Poems that are frequently included in Text 2016

Books, and how to understand poems

POETRY MAGIC Part 7 has many poems that are included in

many other school textbooks

CONTENT
No. Title of the Poem Name of the Poet Page
A How to understand poems 2
B About the poems and Exercises 3
on each.
What is a Simile? How is it
different from a Metaphor?
C POEMS IN BOOK 7 6
1 „An Extract from Endymion‟ John Keats 9
2 Queen Mab Thomas Hood
3 Night and Day Robert Louis Stevenson
4 The Eagle Lord Alfred Tennyson 4
5 My Mother Rabindranath Tagore
6 Abou Ben Adhem Leigh Hunt
7 Autumn in the Hills Meera Uberoi
8 Flint Christina Rossetti 5
9 The Day is Done H.W.Longfellow
10 Spelling Bees David McCord 5
11 Is the Moon Tired? Christina Rossetti 5
12 The Light of Other Days Thomas Moore
13 A Blue Day Wes Magee
14 On the Tomb of a Dentist Annonymous 6
15 The Proper Way to Leave a Room Gelett Burgess 6
16 A Silly Poem Spike Milligan 6
17 Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind William Shakespeare
18 Questions Julia Donaldson
19 House with the Grey Gate Tabish Khair
20 The Owl Ruskin Bond
21 Good Luck Richard Edwards 7
22 Song of a Dream Sarojini Naidu

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23 Taking Leave of a Friend Ezra Pound

24 The Vagabond Robert Louis Stevenson
25 Trees Joyce Kilmer
26 How they Brought the Good New Robert Browing
from Ghent to Aix
27 The West Wind John Masefield
28 Winter Keki N Daruwalla
29 The Sailor‟s Consolation Charles Dibdin
30 She Walks in Beauty W.H.Auden
31 Night Mail Lord Byron
32 The Sparrow‟s Nest William Wordsworth
33 The Pelican Chorus Edward Lear
34 Skimblishanks: the Railway Cat T. S. Eliot
35 I Keep Six Honest Men Rudyard Kipling 7
36 Scratching the Tiger‟s Back Keki N Daruwalla

POINTS THAT ARE COMMON TO ALL THE POEMS

1. In every poem pay special attention to punctuations. This is because

poets use punctuations for building in the extra emotion and intensity
of thought within the limited number of lines of a stanza. Normally,
the following use is made:-
a) Full stop (.) means the completion of one thought.
b) Colon ( : ) means one part of the thought is complete and what
follows is for defending the novelty of the thought or is the
second part of the thought
c) Semi-colon (;) means part of the thought is complete and
illustrations follow.
d) Comma (,) separates more than one example given to illustrate
the thought being conveyed.
e) Other punctuations have the same meaning as in prose.

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2. A stanza is another name for a verse in a poem. Normally a stanza

consists of a pre-determined number of lines, three or four, usually
rhyming in a pattern regularly repeated thought out the poem.
However, John Keats and P.B. Shelley have used complex stanza
patterns as you can see in the example given in the first poem in Book
7.
3. Different forms of stanza are used to convey different kinds of
thoughts. In Book 7 itself you can observe stanza / verses ranging
from 2 lines to 16 lines. The longest stanza is a form called the „Blank
Verse‟. A blank verse has no limit of the number of lines and was
used for writing Plays from 1490s to 1890. In the literature of many
languages drama / plays were written by using the poetic form. Best
examples of the „blank verse‟ form are available in the plays of
William Shakespeare whose „Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind‟
(Nos.17) is included in Book 7.
4. When attempting to understand English poems written by English
writers (In contrast to English poems by Indian writers) remember that
they lived in Temperate Climate countries that have very severe and
cold winters. From October to March every year, land is covered in
frozen snow. There is very little greenery during this period and most
of the birds have migrated southwards.
5. Therefore, in the northern parts of England that includes the
mountainous Scotland, the Winter season conveys isolation, because
of difficulty in visiting and communicating even with houses that are
nearby. Isolation and Desolation is also because even the chirping of
birds is missing. As such, the feeling of loneliness predominates.
6. After the long winter months, the coming of Spring in mid-March and
April has a very special significance. This is difficult to grasp by those
who live in tropical zones of India. The white snow frozen ground
melts into the lush greenery of the grass and the multiple colours of
the flowers begin to blossom in Spring. This comes as a great relief
for the poet. It is for this reason that the English poetry has some of
the best poems on Spring and Autumn seasons.

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7. This is partly because the colours of Nature that we in India

take for granted are limited to the six months from April to September
in all the Temperate Climate Zone countries.
8. In Indian it is the summer months that restrict human activity due to
the intense heat. The literature of Indian languages therefore, has the
best poems on the advent of the Monsoon Season and the rain bearing
clouds that come as a relief after the scorching heat of the tropical
summer months.
9. The Geography of a place is linked to the kind of literature written in
that country. The impact of climate not only determines the kind of
food the people eat, the kind of clothes they wear, but also what and
how they perceive Nature and Nature related phenomena.

HOW THE POEMS ARE GROUPED AND DISCUSSED IN THIS

SECTION

10. Poetry Magic, Book 7 has 36 poems in all. Their length and
structure ranges from 2 lines to three printed pages. Also the subject
matter of these poems varies and includes
a) Dreams, Things, Activity,
b) Aspects of Nature such as birds, wind, seasons;
c) Emotions of loss, sadness, nostalgia meaning a lingering sadness and
longing for times or things that are in the Past and are not likely to
return again in the Present or the Future,
d) Imagery developed through the senses of sight (light and colour), sound
(cries of various birds), touch (coldness of winter, warmness of west
wind)

11. For ease of understanding , the poems have been grouped as per their
length into
a) Group A of short poems, for which exercises are first
completed and then a brief discussion is attempted.

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b) Group B of medium size poems that are of one page only,

Group C of poems of 2 to 3 pages.
c) For poems of Group B and Group C, discussion is in three
sections.
d) Section 1 some information about the Poet with poems on
similar topics or emotions
e) In Section 3 a comparative analysis of the poems is given where
the emotional content is discussed.
f) Thereafter, exercises as given at the end of Book are covered.

