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APPRECIATION OF
# 2.1 SONG OF THE OPEN ROAD #
SONG OF THE OPEN ROAD is written by Walt Whitman, an American poet and essayist, also known as The Father of free verse. We celebrate by singing. SONG OF THE OPEN ROAD is a celebration of that metaphorical road that we all are travelling down i.e., LIFE. Road here symbolizes progress and mobility for rich and poor.
This poem centres on the quest for freedom, spirit of adventure and courage, motivation, determination, free will, endless opportunities, self-realization and optimism. This is an inspirational and narrative poem written in free verse. It has a universal appeal. The speaker, the poet himself, sees the road (life) as a space which offers countless opportunities to all alike. We are the makers of our destiny and achieve our goal with courage and motivation. The poet has employed various poetic devices like alliteration, inversion, repetition, synecdoche, antithesis, paradox and metaphor to add to the beauty of the poem. Use of imagery and parenthesis are special feature of this poem.
We learn that one should be free spirited and not be bound by routine. We should be optimistic and courageously step out to realise our dreams. I like this poem as it has a timeless appeal and inspires me to free myself from worries and pursue my dreams with courage.
APPRECIATION OF
2.2 INDIAN WEAVERS
Indian Weavers is written by The Nightingale of India, Sarojini Naidu. This poem is taken from the collection The Golden Threshold and highlights the craftsmanship of the Indian weavers. The central idea of the poem deals with the cycle of birth and death. The weavers weaving tirelessly from dawn to night, depicts the three stages of human life from birth to death. The three stages of life- birth, youth and death are symbolically represented by three different coloured garments woven at different times of the day.
Simple conversational tone is used in the form of questions and answers between the poetess and the weavers, which evokes the interest of readers. The language is simple and lucid. Rhyme scheme of aabb; ccdd; and eeff and use of alliteration add to the musical quality of the poem. Poetic devices like metaphor, simile, inversion, repetition, etc enhance the poetic appeal. Symbolism and colour imagery are the special features employed by Sarojini Naidu. The colour imagery in this poem paints a vivid picture in our mind. For example, purple and green plumes, blue wing of halcyon bird, white clouds and feathers.
The poem teaches us about the cycle of birth and death and that life is in continuous motion. It prepares us to face the ups and downs in life. We learn that life is a mixture of joy and sorrow, hope and disappointment, challenges and responsibilities. It prepares us to face life with understanding.
I like this poem because it is short, simple, packed with colour imagery and makes us appreciate and accept the uniqueness of each phase of life.
APPRECIATION OF
2.3:THE INCHCAPE ROCK
The Inchcape Rock is a ballad written by the poet Laureate of England, Robert Southey. This ballad is inspired by the legendary story of a pirate, who removed a bell placed on the Inchcape Rock, placed by the Abbot of Aberbrothok to warn the sailors of the dangerous rock. The pirate meets his death when his ship sinks after crashing against the Inchcape Rock as there was no bell to warn him about the rock. The theme of this poem is - As you sow, so shall you reap. Evil is punished. People who do bad things meet with a bad end. Poetic justice will be done.
The ballad is narrative in style, with rhyming couplets- aabb. It contains many old English words or archaic words. Many poetic devices are used. To name a few – alliteration, apostrophe, antithesis, inversion, metaphor, simile, synecdoche, repetition, transferred epithet, onomatopoeia, personification, etc. The vivid imagery like – hazy sky, green ocean, birds wheeling around – makes the scene come alive. Symbolism makes the poem more beautiful. All that is good is symbolised by the Abbot of Aberbrothok and the pirate Sir Ralph the Rover is an embodiment of all that is evil.
The message of staying away from greed, envy malice and hate is relevant even today and will remain relevant in the future too. It will be relevant as long as humans are around. The values and morals conveyed through this poem make it my favourite poem.
