I Semester Basic English Poems

Once Upon a Time – Gabriel Okara

Once upon a time, son,

they used to laugh with their hearts

and laugh with their eyes;

but now they only laugh with their teeth,

while their ice-block-cold eyes

search behind my shadow

There was a time indeed

they used to shake hands with their hearts;

but that’s gone, son.

now they shake hands without hearts

while left hands search

my empty pockets.

“Feel at home!” “Come again”;

they say, and when I come

again and feel

at home, once, twice,

there will be no thrice—

for then I find doors shut on me.

So I have learned many things, son.

I have learned to wear many faces

like dresses—homeface,

officeface, streetface, hostface,

cocktailface, with all their conforming smiles

like a fixed portrait smile.

And I have learned, too,

to laugh with only my teeth

and shake hands without my heart.

I have also learned to say, ‘Goodbye;

when I mean ‘Good-riddance’;

to say ‘Glad to meet you;

without being glad; and to say ‘It’s been

nice talking to you; after being bored.

But believe me, son.

I want to be what I used to be

when I was like you, I want

to unlearn all these muting things.

Most of all, I want to relearn

how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror

shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs!

So show me, son,

how to laugh; show me how

I used to laugh and smile

once upon a time when I was like you.

laugh with their hearts : laugh sincerely with genuine happiness

laugh with their teeth   : laugh superficially without any feelings

ice-block-block eyes    : cold and without any warm feelings

shake hands with their hearts: greet with sincerity

doors shut on me         : this means that though people speak with warm feelings, they actually do not

                                       mean anything nice and do not want visitors.

wear many faces          : to fit into the present world and be just as superficial as others

unlearn all these muting things: the speaker would like to forget being insincere and be genuine and

                                         sincere like his son again

The Man He Killed – Thomas Hardy

‘Had he and I but met

By some old ancient inn,

We should have sat us down to wet

Right may a nipperkin!

‘But ranged as infantry,

And staring face to face,

I shot at him as he at me,

And killed him in his place.

‘I shot him dead because—

Because he was my foe,

Just so: my foe of course he was;

That’s clear enough; although

‘He thought he’d ’list, perhaps,

Off-hand like— just I —

Was out of work—had sold his traps—

No other reason why.

‘Yes; quaint and curious war is!

You shoot a fellow down

You’d treat if met where any bar is,

Or help to half-a-crown’.

nipperkin         : a measure for liquids, containing half a pint or less

infantry            : soldiers who operate on foot

’list                  : abbreviated form of ‘enlist’, that is, enroll for

sold his traps   : sold whatever he had

quaint              : strange and (here) somewhat unpredictable

Where the Mind is without Fear – Rabindranath Tagore

Where the mind is without fear and

the head is held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been broken

up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;

Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost

its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;

Where the mind is led forward by thee into

ever-widening thought and action—

Into that heaven of freedom my father,

my country awake.

where the head is held high     : refers to pride in one’s freedom

where knowledge is free          : where one does not have t pay for acquiring knowledge

fragments                                 : bits and pieces

narrow domestic walls             : this refers to divisions of caste and creed.

truth                                         : the ultimate reality, the goal of great poets and philosophers

depth of truth                           : where what one says is completely honest

tireless striving                        : refers to the endless efforts that need to be made

clear stream of reason             : a reference to the rule of reason

dead habit                                : outdated practices

ever-widening                          : expanding horizons

thought and action                   : the two facets of a balanced personality

let my country awake               : a prayer for the intellectual and spiritual freedom of the country.

heaven of freedom                    : a joyful abode which has freedom for the individual

Woman Work – Maya Angelou

I’ve got the children to tend

The clothes to mend

The floor to mop

The food to shop

Then the chicken to fry

The baby to dry

I got company to feed

The garden to weed

I’ve got shirts to press

The tots to dress

The cane to be cut

I gotta clean up this hut

Then see about the sick

And the cotton to pick.

Shine on me, sunshine

Rain on me, rain

Fall softly, dewdrops

And cool my brow again.

Strom, blow me from here

With your fiercest wind

Let me float across the sky

’Til I can rest again.

Fall gently, snowflakes

Cover me with white

Cold icy kisses and

Let me rest tonight.

