrid, the rough, and the vigorous. Not only does it offer mellow fruitfulness and clammy cells, the fume of poppies and the last lavor, but also the mossed cottage-trees, the granary floor, the stubble plains, the small gnats and the river sallows. It is clear that ripeness has come to be for Keats a varied and ordered concept. It represents a rich fund of experience examined and weighed by a delicately balanced mind.

Ripeness is the theme of the poem, and with ripeness is associated death and dissolution. The tragic destiny of the season is suggested in the last stanza through the bare stubble and sunset. But the ‘soft dying day’ has its own beauty. The gnats ‘mourn’ in ‘wailful choir’; the full-grown lambs bleat loud; crickets sing, the robin whistles. We feel in the swallows preparing for their departure a distant reference to tragic destiny. The close of the year is associated with sunset; the songs of spring are over and night is falling; but the sense of sadness is merged in the feeling of continuous life of nature, which eternally renews itself in insect and animal bird. The close of the ode, though solemn breathes the spirit of hope. There is new promise in ‘full-grown lambs’ bleating loud, crickets singing and the robin whistling.

 The poem shows Keats as an artist. He can show natural phenomena in concrete human forms and images. This is such as a Greek poet might have longed to do. The second stanza is remarkable, because here Keats presents Autumn to us in a few characteristics poses familiar in the season. In the poem, subjective note is totally absent, and the poet has made his imaginative surrender to Autumn. Nature’s beauty exists for the moment for its own sake. It is as Swinburne has said, perhaps the nearest to abstract perfection. The three stanzas show a gradual rise in thought. The first stanza describes the colour, the second stanza the movement and the third the music of Autumn. As a critic has said, “The artist shapes the first and the last, and in the midst the man, the thinker gives us its human significance.”

The pictures are objective, sensuous and concrete. The images are like Greek statues, concrete and vivid. Keats’s word-painting is at its best here. ‘Clammy cells’, “the last lavor, hour by hour”, “barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day” testify to the fine felicity of expressions. The poem is itself ‘soft-voiced’. It offers a breathless placidity. The clustering-ssounds increase the sense of an almost drowsy fertility reaching its climax in : Thou watches the last lavor, hour by hour. Slumberous feeling is induced by the usual vowel play: “drows’d with the fume of poppies.” There is the use of short syllables in the last stanza-‘wailful choir’, ‘light wind’, ‘twitter’. The rhythmic quality of the verse and the skilful arrangement of rhymes contribute to the exquisite melody of the ode. Commenting on the beauty of the ode. Aurther Compton-Rickett observes: “The first stanza is a symphony of sound.” The poem is a supreme triumph of Keats as a lyric poet. It is marked by the objectivity, the expansiveness and the equable temper that lavorerize the successful ode. Thus the poem praises autumn, describing its abundance, harvest, and transition into winter, and uses intense, sensuous imagery to elevate the fleeting beauty of the moment.

 

 

 

‘On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer’

 

1.      Name of the newspaper in which the poem ‘On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer’ was published.

Ans.  Keats published the poem in the newspaper ‘The Examner’ in October 1816.

2.      Who was Homer?

Ans. Homer was a Greek poet who wrote Iliad and Odyssey.

3.      Who was Chapman?

Ans.  A 17^th century poet and dramatist who is best remembered for his translations of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.

4.      Who introduced the poet into Chapman’s Homer?

Ans. Charles Cowden Clarke.

5.      Who is Cortes in Chapman’s Homer?

Ans. The poet must be referring to famed Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés who caught his first sight of the Pacific from the heights of Darien, in Panama.

6.      Who is Apollo as referred in the poem ‘On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer’?

Ans. Apollo, the Greek god of art and poetry.

7.      Who saw the Pacific from a peak in Darien?

Ans. Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time, from a mountaintop in the Darien region of Panama.

 

 

Qs. Write down the critical appreciation of the poem ‘On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer’

Ans.     The poem On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer was written by John Keats in 1816. It is a Petrarchan Sonnet. In this poem, Keats who was a Romantic poet is complementing the works of Homer and Chapman as well. Homer wrote two famous epics, the Iliad and Odyssey. These works were later translated into the English Language by Chapman. The poem can be divided into two main parts. The first part deals with the experience of the poet’s travel in the world of literature before reading George Chapman’s translation of Homer’s works. The second part deals with the poet’s experience after reading the translated works.

