LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

Class: 11
Notes for Reference

Question 1. (20)

(a) ALONSO : No, no, he’s gone. (10)

SEBASTIAN: Sir, you may thank yourself for this great loss,
That would not bless our Europe with your daughter,
But rather loose her to an African,
Where she at least is banished from your eye,
Who hath cause to wet the grief on ’t.

(i) Who is Alonso? What mood is he in? (1)

 Alonso is the King of Naples. He is in a melancholic mood.

(ii) Who does ‘he’ refer to? What does Alonso mean when he says “he’s gone”? (2)
 He refers to Ferdinand. Alonso means that he is dead.

(iii) Apart from what’s mentioned in the passage, what does Sebastian accuse Alonso of? (2)
 Sebastian accuses Alonso of marrying his daughter Claribel to an African prince
against her will. She was made to choose between the unwillingness to go and the
desire to obey her father.
 He blames Alonso for causing more widows in Naples and Milan than there are
men to console them.
 Ferdinand is also lost forever.

(iv) What is Gonzalo’s reaction to Sebastian’s words? (2)

 Gonazalo says that the truth doth lack some gentleness and time to speak it in.
 Sebastian rubs the sore when he should bring the plaster.

(v) What do the given lines tell us about the character of Sebastian? (2)
 He is straightforward.

(vi) Give the meanings of the following words as they are used in the context of the passage:
banished- exiled, removed
cause- reason (1)

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(b) PROSPERO (10)
  Soft, sir! One word more.
(aside)
They are both in either’s powers, but this swift business
I must uneasy make lest too light winning
Make the prize light.
(to FERDINAND)
   One word more. I charge thee
That thou attend me. Thou dost here usurp
The name thou owest not, and hast put thyself
Upon this island as a spy to win it
From me, the lord on ’t.

(i) Why is Ferdinand in a melancholic mood before his encounter with Miranda? (1)
 Ferdinand is in a melancholic mood because he thinks that his father has drowned.

(ii) What is Miranda’s reaction on seeing Ferdinand for the first time? (2)
 Miranda asks Prospero if Ferdinand is a spirit.
 She also says that he carries a brave form.

(iii) What is Ferdinand’s reaction on seeing Miranda for the first time? (2)
 Ferdinand assumes Miranda to be the goddess on whom the music attends.
 He asks her how he should bear himself on the island and whether she is a maiden.

(iv) Explain what Prospero means when he says, “this swift business I must uneasy make lest
too light winning Make the prize light.” (2)
 The speed at which Miranda and Ferdinand seem to be falling in love is not a good
sign. Prospero wants to make the task of wooing Miranda difficult for Ferdinand,
lest he undervalue her is she is too easily won.

(v) How does Prospero assert his magical powers over Ferdinand? Why does he do so? (2)
 When Ferdinand draws his sword, he is charmed from moving and he feels as
though his spirits are all bound up.
 Prospero does this to assert power over Ferdinand and prove to him that he is in
control.

(iv) Give the meanings of the following words as they are used in the context of the passage:
attend- listen to
usurp- seize (1)

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(c) ANTONIO: O, (10)
If you but knew how you the purpose cherish
Whiles thus you mock it, how, in stripping it
You more invest it. Ebbing men, indeed,
Most often do so near the bottom run
By their own fear or sloth

(i) To whom is Antonio speaking these lines? [1]

Sebastian

(ii) Earlier in the scene, for what purpose does Ariel appear? How does he accomplish the
task? [2]
 At Prospero’s behest, Ariel appears to send the King’s party to sleep
 He does this by playing solemn music

(iii) A little later in the scene, what does Antonio say about Ferdinand and Claribel as
possible heirs to the throne of Naples?
[2]
 “Ferdinand is drowned” in the sea
 Claribel “dwells ten leagues beyond man’s life” and there is a possibility that she
will not return to Naples

(iv) What does Antonio mean when says, “no better than the earth he lies upon”? Whom is he
referring to? [2]
 Antonio points to the sleeping Alonso and says that he is as lifeless as the earth upon
which he lies.
 In saying this he means to say that it would not matter if Alonso were dead.