Sun, rain, curving sky

Mountain, oceans, leaf and stone

Star shine, moon glow

You’re all that I can call my own.

tend                 : to look after and care for

tots                   : tiny children

weed                : to remove the weeds which are intrusive and destructive of plants

cotton to pick   : picking cotton from its capsule is usually done manually, by hand. This refers to the

  woman’s labour of cultivating cotton

cool my brow   : to soothe one’s tiredness and exhaustion

snowflakes       : the frozen crystals of ice which fall to the earth at very low temperatures

curving sky      : refers to the shape of the which is spherical

An Old Woman – Arun Kolatkar

An old woman grabs

hold of your sleeve

and tags along.

She wants a fifty paise coin.

She says she will take you

to the horseshoe shrine.

You’ve seen it already.

She hobbles along anyway

and tightens her grip on your shirt.

She won’t let you go.

You know how old women are?

They stick to you like a burr.

You turn around and face her

with an air of finality.

You want to end the farce.

When you hear her say,

‘What else can an old woman do

On hills as wretched as these?’

You look right at the sky.

Clear through the bullet holes

she has for her eyes.

And as you look on,

the cracks that begin around her eyes

spread beyond her skin.

And the hills crack.

And the temples crack.

And the sky falls

With a plateglass clatter

around the shatter proof cone

who stands alone.

And you are reduced

to so much small change

in her hand.  

tag                   : follow closely

hobble             : walk with difficulty because of hurt or disabled legs

burr                 : a prickly seed case or flower head that clings to clothing and animal fur

air of finality   : the impression that there is nothing more to be said or done

farce                : an absurd event

wretched          : in a very unfortunate state; miserable

plateglass        : very clear glass of fine quality made in thick sheets

clatter              : confused noise as of hard ad heavy things falling or knocking together

crone               : (derogatory) an ugly old woman

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.

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I Semester Additional English Poems

Daffodils – William Wordsworth

I WANDERED lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils:

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

The thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed— and gazed— but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

Virtue – George Herbert

SWEET DAY, so cool, so calm, so bright,

     The bridal of the earth and sky:

The dew shall weep thy fall tonight,

          For thou must die.

Sweet rose, whose hue, angry and brave,

     Bids the rash gazer wipe his eye:

Thy root is ever in its grave,

          And thou must die.

Sweet spring, full of sweet days and roses,

     A box where sweets compacted lie;

My music shows ye have your closes,

          And all must die.

Only a sweet and virtuous soul,

     Like seasoned timber, never gives,

But though the whole world turn to coal,

          Then chiefly lives.

The Tiger – William Blake

TIGER! TIGER! burning bright,

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies

Burned the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, and what art,

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand? And what dread feet?

What the hammer? What the chain?

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? What dread grasp

Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,

And water’d heaven with their tears,

Did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tiger! Tiger! burning bright,

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

The Ballad of Father Gilligan – W. B. Yeats

The old priest, Peter Gilligan,

    Was weary night and day,

For half his flock were in their beds,

    Or under green sods lay.

Once, while he nodded on a chair,

    At the moth hour of eve,

Another poor man sent for him,

   And he began to grieve.

‘I have no rest, nor joy, nor peace,

    For people die and die’;

And after, cried he, ‘God forgive!

    My body spake, not I!’

He knelt, and leaning on the chair,

    He prayed and fell asleep;

And the moth hour went from the fields

    And stars began to peep.

They slowly into millions grew,

     And leaves shook in the wind;

And God covered the world with shade,

    And whispered to mankind.

Upon the time of sparrow chirp,

    When the moths came once more,

The old priest Peter Gilligan

    Stood upright on the floor.

‘Mavrone, Mavrone! The man has died

    While I slept on the chair’,

He roused his horse out of his sleep

    And rode with little care.

He rode now as he never rode,

    By rocky lane and fen;

The sick man’s wife opened the door:

    ‘Father! You come again!’

‘And is the poor man dead?’ he cried.

    ‘He died an hour ago’.

The old Priest Peter Gilligan

    In grief swayed to and fro.

‘When you were gone, he turned and died

    As merry as a bird’.

The old priest Peter Gilligan

    He knelt him at that word.

