Summary and theme
| Amidst killer speeds I stand
Facing the traffic, stretching my hand. I am seen on kids’ books and as cartoons everywhere Educating people and asking them to beware Of the erratic traffic and the signboards Seen on almost all the roads. So that you’re safe I see each one of you But my sweat, my plight on the road sees who? Be it sunny or rainy, For your safety I must be Vigil and agile, on the middle Standing erect, as fit as a fiddle. Oh! My ear hurts! Oh! My head aches! Oh! Look at the weather…such unpredictable days! But I cannot swerve; I must be on duty. I care for your safety. Be it noisy or dusty; Be it sunny or rainy; I must be on duty. I care for your safety |
| Theme: The poem is all about the life of a traffic policeman. He is a very familiar figure all over the world. A traffic policeman leads a very risky and tiresome life but no one pays heed to him. He has to carry on his duties in all circumstances. He is always concerned about the safety of the people on the roads. |
| Summary: The poem narrates the tale of routine work of a traffic police. The police stand in the middle of deadly speeding vehicles and with his stretching hand he regulates the traffic, controls speed, stops and allows them. He is a familiar figure depicted in children’s books educating people and warning about violations of traffic rules. His task is to ensure safety of those travelling in the vehicles and for that he has to routinely remain alert amidst deafening noise of horns, sounds. He endures these and had weathers but remains on duty for people’s safety guiding traffic. |
| Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
William Shakespeare Blow, blow, thou winter wind, Thou art not so unkind As man’s ingratitude ; Thy tooth is not so keen, Because thou art not seen, Although thy breath be rude. Heigh-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly: Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly: Then heigh-ho, the holly! This life is most jolly. Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky, That dost not bite so nigh As benefits forgot: Though thou the waters warp, Thy sting is not so sharp As friend remembered not. High-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly… |
| Theme: The contrast between nature and human beings is nicely depicted in the poem. The ingratitude of human being is shown to be harsher and crueler than the winter wind. Again, breach of trust anti betrayal of friends and relatives are shown to be crueller and harsher than the forces of nature. |
| Summary: The bitter cold of winter is not so bitterly felt as the ungratefulness of man. The insincerity of a friend is bitter. Love is foolish and the frozen. Sky-is not so bitter as the betrayal of man. When the beneficiary forgets the benefits, it is more bitter than the biting sky. The sting of water warp is not more bitter than the friend who forgets friendship. |
| The School Boy by William BlakeI love to rise in a summer morn, When the birds sing on every tree; The distant huntsman winds his horn, And the sky-lark sings with me. O! what sweet company.But to go to school in a summer morn, O! it drives all joy away; Under a cruel eye outworn. The little ones spend the day, In sighing and dismay.Ah! then at times I drooping sit, And spend many an anxious hour, Nor in my book can I take delight, Nor sit in learnings bower, Worn thro’ with the dreary shower. How can the bird that is born for joy, Sit in a cage and sing. How can a child when fears annoy. But droop his tender wing. And forget his youthful spring. O! father & mother. if buds are nip’d, How shall the summer arise in joy. |
| Theme: The presentation of innocence as freedom from constraint and self-consciousness is the main theme of the poem. Here the child starts out taking pleasure in an uninhibited life, full of trust in his world, both natural and human. The fragility of this state is clear from images as ‘blossoms’ and ‘tender plants are stripped. The child soon experiences the ‘woe’ in life leading to failure and betrayal. |
| Summary: In the poem a young school boy appreciates the beauty and joy that a summer day brings when birds sing, huntsman blows his horn, and skylark gives sweet company. On such a day the idea of going to school take away all joy because the children have to spend the whole joyless day under the stern teacher’s discipline and watch. The lessons that he gives are not enjoyed by the children who looks for the escape from such chains. Young children are birds of freedom born for unbounded joy not to be caged in like this. Therefore, the boy fervently appeals to his parents not to send him to school where his tender mind will be destroyed. Lie should be allowed freedom to enjoy not to be tainted by grief and worry which would bear no fruit in future. |
| ‘Out, Out‘
Robert Frost The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood, Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it. And from there those that lifted eves could count Five mountain ranges one behind the other Under the sunset far into Vermont And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled, As it ran light. or had to bear a load. And nothing happened : day was all but done. Call it a day. I wish they might have said To please the boy by giving him the half hour That a boy counts so much when saved from work. His sister stood beside him in her apron To tell them ‘Supper’. At the word, the saw. As if to prove saws knew what supper meant. Leaped out at the boy’s hand, or seemed to leap He must have given the hand. However it was, Neither refused the meeting. But the hand! |
