Composed upon Westminster Bridge September 3, 1802 by William Wordsworth

 

Earth has not anything to show more fair:

Dull would he be of soul who could pass by

A sight so touching in its majesty:

This City now doth, like a garment, wear

The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,

Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie

Open unto the fields, and to the sky;

All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.

Never did sun more beautifully steep

In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;

Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!

The river glideth at his own sweet will:

Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;

And all that mighty heart is lying still! 

 

Summary:

 

An experience of a sunrise (witnessed upon the Westminster Bridge) that occurred way back in July 31, 1802 ultimately found expression through poetical outburst in this Petrarchan sonnet in iambic pentameter of ten syllables a line.  The theme of the poem originated When Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy were travelling to Calais to visit Annette Vallon and his daughter Caroline by Annette, prior to his forthcoming marriage to Mary Hutchinson.

   Customary to his inimitable style and in spirit essentially romantic, Wordsworth begins with a hyperbole ‘Earth has not anything to show more fair ‘, to lay bare the intense feelings that he experienced and wanted to immortalise.  

The octet / octave running through the first eight lines is composed of a single sentence and specifically establishes the scene, i.e. the physical layout of London, against the backdrop of which he deplores a man being without a soul, should he fail to appreciate the ethereal beauty that clothed the city with its manmade structures. The poet is overwhelmed at the rare, wonderful sight in which the city, though defaced by the colossal and invasive structures of man and essentially antagonistic to each other, seems to have taken everything into a mystical glory, as if everything were a part of it, standing in perfect harmony, breathing life to the very essence of what London has always meant to the poet.

The poet is overwhelmed with joy as he finds ‘his’ London free from the exploits and mindlessness of industrial revolution belching smoke incessantly and smudging the true serenity he has been so fond of and familiar with. Today he finds London pure, bare and silent awash in the grandeur of morning sun. It is a scene that no longer exists but in the minds of artists and painters.

The sestet too begins with a hyperbole ‘Never…’ and is replete with exclamations but dramatically sets the tone into a much faster and livelier outpouring of thoughts as against the slow description in the octave. By way of first person narrative and making his own persona a direct element of the poem, Wordsworth skilfully employs personification of the sun and the river, etc to focus the ethereal ambience of the morning and the slow perpetual existence of life, of which he is also a part. He felt the tranquillity prevailing about the city with its silence against the slow drift of the river as the true rudiments of human life, so much that he thanks God that the mechanised heart of the city, even for a day, is asleep and he is grateful to witness what has become so uncommon if not non-existent.

The Bishop's Candlesticks by Norman Mckinnel

1)    Describe briefly the condition of the convict before he met the Bishop?

When the convict escaped from the jail, life became too tough for him to bear. At one end police were hunting for him while at the other he lived by petty theft. He didn’t have a passport or identification papers with which he could find works. Being a fugitive, he couldn’t roam about a town to beg. So he stole food, slept in the woods and became a wretched thief.

2)    ‘One must do a great deal for the devil in order to do a little for God’ Why did the Bishop say this?

The convict doubted that the Bishop was showing kindness in order to convert him into a true Christian. So he made fun of the Bishop and said that by serving him, he was actually serving the devil. But the Bishop who was kind as well as wise explained him that one must win back people from the clutches of the devil in order to show God one’s devotion.

3)    How did the convict fight himself to steal the candlesticks?

The convict knew that the weighty candlesticks were enough to give him a start should he possessed them. But the Bishop’s kindness stood in the way and he felt guilty. He felt sorry for the Bishop as also for himself, for he had never got justice from anyone. The convict thus prepared his mind by admitting that a Bishop had to be kind by nature and principle having a religious obligation behind it.

So at last, he freed his mind from being guilty and robbed the Bishop of his candlesticks.

4)    How did the Bishop behave after the convict was gone with his candlesticks?

Against Persome` outcry, the Bishop stressed calmly that the candlesticks didn’t belong to him. Instead, he held himself responsible because he thought he led the convict into temptation and so in this way he was a sinner. He accepted the loss as a just punishment from God.  But it was also too tough a penitence for him to bear.

5)    Do you hold the Bishop guilty of lying as he told a lie to save the convict?

The Bishop vouched before the Sergeant that the convict was his friend. For him it was the last-ditch attempt to win the convict back into humanity. By doing so, the Bishop opened the path of freedom for the convict. Such a lie is an act of kindness and highlights the Bishop’s strength of mind and character.

6)    ‘Perhaps I had set too great a store by them’ why did the Bishop say this? How was it a sin? How was it a just punishment? 

