iiOEM

THE PoEM

Signposts
to:
advises people
poet
the
Accept noise but
c e but there is more
peace in silence
politely and
Voice their
the
opinions
clearly but also
listen to others.
of loud or
Aroid the company
aggressive people.
compare
with others.
themselves

Not
Not

Focus on their career, however humble it may be.

. sc
Be cautious, aas the world is full of tricksters
but remember that
also virtuous people. there are

Be themselves, not to imitate, not to make pretence of love and

affection.
>Use their past experience and strengthen themselves; not to
depressing thoughts.
indulge in

Be disciplined and gentle to themselves.

Accept that they belong to the world as much as any other natural element.

Be at peace with God and within one's own soul.

Strive for happiness amidst all the boredom and tension.

The Poem in Detail

Stanza 1
Th poet advises people to accept noise. He reminds them that there is more peace
le
in but
the poet is suggesting to remain in the chaos and din of life
e r e
atthe same time to go deep inside and to listen to your inner voice. People should
try to be advises them to give voice
as long as possible. The poet
everyone
to their opinions even the
without being rude; and to listen to others,
dull and n s truthfully to speak and share their views.
the ign
gnorant as they too have the right
Stanza 2
The poet a as they disturb their mental
angry people
peace, The t h e m to avoid loud and themselves with
others as

itt can
can have poet further people not
advises to compare
who are m o r e
be some people
gative impact. There will always
successfull than
than us, still there will be others, less successful
han us;
than us. So comparing

111
DESIDERATA
 of foc.
yourselves with such people can make you either vain or bitter. Instead of focussing
on others, you should enjoy your achievements.
Stanza3
The poet advises people to focus on their career, however humble it may ho
this way they can reach the highest pedestal of their career. But they shoaIn
be cautious and should not get tricked in the workplace, as the world is full
ould
of
tricksters. However, not everyone is bad in the world, and hence they shouild
not
be ignorant of kindness and virtue. The poet thus emphasises that without hei.
eing
tricked and without ignoring goodness, they can strive for high ideals as the wo
orld
is full of motivation.
Stanza 4
The poet advises people to be themselves and not to imitate others. He ask
them not to fake love and affection and not to be cynical about it. Amidst all the
distress and boredom of life, love would be "as perennial as the grass'", i.e.. it

would remain forever.

Stanza 5
In this stanza, the poet is suggesting them to learn from their past experiences. He
further advises them not to cling to youthful memories of the past and strengthen
their spirit to guard them from any misfortune. They should not get disturbed by
imagining things that have not happened. Many times these imaginations are the
result of fear caused by fatigue and loneliness. They should discipline themselves
but should not stretch it beyond limits. They should be gentle to themselves.
Stanza 6
The poet says that they are as much a part of the universe as the trees and the
stars They equal
are. are to everyone else and that no matter what others say,
they have a right to be on the earth. Things happen for a reason even though
they may not be able to comprehend them. The events unfold as they should
Stanza 7

The poet asks people to be at peace with their God. No matter how hard they
tne
work to fulfil their aspirations in the confused and chaotic life, they a
arc
re advised

by the poet to maintain peace within their souls.

Stanza 8
roken

The world with all its hypocrisy,

insincerity, drudgery and unfülfileaenioyed
yed.
dreams, is still beautiful. The poet believes that life should be lived and en
One should always remain cheerful and "strive to be happy.

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 NOTES
uLLLLLLUUUuu
Stanza 1 virtue: a
good moral quality.
calmly and steadily. Stanza 4
ncidly:
placnaliy

into the middle of. Be

d: in
or
yourself: Do not imitate others.
haste:
in a
rush.
feign: pretend.
der:here, without giving up your
SuITender: here
cynical: critical; believing that
people
principles. are
generally selfish and dishonest.
eak your truth quietly and clearly": aridity: extremely dry; here lacking any
Give voice to your opinion without any interest.
hesitation and without being rude.
disenchantment: a state where something
isten to others: Don't be indifferent to is repulsive to you; it no long attracts
the opinions of others. you.
dull:not exciting or interesting. perennial: present in all seasons of the
ignorant: 1acking knowledge or year.
information. for in the face of all aridity and
'even the dull and the ignorant; they disenchantment itis as perennial
too have their
as the grass": when you will be
story.": everybody's dissatisfied with life and it would
experiences and opinions
equally are
seem to you dull and uninteresting,
important and should be heard.
it is love that would be ever present
Stanza 2
to support you.
louad:
expressing ideas or
opinions in a Stanza 55
forceful way.
"Take kindly the counsel of the years,
ggressive: ready and willing to fight, gracefully surrendering the things
argue, etc. of youth. ": learn from your past
vexatious: distressing. experiences and let go happily the
Uatn: futile; unsuccessful. things of youth.

Utter angry and

Nurture: to help (something or someone)

Stanza 3 unhappy. to grow, develop, or succeed.

to shield: to protect.
ercise caution in
dton in
for the your business affairs; dark imaginings: dark, negative thoughts.
world is full of
poet dvises trickery: The the state of being very tired.
people to be cautious fatigue:
against tricksters. wholesome: complete.

DneTDERATrA 113
 "whatever you Conceive Him to be

Stanza 6 whatever you

think about God
in your soul": feel Deas
"keep peace ace
unfolding: revealin8
within yourself.
Stanza 7 Stanza 8
with God": sham: falseness; hoax.
at peace
"Therefore, be and
s h a m : falsenes
predestined
sinceeverything is difficult o r unpleasantt
for good,
maintain drudgery: boring,
everything happens
peace with God.
work.

