Play Summary.docx

8/18/2019 Play Summary.docx

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Play Summary

The Tempest opens in the midst of a storm, as a ship containing the king of Naples and his party

struggles to stay afloat. On land, Prospero and his daughter, Miranda, watch the storm envelop the ship.

Prospero has created the storm with magic, and he explains that his enemies are on board the ship.

The story Prospero relates is that he is the rightful Duke of Milan and that his younger brother, Antonio,

betrayed him, seizing his title and property. Twelve years earlier, Prospero and Miranda were put out to

sea in little more than a raft. Miraculously, they both survived and arrived safely on this island, where

Prospero learned to control the magic that he now uses to manipulate everyone on the island. Upon his

arrival, Prospero rescued a sprite, Ariel, who had been imprisoned by the witch Sycorax. Ariel wishes to

be free and his freedom has been promised within two days. The last inhabitant of the island is the child

of Sycorax and the devil: Caliban, whom Prospero has enslaved. Caliban is a natural man, uncivilized

and wishing only to have his island returned to him to that he can live alone in peace.

Soon the royal party from the ship is cast ashore and separated into three groups. The king's son,Ferdinand, is brought to Prospero, where he sees Miranda, and the two fall instantly in love. Meanwhile,

Alonso, the king of Naples, and the rest of his party have come ashore on another part of the island.

Alonso fears that Ferdinand is dead and grieves for the loss of his son. Antonio, Prospero's younger

brother, has also been washed ashore with the king's younger brother, Sebastian. Antonio easily

convinces Sebastian that Sebastian should murder his brother and seize the throne for himself. This

plot to murder Alonso is similar to Antonio's plot against his own brother, Prospero, 12 years earlier.

Another part of the royal party — the court jester and the butler — has also come ashore. Trinculo and

Stefano each stumble upon Caliban, and each immediately sees a way to make money by exhibiting

Caliban as a monster recovered from this uninhabited island. Stefano has come ashore in a wine cask,

and soon Caliban, Trinculo, and Stefano are drunk. While drinking, Caliban hatches a plot to murder

Prospero and enrolls his two new acquaintances as accomplices. Ariel is listening, however, and

reports the plot to Prospero.

Meanwhile, Prospero has kept Ferdinand busy and has forbidden Miranda to speak to him, but the two

still find time to meet and declare their love, which is actually what Prospero has planned. Next,

Prospero stages a masque to celebrate the young couple's betrothal, with goddesses and nymphs

entertaining the couple with singing and dancing.

While Ferdinand and Miranda have been celebrating their love, Alonso and the rest of the royal party

have been searching for the king's son. Exhausted from the search and with the king despairing of ever

seeing his son alive, Prospero has ghosts and an imaginary banquet brought before the king's party. A

god-like voice accuses Antonio, Alonso, and Sebastian of their sins, and the banquet vanishes. The

men are all frightened, and Alonso, Antonio, and Sebastian run away.

Prospero punishes Caliban, Trinculo, and Stefano with a run through a briar patch and swim in a

scummy pond. Having accomplished what he set out to do, Prospero has the king's party brought in.

Prospero is clothed as the rightful Duke of Milan, and when the spell has been removed, Alonso rejects

all claims to Prospero's dukedom and apologizes for his mistakes. Within moments, Prospero reunitesthe king with his son, Ferdinand. Alonso is especially pleased to learn of Miranda's existence and that

Ferdinand will marry her.


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This sonnet finds a soldier speculating as he goes away to war about his possible death, which

he feels should not be mourned, but understood as part of a selfless tribute to his much-loved

England.

STRUCTURE ! sonnet. The sonnet form is particularly appropriate here. Sonnets are

traditionally love poems. "n many renaissance poems, written by the li#es of $lutarch, Thomas

%yatt or the Earl of Surrey, such poems are dedicated to an ideali&ed lover' a loverrepresented as having the best (ualities possible. )The Soldier* is indeed a love poem, written

for a much-loved and ideali&ed England.

‘The Soldier’ the poem*s voice is that of the unnamed and so anonymous soldier. This soldier

therefore seems to spea# not only for himself, but for other soldiers too. This is, literally, a

poem about selflessness the ideali&ed selflessness of the soldier who sacrifices his life for his

country.

“If I should die” the opening clause may be conditional, but +roo#e here reflects the contentsof many letters home from soldiers to families, filled with foreboding about possible death.

“think only this of me:” the tone of selflessness, of refusing mourning, is contained in this

command to “think only this” .

“There is some corner of a foreign field that is forever England” an image full of pathos and

patriotism. The idea of an unnamed “corner of a foreign field” where the soldier will be buried

spea#s of the unsung and anonymous nature of death in war. et the notion that this small

space will forever be part of England elevates the sacrifice the soldier ma#es' as if he has ina small way con(uered this land. The soft alliteration here lends these opening lines a subdued

tone.

“In that rich earth a richer dust concealed” the fertile earth of the foreign field /fertile in part

because of the dead beneath0 has hidden within it the soldier*s body /dust 0. )1ust* is a common

literary metaphor for the body coming as it does from the funeral oration in the +oo# of

Common $rayer, which spea#s of the body returning to the earth, ashes to ashes, dust to

dust.

“A dust whom England ore! sha"ed! made aware! England here is personified as a mother2

first with child, then rearing her young. The lin# with the mother, of course, emphasises the

deep intimacy and importance of England her )sons*.

“gave! once! her flowers to love# to roam” England*s abundance and pastoral beauty is

emphasised here as a #ind gift. $iving is an important and recurrent metaphor for +roo#e

when writing about soldiers sacrifice' a way of giving meaning to death by placing it in the

conte3t of a #ind of social e3change.

“A ody of England’s” the soldier*s body actually elongs in a fundamental way to England2 it

is hers. This sense of intimate connection' of actually 4oining with England' is #ey to this

poem.


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“reathing English air#washed#lest#home” England is again mentioned' si3 times in this

poem in total. +y sheer repetition of the name, this poem gains patriotic intensity. 5ere the

pleasant e3perience of everyday life is described as an English e3perience. The final mention

of “home” in the octet brings us bac# to the tragic scene described in the first line.

“And think” the se3tet is more speculative, about life after death, about the soul rather than

the body2 this call to the reader to think” , or imagine, is appropriate.

“this heart#eternal mind” the heart here stands in for the soul2 we are as#ed to imagine this

soul after death, when all evil or sin has been cast off, and has become part of 6od himself.

The soul is now “a "ulse” in the mind of the greater being.

“this heart# no less % $ives somewhere ack the thoughts y England given” This line refers

bac# to the octet, where England made the soldier and his thoughts2 now we are as#ed to

imagine that e(ually /“no less” 0 the soul of the soldier gives all its accumulated thoughts of a

lifetime in England to 6od.

“&er sights and sounds# laughter! learnt of friends' the soldier lists all the wonderful

e3periences that the soldier has gained from England. These pleasant thoughts and memories

will be given bac# to 6od as the soldier becomes one with 5im.

“and gentleness! in hearts at "eace % (nder an English heaven the poem ends with a

startling proposition' the soldier finds rest and peace at last in heaven, but heaven has been

transformed by the thoughts and memories that the soldier has given to 6od. This heaven is

now an English heaven” the connection with England will remain forever unbro#en. Thesonnet*s turn from an idyllic or ideali&ed vision of England to the idea of a transcendent and

literally heavenly England is complete.

7!8T59:96 89TE This is a sophisticated patriotic response to the ;irst %orld %ar that

can be contrasted with the more 3enophobic and crude patriotism of poets li#e


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The Soldier is a sonnet in which Brooke #lori$es %n#land durin# the &irst 'orld 'ar. (e

speaks in the #uise o) an %n#lish soldier as he is leavin# home to #o to war. The poem

represents the patriotic ideals that characteri*ed pre-war %n#land. +t portras death )or

one,s countr as a noble end and %n#land as the noblest countr )or which to die.

+n the $rst stan*a the octave o) the sonnet stan*a he talks about how his #rave will be

%n#land hersel) and what it should remind the listeners o) %n#land when the see the

#rave. +n the second stan*a the sestet he talks about this death sacri$ce )or %n#land as

redemption he will become a pulse in the eternal mind. (e concludes that onl li)e willbe the appropriate thin# to #ive to his #reat motherland in return )or all the beauti)ul and

the #reat thin#s she has #iven to him and made him what he is. The soldier-speaker o) the

poem seeks to $nd redemption throu#h sacri$ce in the name o) the countr.

The speaker be#ins b addressin# the reader and speakin# to them in the imperative:

think onl this o) me. This sense o) immediac establishes the speaker,s romantic

attitude towards death in dut. (e su##ests that the reader should not mourn. 'hichever

corner o) a )orei#n $eld becomes his #rave it will also become )orever %n#land. (e will

have le)t a monument o) %n#land in a )orever %n#land. (e will have le)t a monument in

%n#land in a )orei#n land $#urativel trans)ormin# a )orei#n soil to %n#land. Thesu##estion that %n#lish dust must be richer represents a real attitude that the people

o) the 3ictorian a#e actuall had.

