LitAide

The speaker wonders whether a life offering every comfort and luxury is worthwhile (perfect) if one doesn't have enough time to stand relaxed and appreciate a wonderful sight.  If one doesn't have the time to stand below a branch of a tree and stare at the grazing sheep and cows in the open pasture, then it is a pitiful life, no matter how wealthy one is. How dull a life could be when he can't even explore a forest/woods that he passes by often and doesn't have the time to solve the mystery of seeking the place where squirrels hid their nuts in grass. A man's hurried life in which he can't even look at a beautiful girl and appreciate her physical elegance and her dance, then that man is missing the little joys of life. His hasty manner will prevent him from waiting to enjoy the girl's fully formed smile that begins with her eyes and reaches her mouth forming a mesmerizing portrait. These little joys account for the true happiness one can attain because bigge

 The Minority Poem is a poem written by Nissim Ezekiel, the foremost Indian poet who wrote in English after independence. CONTEXT In order to understand this poem, you must learn the background of the poet, i.e. Nissim Ezekiel. He belonged to a Jewish community known as the Bene Israel, who migrated to India from Israel centuries ago. He was born, lived and died in the city of Bombay and spent considerable time in the city. He suffered from identity crisis being a member of a minority community in India, but at heart, he was an Indian.  In India, Hinduism is the majority religion and people following Judaism accounts for a minuscule population, even much lesser than other "minority" religion such as Islam and Christianity. Ezekiel though accepted his identity to be Indian, he used to feel alien here. He used to observe Hindu people and their practices, which sometimes seemed peculiar to him. SUMMARY In his symbolic "room", the narrator is entertaining guests i.e. pe

According to the narrator, nuns, who dedicated their lives to God, don't complain about their small rooms in the convent. Neither do hermits ask for more than an ordinary cell to stay. It is more than what they ask for.  A student, who is a devotee of his studies, who is busy in his books in his limited confinement, shuts himself away from distractions in his "citadel" i.e. a solitary place to study and think deeply about it and to arrive at new findings. Whether one looks at maids who spin wheel or the weaver who works on his loom, they work without making a fuss and remain happy in it.  Even minute creatures such as bees also take flight as high as the "highest peak of Furness-fells", and then murmur (means working tirelessly) inside the bell-shaped flowers of fox-glove. A bee going inside fox-glove He adds that it is us that put ourselves into our own mind-generated prison of a sort. We desire excessive liberty, which is not good for us, in reality. We need r

The Thorn  The narrator mentions an old-looking thorn but he says that it is not very old, its height is same as that of a two-year-old child. It has no leaves, nothing noteworthy, it is meagre "a mass of knotted joints, A wretched thing forlorn." According to the narrator, the thorn is under attack by mosses and lichens, that intend to "bury this poor Thorn forever." This thorn is situated on a high ridge where sharp "scythe" (blade-like tool) like winds blow and drag clouds from one valley to another. The thorn lies on the five yards left from the mountain path on it. Three yards left, the narrator, points to a "little muddy pond" which never dries despite lying below  "thirsty suns and parching air." Near the thorn, lies a small mound of a foot's height. It is covered by moss and looks beautiful. It seems a fair lady crafted it with her hands. Also, he praises the cup lichens (a cup-shaped fungus) whose vermillion colour looks ex

The narrator, a woman, talks about men. She reveals that it is easy to receive men's love, a woman just has to be candid about her sexual needs. A man is driven by carnal desire, so she will certainly get his attention.  She is aware of the man's need to show his masculinity, so she advises women to stand with her man before the mirror. He will admire his own stronger physical figure as compared to the woman who looks "softer, younger, lovelier". Here the poetess knows that men play into the female's recognition of his masculinity. Further, she says that the woman should openly show her admiration of the male body. Also, she instructs women to pay attention to his body parts as he walks with shyness on the bathroom floor. She can see his red eyes while under the shower and how he drops his towel and urinates in a "jerky way". She appreciates his male features which separates him from her. She admits her sexuality and "gift" her lover all pleasu