| Theme: The way how modern mechanical society forced a young boy and his sister to become victims of its atrocities is nicely shown here. The young boy, though supposed to spend his time in playing, is bound to work in a sawmill being pressed by the cruelty of reality which is another important factor here. |
| Summary: The poem speaks of a boy put under heavy burden of work where from there seems to be no escape. Even a small respite and call for supper by his sister seems to be a great relief. That thinking of escape and freedom from such drudgery makes brings a little mindfulness. That causes the accident of the saw he is using to make firewood. His hand is cut. His appeal is to save his hand and save his life. But he sees life going out. Doctor’s treatment comes of no help. He dies. Others just find the loss of this boy’s life not much important and go back to their usual work. |
| I Have Seen Bengal’s Face
Jibanananda Das Translation of Jibanananda Das’s “Banglar Mukh Ami Dekhiyachhi” by Fakrul Alam Because I have seen Bengal’s face I will seek no more; The world has not anything more beautiful to show me. Waking up in darkness, gazing at the fig-tree, I behold Dawn’s swallows roosting under huge umbrella-like leaves. I look around me And discover a leafy dome-Jam, Kanthal, Bat, Hijol and Aswatha trees- All in a hush, shadowing clumps of cactus and zedoary bushes. When long, long ago, Chand came in his honeycombed boat To a blue Hijal, Bat and Tamal shade near the Champa, he too sighted Bengal’s incomparable beauty. One day, alas. In the Ganguri, On a raft, as the waning moon sank on the river’s sandbanks, Behula too saw countless aswaths bats besides golden rice fields And heard the thrush’s soft song. One day, arriving in Amara, Where gods held court, when she danced like a desolate wagtail, Bengal’s rivers, fields, flowers, wailed like strings of bells on her feet. |
| Theme: This poem expresses the poet’s pure love for his native land. The poet provides a picturesque description of the transparent beauty and grace of his land. He is reluctant to see anything more after he has seen the unique beauty of this country. In his view, the country is full of attractive sight, sound, shade, the song of birds, fields and rivers. The ancient people and even the mythical character Behula observed this beauty of nature. The poet also -hints at the sadness of the people at the end of the poem. |
| Summary: The poem is about the poet’s expression of intense love for his motherland. His love for the country is so deep that he poetically expresses that he would like to come back to this beautiful dear land again and again in life after life. As the poet is Hindu by religion and believes in transmigration of soul, he affirms that even if he has to take birth as an inferior creatures like a kite or magpie to come back here he would do so. He narrates the exquisite beauty of this land-Bengal where trees are green, birds abound, old traditions and myths remained alive. The memories of life’s association with. |
| Dreams
D. H. Lawrence All people dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their mind, Wake in the morning to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous people, For they dream their dreams with open eyes. And make them come true. |
| Theme: The dream is the central idea of the poem. Different people have different dreams. Those people who dream unconsciously or subconsciously cannot make their dream true but those who dream consciously can make their dream fruitful. |
| Summary: The theme of the poem is dreaming. The poet is telling in the poem that dreams in sleep are untrue and lead to nothing. But dreaming consciously is like determining for something. Therefore, one who dreams when fully awake or aware is very strong resolute and determined person and they realize their dreams. |
| “Dreams”
Langston Hughes Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow |
| Summary: The poet here has highlighted the importance of dreams in men’s lives. He says that nothing can be achieved if there is no dream in life. To fulfill the desire and achieve goals, one must dream. Without dreams, the prospect of improving life is impossible because no dream means no dreams achieved. A life without dreams has no purpose. It becomes weary, monotonous and lifeless. So one must not stop dreaming because dreams bring comfort, solace and hope in the real world. |
| Theme: The theme of the poem is dreams which mean goals, higher aim and objective in life and are very important for life. For, if there are no dreams in life one cannot advance far like a broken winged bird. Without dreams life becomes joyless, tasteless and not worthy of living. |
| The Lake Isle of Innisfree
W.B. Yeats I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made; Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee And live alone in the bee loud glade. And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow Dropping from the veils of the moing to where the cricket sings; There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow, And evening full of the linnet’s wings. I will arise and go now, for always night and day I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore; While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey, I hear it in the deep heart’s core. |