 

Keats was greatly fascinated by classical literature comprising the poetry of Homer and Virgil. His emotional reacting to Homer’s poetry is conveyed in his early sonnet ‘On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer’. However, despite his love of Greek lore and his interest in classical literature, Keats is thoroughly a romantic poet. Keats developed his own romantic theory of poetry and expressed it in his poem ‘Sleep and Poetry’, just as Wordsworth and Coleridge had formulated their romantic theory of poetry in the preface to ‘Lyrical Ballads’ about two decades ago.

 

 

George Chapman, the translator of Homer’s Iliad, was a contemporary of Shakespeare’s.  ‘On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer,’ Keats compares reading translations of poetry to awe-inspiring experiences such as an astronomer discovering a new planet or explorers first seeing the Pacific Ocean.  One evening in October 1816 Keats read the works of Homer in the translation of the Elizabethan poet George Chapman. He did this in the company of Charles Cowden Clarke, son of his former master and his lifelong friend. That Keats had a monumental experience is clear from “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer”

 

Somewhat like a true Petrarchan sonnet, Petrarchan rhymes scheme generally rhythm of iambic pentameter: abba abba cdcdcd, this poem also clearly divides the treatment of the theme between the octave and the sestet. In the octave Keats sets the background while the sestet describes the effect on him of his experience. In the first half of the octave Keats speaks of his wide study of Western literature, which he characterizes as “realms of gold”. Keats’s metaphor gives us an insight into his attitude towards literature. The ‘goodly states’ and ‘Kingdoms’ are the poet’s territories they have marked out as their own in the infinite area of the English or Western languages. However, these territories are held by poets not insolently as Kingdoms are held but as a sign of their loyalty towards Apollo, the ancient classical god of poetry.

 

The second half of the octave extends the metaphor of the kingdom of poetry to tell us that Keats had heard about Homer’s epics although he had never read them. Homer is traditionally recognized as the first epic poet of Europe just like Valmiki and Vyasa were of India. They can be considered pure and original because they did not borrow their images from other poets. Homer knew and understood human nature dispassionately. His understanding was clear and unclouded by doubts, distractions and fears. Besides, 1-Iorner was the monarch of poets deserving the exalted title of ‘serene’. It is at the end of the octave that Keats tells us about the cause of his translocation i.e. his reading of Homer in Chapman’s translocation. The octave structurally is not divided from the sestet as it ends in a colon:

 

Having told us about the background of his poem in the octave Keats turns to communicate his enjoyment of Homer to us in the sestet. This is done through two unforgettable images. The first of these is that of a professional astronomer into sc sight a new planet has moved in. The second is that of a discoverer such as Herman Cortez who conquered Mexico for Spain and became the first western adventurer to enter Mexico City. Historically, however, it was Vasco Nunez de Balbao who was the first European in 1513 to stand upon the peak of Darien in ma. It is significant that Keats does not name any astronomer such as Galileo had discovered new satellites of the planet Jupiter. It would be in keeping with Keats’s piety to infer that in referring to ‘some watcher of the skies’ he is making use of the primitive figure of speech of periphrasis. If the images help Keats in communicating his peculiar feeling or lavor of the sense or meaning the rhythm of verse gives further density by suggesting the right tone and unfolding the intention while reemphasizing his meaning or sense, and feeling.

 

Keats has been called a poet of the senses. The abstract idea of the discovery of a planet gives joy that is cerebral but the sight of the seascape from the peak in is more sensual and akin to Keats’s character. The choice of Keats’s imagery in this sonnet and marrying it to the appropriate rhythm clinches the success of the poem. ‘On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer’ has, no wonder, become a felicitous record of Keats’s unforgettable personal experiences of an encounter with the father of European poetry that was Homer.

On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer is among the earliest poetic attempts of Keats and was published in 1817. The theme of the poem is Keats’s amazement at the greatness, the range and the profundity of Homer which he experienced through a translation of Homer’s epics by George Chapman. The sonnet is in many ways a representative piece and exhibits Keats’s poetic genius. The sonnet is Greek in execution and Petrarchan in form. The octave presents Keats’s introduction to Homer by Chapman. In the sestet we find the poet’s startled reaction to this remarkable imaginative landscape conveyed to us in terms of the astronomer and the explorer. The unity of the poem is deep and organic; the last line is implicit in the first, as a flower is implicit in the seed.

 

 

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Frankenstein

                                                                                                                        By---  Mary Shelly

1.      What is the sub-title of the ‘Frankenstein’?

Ans. The Modern Prometheus

2.      When was Frankenstein published?

Ans. First publication in 1818 and second in 1831

3.      What is a frame narrative? Give an example?

Ans  A narrative technique that serves a story within a story. Example,  Frankenstein.

