LEISURE _______________________________________________ 3

William Davies_________________________________________ 3
TARTARY_________________________________________________ 5

Walter De La Mare _____________________________________ 5

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS ___________________________________ 7
Elizabeth Sewell _________________________________________ 7
WOMAN WORK ___________________________________________ 9
Maya Angelou ___________________________________________ 9
THE REBEL ______________________________________________ 11
D.J. Enright ____________________________________________ 11
PATRIOT INTO TRAITER ____________________________________ 13
Robert Browning ________________________________________ 13
The Huntsman ___________________________________________ 15
Edward Lowbury ________________________________________ 15
1
One Art _________________________________________________ 17
Elizabeth Bishop ________________________________________ 17
The Solitary Reaper _______________________________________ 19
William Wordsworth _____________________________________ 19
All The World ‘s A Stage____________________________________ 21
William Shakespeare_____________________________________ 21
A POISON TREE __________________________________________ 23
William Blake __________________________________________ 23
BECAUSE I COULD NOT STOP FOR DEATH______________________ 25
Emily Dickinson _________________________________________ 25
LIGHTS OUT _____________________________________________ 27
Edward Thomas. ________________________________________ 27
THE VANISHING VILLAGE ___________________________________ 29
R.S. Thomas ____________________________________________ 29
WHEN I HAVE FEARS ______________________________________ 31
John Keats _____________________________________________ 31
KUBLLA KHAN ___________________________________________ 33
S.T. Coleridge __________________________________________ 33
Snake __________________________________________________ 35
D.H Lawrence __________________________________________ 35

2
 LEISURE
William Davies

Leisure” is a beautiful poem by William Davies. As the title

of the poem suggests, it is about the availability of time for
relishing various delights of life. The poet is lamenting over
the rushed and hurried manners of the modern man. The
modern man has no free time to enjoy the delights of
nature. The poet feels that the life must be relished at any
cost.

The poem is a revolt against the hurried manners of the

modern man. The modern man is a passing life full of
material pursuits .He is all the time running after the
material pursuits. He is only making pots of money. He is
so busy that he has totally ignored the beauties of nature
all around him. He has never seen the squirrels hiding their
nuts in the grass, the streams full of stars at the day time
like sky in which stars twinkle at the night.

3
 The modern man is so busy that he never observes the
smiling face of beautiful objects of nature. The objects of
nature are smiling and dancing with full enthusiasm.
Away from nature, the modern man s‟ life has become a
swirl of sorrows and tension. He is passing a difficult and
full of sorrows life. If he wants to have peace and comforts
in his life, he must have some spare time to enjoy the
beauties of nature. Nature is the only thing which can give
comforts to his life.

1. Can leisure be helpful in rejuvenating life?

2. Modern man can‟t stand and stare. Explain.

4
 TARTARY
Walter De La Mare

Walter De La Mare is known for his dream verses. He

enjoys creating imaginary atmosphere. Tartary is
dream poem in which the poet gives us a beautiful
description of an imaginary land
The poem is a journey into the realm of imagination.
The poet imagines himself to be the lord of Tartary.
There is a rich variety of exotic colors in the poem.
The poet wants to be the sole ruler of the
imaginative land Tartary. He wishes to have the bed
made of elephant teeth. His throne would be of
beaten gold and peacocks would be moving
beautifully in his royal court. His forests would be
full of tigers and his pools would be full of fishes of
rare kind. Being the lord of that imaginative land, he
would like to enjoy the music of his own choice and
his place would always be ringing with sweet music.
Being the lord of Tartary, he would wear a robe
which would be beautifully decorated with beads of

5
 different colours. His car would be drawn by seven
zebras.

Being the absolute sovereign of Tartary, he would be

the sole owner of everything there. He would enjoy
the beauty of its rivers, hills, valleys, forests and
thickets. He would enjoy the freshness of scented
breeze. His lakes and seas would give him great
pleasure. His birds would give him delights with their
sweet melodies.

1. The hero s‟ dreams are pure, innocent and

romantic?

