II SEMESTER ADDITIONAL ENGLISH

THE SOLITARY REAPER – WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

BEHOLD HER, single in the field,

Yon solitary Highland Lass!

Reaping and singing by herself;

Stop here, or gently pass!

Alone she cuts and binds the grain,

And sings a melancholy strain,

O listen! For the vale profound

Is overflowing with the sound.

No nightingale did ever chaunt

More welcome notes to weary bands

Of travellers in some shady haunt,

Among Arabian sands:

A voice so thrilling ne’er was heard

In spring-time from the cuckoo-bird,

Breaking the silence of the seas

Among the farthest Hebrides.

Will no one tell me what she sings? —

Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow

For old, unhappy, far-off things,

And battles long ago:

Or is it some more humble lay,

Familiar matter of today?

Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,

That has been, and may be again?

Whate’er the theme, the maiden sang

As if her song could have no ending;

I saw her singing at her work,

And o’er the sickle bending; —

I listened, motionless and still;

And, as I mounted up the hill,

The music in my heart I bore,

Long after it was heard no more.

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770 – 1850), born at Cockermouth, was educated at Hawkshead and Cambridge. As a young man he undertook a walking tour of France and Italy and was deeply influenced by the ideals of the French Revolution. Later, Wordsworth published Lyrical Ballads in collaboration with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, with which began the Romantic Revival in English poetry. Wordsworth is not only initiator but also a leading poet of the movement. He was known as a poet of nature and of man.

THE SOLITARY REAPER is a thoughtful poem on man (human being) and nature. The poet wandering in the hills and valleys of the Scottish Highlands once saw a lovely peasant girl reaping and singing in the field. The sight was pleasing and the sad song appeared enchanting and more moving than the songs of nightingales and cuckoos. The poet tried to get at the meaning of the song which he did not understand: it might be about things long past like battles or some unhappy events; it might be about some matter of common sorrow that had happened and might happen again. The sight and the song have made a deep impression on his mind and will stay in his memory for long. 

behold:             look

yon:                  (yonder), there at farthest distance

highland:          the Scottish Highlands

lass:                 girl

strain:              a sad note of song

weary:              very tired

shady haunt:     cool shelter / Oasis

vale:                 valley

Hebrides:         a group of islands off the west coast of Scotland. The islands are popular with tourists in the summer

plaintive:          sounding sad, esp. in a weak complaining way

Summary of the poem

In the year 1803 William Wordsworth toured Scotland with Dorothy Wordsworth and his close friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge as his companions. The sight of reapers in the harvest fields reminded Wordsworth of a sentence in a book by one of his friends: ‘passed a female, who was reaping alone: she sang in Erse as she bent over sickle: the sweetest human voices I ever heard; her strains were tenderly melancholy, and felt delicious long after they were heard mo more’. The poem was thus inspired partly by his own experience and partly by that of his friend. The subject of the poem is familiar scene from rustic life. In order to relate an incident from common life the poet has made use of a language which is used by common people in their everyday life. By doing this, Wordsworth has fulfilled the promise made in the preface to the Lyrical Ballads which is the manifesto of the Romantic Movement.

Once, Wordsworth saw a young girl reaping and singing all alone in a field. The echo of her sweet song was about a battle fought long ago. The song of the solitary reaper was no doubt as sweet as the song of a nightingale which sang from an Oasis in the Arabian Desert. It was certainly more thrilling than the song sung by a cuckoo in the Hebrides. The poet wondered at the subject of her song. Perhaps the subject of the song was a battle fought long ago. Or perhaps she was singing about a humble subject like the sufferings of ordinary people. Whatever might be the subject; the song was spontaneous and seemed to have no end. It impressed the poet so much that he felt thrilled for quite some time. In other words it was an unforgettable experience.

AN OLD MAN – R. S. THOMAS

LOOK at him there on the wet road,

Muffled with smoke, an old man trying

Time’s treacherous ice with a slow foot.