| Theme: Being tired of urban life, the poet here longs for the peace and tranquillity of Innisfree, a place free from urban noise and chaos. So, he wants to build a cabin there with clay and reeds to live in. There he will have a garden with exactly nine bean rows. There will be dim midnight, bright noon and musical evening. Really, the poet talks about absolute peace where rapid industrial progress in modern society is creating hectic madness among people running attar material progress only abandoning nature. |
| Summary: The poem speaks of the poet’s plan and dream of a life in peace and tranquility. He waits to go to Innisfree lake area to live in that peaceful place in the company of bees. Each would come normally in that lap of tranquil nature. Summer’s night and day will pass amidst the peaceful singing of birds, murmuring sound of the lake. The poet will enjoy in full standing on the road breathing it in. |
| From September 1, 1939
W. H. Auden I sit on one of the dives On Fifty-second Street Uncertain and afraid As the clever hopes expire. Of a low dishonest decade: Waves of anger and fear Circulate over the bright And darkened lands of the earth, Obsessing our private lives; The unmentionable odour of death Offends the September night. |
| Theme: The poem depicts the poet’s uncertainty and fear regarding the outbreak of the Second World War. Sitting in a bar, the poet observes that the people who are the victims of World War II have lost their mind and so all the hopes and aspirations of future development diminish away. This is the decade of dishonesty. Anger and fear are darkening the lands of the earth and wrecking the people’s private lives. There is nothing but the toll of death all around, which commenced on the September night. |
| Summary: The poet here is sitting in concern, worries, and hopes fading and feels around the wave of fear that is gripping the world. War and destruction and death are laboring in the horizon as the poet senses. |
| The Charge of the Light Brigade
Lord Alfred Tennyson Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred. “Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns” he said: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. “Forward, the Light Brigade!” Was there a man dismay’d? Not tho’the soldiers knew Some one had blunder’d: Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them Volley’d and thunder’d; Storm’d at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell Rode the six hundred. Flash’d all their sabres bare, Flash’d as they turn’d in air Sabring the gunners there, Charging an army while All the world wonder’d: Plunged in the battery-smoke Right thro’ the line they broke; Cossack and Russian Reel’d from the sabre-stroke Shatter’d and sunder’d. Then they rode back, but not Not the six hundred. Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon behind them Volley’d and thunder’d; Storm’d at with shot and shell, While horse and hero fell, They that had fought so well Came thro’ the jaws of Death, Back from the mouth of Hell, All that was left of them, Left of six hundred. When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made! All the world wondered. Honour the charge they made, Honour the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred! |
| Summary of the poem
The poem is written; in the context of the heroic feat and sacrifice of a light brigade of six hundred soldiers charging against the – Russian-Turkish army in Crimean War. The poem describes the heroic spirit, undaunting spirit of the soldiers whose love for Britain and loyalty to its leadership is supreme for which they were ready sacrifice themselves and they did so. For, this brigade charged without knowing the extent of the enemy’s strength and without any reinforcement and support behind them. They dashed into the enemy’s range of cannon fire from left and right. There was no escape left for them and they did not retreat to save their lives to uphold the honor of their great country. |
| She Walks in Beauty
Lord Byron She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes: Thus mellowed to that tender light Which heaven to gaudy day denies. One shade the more, one ray the less, Had half impaired the nameless grace Which waves in every raven tress, Or softly lightens o’er her face; Where thoughts serenely sweet express, How pure, how dear their dwelling-place. And on that cheek, and o’er that brow, So soft, so calm, yet eloquent, The smiles that win, the tints that glow, But tell of days in goodness spent, A mind at peace with all below, A heart whose love is innocent! |
| Theme: The theme of the poem is about the exceptional beauty of a woman. This beauty is both internal as well as external. The poet here expresses his feeling when he saw the striking beauty and grace of the extraordinary beautiful woman. The poet describes her as so innocent, pure and heavenly. She is also compared to the beauty of the night and cloudless starry skies. To the poet, she is a simple and perfect woman whose mind is at peace and full of love. |
| Summary of the poem
