Nature—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882)

Nature

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
 

As a fond mother, when the day is o'er,

   Leads by the hand her little child to bed,

   Half willing, half reluctant to be led,

   And leave his broken playthings on the floor,

Still gazing at them through the open door,

   Nor wholly reassured and comforted

   By promises of others in their stead,

   Which, though more splendid, may not please him more;

So Nature deals with us, and takes away

   Our playthings one by one, and by the hand

   Leads us to rest so gently, that we go

Scarce knowing if we wish to go or stay,

   Being too full of sleep to understand

   How far the unknown transcends the what we know. 

 

1)    Substantiate the feelings of the child being led to bed.

         

According to Longfellow, the child is reluctant to go to bed leaving his playthings on the floor. His eyes are still on them and he is not assured of the promises, which his mother makes, in return for his obedience. He thinks that his broken playthings are much real than her promises.

2)    Why does the child ‘still gazing at them...’?

The child is besotted to his playthings, which he doesn’t want to lose at any cost. Here playthings mean all that belong to the world and the child symbolises man. Thus, the poet has merely underlined human infatuation with this line.

3)    How does Nature prepare us for ultimate rest?

Just as a mother takes a reluctant child to bed taking him away from his playthings, similarly Nature takes away from us our attributes like strength, beauty, intelligence etc, without our knowledge. In this way it takes us gently towards the final rest i.e. death.

4)    What do you mean by the phrase ‘Too full of sleep’?

At night when the child is tired, he needs rest. Similarly, after having lived a full life, a man becomes old and feeble and he requires rest in the form of death.  As the child before going to bed is dull and heavy so is man at the time of death—fatigued and devoid of reason.

5)    ‘By promises of others in their stead’ Explain.

While leading her child to bed, a mother promises him that she would provide him with better toys against the one, which is broken. Similarly, without speaking to us directly Nature brings death so that we may be heir to things worthwhile in heaven against things we possess on earth.

6)    ‘How far the unknown transcends the what we know...’ Substantiate.

At the time of one’s old age, a person is so tired and feeble that he cannot comprehend the unknown and the infinite reaches of the force that governs our lives and destiny.

So long a man lives on the earth he is confined in a finite world because his knowledge is limited to the world around him beyond which he knows next to nothing.   

7)    Gist of the poem. OR Central  idea.

The sonnet is an allegorical representation of man as a child and Nature as a mother. Man builds many encumbrances in this world just as a child who is attached to its playthings. Both are reluctant to sever ties off their beloved attachments. However, night comes to a child as death to a man and so both are eventually led to rest.

Worldly attachments are such as man forgets about his loftier gains in heaven beyond this temporal life and death. It is much similar to a child who is not content with his mother’s promises of better playthings after rest. However, at the end, it is the eternal design that prevails upon us and we submit to its bidding.

Solitary Reaper—William Wordsworth (7 April 1770 – 23 April 1850)

The Solitary Reaper

By William Wordsworth
 

Behold her, single in the field,

Yon solitary Highland Lass!

Reaping and singing by herself;

Stop here, or gently pass!

Alone she cuts and binds the grain,

And sings a melancholy strain;

O listen! for the Vale profound

Is overflowing with the sound.

No Nightingale did ever chaunt

More welcome notes to weary bands

Of travellers in some shady haunt,

Among Arabian sands:

A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard

In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird,

Breaking the silence of the seas

Among the farthest Hebrides.

Will no one tell me what she sings?—

Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow

For old, unhappy, far-off things,

And battles long ago:

Or is it some more humble lay,

Familiar matter of to-day?

Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,

That has been, and may be again?

Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang

As if her song could have no ending;

I saw her singing at her work,

And o'er the sickle bending;—

I listened, motionless and still;

And, as I mounted up the hill,

The music in my heart I bore,

Long after it was heard no more.

                                                                                                                                                       

  a)     What did the poet see? What request would he have placed before a passer-by?

The poet saw a lonely girl harvesting corn in a Highland field. She was singing and working alone. Her song against the backdrop of Scottish countryside enchanted the poet so much that he exhorted travellers or anyone not to disturb the girl.

b)    How was the song like? What was the poet’s immediate impression?

The Reaper’s song was melancholy and her loneliness enforced its effect on the poet. He felt as if the valley were overflowing with her solemn voice. The poet brings to us the picture of a river in spate.

c)     How did the poet compare the Reaper’s song to that of a Nightingale?

The poet felt in his enchantment that the Reaper’s song can soothe weary travellers in Arabia, as they approach an oasis after a long and tiring journey, just as a nightingale might do. However according to the poet the reaper’s song would be more appealing as it could revive travellers exhausted in desert heat.

d)    In what way was the Reaper’s song thrilling than that of a Cuckoo?

