LitAide

The poem "Fruit-Gathering" by Rabindranath Tagore, is a poem number 12 from the collection Gitanjali . The poem deals with the theme of divine love, that is eternal in the materialistic world where mortality is inevitable. Tagore, through Tulsidas, denounces the practice of "sati", prevalent in India since ages.  Tagore advocates belief in divine love, as all forms of love is transitory. Devotion towards God helped the widow to live after the heavy blow of her husband's death. She lost her reason to live, it's only after Tulsidas' teaching, she found something to live for as she found God is with her.  Explanation The speaker narrates an anecdote of noted spiritual figure and poet, Tulsidas. Tulsidas was walking by the river Ganges, engrossed in his pondrings or deep thoughts. He was walking near the spot where dead bodies were cremated. He came across a woman, dressed in her bridal dress, sat near the corpse of her dead husband. According to sati practi...

"Obituary" is a poem written by a twentieth century Indian was an Indian poet and scholar of Indian literature and linguistics.  In this poem, the speaker writes about his father, who recently died. He notes how his father led a very ordinary life, having no notable achievements and financial success. The poet sheds light on the lives of ordinary people who struggle all their lives, just to survive. Their identity remains same from their birth to death, despite trying to make a name for themselves. Still they like the speaker's father have nothing but debts to pass to the next generation, living in the same old "leaned" house for decades. The speaker stoicaly mentions his father's "several spinal discs, rough, some burned to coal" after his cremation. He also insinuates that passing of not just assets, but responsibilities and customs to their sons, as the son has to take cremated ashes of the father and immerse it into the holy river. The son, it ...

This poem by Elizabeth Jennings is about a father and son's relationship, how a generation gap can sometimes create a rift between two close people.  The narrator, a father, is perplexed about his own child. He raised him, but now it seems to the narrator that he doesn't know him, even after living together for so many years in the same house. They are practically living like strangers under the same roof. The narrator couldn't understand him. It seems that the child has changed a lot since he was a little boy. The father fears whether it is he who is responsible for the fracturing of ties, as he might not have nurtured the right values in his son. Or he wonders whether he has been an authoritarian father and interfered in his son's life, who is no longer a child.  He questions his own place in his son's life. There is no warmth left in their communication, and they talk like strangers. There is a lack of understanding between them, which further signifies their acr...

James Harold Kirkup was a English poet, translator and travel writer  of the twentieth century. In his poem, the poet highlights the mistrust that divides the people of different country. Being patriotic is good, but treating people of other nations as "alien" and "enemy" won't help. An ancient sanskrit verse: "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (Sanskrit: वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम्) teaches us that we are all part of a Global family. Today, All countries are interdependent on other countries for various economic resources. The poem tries to depict the similarities we share with each other. Stanza 1 The poem begins with the narrator emphasizes the point that we, human beings, are all alike and we share so many similarities with each other. Our dresses might be different to each other's , but our bodies are similar. Even the soil on which we walk has the same constituents as the soil of a country which we consider alien. All of us will be scattered one day in the same soil...

 The poem was written by Wilfred Owen, a distinguished poet and foremost, a soldier of the first world war.  The poem alludes to a biblical "parable", which refers to a short religious/morality-based story. The biblical character of Abraham climbs to Mount Moriah along with his son, Isaac. It is the command of the Almighty that Abraham shall offer his firstborn, i.e. Isaac as a sacrifice at Mount Moriah. Abraham doesn't flinch at this unusual and pitiless command, but as he begins to undertake this act, an Angel appears and points to a ram and says that it could be offered as a sacrificial gift in place of his son, and thus Isaac's life is saved. Owen amended the parable and compares it to mass death and destruction due to the erstwhile first world war (1914-19). The poem begins with Abraham and Isaac approaching near their destination, Mount Isaac. Abraham carries a knife and a fire with him. Isaac is done with the preparation of the sacrifice and his asks his father...

Dickinson talks of Hope, which is personified here as a sweet singing bird that continues to sing even when the gale is blowing. It exasperates the Gale who tries to show his strength to intimidate the bird but that doesn't happen. Of course, its bravery in singing in the presence of gale gives warmth/support/hope to others. The narrator says that she has heard it, seen the bird's presence in the harsh places and "strangest sea" but the bird never asked a crumb from the narrator, in other words, it doesn't require  Analysis Unarguably, the narrator compares hope with a bird. A hope resides in human soul because it is beyond the harsh crude real world. It could be said that it is like a source of light in the soul. Hope motivates us even when there is no respite outwards, it has his own song when there aren't words and it never stops. In other words, hope never dies even in dire situation but we hope that things will be better soon. In the next stanza, misfortu...

  Brief summary This poem is one of the well-known dramatic monologues of Browning. It raises his recurring infatuation of transcending death and the belief of life after death as hailed in Hindu mythology. The title of the poem is revealing too as the meaning of the word "prospice" in Latin is to "look forward". Browning stands against the mighty death as he is a fighter and he insinuates that this could be his "the best and the last" fight. He knows it very well that despite being a brave man, he could not straightaway beat death, he is ready to embrace death like "the heroes of old". He can imagine that all the "pain, darkness and cold accompanying death end in "a minute". It is merely a task of holding on for moments of anguish, then calmness will prevail. A divine light will appear followed by his beloved, whom he has been missing for in his lifetime and finally with her and the God. Literary devices "fear...feel...fog......