The speaker implies that %n#land is mother to him. (is love )or %n#land and his willin#ness

to sacri$ce is e4uivalent to a son,s love )or his mother but more than an ordinar son he

can #ive his li)e to her. The ima#er in the poem is tpicall 5eor#ina. The 5eor#ian poets

were known )or their )re4uent mediations in the %n#lish countrside. %n#land,s 6owers

her was to roam and %n#lish air all represent the attitude and pride o) the outh o)

the pre-industrial %n#land man readers would e7cuse the 8in#oistic them o) this poem i)

the remember that this soldier,s braver and sense o) sacri$ce is )ar better than the

modern soldier and war)are in which there is nothin# #rand about killin# people with

automated machine #uns9 The soldier also has a sense o) beaut o) his countr that is in

)act a part o) his identit. +n the $nal line o) the $rst stan*a nature takes on a reli#ious

si#ni$cance )or the speaker. (e is washed b the rivers su##estin# the puri$cation o)

baptism and blest b the sun o) home. +n the second stan*a the sestet the phsical is

le)t behind in )avor o) the spiritual. +) the $rst stan*a is about the soldier,s thou#ht o) this

world and %n#land the second is about his thou#hts o) heaven and %n#land in )act and

%n#lish heaven.

+n the sestet the soldier #oes on to tell the listener what to think o) him i) he dies at war

but he presents a more ima#inative picture o) himsel). (e )or#ets the #rave in the )orei#ncountr where he mi#ht die and he be#ins to talk about how he will have trans)ormed into

an eternal spirit. This means that to die )or %n#land is the surest wa to #et a salvation: as

implied in the last line he even thinks that he will become a part o) an %n#lish heaven.

The heart will be trans)ormed b death. "ll earthl evil will be shed awa. nce the

speaker has died his soul will #ive back to %n#land everthin# %n#land has #iven to him-

in other words everthin# that the speaker has become. +n the octave the speaker

describes his )uture #rave in some )ar o; land as a part o) %n#land and in the sestet

%n#land takes on the role o) a heavenl creator a part o) the eternal mind o) 5od. +n this

wa din# )or %n#land #ains the status o) reli#ious salvation wherever he dies. 'herever

he dies his death )or %n#land will be a salvation o) his soul. +t is there)ore the mostdesirable o) all )ates.

The ima#es and praises o) %n#land run throu#h both the stan*as. +n the $rst stan*a Brooke

describes the soldier,s #rave in a )orei#n land as a part o) %n#land in the second that


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actual %n#lish ima#es abound. The si#hts sounds dreams lau#hter )riends and

#entleness that %n#land o;ered him durin# his li)e till this time are more than enou#h )or

him to thank %n#land and satis)actoril #o and die )or her. The poet elaborates on what

%n#land has #ranted in the second stan*a


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being repaired. Instead, it is being damaged by the narrator's actions. In the poem, the word "wall" is used by

the narrator and the word "fences" is used by the neighbor. Like the words "stone" and "boulders," these

words are one and two syllables and are used as singular and plural, respectively. Perhaps, Frost also

preferred "wall" to something like "rock" because it contains the visual representation of the double "ll" and

the word "all."

Back to the two main lines in the poem: "Something there is that doesn't love a wall" and "'Good fences

make good neighbors.'" The first is the narrator's line, which begins with a stress on the first syllable of

"Something." This reversal of the meter is used to indicate the break up of a wall. Likewise, the word "wall" at

the end of the line is used to show that the wall is out of the way, as the narrator would like it to be. The

second line is the neighbor's and contains seven syllables: unstressed, stressed, unstressed, stressed,

unstressed, stressed, unstressed. The stresses represent the narrator and his neighbor on each side with

the stress in the middle as the fence. Notice too that the meter symmetric, and the word "make" serves as

the fence. Of course, we see the plural "fences" and "neighbors" here as well.

Frost uses sounds to demonstrate what is happening in the poem. For example, in the line "No one has seen

them made or heard them made," Frost structures each pair of words so that the first word ends with the

same letter that the second word begins with. This is meant to show that there are no gaps. The exception

here, of course, is "or heard." Since Frost is talking about the sound at this point, the repeated "r" sound isused with the quiet "h" in between.

The line "And on a day we meet to walk the line" uses the two long "e" sounds in "we meet" to represent the

neighbors coming together. Perhaps, the "m" is intended to look like a fence as well. This double "e" sound is

maintained through the next couple of lines with the word "between." (Sometimes "between" is pronounced

with a short "i" sound on the first syllable, but it seems Frost intends this to be a long "e" pronunciation.) Note

also, that word "between" contains the word "we."

The line "To each the boulders that have fallen to each," uses the double stressed "to each" to represent

boulders and the three unstressed syllables "-ers that have" to show the gap in the wall.

Further down, the line "'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'" begins with four equal stresses to

represent the wall and then falls into iambic meter to indicate the boulders falling down.

In the exact middle of the poem, we have the line which defines most of the structure: "There where it is we

do not need the wall:" Aside from what we already mentioned in the video, this line begins with double long

"a" and double short "i" sounds to represent the even feel of the fence. Then the word "we" is the last use of

the word in the poem. With the pattern that was established previously, with "we meet" we see that one side

is no longer meeting. The next line "He is all pine and I am apple orchard" establishes that the neighbor is

represented by the first part of the line. So, it is the narrator that is no longer meeting. Also, notice that the

"wall" is moved over to one side here by the narrator.

With the first part of the line as the neighbor's land, we see some interesting things. First, "he" is always

used at the very beginning of the left side, where the neighbor's property is. Furthermore, we can frame the

poem into three sections: The lines between the first pair of lines "Something there is that doesn't love a

wall," and "'Good fences make good neighbors.'" The lines between the second pair and the lines between

these sections.

In the first section, the neighbor goes to get his neighbor with "I let my neighbor know beyond the hill" with "I"

on the neighbor's side. Then, they construct the wall together until "There where it is we do not need the

wall." After this, the sides are established again with "He is all pine and I am apple orchard." After which, the

lines are blurred by the narrator with

My apple trees will never get across

And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.


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Finally, the neighbor responds in the line "He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors.'" Here, the

neighbor is on his side and "fences" stands firmly in the middle of the line.

In the middle section, lines like "If I could put a notion in his head:" show the narrator running all over the

neighbor's land and trying to control what is in his head. In the line, "And to whom I was like to give offense"

Frost shows the narrator trespassing again, but it contains a pun as well. It is the neighbor responding by

giving him a fence (offense).

In the final section, "he" is always at the beginning of the line. The pronoun "him" is used in the second half

of the line, but this is an object and not a subject. This third section is pretty dark because the narrator is no

longer friendly. The line "He moves in darkness as it seems to me" epitomizes the situation with the two are

at the extreme ends.

This overall structure in these three sections can be summarized like this: The narrator works with the

neighbor. The narrator annoys the neighbor. The narrator has a bad relationship with the neighbor.

There are many subtler points in the poem, like the double long "o" sound in "old-stone" to represent the

stones in the neighbor's hands. However, the central theme of the poem is that boundaries are necessary forgood relationships and this is why real companionship only creates gaps, while the boundary remains largely

intact.

Frost takes up the theme of boundaries in his poemBuild Soil. There Frost seems to continue the theme,

which was started here inMending Wall. Here are a few relevant lines near the end of the poem:

Keep off each other and keep each other off.

We're too unseparate out among each other—

With goods to sell and notions to impart.

We congregate embracing from distrust

As much as love . . .

Steal away and stay away.

With the phrase "notions to impart" Frost seems almost to be referring directly to these lines from Mending

Wall:

Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder

If I could put a notion in his head:

One other point, the poemMending Wall was originally published with the words "Mending Wall takes up the

theme whereThe Tuft of Flowers in A Boy's Will laid it down." The book A Boy's Will was Frost's previous

publication andThe Tuft of Flowers is one of the poems in it.

This poem of William "lake is included in his collection of poems called “ Songs of

Innocence”. It was written in 0123. It is a poetry collection written from a child4s point of

view, an innocent feeling of pleasant surprise or admiration and spontaneity in natural

settings that includes 5 Little Boy Lost 6, 5 Little Boy Found 6, 5The Lamb6 and 5The Chimney

Sweeper 6 between others.

7uring this period, were the #rench and the Industrial (evolutions taking place.


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The French Revolution was a social and political process which was developed

in #rance between 0123 and 0133. The most important conse8uences of this revolution were

the abolition of the %bsolute !onarchy and the proclamation of the (epublic.

The Industrial Revolution is defined as a group of economic and social transformations,

characteristics of the development of 'ngland between 019: and 02;:. It was later expandedto the whole 'uropean continent. It is considered as the greatest socioeconomic and cultural

change in history. owever, nowadays, due to the high technological development,

the changes take place very 8uickly, from one day to another, and everyday there is

something new invented.

