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Showing posts from December, 2017

No Second Troy by W.B Yeats - Summary

W.B Yeats published the poem in his poetry collection of "The Green Helmet and Other Poems". It reflects the miseries of Yeats caused due to Maud Gonne, his crush and her firebrand revolutionary character. He had proposed her multiple times but each time she rejected him, but his obsession with her took much time to end. His unrequited love towards her continued till her loss of sanity. Here in the poem, he compares her to Helen of Trojan War fame who led to the widespread loss of lives and rampant destruction of the city of Troy. The poem follows the Rhyming scheme of ABAB CDCD EFEF. The narrator laments that he should not blame Gonne for the rejection and miseries she caused to him which made his life full of gloom. Dut to her activeness in Revolutionary politics regarding the Irish Independence from the Great Britain which calls for the violent uprising from the common people of Ireland. Yeats criticises the way she is putting the lives of these ignorant men on the line.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree by W.B Yeats - Explanation

The poem "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" is written by William Butler Yeats, a noted Modern poet of the 20th century. The poem was inspired by Henry David Thoreau's Walden. It reflects the poet's desire to move to a small island of Innisfree, situated within Lough Gill, in County Sligo, Ireland, where Yeats spent his summers as a child. His motive behind it is to gather tranquility. The poem follows the Rhyming scheme - ABAB CDCD EFEF. The poet plans to go to the island of Innisfree and build a small cabin there for himself with the material of clay and wattle. In the heart of the forest echoing with bee-buzzing, he would live alone there. For subsistence, he would grow beans in nine rows and engage himself in bee-keeping. He intends to seek peace there as silence prevails in the morning and the only audible sound is of Crickets' chirping. At midnight, everything is visible, noon too brightens with "purple glow" and linnets can be seen in the sky at eveni

A Prison Evening by Faiz Ahmad Faiz - Explanation - Summary

The poem "A Prison Evening" is written by Faiz Ahmad Faiz, one of the most celebrated writers of the Urdu language based in Pakistani. Due to his leftist leaning and involvement in Rawalpindi conspiracy, he was jailed in the 1950s. The poem tells us about his experiences and dealings with his emotional state during his incarceration. It also depicts how the poet interprets the different visuals/images he sees there. In the beginning lines of the poem, the poet describes the night spent in the jail. He says that just like a spiral staircase the night along with stars "comes down" i.e. it is going to be dawn. He can feel the breeze blowing and brings with it a romantic feeling as it seems to him that someone has whispered a "word of love". In the prison yard, just like the most of the inmates are away from their native land. With his head drooped, he is busy in observing and interpreting "images and pictures" formed in his surroundings. When the

A Far Cry from Africa by Derek Walcott - Explanation

Stanza 1 In the beginning lines of the stanza, the poet describes the turbulent times and a war-like situation in Africa by telling that the wind is blowing roughly and touching the yellowish-brown skin of the African people. On the lands of Kikuyu, a tribe of Kenya who like flies feed upon blood spilled on the "veldt" i.e. open fields. Th quantity of blood is so much that the poet called it a stream of blood. The beautiful land hailed by the poet as "paradise" is scattered with a large number of corpses. Silence prevails the land until "worm", a colonel shouts to his companions to not pity those who are dead. The poet says that the scholars and political observers give statistics of how enabling the colonial reign and policies are, but in reality, the rule has no bearing on the white child is brutally murder in his own bed by the members of Mau Mau terrorist group or the insignificant and inferior treatment of "savages" i.e. Kikuyu like Jews by

Memorial Verses by Matthew Arnold - Explanation

The poem is written by Matthew Arnold. a Victorian poet. Arnold published the poem in 1850, the year in which Wordsworth died. The poem talks about three preceded literary figures - Goethe, Byron and Wordsworth and their relevance in the poet's contemporary society. Goethe is described by the poet as a sage of the age who was aware of the ailments and problems of the European people. Arnold praises Byron not for his works but for his unusual spirit and his struggle. The poet uplifts the position of Wordsworth and after his departure, he would be missed by Europeans. The poet emphasizes that Wordsworth possesses "healing powers" and no one after him would teach people how to actually feel things. Stanza 1 The poet says that Goethe, an eminent German literary figure has already died and rested in peace in the city of Weimar and Lord Byron has died too a long time ago in Greece, with his departure from the world, his struggle also came to halt. Then he says that there is