‘He who hath made the night of stars,

    For souls, who tire and bleed,

Sent one of His great angels down

    To help me in my need.

‘He who is wrapped in purple robes,

    With planets in His care,

Had pity on the least of things

    Asleep upon a chair’.

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Dover Beach – Matthew Arnold

“Dover Beach” is a brief, dramatic monologue generally recognized as Arnold’s the best and the most widely known poem. It begins with an opening stanza that is indisputably one of the finest examples of lyric poetry in the English language. The topography of the nocturnal setting is a combination of hushed tranquility and rich sensory detail. It is the world as it appears to the innocent eye gazing on nature: peaceful, harmonious, suffused with quiet joy. The beacon light on the coast of Calais (France), the moon on the calm evening waters of the channel, and the sweet scent of the night air all suggest a hushed and gentle world of silent beauty. The final line of the stanza, however, introduces a discordant note, as the perpetual movement of the waves suggests to the speaker not serenity but “the eternal note of sadness.”

The melancholic strain induces in the second stanza an image in the mind of the speaker: Sophocles, the Greek tragedian, creator of Oedipus Rex standing in the darkness by the Aegean Sea more than two thousand years ago. The ancient master of tragedy hears in the eternal flux of the waves of the same dark note….

“The turbid ebb and flow

Of human misery.”

Thus, the speaker, like Sophocles before him, perceives life as tragedy; suffering and misery are inextricable elements of existence. Beauty, joy, and calm are ephemeral and illusory. The speaker’s pessimistic perspective on the human condition, expressed in stanzas two, three, and four, undercuts and effectively negates the positive, tranquil beauty of the opening stanza; the reality subsumes the misleading appearance. In the third stanza, Arnold introduces the metaphor of the “Sea of Faith,” the once abundant tide in the affairs of humanity that has slowly withdrawn from the modern world. Darwinism and Tractarianism in Arnold’s nineteenth century England brought science into full and successful conflict with religion. “Its melancholy, long withdrawing roar” suggested to Arnold the death throes of the Christian era. The Sophoclean tragic awareness of fate and painful existence had for centuries been displaced by the pure and simple faith of the Christian era, a temporary compensation promising respite from an existence that is ultimately tragic.

The fourth and final stanza of “Dover Beach” is extremely pessimistic. Its grim view of reality, its negativity, its underlying desperate anguish is in marked contrast to the joy and innocent beauty of the first stanza. Love, the poet suggests, is the one final truth, the last fragile human resource. Yet here, as the world is swallowed by darkness, it promises only momentary solace, not joy or salvation for the world. The world, according to the speaker, “seems/ To lie before us like a land of dreams,” offering at least an appearance that seems “So various, so beautiful, so new,” but it is deceptive, a world of wishful thinking. It is shadow without substance, offering neither comfort nor consolation. In this harsh existence, there is

“Neither joy, nor love, nor light,

 Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain.”

Arnold closes the poem with the famous lines that suggest the very nadir of human existence; few poems have equaled its concise, sensitive note of poignant despair. Humanity stands on the brink of chaos, surrounded in encroaching darkness by destructive forces and unable to distinguish friend from foe. The concluding image of the night battle suggests quite clearly the mood of the times among those who shared Arnold’s intellectual temperament, and it is one with which they were quite familiar.

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Vanishing Animals - Gerald Durrell

A herd of deer in China was not known to the modern science of Zoology until 1865. They came to Europe by a sheer chance from their country. If some of these animals had not come to Europe, they would have been an extinct race now. They are now called Pere David deer. Their existence was first discovered by a French missionary, Father David. He was a naturalist who spent his spare time collecting specimens of the flora and fauna to send back to the museum in Paris.  In 1865 he came to Peking on his work. He heard a rumour that there was a strange herd of deer in the Imperial Park. This park is reserved for centuries for a sport of hunting pleasure for the Emperors of China. It was completely surrounded by a high fortified wall and strictly guarded by Tartars along the forty-five miles its border. It was a forbidden park, hunting in this park is prohibited. If anyone found harming or killing animals in this park, will be prosecuted and such attempts may attract sever punishment or the sentence of death may be awarded. Father David wanted some specimens of this herd. He knew that any official request for a specimen would be politely refused. He met some guards and obtained two deer skins and sent them to France. As he had expected, the deer turned out to be an entirely new species and so it was named, in honour of its discoverer, the Pere David deer – Father David’s deer. When the zoos in Europe heard this new kind of deer they wanted some living specimens of those deer for exhibition. After a lengthy process of negotiations the Chinese authorities rather unwillingly allowed a few of the animals to be sent to Europe. Nobody knew that this action would in future save these rare animals from extinction. Thus, 1865, Pere David deer first became known to the world.

