LitAide

The poem 'When You Are Old' is written by W.B Yeats, one of the foremost 20th-century poet who was also awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize for literature. In this poem, the poet claims his persistent and unaging love towards his muse, Maud Gonne even in her older age when she would lose her all elegance and beauty. Each stanza of the poem applies the rhyme scheme of ABBA. Rhyming Scheme - ABBA CDDC EFFE Stanza 1 In the stanza, the poet says that when old age and maturity surrounds his muse and she would have grey hair and probably doze at all times, he advises her to take that book and read it slowly and dream about her elegant eyes and their shadows which she had cherished in her youth.  Stanza 2 Although she may be loved by myriad suitors whom she mesmerizes by her 'glad grace' but Yeats questions their love and unfaithful pretensions of many of them. He considers himself the perfect candidate for her who is a devotee of her and her soul is a pilgrimage for hi...

Thomas Babington Macaulay, a noted English political and literary figure wrote this essay in 1835 and his recommendations were included in the English Education Act of 1835 along with Lord Bentinck's. The essay is about Macaulay's suggestion to fund education in India in English medium in rather than wasting 'limited' resources of British on Indian vernacular languages such as Sanskrit or Persian. The essay begins with his idea of educating people of illiterate India in foreign medium i.e. English. He is so proud of the language that at first, he doesn't find the need to point the benefits of English language. He then illustrates the worth of the language and the rich content available in the fields of History, Polity, Jurisprudence(law), Metaphysics, Governance and emphasizes that Greek is no superior to English from which it derived many things. He intends to build the confidence of aspiring learner by describing how all the sublime intellectual material, inclu...

The poem "The World Is Too Much With Us" is written by William Wordsworth, the leading literary figure of the Romantic Era in Britain. It was published in a collection titled Poems, in Two Volumes in 1807. The poem laments the negative implications of the Industrial Revolution in Britain. It is structured as a petrarchan sonnet, having the rhyme scheme: abba cdecde. Wordsworth complains about the human beings' transition from being a unique and social creature to a mechanical and materialistic one. He grieves that human beings now no longer enjoy the Nature which gives us a everlasting joy and serene atmosphere. People have become gross and machine-like in their thought process. For saving himself from such a "disease", Wordsworth takes refuge in Nature and imagination and find utmost respite. According to the poet, we human beings, are fed up with our natural surroundings. We forget to live fruitfully and without purpose. We are wasting our energies and poten...

The poem "Ozymandias" is written by Percy Bysshe Shelley, a Romantic poet. It describes the power and authority of the time. All living and non-living things have to die or fade away after a certain age. Even an ambitious king such as Ozymandias who boasts of himself as king of all kings can't live forever nor his conquests and creation. The narrator tells an incident which he was told by a traveller who was a native of a land that has nothing but ancient ruins. The traveller describes a sculpture of a man whose torso portion is removed and can be found in the sand nearby, it is half immersed in the sand. The statue of the carries a cold and angry look on its face and it can be inferred by it that the man upon whom this statue is built was a ruthless and ambitious ruler. The sculptor captured the actual expression on the ruler's countenance and turned the non-living thing such as stone into the man himself and gave his physical and facial features to it. The maste...

The poem is written by Matthew Arnold, a Victorian-era poet and critic. The poem is based in ferry port of Dover, Kent. The poem highlights Arnold's conviction of people's losing faith in his era as Victorian-era was an age of realism, confusion and there was stress on morality. The poem starts with a lovely description of the natural surrounding and then Arnold comes upon the issue of losing of faith and he tells his beloved to hold on to him in this world which he describes as consist of no good things. Stanza 1 It's evening time and the narrator sits by the sea, describes the sea as calm. Then he says that the tides are in their full limit and the moon is situated above the straits. The light first shines on the French coast and the light shuts off, then it sparkles the cliffs, lies on the English side, which spreads in vast area and tranquility prevails here too. He sends for his beloved to come to the window and tells her that he finds the breeze blowing in the nigh...