(v) What reasons do Sebastian and Antonio give for having drawn their swords? [2]
 Sebastian says that as they were keeping a watch over Alonso, they heard “a hollow
burst of bellowing like bulls or rather lions”.
 Antonio says that it was a noise that could frighten even a monster or cause an
earthquake.

(iv) Give the meanings of the following words as they are used in the context of the passage:
[1]
a) Cherish – Aspire to / Desire / Strive for
b) Sloth – Laziness

Question 2

(a) When Prospero and Miranda first came to the island, what kind of a relationship did they
share with Caliban? Why did this change? (8)
 When Prospero and Miranda first came to the island, they cared for Caliban.
 Prospero stroked him, made much of him, gave him water with berries in it and
taught him how to name the bigger light and how the less.
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  He treated him humanely and lodged him in his cell.
 Caliban in turn showed Prospero all the qualities of the island- the fresh springs,
brine pits, barren place and fertile.
 Miranda, out of pity, taught him language.
 This changed because Caliban attempted to violate Miranda’s honour as he wanted
to populate the island with Calibans.

(b) Who was Sycorax? What had she done to Ariel? Why? (6)
 Sycorax was a foul witch, who with age and envy had grown into a hoop.
 She was banished to the island(from Algiers) as she had committed manifold
mischiefs and sorceries too terrible to enter human hearing.
 She was not killed as she was pregnant.
 Ariel- a spirit- was then her servant. He was a spirit too delicate to act her earthy
and abhorred commands.
 He refused her grand hests and therefor she confidend him with the help of her
more potent ministers into a cloven pine within which rift he was painfully
imprisoned for 12 years.
 Ariel’s groans made wolves howl and penetrated the breasts of ever-angry bears.
It was a torment to be laid upon the damned.

(c) Comment on the kind of relationship Ariel shares with Prospero. (6)
 Ariel and Prospero share a relationship of servant and master.
 Ariel carries out all of Prospero’s commands- be it to fly, to swim, to dive into the
fire or to ride on the curled clouds. (No Evil use of their powers)
 Prospero relies heavily on Ariel with regards to carrying out his plan of revenge.
Prospero ordered Ariel to create the tempest amidst the sea without harming a
soul- and Ariel performed this task well. He is constantly trying to impress Prospero
as he wants to soon be free.
 Prospero commends Ariel for his well performed tasks (My brave spirit) as well as
reprimands him when Ariel reminds him of his promise to be set free. (Reminds him
of the time he freed Ariel from the Cloven Pine he was imprisoned in by Sycorax and
threatens to imprison him in an Oak tree if he reminds him once more of the
promise). Ariel is therefore indebted to Prospero- Prospero takes advantage of this.
 Ariel is a key element in ensuring the success of Prospero’s plan- Making Ferdinand
believe that Alonso is dead (in the guise of a water nymph)
 Prospero acknowledges Ariel’s usefulness when Miranda and Ferdinand fall in
love.(Fine spirit- Ill free thee within two days for this)
 Ariel puts Alonso and Gonzalo to sleep and wakes up Gonzalo at the right time to
prevent their untimely death and to also prevent the ruin of Prospero’s plan.

 Ariel leads them “through toothed briars, sharp furzes, pricking grose and
thorns” and leaves them in a “filthy-mantled pool” beyond Prospero’s cell.
 The conspirators crawl out of the pool and make for Prospero’s cell. While Caliban is
very focused to getting Prospero killed, Stephano and Trinculo are very upset about
losing their bottles in the pool.
 Meanwhile, at Prospero’s behest, Ariel has hung gaudy clothes as a trap for the
conspirators. Stephano and Trinculo get distracted by the apparel and are anxious to
possess it. Caliban urges Stephano to carry out the plan and not to waste time over the
trashy clothes.
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  As Stephano and Trinculo try to select the garments to see the effect they produce,
Prospero summons some of his spirits, in shape of dogs and hounds, to chase them.
Further, he wants his goblins to torment them.
 Personal response - Stephano and Trinculo are drunken boasters and greedy by
nature.