In 1895, there were great floods around Peking. The HunHo River was in spate and overflowed its banks and caused havoc in the countryside. These floods  destroyed the crops and rendered the population to near starvation. The water also caused cracks in the walls of the Imperial Hunting Park and all the deer in the park escaped into the surrounding countryside where they were quickly hunted, killed and eaten by the hungry peasants. So, the deer perished in China. The only ones left them off were the handful of live specimens in the various zoos in Europe.

Towards the end of the 19thcentury, a small herd of Pere David deer arrived in England. The Duke of Bedford bought them from the various zoos and kept them on his estate at Woburn in Bedfordshire. He had made there a wonderful collection of rare animals. The eighteen deers felt the place homely and began to breed. The herd that started with eighteen now numbers over a hundred and fifty animals, the only herd of Pere David deer in the world. Among the extinct species in the wilderness, Durrell mentions the white-tiled gnus. They are not totally extinct but in their wilderness they are not found.

The white-tailed gnu is an uncommon creature to look at. Its appearance is like that of a well-built pony – a squat blunt face with very wide-spaced nostrils, a heavy mane of white hair on its thick neck and a long white sweeping plume of a tail. They are very playful. They would prance and twist and buck, gallop, rear and pirouette and doing so they would throw their slim legs out at extraordinary and doing completely un-anatomical angels. Their peculiarity is that in the middle of the wild dance they would suddenly stop dead and glare at. These antelopes contributed to their own downfall in an unusual way. They are very curious creatures, when they saw the ox-drawn wagons of the early settlers, they would dance and gallop round the wagons in circles and then suddenly stopping to stare. Thus, the enterprising “sportsmen" used them for their rifle practice. So, they were killed and their numbers decreased rapidly. In spite of the all these adverse activities these peculiar did not become extinct. Today these unusual animals count under a thousand figure. They are listed among the endangered species. The author includes Pere David deer to this group.

There is a long list of creatures that have already vanished altogether. The dodo is an extinct race now. It was a great ponderous waddling pigeon, the size of a goose was extinct because man's entry into its paradise.

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Belinda’s Dressing Table – Alexander Pope

This selection of this poem 'Belinda's Dressing Table' from ‘The Rape of the Lock’ is very representative of the mock-epic genre. It describes the dressing table of Belinda and how she dressed up by the nymphs and sylphs.

The uncovering of the dressing table reveals silver vases containing cosmetics and jewellery arranged in a particular way, particular to fashionable ladies, described here as ‘mystic order laid”. A Nymph dressed in white and with her head uncovered, first offers prayers intensely to the “cosmetic powers”. She then looks reverentially at the heavenly reflection of Belinda that appears in the mirror and offers respects. The Nymph is inferior to Belinda as she is only a priestess to Belinda, the heavenly figure. She then stands by the dressing table, which is equated with alter, the place of worship, and begins “the sacred rites of Pride” with all fear and respect. The making-up of Belinda is elevated here to the level of sacred rites, but ridiculed as those of Pride. Caskets containing innumerable precious objects like jewels, perfumes etc., offerings from several parts of the world, are opened. The Nymph picks their contents with scrupulous care and decorates Belinda with sparkling things. The poet now goes on to mention the contents of different caskets laid on the table. One casket contains glittering gems from India; another has the perfumes brought from Arabia.  Combs made of tortoise shell and ivory, presented here as transformations of tortoise and elephant, are seen lying together on the table. The combs made of tortoise shell are speckled or spotted while those of ivory are white in colour. Several kinds of pins are arranged in rows, Puffs, patches, powders, bible, and love letters are also there. Now Belinda has put on all beautifying things, which are likened to arms of a warrior in an epic and her charm increases as beautifying process progress. In addition, she improves her smiles, ‘awakens every grace’ and displays all the wonderful attractive features of her face. Gradually, even her blushing improves and the brightness in her eyes increases. The poet introduces the machinery of spirits with the description of sylphs getting busy in assisting Belinda’s dressing-up. Some of them divide her hair into braids and set them properly, while some others fold the sleeve of her dress, and some plait her gown, Betty, the servant maid of Belinda is given credit for the make-up even though she does not deserve it, as the whole beautification is done by the Nymph and the Sylphs.