Tears on his cheek are the last glitter

On bare branches of the long storm

That shook him once leaving him bowed

And destitute as a tree stripped

Of foliage under a bald sky.

Come, then, winter, build with your cold

Hands a bridge over those depths

His mind balks at; let him go on,

Confident still; let the hard hammer

Of pain fall with as light a blow

On the brow’s anvil as the sun does now.

REV. RONALD STUART THOMAS (1913—) is a Welshman and priest, ordained in 1936. His poems are honest, realistic and sometimes severe. They have the naked strength of the Welsh landscape which forms the background of his poems. The rhythm of his poems is slow and deliberate.

AN OLD MAN deals with the coming of old age. As the body decays and death draws near the old man falters on the path of life and slowly succumbs to the ravages that life had wrought on him. Here winter is taken to represent time and the poet requests winter to be kind so that the severity of old age and death are allayed or mitigated. The image of the bridge that winter is asked to build presents the picture of man’s life as a journey across the bridge of death to the world beyond.   

muffled:            wrapped or covered

trying time’s treacherous ice with slow foot: time is described as treacherous like the crust of ice on road,

lakes or rivers. On road it is slippery, on lakes or rivers it may break when stepped on letting the man fall into the icy water below. As one becomes old the world becomes a dangerous place for him. So one has to tread carefully (live carefully).

long storm:       the span of life; the storm here is used as a metaphor of life

destitute:          poor, bereft

stripped:           made bare

bridge:             the bridge here symbolizes death

balk:                 shirk, hesitate; (here) to be afraid to go forward

anvil:                an iron block on which the blacksmith hammers metal to shape

AN OLD MAN – REV. RONALD STUART THOMAS

Rev. Ronald Stuart Thomas’ poem ‘An Old Man’ is one of the shortest and beautiful poems of his imagination but it is the best of its kind. His poems are remarkably honest, realistic and sometimes very severe in suggestion. As a parson R. S. Thomas is successful in this poem in bringing out the true difficulties of ‘the old age’ and exerting the public sympathy towards old people.

The poem ‘An Old Man’ deals with the subject of approaching old age and its difficulties. As the body decays and imminent death draws near, the old man falters on the path of life and slowly succumbs to the ravages that life had wrought on him. Metaphorically, the season ‘winter’ is taken to represent the time of ‘old age’ and the poet requests ‘the winter’ to be kind enough towards old men so that the severity of old age and death are allayed. The image of the bridge that winter is asked to build presents the picture of man’s life as a journey across the bridge of death to the world beyond.

The poet asks us with a great concern to look at an old man reverentially who is trying with slow foot on the wet road muffled with smoke. The old age, the last stage of the life, is compared to winter as the last season of the year. The old man is seen in this poem, walking slowly on the dangerous slippery icy roads. The winter time is described as treacherous like the crust of ice on roads, lakes or rivers. The icy roads are slippery and on lakes or rivers the ice may break when stepped on letting the man fall into the icy water below. As a person becomes old, the world becomes a dangerous place for him so he has to tread carefully (live carefully). The tears on his cheeks resembling as the last glitters on the bare branches of a tree whose foliage ravished in the long storm. He asks the winter to build a bridge with its cold hands to walk slowly and confidently across the deep depths like difficulties of his life to meet his Death. The poem concludes with great revelation that all people on this earth are shaped with a hard hammer of ‘Pain’ on the anvil of the ‘Time’ under the Sun subjected to endure the difficulties of old age.

DEATH, BE NOT PROUD – JOHN DONNE

DEATH, BE NOT PROUD, though some have called thee

Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not soe;

For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow

Die not, poore Death, nor yet canst thou kill mee.

From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,

Much pleasure — then from thee much more must flow;

And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,

Rest of their bones and soul’s deliverie.

Thou’rt slave to Fate, Chance, kings and desperate men,

And dost with poyson, war, and sickness dwell;

And poppie of charms can make us sleepe as well,

And better than thy stroake. Why swell’st thou then?