Question 3
Gonzalo is the perfect foil to the character of Antonio. Discuss the given statement with
regards to the action in in the play.
(20)

 Antonio is the antagonist in the play. He is the brother of the rightful Duke of
Milan-Prospero. Gonzalo is an honest old counsellor in the court of Naples.
Amidst the tempest:
 Gonzalo is patient, talks calmly to the Boatswain and is positive about surviving the
ship wreck.
 Antonio is abusive and arrogant. He abuses the Boatswain and has resigned to the
fact that they will sink.
Usurping Prospero’s position as Duke:
 Prospero and his then three year old daughter were sent to this island because of
Antonio’s avarice.
 Prospero was engrossed in perfecting his magical knowledge and handed over the
charge of the Dukedom to his brother Antonio, who grew accustomed to the power
of the title of Duke, and the revenue.
 He conspired with the King of Naples and agreed to bow down to his crown and pay
annual homage in return for his help. He turned Prospero’s men against him and
then arranged for a treacherous army to put them out on the rotten carcass of a
boat, and leave them for dead.
 Though they were related by blood, he betrayed Prospero and did not even care for
the well-being of his niece, Miranda.
 Gonzalo, though unrelated by blood cared deeply for Prospero.
 He ensured that the boat that Prospero was left on was equipped with rich
garments, linens, necessaries and volumes of his magical books.
Consoling Alonso:
 On the island, Antonio does not make any effort to console Alonso, who thinks that
his son has drowned. He only finds way and means to criticize Gonzalo and also the
island.
 Gonzalo does his best to console Alonso. He tells Alonso to be thankful that they
survived, as most merchants don’t. He also enumerates the various good qualities of
the island and is humiliated by Sebastian and Antonio.
 He also tells Sebastian not to be so harsh with Alonso when he blames Alonso for
them being in this situation and is further humiliated by Antonio. (Marriage of
Claribel)
Plot against Alonso:
 Antonio only pretends to care about Alonso’s safety and promises to guard him
along with Sebastian while he sleeps.

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  He then poisons Sebastian’s mind with thoughts of him inheriting the crown, now
that Ferdinand and Claribel were out of the way.
 He convinces Sebastian that Ferdinand is no more, while Gonzalo constantly
reassures Alonso that Ferdinand is not dead.
 He turns against the very man, whose help he sort in usurping his brother’s
Dukedom.
 He suggests that Gonzalo and Alonso must be killed while they lie asleep, as their
deaths would be very beneficial.
 Gonzalo on the other hand, genuinely cares for the safely of Alonso. When he is
awoken from his slumber by Ariel, his main thought is about preserving the King.

Question 4

Discuss Prospero’s role in bringing Ferdinand and Miranda together. [20]

 The storm that was caused at Prospero’s behest leaves Ferdinand shipwrecked and
separated from the King’s party. This was done on purpose by Prospero to advance
his plans. Prospero was the rightful duke of Milan but his position was usurped by his
brother with the help of the King of Naples, of whom Ferdinand is the heir. Prospero
wants Ferdinand and Miranda to love in love with each other, possibly to reclaim his
power in Milan.
 By Prospero’s design, Miranda and Ferdinand look at each other for the first
time are immediately besotted. Miranda thinks that he must be a spirit or divine
creature as appears to her as handsome. Similarly, Ferdinand thinks of her as a
goddess and falls in love with her.
 He reveals his identity as the heir to the throne of Naples and tells her that he would
make her Queen of Naples. At this Prospero is pleased that they are so taken with
each other but decides that the two must not fall in love too quickly as the prize
that is easily won may not be valued, and so he accuses Ferdinand of merely
pretending to be the prince of Naples.
 When he tells Ferdinand he is going to imprison him, Ferdinand draws his sword, but
Prospero charms him so that he cannot move. Miranda attempts to persuade her father
to have mercy, but he silences her harshly and leads the helpless Ferdinand away. He
is secretly pleased as things are going as per his plan.
 Later, we see that Prospero has imposed hard labour upon Ferdinand – to carry
logs and pile them. Ferdinand claims it would be an odious task except that he carries
it to serve Miranda. His carrying of the logs is a punishment but one he willingly
accepts because thoughts of Miranda make the work seem effortless.
 Miranda offers to take up his chore but Ferdinand refuses. Although she was
instructed not to reveal her name, Miranda impulsively divulges it to Ferdinand.
Ferdinand, for his part, has known other beautiful women, but he admits to having
never known one as perfect as Miranda. When Ferdinand avows that he would gladly
serve her, Miranda asks if he loves her. At his affirmative reply, Miranda begins to
weep. She tells Ferdinand that she is unworthy of him but will marry him if he wants
her. He quickly agrees and they pledge their love to each other.
 Prospero has been listening, unseen. He acknowledges Miranda and Ferdinand's
natural match as being "of two most rare affections". He silently blesses the couple,
once again revealing his intention of seeing them together.