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The Constitution of India

The Constitution of India

The Constitution of India, the political and social characteristics of the Republic is out lined --- detailing, among other things, the fundamental Rights and Duties of its citizens, identifications and   responsibilities of government institutions and officials, the roles and jurisdiction of parliament and state legislatures, the composition and status of each state in the union and so on.  In short, the Constitution is the document that defines the Republic of India in its totality.

The Constitution was adopted on November 26, 1949 and came into effect on January 26, 1950, replacing the Government of India Act (1935), which was the country’s fundamental ruling document under British rule. Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, the Chairman of the Constitution’s Drafting Committee, is known as “The Father of the Indian Constitution”

The First Citizen:

The President of India is the head of the three branches of the Republic of India --- Legislature, Executive and Judiciary.The President of India is known as the ‘first citizen’.He/she is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces. He/she appoints the heads of the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force. The three heads are not allowed to meet under any circumstances, without the presence of the President. The President appoints a number of important heads in government like the Chief Election Commissioner, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Governors of states. He/she may pass laws through provisions known as ‘ordinances’ and launch a ‘National Emergency’ under desperate national circumstances. The President’s post, though important and respected is mainly a ceremonial post. The main executive functions lie with the union Government, headed by the Prime Minister. The President is elected through a special procedure that includes participation of both State legislatures and Union Parliament. The tenure of the offices of the President lasts five years.

The Role of the Parliament and State Legislatures:

The Role of Parliament and state legislatures is to create, pass and improve upon laws in the country, reflect the aspirations of the people in policy-making and to debate and discuss issues of national importance. India follows a bi-cameral legislative system. That means, in addition to the Lower-House of union parliament (Lok Sabha), there is an Upper-House called the Rajya Sabha, However, as far as the state legislatures are concerned, only six states in the Union (Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Utter Pradesh) possess Upper Houses or Legislative Councils (also called Vidhan Parishads) in addition to their Vidhan Sabhas (Lower-House of State Legislature).

Members to the Upper-House are not directly elected by the people to the legislature as is the case with the Lower-House. The respective legislative assemblies of various states nominate members to the Rajya Sabha. The number of candidates from each state in the Rajya Sabha is determined based on the population of the state. A greater population results in a larger number of seats in the Rajya Sabha. The Rajya Sabha is also known as the Council of States (and the Lok Sabha is known as the House of the People). Members of the Legislative Council) are elected by, in varied proportions, by several public bodies that include the Legislative Assembly, Zilla Parishads, Municipal Corporations, etc. The Governor of the State nominates one-sixth of MLCs based on their contribution to art, literature, Science, Social Service, etc.

The terms of the Lok Sabhas and Vidhan Parishads last a total of five years and each members of the Upper-House enjoys a term of six years each.

How we vote:

Elections to the Lok Sabha (or ‘House of the People’, Lower-House of Union Parliament) or the Vidhana Sabha (Lower-House of a state legislatures) are by using a ‘first-past-the-post’ electoral systems. This means that the country is split into separate geographical areas, known as ‘constituencies’, and the voters (or ‘electors’) can cast one vote each for a candidate. The sizes of constituencies vary between — Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. Lok Sabha constituencies are called ‘Parliamentary Constituencies’ and Vidhan Sabha constituencies are called ‘Assembly Constituencies’. Each constituency reflects a seat in Parliament or State Legislature.

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OF STUDIES - Francis Bacon

OF STUDIES — Francis Bacon

Francis Bacon is one of the most interesting figures of the sixteenth century from where the modern world begins. This age is particularly noted for its religion, philosophy and science. He represented the age in his works about its patriotism, high aims and lofty ideals. His earliest and chief interest in life was the reformation of scientific method of approach. He is considered ‘the brightest, wisest and noblest of mankind' and he is known as the father of English Essay and the father of Modern Prose.