Generally, barren and cold, the islands of Hebrides would have a more melodious summer if the reaper’s song reached there. Her song had the power to override a cuckoo that usually sings prelude to a pleasant summer that is full of life and happiness. The reaper’s song could reach there, breaking the silence of the cold grey sea.

e)     Why did the poet make such unusual comparison?

Man has always been held captive by birds’ song, even no one ever understand their language. Similarly the reaper’s language, which was Gaelic, was incomprehensible to the poet though it did not mar the beauty and enchantment of her song. Also, the poet is of the view that the reaper’s song was as pure and natural as that of the birds. Thus, the poet made such comparisons.

f)      What according to the poet was the theme of the song?

Getting nowhere with the meaning, the poet was compelled to believe that the sad song spoke of some old, unhappy things that took place far off or about medieval battles. Given its poignancy, the song could also have been about the reaper’s present life, her day-to-day sorrow, loss or pain with which their life was made of recurring again and again.

g)     What was the poet’s ultimate impression in regard to the song?   

Wordsworth failed to make out the meaning of the song, however, he realised that the song couldn’t have an end. He felt the beauty of the song in its painful rendition as it spoke about loss and sorrow of rustic life of poor farmers.

h)    How was the poet influenced at the end and how did he react? 

The beauty of Scottish Highland and the flow of a sad song by a lone reaper were enough to hold the poet spell-bound for quite a long time. However, he broke free of the enchantment and took his way up the hill with the immortal music in his heart. Sadly, he never heard it again anywhere.  

i)       Why did the poet use two extreme climatic conditions?    

Wordsworth brought into focus two extreme climatic conditions of Arabian Sands and that of Hebrides to emphasise the natural soothing power of the reaper’s song, which according to him, even the nightingale and the cuckoo seem to possess but not as much as the reaper. In other words, the reaper’s song had the capacity far greater than these two birds are known to have.

My tribute on Teachers' day

I have had many wonderful Teachers
But Life has been and still the greatest of all
together they made me what I am and what I never wanted to be and couldn't be....or perhaps I would be...
This day I remember all my Teachers, the Milestones whom I walked past in my Long Journey.....
And the One who stands apart.....
beautiful as ever, the muse, the gateway to forbidden mysteries.....

The Solitary Reaper--William Wordsworth. 1770–1850

                            William Wordsworth. 1770–1850
 (Above Wordsworth in 1798, about the time he began 'The Prelude')
 

Behold her, single in the field,
Yon solitary Highland Lass!
Reaping and singing by herself;
Stop here, or gently pass!
Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
And sings a melancholy strain;
O listen! for the Vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.

No Nightingale did ever chaunt
More welcome notes to weary bands
Of travellers in some shady haunt,
Among Arabian sands:
A voice so thrilling ne’er was heard
In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird,
Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides.

Will no one tell me what she sings?--
Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles long ago:
Or is it some more humble lay,
Familiar matter of to-day?
Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
That has been, and may be again?

Whate’er the theme, the Maiden sang
As if her song could have no ending;
I saw her singing at her work,
And o’er the sickle bending;--
I listened, motionless and still;
And, as I mounted up the hill
The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more.

(Written in 1805)

Textual Analysis

a)      What did the poet see? What request would he have placed before a passer-by?

The poet saw a lonely girl harvesting corn in a Highland field. She was singing and working alone. Her song against the backdrop of Scottish countryside enchanted the poet so much that he exhorted travellers or anyone not to disturb the girl.

b)      How was the song like? What was the poet’s immediate impression?

The Reaper’s song was melancholy and her loneliness enforced its effect on the poet. He felt as if the valley were overflowing with her solemn voice. The poet brings to us the picture of a river in spate.

c)      How did the poet compare the Reaper’s song to that of a Nightingale?

The poet felt in his enchantment that the Reaper’s song can soothe weary travellers in Arabia, as they approach an oasis after a long and tiring journey, just as a nightingale might do. However according to the poet the reaper’s song would be more appealing as it could revive travellers exhausted with desert heat.

d)      In what way was the Reaper’s song thrilling than that of a Cuckoo?

Generally barren and cold, the islands of Hebrides would have a more melodious summer if the reaper’s song reached there. Her song had the power to override a cuckoo that usually sings prelude to a pleasant summer that is full of life and happiness.

e)      Why did the poet make such unusual comparison?

Man has always been held captive by birds’ song, even no one ever understand their language. Similarly the reaper’s language, which was Gaelic, was incomprehensible to the poet though it did not mar the beauty and enchantment of her song. Also the poet is of the view that the reaper’s song was as pure and natural as that of the birds. Thus the poet made such comparisons.

f)       What according to the poet was the theme of the song?

Getting nowhere with the meaning, the poet was compelled to believe that the sad song spoke of some old, unhappy things that took place far off or about medieval battles. Given its poignancy, the song could also have been about the reaper’s present life, her day to day sorrow, loss or pain with which their life was made of recurring again and again.

g)      What was the poet’s ultimate impression in regard to the song?   