The theme of the poem is poet Byron’s concept of exquisite beauty-beauty in perfection without blemish. He is highlighting and trying to elaborate this concept of perfect beauty with his romantic imagery and comparisons drawn from nature. Beauty is Personified into a female human whose aura has been likened to cloudless climate and starry sky where the best of darkness and brightness give a combined effect of perfection. Her eyes are likened to tender light. Her face is likened to pureness itself with serene sweet expression. Smiles on that face are eloquent and ever winning while the inner self of this beauty is also calm, .peaceful with innocent love. This is Byron’s romantic construct of what beauty should be like. |
| “I Died for Beauty, but was Scarce”
Emily Dickinson I died for beauty, but was scarce He questioned softly why I failed? And so, as kinsmen met a night, |
| Theme: Beauty, truth and failure are the key factors of the poem. Again the tune of the poem is that one should not waste one’s entire life to reach a goal that will only end in failure. It is also implied that the ultimate failure of a long sought-after goal is death. |
| Summary: In the poem the theme of beauty and truth has been deal with. The two have been shown as one. The two have been likened to two dead persons-one who died for beauty and the other for truth. The two are: thus inalienably connected inseparable at one in their graves even and are hence interlocked in eternal association. |
| Time, You Old Gipsy Man
Ralph Hodgson TIME, you old gipsy man, Will you not stay, Put up your caravan Just for one day? All things I’ll give you Will you be my guest, Bells for your jennet Of silver the best, Goldsmiths shall beat you A great golden ring, Peacocks shall bow to you, Little boys sing, Oh, and sweet girls will Festoon you with may. Time, you old gipsy, Why hasten away? Last week in Babylon, Last night in Rome, Morning, and in the crush Under Paul’s dome; Under Paul’s dial You tighten your rein— Only a moment, And off once again; Off to some city Now blind in the womb, Off to another Ere that’s in the tomb. Time, you old gipsy man, Will you not stay, Put up your caravan Just for one day? |
| Summary: In this poem, ‘Time, You Old Gipsy Man’, the poet Ralph Hodgson told about time. He said that time never stays. It always runs and runs. For this, he names the time “Old gipsy man”. To stop the time, he offered the time things such as belts for its jennet of the best silver, a big golden ring etc. He told time that peacocks will bow, little boys will sing songs, sweet girls will festoon the time with may. He requested the time to put up its caravan just for one day, but the time never stays. It passes and passes. Nobody can stop its ever-busy frigate even for a second. We know how precious thing is time for us. If we don’t use it properly, it will run away and never come back. So, we need to use the time properly. |
| Ode On Solitude
Happy the man whose wish and care A few paternal acres bound, Content to breathe his native air In his own ground. Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread, Whose flocks supply him with attire, Whose trees in summer yield him shade, In winter fire. Bless’d who can unconcern’dly find Hours, days, and years slide soft away, In health of body, peace of mind, Quiet by day; Sound sleep by night: study and ease Together mix’d; sweet recreation; And innocence, which most does please, With meditation. Thus let me live, unseen, unknown, Thus unlamented let me die; Steal from the world, and not a stone Tell where I lie. |
| Theme: To be in a state of solitude means that one has withdrawn from the world and has taken up a life of seclusion. This could be for various reasons, as one may have been born this way, one may have lost care for the world’s troubles, or one may just want to have a quieter life. This poem talks about how a life of isolation is still a happy and quiet life, and to maintain this peace, one must not only remain out of the world, but also remain so secluded that others cannot pester with the world’s problems. This poem has an overall happy, content, and peaceful, yet a bit hopeful, mood. The happy mood is seen mostly in the first stanza. The content mood is seen in the first three stanzas. In the first, third, and fourth stanzas, one can see the peaceful mood, and the hopeful mood can be seen in the fifth stanza. This poem also has an air of self-sufficency or accomplishment about it. |
| I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
By William Wordsworth I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze, Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the Milky Way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. |
| Appreciation: Once the poet was walking alone and moving aimlessly. He compared himself to a cloud that floats over the valley and hills. Suddenly he saw a bunch of daffodils beside the lake and under the trees. They were fluttering and dancing in the air. And the daffodils were golden colored. They were shining like the stars and blinking in the vast sky. They also reached the margin of the river. The poet saw thousands of daffodils in a single sight. They were dancing livelily moving their heads. Thus the poet sunk into a world of imagination. |
| Under the greenwood tree”
(from As You Like It)
Under the greenwood tree Who loves to lie with me, Unto the sweet bird’s throat, Come hither, come hither, come hither: Here shall he see No enemy But winter and rough weather.
