The Lake Isle of Innisfree

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made

Nine bean-rows I will have there, a hive for the honey bee

And live alone in the bee; loud glade

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings

There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow

And evening full of the linnet’s wings

I will arise and go mow for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey

I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

W.B Yeats

Anne Frank (Part 2)

Anne Frank

Anne Frank, a German Jewish girl is well known for the diary she wrote while she was concealed from anti-Jewish persecution in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, during the World War II. Her diary describes with wisdom and humour the two arduous years she spent in seclusion before her tragic death at the age of fifteen years.

The Frank family left Germany in 1933 to escape the anti-Jewish movement led by Adolf Hitler. Her father Otto Frank took the family to Amsterdam where he established a small foo product business.

When Germans invaded the Netherlands in 1940, the Franks once again became subjected to anti-Semitic persecution. Therefore, Otto Frank arrange a home prison or hiding place by sealing off several rooms at the rear of his Amsterdam office building. The room Anne Frank was hidden on the first floor. It was a gloomy room where the entrance is shielded by a swinging bookcase. A very narrow staircase led to the upstairs. Anne spent three long years of the spring time of her life in this ‘home prison’.

In 1942, for her thirteenth birthday, Anne received a diary. She began to write about the bitter experiences of her life as well as her thoughts and expectations in this diary. She wrote about her fear and emotional agitation of her fellow people. And also mentioned about the little humour or pleasure she enjoyed in her isolation. She talks about her first love and also the beauty of life.

Later on, in 1944, Anne and others in her family were discovered by the Gestapo, Hitler’s Secret police. They were separated. Anne and her sister were sent to the Bergen Belson concentration camp. There, they lived only for a short time. Both of them died of ‘Typhus’.

Anne Frank became much recognised after her death. Her diary was published as a literary work in 1947. Its English translation, “Anne Frank The Diary of a young Girl” appeared in 1952. The story was made into a play and this play was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1956. It was made into a film in 1959.

Anne Frank Huis (part 1)

Anne Frank Huis

Even now, after twice her lifetime of grief

And anger in the very place, whoever comes

To climb these narrow stairs, discovers how

The bookcase slides aside, then walks through

Shadow into sunlit rooms, can never help

But break her secrecy again just listening

Is a kind of guilt: the Westerkirk repeats

Itself outside, as if all time worked round

Towards her fear, and made each stroke

Die down on guarded streets imagine it

Three years of whispering and loneliness

And plotting, day by day, the Allied line

In Europe with a yellow chalk what hope

She had for ordinary love and interest

Survives her here, displayed about the bed

As pictures of her family;  some actors,

Fashions chosen by princess Elizabeth

And those who stoop to see them find

Not only patience missing its reward

But one enduring for chances

Like my own; to eave as simply

As I do, walk at ease

Up dusty tree-lined avenues, or watch

A silent barge come clear of bridges

Settling their reflections in the blue canal.

Andrew Motion

Andrew Motion

Andrew Motion

Andrew Motion is an English poet, novelist and a biographer who was honoured with Poet Laureate. His poems are known for the insightful way in which they explore loss and desolation.

He was born in 1952 in Essex. His mother died when he was 17 years old. He studied in University college, Oxford and studied the poetry of Edward Thomas.

In 1975, he won the Newdigate prize for Oxford undergraduate poetry. Later, he worked as an English teacher. He taught in University of Hull. In 1989, he worked as the professor of Creative writing at the University of East Anglia, and later in the University of London.

Motion published a number of poetry which brought him much credit and reputation. Some of them are “The Pleasure Streamers”(1978), “Independence” (1981), “Natural Causes” (1987), “Salt Water” (1997). In 2005, he wrote the famous “Spring wedding” to celebrate the wedding, of prince of Wales. In 2003, he wrote another poem, a milestone in his poetry, “Regime change” to protest the invasion of Iraq.

Review of the poem 'The Pigtail'

Review of the poem 'The Pigtail'

The poem ‘Pigtail’ written by William Makepeace Thackeray is a humorous poem which throws sarcasm at the sage taking the wise man as a clown. The story is based on a pigtail which the sage wanted to get rid of. The way he tries to change the position of the pigtail and his effort for that make the whole story very funny and humorous. The poet does not mention anything about the wisdom or the presence of mind of the sage but confines to the pigtail how it becomes a wet blanket to him. It is quiet funny why such a wise man maintained the plaited hair and why it became a nuisance.