The poem "To Marguerite"  is written by Matthew Arnold, a Victorian poet and critic. The poem highlights the Age in which witness the spread of science and in which the existence of God is under scrutiny and we finds here in the poem , the poet’s disbelief in God. The idea of isolation of people from each other is presented in the form of islands representing human beings. We can infer the poet’s sadness over the too much individualism of people, they want to unite with each other but couldn’t do it due to the modern God who share no sympathy with human beings and shows no mercy on them. Stanza 1 In the first line, the poet compares human beings as a cluster of isolated islands which are separated by straits and among them lies invisible boundaries and uncontrolled waves. Millions of human beings live alone due to lack of understanding and their contention to only oneself. The people (islands) feel the potential to connect with each other but are aware of the long di...

The poem "Shakespeare" is written by Matthew Arnold, a Victorian-era poet and respected critic. We can say that it is written as a tribute to The Bard (Shakespeare) who is undoubtedly the most acclaimed English literary figure who has ever lived. Stanza 1 The poet hails Shakespeare and agrees with other people that he holds immunity to be free from other's questioning or criticism. He and other people ask about extraordinary works which haven't lost its relevance and applicability and we just wonder how can a person knows about mankind this much. He's dead for centuries and "art still" in our mind but remains silent and we wonder about his vast knowledge which unravels more when we dive into depths of his works. Arnold compares him to "the loftiest hill" to which the stars offer its allegiance. Stanza 2 The poet continues his superior description of him. He says that he walks firmly with "steadfast footsteps" in the sea without ...

The poem "My Last Duchess", a type of Dramatic Monologue is written by Robert Browning, a Victorian poet. It is written in Rhymed couplets of iambic pentameter. The poem presents the same the influence of Patriarchal society in which men dominates women and decide their life and wishes. Browning also wrote another male dominated poem " Porphyria's Lover ". The narrator, Duke of Ferrara invites or it seems, orders an associate of his guest to watch his collection of exquisite paintings, particularly a portrait of his ex-wife. He describes the reason behind the expression on her face, and then her wife's characteristics and goodness, then he reveals a feature of her which he hates, and he also insinuates that he had her murdered. The associate, who listens to his story, actually accompanies his master to arrange a marriage between the latter's daughter and the Duke. The narrator, i.e. the Duke, walks with an unknown guest and shows him his collection of ...

The poem "Porphyria's Lover" penned by Robert Browning. It is a type of Dramatic Monologue , a form in which an individual, not the poet, narrates the poem. The poem exhibit abnormal psychology and eccentricity of a person who without any hesitation murders her lover, just to relieve her from "the conflict", upholding his action with justification. The poem has some similarity with Browning's other poem " My Last Duchess " in which the Duke similarly have her murdered for a petty reason. The narrator describes the rainy late evening and the strong and gloomy wind begins to blow. It breaks the top-most portion of Elms tree and it seems that it has grudge against it. The lake has also bear its brunt of it. These may be signs of bad omen. The narrator listens to all above phenomenon with his "heart fit to break". It seems that he is a little discontented and wait for someone i.e. his beloved, Porphyria. She enters and shut the door because...

As a civilized and intelligent animal, human beings have a tendency to explore and learn things. Mostly we learn through two methods, by imitating and talking to people and reading books. Value of books are known to all and that's why books are known as a best companion to us. Life in 21st century has also become fast and we are now used to fast food, short movies. Even news are also  being limited to few lines.Books can't be untouched by the trends of our era and summaries are created to cater to impatient readers but it has some serious problems with this short version. Here are some reasons that tells that books should be read in spite of their short versions. The novel broadens our insight and builds our thinking capacity, aware us to the outer cold world and the reality. We face many issues which we haven't faced in our entire life and how to deal with these things. The summarized form doesn't cater to our need to increase our imaginative and creative powers. ...