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  Later, Prospero tells Ferdinand that the hard work imposed upon him was “trials of
thy love” and now that he has stood the test, Prospero would like to reward him with
“a third of mine own life” – Miranda. Even though, Prospero had planned for them
to come together, and was in control of the events leading up to the betrothal, perhaps
once can deduce that Ferdinand and Miranda finally accepted each other due to
mutual affection, and not only because of Prospero’s magic.
 Prospero gives his blessing to Ferdinand and Miranda, warning Ferdinand only
that he take care not to break Miranda’s “virgin-knot” before the wedding has been
solemnized. Ferdinand promises to comply.

PROSE
Question 5
Attempt a character sketch of the protagonist Salvatore. (20)

 Salvatore was a boy of fifteen with a pleasant face, a laughing mouth and care-free
eyes. His brown body was as thin as a rail. (Physical)
 He used to spend the morning lying about the beach with next to nothing on and his.
Scrambling up the jagged rocks on his hard feet, for except on Sundays never wore
shoes, he would throw himself into the deep water with a scream of delight. (Nature)
 He was full of grace.
 He shouted to his younger siblings to come inshore when they ventured out too far
and made them dress when it was time to climb the hot, vine clad hill for the frugal
midday meal. (Responsible)
 He was madly in love with a pretty girl who lived on the Grande Marina. They were
affianced, but they could not marry till Salvatore had done his military service, and
when he left the island which he had never left in his life before, he wept like a child.
(Sensitive)
 It was hard for one who had never been less free than the birds to be at the beck and
call of others, it was harder still to live in a battleship with strangers instead of in a
little white cottage among the vines; and when he was ashore, to walk in noisy,
friendless cities with streets so crowded that he was frightened to cross them, when he
had been used to silent paths and the mountains and the sea. He was dreadfully
homesick. (Secluded life)
 But it was hardest of all to be parted from the girl he loved with all his passionate
young heart. He wrote to her (in his childlike handwriting) long, ill-spelt letters in
which he told her how constantly he thought of her and how much he longed to be
back
 Here he fell ill of some mysterious ailment that kept him in hospital for months. He
bore it with the mute and uncomprehending patience of a dog.
 When he learnt that it was a form of rheumatism that made him unfit for further
service his heart exulted, for he could go home; and he did not bother, in fact he
scarcely listened, when the doctors told him that he would never again be quite well.
What did he care when he was going back to the little island he loved so well and
the girl who was waiting I for him?
 He was a little shy because he had not seen her for so long. He asked her if she had
not received the letter that he had written to her to say that he was coming home.
 She told him straight out, with the blunt directness of her race that she could not
marry a man who would never be strong enough to work like a man. They had
made up their minds, her mother and father and she, and her father would never give
consent.