6
 NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS
Elizabeth Sewell

This is a short sweet poem which tells us about the

promises of the poetess made by her at the arrival of
New Year. Generally the New Year arrival is a time of
merry making, dancing, drinking etc. It is also a
tome of self-examination and for the preparation of
the next year in a better way. In the poem the
poetess is determined to celebrate the New Year
away from traditional manners.

At the arrival of the New Year she makes three

promises to herself. This poem also tells us that the
poetess had been a talkative lady and this habit of
talking had contaminated her soul. She had totally
forgotten of her origin that was why she had become
somewhat proudy. In the past years, she had no
courage to face the bitter realities of life.
Now, at the arrival of the new tear, she makes three
promises to herself. Her first promise to herself is
7
that she would remain quiet most of the time and
motive behind this promise is that she wants to
purify her dead soul. May be she has leant, “Silence
is gold. “Her second promise is that she would know
of her life origin two times a day. By doing so, she
would escape the vanity of life. Her third promise is
that she would face the bitter realities of life. She
would lie in the bony arms of reality and would get
comfort out of it. Reality is just like bitter pill,
difficult to swallow but provide comfort in the long
run
The poem is short but message is deep one.

8
 WOMAN WORK
Maya Angelou

The poem, Woman Work" describes the dull and

dismal experience of a common woman who is
always busy in the household activities. The woman
gives went to her disgust for the dull drab life of
doing domestic chores like cooking, cleaning,
washing etc.
She has to attend the children. She has to clean the
floors and she also has to buy food from the market.
She has to cook the food for the members of her
family. She has to look after her little babies. She has
to keep the house tidy and to keep everything in
order. She has also to look after her garden. She
thanks as if she were not a normal human being but
a machine. She has lost her identity. She wants re-
assurance.
She knows that nature can re-assure her and help
her return to the normal life. This is why she
requests to the elements of nature to help her .She
wants to take refuge in the lap of the nature. She
9
requests the sunshine to shine on her, rain to rain on
her, snowflakes to fall gently on her. She becomes
somewhat possessive about the objects of nature.
She wants peace and comfort and nature is the only
thing which can give her peace and comfort.

10
 THE REBEL
D.J. Enright

The Rebel" is a satirical poem by D.J. Enright. It is a

poem full f ironic remarks and situations. It is semi
humorous. The poem projects the contrasts in the
personality of a rebel. This rebel goes against the
norms and regulations of the society in order to be
looked different. The poem bears a moral message
that we should not behave stupidly to others like
him.

When there is a trend of having short hair in the

society, the rebel lets his hair grow long. When the
people are having long hair, the rebel grows his hair
short. When wearing uniform clothes is the order of
the day, the rebel wears colorful clothes or vice
versa.
When there is complete silence in the class, the rebel
creates a disturbance. When students start
questioning to the lecturer, the rebel does not say

11
 even a single word. In the company of dog lovers, he
gives preference to the cats and in the company of
cat‟s lovers he puts good words for dogs. In the cold
weather, when the people are greeting for sunshine,
he prays for the rain and when the people great for
rain, he regrets the absence of the sun. When people
like to go out to attend a meeting, he stays at the
home and reads some book or vice versa. When
people asks for more, he says no thanks and when
people say no thanks, he asks for more
The poet very beautifully presents these contrasts in
the personality of rebel. These contrasts produce
humour for the reader.

1. The protagonist critiques the monotony of the

modern life?
2. Is it good to have rebels in society?

12
 PATRIOT INTO TRAITER
Robert Browning

This poem tells us that nothing is permanent in the

world of politics. People may like some politicians
now but may turn against him in the next moment.
The poem is a beautiful dramatic monologue of

Browning. The poem also furthers the idea that if

politician do nepotism uses unfair means and
misuses his power, he is washed away in the list of
top ranking.