APPRECIATION OF
2.4 HAVE YOU EARNED YOUR TOMORROW
Have You Earned Your Tomorrow is an inspirational poem written by Edgar Guest. He is known as people’s poet for his simple style and optimistic tone of writing.The poem emphasizes an individual’s contribution in improving the lives of others through small contributions like -greeting a friend warmly, being helpful, giving joy, hope and courage - leaving a trail of kindness behind.The poet wants the readers to reflect upon their actions and improve, if they want a better future for themselves. The poet is making us aware of our duties and responsibilities to gain our fruitful future. Today’s good and sincere deeds are wise investment for bright and content future.
The lines follow the pattern of aabb; ccaa; ddee; ffaa. The language used is simple and straightforward. The poet has employed several poetic devices – alliteration, repetition, inversion, antithesis, transferred epithet, synecdoche, metaphor and personification. Use of interrogation adds conversational tone to the poem. Visual imageries like vanish in a throng, rushed along the way, slipping fast, close your eyes in slumber are the special features which make the poem appealing.
The poem conveys that the way we act today will determine whether we get to have a tomorrow or not, because the good we do today will earn us our bright and happy tomorrow. I like the poem as it makes the readers evaluate their own behavior and improve it, which ensures a better future.
APPRECIATION OF 2.5: FATHER RETURNING HOME
Written by a celebrated bilingual poet, Dilip Chitre, the poem Father Returning Home deals with the dull, monotonous routine life of a suburban commuter. It is taken from Travelling in a Cage. It is an autobiographical poem where the poet talks about his hardworking father. It depicts the isolation, loneliness and alienation suffered by any old person. The apathetic attitude of people at home and outside towards the elderly people is depicted in this poem. Despite working hard for his family throughout his life, the father feels uncared for and isolated. Even in his own home, he feels like a stranger, like a nomad who doesn’t belong anywhere. The estrangement, apathy of society, loneliness, isolation and misery of the old people as well as the generation gap between the old and young forms the theme of this poem.
Father Returning Home is a narrative poem, a dramatic monologue where the poet is speaking to an unseen listener. The language is simple and straightforward. Poetic devices such as alliteration, metaphor, personification, repetition, simile, transferred epithet, onomatopoeia and paradox can be found in this piece. It is written in free verse. The use of imagery as in – eyes dimmed by age, fade homeward, grey platform, soggy shirt and pants, raincoat stained with mud, chappals sticky with mud – paints a mental picture of the father.
This poem conveys a message to the younger generation to respect older people and treat them with dignity. They are the treaure of wisdom and experience and we can learn a lot from them. These are the hands that rocked us to sleep and kept us safe when we were children and it is now our responsibility to care for them and make them feel wanted. This very relevant message for the present times has left its mark on me and made this poem unforgettable.
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APPRECIATION OF 2.6: MONEY
William Henry Davies, a Welsh poet spent a great part of his life as a tramp in UK and USA. His poem Money is about the two aspects of wealth. It is a narrative and reflective poem where the poet talks about his own experiences as a rich and a poor person. He shares the example of his life. He had many friends as a wealthy person but he was not happy as they were not friends who cared for him as a person. They used to gather around him for the benefits they would get out of his wealth. On the other hand, when he became poor, he found that there were very few people who stood by his side. He was happy as they were his real friends. They were with him even in his bad times as they cared for him and not his money. The main theme here is the inverse relationship between money and real friendship and happiness.
Money is a poem of five stanzas of four lines each. The poem has been written in five stanzas of four lines each and follows a different schemf for each stanza like aaba; cada; efgf; hiji and akak respectively. The beauty of the poem is enhanced by the use of poetic devices such as alliteration, repetition, simile, metaphor, antithesis, onomatopoeia, inversion, etc. The use of imagery can be seen in the following expressions – a child holding a trumpet which he must not blow, poor men’s wives hum like bees, hear poor ones laugh and rich ones coldly frown, go up, come down, etc.
The message conveyed strongly is that relationships which are based on real love and affection are necessary for happiness in life instead of money. Money however is a necessity for survival. Money can also buy us comfort and luxuries but it cannot buy love, affection, true friends or happiness. This is a truth applicable for all at all times. I value this poem as I have learnt that money is a necessity but it is not everything. We should not neglect our relationships by putting wealth above them
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