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  When Salvatore went home he found that they all knew. The girl's father had been to
tell them what they had decided, but they had lacked the courage to tell him
themselves. He wept on his mother's bosom. He was terribly unhappy, but he did
not blame the girl.
 A fisherman's life is hard and it needs strength and endurance. He knew very well
that a girl could not afford to marry a man who might not be able to support her.
(Rational)
 His smile was very sad and his eyes had the look of a dog that has been beaten, but
he did not complain, and he never said a hard word of the girl he had loved so
well.
 His mother told him that there was a young woman in the village who was willing to
marry him. Her name was Assunta. "She's as ugly as the devil," he said.
 Salvatore was now a great, big husky fellow, tall and broad, but still with that
ingenuous smile and those trusting, kindly eyes that he had as a boy.
 He had the most beautiful manners.
 Asunta never ceased to be touched by his gentle sweetness. But she could not bear
the girl who had thrown him over, and notwithstanding Salvatore's smiling
expostulations she had nothing but harsh words for her. Presently children were born
to them.
 It was a hard enough life. All through the fishing season towards evening he set out
in his boat with one of his brothers for the fishing grounds. It was a long pull of six
or seven miles, and he spent the night catching the profitable cuttlefish. Then
there was the long row back again in order to sell the catch in time for it to go on the
early boat to Naples. At other times he was working in his vineyard from dawn till
the heat drove him to rest and then again, when it was a trifle cooler, till dusk.
 Often his rheumatism prevented him from doing anything at all and then he would lie
about the beach, smoking cigarettes, with a pleasant word for everyone
notwithstanding the pain that racked his limbs.
 Salvatore had enormous hands, like legs of mutton, coarse and hard from constant
toil, but when he bathed his children, holding them so tenderly, drying them with
delicate care; upon my word they were like flowers. He would seat the naked baby on
the palm of his hand and hold him up, laughing a little at his smallness, and his laugh
was like the laughter of an angel. His eyes then were as candid as his child's.
(Innocent)
 Salvatore was ust an ordinary fisherman who possessed nothing in the world except a
quality which is the rarest, the most precious and the loveliest that anyone can have-
Goodness, just goodness.

POETRY

Question 6

In her poem, The Gift of India, explain how Sarojini Naidu evokes feelings of pride and pain
through the grim reality of war. [20]

 The speaker (Mother India) begins by asking if there are any more sacrifices left for
her to make. She has given the world rich gifts of cloth, food grains, and precious
things like gold. India has flung priceless treasures of her land to the countries of
the East and the West.
 Moreover, she has sent her sons, that is, the youth of her land in distant
battlegrounds to fight someone else’s war, “the sabers of doom.”
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  These brave soldiers who fought and gave up their lives are buried in mass graves in
the foreign countries where they died. The speaker says that “they sleep by the
Persian waves, scattered like shells on Egyptian sands.”
 The speaker says that these dead soldiers “lie with pale brows and brave, broken
hands”, further intensifying the image of death and devastation. The bodies are
scattered like carelessly trimmed flowers (blossoms mown down by chance) in the
battlefields of Flanders and France. ‘Blood-brown meadows’ expresses the horrors of
war and warfronts in a rich poetic language, it poses as an apt metaphor.
 The speaker asks the foreign nations if they can measure her grief and her tears or
know her woe, her sufferings when she watches the horrors of war.
 In spite of her despair, she says that they can never fathom the pride that thrills
through her heart. She gives expression to the voices of countless Indian mothers
whose sons have fought in the war.
 The poet says that the people of the warring nations can never comprehend the
small hope that comforts these mothers from the pain of praying for their sons’
safety.
 She asks if they can understand the vision of glory she sees which she can see in the
torn red banner of victory, which has come at the expense of much death and
destruction.
 The speaker then talks about the ensuing peace after the war, which will be a painful
process. People will pay their respects to the dead who fought in the war, the
comrades in many ranks who gave their life. They will honour the deeds of those
soldiers, who will never be forgotten.
 When such a time of peace comes, the speaker asks that the blood of her martyred
sons be remembered and honoured.

Question 7
Not a single creature on the earth has a more or less right to exist. Bring out the truth of this
statement with reference to the poem Dolphins.
(20)

 Dolphins’ by Carol Ann Duffy is a dramatic monologue written from the perspective

of dolphins. The poem shows how dolphins and other animals are suffering in the
hands of men. It urges us to look at the world from their perspective. It conveys the
poet’s massage against human cruelty towards animals. On a metaphoric level, the
poetess may also want to indicate the troubles of humans who think they are caught in
the confines of this world. The poem is full of pathos. Confinement of dolphins
evokes emotions in the minds of readers
 The dolphin begins by speaking in the second person. This has the effect of creating
a sense of familiarity and affinity between the reader and the creature. However, all
that it says beyond the third line of the poem is in the first person plural. This is
striking because it leaps into the world of dolphins forced to speak from their
perspective about the effects of imprisonment by humans. There is both pathos and
dignity detectable in its voice when it speaks of being in its element but 'not free'.
This tension introduces a conflict that is articulated in the remainder of the poem, the
dolphins' natural affinity with humans and the latter's propensity for causing misery.
 The 'constant flowing guilt' refers to the necessity in an artificially created aquatic
habitat of having water pumped through the pool. Duffy presents it metaphorically as