His essays apparently deal with the ethical qualities of men or with the matters pertaining to the government of state. All his essays are full of practical wisdom of life. His style is aphoristic, formal, impersonal and informative. They are full of quotable quotes.

In the present essay Bacon describes advantages of studies. ‘Of Studies’ is one of the most popular essays. Studies give us pleasure, embellish our conversation and argument. It enhances the practical ability of man. Learned men are superior to professional men, as they are better in planning, laying down policies and overall arguments.  Bacon is aware of the fact that through practical experience alone can help the people to learn the right use of books. Different men view at studies differently. Bacon lays down the correct method of study. He quotes:

                   "Reading makeath a full man; conference ready man; and writing an exact man"

 Reading, writing and conversation are all necessary to perfect and develop the powers of man. A study of different subjects carries with it different advantages. Studies also cure mental ailments or defects just as certain sports and physical exercises cure specific physical ailments.

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Nor Marbles nor gilded Monuments

This Shakespearean sonnet makes a very bold claim about the power of the speaker's poetry, but it would seem that the fact that we are still reading the poetry today proves that he was right!

Sonnet 55 begins with the claim or thesis that neither "marble, not guilded monuments of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme." He extends this idea by explaining that the goodness of the unnamed person he is writing about in this poem about will last forever and not be "besmeared with sluttish (dirty) time."

He continues his point in the next quatrain when he explains that wars destroy things that are made by men, but the person who is the subject of this poem will not be wrecked, but live on in the poem which will serve as a "living memory."  The last quatrain continues this theme, saying that because of the poem, even the death of the person will not end him or cause oblivion (being forgotten) because he or she will "pace forth" in the words of the poem until "the ending doom."  This last line in a reference to Doomsday or the Final Judgement Day saying that as long as people are around to read the sonnet(s) then the person will "live in this"(sonnet).  The last words of the poem say that the person will "dwell in lover's eyes."  I suspect that Shakespeare is commenting on the stereotype that it is lovers who tend to read the sonnets, and it is through lovers or lovers of poetry that the memory of the person will live on.

The Shield of Achilles – W. H. Auden

She looked over his shoulder

For vines and olive trees,

Marble well-governed cities

And ships upon untamed seas,

But there on the shining metal

An artificial wilderness

And a sky like lead.

A Plain without a feature, bare and brown,

No blade of grass, no sign of neighbourhood,

Nothing to eat and now here to sit down,

Yet, congregated on its blankness, stood

An unintelligible multitude,

A million eyes, a million boots in line,

Without expression, waiting for a sign.

Out of the air a voice without a face

Proved by statistics that some cause was just

In tones as dry and level as the place:

No one was cheered and nothing was discussed;

Column by column in a cloud of dust

They marched away enduring a belief

Whose logic brought them, somewhere else, to grief.

She looked over his shoulder

For ritual pieties,

White flower-garlanded heifers,

Libation and sacrifice

But there on the shining metal

Where the altar should have been,

She saw by his flickering forge-light

Quite another scene.

Barbed wire enclosed an arbitrary spot

Where bored officials lounged (one cracked a joke)

And sentries sweated for the day was hot:

A crowed of ordinary decent folk

Watched from without and neither moved nor spoke

As three pale figures were led froth and bound

To three posts driven upright in the ground.

The mass and majesty of this world, all

That carries weight and always weighs the same

Lay in the hands of others they were small

And could not hope for help and no help come;

What their foes liked to do was done, their shame

Was all the worst could wish, they lost their pride

And died as men before their bodies died.

She looked over his shoulder

For athletes at their games,

Men and women in a dance

Moving their sweet limbs

Quick, quick, to music,

But there on the shining shield

His hands had set no dancing floor

But a weed-choked field.

A ragged urchin, aimless and alone

Loitered about that vacancy, a bird

Flew up to safety from his well aimed stone;

That girls are raped, that two boys knife a third,

Were axioms to him, who’d never heard

Of any world where promises were kept,

Or one could weep because another wept.

The thin-lipped armourer,

Hephaestos hobbled away,

Thetis of the shining breasts

Cried out in dismay

At what the god had wrought

To please her son, the strong

Iron-hearted man-slaying Achilles

Who would not live long.