Poems of Group A include all the 9 short poems of one or two stanzas:
1. Nos. 4 The Eagle - Lord Alfred Tennyson
2. Nos. 8 Flint - Christina Rossetti
3. Nos. 10 Spelling Bee – David McCord
4. Nos. 11 Is the Moon Tired? - Christina Rossetti
5. Nos.14 On the Tomb of a Dentist – Anonymous (means name of
poet is not known or indicated )
6. Nos. 15 The Proper Way to Leave a Room – Gelt Burgess
7. Nos.16 A Silly Poem – Spike Milligan
8. Nos.21 Good Luck - Richard Edwards
9. Nos.35 I Keep Six Honest Men - Rudyard Kipling

Exercises on these nine poems

THE EAGLE
1. Nos. 4 „The Eagle‟ by Lord Alfred Tennyson
(a) Use your own words for „crooked hands‟ „lonely lands‟ and azure
world‟ to describe the eagle.

Answer 1. The eagle has the most powerful set of claws among birds.
Any prey caught by the eagle cannot escape its grip. The eagle is also
lonely because it is the largest bird of prey and also a scavenger bird.

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Therefore, it not only kills smaller birds, fishes and animals but it also
feeds on carcass of bigger animals.
Most other birds and smaller animals dread its presence and do
not come near places where n eagle is seen. The eagle nests in very high
rocky places where other birds are not able to reach. The eagle normally
resides at a height, isolated and in „lonely‟ places.
Moreover, in the clear blue sky, the eagle is able to fly to heights
far above other birds such as pigeons and parrots, cranes and swans. As
such no other bird is able to reach the eagle even when it is flying in the
„azure‟ sky.
For all the aforesaid reasons, the Eagle is a lonely creature living
an isolated life in its lonely world. The senses of sight and of touch are
predominant in this poem while sound is hidden in the reference of
„thunderbolt‟.

(b) Pick a simile from the poem. Write two more such similes.

In the poem „The Eagle‟ the Simile is in the last line – “And like a
thunderbolt he falls‟.
Other Similes in the Group are in „Flint‟ in the first stanza – “An
emerald is as green as grass‟ (1) „A ruby red as blood‟(2) „A sapphire
shines as blue as heaven‟ (3)

ABOUT FIGURES OF SPEECH:

What is a Simile? How is it different from a Metaphor?

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The word „Simile‟ is a Proper Noun, adapted from the Qualitative

Adjective „similar‟ meaning „one thing same as the other‟.
A Simile is a „Figure of Speech‟ that makes a direct and open
comparison between two unlike things to convey that the quality of one
as also the characteristics of the other. For example „He is as brave as a
lion‟. In this simile the bravery of a man is directly compared to the
bravery of a lion. Such a direct comparison makes the description of the
man‟s bravery more vivid. It also adds to the clarity of the thought that
the sentence is trying to convey.
But if the comparison between the qualities of two things is hidden
and implied, it is called a metaphor.
A Metaphor is a compressed or implied comparison made through a
word or an expression that applies to something else. The comparison in
a metaphor is never direct. Example „He is a lion among men‟

In „The Eagle‟ the metaphor is „The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls‟.
In this the small waves on the surface of the sea are compared to the
wrinkles of a crushed sheet of paper or the wrinkled body of earthworm
that crawls in the mud.
The word „crawls‟ suggests comparison to tiny creatures such as
earthworms and ants that crawl below when compared to the great height
at which the eagle can fly.
Through the comparison to tiny insects that crawl, the poet is
attempting to convey that the vast ocean is tiny compared to the height
and power of the Eagle. By comparing the mighty sea to crawling insects
the poet belittles the sea to convey that even its vast expanse pose no
difficulty for the eagle because the „azure‟ blue world of the sky is the
world of the eagle. The world is wider when compared to the waters of
the sea. Therefore, the sea itself is no more than a tiny part of the world
into which the eagle falls „like a thunderbolt‟ from the sky.

Analysis : The movement in the poem is from stillness of being „close

to the sun‟ „watching from his mountain wall‟ to the suddenness of the

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falling like a thunderbolt (as the eagle dives in to the sea to catch a fish it
has sighted).
Another poem by Lord Tennyson is included in Section 2 to this Group at
„Original 1‟

Nos. 8 Flint

Question: What is special about the flint? List four precious stones
mentioned in the poem and name two more.

Answer. The special characteristic of flint is that it can create fire

through its sparks. When two pieces of flint stone are struck against each
other sparks are created. This shows that the flint stone has fire within it.
Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, Diamond and Opal are precious stones
mentioned in the poem. Two more are Topaz and Garnet.

2. Nos. 10 Spelling Bee

Question : The poet has listed difficult words in an interesting pattern.

Find the pattern.

Answer. The poet starts with the simple spelling of cell that rhymes with
spell. In the first stanza, he adds two more words in each group to reach
the group of four words.
In the second stanza he begins with two words and follows with
sets of 2,3,2,3,2,3,3. The poem also has 14 lines same as in the Sonnet
form. In this the pattern is 6 lines + 6lines + 2lines.

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No. 11 Is the Moon Tired?

Question: After the bright sunlight, moonlight is pale in comparison.

What reason is given for this in the poem?

Answer. The poetess personifies the Moon as a person and puts forward her
point of view that it could be tired just like an individual would if he or she
had to move across the sky from east to west without any rest. Therefore the
poetess reasons that „before the coming of the night‟ the Moon could be tired
as she looks pale.

Nos.14 On the Tomb of a Dentist

Anonymous (means name of poet is not known)

This is a couplet form of verse as it has only two lines. The poem
has a „Figure of Speech‟ called the „Pun‟.
A Pun is a humorous use of word to suggest another word that has
the same sound. Here the humour is on the word „cavity‟. All his life
dentist fills cavities or holes in the teeth of others, as a part of his
profession. After death he is viewed as filling the cavity of his grave.

The Pun is also on the word „gravity‟ because near a grave a person
needs to be serious. The word „grave‟ has two meanings. The first
meaning relates to the „seriousness in an emotion, where no laughter is
included‟. The second meaning refers to gravity of the burial grave.

The Pun is normally meant to evoke laugher, but in this poem the
humour is grave and „ black‟. The students will come across black
humour in the form of satire, in higher classes.