The candlesticks held the memories of the Bishop’s dead mother and so he was attached to them. However, for a Bishop it is sinful to collect worldly possessions. Still he had a soft corner for them, which made him feel guilty.

Through the convict, the Bishop thought that God had punished him. It was because the candlesticks were expensive and could have been used in charity. But the Bishop never yielded to this call and so, accordingly, he was punished.

7.     Compare Persome` and the Bishop.

Persome` and the Bishop though brother and sister are opposite to each other by nature. The Bishop has imbibed all the principles of Christianity whereas Persome` is a common woman who is worldly-wise. The Bishop is charitable, merciful and patient and above all thoughtful and honest. But Persome` is impatient, rude and unforgiving. The presence of Persome` helps magnify the noble character of the Bishop. 

         

8.     ‘Now I’m a number.’ How was the speaker a number?

The speaker was sent to prison hulks for ten years. He was treated badly and fed on filth. He was so much tortured that he forgot his name and remained just a number 15728, which was his identity as a convict.        

9.     Why did the Bishop say that he was sorry for the thieves?

In reply to the convict’s question, the Bishop said that he didn’t fear thieves but felt sorry for them. Thieves being unholy and sinner are condemned to hell as they are devoid of God’s grace. So the Bishop pitied them rather than fear.

10.     How did the convict get into the prison hulk?

The convict was a poor villager and owner of a little cottage. That year his wife fell ill and was dying. It was a bad year for them, for they had no food and he had no work. So driven by his wife’s condition, he committed a theft to buy her food. But he was arrested and was sentenced to ten years in the prison hulks.

11.     How was he treated in the prison hulks?

In the prison hulks, which were old ships, prisoners were treated as beasts. According to the convict those inhuman treatments made him a fierce criminal. They would chain him up like a wild animal and lashed him as if he were a hound.  He fed on filth and was covered with vermin. He would sleep on boards and if he complained they would lash him again.

12.‘You have a soul to lose, my son.’ Elucidate.

The convict doubted that the Bishop might play him false. So he threatened to kill the Bishop and reasoned that he had nothing to lose. However, the Bishop pointed out that the convict had his soul to lose. According to Christian tenets, soul is the most precious possession, which because of misdeeds might go to hell and is lost forever.

13. ‘I’m too old a bird to be caught with chaff.’ Why did the convict say so?

The convict, being hungry, demanded food from the Bishop. But whatever food they had, it was in the cupboard which Persome` had locked before retiring. When the Bishop told the convict that he needed keys from his sister, the convict thought that the Bishop was trying to get him into a trap. As the convict feared arrest, he spoke these words to mean that he was not a fool to be tricked into a trap.

14. ‘I don’t want any of your Faith, Hope and charity.’ Why did the convict say so?

Faith, Hope and charity are the three basic principles of Christianity. The convict being suspicious of the Bishop’s kind behaviour indignantly asserted that he didn’t want to follow the path of Christianity. He was in fact averse to the idea of conversion—from evil to righteous.

15. Describe briefly the condition of the convict before he met the Bishop?

When the convict escaped from the jail, life became too tough for him to bear. At one end police were hunting for him and at the other he lived by petty theft. He didn’t have a passport or a name with which he could find work. Being a fugitive, he stole food, slept in the woods and became a wretched thief.

16.Describe the cottage (kitchen) of Bishop Myriel.

The scene of the play is enacted against the backdrop of Bishop’s kitchen. It is plainly but substantially furnished. There is a fire place with heavy mantelpiece, an oak settle with cushions, table with writing materials, an eight-day clock and a crucifix. Also there is an oak dining table, kitchen dresser with cupboard and above all on the mantelpiece there are two silver candlesticks, which look rather strangely out of place with the surroundings.

17.   “Oh! Mon Dieu! It is hopeless, hopeless.” Why does Persome` say this and to whom?

When Persome` learnt that the Bishop, in order to save Mere Gringoire from eviction, had sold the salt-cellars, she was extremely annoyed. She reminded the Bishop that he had sold his estate and furniture and spent his savings to carry out his wasteful and reckless charity, and thus they would soon have nothing left. She also reminded him that if it was not for her little dowry, they should have starved.

18.‘As if I were a man again’— when and why did the convict say so?

The convict said this as he realised the greatness of the Bishop and the true meaning of Faith, Hope and Charity.

The Bishop treated him very kindly. He not only gave him shelter and food but also protection from the Gendarmes, and above all his candlesticks. He made him a free man and showed him the safest way to Paris.