Context and importance of this poem in the overall production of William Blake:

In 012, he printed his first collection of verse called 5 Poetical Sketches6, and because

at first he had not success, he decided to combine his training as an artist with his passion for

poetry and began to experiment with illuminated printing, handcoloring the pages. In

0123, “Songs of nnocence” was the first of his e!pert fusion of illustration and "erse#

which were and still are the most popular of Blake$s illuminated books% The poems were

produced by a neat regular cur"ing handwriting with the letters all &oined together in a "ery

specific style# used especially in the past# and colored with washes by hand% n '()*# he

e!panded the book to include “Songs of +!perience”.


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The entire poem is compound of six stan-as. 'ach of them is a 8uatrain, which means

that it includes four lines.

The rhyme scheme in the poem is %%"" C DD77 C ''## C EE>> C IIJJ FFGG. %s

William "lake was also a musician, he takes care and puts special emphasis on the

intonation, metrical foot and rhyme. #or him it was very important because he wanted toconvert his poems into songs that readers could sing it as musical melody. #or that reason, he

uses this specific rhyming scheme in this poem. The type of rhyme the poet uses in this

poem is a tail rhyme which consists of a rhyme in the final syllable of a verse as in this case.

This one is the most common in poetry. These verses have more than eight syllablesH in this

case, the vast maority of them have ten.

R#$"!RICAL FI'(R$ IN "#$ %!$&

I can observe in this poem the alliteration of several words beginning with the letter

s4, this sound is very repeated and used through the whole poem, which gives an effect of

softness. I will mention next some verses in which this is reflected, as for example “so your

chimneys sweep / in soot sleep” @line AB and “as Tom was a sleeping he had such

a sight” @line 0:B.

Dontinuing dealing with the topic of the use of the letter s4 in the poem, I think it is also

important to comment that there is a repetition, the s4 sound is very fre8uent not only at the

beginning of words as I have mentioned before, but also at the end and inside of them.

%nother rhetorical figure we can find in the poem is the use of s)m*ols, in this case the

religious symbolism of Eod as a mean of salvation

“0nd by came an 0ngel who had a bright key#

0nd he open$d the coffins / set them free”.

@lines 00AB

7espite of the different religions and believes there are, people of different religious

ideology coincide with that, for all of them, the image of their Eod symbolises salvation.

In the poem there is also a imile

“That curl$d like a lambs back” @line KB

>ere, the poet is comparing the curl of the hair of the little boy with the back of a lamb.

"ecause both of the two obects share the same form, in other words, the back of a lamb is

compound by lots of curls, and a curl is curved in shape.

We can also find a &etaphor, that is, when two obects are treated as identical


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“0s Tom was a sleeping” @line 0:B.

>ere, the poet makes reference to the moment when the boy was having a moment of peace,

disconnected for a while of the real and chaotic world. I can interpret it as if in his dreams he

has the hope of salvation and that things will get better soon. >ere we can see the presence

of the religious faith, it means, the belief and trust in Eod. %s I have mentioned at the beginning of the paper, religion is an important topic in (omantic poets and in conse8uence,

this poem is full of religious references.

In the penultimate stan-a of the poem I can find a para*le containing a final moral, which

tries to teach us @the readers of the poemB that if we are good people, then, Eod will save us.

“0nd the 0ngel told Tom if he$d be a good boy#

1e$d ha"e 2od for his father / ne"er want &oy%”

@lines 03 ;:B

Commentar) of the poem

In the poem, a young chimney sweeper retells a dream of one of hisfellow s, in which

an angel rescues the boys from death and takes them to a nice place. The character of the

poem sees his situation through the eyes of innocence and doesn4t understand the social

inustice there is in the world and protests about the living and working conditions.


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The poet makes reference to reli+ion using words as 0ngel @line 0B and 2od @line ;:B those

having a meaning of salvation. %s William "lake was a romantic, and a characteristic of the

romanticism we find in the poem references to nature and religion as an example of that.

In the poem there are also references to death with words such as coffins @line

0;B, black @line 0;B and dark @line ;0B.The poet uses words with ne+ative connotations in the first half of the poem due to

the whole adversity, such as died @line 0B, cry @line B, spoil @line 2B and black @line 0;B.

>owever, in the second half of the poem, he changes and starts using words with positive

connotations, because Eod have saved them from death, such as free @line 0AB, bright @line

0B, laughing @line 09B, happy @line ;B andwarm @line ;B.

In the first stan,a, the poet is remembering his infancy when his mother died, and

expressing how he felt in that terrible moment he had to face and live while being only a

baby. In this first verse, William "lake is talking and expressing his feelings in first person,

however, in the second oneH he changes it and starts using the third person to make reference

to one of his fellows.

In the second stan,a, the author starts retelling what happened to one of his fellows called

Tom who is a chimney sweeper and is very sad and unhappy about his ob. "ut at the same

time, he is resigned about his situation and has to be conformed about it because it is the

situation that he has to live with because Eod has wanted it and nothing can be changed.

In the third one, he begins to express a dream had by Tom, in which he dreamed that some

of his fellows died and were put in 5coffins of black6.

In the fourth one, an %ngel appeared in his dream and save all of them from death and set

them all free. In this verse, while you are reading it, you get a feeling of relax and happiness

because after reading the first part of the poem which is very sad and pessimistic, then, you

read it and feels a sensation of emotion and positivism.

In the fifth stan,a, the poet claims that all of them were playing together happily and that

Eod wanted Tom to be a good boy in order to be the children of Eod.

In the last one, Tom, the following day of his dream, woke up and despite that the weather

was very cold, he went to work as a chimney sweeper very happy because of the dream he

had had the previous night. %nd as a conclusion, he says that if all do their work correctly

and carefully, they don4t need to worry about the possible damage they can suffer. "ecause a

well done work is always safe and congratulated.


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'illiam Blake is considered as the earliest poet o) the Romanticmovement the characteristic )eatures o) which were predominant in thepoetr that was penned durin# the 1Dth centur. "lthou#h much #reaterreco#nition is #iven to poets like 'ordsworth !olerid#e Shelle Eeats )orsettin# the Romantic trends in the histor o) %n#lish literature one cannottotall i#nore the contributions o) Blake in the same re#ard as he was theone who sowed the seeds o) Romanticism throu#h his sub8ective poetrthat vibrated with revolutionar *est and protest a#ainst the social evilspresent durin# his time that were practiced in the name o) politics andreli#ion.

“The Chimney Sweeper” present in both Songs of Innocence andSongs of Experience are heart wrenchin# pieces o) poetr written bBlake to shed li#ht upon the oppression that the undera#e children wentthrou#h 8ust so that the #reed so-called upper class members o) thesociet and their mone-hun#r parents who sold them o; could e7ploittheir innocence and labor to suit their needs. +n the Son#s o) +nnocencethis ma8or social issue has been perceived throu#h the ees o) a little bowho takes ever miser that his in6icted upon him in his stride with thehopes o) a better tomorrow. This little bo is unaware o) the #rossin8ustice bein# done to him. The Son#s o) %7perience is the darker twin o)the Son#s o) +nnocence. +n this dark version there is an underline o)protest and the sense o) bein# wron#ed is predominant in the speech o)the little bo as he now reali*es the un)airness o) the societ which hastaken his innocence )rom him to e7ploit his labor to meet their sel$shdemands.The Chimney Sweeper analysis o) the Son#s o) %7perience version o)the poem will add depth to a reader,s understandin# as this poem showsthe pitiable condition o) the e7ploited kids )rom a mature viewpoint wherethe speaker is no lon#er an innocent child but someone who has learntabout the harsh was o) the world the hard wa and )eels resentmenttowards this sstem o) the societ where little kids have to shed theirinnocence to work )or the ones who en8o a hi#h run# in the social ladder.

The poem opens with the ima#e o) a little kid who is described as a littleblack thin# as he is covered )rom head to toe in soot because o) his 8obas a chimne sweeper. (is soiled appearance is in stark contrast to thewhite snow around him. 'hite stands )or purit whereas black stands )orsin. 'ith the aim o) this contrast Blake wants to show that attackin# thatchild,s purit is no less than a heinous sin. 'hen the child is asked wherehis parents are he sas that the have #one to pra in the !hurch. This isa direct attack upon such parents who sell o; their kids so that the canderive monetar bene$ts out o) that transaction. +t is a shame that suchparents can #o to the 5od,s house to pra in spite o) bein# such sinnerswhile their kids moves )rom one house to another cleanin# chimnes. The


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child has a lot o) resentment bottled in his heart a#ainst his parents so hesas that the pushed him into this world o) miser and pain as hisinnocence and childhood #ave him more happiness than he deserved.Fow innocence is a lu7ur that he no lon#er has because his present li)ewhich is riddled with rou#h stri)e teaches him to sin# the notes o) woe.

This means that bein# carried so )ar awa )rom his childhood into a worldwhere he has to work as a chimney sweeper makes the child,s li)einsu;erable.