4.      Who narrates the story of Frankenstein?

Ans. Robert Walton narrates the story of Victor Frankenstein to his sister Margaret Saville.

5.      Name the two brothers of Victor Frankenstein.

Ans. William Frankenstein and Ernest Frankenstein.

6.      Who is the house-maid of Frankenstein’s family?

Ans. Justine Moritz.

7.      Name the university where Victor Frankenstein did his research studies.

Ans. The University of Ingolstadt, Germany.

8.      How many letter does Walton write in Frankenstein?

Ans. Four

9.      Name the books that read by the Monster.

Ans. Johann Woifgang von Goethe’s ‘Sorrows ofWerter,  Plutarch’s Lives, and Milton’s Paradise Lost.

10.   Who is Felix in love with in Frankenstein?

Ans. Safie

11.   Who killed William in Frankenstein?

Ans. Frankenstein’s monster kills William,

12.   How does Elizabeth die in Frankenstein?

Ans. Elizabeth in Frankenstein dies due to the monster’s attack.

 

13.   How does the monster learn to speak and read?

Ans.  The Monster learns to speak by spying on the DeLacey family. He lives for over a year in a “hovel,” a small shed attached to the DeLaceys’ cottage. Through a chink in the wall, the Monster can see and hear everything that happens inside the cottage. He learns to speak by listening to the DeLaceys. When Felix DeLacey’s fiancée Safie arrives, the Monster is able to learn more: Safie is Turkish, and the Monster overhears Felix teaching her French as well as the history and politics of Europe. The Monster learns to read when he finds three books abandoned on the ground: Paradise Lost, Plutarch’s Lives and The Sorrows of Werter. These books point to major themes of the novel. Plutarch’s Lives is about the “great men” of history, which reminds us that the Monster exists because of Frankenstein’s ambition to be great. The Sorrows of Werter is a novel about the alienation of a young man, which underlines the alienation of both the Monster and Frankenstein. Paradise Lost, by the English poet John Milton, is the most significant of the three books. It tells the Biblical story of Adam and Eve, focusing on Satan’s ambition and alienation from God. The Monster frequently compares himself to both Satan and Adam.

14.   Why does Frankenstein create Monster?

Ans.  Frankenstein believes that by creating the Monster, he can discover the secrets of “life and death,” create a “new species,” and learn how to “renew life.” He is motivated to attempt these things by ambition. He wants to achieve something great, even if it comes at great cost. He gives several different accounts of where his ambition comes from, reflecting his ambivalent attitude toward it. Sometimes he sees it as a character flaw, comparing his ambition to Satan’s, “the archangel who aspired to omnipotence.” Often, however, he suggests that he had a moral duty to follow his ambition: “I deemed it criminal to throw away in useless grief those talents that might be useful to my fellow-creatures.” Some readers have suggested that Frankenstein is desperate to “renew life” because he is still grieving for his mother. She dies shortly before he begins to study science. After the Monster’s creation Frankenstein dreams about Elizabeth turning into his mother’s corpse, which could be seen as Frankenstein’s subconscious recognizing that he has failed to create life in a way which could bring his mother back.

15.  Why does Frankenstein destroy the Monster’s female companion?

Ans. Frankenstein decides that he has a moral duty to destroy the female companion he is making for the Monster. He realizes that even if the Monster is not innately evil, he can’t be sure the female companion won’t turn out to be evil. Frankenstein is also concerned that the female companion might reject the Monster, making the Monster even more miserable and angry. Finally, Frankenstein worries that the Monster and his female companion might have children, and eventually give rise to a new species which might destroy mankind. He concludes that it would be selfish for him to create a companion for the Monster in order to save his own life. This decision shows that Frankenstein is motivated by the desire to do the right thing, but it also shows that he is still driven and ambitious. He is determined to choose the more difficult path, even if that path costs him his life (and the lives of the people he loves). When he makes his decision he is thinking about his future reputation: “I shuddered to think that future ages might curse me as their pest.”

Qs. Justify Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as a science-fiction novel

Ans.

The status of Frankenstein as a science fiction has been interrogated over the years. Mainly, because the idea of scientificity that we understand now in a modern sense differed in the Romantic era. While Anne Mellor talks about the racial discourse and pseudoscience in circulation at that time ,that influence Mary Shelley. It is nonetheless important to be mindful of the concept of scientific advancement and ‘scientist’ to be able to contextualize the scientific discourses of Frankenstein.