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 'guilt' because the system is effectively an admission that the situation is unnatural and
otherwise unsustainable.
 A dolphin derives an enormous amount of information about its world through its
skin, which reacts to minute changes in electromagnetic fields. Its highly developed
sonar is well known. In stanza two even this seems unable to offer 'explanations' that
might make sense of its new world.
 In the 'limits of the pool' it finds 'no truth' but only the monotony of 'the same
space always'. It has taken 'days' to 'translate' the truth because the dolphin's mind is
so used to expanses of free ocean. Far from illustrating mental incapacity this
presentation of the creature serves to stress its ability to fathom new experience.
 The culpability of humans in the abduction of dolphins is indicated by the continual
presence of 'the man' who is 'above' the pool. This reflects his assumed position of
superior status. He reduces the dolphins to performing by jumping through hoops or
after a 'coloured ball'. 
 The terrible psychological effects of confinement show in, 'for the world / will not
deepen to dream in.' Recalling the idea of mediation between languages, we might
see the dolphin as a translator rendering an unnatural 'world' in terms of its own
natural language.
 The collective voice in 'we' signals a search for truth and an awareness of selfhood
that is not selfish. This is made clear in references to the 'other'. Stanza three stresses
the mutual understanding between the dolphins and they define themselves in terms
of each other, 'The other knows / and out of love reflects me for myself'. This
touching insight into a relationship signals a sense of otherness, respect for
independence and mutuality. The dolphin's companion shares the its knowledge that
life has changed irrevocably and tries to reduce the attendant pain by simply being a
sympathetic 'other' of its species. The reflexive pronoun 'myself' clearly indicates
that the fact that the dolphin who speaks in the poem is able to maintain its integrity
as a result of this mutual understanding.
 The sense of loss of former freedom is intensified by the visual description, 'We see
our silver skin flash by like memory / of somewhere else.' The simile brings together
the dolphins' intimate bodily knowledge of each other but simultaneously reminds
them of a time when there would be a multitude of such sights. The dolphin is
naturally gregarious and often travels in shoals of several hundred. Their real world is
now referred to as 'somewhere else'.
 The dolphins' response to performing tricks with a ball is defined, naturally enough, in
terms of the presence or absence of the man. They 'have to balance till the man has
'disappeared'. This detail is important to consider as it emp hasises the human's utter
control.
 In observing that the 'moon has disappeared' there is a visual association being made
between the spheres that are the ball and the moon. The natural regulator of the tides
has been replaced by an unnatural, man made object. It seems almost to be a garish
substitute for the real moon.
 The final stanza's presentation of the dolphins' predicament is bleak and hopeless.
The image of a record being played repeatedly is used as an analogue for the
seemingly eternal circuits that the dolphins make in the pool that confines them. The
fact they 'circle well-worn grooves / of water on a single note.' effectively translates
the experience of sound into the terms of the aquatic mammal.  The monotony of
existence communicated in a 'single note' and its effects is compounded by the
dolphin's expression of utter desolation as, in the next sentence, it tells of the effect of
its companion's mournful voice. Its eternal 'music of loss', keening over its
predicament and impending doom is enough to turn the listening dolphin's heart 'to
stone'. It has sympathy for its own kind.
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  The poem closes with reminders of oppression, control and confinement. Possibility
that was once limitless for the dolphins now has 'limits' imposed upon it that will
become impossible to bear. The realization will probably hasten the creatures'
death, signaling that there is as much at stake from a psychological perspective as
there is from the physical circumstances. Stifling of natural impulse and behaviour
can have fatal consequences. The 'plastic toy' is a further reminder of the indignity
visited on this majestic creature of the ocean.
 The phrase until the whistle blows is potentially ambiguous. In one level it simply
refers to the controlling device used by the keeper but on another the poet might be
reminding us that this sort of cruelty will continue until somebody exposes it for what
it is. Duffy does effectively 'blow the whistle' on such practices.
 The final line, with its reference to 'our mind', neatly links the plural possessive
pronoun with the singular noun 'mind' indicating a collective voice for a species. The
tense change to 'we will' draws attention to the contrast between what the dolphins
had, what they have now and can expect in the future.