The poet vividly describes the displeasure the sage developed in his mind over the troublesome pigtail.

“But wondered much and sorrowed more”

“He mused upon his curious case”

“And swore he’d change the pigtail’s place”

The poet also describes the attempt the sage made incessantly to get rid of the pigtail.

“…….he turned him round”

“…….the puzzled sage did spin; in vain….”

“And right, and lift and round about, And up, and down, and in, and out

He turned”

The poet creates a picture of the pigtail using the words, ‘handsome’, ‘this curious case’, ‘hanging’, ‘dangling’. The poet creates much mock, irony and sarcasm towards this character. A sage is a person who is wise, discreet and judicious, having the wisdom of experience of or indicating profound wisdom. However the sage in the poem is entirely different. It is the natural order that a pigtail always falls down behind the head. So, in the whole story the sage is in an absurd effort to change this position.

However the poet Thackeray presents the concept of the pigtail as a metaphor. It challenges the wisdom of the sage. It can be taken as an obstacle to prove the intelligence of the sage. The sage struggles in vain. As the episodes of sages are heard from the East, the poet perhaps reflects on them in a sarcastic and satirical manner.

The Pigtail

The Pigtail

There lived a sage in days of yore,

And he a handsome pigtail wore

But wondered much and sorrowed more

Because it hung behind him

He mused upon this curious case

And swore he’d change the pigtail’s place

And have it hanging at his face

Not dangling there behind him

Says he “The mystery I’ve found

I’ll turn me round” he turned him round

But still it hung behind him

Then round, and round, and out and in,

All day the puzzled sage did spin

In vain – it mattered not a pin

The pigtail hung behind him

And right, and left, and round about,

And up, and down, and in, and out,

He turned: but still the pigtail stout

Hung steadily behind him

And though his efforts never slack

And though he twists, and twirl, and tack

Alas! Still faithful to his back

The pigtail hangs behind him

William Makepeace Thackeray

William Makepeace Thackeray

William Makepeace Thackeray

Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19^th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly “Vanity fair”. He was also famous for his poetic creations.

Thackeray was born in Calcutta, India. His father was working as the secretary to the board of revenue in the British East Indian company. He studied in Trinity College, Cambridge, but left  the school in 1829, and after that he was never keen on academic studies. Then he studied law but even that, he gave up on the way. In 836, Isabella Shaw became the life partner of Thackeray. They had three daughters in their marriage.

Thackeray wrote number of novels from which he became reputed. Among them, one could well remember ‘Catherin’ his first novel, the luck of Barry Lyndon ‘Pendennis’ and ‘The history of Henry Esmond’.

He was an expert in creating sarcasm in his literary works. He also wrote some poetry which was based on humour and sarcasm. In his poem ‘pigtail’ Thackeray laughs at a sage.

In his fiction- writing, he followed realistic tradition, therefore, very often; he was distinguished as ‘the second Charles Dickens’.

Review of the poem 'Mid- term Break'

Review of the poem 'Mid- term Break'

“Mid-term break” written by Seamus Heaney is an elegy, a lamentation on an untimely death of a beloved person. The narrator could be a small child. So the whole scene is presented in the eye-corner of him. The poet has been able to visualise the emotional side of this sudden death. In addition, he takes the members of the family, how they have been bereaved over this loss.

The flow of the situations have been fabricated excellently in order to construct a very story live-experience of the reader. A bereaved occasion of a family could be the sole objective of the poet. It is quite evident that the poet has been able to achieve that particular goal.

For this purpose, the poet uses a diction which derives a sense of sorrow and remorse. For example such as,

    “father crying…..”

    “taken funerals in his stride”

    “a hard blow”

    “In hers and coughed out angry tear less sighs”

   “the corpse, stanched and bandaged…….”

   “lay in the four foot box”

These expressions also contribute to build up the mental picture of the dead body. The poet also brings the imagery of father and mother, into the scene. Both have been stricken by the death.

   “In the porch, I met my father crying”

   “….as my mother held my hand in hers and coughed out angry tear less sighs”

The poet also focuses at the incident of narrator. The poet very carefully presents the incident to the extent the little boy has access to it.  For example,

“counting bells knelling”

This shows how anxious he was until the school was over. On the other hand, the narrator is too small to pose himself as a man who is directed by some of responsibility. When the narrator brings the image of the dead body, he is quite euphemistic.