One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,

And Death shall be no more, Death, thou shalt die.

JOHN DONNE (1571 – 1631) was born in London and was educated at Oxford and Cambridge. Then he entered Lincoln’s Inn. At first a Roman Catholic he later became Anglican. He was secretary to the lord keeper, Sir Egerton, from 1596 to 1602 but upon secretly marrying Anne Moore, the lord keeper’s wife’s niece, he fell from grace. His sermons rank among the best in the seventeenth century. He wrote a large variety of poems: satires, epistles, elegies, and miscellaneous poems. His poetry has been described as ‘metaphysical’.

DEATH BE NOT PROUD is a poem where Donne challenges the power of death and by argument shows him (death) to be powerless. He describes death as a slave of fate, chance, kings, and murderers, and one who lives a miserable life with poison, war, and sickness. Death cannot destroy man because man’s soul is liberated by death and in the other world it does not even exist. In the poem Donne addresses death as a person; this device is known as personification.

mighty:                                     great and powerful

dreadful:                                  fearful

overthrow:                                defeat; (here) kill

which but thy pictures bee:        which closely resemble death. “Death’ is often referred to as ‘sleep’.

best men:                                  most virtuous people; those who are loved by God die young.

soules deliverie:                        their souls are freed from their bodily prisons

poppie:                                     opium or opium preparations.

charmes:                                  drugs with magical properties.

better than they stroake:            their operation is gentle and painless.

swell’st:                                    feels proud

wee wake eternally:                  live forever in the other world.

Summary:

“Death Be Not Proud” is one of the finest poems of John Donne from his collection of poems “Holy Sonnets” addressed to Death. Death is generally supposed to be ‘mighty and dreadful’, but in reality it is neither ‘mighty’ nor ‘dreadful’. Therefore it should not be proud.

Having stated his point of view, Donne proceeds like a clever lawyer to give argument to prove it. Death is not dreadful, for those whom death is supposed to kill are not killed in reality. They do not die; they only sleep a long and peaceful sleep. Rest and sleep resemble death. As great comfort and pleasure results from sleep, so greater comfort and pleasure must result from death. That is why those who are virtuous die young. Death merely frees their souls form the prison of their bodies, and provides rest to their bodies. As death brings rest and quiet, it cannot be regarded as dreadful in any way. 

Death is not ‘mighty’ as well. It is not like a mighty king, but like a wretched slave. It is a slave of fate, chance, wicked and malicious persons, poison, wars and sickness. Death is not the cause, but the instrument. It obeys the call of accidents, kings, wicked murderers, poison, war, old age, and sickness. It is not a free agent, but a miserable slave who lives in such wretched company with sickness and old age. It cannot be regarded as glorious or mighty in any way. As a matter of fact, opium preparations or similar other intoxicants, or drugs supposed to have magical properties, can induce better sleep and with a far gentler and painless operations.

Finally, there is reason at all for Death to be proud of its powers. Death can make sleep only for a short while. After our short sleep in the grave, we will awake in the other world and live there eternally. Then Death will have no power over us. Thus, in reality, Death does not kill us; it is death itself which dies. In this way, the sonnet ends with a paradox which the poet has already proved and established. 

LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI — JOHN KEATS

O, what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

Alone and palely loitering?

The sedge has withered from the lake,

And no birds sing.

O, what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

So haggard, and so woe-begone?

The squirrel’s granary is full,

And the harvest’s done.

I see a lily on thy brow,

With anguish moist and fever dew;

And on thy cheeks a fading rose

Fast withereth too —

I met a lady in the meads,

Full beautiful — a faery’s child,

Her hair was long, her foot was light,

And her eyes were wild—

I made a garland for her head,

And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;

She look’d at me as she did love,

And made sweet moan —

I set her on my pacing steed,

And nothing else saw all day long;

For sidelong would she bend, and sing

A faery’s song —

She found me roots of relish sweet,

And honey wild, and manna dew;

And sure in language strange she said —

‘I love thee true.’