3. Nos. 15 The Proper Way to Leave a Room by Gelt Burgess

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This is a good example of Pun through implying two meaning in

words and situations. Here the poetess is personifying the Room as a
royal person. Just as there is a proper procedure of taking leave of an
elderly relative or a person who is superior in social status, similarly
proper procedure is being given for leaving a room. Two lines each
rhyme to provide the movement of leaving. No sarcasm is involved in
the meaning. The poem is a continuous metaphor. Use of a capital
letter for „Room‟ implies a Proper Noun as if it is the name of a
person. Similarly, the following words are given in a capital letter
thereby changing the nature of their implied meaning – „Proper Way‟,
„Leave‟, „Plunge‟, „Gloom‟, „Make a Joke‟, „Go‟, „Escape‟ „They
Know‟.

Nos.16 A Silly Poem by Spike Milligan

This is a rather childish example of use of „Pun‟. Therefore the

poem can be called a puerile (meaning child like) attempt. It is
attempting to mock at one of the most famous soliloquies from the
plays of William Shakespeare.

The four line poem included in your book is a Pun on this

soliloquy. „To be‟ is converted into „2B‟ which in Internet scenario
means „to business‟ or „concerning with business‟ The full terms are
„G2B‟ = Government to Business flow of information on the internet.
„G2G‟= Government of Government flow of information. „G2C‟=
Government to Citizen or „B2C‟= Business to Customer‟ flow of
information on the internet.
The Pun is also on the quality of pencil as the classification of this
quality of „Hard Bond Lead Pencil‟ is indicated as HB pencil and 2HB
or 3HB indicates the degree of hardness or softness in the quality of
carbon in the pencil. As the first couplet is referring to drawing a

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sketch of Ophelia the second couplet is trying to determine the quality

of pencil to be used for such a drawing. i

Nos.21 Good Luck - Richard Edwards

The Pun in this poem is in the implied meaning and linking of clover
plant to good luck. The poet thanks the clover after breaking three ribs
because normally clover plant has three leaves. Even in situation of
damage to himself due to the fall the poet tries to see the brighter side of
the situation. In this, humour is also attempts to hide or laugh away at his
own folly at attempting to acquire a useless plant that was supposed to be
lucky, but in fact proved to be unlucky for him.

Nos.35 I Keep Six Honest Men - Rudyard Kipling

This is one of the best known poems of Rudyard Kipling though his
most famous quotation is “East is East and West is West and never the
twain (meaning these two) shall meet” in which he refers to the vast
differences between the British culture and the Indian culture. The
quotation implies a sense of snobbery and arrogance of the British.
However, returning to the poem under discussion, there is a
universal acceptance of the belief that asking these six questions can
cover all aspects of information on any topic or area of learning. As
such even when you are learning or attempting any question in any
examination just reply to what the question is about, how is to be
covered and why did this question arise or why did the given event
happen? Out of these six questions the first four are „What, When
Who and Where?‟ and these aspects are easier than the remaining two
namely „How and Why? Up to middle school level classes,

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examination questions relate to the first four questions of What, Who,

When and Where? In higher classes questions of „How?‟ and „Why?‟
variety predominate. So if you can under how a situation or a process
has occurred and why it has arisen you would know the in-depth
information on that topic or area of learning. In fact most scientific
theories respond to „How?‟ while most of the religious philosophies
attempt to reply to the „Why‟ of existence of this Universe, this world,
and this life.

Question: When does the poet not ask questions?

Answer: The poet does not ask questions from nine o‟clock to five
o‟clock during the day when he is working in office “For I am busy
then”. He also „let them rest‟ whenever he has breakfast, or lunch or
tea. The „For they are hungry men‟ carries forward the personification
of the six questions as individuals who work, rest, eat and sleep. The
entire poem is an example of the „Figure of Speech‟ called
„Personification‟ through which non-living matter is viewed as a
living matter and described in those terms.
Regarding the reference to „a person small‟ the meaning on page 49 is
given as the queen bee and the serving men are the worker (honey)
bees. But there is some error here because a bee hive does not have
„ten million‟ serving men in it. It is limited to a few hundred per hive.
It is the ants that are known to have such vast colonies in one ant hill,
particularly in uninhabited places.

Section 2 Illustrations of Original poems of a few poet in Group A

Original 1 Lord Tennyson
„Break, Break, Break‟ is a nostalgic poem written after the poet had
lost a friend. He is sitting at the sea shore addressing the Sea as if it is
a person. He is also lamenting the other activities that are continuing
around him even though his friend had passed away on that day. In
contrast, in the second poem the poet is visualizing his own departure

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from this life. He visualizes it as setting out on a voyage on sea and as

such he does not want others to mourn for him.
BREAK, BREAK, BREAK1
Break, break, break,
On thy cold grey stones, O Sea !
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.

O well for the fisherman‟s boy,

That he shouts with his sister at play !
O well for the sailor‟s lad,
That he sings in his boat on the bay !

And the stately ships go on

To their haven under the hill;
But O for the touch of the vanish‟d hand,
And the sound of the voice that is still !

Break, break, break,

At the foot of thy crags, O Sea !
But the tender grace of a day that is dead
Will never come back to me.

CROSSING THE BAR2

SUNSET and evening star,
And one clear call for me !
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

1
Break – This word has many meanings. Here if refers to „the breaking of the waves against the rocks on
the sea shore‟
2
„Crossing the Bar‟ is an idiom meaning leaving this world and going on toward the other unknown world
after death from where no one is said to return. Another expression for this is „crossing the stream‟ meaning
the stream of life is left behind to move on to the unknown sea of life after death

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But such a tide as moving seems asleep,

Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,

And after that the dark !
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho‟ from out our bourne of Time and Place

The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.
II Original Extract 2 from the play „Hamlet‟ Act 3 scene (i) by
William Shakespeare (Reference poem Nos. 16 )

“Hamlet. To be or not to be: that is the question:

Whether ‟tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and, by the sleep, to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, ‟tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish‟d. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there‟s the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There‟s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor‟s wrong, the proud man‟s contumely,

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The pangs of dispriz‟d love, the law‟s delay,

The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover‟d country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ill we have
Than fly to others that we know not of ?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o‟er with pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.