Who doth ambition shun And loves to live i’ the sun, Seeking the food he eats, And pleased with what he gets, Come hither, come hither, come hither: Here shall he see No enemy But winter and rough weather. |
| Theme of Under the Greenwood Tree
If one wants to spend a peaceful and a life without tensions and problems, one should leave all the ambition and falsehood of this fake world behind and give up luxury for the contentment of heart and mind. One should spend his life in the asylum of tree where he will find peace, friendship and happiness. The voice of birds will make him feel relaxed. Forest (village) life is preferable then city or town life because the forest life is closely contacted to beauty of nature and one can get rid of the trivial enmities |
| Go and Catch a Falling Star
John Donne Go and catch a falling star, Get with child a mandrake root, Tell me where all past years are, Or who cleft the devil’s foot, Teach me to hear mermaids singing, Or to keep off envy’s stinging, And find What wind Serves to advance an honest mind. If thou be’st born to strange sights, Things invisible to see, Ride ten thousand days and nights, Till age snow white hairs on thee, Thou, when thou return’st, wilt tell me, All strange wonders that befell thee, And swear, No where Lives a woman true, and fair. |
| Appreciation: In the poem, the poet asks to do a few impossible things. It is really impossible to catch a falling star, impossible to get a child from a mandrake root. He also wants to know where the past goes away and who cleft the devil’s foot. These are really impossible to tell. Even it is impossible to make him hear the
mermaid’s song and keep him off from envy. There is no wind that can suddenly make a man honest. If any person gets born with the power to see the unseen and the impossible things, if he rides a long way until his hairs get gray and when he returns, the poet will request him to tell how many wonders he has seen. The poet strongly says that this man can never say that he has seen a true and fair woman anywhere in the world. |
| The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Samuel Taylor Coleridge Farewell, farewell! but this I tell To thee, thou Wedding-Guest! He prayeth well, who loveth well Both man and bird and beast. He prayeth best, who loveth best All things both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all. |
| Appreciation: In this poem the poet strictly focuses on only thing and that is love. And this love is a divine love that comes from the God. He says that people who love man, birds and the animals are those who worship the best because through loving them, one can come close to the God. He also says that people who do
not create any discrimination between the small and the great, rich and the poor are the best people to the God. God is the creator of us and he has created love. So He loves him who loves his all the creations. |
| Leisure
William Henry Davies What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. No time to stand beneath the boughs And stare as long as sheep or cows. No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass. No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night. No time to turn at Beauty’s glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance. No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began. A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare. |
| Appreciation: The poet writes this poem with a gloomy mood thinking over the life. He asks himself about the life and He means it to us. He means that life is really worthless if we don’t have any to time to see our outside, to take a seat under the trees, to watch the herd of the sheep and cows. Life becomes tasteless if we
do not have time to see the roadside scenario, to enjoy a night full of stars, to see the beauty of someone and the feet that move in dancing. Life becomes dull if we do not have time to see the smile that starts in one’s eyes and ends in the lips. The poet concludes that if we really don’t have time to do the above things, then our lives are poor and incomplete. |
| To Daffodils
Robert Herrick Fair Daffodils, we weep to see You haste away so soon; As yet the early-rising sun Has not attain’d his noon. Stay, stay, Until the hasting day Has run But to the even-song; And, having pray’d together, we Will go with you along. We have short time to stay, as you, We have as short a spring; As quick a growth to meet decay, As you, or anything. We die As your hours do, and dry Away, Like to the summer’s rain; Or as the pearls of morning’s dew, Ne’er to be found again. |
| Appreciation: Our life is not constant, rather transitory. Today or tomorrow, we all will pass away. The poet reminds us the fact through his poem. He compares human life to the Daffodils. Daffodils bloom in the spring and wither away within a short period of time. Comparing to Daffodils he says that we have a short time to stay on this earth. We all are going to leave this earth very soon. He compares our life duration to the duration of the spring. It comes and goes so quickly. He also compares our life to the summer rain and the dews of the morning that once go never come back. Thus the poet reminds himself and us to get prepared to leave this earth. |
The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as
I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
Main theme of Robert Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken’ A profound perception into the process of decision making is offered through the poem. It stresses the need for deep and critical analysis of the situation before we arrive at a life-transforming decision. We want to believe that our choices are unique or brave and life-altering when they really are not. That our choices make a major impact on the course our lives take, though neither is really true.
