Additional English I Semester (Poetry)

1. The Daffodils – William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth, the great nature poet, was born on 7 April 1770 at Cockermouth in Cumberland. He lost his father and mother at a very early age. Thanks to the generosity of his uncle was given a good education. He was educated at Hawkshead School and St. John’s College, Cambridge, His meeting with Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1795 was turning point in his life, in the sense that he decided to devote his life completely to poetry. Wordsworth and Coleridge together published The Lyrical Ballads in 1798. In 1843 he succeeded Robert Southey as poet Laureate and remained in office till his death on 23 April 1850.

Though Wordsworth has written long poems, he is at his best in the shorter poems like ‘Tintern Abbey’ and ‘Intimations of Immortality’. By writing a number of short poems like ‘The Daffodils’, ‘The Solitary Reaper’ etc.: he has shown in practice that beautiful poems can be written on ordinary subjects and in ordinary language; but they can be made beautiful with the colouring of the poet’s imagination. According to Wordsworth ‘Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility’.

Once, Wordsworth was walking alone through a beautiful landscape of the countryside. All of a sudden he saw a large number of daffodils by the side of a lake. They were fluttering and dancing in the breeze. They were as numerous as the stars and stretched in a never ending line. It seemed to the poet that he saw at least ten thousand flowers at a glance. The waves of the lake were also dancing, but the daffodils surpassed them. After watching such a fascinating scene a poet like Wordsworth could not do anything but be happy (gay). At that moment he did not realize that the beautiful sight was going to be a source of joy for him in the future also. Afterwards on many an occasion, he tried to recollect the scene. Every time he did it his heart was filled with joy.

Q. Describe how George Herbert’s poem ‘Virtue’ celebrates the immortality of the virtuous soul.

2. Virtue – George Herbert

 George Herbert graduated with M. A. from Trinity College of Cambridge University and elected as ‘public orator’ of the University in 1619. The unexpected death of his patrons broke his hopes in secular life. Later he became parishioner of a church in Wiltshire. All his poems, exclusively written for sermon deliverances in the church, were brought out in the name of ‘The Temple’ in 1633. His poetry predominantly reflects his unquestionable faith in God’s will, love and justice. As a metaphysical poet, he is known for his religious faith, submission and acceptance.

The Beauty and Goodness of Creation often overwhelms us with awe because it is a mirror of the goodness and supremacy of the Creator. George Herbert’s “Virtue” emphasizes the spiritual truth that this world and life itself is beautiful. However, despite its beauty, all of creation will come to a fiery end.  George Herbert was a brilliant poet who expressed his religious beliefs and convictions through his poetry. In his poem “Virtue” he uses colorful diction, powerful imagery, and surprising metaphors as a means of establishing the theme: life is short but our virtuous souls remain forever.

The first stanza of the poem “Virtue” is referring to a beautiful sunny day. The line “Sweet day, so cool, so calm, so bright,” takes us inwardly to a perfect spring afternoon where everything is warm and good. Herbert makes the wonderful comparison between a day and the virtuous soul. He describes the day as “the bridal of the earth and sky” compares the marriage between a man and a woman. Herbert uses personification to usher in a more emotional context by saying “the dew shall weep thy fall to-night” because the day must come to an end which is a metaphor of death.

The poem continues with the comparison of a beautiful rose and a virtuous soul. The rose is “angry and brave” and makes a rash onlooker rub his (its) eye in amazement. However, Herbert writes that the root of the flower is in its grave and it will fade. Finally, Herbert brings us to the season of spring which includes both warm days and beautiful roses. Spring could also represent time and everything in between birth and death. It is likened to “a box where sweets compacted lie,” Herbert continues to connect the beauty of nature with impermanence, as any ‘sweet’ thing must, over the time, lose its sweetness. Like the day; the rose is a symbol of earthly splendor. It is also ‘sweet’ like the day, saturated with colour, and graced with magnificence. But like the day, the spring and its beautiful roses also must die because it will not last forever.

In the last stanza he describes that when the world ends ‘the world turn to coal’, only the ‘sweet and virtuous soul, will survive and ‘then chiefly lives’ forever like a seasoned timber.

(Or)

George Herbert’s “Virtue” celebrates the immortality of the virtuous soul. He depicts the virtue as something of the virtuous soul. He describes the virtue as something eternal, permanent. In order to show this he compares the virtuous soul with the day, the rose and the spring in the three preceding quatrains.

Herbert describes the manifestation of the day as ‘so cool’, ‘so calm’, ‘so bright’ and he compares the sky and earth to the marriage between a woman and a man, besides all these beautiful things the day must die when the night falls. In the second stanza he describes the rose with all its power and beautiful colours, at the same time its root is always in the ground so, like the day it also must die. In this stanza the rose is described as a person who like the rose ends in its grave. In the third stanza he describes the spring as a box where the days and the roses are put together and different smells are enclosed in it. But like the day, the spring also must die because it will not last forever.

‘Virtue’ is compared in the fourth quatrain to the living world but also to the reality of death. Building momentum by moving from the glory of a day to the beauty of a rose to the richness of springtime, while reiterating at the end of each quatrain that everything “must die” Herbert leads the reader to the last

Only the sweet and virtuous soul will last forever. Even when the whole world will disappear in flames, the virtuous soul will survive.