“The Shield of Achilles” is the title poem in the volume of poems entitled, The shield of Achilles. Thus it is a very late poem in the career of Auden. The lyric is divided into three parts, and each part consists of three stanzas. Thus there are nine stanzas in all. in each part the first stanza is in short lines , incantatory and sing-song, with frequent Homeric echoes; the nest two stanzas are in longer lines. In the third part the third stanza with which lyric closes again incantatory and sing-song with Homeric echoes.

In this lyric Auden has used the mythical technique popularized by T.S. Eliot, to make his comment on the modern condition. The mythical method consists in juxtaposing the past and the present, with the past serving as a comment, on the present. The past is contrasted with the present, the similarities between the two are stressed, and in this way some particular experience of situation is universalized. But the differences also stressed and in this way the decadence and desolation of the contemporary world is brought out. According to Monroe K. Spears in the poem The Shield of Achilles “…. The shield symbolizes art, image of the human condition. Auden’s version, however, is mock heroic, contrasting the Homeric description to the life the modern artist must represent. In the shield of art Hephaetus (the artist) shows Thetis (the audience), not the classical city, but the plain of modern life on which multitudes are ordered about by totalitarian rulers (a faceless reciting statistics through a loudspeaker) In stead of the ‘ritual pieties’, we have barbed wire enclosing an ‘arbitrary spot’ where there is a travesty to the crucifixion being performed by bureaucrats --- while ‘ordinary decent folk’ watch, --- in which helpless individuals are shamefully deprived of human dignity before death.”

Summery

Thetis, the mother of Achilles, in Greek mythology, looks at the shield hung over the shoulder of her son. The shield of Achilles was made by Hephaestus, the black smith of the gods, and on it the artist had carved beautiful scenes depicting orchards, well governed cities with marble statues and calm seas with beautiful ship sailing on them. But the artist on a modern shield carves quite different scenes. There are scenes depicting the artificial and desolate life of the contemporary wasteland. It depicts a vast plain, desolate, bleak and barren, without anything to eat, or place for rest and shelter. This is the modern wasteland, full of crowds, who like dumb-driven cattle are unable to think for themselves, and mechanically carry out dictates of their leaders and rulers, They are men all hallow within. Their rulers have no personal contacts with them. They speak to them in an impersonal voice, over the radio, prove by statistics that their cause is just, and so persuade them to go to the war in which they are sure to be killed. It is a terrible world of the past has been juxtaposed with the desolate and bleak modern age and in this way its hollowness has been commented upon.

In the second part, it is the religious decay and desolation in the modern age that is commented upon. On the Homeric shield, as on the Grecian Urn of John Keats, were carved scenes of religious rituals, showing cows decorated with flowers, and wine and food being served in celebration of some ceremony. But on the modern shield are carved big concentration camps where pale prisoners of was are tied to the stake, and brutally shot dead. In the past also there was much cruelty. Christ was crucified, but the crucification was necessary for the regeneration and redemption of mankind. It was martyrdom. But the mass killing in the modern age carries no such significance. They are merely a measure of the spiritual degeneration of the contemporary waste landers, who helpless and spiritless allow themselves to be treated and massacred like dumb driven cattle.

In the third part we are told that on Homeric shield was carved pictures of Athletes busy in their games, and men and women dancing rhythmically and sweetly. On the modern shield, on the other hand, there are no dancing floors or playgrounds but only ‘weed-choked’ fields. There are no sportsman but only ‘ragged urchins’ callously throwing stones at birds, or girls being raped, or boys quarrelling among themselves and knifing each other. Life is brutal and beastly, entirely lacking in the sympathy, love and friendship, which characterized life in the past. Was ad violence in the past was not soul-less or brutal as it is today. In the past there were heroic warriors, like Achilles, fighting for their religion, for their country, or for their beloveds; today there are only ‘ragged-urchins, and senseless violence. The contemporary scene terrifies Thetis, and the lyric ends as she goes away crying with dismay.

Thus by using the mythical technique Auden has telescoped whole ages of history within the compass of small lyric, and commented upon the spiritual decay and desolation in the modern age.

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The art of Interview

Suhit: Good morning Madam, Good morning Sir, My name is Suhit.