The child sas that 8ust because he has accepted the harshness o) his li)eeverone thinks that the have not done him an wron# as he seemsapparentl content with the wa thin#s are because he still plas andsin#s. The poet then sheds li#ht upon the cruelt o) such parents andemploers who let little children work and made it 8usti$able b posin# asi) that e7ploitation did not in6ict an harm upon the children. The linewhere the child tells that these people #o and pra in churches and praisetheir kin# #ives us an indication that 5od and even the Ein# areconspirators in this )elon o) ruinin# the little child,s innocence andsnatchin# awa his childhood.

'ith the last two lines Blake decries such a social sstem and theinstitutions o) the !hurch and kin#ship as it does nothin# )or thebetterment o) these little children. +nstead o) helpin# them the churchactuall discriminates a#ainst them b not lettin# them enter theirpremises. B doin# this the !hurch sins as much as the parents and

emploers o) these un)ortunate children. 5od the !hurch and the Ein#are as e4uall responsible )or buildin# hell )or these children which is amatter o) #reat sadness as their 8ob should be to save these children )romtheir su;erin#. This stren#thens the voice o) protest which these twopoems in)use in our hearts.

+t is worth noticin# that 5od has been shown in two completel di;erent

li#hts in these two versions o) The Chimney Sweeper. +n the +nnocence

version he is shown as the poor child,s onl hope o) redemption and

)reedom )rom his su;erin# whereas in the %7perience version he has

been portraed as a conspirator a#ainst the child,s innocence as he lets

the child su;er so much. The +nnocence version is optimistic whereas the

%7perience version is dark and realistic where the child is shown to su;er

)rom hopelessness. "lthou#h in contrast with one another a per)ect

pairin# o) these two versions o) the poem is ver essential )or the proper

understandin# o) the theme o) the poem which is to uncover the

hpocris o) the !hurch and the Ein# and the cruelt o) such children,s

parents and emploers while sheddin# li#ht upon the child,s miser at thesame time. ne version creates an impact and weakens the heart o) the

readers throu#h its innocent take on the social in8ustice whereas the


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other version #ives rise to a sur#e o) protest a#ainst these evil a#encies

which e7ploit little children. Fo one view is correct as one is incomplete

without the other. +n spite o) bein# contradictor these two di;erent

takes are complementar which is wh a balance in understandin# o) the

two as a sin#le orchestrated unit is necessar )or the poem to produce

the desired e;ect on the readers

SONGS OF INNOCENCE: "THE CHIMNEY SWEEPER" ANALYSIS

&lake wrote two "(himney $weeper" poems--one for Songs of Innocence and one

for Songs of Experience. #e!ll begin analy)ing "The (himney $weeper" by #illiam

&lake from Songs of Innocence.

*. Rhyme Scheme + aabb and contains near rhyme in stan)as four and fivedrawing attention to wind a symbol of freedom and work the means toaccess it. The use of rhyming couplets resembles that of a nursery rhyme.

,. Meter - most lines contain five metrical feet with varying stress patterns. Thelast two lines contain six metrical feet and contain the poem!s theme--hardwork will bring you to heaven.

. ines / and 0 contain a simile comparing Tom 1acre!s hair to lambs wool.amb is a symbol of innocence. ine 2 contains a contrast of white hair

3angelic4 and soot 3sin4. Note that the soot cannot spoil the hair.

5. The fourth stan)a mentions the unlocking of coffins by an angel and beingwashed clean in a river. These are (hristian allusions to (hrist!s resurrectionand baptism. The beginning of the fifth stan)a mentions the boys in the dreamwere "naked and white all their bags left behind." Naked and white suggestsinnocence and purity. &aggage denotes sin and the cares of the world.

/. The last stan)a shows the effects on Tom. 6e no longer dreads his %ob aschimney sweeper but looks forward to hard work a necessary part of life a

part he will leave behind when he dies.

0. Theme: $ome day all of life!s care will be left behind. 'n the meantime workhard and everything will be %ust fine.

SONGS OF EXPERIENCE: "THE CHIMNEY SWEEPER"

*. Rhyme Scheme = abab abab abab

,. The first line of the poem contains a contrast within itself and a contrast with

the version of the poem in Songs of Innocence. 'n Songs of Innocence thedirt could not hurt the innocent child. 'n Songs of Experience the "little blackthing" is the focal point. The chimney sweeper cries "notes of woe" a contrastto "scarcely crying weep7 weep7 weep7 weep7"

http://literatureguides.weebly.com/poems-for-studying-rhythm-and-meter.htmlhttp://literatureguides.weebly.com/examples-of-poems-with-similes.htmlhttp://literatureguides.weebly.com/poems-for-studying-rhythm-and-meter.htmlhttp://literatureguides.weebly.com/examples-of-poems-with-similes.html


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. The first stan)a contains the following contrast: the chimney sweeper isworking and covered in soot while mother and father have gone to church topray. The chimney sweeper symboli)es the plight of England!s children3chimney sweeper was a horrible %ob done by children because they weresmall enough to fit in the chimney and clean it4. 8athers and motherssymboli)es those responsible for taking care of children be it the church theking or adults in general.

5. The second stan)a is a metaphor for taking a child from innocence "happyupon the heath" to a life of misery "clothes of death." 6e!s gone from "winterssnow" to "notes of woe."

/. The third stan)a denounces the hypocrisy of the upper classes for praising"9od ;riest e believed in the

basic goodness of man. )referring nature to the civili-ed world, he senses a restorative property in the

natural world.

&ongs of Innocence was published five years before &ongs of 'xperience. 'ventually, "lake combined

the two works emphasi-ing parallel poems in each book.

&ongs of Innocence celebrates the hope and innocence of a child. In these poems, "lake writes about a

world where fear can be con8uered and life can be instinctive without complete the domination of the

soul.

&ongs of 'xperience portrays a lonelier world. >e examines what happens to a child when the

complications of life and society take over.

The parallel poems of 5The Dhimney &weeper6 illustrates the differences between the two approaches of

innocence versus experience.

&ongs of Innocence+The Dhimney &weeper+ The poem is narrated by a boy whose mother dies and is

sold by his father to become a chimney sweeper. >e was so young that he could barely talk or cry.

>e tells about his friend Tom 7acre who is also a sweep. The topic issed from the poem is the abuse thatthe sweeps suffer.

The boys get up before sunrise and begin to work in the chimneys. There is no love, sympathy, or

parenting for these boys.

Tom cries when his white hair is shaved. The nameless narrator tris to point out the positive about it the

soot will not spoil his white hair.

Tom has a dream that night about the sweeps going to heaven. %ll of the sweeps were locked in their

coffins working. %n angle opened the coffins and set the boys free.

The boys begin to run and play. They are able to go to a river and wash all of the soot away. The boy4s

naked and clean rise on the clouds to heaven. The angel tells Tom that if he is good, Eod will be his

father and he will be happy the rest of his life.


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When the boys awaken in the morning, despite all of the hardships which are the same as before, Tom

appears happy. >is courage and strength have been renewed. The narrator is inspired by Tom and his

new outlook.

The &ongs of 'xperienceM5The Dhimney &weeper6

It is winter and the little sweeper covered with soot cries out

Where are my father N mother? &ay? They are both gone up to the church to prayO

This poem attacks the abusive parents who have left their child to work while they go to church to pray.

What hypocritesP The child is left outside in the wintry weather trying to find work. >is parents are

inside the warm church praying. There is not hope or pleasant dream in this poem.

The reader will feel sympathy for the child and disdain for his parents who go to talk to Eod. What do

they feel when their child is begging for work? >is parents are described as seeing their boy happy and

playful. They dress him in black clothes for cleaning and then they taught him to sing sad songs to get

the attention of the adults as they pass by the boy.

In the third stan-a, the boy indicates his unhappiness with his parents. >e tells them that ust because he

acts happy and plays outside they believe that he is not being hurt by this abuse. They go to pray and

praise Eod who rules over the world of the sweeper4s misery.

Aornin# at the 'indow: Thomas Sterne %liot - Summar and !ritical "nalsis

Aornin# at the 'indow is an ima#ist poem that presents an ima#e o) povert. The picture

is that o) a slum where people lead miserable lives. The speaker is at the window. (e ma

be a visitor o) a certain house in the area where poor people live. The ima#es that come tohis ees are Gob8ect correlativesG or ob8ects correspondin# certain ideas and emotions in

the poetGs and the readerGs mind.

Thomas Sterne %liot

Thomas Sterne %liot

The ima#es in the poem correlate with the idea o) povert and )eelin#s o) smpath. Butthe poem onl presents them 8ust the ob8ective ima#e rather than romanticall e7pressin#

his )eelin#s and emotions. There is also a balance between )eelin#s and ideas in the sense

that the ima#e arouses not onl )eelin#s in the reader but also provokes thou#hts and

ideas.

The poem is a set o) strikin# ima#es o) povert the poet sas nothin# but shows them.