 “He lay in the four foot box as in his cot”

This shows the narrator’s love and affection towards his departed brother. Nowhere in the poem, the poet uses the word ‘death’ even though he talks about the death of a child. Only in one instance, he uses the word corpse while mainly uses other words and phrases such as, ‘funerals’, ’hard blow’, ‘trouble’, ‘ambulance’ and ‘snowdrops’ and ‘ candles’.

 

Mid-term Break

Mid-term Break

I sat all morning in the college sick bay

Counting bells knelling classes to a close

At two o’ clock our neighbours drove me home.

In the porch I met my father crying-

He had always taken funerals in his stride

And big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.

The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram

When I came in, and I was embarrassed

By old men standing up to shake my hand.

And tell me they were sorry for my trouble

Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest

Away at school, as my mother held my hand.

In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs

At ten o’ clock the ambulance arrived

With the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.

Next morning I went up to the room, Snowdrops

And candles soothed the beside; I saw him

For the first time in six weeks. Paler now

Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple

He lay in the four foot box as in his cot

No gaudy scares, the bumper knocked him clear

A four foot box, a foot for every year.

Seamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney 

Seamus Heaney was born in a small agricultural town in Northern Ireland. Heaney is an Irish poet and he won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1995. In 1957, he went to Belfast to study literature at queen’s University. Then, he worked as a lecturer in 1965, but he was highly worried over the continuous clashes between the Roman Catholic and protestants. So Heaney moved to the Republic of Ireland in 1972. Later he worked as a lecturer in Harvard University and the University of Oxford.

In his poetry, he mainly focuses at the physical and rural surroundings of his childhood in Northern  Ireland. His poems are often short, punctuated by the intensity silence of the people he describes.

Among the collection of his poetry, the most significant are

·         Strom on the Island

·         Perch

·         Blackberry-picking

·         Death of a Naturalist

·         Digging

·         At a potato Digging

·         Follower

·         Mid term break

Heaney’s latest was the English translation of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem ‘Beowulf”. It became the best seller in United states and United Kingdom in 2000.

Review of the poem "The seven Ages of Man"

Review  of  "The Seven Ages of Man"

The Seven Ages of man written by William Shakespeare discusses about a person’s life, in its various stage from birth to death. During the life span of a person he/she has to undergo different experiences. The poet peeps into this wonderful nature of life. As a forward to this complexity of life, the poet brings an ideal definition.

               “All the world’s a stage,

                And all the men and women merely players”

He metaphorically takes the world as a stage. On this stage all men and women play as actors and actresses and the play different roles. They enter the stage and exist. With his effective metaphor, Shakespeare presents the reality of life as it is defined in many religions.

The poet brings out different characters to explain the stages of man. They are infant, school boy, lover, soldier, justice and old man. By using these characters, poet excellently derive the idea expected.

The poet also builds up of visual imagery of these characters. The reader can draw up the mental pictures of,      

          An infant who is mewling and puking

         A school boy who is whining and unwilling going to school

         A lover who is always sighing and singing woeful ballads

         A soldier seeking bubble reputation

        A justice who has a very well-informed look

        An old man wearing spectacles

The Seven Ages of Man

The Seven Ages of Man 

All the world’s a stage

And all the men and women merely players

They have their exists and their entrances

And one man in his time plays many parts

His acts being seven ages. At first the infant

Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms

And then the whining schoolboy with his satchel

And shining morning face, creeping like snail

Unwillingly to school, And then the lover

Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad

Made to his mistress eyebrow Then a soldier

Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,

Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel

Seeking the bubble reputation

Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice

In fair round belly with good capon lined

With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut

Full of wise saws and modern instances

And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts

Into the lean and slipper’s Pantaloon

With spectacles on nose and pouch on side

His youthful hose well saved, a world too wide

For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice

Turning again toward childish treble, pipes

And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all

That ends this strange eventful history

Is second childishness and mere oblivion

Sans teeth, Sans eyes, Sans taste, Sans everything

William Shakespeare

Review of "Disabled"

Review of "Disabled"

The poem “Disabled” by Wilfred Owen belongs to the Modern poetry of English Literature. The poem is about the various aspect of war. The central image of poem is, a disabled soldier in a wheel chair. By using this image Owen brings out realities related to war. “He” in the poem uses to symbolise all soldiers. Owen contrast the behaviour between a disabled soldier and other boys. Disabled soldier has an inactive behaviour while the other boys have active playful behaviour.