Meghana (HR): Good morning Suhit and take your seat.

Suhit: Thank you madam.

Meghana: Please tell me something about yourself?

Suhit: (Smiling and pleasant) My name is Suhit and I studied at Human Synergy

Engg & Tech…My family consists of my sister who is currently pursuing her 1st year BBA. My father is a government servant and mother is a home maker. I like interacting with people and creating new computer software.

Alok(Tech man): Excellent. What kind of programs you designed?

Suhit: During the college I have developed android software for the benefit of

collating data for campus recruitment by using C language & databases which was taught in college. I also learned new languages during my time windows from college work.

Meghana: What kind of languages have you learned and how?

Suhit: I have learned Java technologies with one of my seniors who run an

institute, while teaching C & other languages that I know at the institute for him.

Alok: Did you teach in a classroom or to a few people?

Suhit: Sir, I had a batch of 20 people for my sessions 2 hours 3 days a week. I

enjoy teaching and helping the students with what I have known.

Meghana: How do you think what you have learnt is useful to our company?

Suhit: Based on my research on your company through the website and talking to

few internal employees through some references and my seniors, my skills on java can be immediately useful for the current projects in the company. I am sure those projects would generate maximum revenue for the company. I am also learning some other software programs with the help of some experts for the future projects. I can share my knowledge with the new teams as and when based on my current exposure.

Alok: That’s good. Do you have any questions for us?

Suhit: Thank you Sir. I would like to know the growth prospects for my  
role/position in the company.

Meghana: You would start as a Trainee Software Engineer and you may grow up to a

Manager between 5 – 8 years based on your performance. How much of salary are you expecting?

Suhit: I would look forward to achieve Manager Position as soon as possible. I

would like to learn and grow my career and I am okay with the salary as per the Organizational policy internally. I know I have a growth prospects with our company.

Alok & Meghana: Good, thank you and we look forward to see you soon.

Suhit: (while shaking hands with Alok, also with Meghana when she offered a

shake hand): thank you and have a good day. Look forward to be part of your team soon.

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Tryst with Destiny – Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru was the first prime minister of India. He was a great statesman who is responsible for all the progress of India. As the prime minister of India, Nehru shaped the foreign policy of the country and gave big support for the development of science and technology.  Nehru was originally a lawyer but he was also an expert in most other subjects. The people of India respected his vast knowledge and called him 'Pundith Nehru'.

India won Independence from England on the 15th August, 1947. At the very stroke of 12 O’ clock in the midnight, Nehru announced the happy news of the freedom of India to the entire world. During the colourful ceremony held at New Delhi, the flag of England was pulled down and the new tricolor national flag was hoisted. After that, Nehru delivered a historic speech which is known as "Tryst with Destiny".

Nehru began his speech by referring to the pledge made by Indians long years ago to win the freedom for the homeland. Freedom has finally come and the long suppressed soul of the nation is liberated. Nehru asks the people of India to dedicate themselves to the service of India and to the service of the whole mankind.

India emerged as a new nation in the early hours of 15th August, 1947. Behind this success lies the long and great sacrifice done by the freedom fighters of many generations. According to Nehru, the people in India will collect their courage from the principles of the past. The success celebrated on the 15th August is only an opportunity for great successes in future. He asks the people of India to accept this challenge and to serve the future generation of India.

Nehru reminds the people of India that freedom and power bring responsibility before 1947, India used to depend upon England for leadership and guidance. After 1947, India is her own master. The country has to take its own decisions, learn from mistakes and move forward. India has to grow into a mature and wise nation and be a model to other nations.

Nehru feels that all Indians should work hard for the development of their dear nation. Doing service to India means doing service to millions of poor people who suffer all over the county. Nehru feels that the past is over and it is the future that has to be taken care of. It is for the future generations that we have to dedicate ourselves. Nehru urges the people to labour and to work hard to give reality to the dreams of the nation. Those dreams are not only for India but for the entire world. According to Nehru, all the countries in the world are closely connected. No one can live in isolation. Peace, freedom and prosperity are the common property of all humanity. Nehru warns the people that disaster in one part of the world can affect everyone else, because the world cannot be divided into small isolated pieces.

*****