The poor people are rattlin# makin# sound break)ast plates earl in the mornin#. +t is an

obli#ation )or poor people to #o to work earl and work till late. Sun or shower )rost or )o#

the have to set out earl. The ima#e brin#s to mind similar ima#es o) povert. Thespeaker sas that he is aware o) the condition o) the householdsG minds and souls or their

pscholo#. (e doesnGt describe that. Such housemaids are appearin# one a)ter another at


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the cit #ate. Aabe the come )rom villa#es. The have no identit di#nit and

meanin#)ul li)e. The are GdespondentG or e7tremel sad.

The speaker seems to #o alon# or else look )urther awa waves o) HbrownH )o# which

come up to him. This is perhaps because the cit air is so polluted. Twisted )aces o)

depressed people pass b. " passerb has tears in the ees. The speaker takes another

#lance and sees her dirt skirt. "nother person comes up and tries to smile but )ails. Thesmile vanishes amon# the cit roo)s. "ll these dis8ointed ima#es can be put to#ether to

build up a #eneral picture o) the poor peopleGs pli#ht. The )ocus is on poor servant #irls

whose souls themselves are HdampH moist and dirt. The poet evokes our emotion without

tellin# his emotions. (e arouses pit without tellin# his pit )or the people.

%liot asserted that poetr must present Gob8ective correlativesG or ob8ects and events that

will correspond to certain emotions in the readerGs e7perience. The poet need not e7press

his personal emotion. This idea o) poetr is anti-romantic. &or instance when we

encounter ob8ective ima#es o) povert we understand it. The ima#e o) a child on top o) aburnin# house would need no e7planation9

%liot also stron#l su##ested that poetr must balance intellect thou#ht and emotion

)eelin#. The )eelin#s o) the individual poet must become a matter o) thou#ht )or

everone in the poem. This balance is called Guni$ed sensibilitG. The present poem

presents onl ob8ective correlatives o) povert the poet doesnGt describe his )eelin#s put

presents ob8ects that correlate or correspond to smpath towards the poor. (e balances

the underlin# )eelin#s o) pathos pit with a thou#ht)ul mind and serous art. %liot shows

how personal emotion can be trans)ormed into a universal thou#ht-provokin# ima#e. %liot

also presents thin#s as his impressions recorded them. The twisted )ace the aimless

smile the ees with tears the mudd skirts are )ra#ments o) his impressions. The poet

presents in the same wa that these thin#s made the impression on him. +n this sense the

poem is impressionistic.

'e can also call the whole set o) ima#es in the poem a smbol. The ima#er is )amiliar

and vivid. +t can be said to smboli*e povert. The ob8ective presentation o) ima#es makes

the poem an ima#ist poem. +tGs smbolic meanin# and impressionistic viewpoint are alsoother important )eatures o) the poem. +n short such a presentation is uni4ue that makes

the poem memorable and uni4ue thou#h the sub8ect matter o) povert is ver common.

The theme o) the poem HAornin# at the 'indowH is povert. The poem presents a ver

human picture o) poor people in the cit slum. The poem presents a set o) tpical ima#es

that su##est povert depression miser and s4ualor in the slums poor and dirt areas o)

the cities where the poor live. The poet also mentions the state o) the souls o) the

housemaids. So the poem thematicall includes the issues o) povert depression and

s4ualor in the lives o) poor people in the cit.


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=erhaps more terrible than povert is the problem o) depression and distress with which

the poor people in the pace live their lives. The damp souls o) housemaids the twisted

)ace o) a passerb the tears in the ees o) a #irl who is also wearin# a mudd skirt and

the aimless smile o) a person who tries and )ails to smile are all indicators o) sadness and

)rustration as well as povert. =oor people can sometimes be happ as in tribal villa#es.

But here the problem o) unhappiness seems to be even more terrible.

The people rattlin# break)ast plates earl in the mornin# su##est the povert o) the people

who have to #o to work earl. The are also livin# in the basements o) houses )or the

cannot a;ord to live in better apartments. The ver roads in those streets are trampled or

torn. The speaker )eels that the housemaids are down hearted and miserable. But )or the

cit dwellers the poor #irls sprout out o) nowhere at the #ates o) the cit. The speaker

then notices a set o) several other ima#es o) povert and de8ection. (e sees twisted )aces

o) people who certainl have pain and distress. (e sees a #irl with tears in her ees and a

mudd skirt on her. Then someone passes b with an aimless smile. "ll these ima#es are

ob8ective correlatives o) povert which is the main theme o) the poem.

Aornin# Son# b Slvia =lath: !ritical "nalsis

'hen Slvia =lath wrote this unconventional poem o) hers on &ebruar 1DI1 she had

#iven birth to her dau#hter &rieda. The mother love is stran#el absent in the be#innin# o)

the poem. But the mother does move )rom a stran#e alienation to a kind o) instinctive

sweepin# emotion when she lives with the child )or some time and when the child

happens to breathe and cr this probabl happens a)ter the intense labor pain is over so

that the mother could )eel the love.

Slvia =lath

Slvia =lath

+n )act maternal )eelin#s do not automaticall occur. =lath is honest to divul#e con)ess

her )eelin#s o) alienation and separation. +n the last three stan*as the emotional

estran#ement chan#es and she impulsivel listen to the sound o) her child as it sleeps.

The surreal ima#es and comparisons are )unctional to emphasi*e the sense o) oddit andalienation in the )eelin#s o) the mother. ne strikin# surreal ima#e that somehow supports

the


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=lath seems to emphasi*e the nonhuman 4ualit o) this new bein#/thin# that does not

take its place amon# other humans but amon# the elements. Stan*a 2 rein)orces the

nonhuman 4ualit o) the bab as perceived b its parents. The child is a new statue. The

parents are pictured as #a*in# at it in a dra)t museum. +n other words the cannot help

starin# at the child as a statue and the parents as walls not much communication occur.

=lath,s surreal ima#es underline the parents, )eelin#s o) alienation and stran#eness in this

new to them situation.

Fo lon#er a statue the child,s presence takes on more spirited animation throu#h the

animal ima#er. The speaker,s lack o) )eelin# )or her child #raduall trans)orms into

appreciation and wonder particularl at its sounds K not a bald cr an lon#er but

somethin# shaped a hand)ul o) notes.

The child enters the human world when the speaker perceives its attempts at lan#ua#ewith the clear vowels rise like balloons. The poem closes with this idea o) the child makin#

poetr o) the natural and innate human sounds $lled with emotion. Aornin# Son# records

how the speaker,s perception o) her bab chan#es her intimac with her child #rants her

the vision o) its animated bein#.

The theme in Aornin# Son# is alienation and the process b which it is overcome. +t

deals with material instincts and its awakenin#. =lath avoids sentimentalit in takin# up

the sub8ect K o) becomin# a mother in a )atherl wa. " woman does not come to

motherhood merel b #ivin# birth. Few behavior is learned. The bein# o) the mother is asnew as the bein# o) the child. %ven the speaker listenin# to the child,s sounds and #ettin#

)ascinated is not sel)-willed or under her control. She )ollows her instinct: onl cr and +

stumble )rom bed. (er child sin#s to her with a mornin# son# and a bond is established

with the help o) lan#ua#e the essential human act. ne secondar but important issue

that the poem deals with is can a woman be both mother and )amous poetJ +n this she is

dealin# with one o) the ma8or issues that )aced women poets in the twentieth centur. This

poem answers her implied 4uestion. The 8oous endin# proclaims the arrival o) both a new

si#ner on the scene and a mother pound o) her child,s vocal si#nals and messa#e.

'illiam Shakespeare The breasts o) his beloved are ver dun when compared b the whiteness o) snow. (e

wishes that black wire has #rown upon her head. The $rst stan*a 4uatrain is based on

phsical descriptions b usin# u#l metaphors. +n the second 4uatrain the poet states that

he doesn,t $nd the cheeks o) his mistress as so)t as rose. %ven the smell which comes out

)rom her breath is not as deli#ht)ul as an per)ume. +n the third 4uatrain the poet states

that he $nds music sweeter than her speech when she walks she does not appear like a

#oddess. Then $nall the couplet turns the whole ar#ument upside down when the poet

sas that his beloved is nevertheless as rare as those beloveds who are belied with

)alse unreal and e7a##erated metaphors.

The entire sonnet can be taken as a power)ul satire upon the rival poets o) Shakespeare

who emploed unnecessaril metaphors with e7a##eration. 'hen we anal*e the sonnet

in a deeper level it has a philosophical tone that the inner beaut is important than outer

beaut. The sonnet is a #reat satire upon the %li*abethan love lric who emploed


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hackneed smbols and the e7a##erated metaphors to address their beloved and tr to

prove more beauti)ul than the nature and its beaut. Shakespeare is o) the opinion that

acceptin# onl the positive aspect o) the beloved is not love but acceptin# the ne#ative

aspects too is the real love that #ives the importance to the inner beaut than e7ternal

beaut.