She took me to her elfin grot,

And there she wept and sigh’d full sore,

And there I shut her wild wild eyes

With kisses four.

And there she lulled me asleep,

And there I dream’d —Ah! Woe-betide!

The latest dream I ever dream’d

On the cold hill’s side.

I saw pale kings, and princes too,

Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;

They cried — “La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Hath thee in thrall!’

I saw their starved lips in the gloam

With horrid warning gapèd wide,

And I awoke, and found me here,

On the cold hill’s side.

And this is why I sojourn here

Alone and palely loitering,

Though the sedge has withered from the lake,

And no birds sing.

JOHN KEATS (1795 – 1821), son of a stable keeper in London, learn Latin, history, and some French. He was apprenticed to become a doctor but ultimately qualified as a surgeon. But he abandoned surgery owing to his passion for poetry. He wrote for a short period from 1816 to 1820 when he became seriously ill with tuberculosis. He died in Rome. He desired that on his tomb should be written: ‘Here lies one whose name was writ in water’. His poetry, however, has etched his name in bold letters which will survive long. Keats is a worshipper of beauty and his verse is passionate and moving.

LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI is a ballad (a popular story narrated in short stanzas). It narrates the story of a knight who is enticed by a beautiful elf. This elf is the beautiful but merciless woman of the poem. She offers him many pleasures but when he wakes in the morning he finds no beloved and is left alone on the cold hillside where ‘no birds sing’. The story treats beauty, women, and love cynically.

loitering:          to stand or stroll in public place, usu. with no particular/obvious purpose

sedge:              a plant like glass that grows in wet lands near water.

haggard:          looking very tired and unhappy

woebegone:      looking very unhappy and worried

steed:               horse / stallion

faery:               fairy / elf

grot:                 (grotto) a cave, esp. one made artificially in the garden

sore:                 painfully

woe-betide:      (idm.) woe-betide sb. There will be trouble for sb.

gloam:              (gloom) the faint light after the sun set or before its rise.

horrid:             very bad and unpleasant / horrible

sojourn:           to stay in a place away from one’s home for a time

Summary:

‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ is one of the short but very popular poems of John Keats. In its brief space of forty eighty lines Keats has achieved the highest perfection of the ‘ballad’ form. This is the only one of its kind by him. ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ can hardly be said to tell a story. It sets before us the wasting of Power and Time just for the sake of Love, when either the hostility of fate or a mistaken choice makes of love not a blessing but a disaster. The wretchedness of love which the poet describes in the poem is partly that of his soul in relation to Fanny Brawne.  The imagery of the poem is drawn from the medieval world of enchantment and knighthood.

The poem abounds in vivid pictures such as of the pale young knight whose forehead is moist with sweat, the beautiful lady with long hair and wild eyes, and the pale kings and princes dressed as warriors. The theme of the poem is unrequited love: The language used to narrate the story is simple, but sprinkled with archaic terms and expressions, that give a romantic glamour to the poem. ‘Palely loitering’, ‘woe-begone’, ‘fragrant zone’, ‘relish sweet’, ‘manna-dew’, and ‘woe betide’, are some such expressions. On the whole the poem helps to recall the medieval days and chivalry with its tales of knights and fair ladies. 

The poet in the course of his wanderings happened to meet a young knight in a strange place. The poet asked the knight why he looked so frightened and miserable. The knight replied that some time ago, in a far off meadow, he met a beautiful lady with long hair and wild eyes. He fell in love with her and adorned her with a wreath, bracelets and a belt, all made of fragrant flowers. She looked at him and by making sweet moans signaled that she loved him. He placed her on his horse and walked by her side. He was led to a small cave where she fed him with some delicious food and afterwards lulled him to sleep. During his sleep he dreamt of kings and princes who had been previously enchanted by the same lady. They told him that he too had been enslaved by the beautiful lady without pity. That was why he was found loitering in the strange place.