The Bishop was successful in changing him into a true human being with all human characters. The convict abandoned his old attitude and became a true Christian.

19. The character of the Convict.

The character, Jean Valjean, is a victim of injustice and cruel fate. Being a poor and humble villager, he could not find redress from anywhere and thus hardened into a dreaded criminal.

However, a brief encounter with the Bishop struck the human fibre of his unblemished soul and he found himself compelled to repent. He learnt the virtue of faith, hope and charity.

20.   “Always remember, my son, that this poor body is the Temple of Living God” –Substantiate.

 OR

What was the Bishop’s parting advice?

The Bishop in his parting advice tells the Convict that a man’s body may be frail and prone to temptation and sin, but it is also the temple of the living soul, which is nothing but the reflection of The Living God.

This soul could lead him to the path of virtue and eventually to paradise. Thus, it must be protected from doing evil.

21.The significance of the title ‘The Bishop’s Candlesticks’.

The one-act play ‘the Bishop’s Candlesticks’ by Norman McKinnel revolves around two words, ‘Bishop’ and the Candlesticks’. These two words influence the length and the breadth of the entire play as also the character s depicted in it. The bishop is the epitome of Christian values and the candlesticks symbolise his sacrifice and the great legacy of Charity and Hope.

Together becoming a great force, it changed an otherwise a dreaded criminal, who had lost all hopes in humanity. Thus, the title is appropriate to the theme it seeks to focus.

22.  Character of Persome`.

Persome` is the widowed sister of Bishop, Myriel. By nature she is just the opposite of her brother. She is a common woman who is worldly-wise and full of doubts and fears. Though a loving and protective sister, she lacks the qualities of a true Christian. She is impatient, rude and unforgiving and holds poor people in low esteem. But as a character she helps magnify the remarkable qualities of the Bishop.

                                               

                            

A Portrait of an Artist as a Young man by James Joyce-- A Stream of Conciousness novel

The Naturalist point of view holds that it is the environment that shapes an individual whereas the socialist held that it is society. However at the close of the first decade of twentieth century the view began to change drastically.

Novelists like Lawrence, Woolf, and Dorothy Richardson voiced against the naturalist tradition of Wells,   Galsworthy and Bennett. In the words of Woolf ‘the fabric of things that overlooked life, human nature and the essential soul of the human person.’ They believed that one’s subjective inner world exercises great influence on one’s action and character.

The result of such endeavour was a narrative technique called the ‘stream of consciousness’ that delves deeper into the recess of the human mind and presents the inner lives of characters in terms of continuous flow of their conscious verbalized  as well as subliminal thoughts, perceptions, mental images, feelings, sensation, etc in a non coherent pattern. It is a direct outcome of advances made in the field of psychology exposing the human unconscious; and the Bergsonian concept of time as the continuation of an infinite past in the living present.

Human consciousness is bereft of textual or verbal form but the stream of consciousness makes an attempt to create plausible textual counterpart for the involuntary surge of consciousness in their original form. So it is presented without logical organization by means of direct sentences with minimum syntax. It gives the impression of reproducing the thoughts, images, impression, and feelings just as they occur in one’s mind in a string of actions that keeps moving backward and forward, from present to past and from past to the present.

‘Portrait of an artist.....’ opening with –‘Once upon a time..........’ and ending with—‘Apologise’ makes a perfect example of stream of consciousness technique. There we find Stephen’s recollection of the story of the moocow that his father used to tell him; the song he used to sing; his experience of wetting bed and various associations of his father, mother, uncle Charles, aunt Dante, Michael Davitt, Charles Parnell and the Vances; his guilt about and fear of punishment for an unarmed crime related to his childhood friend, Eileen.

As Harry Levin puts it—‘Joyce opens Portrait... presenting an exact verbal equivalent of the opening impression of his life.’ Stephen’s interior monologue according to Hugh Kenner is presented in terms of the five senses—hearing (the story of moocow), sight (his father’s face), taste (Lemon platt), touch (warm and cold), smell (the oil sheet). In the next section of the same chapter Stephen recalls one of his days on the football ground at school feeling unfit as he feigned to play because he felt his body was weak and small amidst the crowd of players and also that his eyes were weak and watery.

Thus the entire action of the story runs into eighteen episodes that can be seen as eighteen tales dealing with the different aspects of life in Dublin taking place within the time span of a single day, presenting the totality of a human being who is moral, intellectual and sexual simultaneously.