The tone o) the sonnet is satirical as well as philosophical which is written in iambic

pentameter )ollowin# the rhme scheme abab cdcd e)e) and ##. The ideas are

developed in three 4uatrains and the conclusion is embedded in a couplet. The sonnet isskill)ull composed b Shakespeare usin# the understatement o) iron.

ike the tpical sonnets o) the time this sonnet is also mainl about love. But the e4uall

important sub8ect and theme o) the poem is also the revolt a#ainst the hackneed

smbols and the e7a##erated metaphors o) the %li*abethan love lric the )orm that too

man poets o) his time had imitated and overused. (ere Shakespeare parodies some

standard comparisons commonl used b %li*abethan sonneteers. This includes


22/34

written out to show the stressed sllables in capital letters would read Hm A+StressG %O%Sare Fthin# +E% the SCF.H &inall sonnets o)ten have a surprisin# twist to them towardsthe end in this poem the twist comes when the reader sees that despite his criticismsthe author does actuall love his mistress.

Hyperbole(perbole is a )orm o) speech that e7a##erates the )acts in order to make a point. To thesame e7tent that man romantic poets e7a##erate the beaut o) their mistresses insistin#

that their ees are more beauti)ul than the sun their hair )airer than hold or their cheeksredder than roses Shakespeare decides to e7a##erate how unattractive his mistress is.Sonnet 1L0 su##ests that his mistressG hair is made o) black wire her breath reeks herbreasts are #raish brown and her voice is #ratin#.

SatireShakespeareGs Sonnet 1L0 also uses satire as a literar device. +n writin# this poem hewas #entl pokin# )un at the conventional romantic poems that were bein# written bother poets. +n pointin# out that his mistressG ees are not more beauti)ul than the sunthat her hair is not made o) #old threads that her cheeks are not as red as roses and thather breath is not $ner than per)ume he was able to make the ar#ument that he loves her

8ust the same )or who she is and not )or an unrealistic ideali*ed notion o) beaut.Aetaphor 3s. Simile in Sonnet 1L0

A mistress, ees are nothin# like the sun

Q(is mistress, ees>like the sun simile because it is a direct comparison usin# like.

!oral is )ar more red than her lips, red

Q!oral is )ar more red than her lips would have been a simile because i) he had not been

makin# )un o) these tpes o) cliche poems it would have been her lips are as red as

corals.

+) snow be white wh then her breasts are dun

Q+) he had not been satirical this line would probabl be her breasts are as white as

snow which would have been a simile.

+) hairs be wires black wires #row on her head.

QThis is a metaphor because Shakespeare is makin# an analo# between wires and her

hair.

+ have seen roses damasked red and white

But no such roses see + in her cheeks

Qnce a#ain i) he had been in earnest this would have been her cheeks are like roses

simile.

"nd in some per)umes is there more deli#ht

Than in the breath that )rom m mistress reeks.

Q'ould have been a simile m mistress, breath is as deli#ht)ul as a per)ume.

+ love to hear her speak et well + know

That music hath a )ar more pleasin# sound


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Q"#ain would have been a simile her voice is as pleasin# as music.

+ #rant + never saw a #oddess #o

A mistress when she walks treads on the #round:

Q'ould have been a simile her stride is like a #oddesses.G

"nd et b heaven + think m love as rare

"s an she belied with )alse compare.

Q"s rare as> simile

Be)ore anal*in# this poem in class + 8ust thou#ht that Shakespeare had been makin# )un

o) all clichs ever used to describe women in love poems. But a)ter doin# the e7plicative

paraphrasin# in class + am able to $nall understand that Shakespeare was doin# more

than satire. (e actuall is earnest in a wa but ou 8ust have to look at the metaphors and

similes and anal*e them to see the )ull view. Shakespeare is basicall sain# that his

lover is as rare like a #em or diamond9 and )or e7tra practice tenor lover vehicle rare

#rounds his lover,s beaut as an woman who is incorrectl compared to all the theclichs in Shakespeare,s poem. So essentiall his lover is e4uivalent in

beaut/preciousness as all those women who are the sub8ects o) clichd poems.

This article provides


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The lordl Fi#er 6owed

Beneath the palm-trees on the plain

nce more a kin# he strode

"nd heard the tinklin# caravans

Nescend the mountain-road.

&rom the second stan*a onwards his dream is described vividl b the poet. 'e come to

know )rom the phrase lordl Fi#er that his native land was ")rica. nce more a kin# he

strode makes us #uess that perhaps he was the Ein# o) a tribe o) his land. +n his sleep he

once a#ain relives the das o) his )reedom and he almost hears the tinklin# caravans/

Nescend the mountain road.

(e saw once more his dark-eed 4ueen

"mon# her children stand

The clasped his neck the kissed his cheeks

The held him b the hand9

" tear burst )rom the sleeper,s lids

"nd )ell into the sand.

The third stan*a introduces us to his )amil. (e misses his dark-eed 4ueen and his

children. (e dreams o) how the would clasp his neck kiss his cheeks and hold him b his

hand. Such is the intensit o) his dream that he cries in his sleep and a )utile tear drops on

to the sand and is absorbed.

"nd then at )urious speed he rode

"lon# the Fi#er,s bank

(is bridle-reins were #olden chains

"nd with a martial clank

"t each leap he could )eel his scabbard o) steel

Smitin# his stallion,s 6ank.

+n the )ourth stan*a we see how he perceives his li)e as a )ree man. (e sees himsel) ridin#

a horse at a )urious speed with #olden chains as bridle-reins and warrior- like he smites

his sword on his stallion,s 6anks.

Be)ore him like a blood-red 6a#

The bri#ht 6amin#oes 6ew

&rom morn till ni#ht he )ollowed their 6i#ht

,er plains where the tamarind #rew

Till he saw the roo)s o) !a;re huts

"nd the ocean rose to view.


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The $)th stan*a is a continuation o) the )ourth as he sees himsel) )ollowin# the 6i#ht o)

6amin#os over the plains where tamarind was #rown. (e recalls the ca;re huts and the

ocean throu#h his subconscious.

"t ni#ht he heard the lion roar

"nd the hena scream

"nd the river-horse as he crushed the reeds

Beside some hidden stream

"nd it passed like a #lorious roll o) drums

Throu#h the triumph o) his dream.

Then in the si7th stan*a he dreams se4uentiall o) the lion,s roar the hena,s scream and

pictures himsel) crushin# reeds listenin# to the river horse makin# a sound like a #lorious

roll o) drums as it passes. (is dream is triumphant as it success)ull #ives him a sense o)

)reedom and happiness.

The )orests with their mriad ton#ues

Shouted o) libert

"nd the Blast o) the Nesert cried aloud

'ith a voice so wild and )ree

That he started in his sleep and smiled

"t their tempestuous #lee.

The seventh stan*a once a#ain portras how the )orests o) his mind with their mriad

ton#ues shout out his soul,s desire libert. The cr o) the turbulent blast o) the desert

echoes throu#h his bein# makin# him start with a smile in his sleep.

(e did not )eel the driver,s whip

For the burnin# heat o) da

&or Neath had illumined the and o) Sleep

"nd his li)eless bod la

" worn-out )etter that the soul

(ad broken and thrown awa9

+n the ei#hth stan*a the poet returns to the phsical condition o) the slave who now lies

numb and senseless in his death not )eelin# the driver,s whip or the burnin# heat o)

the da. Throu#h his death his soul has broken the )etters o) his bod and attained)reedom.

Throu#hout the poem the poet uses #raphic ima#es visual auditor and tactile

eUcientl describin# the slave,s pictures4ue native land and creatin# an atmosphere o)


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pathos which is )ull o) impact. The slave is liberated )rom the trann o) slavedom

smbolicall in his dream and $nall b death. "t the end the poem evokes mi7ed

reactions. 'e )eel both happ and sad )or the slave as his soul transcends miser and

attains )reedom throu#h his demise. Thou#h not )ree in real li)e his last slumber and the

visions o) )reedom that are con8ured show that on the level o) consciousness at least he

con4uered his bondsman e7istence.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening &y =obert 8rost

.

1

#hose woods these are ' think ' know

6is house is in the village though.

6e will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow.

(omment: The traveler appears worried that he is committing an offense by looking upon woods owned by anotherman. Nevertheless he steals a look for the other man "will not see me stopping here."

2

>y little horse must think it ?ueer

To stop without a farmhouse near

&etween the woods and fro)en lake The darkest evening of the year.

(omment: This stan)a says that the location is remote 3without nearby farmhouses4 that the weather has been coldenough to free)e a lake and that the evening is the darkest of the year. Darkest here could have more than onemeaning@that is the traveler could be depressed downcast. 6owever the horse probably thinks it odd that hismaster has stopped between the woods and lake on a dark evening the speaker says. This observation suggests that

the darkness is external only for the speaker is using the word darkest to explain the horse!s reaction. Ase of little 3line /4: 6ere the poet bids for the sympathy of the reader. The word little suggests that thespeakerBnarrator is a humble ordinary citi)en who cannot afford a more imposing horse.