3. The Tiger – William Blake

William Blake’s “The Tiger” is a well known poem as it is one of the poems of his collection named “Songs of Experience”.  The main theme of the poem is focused on the Creator (God) of the tiger, the devil of the creation. The poet wonders if the Creator of the delicate lovable lamb is the same as the Creator of the ferocious, violent, vicious, powerful tiger.

The poet repeats the word ‘tiger’ to emphasize on the meaning and to bring a rhythm to the opening of the poem. The repetition of the words also attracts the attention of the reader. The tiger is said to be ‘burning bright’ because of it is bright in colour. Alliteration and metaphor is used to give an image of the fire. Fire is used throughout the poem to symbolize terror, anger, danger, power, force, arrogance, etc.

The poet wonders that what created this violent ferocious creature. He refers to the creator as immortal because the tiger is so heartless that it could turn against even to its creator. The creator, therefore, has to be immortal to survive an attack from such a fierce creature.

The poet is interested in knowing what place or heaven supplied the tiger with its anger, viciousness, ferociousness etc. A Dichotomy has been used to indicate the trouble the poet has in figuring out where the tiger gets its personality from – heaven or hell. According to the poet the tiger is unstoppable. On one that exists is the world dares to seize the tiger, or even aspire to do so since the tiger is just like fire.

The poet greatly admires the strength that has been put for the creation of the tiger. It has done so artistically that the poet even admires the technique that has been used to create the heart of the tiger with twisted muscles ( the twisted muscles of the heart is the reason for the cruelty of the tiger) the hands and the feet are what helps the tiger to obtain fear by humans and other creatures.

The poet is eager to find out what tool was used in the shaping of the tiger’s brain as it thinks so cunningly. The poet wants to know what chain keeps the brain in its place and the tiger never seems to forget or forgive anything. The poet also wonders what the temperature of the furnace might have been in which the brain was created…. which symbolizes its anger.

When the tiger was finally created when the last touch was done and place on earth with life granted. The stars threw down their spears, cried and flooded the heaven. They disapproved of the creation because they knew that this creature would only bring destruction to the world rather than harmony. The poet questions if the creator was pleased to see the results and his hard work, strength and power. The poet also wants to know if the creator this violent tiger is that of the lovable lamb.

The sixth stanza is a repetition of the first stanza. The repetition unites the poem. It also indicates that the poet is still in the similar state of confusion as he was in the beginning. The word ‘could’ of the first stanza has been changed to ‘dare’ as that the poet does realize the answer to his question cannot be obtained. The process of creation has already been completed. The tiger was created to balance the nature. Everything that has a beginning has an end too. The tiger is created to destroy the lamb. There should be a predator to balance the nature.

4. The Ballad of Father Gilligan – William Butler Yeats

 One evening old Father Gilligan felt very tired. He was also very sad because many of his parishioners were either sick or were already dead. As he sat dozing in a chair another poor man sent for him. Out of sheer exhaustion he complained that he had no rest or peace of mind. In the next moment he felt sorry for what he had said and asked God’s forgiveness. He then knelt and prayed but while doing so he fell asleep.

When he woke up at dawn Father Gilligan remembered that the poor man had sent for him. He was afraid that the man might be dead. Anyway he roused his horse from sleep and rode as fast as he could. The lady was surprised to see him and asked why he had come again. To his question whether the man was dead she replied that he died soon after Father Gilligan left the house. On hearing this he knelt down and thanked God because he knew what had taken place. When he was asleep God took pity on him and sent an angel to the dying man to console him. As he thought of this he wondered with what meticulous attention God took care of all things in the mighty universe, including the poor priest who was asleep.

A ballad is a kind of lyric. It is a story in verse, and generally consists of short stanzas of four lines each. Other characteristics of a ballad are quickness of movement simplicity of language and touch of the supernatural. It must be pointed out that the delicate introduction of the supernatural towards the end of the poem adds much to its appeal. Thus almost all the ballad qualities are found in the poem ‘The Ballad of Father Gilligan’.

(Or)

Yeats tells a story in verse. An old priest was weary and sad because most of his flock (folk) had died. He was sent for by a sick man, but fell asleep in his chair before answering the call. The stars multiplied and God talked to mankind.

In the morning, Father Gilligan awoke with a start, realizing that he had not done his duty. He rides to the sick man’s house that the man had died. Father Gilligan is horrified and cries “mavrone!” until the woman thanks him for coming the previous night. He falls to his knees and thanks God for sending an angel down to do his work when he was too tired to do so.

The Poem takes a ballad form –a traditional form, usually sung, with regular, short stanzas that tell a story. It has a more overtly religious content than most of Yeats’s poems. As a protestant who turned to theosophy and mysticism. Yeats usually stays away from Catholic themes. Yeats also usually stays away from the Irish language, which he uses in this poem when he writes, “mavrone!” which is the Irish, “Mo Bhron”, a cry of grief.

The poem not only speaks to the poverty of rural Ireland, but also to their extreme religiousity. The priest is horrified by the fact that he did not make it to the bedside of the sick man before he died because no one performed the rites of extreme unction, meaning in the catholic tradition that the man did not die in a state of grace, and therefore cannot go to heaven. The divine intervention which caused this is not to be the case in an affirmation of a loving, kind God.

Yeats intends this ballad as homage to the traditional poetry and legend of his country. He was a collector of similar Irish stories and songs and appreciated their immediate, naïve beauty. Certainly this tale draws upon the character as well as the form of the traditional Irish ballad.

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