The patriot turned into traitor is telling his story that

how one year ago he was welcomed by the people
when he came into the world of politics. People were
ready to die for him. They were throwing flowers
over him madly. They wanted see even a glimpse of
their favourite hero .Banners and flags were pasted
to welcome him. The people were ready to lay down
their lives even on a slight signal given to them by

13
 the hero. They were ready to do impossible tasks for
him.

After one year the situation changed. And it all

happens due to his follies and misdeeds. Now the
public has tuned against him. There are not giving
him a warm welcome. The irony of situation works.
Now he is being tried under the treason charges. He
is being taken to gallows where he is to be hanged
as the result for his misdeeds. Now there is not a
large gathering, only some sick people are there.
People are showering stones over him as they hate
him form the core of their heart.
The final stanza of this sonnet tells us the optimism
of the patriot turned into traitor. He is of the view
that he has got the capital punishment as the reward
for his misdeeds and in the next world God would
favour him and would forgive him. So in this
situation he is safer rather than safe.

1. How does the poem educate us about the

political conditions prevailing in the third world
countries?

14
 The Huntsman
Edward Lowbury

Edward Lowbury is a man of versatile personality. He

usually writes the poems bearing some moral
lessons. He remained in Kenya for two years.
Basically, this poem is based on Kenyan folktale but
with a moral message. The irony and suspense in the
poem create a shocking impact.

Kagwa was a hunter who used to hunt lions in the

forest. One day, in the forest, he saw a skull of a
man which talked to him. He asked the skull, “How
did you come here?” The skull replied, “Talking
brought me here. Kagwa was a fool. He did not
understand the message of the skull. He went to
king palace and told the king about the talking scull.
The king was a wise person. He said that he had
never heard or seen a skull which could speak. He
sent his two guards with Kagwa to the forest to
search the skull with that quality. He ordered the

15
 guards that they must kill Kagwa if they found no
talking skull.
They we net to the forest. For days and night, they
found nothing. At last they saw the skull lying under
a tree. Kagwa implored the skull how it had come in
that situation. The skull was mum. As per the orders
of the king, the guard killed Kagwa with a sword.
When they departed, the skull opened its mouth and
said, “Huntsman, how did you come here?” The dead
Kagwa answered, “Talking brought me here. The
hunter becomes hunted at the end of the peon.

1. How did the hunter get hunted in this poem?

2. Discuss the elements of suspense and irony in
the poem?

16
 One Art
Elizabeth Bishop

The tone and attitude of the poetess in the poem is

mocking not serious but the underlying message is
serious. The true art of losing helps us inculcate a
spirit of acceptance and resignation. The loss of door
keys and the loss of an empire should be faced with
a smiling face and a stout heart. In this way a defeat
or disaster loses its bitterness and gives us hope and
strength to look ahead.

Life is fusion of success and failure, joy and sorrows,

gain and loss etc. During the short span of life, one
has to face some unexpected and sudden turns.
Sometimes these turns add to our joy and sometimes
to our sorrows. Failure and losses in life are
numerous and consequently, sorrows dominate. Yet
one has to hope for a better time.
The poem is about the art of becoming expert of
losing things. The poetess says that it is not at all
difficult to become an expert of losing things. To be

17
the master of losing things, we should lose
something every day without feeling disturbed at the
loss. The poetess lost herself her mother s‟ watch
and three loved houses where she had lived She also
forgot two cities, some states, rivers and a continent.
The loss of all this did not cause disturbance for her.
She is not even bothered about the loss of love, dear
vices and the gestures of love. She has mastered the
art of losing and is, therefore, comfortable and does
not feel any disturbance at losing anything.

18
 The Solitary Reaper
William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth is a famous poet of nature. He

mostly writes about the Mother Nature. He seeks
double pleasure in the objects of nature; first he
observes nature physically, secondly by flashing back
the memories of his experience.

The Solitary Reaper”, is a delightful poem by

Wordsworth. During his visit to Scotland, he came
across a lovely maiden who was working all alone in
the fields. She was singing and reaping the crops.
The girl had become an object of nature for the poet.
She was singing a sweet song in her native language.
The poet was unable to understand the meanings of
the song. But he was much impressed by the
symphony of the song. The poet compared the voice
of the girl to that of cuckoo bird, cooing at the
islands of Hebrides, that of the chanting of
nightingale, that of desert singer but he concluded
that her voice was sweeter than all vices.