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1. An Extract from Endymion John Keats (1795 -1821)

About the Poet:

John Keats is one of the best known ‘Romantic Poets’ in English

Literature. The ‘Romantic Poetry’ was a literary movement in 19th
Century in which a group of writers rebelled against the strictness of the
‘Classical’ Rules for writing of poetry. They adopted a free flow of
imagination and emotion in their expression through the ‘blank verse’
form that had been used by William Shakespeare (1564-1616). They
also insisted on taking topics for their poems directly from ‘Nature’.
They also believed in achieving emotional depth in poetry through use
of simple words to describe their feelings with simplicity. This was in
contrast to the highly ornamental writings and topics of royal courts
and nobility that were used in ‘Classical’ poetry of the 17th and 18th
centuries. William Blake, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor
Coleridge, John Keats and P.B. Shelley are the leading Romantic poets in
English Literature.
John Keats was the son of a cloth merchant in London and a self taught
man. All his poems were written with in four years between1816 to 1820.
His first poetic work was severely criticized when published during his
lifetime in 1816, partly because he did not belong to the rich or the royal
class. England was, and continues to be, a class conscious society. „Class‟
here means the level of wealth one has on basis of which the social status of
an individual is determined. The „Class‟ in England was very much like the
„Caste‟ in India. It totally identified and determined the social status. In the
early 19th century England the poets associated with the Royal Court wrote
as per „Classical‟ rules on topics related to the royalty. They alone were
acclaimed. The Romantic poets did not belong to the royal class. Therefore,
in the first forty years of this poetic movement they had to face severe
opposition from established royal poets of their times. Fame was bestowed
on John Keats years after his death in 1821 due to T.B. He is best known for

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his six „Odes‟ all of which he wrote in year 1819. None were published
during his lifetime. After his death his sister got them published with great
difficulty. Today they are regarded as the best „Odes‟ in English Literature.
These are „On a Grecian Urn‟ „To a Nightingale‟ „To Autumn‟ „On
Melancholy‟, „On Indolence‟ and „To Psyche‟ You are likely to study them
all in higher classes. “A THING of beauty is a joy for ever‟ is the most
quoted and most famous line from the poems of John Keats.

„Endymion‟ is an epic poem written in 1818. The extract given in your

book covers the first 13 lines from Section II in which the first 35 lines
make one complete stanza. In this first stanza the poet gives the reason why
he has chosen to narrate the story of „Endymion‟ through this epic poem.
The lines that follow the extract are given below because reading the
complete stanza helps in understanding the first 13 lines. This is an example
of „blank verse‟
“ A THING of beauty is a joy forever,
(as given in your book till „dark spirits‟)
……………………………………………..
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
„Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read:
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven‟s brink,
Nor do we merely feel these essences
For one short hour: no, even as the trees
That whisper round a temple become soon

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Dear as the temple‟s self, so does the moon,

The passion poesy, glories infinite
Haunt us till they become a cheering light
Unto our souls, and bound to us so fast,
That, whether there be shine, or gloom o‟ercast,
They always must be with us, or we die.
Therefore, „tis with full happiness that I
Will trace the story of Endymion.

After the example of this complex verse from John Keats let me also give an
example of his use of a simple verse form in this famous poem that he wrote
to his sister Fanny from Scotland. It is called „There was a naughty boy‟
“There was a naughty boy,
And a naughty boy was he
He ran away to Scotland
The people for to see –
There he found
That the ground
Was as hard,
That a yard
Was as long,
That a song
Was as merry,
That a cherry
Was as red –
That lead
Was as weighty,
That fourscore
Was as eighty,
That a door
Was as wooden
As in England –
So he stood in his shoes

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And he wonder‟d
He wonder‟d,
He stood in his shoes
And he wonder‟d.

There is a very good moral to learn from this simple poem. It conveys that
in our youth we all want to go away to or to visit other countries because we
have this illusion that life abroad would be more comfortable and more
wonderful than in our own country.
This illusion is due to „attraction of the distance‟ From far everything
appears to be better than it actually is. There is a proverb that „Grass is
always greener on the other side of the fence‟ which is based on the fable of
a donkey who moved across one fence to the other to find the „greener
grass‟. The grass was „greener‟ only because he was seeing it at an angle
from his position across the fence. As soon as the saw it straight down, the
mud in between appeared. So the angle of the sight also creates such
illusions.
So, in life we should avoid being impressed by those who are at a
distance and not yet known well enough. In everyday experience this is
called „drawing room‟ relationship or information. This is because before
others, when we sit in our drawing room or the Indian „baithak‟, we put up
our best behaviour and manners. This good behaviour is for a short period
only.
Life cannot be lived from „drawing room‟ alone. There are other
rooms as well in the house of life, where the short-term best behaviour is not
possible. Within a family also, we can be nice and polite to relatives, who
sometimes continue to cause loss or damage to us. This leads to situations
that are „past good manners‟, when the truth based on facts has to be
spoken. Truth as you may have read or heard is often „bitter‟, because it
does not have the sweet coating or illusions or good manners. This
paragraph was included to show that poems are a source of learning about
life in more than one dimension.

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GROUP B - The Longer Poems in the Book

The longer poems can be grouped topic wise or as per the predominant
emotion they convey as is discussed in this Section. Numbers indicated in
brackets are as per Content in Book 7. At first the questions given in the
Book are answered as those are more relevant from the examination point of
view. The additional information is for deeper understanding that will
continue to be relevant in next classes.

1. (1)„A THING of beauty‟, (30) She Walks in Beauty, (22) Song of a

Dream, (5) My Mother, (2)Queen Mab, (6) Abou Ben Adhem
This group has Beauty, Dreams, Memories and Moonlight as a
common thread.

 Poem Nos.1 Question: Explain why „A thing of beauty is a joy for

ever‟?
Answer: The thought conveyed by the John Keats in the first line says
that beauty has the capacity to bestow immortality on anything. In these
lines the beauty of flowers is referred to as the lines that follow talks
about a „bower‟ and „wreathing A flowery band to bind us to the earth,‟.3
Beauty as in flowers „will never Pass into nothingness;‟. The „THING‟ is
in capital letters to indicate that only flowers and beauty of art is under
reference. The poet is limiting it to non-living things as other forms of
beauty fade away or come to an end. A beautiful sight in Nature or

3
When we quote from a poem or any other writing we need to place the words with in inverted commas
either „and‟ or “and” . Particular attention is to be paid to the punctuation in the quoted extract. Here it is a
comma at the end of the quoted line so the comma will come before the closing of the inverted commas and
full stop will come after it to show that the quotation has been completed. This is a fixed rule and will need
to be followed for all quotation. Quotation means a thought or words spoken or written by some one else
that are being utilized in the given writing of an answer or whatever. So if you are quoting be certain of the
exact words and sequence including punctuations. Otherwise do not quote by use the thought in your own
words after referring to the name of the author, poet or speaker. This is part of what is called „Intellectual
Honesty‟. We should not try to pass off the thoughts of others as if they are our own. In higher classes it
become a serious matter if you try to cheat in this regard. Legally, it is for this protection to the author for
the originality of his / her thought that „Copy-write‟ laws exit. You can see these in any book published. In
your book it is given on the last page. Today we also have „Intellectual Property Right‟ Laws though these
are still in the developing stage.