Wordsworth failed to make out the meaning of the song, however, he realised that the song couldn’t have an end. He felt the beauty of the song in its painful rendition as it spoke about loss and sorrow of rustic life of poor farmers.

h)      How was the poet influenced at the end and how did he react? 

The beauty of Scottish Highland and the flow of a sad song by a lone reaper were enough to hold the poet spell-bound for quite a long time. However he broke free of the enchantment and took his way up the hill with the immortal music in his heart. Sadly he never heard it again anywhere.  

i)        Why did the poet use two extreme climatic conditions?    

Wordsworth brought into focus two extreme climatic conditions of Arabian Sands and that of Hebrides to emphasise the natural soothing power of the reaper’s song, which according to him, even the nightingale and the cuckoo seem to possess but not as much as the reaper. In other words the reaper’s song had the capacity far greater than these two birds are known to have.

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Anders Behring Breivik : We Honour your Sentiments but Condemn Your Methods...!!!

                             Anders Behring Breivik

 

What Anders Behring Breivik has done might be safely called as Unpardonable, but if we put his views—no matter how weird they might sound—against the European perspective, we find that he does have a point.

Actually he is not a problem as an individual but symptom of fatal anomalies that refute the very idea of man as an animal.

 On a physical plane he is outright guilty, no doubt, but must be viewed as an offshoot of a socio-political process prevalent in Europe that is grossly apathetic to the welfare and the aspirations of the common man and unmindful of fundamental instincts of Man as an animal with its intrinsic motives guiding him thereof.

These Primal instincts of man have been superciliously tagged as ‘Racism, Regionalism, Jingoism, Religious fundamentalism’ etc and made to view as ideologies opposed to Multiculturism, the efficacy of which remains in question keeping in mind the kind of cross-currents that underplay human aspirations vis-à-vis shady aspects of global politics and economy governed by intrusive foreign policies of a few countries whose sole purpose is to make profit and seek opportunities even amidst turmoil.

Therefore the point is not Anti-Muslim or Anti-Immigrant or anything else for that matter so far Breivik is concerned, the point is how much do we honour and where do we stand so as to seek to preserve the fundamental aspects upon which the foundation of human society was laid...?

Failing at this ideological plane will certainly result in more Breiviks and groups such as and as far placed as the NASHI or the Neo-Nazi...!!

       

Relevance of Rabindranath Tagore to young generation–An open letter to a Bengali school boy.

                                   Rabindranath Tagore                                                           

To talk about the relevance of Tagore is to see him in the greater light of his personality and the time he walked the earth as we do today.  And to do this we need to see him beyond his literary achievements. We need to look into the essence of this man, the things he stood for and the legacy he left for us to follow.

He is an international figure widely respected—home and abroad, and has been inspiration to many a great man and woman—the poet Wilfred Owen, Scientist Albert Einstein might be taken as example. But if we talk about his relevance he is more relevant to us Bengalis than any other race in the world, because he with his life and action and with his conviction showed what a Bengali needs to be, and what we have really come to.

The time that is gone is gone forever and the time that is to come is a mere presumption and the same premise holds good in our life as well. People who have lived their lives contributing to the ethos, or people who have been simply demolishing what took ages to build have equal influence on all of us. So the future lies in our hand, the young generation, the students, on whose shoulders rest the world.

The life of Rabindranath was a multifaceted one that ideated the need of a questing mind something that is far above the muddle of pre-conceived familiarity we are so much given to now. Today we need to have this originality of thought and action in our day to day life. Over the years this sense of enquiry so vital to our ancestors has now indeed taken a beating. We have lost the legacy of being a rebel and poet, of being people of great courage and vitality and of original thinking.

Gopal Krishna Gokhale once said, “What Bengal thinks today, the rest of India thinks tomorrow.” The question is do we still have that conviction? Does the accolade still apply on us? Do we really deserve it in the present run of time?

Today our intellectual world is steeped in mediocrity and self complacency. But what we have really inculcated post independence is a pathetic snobbery that has made us incapable of seeing things worth seeing, somewhat robbing us of the very sense of pragmatic analyses. In the short story ‘Daakghar’, Tagore showed us the danger of losing our intrinsic judgement to half baked understanding of things around.

We live in a world where we have no respect for our language, and the world once glimmered with the likes of Sarat Chandra, Jibonananda Das, Shakti Chattopadhyay Bishnu Dey is crumbling to cheap and vulgar Bollywood mediocrity. And we see no offence!

Ergo, today we need to re-live Tagore, resurrect the Tagore that we all have in us because we need him to survive the world, to keep our name on the atlas of people and great nation and be proud of being a Bengali.

We cannot expect to change people who won’t change, but we, the young generation can as well gear up to imbibe those true qualities epitomised by our beloved Poet laureate that we might one day be the precursor to a great Nation of great people.