The disabled soldier suffers emotionally than physically. He is deprived in romance and his psychology scar is seemed to be sever than his physical disability. The poet increases the poignant quality.

The themes discussed through this poem are:

·         The plight of a physical handy crap soldier

·         Highlighted the bitter realities of war

§  War destroys human life

§  There’s no valid reason for war

§  War makes people dependent and helpless

§  War lacks glory

§  Irresponsibility of authorities elated to war

§  War is tragedy

·      Highlighting the idea that psychological scars are more painful than physical disability.

   

Disabled

Disabled

He sat in a wheel chair, waiting for dark,

And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey,

Legless, sewn short at elbow. Through the park

Voices of boys rang saddening like hymn,

Voices of play and pleasure after day,

Till gathering sleep had mothered them for him.

About this time Town used to swing so gay

When glow-lamps budded in the light-blue trees

And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim,

In the old times, before he threw away his knees

Now he will never feel again how slim

Girls’ waist are, or how warm their subtle hands,

All of them touch him like some queer disease.

There was an artist silly for his face,

For it was younger than his youth last year

Now he is old; his back will never brace

He’s lost his colour very far from here,

Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry,

And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race

And leap of purple spurted from his thigh,

One time he liked a blood smear down his leg

After the matches carried shoulder-high

It was after football, when he’d drunk a peg

He thought he’d better join. He wonders why….

Someone had said he’d look a god in kilts

That’s why; and maybe, too, to please his Meg,

Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts

He asked to join. He didn’t have to beg

Smiling they wrote his lie; aged nineteen years

Germans he scarcely thought of; all their guilt

And Austria’s did not move him

Of fear came yet.  He thought of jeweled hilts

For daggers in plaid socks; of smart salutes;

And care of arms; and leave; and pay arrears

Esprit de corps; and hints for young recruits

And soon, he was drafted out with drums and cheers

Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal

Only  a solemn man who brought him fruits

Thanked him; and then inquired about his soul

Now, he will spend a few sick years in Institutes

And do what things the rules consider wise

And take whatever pity they may dole

To-night he noticed how the women’s eyes

Passed from him to the strong men that were whole

How cold and late it is! Why don’t they come?

And put him into bed? Why don’t they come?

Wilfred Owen

Wilfred Owen

Wilfred Owen 

Wilfred Edward Salter Owen was born on 18 March 1893 in Shropshire. He was a poet and a soldier. Wilfred Owen was the eldest son of the Thomas and Harriet Owen. He was an Anglican. During his school days, he was clever in studies. Wilfred passed the matriculation of the University of London. As the first career in life Wilfred worked as a teacher. In 1915, he was commissioned in the Manchester Regiment and was sent to the Front France at the end of same year. After periods at home, he returned to the front and paradoxically, was awarded the Military Cross.

Wilfred Owen was one of the leading poet of First World War. He wrote about war when he even at the battle field. Some of best works of him are,

·         Dulce et Decorum est

·         Insensibility

·         Anthem for Doomed Youth

·         Futility

·         Spring offensive

·         Strange Meeting    etc.

   

Wilfred Owen was killed in action shortly before the Armistice in November 1918. It was quite pathetic that Owen bade goodbye to his life at a very young age and he was killed one week before the Armistice, the agreement for the ceasefire was signed. After composing the poem, “Anthem for doomed youth” Wilfred Owen wrote a preface for it. It reads as follows:

 “My subject is war and the pity of war; The poetry is in the pity”

This is pathetic as well as ironic because the cruel war cost his life too.

Anthem For Doomed Youth

Anthem For Doomed Youth

What passing bells for these who die as cattle?

Only the monstrous anger of the guns

Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle

Can patter out their hasty orisons

No mockeries now for them, no prayers nor bells

Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs

The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells

And bugles calling for them from sad shires

What candles may be held to speed them all?

Not in the hands but in their eyes

Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes

The pallor of girl’s brows shall be their pall

Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds

And each slow dusk a drawing- down of blinds

Wilfred Owen