THE BROOK

ALFRED LORD TENNYSON

DESCRIPTION ABOUT THE POET(1809-1892)

• LORD TENNYSON(1809-1892)WAS BORN IN LINCOLNSHIRE.POET LAUREATE FOR OVER 40 YEARS,TENNYSON IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE VICTORIAN AGE.HIS SKILLED CRAFTSMANSHIP AND NOBLE IEALS RETAINED A LARGE AUDIENCE FOR POETRY IN AN AGE WHEN THE NOVEL WAS ENGROSSING MORE AND MORE READERS.TENNYSON’S REAL CONTRIBUTIONS LIES IN HIS SHORTER POEMS LIKE THE LADY OF SHALLOT,PRINCESS,ULYSSES,THE PALACE OF ART etc. HIS FAME RESTS ON HIS PERFECT CONTROL OF SOUND,THE SYNTHESIS OF SOUND AND MEANING,THE UNION OF PICTORIAL AND MUSICAL.

ABOUT THE POEM

• The Brook is a poem that draws a

resemblance between the journey of the brook and the life of man. The

circle of life from childhood to old age

and then back to childhood is what is

being depicted through this poem as the flow

from a brook.

STANZA 1I COME from haunts of coot and hern,

I make a sudden sally,

And sparkle out among the fern,

To bicker down a valley 

• The brook starts from a place the coots(a type of bird or a kind of duck & herns (commonly known as herons) spend most of their times.

• The brook suddenly rushes down. • As the brook flows it sparkles because

of sun rays, and it flows through a ground which mostly have grasses and flowerless plants (ferns).

• The brook flows down a valley making noisy sounds.

STANZA 2By thirty hills I hurry down,

Or slip between the ridges,

By twenty thorps, a little town,

And half a hundred bridges.

• Here the brook swiftly flows down many hills. There are not Literally 'Thirty hills' but the poet make's the line creative by using 'Thirty‘ and not 'many'.

• The brook 'slips'(quickly moves) between long narrow hilltops. The brook flows Down past many villages (Thorp-Old word for village)again the poet tries to make the line creative by using 'Twenty'-not literally 'Twenty villages' and The brook flows and passes by/through many bridges-not literally 'Half a hundred' bridges.

STANZA 3Till last by Philip's farm I flow

To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go,

But I go on forever.

• The brook flows by a farm probably owned by a man named Philip. After the farm he flows to join a overflowing river.

• Men/people have a short life spam but the brook is immortal so it has a longer life spam and hence goes on 'forever'.

 

STANZA 4I chatter over stony ways,

In little sharps and trebles,

I bubble into eddying bays,

I babble on the pebbles.

• As the brook flows it chatters (makes a interesting and musical sound) over a stony creek bed. When the brook flows backward it 'pushes' the air and makes bubbles. As the brook moves it makes sound because of the pebbles.

STANZA 5With many a curve my banks I fret

by many a field and fallow,

And many a fairy foreland set

With willow-weed and mallow

• The brook flows curvily because at one point the pathcurves and it wears away. curves and it wears away. fields and bare places (fallows), probably the soil is infertile which is why

• the land is bare and no plants grow There are many pieces of land sticking out in the brook (called foreland) which have some plants such as 'Willow-weed &

• mallow'. Where colorful & bright birds, insects & butterflies come which

• look like fairies from far away.

STANZA 6I chatter, chatter, as I flow

To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go,

But I go on forever.

The brook makes sound as it flows. The brook makes sound as it flows.The brook joins the river which is full to the brim.The brook is saying that while humans are mortal and do not last a long time and these lines are the refrain of the poem which were repeated in the poem to give an effective rhyming scheme.

STANZA 7I wind about, and in and out,

with here a blossom sailing,

And here and there a lusty trout,

And here and there a grayling,

The brook coils and twists on its way to the river. An occasional flower can be seen on its surface. The floating blossom appears to be sailing on the brook. The brook is also home to freshwater fish such as trout and grayling. The trout is a vigorous and energetic fish. Hence Tennyson calls it 'lusty'.

STANZA 8And here and there a foamy flake

Upon me, as I travel

With many a silver water-break

Above the golden gravel,

Due to occasional turbulent flow, flakes of foam are produced, which float on the flowing brook. Water breaks are breaks on the brook's surface caused by unevenness of its bed. These water breaks reflect the sun that makes them appear silver. Gravel is usually of a brownish yellow hue. Hence the phrase, 'golden gravel'.

STANZA 9And draw them all along, and flow

To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go,

But I go on forever.

The brook draws along with it, several floating objects as it flows towards the river.Here the poem's refrain is repeated. The brook flows by.

STANZA 10I steal by lawns and grassy plots,

I slide by hazel covers;

I move the sweet forget-me-nots

That grow for happy lovers.

The brook flows by grassy stretches. It passes by land covered with hazel (a type of shrub). Forget-me-nots are low growing plants with bright blue flowers. They often grow on the banks of streams, sometimes even touching the water surface.Forget-me-not flowers are often a sign of faithfulness and enduring love. Hence they are often associated with lovers.

STANZA 11I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance,

Among my skimming swallows;

I make the netted sunbeam dance

Against my sandy shallows.

As the brook flows, it gently moves the flowers that touch the water. The brook uses the words 'slip' , 'slide‘, 'gloom' , 'glance', to describe its movements. Swallows often hunt for insects on the water surface. They skim the water surface to capture the insects. The brook glides among these 'skimming swallows'. The brook is constantly moving. It also carries with it numerous fish, floating blossoms, etc. Swallows often fly over it. Hence the sunlight that falls on the bed of the brook appears like a net instead of a continuous entity. Sandy shallows refer to the shallow part of the brook that contains a lot of deposited sand and silt. As the brook moves, the 'netted sunbeam' falling on the shallow bed appears to dance

STANZA 12I murmur under moon and stars

In brambly wildernesses;

I linger by my shingly bars;

I loiter round my cresses;

Wilderness refers to a wild and uninhabited region. Brambles are often found in such places. Hence Tennyson refers to such regions as 'brambly wildernesses'. In quiet nights, as the brook passes over numerous pebbles and uneven land, it makes a certain sound. In the silent wilderness such sounds can be clearly heard. The sound reminds one of murmuring. It is as if the brook is talking to itself. Shingles are accumulated masses of small pebbles. Elevated regions in a brook made of such an accumulated mass deposited by flow, are referred as 'shingly bars'. Shingles are usually found in the slowest moving part of a brook. Hence the brook says that it 'lingers by such places. Cresses, in this case, refer to watercress that often grows on the edges of brooks. As the brook passes these tufts of watercress, its water seems to coalesce among the plants. Hence Tennyson uses the word 'loiter' The brook leaves the wilderness, the ‘shingly bars’ and the watercress behind and flows in graceful curves towards the river. ‘used

STANZA 13And out again I curve and flow

To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go,

But I go on forever.

It ends with the refrain that although the human life is transient, the flow of the brook is perpetual.

THE END

DONE BY GROUP:C (03)09 B