The fact is, the word 'scientist' had not even been coined in 1818, when Shelley's novel was first published. Indeed, as late as 1834 the science historian William Whewell was reporting how members of the British Association for the Advancement of Science had felt 'oppressed' by the difficulty of finding a name 'by which we can designate the students of the knowledge of the material world collectively'. Some suggestions had been put forward by the members. 'Philosophers', he said, 'was felt to be too wide and too lofty a term', while ' savans was rather assuming'. When 'some ingenious gentleman proposed that, by analogy with artist, they might form scientist . . . this was not generally palatable'. This problem over designation arose because the 'men of science', of whom Whewell was one, thought themselves to be as much philosophers as scientific workers, and were concerned to maintain their status as thoughtful interpreters of a world which they nevertheless studied primarily in its material aspects. If this sense of an undivided commitment was still strong in 1834, it was even more evident in the first two decades of the century, when Mary Shelley was growing up. I here approach my theme. I want to argue that early-nineteenth-century science had much more of an impact on the genesis and substance of Frankenstein than is normally noticed, or even allowed, by literary critics. There has been little effort by these critics to seriously situate the novel in the context of the science of its time. On the one hand there is the tendency to read today's concerns back into the novel, to take its 'message' about 'obsessive scientific pursuit' for granted as a ' for granted as a prefiguring of sciences dangerous book's science as hocus-pocus, summed up in James Rieger's view that: 'Frankenstein's chemistry is switched-on magic, souped-up alchemy, the electrification of Agrippa and Paracelsus'. He goes on to claim that because Mary Shelley 'skips the science' in her account of the creature's animation, the novel cannot even be considered as science fiction. But this is to miss entirely just how thrillingly speculative and open the state of science was at the historical moment in which Mary Shelley was writing.

 According to Feige, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, revealing in letters and diary entries by the polar explorer Robert Walton the life story of the talented scientist Victor Frankenstein, became a classic of three genres: from a stylistic point of view, regarding the descriptions of the landscape, the exuberant feelings, the whispering in mortuary mixed with modern features to create tension, Frankenstein includes elements of the Gothic Novel. The curse of damnation, which lies over all things, is that of early horror novels. And today’s science fiction determines its birth with Mary Shelley, the young atheist, and her evolutionary theories she draws up in Frankenstein. Shippey, however, classifies Frankenstein nowadays as fantasy since today’s scientists are fairly sure that Frankenstein’s method using the power of electricity to bring his creature to life would not work. In addition, she enhances that scientists in Shelley’s days could have thought it to be possible because they had made experiments with dead frogs stimulating their legs electrically, which caused a movement. Thus it could be assumed as well that this method could be extended and improved in order to revive humans. According to Rider, the scientific methods described in Frankenstein pertinently represent the scientific expertise of Shelley’s times. However, regarding the definitions of fantasy and science fiction, this argument does not justify Shelley’s novel to be fantasy, as still today science fiction might tell stories of never achievable objects or processes. Botting calls Frankenstein a ‘cautionary tale’, as it also contains a moral for the reader.  Even Frankenstein himself points out the danger of acquiring and abusing knowledge.

How dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow. Mary Shelley as well wanted to oppose the Enlightenment assumption and therefore gave a possible answer to the question what might happen in the future and how crucially science and technology will advance (Hamilton 6). As the genre of science fiction had not been established in Shelley’s times, her novel Frankenstein could only retrospectively classified as science fiction

 

 

 

 

 

Qs. Frankenstein as a gothic novel. Justify your answer.

 

Ans.     In the novel Frankenstein, the title character Victor Frankenstein is an unorthodox scientist who attempts to challenge the conventional concept that only God created human beings, working insanely hard in his laboratory for many days to build a creature through assembling the organs from different dead bodies. At last Frankenstein successfully brings it to life, but he is horrified by the creature’s ugliness. The monster has a good nature and felt gratitude to people at the beginning. However, when he attempted to fit into human society, he was shunned because of his hideously ugly semblance, which leaded him to hate and ruin everything. He begins to revenge himself on his creator Frankenstein who abandoned him. Frankenstein’s friends and relatives are killed by the monster one by one. Therefore, Frankenstein swears to take revenge for their deaths but unfortunately loses his life in the pursuit of the gigantic monster. Upon finding his creator dead, the monster then vanishes in the North Pole. There are usually lots of discussions on the gothic features of this work but the articles are generally without exploration into the level of sublimity related to the gothic part in this term.