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THING is always remembered by the viewer. Its impact is deep into the
heart and mind of the viewer such that it comes in the dreams and its
memory itself is sufficient to cheer up „the gloomy days‟. As such a thing
of beauty “moves away the pall” of gloomy thoughts from our hearts. For
this reason it brings joy whenever it is recalled or remembered. Therefore
its joy is „forever‟ meaning it is life-long and lasts as long as the viewer
lives.

 A very good poem on the power of the beauty of flowers to cheer up

any reader is „Daffodils‟ by William Wordsworth quoted here for you.
“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 the bay:
Ten 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

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Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.”

Poem Nos.22 Song of a Dream

Question: How is truth, love and peace depicted in the poetess‟ dream?
Answer: In the dream of the poetess Truth is depicted as birds that sang
in the visions of the deep soul. Love is depicted as the stars that glow.
Peace is depicted as the stream of river that flows in the „magical woods
in the land of sleep‟. These depictions mean that Truth needs to emerge
from the depths of one‟s soul and the emotion of Love should be as
steady as the stars that are there for ever. Peace is needed at all times and
so it should be always clean and fresh like the flowing waters of a stream.

Poem Nos. 5 My Mother

Question: What faint memories does the poet have of his mother? Why
repetition is used in the line „I cannot remember my mother‟? What
purpose does it serve?

Answer. The poet has memories of his mother singing to him while
rocking his cradle or putting him to sleep. He cannot remember his
mother but remembers the scent of flowers every morning in the temple.
He also remembers his mother whenever he looks at the clear blue sky
from the window of his room. Then the sky appears as still as the gaze of
the poet‟s mother that is spread across the sky. The senses of touch,
smell and hearing come into play in this poem.

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Rabindranath Tagore was honoured with the Nobel Prize for Literature in
for „Gitanjali‟ meaning „Song offerings‟ originally written in Bengali and
translated to English by the poet himself. It is a compilation of 103
poems in which the flowers, rivers, the first monsoon shower, the mud
stained traveller, the beggar, and so on are used as symbols to convey the
yearning of the poet for the Creator. These are very simple poems to read
and are published by „Macmillan India Ltd‟. You may like to buy a copy
for yourself. It is best to read the English version as this was by the poet
himself and is nearest to the original in Bengali. The true flavour of a
poem lies in reading its original language.

Three poems from „Gitanjali‟. Number 82, 102 and 103 may be read
for reference:

“ Time is endless in thy hands, my lord. There is none

to count thy minutes.
Days and nights pass and ages bloom and fade
like flowers. Thou knowest how to wait.
Thy centuries follow each other perfecting a
small wild flower.
We have no time to lose, and having no time we
must scramble for out chances.
We are too poor to be late.
And thus it is that time goes by while I give it to
every querulous man who claims it, and thine altar
is empty of all offerings to the last.
At the end of the day I hasten in fear lest thy gate
be shut; but I find that yet there is time.‟

Number 102
“I boasted among men that I had known you. They see your pictures in
all works of mine. They come and ask me, „Who is he?‟ I know not how

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to answer them, I say „Indeed, I cannot tell.‟ They blame me and they go
away in scorn. And you sit there smiling.
I put my tales to you into lasting songs. The secret gushes out from my
heart. They come and ask me „Tell me all your meanings.‟ I know not
how to answer them. I say, „Ah, who knows what they mean!‟ They
smile and go away in utter scorn. And you sit there smiling.”

Number 103
“ In one salutation to thee, my God, let all my senses spread out and
touch this world at thy feet.
Like a rain-cloud of July hung low with its burden of unshed showers
let all my mind bend down at thy door in one salutation to thee.
Let all my songs gather together their diverse strains into a current and
flow to a sea of silence in one salutation to thee.
Like a flock of homesick cranes flying night and day back to their
mountain nests let all my life take its voyage to its eternal home in one
salutation to thee.”

Note: Please observe that in these poems the natural rhyme is missing.
This is partly because the natural music of words and rhyme comes out
best only in the original. These are translations. As such more attention
needs to be paid to the thought rather than rhyme patterns.

Poem Nos. 2 Queen Mab

Question: Describe the fairy who visits the good child at night. Name
three things the child dreams about?

Answer: The fairy who visits a good child at night has blue eyes and
brown hair. She has white spots upon her wings and carries a silver
wand. The three things a child dreams about are fountains, trees with
delicious fruits, and lovely flowers that never fade. The child also dreams

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of bright flies and glowworms, talking birds and pretty dwarfs that show
the way through fairy land.

Note: Queen Mab is a longer poem included in the play „Romeo and
Juliet‟ by William Shakespeare Act 1 scene 4

2. (3) Night and Day (9) The Day is Done (12) The Light of Other
Days
(13)A Blue Day (19) House with the Grey Gate
In all these poems Passing of Time as a common thought. How changes
impact various activities in life and circumstances as time passes from
days to months in to years is conveyed in these poems.

Nos. 3 Night and Day

Question: What do most living things do when the sun sets? List three
things that happen at night other than those described in the poem?

Answer: When the sun sets all living things „vanish‟ from the outside and
go to their homes. There they sleep or slumber. 4 Three things other than
those mentioned in the poem that happen at night are (1) that for about 22
days in a month the Moon rises and the darkness of the night is lit up
with moonlight. (2) One can also dream while asleep. (3) The hooting of
an owl can also be heard. (4) Dogs can be also be heard barking at night

4
„Slumber‟ means sleeping very lightly either in an arm chair or in the sitting
position. as sometimes we do in the afternoon on a holiday. In the afternoon it is
called „taking a nap‟ or „napping‟. So the saying „he was caught napping in class‟
meaning not paying attention. But at night we „slumber‟. One who is in slumber can
be easily woken by a slight sound. But if one is sleeping, a louder sound is needed to
wake up a person sleeping soundly. That is why it is called „sound‟ sleep because it is
broken only by a sound that is sufficiently loud.

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(9) The Day is Done

Question1: Find two figures of speech used by the poet. What are they
called?
Question 2: What feelings does the poet express about the night?