The poem "The Lotos Eater" is penned by Alfred Tennyson, a Victorian-era poet. It is based on the journey of Roman Mythological hero Ulysses and his crew mariners. His other poem "Ulysses" also draws his long journey after the war of Troy. The poem was inspired by his visit to a mountainous region in Spain along with his close friend Arthur Hallam. Stanza 1 Ulysses along with his Mariners are returning back on his legendary voyage after the end of the Trojan war. He points towards the land and exhibits some more courage till they reach the land, the rising wave would help them to reach the shore. In the afternoon they reach the island. The land has an unusual environment, dullness and weakness are fused in the air. One feels tired upon breathing the air and enters the dreamy state. The full moon stands above the valley. The narrow stream falling from the cliff appears like a smoke coming downward slowly. Stanza 2 There are many streams flowing in the land tha...

The poem Ulysses is written by Alfred Tennyson, the leading literary figure of Victorian poetry. It is written in blank verse and based on the adventures of Roman mythological hero Ulysses and narrated by Ulysses himself who wants to continuously travel and discover new worlds. The poem is a dramatic monologue. The poem begins with Ulysses finding it odd to meet his wife Penelope because she would have grown old and may not identify him after such a long time. He also thinks that he is no profit to his native people and termed them 'a savage race' because he doesn't share the resemblance with them as they lead a boring life and unfruitful life in which they just eat, sleep and hoard things, even they don't recognize their king. Ulysses doesn't have any intention to live like them, he wants to travel to various places, explore new wonders and committed to live his life to the fullest. In his journeys, he has experienced both cheerful moments and harsh adversitie...

The poem is written by Alfred Tennyson, a major Victorian poet.  It derives the inspiration from the Arthurian legends of Elaine of Astolat. The poem is divided into four parts. Part I introduces us to the physical setting of the region of Shalott and nearby places. Part II describes the mysterious character of the lady of Shalott and the curse upon her. Part III deals with the description of the hero, Sir Lancelot. Part IV tells the unfortunate fate of the lady after running away from the tower. Part I Stanza 1 On the side of the river lie the fields of Barley and Rye which covers the land and spread in a large area such that it "meet the sky" and there is a road which goes through fields to the castle of Camelot which constitutes of many towers. People walking through the road gaze the lilies grown around the island of Shalott. Stanza 2 The breeze blows through the trees of willows and aspens and shakes them, it blows so fast that it strikes the waves of the river w...

The poem is written by Alfred Tennyson, a Victorian poet. It is written in Blank verse. The poem presents the agony of Tennyson caused by the death of his loved ones in previous years. He reminisces those happy days and the memories and impression of the familiar ones strike his heart and bring tears from his eyes. Stanza 1 The poet doesn't know why the tears begin to flow from his eyes without any recent bad happening or maybe he is aware of the cause but tries to repress the mental pain. The tears might flow due to some deep sadness arise in his heart and makes an outlet in form of tears. The season of Autumn goes on and the poet gazes on the fields and contemplates the good old days which are gone. Stanza 2 As the poet thinks deep about past days, he says that when the first rays of sun fall upon the ships, it seems that his friends who are long gone returns from the underworld ( the world of the dead) i.e. the memories of them enliven them in poet's mind. But as the ...

The poem is written by Alfred Tennyson, a Victorian poet. It was written as an elegy in the memory of his close friend, Arthur Hallam. The pain he was going through reflects in this poem. Stanza 1 The beginning lines of the poem describe the grief and depressed state of the poet. He says that just like the sea finds its outlet by striking its waves on the gray stone on the shore, he wish he could express his repressed thoughts and sadness that is burning inside his heart. Stanza 2 In this stanza, Tennyson gives examples of fisherman's  children and young sailors. The fisherman's boy who along with his sister can play and shout freely and involve in frolic activities. He considers a young sailor lucky as he can sing a song in his boat without any stress and repression. Stanza 3 Tennyson notices that the huge ships return to the harbour. He feels that something is missing from his life, a friendly physical touch of a hand and a familiar voice of a loved one who has left...