19
 The poet had a strong desire to know about the
theme of the song. He tried to guess the theme of
the song as it was being sung in a local dialect. The
poet was much impressed by the song of that girl.
The poet then went away and crossed into another
valley. He could not hear the music physically but he
was enjoying it in his imagination. He felt that his
heart was full of the music of her song.
Thus the poet suggests that nature gives him double
pleasure. He enjoys it at the time when he is
physically in contact with objects of nature and he
enjoys them again when he recollects them in his
imagination. Their beauty is stored in his
imagination forever which is a permanent source of
joy for him.

1. Why does the song of the solitary reaper give

immortal happiness to the poet „even it was heard no
more?
2. Physical sensation of the objects becomes a
permanent source of pleasure. How?

20
 All The World ‘s A Stage
William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is the greatest dramatist and

the poet. He usually writes dramatic tragedies. But
every off and on, he writes poem. He himself was a
good actor. So, in this poem, we find this touch. He
has compared the world to a stage and men and
women its actors and actresses. He divides the life
span of a man into seven acts. A man comes on the
stage of world and after performing his assigned
roles he leaves the stage I , e dies.

First of all he plays the role of an infant who is

weeping and vomiting out milk in his nurses‟ arms.
After that, he becomes a school going child, who is
going to school unwillingly with his bag. Then he
becomes a lover who is sighing like a furnace and
singing sad songs which he had composed in the
praise of his beloved s‟ eye- brow. At the fourth
stage, he becomes a soldier, a practical man who
quick in quarrel and is ready to die for the sake of
bubble reputation. His fifth role is like that of a wise

21
person with a fair round belly who quotes modern
instances and proverbs in his talks. The sixth stage
turns him into a leaned and slippered pantaloons old
man heaving spectacles on his nose. His voice
trembles when he speaks. At the seventh and last
stage, he becomes too much old man. He develops a
hobbit of forgetting things. He is without teeth,
without eye-sight and sans taste. Now he is ready to
leave the stage of the world.

22
 A POISON TREE
William Blake

The poem, “A Poison Tree” is built up on several

contrasts: friend, foe; love, hate; trust, deceit, etc.
The language of the poem is simple yet the message
of the poem is deep one.
The poet talks about the nourishment of hatred.
Hated is the outcome of mistrust, friends can forget
and forgive but enemies nurse their grudges.

The poet gives a moral lesson by describing

imaginary events. The poet was angry with his friend.
He expressed his wrath to him and ultimately his
angriness vanished. But once he was angry with his
foe, he did not tell him about his angriness and as a
result his angriness multiplied. The poet nursed this
pant of hatred. He sunned it with fake smiles and
watered it by his fears. The poet s‟ hatred became a
tree. At last it bore an apple on it.

23
 The foe thought that it was his friend s‟ apple. So,
one night he entered secretly into his garden and ate
the apple which was full of poison. The poison
worked and the foe died at once. In the next
morning, the poet was very happy to see him lying
dead under the apple tree. So, the feelings of hatred
took the life of a person.

1. Is poison unexcused wrath?

24
 BECAUSE I COULD NOT
STOP FOR DEATH
Emily Dickinson

It is a mystic poem written by a mystic poetess Emily

Dickinson. Her mostly poems bears the theme of
death. Death is a gateway to the next world.
Everyone believes that, Death conquers all”. It is a
reality which cannot be denied. Death is definite;
there is no escape from it. We may or may not
remember but it comes definitely at its appointed
time. We should not be afraid of it because it is not
the end. It is the beginning of new life.