Answer1: The two figures of speech used by the poet are called „Simili‟
and „Metaphor‟. When a direct comparison is made it is a „Simili‟. If the
comparison between two things is hidden and implied it is a „metaphor‟
Both these figures of speech are used together in the first stanza and the
last stanza of this poem. In the first stanza the direct comparison in “ the
darkness Falls from the wings, As a feather” is a Simili. “wings of
Night, From an eagle in his flight” In this line Night is thought to be
similar to an eagle in flight. This is a metaphor as the night and the eagle
are spoken as the same through a hidden comparison.

In the last stanza of the poem the cares of the day are compared to the
Arabs who leave a place after folding their tent. So the poet says that at
night when one reads or hears poems that one likes the worries of the day
leave silently like the Arabs in a desert.

(Other simili in the poem are „as mist resembles the rain‟; „like the strains
of martial music,‟; „As showers from the clouds of summer,‟; „Or tears
from the eyelids start;‟, „come like a benediction That follows after
prayer.‟ Other metaphors are „the corridors of Time‟

Answer 2 At first the poet is overcome with a feeling of sadness at night.

But when he thinks about the poems of humbler poets who expressed
their feelings like „showers from the clouds of summer,‟ he is happier.
Such poems help the poet „to quiet The restless pulse of care,‟ and to fill
his night with music such that the cares leave silently like the Arabs leave
after folding their tents.

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(12) The Light of Other Days

Question: What does the poet remember before falling asleep?

Answer: Before the chain of slumber binds the poet he remembers the
fond memories of his childhood and the sad memories of the days gone
by and all his loved ones who are no more.

(13) A Blue Day

Question: Describe the day of the picnic. List three things the picnickers
would remember for a long time.

Answer: The day of the picnic was bright, sunny, clear and „perfect‟.
The three things the picnickers would remember for a long time include
the perfect day for a picnic „abuzz with life‟, the sumptuous feast they
had in the meadow, and the sudden darting flash of “a kingfisher‟s
electric” dive in to the stream.

(19) House with the Grey Gate

Question: Describe the occupants of the „House with the Grey Gate‟.

Answer: The colour „grey‟ represents „old‟ and „old age‟. The occupants
of the house with the grey gate are also an old woman and an old man.
They live according to an older pattern of life. The old woman knits in
the porch while the old man weeds out their small garden. Both keep
expecting someone to visit them but nobody does. Yet they wait and peer
through the curtains of the window whenever the gate creeks due to the
wind. The poem conveys the loneliness and isolation of the old people
for whom the young persons have no time to talk or visit.

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3. (7) Autumn in the Hills (25) Trees (28) Winter (17) Blow, Blow,
Thou Winter Wind (27) The West Wind.
All these poems are related to various aspects of Nature

(7) Autumn in the Hills

Questions: What happens to the trees in Autumn?

Answer: Autumn is the season that comes before the winter season. In
the hills winter is very cold and often ice-frozen. Therefore the trees also
shed their leaves in Autumn to prepare for the frozen cold winter months.
The trees are not only without leaves but also without any colourful
flowers or fruits. The birds also migrate to the south in the Autumn
months. As such there are no birds left to nest or sing among the trees
towards the end of Autumn in the Hills.

(25) Trees

Questions: Pick out three examples of Personification from the poem.

Personification is a figure of speech used in poetry. In this a non-living

thing is treated and described as a person or a human being. In the poem
„Trees‟ the poet views a tree as „praying with lifted arms‟, having „hair‟
where robin makes its nest, having a bosom like a man or woman, and
suckling mother earth with its roots like a baby. All these are examples of
personification.

(28) Winter

Question: Write three sentences about the winter described by the poet.

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Answer: In Winter the poet describes the land as covered with the bright
yellow mustard flowers like „acre on acre of light‟. Mustard is spread to
as far as the poet can see and it appears as if „December here is on fire.‟
Yet the winter is cold for the farmers and the watchman who have to be
out in the open during December. After the yellow mustard ripens it turn
white in colour. This is like the white colour of snow and ice. Then the
„dew‟ drops also freeze to become has hard and as sharp as pieces of
broken glass. Yet this does not last forever as winter also passes and ends
with the coming of Spring season.

(17) Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind

There are no questions in your book on this poem by William

Shakespeare, but you need to read it together with „The West Wind‟ for
observing the contrast in the two situations. In this poem Shakespeare
says that the bitter cold in the Winter Wind is not as unkind as the
ingratitude of a friend. He personifies the Winter Wind as someone with
sharp „tooth‟, which is not rude because the wind is invisible. The
sharpness of the cut by the tooth of a friend‟s ingratitude, is more rude
than the chill and cut by the cold wind. Even after the winter wind
freezes the sky and the land its „bite‟ of its „sting‟ is not as sharp as the
pain of a friend who does not remember one‟s friendship.
Through these comparisons and personifications the poet tries
to convey that though life during the winter season is difficult and hard, it
is not as unbearable and painful as a broken friendship. Ingratitude of a
friend is the theme of this poem.

(27) The West Wind.

Question: Why is the poet nostalgic? Give at least four reasons for going
back to „the west land‟.

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Answer: „Nostalgia‟ in poetry is the sad feeling of yearning and longing

for relatives and friends who are no more or for places that one cannot
visit again. It conveys a sense of a permanent loss of some possession or
some comfort.
In this poem the poet has left behind his native land that lies in the
west direction from the place where he is presently. The poet longs to
return to his native land in the west. He has lost his brother there. So he
personifies the West Wind as brother and asks him to come back home.
The four reasons for going back to „ the west land‟ is that it is a land
where tired hearts like the poet‟s heart can lie in the „cool green grass‟
and rest. The west land has apple orchards where the thrush birds sing
songs from their nests. The west land is warm as if its always the month
of April there. The bright yellow daffodils also blossom in the native land
of the poet in the west land.

4. (31) Night Mail (26) How they Brought the Good News from Ghent
to Axis, (23) Taking Leave of a Friend
All these poem have „Communicating with others‟ as their theme
and show this need for communication in different situations.

(31) Night Mail

Please recall the note about the cold winter months in England that are
particularly isolated and lonely in the mountainous regions of Scotland
that lies to the north of England. This poem is about the train that links
England to Scotland.

Question: Choose from the poem three kinds of letters, types of papers
and places you would like to visit.