3

6e gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound!s the sweep

Cf easy wind and downy flake.

(omment: $ounds are important in this stan)a@namely the sounds of the bells the wind and the snowflakes. ll ofthe sounds are gentle contrasting with the cacophony of everyday life in a town.

4

The woods are lovely dark and deep

&ut ' have promises to keep

nd miles to go before ' sleep nd miles to go before ' sleep.

(omment: The traveler would like to stay awhile and perhaps even enter the woods to absorb their ambience andponder the mystery of life and nature. 6owever he has obligations and responsibilities. Therefore he decides tomove on. &ut the poem does not say whether he in fact moves on. Cne presumes that he does .


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.

Figures of Speech8ollowing are examples of figures of speech in the poem. 8or definitions of figures of speech see iterary Terms.

lliteration

is house is in the village though 3line ,4

e will not see me stopping here 3line 4

To watch his woods fill up with snow 3line 54

e gives his harness bells a shake 3line D4

6yperboleTo watch his woods fill up with snow>etaphor

6e gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake. 3lines D-*4 !omparison of the sound of the bells to a "uestioning voice that as#s whether there is a mista#e

;ersonificationB>etaphor

>y little horse must think it ?ueer

!omparison of the horse to a human. $nly a human can determine whether something is %"ueer.%

.

.

End Rhyme

The end rhyme in the poem is as follows:

8irst stan)a aaba

$econd stan)a bbcb

Third stan)a ccdc

8ourth stan)a dddd

&nternal Rhyme

6ere are examples of internal rhyme in the poem

6e will not see me stopping here 3line 4

>y little horse must think it ?ueer 3line /4

To stop without a farmhouse near 3line 0

&etween the woods and fro)en lake 3line F4

The darkest evening of the year 3line 24

Meaning of the Poem

G$topping by #oods on a $nowy EveningH presents one personIs momentary encounter with nature. #e do notknow whether the speaker 3narrator4 is a man or a woman. 'n fact we know nothing at all about the person exceptthat he or she has been traveling on a country road in a horse-drawn wagon 3or cart or carriage4 on "the darkestevening of the year." 'f by this phrase the speakerBnarrator means the longest night of the year@that is the nightwith the most hours of darknessJthen the day is either 1ecember ,* or ,,. 'n the northern hemisphere the winter solstice occurs each year on one of those days. The solstice is the moment when the sun is farthest south.6owever if by "darkest evening" he means most depressing bleakest or gloomiest he may be referring to his

state of mind.

et us assume that the speaker is a man the poet 8rost himself who represents all people on their %ourney

through life. #hen he sees an appealing scene woods filling with snow he stops to observe. #hy does thisscene appeal to himK &ecause he says the woods are Glovely dark and deep.H

;erhaps he wishes to lose himself in their silent mystery away from the routine and regimen of everyday life@atleast for a while. >aybe the woods remind him of his childhood when he watched snow pile up in hopes that it

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would reach lpine heights and cancel school and civili)ation for a day. Cr perhaps the woods represent riskopportunity@something dangerous and uncharted to be explored. 't could be too that they signify the mysteriesof life and the afterlife or that they represent sexual temptation: They are after all lovely, dark, and deep.

The traveler might also regard the woods as the nameless ordinary people who have great beauty within thembut are ignored by others. This interpretation recalls a theme in Thomas 9rayIs GElegy #ritten in a (ountry(hurchyardH in which 9ray writes:

8ull many a gem of purest ray serene

The dark unfathom!d caves of ocean bear:8ull many a flow!r is born to blush unseen

nd waste its sweetness on the desert air.6ere the gem in the bottom of the ocean and the flower in the desert symboli)e neglected people with much tooffer the world if only someone would take time notice them. The woods in 8rostIs poem are %ust as lovely as theflower and %ust as dark and deep as the cave holding the gem but civili)ation pays little heed to the gem theflower and the woods.

;erhaps 8rost sees the woods as a symbol of the vanishing wilderness consumed by railroads highways citiesshopping centers parking lots. man in the village owns the woods now. #hat will he do with themK

'n *D/2 poet Lohn (iardi 3*D*0-*D204 suggested in Saturday Review maga)ine that the woods in 8rost!s poemsymboli)e death. 6e further wrote that the speakerBnarrator wants to enter the woods@that is he wants to diecommit suicide. 8rost himself scoffed at this interpretation in public appearances and in private conversations. &utis it possible that 8rost!s subconscious mind was speaking in the poem revealing thoughts and desires unknownto his conscious mindK

>aybe in the end the woods and the snow are what they are: ?uiet peaceful beautiful. lthough the travelerwants to stay to look at them he has promises to keep and miles to go before he sleeps.

Structure and Meter

The poem consists of four stan)as each with four lines. 3 four-line stan)a is called a ?uatrain.4 Each line in the

poem has eight syllables 3or four feet4. 'n each line the first syllable is unstressed the second is stressed thethird is unstressed the fourth is stressed and so on. Thus the poem is in iambic tetrameter . n iamb is a footcontaining an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. tetrameter is a line of poetry or versecontaining four feet. 3'f you need detailed information on meter click here.4 The following example@the first twolines of the poemJdemonstrates the metric scheme. The unstressed syllables are in blueM the stressed are in redcapitals. Cver each pair of syllables is a number representing the foot. lso a black vertical line separates thefeet.

.......*....... ........,..... .. .....................5

#hose W$$'S....these (RE....' T&)*....' *)$W

.......*.............,.... ..........................5

6is $+SE....is &)....the ,&--....age T$+

H.W. Longfellow’s Poems on Slavery are said to be “so mild that even a Slaveholder might read them without

losing his appetite for breakfast”. The Slave’s Dream is about a series of dreams of a victim of slavery during

the 19th century.

Beside the ungathered rice he lay,

His sickle in his hand;

His breast was bare, his matted hair

Was buried in the sand.

Again, in the mist and shadow of sleep,

He saw his Native Land.

The physical image of a slave is portrayed through the first stanza of the poem. He is tired from the all work

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that he has to do on the fields and falls asleep. This last dreaming slumber gives way to a series of

oneirisms which reflects the desires of his waking life.

The phrases “ungathered rice” and “sickle in his hand” indicates that his assigned task is left incomplete by

him due to his immense fatigue. His bare breast represents the barrenness of his life as a slave and his

matted hair “buried” in the sand symbolizes death slowly creeping over his exhausted body. As he sleeps, he

sees his once again “Native Land” in his dream.

Wide through the landscape of his dreams

The lordly Niger flowed;

Beneath the palm-trees on the plain

Once more a king he strode;

And heard the tinkling caravans

Descend the mountain-road.

From the second stanza onwards, his dream is described vividly by the poet. We come to know from the

phrase “lordly Niger” that his native land was Africa. “Once more a king he strode” makes us guess that

perhaps he was the King of a tribe of his land. In his sleep, he once again relives the days of his freedom

and he almost hears the “tinkling caravans/ Descend the mountain road”.

He saw once more his dark-eyed queen

Among her children stand;

They clasped his neck, they kissed his cheeks,

They held him by the hand!—

A tear burst from the sleeper’s lids

And fell into the sand.

The third stanza introduces us to his family. He misses his “dark-eyed queen” and his children. He dreams of

how they would clasp his neck, kiss his cheeks and hold him by his hand. Such is the intensity of his dream

that he cries in his sleep and a futile tear drops on to the sand and is absorbed.

And then at furious speed he rode

Along the Niger’s bank;

His bridle-reins were golden chains,

And, with a martial clank,At each leap he could feel his scabbard of steel

Smiting his stallion’s flank.

In the fourth stanza, we see how he perceives his life as a free man. He sees himself riding a horse at a

“furious speed”, with golden chains as bridle-reins and warrior- like he smites his sword on his stallion’s

flanks.

Before him, like a blood-red flag,

The bright flamingoes flew;

From morn till night he followed their flight,O’er plains where the tamarind grew,

Till he saw the roofs of Caffre huts,

And the ocean rose to view.


30/34

The fifth stanza is a continuation of the fourth as he sees himself following the flight of flamingos over the

plains where tamarind was grown. He recalls the “caffre huts” and the ocean through his subconscious.

At night he heard the lion roar,

And the hyena scream,

And the river-horse, as he crushed the reeds

Beside some hidden stream;

And it passed, like a glorious roll of drums,

Through the triumph of his dream.

Then in the sixth stanza he dreams sequentially of the lion’s roar, the hyena’s scream and pictures himself

crushing reeds, listening to the river horse making a sound “like a glorious roll of drums” as it passes. His

dream is triumphant as it successfully gives him a sense of freedom and happiness.

The forests, with their myriad tongues,

Shouted of liberty;

And the Blast of the Desert cried aloud,

With a voice so wild and free,

That he started in his sleep and smiled

At their tempestuous glee.

