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’.