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Answer: The three kinds of letters mentioned in the poem are letters from
the bank, letters of invitations, and letters of application for situations
(here meaning „jobs‟)
The three kinds of papers referred to in the poem are pink, white and blue
coloured paper
The three places mentioned in the poem that I would like to visit are
Scotland, France and Hebrides.

(26) How they Brought the Good News from Ghent to Axis

Question 1 How was the important news sent in the poem?

Answer: In the poem the important news was sent through three
messengers riding on one horse each. Because they rode non-stop
overnight and all day two of the horses collapsed and died and only one
could reach Aix to convey the news.

Question 2 What kind of relationship can be seen between man and

beast?
The relationship between the rider and the horse in this poem is of
perfect understanding of the urgency and of commitment of the horse to
his master. It is a relationship of the bond of friendship and gratitude of
the master towards his horse because of whom the rider was able to
complete his mission of reaching Aix to deliver the news.

(23) Taking Leave of a Friend

Question: Write down three images the poet conjures from nature to
describe the parting of friends.

Answer: The first image drawn up by the poet is of the blue mountains
to the north that become „the walls‟ between the two friends. The second

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image is of the river winding about the mountain. These two together
appear like the outer high walls of a fort that is surrounded by a deep and
broad moat filled with water. The third image given by the poet is of „a
thousand miles of dead grass‟ that conveys the widening distance
between the two friends as well as their feeling of loneliness after
parting. The reference to „sunset‟ also indicates the setting in of darkness
that represents separation and sorrow.

5. (20) The Owl (32) The Sparrow‟s Nest (33) The Pelican Chorus (34)
Skimbleshanks: the Railway Cat (36) Scratching the Tiger‟s Back
These poem have Birds and Animals as their focus and common
thread.

(20) The Owl

Question: What does the Owl do at night?

Answer: At night the Owl works like a guard or a night watchman. The
poet calls it the „sentinel‟ meaning the final line of defence. It glides
silently across the hill and perches on a tree. It makes a mellowed
hooting sound as if to say that all is well and the night is good

(32) The Sparrow’s Nest

Question: What did the brother and sister find in their father‟s house?
How does the poet describe his sister?
Answer: In their father‟s house the brother and sister by chance found a
sparrow‟s nest „with bright blue eggs‟. The poet describes his sister as „A
little Prattler among men‟ who was also a blessing when the poet was a
boy because she taught him to look and see, to listen and hear, to care for
others including the sparrows. In the view of the poet his sister with her

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„delicate fears;‟ had a heart that was a fountain of love, joy and „sweet
tears‟5.

(33) The Pelican Chorus

Question: Describe the home and life of the pelicans.

Answer. The home of the pelicans is in the River Nile in Egypt. They
sleep on the cliffs above the Nile at night. During the day they fish in the
waters of the Nile. In the evening they stand on the long and bare islands
of silt (mud) in the middle of the Nile. At sunset the pelicans dance
around on the island „Wing to wing‟ and stamping their feet. During their
dance they also sing a song in which they describe themselves as the
happiest of birds.

(34) Skimbleshanks: the Railway Cat

Question: List the things Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat does not like.

Answer: The Railway Cat establishes control by a regular petrol. He

does not like anything that is out of place or out of order. Skimbleshanks
does not like hilarity and riot and therefore the passengers are very quiet.
He does not like any pranks so nothing goes wrong when the Railway
Cat is on the Northern Mail Train.

(36) Scratching the Tiger‟s Back

Question. Why must we not be afraid of the tiger?

5
Please note the poetic use of „sweet‟ for tears that are „salty‟. By describing his sister‟s tears as sweet the
poet is conveying that the tenderness of her care and thought was so touching that it brought tears in the
eyes of the poet. Due to the nature of these emotions the tears were „sweet‟ So the reference here is not to
the physical quality of taste of tears but to the tenderness for all that is sweet.

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Answer: The tiger is a fierce animal yet we must not be afraid of the
tiger because it does not kill or harm others at all times. After a tiger has
had its meal it feels lazy and basks (relaxes) in the Sun during a winter
afternoon. At such times it appears to say that there is both good and evil
in the world and it too is a creature made by God just as men are. So we
need not be afraid of the tiger.

6. (29)The Sailor‟s Consolation (24) The Vagabond (Outcastes of

society)
7.
These two groups represent the poorest people in the British society.
Sea faring was not a safe occupation as many ships would never
return from their voyages. As such, only the poor men and boys,
who could not get a job on land, would become sailors. Their life
was difficult and short. The Vagabond as a social group appeared
from 1600 onwards after the common lands in villages began to be
converted in to farmlands for the royalty. This movement is called
the „Enclosing of the Commons‟.
Earlier all land in the village that was not under cultivation
jointly belonged to all villagers for grazing of cattle. After enclosure
of common land, many villagers had no occupation and they became
vagabonds, moving from place to place to earn their living through
singing for bread. The poets who lived a more comfortable life saw a
kind of „romance‟ in the seeming freedom of the life of a vagabond.
This was far from reality because the movement of the vagabond
was a necessity, as no village would allow him to settle down.

(29) The Sailor’s Consolation

Question: Does the poet feel that the life on sea is more dangerous? Give
reasons for your answer.

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Answer: Yes. The poet feels that the life on sea is more dangerous as the
storm can cause shipwreck at any time or the ship can be wrecked against
a rock in high seas. During a sea storm waves rise like „mountains
rolling‟ tossing the ship.
As such as a paradox the poet describes all the dangers on land
except the danger the ship is facing during a sea storm. The poet is
speaking through the sailors caught in a sea storm who are facing certain
death and yet the poem describes overturned carriages, thieves and
falling roofs of houses as the accidents that cause death on land.
As such, the sailors‟ consolation is that though they are going to die
due to the storm, they could have died on land also. Therefore, there is no
safety of life anywhere, whether on sea or on land.

(24) The Vagabond

Question: What does the poet want from life? Name three things he can
do without.
Answer: The poet want love, the heaven above his head, the road below,
a bed in the bush with stars to see and some bread. He can do without
wealth, or friends, or a long life.

18 Questions (Philosophical)

Question: The poet is curious about many thing. Mention any three.
Answer: The poet is curious to know how the world was created, how
the ancestors of Man turned from an ape to Man, and why did the
„colossal‟ and powerful beast like the dinosaur become extinct?

Section 2
One example of additional poem each from William Wordsworth
and John Keats has already been included earlier. Here only one

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poem each from P. B. Shelly and Robert Browning is included.