The poem, Because I Could Not Stop for Death” also

describes the same fact about death. The poetess
talks about death and its gentle nature of its
approach. Death is seen not an end but as the
beginning of immortality. This poem also gives
symbolic meanings. The children playing in the
ground symbolizes childhood. The field of gazing
grain symbolizes the youth and the setting sun
25
 presents the symbol of old age. Ultimately, her
imagined funeral journey reached the grave. It seems
as swelling of the ground. It is like a home whose
roof is scarcely visible. It is the place where the
poetess is to be buried. After death, in the next
world, the concept of time and space vanishes. Many
centuries elapses but to the poetess it feels shorter
than a day. Now she has guessed that her journey of
life is not towards death but it was a journey towards
eternity. Throughout the poem, the poetess‟
treatment too death is very polite. The poem
elaborates the theme of death.

1. How does Emily Dickinson view death in this

poem?
2. Death is friendly and patronizing for the poetess.
Comment.

26
 LIGHTS OUT
Edward Thomas.

Lights out “is a poem that views sleep from a very

interesting angle. Sleep has a paramount power over
all man s‟ passionate interests and activities, his joys
and sorrows. No one can withstand its lure. All day,
from early morning men pursue various activities,
good or bad but at night fall they completely
relinquish the conscious hold upon life. They find
themselves suddenly submerged by the oblivion of
sleep.

The dominance of sleep equalizes all men both who

treaded the straight path and those who tread the
crooked path of life. After reading the poem, a sense
of gratitude is around for the blessing of sleep.
Life is a ceaseless struggle. Man works from dawn to
dusk and keeps himself busy in the various activities
of life. He is, at times, successful, but miserably fails
at the various occasions. He is usually exhausted by

27
 the day long struggle. The tensions of life work
heavily on him. He is completely tired and worn out.
At night, he abandons his work. When asleep, he is
forgetful of everything, good or bad, happy or
unhappy. Sleep works a tonic effect on him. In the
morning, he is fresh, ready to share the activities of
life once again.
The poet pleads that the sleep is a great gift of God,
a blessing on human beings. Sleep soothes and
comforts us by making us forget everything for the
time being. Same is the case of death. It saves us
from all mad activities of life and its worries.
The poem dwells on the power of sleep. Our routine
activities, our desires and ambitions must give way
to the hold that sleep has over us. Things that
are most dearly cherished, as a favorite book or a
loved face are willing relinquished as we find
ourselves slipping gently into the blessed world of
sleep. It has the equalizing effect. All are subject to
its spell bound power, ---the rich, the poor, the
virtuous or the vicious.
1. What does many a road track signify?

28
 THE VANISHING VILLAGE
R.S. Thomas

Thomas is a Welsh poet who was born in Wales in

1903.He got his early education at a local school and
later on joined a seminary for becoming a priest.
In the poem, “The vanishing Village”, the poet
laments over the rapid decline of the villages. It is
said that the world is turning fast into a Global
Village without villages. The unchecked, unabated
large scale migration towards cities goes on
worldwide. The poet does not like it. He believes in
the theory of Plato that the village is the basic unit of
the world.

In the poem the poet has projected a gloomy picture

of a village that is on its way to destruction. There
are a few houses in the village. It has only one street
that is leading nowhere and is eaten away by the tide
of green grass. It means that the village is
disconnected from the rest of the world. The village
contains the population equal to none, so there is
little activity in it. There is only one shop and one inn
29
in the village. A black dog that is sitting in the hot
sun and cracking its fleas is the only history.
The concept of time and space is being vanished in
the village. The girl moving from one door to another
is a ray of hope.
The poem is based on the Plato s‟ theory that the
village is the basic unit of this world. If one wants to
save the world, one must save the village. Large
scale immigration to the cities must be checked.

30
 WHEN I HAVE FEARS
John Keats

John Keats was born in 1795 and died in 1821.He is

one of the greatest English romantics poets. His early
poem including „Endymion‟ had to face severe
criticism. His second volume appeared in 1820 and
this contains his best work including the great ode.