In Frankenstein, the most gothic thing is that the monster is ruthlessly abandoned and unloved just because he is ugly and he revenges horrifically, which evoke a tragic emotion of the readers. He was given up by his own father and unacceptable by the human society for this ugliness make the terror hatred of him for revenge. Compared with ugliness, beauty could produce the aesthetic and emotional social intercourse of acceptance. Whereas ugliness is often relentlessly rejected by the society. As Fredricks  analyses the tragedy and the causes of the monster and states briefly: “society’s valorization of the beautiful is responsible for the monster’s abandonment and abusive treatment”.

            Mary Shelley was living in the 19th century when only women and God could create mankind, and if a man creates a man, he is just doing an extremely abnormal and terrifying thing considering that he is challenging God with a sublime atmosphere and this horror and terror thing is gothic indeed. In Frankenstein, Shelley’s conception of the plot of “man creates man” is grotesque and horrible: “If people know that I am attempting to infuse life into an inanimate body, I will be punished by the Church as I am trespassing on God’s realm, which only monsters will do”. Here it shows Victor says “I collected bones from charnel-houses and disturbed, with profane fingers, the tremendous secrets of the human frame”. “To collect materials, I went to a graveyard to cut them off; and I went to the execution ground where nobody dares to go, to cut the organs I need off the corpses.”  Victor also feels frightened while doing that but he is so obsessed with his dream and future success that he forgets his family and friends. He knows that his father worries about him, but he write little letters to his father. He completely devotes himself to his work. However, this quote presents how the monster is horrifically created by the crazy and exciting scientist and after the producing is complete how ugly he is and for his ugliness he is abandoned by the creator Victor.

            Frankenstein’s experiment of cutting organs off the corpses in a churchyard to build a creature is indeed a grotesque try, though he wants to make a contribution to science. Hence, the novel Frankenstein is infused with mystery and oddness, which then makes readers panicked and curious about what will happen next. Especially, when readers find that Victor abandons the “deformed child” on which he has spent two years as he is unexpectedly hideous, the readers cannot help pitying the poor “child” who was reluctantly brought into this world, which elevate this Gothic novel a sublime height with evoking an intense emotion. “Giving birth to a baby” is very common in family life. However, in this novel, it is a man that gives birth to a “child” and the man selfishly abandons his “child”. The story borders on both reality and unreality and it arouses the ideas of danger and fear in readers at a distance, which are consistent with the definition of Gothic and sublime. There is a tension between the novel and reality, and the tension intensifies the grotesque and inspires readers’ imagination, which highlights the theme, and imbues the novel with artistic appeal in a Gothic manner.

            Gothic novels focus on the mysterious and supernatural. In Frankenstein, Shelley uses rather mysterious circumstances to have Victor Frankenstein create the monster: the cloudy circumstances under which Victor gathers body parts for his experiments and the use of little known modern technologies for unnatural purposes. Shelley employs the supernatural elements of raising the dead and macabre research into unexplored fields of science unknown by most readers. She also causes us to question our views on Victor's use of the dead for scientific experimentation. Upon hearing the story for the first time, Lord Byron is said to have run screaming from the room, so the desired effect was achieved by Mary Shelley.

Gothic novels also take place in gloomy places like old buildings (particularly castles or rooms with secret passageways), dungeons, or towers that serve as a backdrop for the mysterious circumstances. A familiar type of Gothic story is, of course, the ghost story. Also, far away places that seem mysterious to the readers function as part of the Gothic novel's setting. Frankenstein is set in continental Europe, specifically Switzerland and Germany, where many of Shelley's readers had not been. Further, the incorporation of the chase scenes through the Arctic regions takes us even further from England into regions unexplored by most readers. Likewise, Dracula is set in Transylvania, a region in Romania near the Hungarian border. Victor's laboratory is the perfect place to create a new type of human being. Laboratories and scientific experiments were not known to the average reader, thus this was an added element of mystery and gloom.

Just the thought of raising the dead is gruesome enough. Shelley takes full advantage of this literary device to enhance the strange feelings that Frankenstein generates in its readers. The thought of raising the dead would have made the average reader wince in disbelief and terror. Imagining Victor wandering the streets of Ingolstadt or the Orkney Islands after dark on a search for body parts adds to the sense of revulsion purposefully designed to evoke from the reader a feeling of dread for the characters involved in the story.

 In the Gothic novel, the characters seem to bridge the mortal world and the supernatural world. Dracula lives as both a normal person and as the undead, moving easily between both worlds to accomplish his aims. Likewise, the Frankenstein monster seems to have some sort of communication between himself and his creator, because the monster appears wherever Victor goes. The monster also moves with amazing superhuman speed with Victor matching him in the chase towards the North Pole. Thus, Mary Shelley combines several ingredients to create a memorable novel in the Gothic tradition.

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