In addition the best poem on Tiger in English literature written
by William Blake and is included.

1. Percy Bysshe Shelley - „ OZYMANDIAS‟

“I met a traveler from an antique land

Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
„My name is Ozymandias, king of kings,;
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair !‟
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

2. Robert Browning – this is a long poem of ten stanzas of eleven

lines each. Please the movement in the rhythm as if galloping of
two horses. Also compare the feeling with poem 23 in your
book – Taking leave of a friend. It describes the feelings of a
man whose proposal for marriage has been rejected by his lady.

THE LAST RIDE TOGETHER

I said - Then dearest, since ‟tis so,
Since now at length my fate I know,
Since nothing all my love avails,

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Since all, my life seemed meant for, fails,

Since this was written and needs must be –
My whole heart rises up to bless
Your name in pride and thankfulness!
Take back the hope you gave, - I claim
Only a memory of the same,
-And this beside, if you will not blame,
Your leave for one more last ride with me.

My mistress bent that brow of hers;

Those deep dark eyes where pride demurs
When pity would be softening through,
Fixed me a breathing –while or two
With life or death in the balance: right !
The blood replenished me again;
My last thought was at least not vain:
I and my mistress, side by side
Shall be together, breathe and ride,
So, one day more am I deified,
Who knows but the world may end to-night?

Hush! if you saw some western cloud

All billowy-bosomed, over-bowed
By many benedictions – sun‟s
And moon‟s and evening-star‟s at once –
And so, you, looking and loving best,
Conscious grew, your passion drew
Cloud, sunset, moonrise, star-shine too,
Down on you, near and yet more near,
Till flesh must fade for heaven was here!-
Thus leant she and lingered – joy and fear!
Thus lay she a moment on my chest.

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Poems that are frequently included in Text 2016
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Then we began to ride. My soul

Smoothened itself out – a long cramped scroll
Freshening and fluttering in the wind.
Past hopes already lay behind.
What need to strife with a life awry?
Had I said that, had I done this,
So might I gain, so might I miss.
Might she have loved me? Just as well
She might have hated, who can tell!
Where had I been now if the worst befell?
And here we are riding she and I.

Fail I alone in words and deeds?

Why, all men strive and who succeeds?
We rode; it seemed my spirit flew,
Saw other regions, cities new,
As the world rushed by on either side.
I thought, - All labour, yet no less
Bear up beneath their unsuccess.
Look at the end of work, contrast
The petty done, the undone vast,
This present of theirs with the hopeful past !
I hoped she would love me; her we ride.

What hand and brain went ever paired?

What hearts alike conceived and dared?
What act proved all its thought had been ?
What will but felt the fleshly screen?
We ride and I see her.
There‟s many a crown for who can reach.
Ten lines, a statesman‟s life in each !
The flag stuck on a heap of bones,
A soldier‟s doing ! what atones?

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Poems that are frequently included in Text 2016
Books, and how to understand poems

They scratch his name on the Abbey- stones.

My riding is better, by their leave.

What does it all mean, poet? Well,

Your brains beat into rhythm, you tell
What we felt only ; you expressed
You hold things beautiful the best,
And pace them in rhyme so, side by side.
„Tis something, nay „tis much: but then,
Have you yourself what‟s best for men?
Are you – poor, sick old ere your time-
Nearer one whit your own sublime
Than we who never have turned a rhyme?
Sing, riding „s a joy! For me, I ride.

And you, great sculptor – so, you gave

A score of years to Art, her slave,
And that‟s your Venus, whence we turn
To yonder girl that fords the burn!
You acquiesce, and shall I repine?
What, man of music, you, grown grey
With notes and nothing else to say,
Is this your sole praise from a friend,
„Greatly his opera‟s strains intend,
But in music we know how fashions end!‟
I gave my youth – but we ride, in fine.

Who knows what‟s fit for us? Had fate

Proposed bliss here should sublimate
My being – had I signed the bond-
Still one must lead some life beyond,
-Have a bliss to die with, dim-descried,
This foot once planted on the goal,

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Poems that are frequently included in Text 2016
Books, and how to understand poems

This glory-garland round my soul‟

Could I descry such? Try and test!
I sink back shuddering from the quest.
Earth being so good, would heaven seem best?
Now, heaven and she are beyond this ride.

And yet – she has not spoke so long!

What if heaven be that, fair and strong
At life‟s best, with our eyes upturned
Whither life‟s flower is first discerned,
We, fixed so, ever should so abide?
What if we still ride on, we two,
With life for ever old yet new,
Changed not in kind but in degree,
The instant made eternity,-
And heaven just prove that I and she
Ride, ride together, for ever ride?

3. William Blake - the yellow colour of the tiger is used as a

metaphor for yellow flame of fire. The poet is visualizing the
creation of a tiger and wondering at the awesome power of the
Creator.

“ Tiger ! Tiger! burning bright

In the forest of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

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Poems that are frequently included in Text 2016
Books, and how to understand poems

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 watere‟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?

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Poems that are frequently included in Text 2016
Books, and how to understand poems

i
In one of his great tragedies entitled „Hamlet – the Prince of
Denmark‟ Shakespeare has dramatized the story of Prince Hamlet and
his beloved Ophelia. After the sudden death of his father the King of
Denmark, Prince Hamlet loses all faith in the goodness of others
partly because soon after his father‟s death his widowed mother re-
marries the younger brother of his father who is then the new King.
The suddenness of this re-marriage makes Hamlet suspect foul-
play and when he discovers that his Uncle, who is now the King, had
poisoned his father, Hamlet wants to avenge this murder. In such
circumstances he loses all faith especially in women and becomes
unkind in his behaviour both towards his mother as well as to Ophelia
who he was going to marry. The drama is about Hamlet‟s inability to
avenge his father‟s death and he keeps missing opportunities to kill
his Uncle and postponing his revenge. “To be or not to be, that is the
question” is the first line of one of the best soliloquies written in
English in which Hamlet tries to reason why he should or should not
avenge his father‟s „foul murder‟. The complete soliloquy is included
in Section 2 for this Group at „Original extracts 2‟

This long analysis for a simple four line poem has been given to
show how a few words can convey layers and layers of meaning to
those who understand the significance of the words used.
The power of poetry is also in providing different shades of
meaning to different kinds of readers. This poem has other deeper
interpretation as well but for our present purpose in Class 7 this much
is sufficient.

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