Question 8

The poem, Desiderata, serves as a guide to lead a meaningful life. Comment. [20]

 Desiderata is a didactic poem offering a simple, positive credo for life. The world is
loud and fast and it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the sensory overload. The poet
exhorts us to “remember what peace there may be in silence” thereby expressing
the value of calm retrospection.
 The poet advices people to be “on good terms with all persons” but without
compromising on our principles and beliefs. The poet understands the difficulty of the
choices we face and that’s probably why he says “as far as possible”.
 The poet guides us to “speak your truths quietly and clearly”. Truth here could be
referring to sharing of one’s ideas, beliefs, feelings, experiences but with respect for
another and without ambiguity. There is also emphasis on listening to others thereby
giving them the respect that we would expect for ourselves. He points out that even
people who seem dull or ignorant have their own hidden stories. Listening helps us
gather wisdom.
 Loud and aggressive people can give out unhealthy vibes, stirring feelings of stress
and restlessness around them. They seek to dominate and become “vexatious to the
spirit” or distressing to the soul. The poet advises to best avoid such people if inner
peace is the reader’s goal.
 The poet advises not to evaluate our worth through comparisons with others. If you
see yourself as better, pride would make you arrogant. If you perceive yourself as
inferior, chances are you’ll likely turn resentful. There is humility in acknowledging
that there are different types of people in the world – some with more talents /
achievements and others with less. The poet tells us to allow ourselves credit where
it is due – “enjoy your achievements”. Yet at the same time, he tells us to enjoy our
“plans”. This is a gentle nudge to go onward, plan ahead to move onto greater things.

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 Regardless of the work one chooses to do, the poet asks us to take an active interest
in it. Having work is a gift in the “changing fortunes of time”. Excellence in what
you do and finding joy in doing it become invaluable in good times or bad.
 Further, the poet warns us to be discreet in “business affairs” because there are
people who would manipulate a person’s opportunities, strengths and weakness or
failures to their benefit. The world might be a tricky place, but as the poet points out –
there is also another side to it. You can find heroism in equal measure. There are
people with morals and values – those who “strive for high ideals”.
 The poet goes on to encourage people to be true to themselves and others. It is easy
to become cynical about love but the very nature of love is to blossom in the least
expected moments of life, especially in the difficult circumstances. The poet’s idea
behind the use of grass as a metaphor is that like grass, love is unconditional – it does
not require any special treatment or season to grow.
 “Counsel of the years” includes our own experiences as well as the experience and
wisdom of the elders. When people are young, they are often guided by impulse. The
poet urges us to give up those emotions of the youth and be guided by the wisdom
that mankind has gathered over the ages.
 “Strength of spirit” is required to “shield you in sudden misfortune”. In difficult
times, a strong person will stand be able to handle the situation. The poet speaks of
“dark imaginings” or negative thoughts that could come from unnecessary worrying,
distrust or anger. The poet directs us to consciously steer away from depressing
situations and rein our minds in. While a code of conduct is required to promote our
well-being, the poet advices us to “be gentle with yourself”.
 When the poet says “you are a child of the universe”, he is reminding you that you
are part of a bigger world than you can imagine. The words “you have a right to be
here” are profound. By reminding us of our right to be here, the poet is asking us to
appreciate our place in the world. He is trying to make us realize that we cannot
control everything. Seemingly unrelated events have their own significance,
becoming cause and consequence in their own right – “the universe is unfolding as
it should”.
 Though the working of this universe is beyond our control, the poet is helping us find
an anchor. He urges us to submit to God and let things run their course.
Understanding that God means different things to each person – “whatever you
conceive Him to be”, the poet reaches out to a broad audience, making God more
accessible. He further exhorts the readers to “keep peace in your soul” in the midst
of one’s chores and desires. Listening to your inner self and staying true to your heart
are important to keep the inner peace intact.
 The poet admits there is “sham, drudgery and broken dreams” in life but the
sweeter parts of life are also a reality that need to be acknowledged. The poet does
not want the not so good moments to blind the reader to the good that exists. Finally,
the poet tells us look to the bright side of life and “strive to be happy”.

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