The seventh stanza once again portrays how the forests of his mind, with their “myriad tongues” shout out

his soul’s desire — liberty. The cry of the turbulent “blast of the desert” echoes through his being, making

him start with a smile in his sleep.

He did not feel the driver’s whip,

Nor the burning heat of day;

For Death had illumined the Land of Sleep,

And his lifeless body lay

A worn-out fetter, that the soul

Had broken and thrown away!

In the eighth stanza, the poet returns to the physical condition of the slave who now lies numb and senseless

in his death, not feeling the “driver’s whip” or the “burning heat of the day”. Through his death his soul has

broken the fetters of his body and attained freedom.

Throughout the poem the poet uses graphic images — visual, auditory and tactile, efficiently describing the

slave’s picturesque “native land” and creating an atmosphere of pathos which is full of impact. The slave, is

liberated from the tyranny of slavedom symbolically in his dream and finally by death. At the end, the poem

evokes mixed reactions. We feel both happy and sad for the slave as his soul transcends misery and attains

freedom through his demise. Though not free in real life, his last slumber and the visions of freedom that are

conjured, show that on the level of consciousness at least, he conquered his bondsman existence.

The &lave4s 7ream is exactly what its title implies. The poem takes the reader through the dream of a

slave, but in doing so it highlights many more important points. The poem beings with a slave working

in the field who falls asleep and enters into a dream. This dream takes him back to his native %frica and

reminisces on all of his times of freedom and happiness there. The story itself is nice, but the story is

used to foil the slave4s current situation.


31/34

The slave4s dream reminisces on his times back in %frica, and we learn that he was a free man. The

slave also had a happy family >e saw once more his darkeyed 8ueen, %mong her children standH They

clasped his neck, they kissed his cheeks, They held him by the handP6 whom he sorely misses 5% tear

burst from the sleeper*s lids and fell into the sand.6 %t this point, the dream shows the reader how much

the slave misses his family and happy life that he had in %frica.

>owever, aside from family life, the slave misses freedom 5%nd then at furious speed he rode

%long the $iger*s bank6. This sentence creates a great image on freedom as the slave rides a horse at

incredible speeds among the bank of the $iger. %long with showing what the slave felt, the poet shows

us what the slave did not feel in his dream. >e mentions the crack of the slave masters whip as well as

the burning heat as feelings that were not present in %frica.

The final three lines of the poem reads 5%nd his lifeless body lay, a wornout fetter, that the soul had

broken and thrown away6. These lines bring the slave back to the living hell that he finds himself in.>e feels like his body is no longer connected to his soulH his soul remains in %frica with his family,

when his body is now in captivity across the ocean.

Wilfred Owen served as a Lieutenant in the British army during the First World War, ironically he was killed

shortly before the Armistice was signed.

Wilfred Owen’s Dulce Et Decorum Est is a compelling poem trying to depict the helplessness of soldiers

caught in a Gas Chamber. The poet describes the general condition of the men involved in the war, their

condition after a shock of a gas attack and then describing the effect of it on someone who lives through it.

Summary of 'ulce Et 'ecorum Est /

First stanza –The soldiers are physically and mentally exhausted, using a simile the soldiers are compared

to beggars carrying their bags. Cursing their plight, the soldiers are sick and crippled. The battle is about to

end for the day, so the soldiers turn and begin to slog through the mud, walking back to the trenches. Many

of the men walked sleeping. Some of the soldiers had lost their boots; however, they hobbled on with bloody

feet. Everyone was crippled; without sight; exhausted; and deaf to the bombs that were dropped behind

them.Second stanza –It begins with the narrator who is a part of the experience. He too is a soldier. During

World War I, the Germans began chemical warfare by dropping mustard gas on their enemies. It was able to

get it on his face immediately. The gas is now detected. Someone tells them to get their masks on. The

soldier fumbles around fitting his mask on just before the gas gets to him. Unfortunately, someone does not

get his mask on and inhales the gas. His body is immediately devastated by the gas. He begins to yell,

stumble, and struggle as if he is on fire.

Fourth stanza –In his dream, he sees again the wagon that the man’s body was thrown into. He sees his

face, and his eyes rolled back in his head. His blood gurgled from his failed lungs. His lungs might have

been cancerous. The body becomes a mass of blisters and horrid sores. Here is what the poem has been

building toward: “It is sweet and right to die for one’s country.” which is directly mocked by the poet. Owens’s

disdain for the war and the horrors that the soldiers experienced becomes evident throughout his poetry.


32/34

!ritical (ppreciation/The poem is one of Owen’s anti-war poems during the First World War. It’s a combination of two sonnets,

although the sparring between the two is irregular. It resembles a French ballad structure. The broken sonnet

form and the irregularity reinforce the feeling of the other worldliness; in the first sonnet, Owen narrates the

action in the present, while the second he looks upon the scene, almost dazed, contemplative. The rhyme

scheme is traditional, and each stanza features two quatrains of rhymed iambic pentameter with several

spondaic substitutions.

“Dulce” is a message of sorts to a poet and civilian propagandist, Jessie Pope, who had written several

jingoistic and enthusiastic poems exhorting young men to join the war effort. She is the “friend” Owen

mentions near the end of his poem. The first draft was dedicated to her, with a later revision being attested to

“a certain poetess”. However, the final draft eliminated a specific reference to her, as Owen wanted his words

to apply to a larger audience.

The title of the poem, which also appears in the last two lines, is Latin for, “It is an honour to die for one’s

country” – The line derives from the Roman poet Horace’s Ode 3.2. the phrase was commonly used during

the World War I era, and thus would have resonated with Owen’s readers. It was also inscribed on the wall of

the chapel of the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst in 1913.

G8uture years will never see the seething hell and the black infernal background the

countless minor scenes and the interiors of the secessionOthe real war will never get

in the booksH. This #alk #hitman ?uotes shares a similar theme with #ilfred Cwens!

poem G1ulce et decorum est pro patria moriH. The ironically titled poem depicts the

gruesome truth of engaging battle in war. The poem is a far cry from the glorifying

propaganda that a nation uses to lure young men into fighting for their nation such as

the soldier in the poem. #ilfred Cwen uses imagery throughout his prose to dramati)e

the effect of pathos to the reader and to reinforce his negative view on war.

The fatigue ridden soldiers in $tan)a * are depicted as stolid characters as the Gll

went lameM all blind drunk with fatigueH. ;ersonifying the artillery shells Gdeaf even to

the hoots of tired outstripped 8ive-Nines that dropped behindH shows how flaccid and

doleful the war has changed the once )ealous soldiers. The similes in $tan)a , are

most aggrieving to the soldiers as they see a fellow soldier GfloundIring like a man in fire

or limeOthroughOthick green light as under a green sea ' saw him drowningH. The

soldiers ignore the GdrowningH man J that could not place his helmet on in time Jbecause of the inhumanity the war has afflicted them with. The Gguttering choking

drowningH of the moribund soldier cloud his dreams and the usage of assonance shows

the guilt in his mind and exasperation of the death that has plagued the soldiers.

'n the last $tan)a the author uses alliteration in such lines as Gwhite eyes writhingH

Gincurable sores on innocent tonguesH and Gdevils sick of sinH to demorali)e the

apotheosis of going to war and becoming a hero. Cwen #ilson use of the proposition

G'fH fastidiously illustrates to adults the corruption and despicable ?ualities of war and to

propose his final view that war...


33/34

The poem “Mending Wall” by Robert Frost presents his ideas of barriers between people, communication,

friendship and the sense of safety that people acquire from building barriers.

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Summary:

Lines 1-9: The narrator expresses his wonder about a phenomenon, through these lines, that he has

observed in nature. He says that he has observed something mysterious takes place in nature which does

not love the existence of walls. That ‘something’ makes the frozen ground to bloat under the wall and topple

the stone wall on the boundary of his property. Hence, a gap is created in the wall through which two people

can pass together. Robert Frost says that sometimes even careless hunters damage the walls but he drives

them away and repairs the gap. The hunters pull down the stones of the walls. This way they search for

rabbits hiding under the wall to please their barking dogs.

Lines 9-22: The poet rehearses the mystery of the wall. He says that no one has seen or heard the noise

when the gaps in the walls are made. But these gaps are realities which are found during the spring when it

is time for mending walls. The narrator makes his neighbour go beyond the hill to see the conditions there.

One day, the narrator along with his neighbour decides to walk along the wall which separates their

properties. They find stones fallen on the ground while they are walking. They pick up those stones from

their respective sides. Some stones are shaped in bread loaves or some are shaped in round balls. Hence,

the narrator and his neighbour are unable to put those stones back in their position. The narrator feels they

need to use some kind of magic to put the stones back on the wall. During the process of handling the

stones, their fingers are chapped and they feel tired. But the narrator and the neighbour look at it as an

outdoor game, a kind of net game, where the wall acts like a net and the narrator and his neighbour are

opponents.

Lines 22-36: The narrator tries to convince his neighbour that the wall is of no need because the narrator

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