The sonnet, “ When I Have Fears “, is of great

significance when we bear in mind the fact that
Keats died at a very young age of twenty-six years
old. The theme of the sonnets is the fears of the poet
that he would die in a young age before the
fulfillment of his poetic potent9ial.His first fear is
that he may die soon. The poet was suffering from
T.B and at that time it was a very fatal disease. So,
his fear came true when he died at the ripe age of
twenty six.
His second fear was that he would not become a
famous poet in his life. The reality is totally in favor
of this fear in the mind of the poet. When he started

31
 writing poetry, he had to face a severe criticism, so
he was not able to get the expected fame.
In case of his love he remained unsuccessful. He was
in love with a beautiful woman but his love was one
sided and unreflecting as that woman was in love
with another fellow. Keats was a great lover of
beauty. He was of the view, A thing of beauty is a joy
forever,” But in his life span Keats did not relish the
taste of beauty. Rejected from every sphere of life,
he is standing alone on the shore of the world and is
thinking that love and fame are nothing in this world.

1. What is the real nature of Keats‟ fears?

2. Write a note on Keats‟ loneliness?
3. What is a sonnet; define it with reference to this
poem?

32
 KUBLLA KHAN
S.T. Coleridge

Coleridge is a world famous poet. Just as Keats

shows his identity in beauty, Coleridge shows his
identity in supernaturalism. His world famous
poems, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and
“Christable” are the best examples of Coleridge s‟
supernaturalism.
In this poem, he speaks of the grandeur of Kubla
Khan s‟ palace. The poet takes the flight in his
imagination and tries to build the palace as a rare
device. The poem has been written under the
influence of opium. Under the effect of this
medicine he dreamed of the place of Kubla Khan a
Mongol emperor
In the poem the poet is not discussing about Kubla
Khan but of his palace.

Kubla Khan ordered to build a palace in Xanadu

where the sacred river Alph flowed. It was a site of
superb beauty. It was a place as enchanted as a place

33
that is haunted by a woman wailing for her demon
lover. There was a romantic chasm which went
obliquely down to the slope of green hill covered
with cedar trees. Out of this chasm, there gushed out
a great fountain vaulting out stones with water. The
river passed through the enchanted land for five
miles before falling into the sea. The palace was built
in the fertile ground of ten miles area. The reflection
of the domes of the palace floated mid in the mid of
the sacred river.
Once the poet saw a maiden who was singing of
mount Abora .She was an Abyssinian girl. The poet
was much impressed by the symphony of her song.
The poet desires to revive the song of that girl as
with the help of that song he wants to rebuild the
palace of Kubla Khan in his imagination. In the end,
the poet has labeled Kubla Khan as a supernatural
character who forces the seers to close their eyes
with holy dread as he has been fed with heavenly
food.

34
 Snake
D.H Lawrence

The poem is about the ever changing feelings and

emotions of the poet on seeing a snake at his water
trough. Lawrence is a great lover and admirer of the
objects of nature. So this natural instinct of poetry
compelled him to compose a beautiful poem on a
very common and dangerous object of nature-
Snake. The poet is much impressed by the beauty of
snake. He welcomes it as an honorable guest at his
home.
Throughout the poem his reactions and feelings are
vacillating. Firstly, he is honored and pleased on
seeing a snake at his water trough. He let the snake
drink water first and as a second comer he is
waiting. But soon his voice of accursed human
education informs him that this snake is very
venomous (poisonous) it must be killed. The poet is
confused as he still likes the snake. His voice of
education dominates him and he picks up a clumsy
log and throws it onto the snake. The snake resumes

35
his back -hole journey and disappeared. Now the
poet s‟ feeling and reaction again changes and he
starts repenting. He compares the snake with a king-
a king in exile that has gone under world to resume
his kingship. He compares his snake with a god and
also with Albatross. It is a bird mentioned in
Coleridge s‟ most famous poem. “The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner.” In which the sailor kills the
Albatross and he receives a series of misfortunes as
a result of his bad act. In the same way, the snake
for the writer is a symbol of good luck but he misses
this chance. The poet becomes remorseful and wants
to compensate his bad act.

36