THEMESs

Max Ehrmann's poem Desiderata

is the main theme of
1. Positivity: Positivity be positive or optimistic
of being or the tendency to
Positivity is the practice life-in chaos, in speech.
in life. One should be positive in every aspect of
misfortune, in loneliness, and
in career, in love, in sudden
in relationships,
whole world. Abraham Lincoln said
towards oneself and the
in overall outlook
make up their minds to be."
about as happy a s they
that "most people are
and
that e v e n with "its sham, drudgery,
Thus as Ehrmann says in the poem
it to be
beautiful world if your mind perceives
broken dreams", it can be a
and keep striving
so. What is important
is to focus on the positive aspects
towards happiness.

To maintain a positive outlook throughout life is animportant message of the

distress oneself with "dark imaginings", but should
poem. One should not
become strong enough to deal with any misfortune.

2. Belief in Self: One must have belief in oneself. Believing that everything
an
happens for a reason, and "universe is unfolding as it should" renders
optimistic outlook towards life and keeps one away from stress. Also what
is important is to feel peace within one's soul even if one has to work hard
for one's aspirations "in the noisy confusion of life."

Positivity is within oneself, and what matters is how a person shapes his nc
By comparing oneself with others one can turn bitter but by just enjoyins
one's own achievements, one can be happy and satisfied. Thus to live ne

with positivity, we should be true to ourselves, should not compare ourselves

with others, should not feign love or affection, should be humble, should not
give way to dark and dismal thoughts and should always strive to be happy

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 STYLE
LLUULU

1. amd Structure: Desiderata is

Form and a
philosophical poemn in prose having
eight stanzas of unequal length.
language used is simple and direct but instructional. A number of
verbs and adverbs have beern used in the poem that add to the instructional
Mement of
element of the poem. Besides, the poet has provided satisfactory reasons for
his instructions or suggestions. For example, he suggests to "avoid loud and
aggressive persons because they are distressing to the spirit; he suggests to
1ieten to others because "their story or their views are also important.
a Didactic Poem: Desiderata' is a didactic poem as it intends to teach a moral1
lesson on life. It tries to delineate several positive ways to look at life. What
adds to the didactic element in the poem is the use of imperative sentences.
Imperative sentences are requests, suggestions, advice or commands and they
often use a verb to begin the sentence. The subject therefore is the person
listening, or the audience. It is through the use of such sentences that the
poet suggests to the readers to be themselves, to be interested in their own
careers, to avoid loud people, to be cheerful and to be
always happy.
For example:
Speak your truth quietly and clearly.
Avoid loud
and aggressive people.
Keep interested in your own career.
Be yourself.
Take kindly the counsel of the years.
The poem is didactic not in the sense that it tells u s what all to do, but it
also tells us houw to do it. The poet tells us to go amid the noise, but calmly.
ie advises us to speak truth but quietly and clearly. He advises us to take
nterest in our own careers without looking at others. He asks us to counsel
the years but kindly. By the end he instructs us to "be cheerful" and to strive
for happiness.

imille: It is a figure of speech in which a likeness between two different

n g s is stated in an explicit way, using the words 'as or like,
The
example of simile in the poem is:
Neither be cynical about love;
Jor in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is a s
perennial a s the grass.
115
DESIDERATA
 nature of the grass.
The compariso
Here love is compared to the perennial
becomes arid, boring
and
unattractive,i
employed here implies that when life
like that grows throughout the year
grass
will be love which would support us

of consonant sounds, usually at the

4. Alliteration: It is the close repetition
alliteration can be seen in the followinog
beginning of words. For example,
phrasesS
misförtune.
Nurture strength of spirit shield you in sudden
to
imaginings.
Butdo not distress yourself with dark
loneliness.
Many fears are born of fatigue and

CRITICAL REMARKS
LLLLLLLULLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Desiderata puts forward a positive

1. Desiderata: A Way of Life. Ehrmann's
basic things desired by man
outlook towards life. It teaches
some
and new

so that he can lead a happy

and fruitful life.
ideals. It reminds
reminder to strive for high
It is a concise but truly inspiring
Ehrmann also
us to treat others kindly,
and to be gentle with ourselves.
motivates us to have faith in ourselves and to develop trust in the way things
to find peace in our souls and to discover
unfold. Doing so will help us

meaning in our existence.

The poem begins with the poet's advice of realising the importance of silence
amidst the din of everyday existence. It tells the readers to accept the noise
but there is more peace in silence. It asks them to listen to their inner voice.

Ehrmann asks the readers to be good and kind to everyone. He advises people
not only to give their opinions truthfully, but also to listen to others. Loud
and aggressive people are to be avoided as they disturb our mental peace.
One of the most important advice that Ehrmann gives is to live life without
imitating others or pretending to be what one is actually not. He says "Be
yourself and never compare yourself with others. Comparison with others
may turn you either "vain" or "bitter" and you may lose your essence. You
should always enjoy your success without bothering about others.
To build a positive future, people should give weightage to what time has
taught them. It is important to strengthen your spirit so that you can heip
yourself in tense situations.
To live a satisfactory life, the poet advises us to be disciplined and to be "gentc
with yourself." He believes that humans, trees, stars and all the other thing

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 sr belong to this universe. Events unfold as they should and therefore
e q u a l

a u l d always be at peace with one's God. Despite all the shortcomings,

confusions and bleakness, the world is still beautiful. The only
one

orders, confu
reauired is to have a positive attitude and to strive to be happy.
thing
Desiderata is a Latin word which means desired things. The title of
2. Title:

nem is apt as it talks of things desired to lead a happy and peaceful

the po
of t h e things desired are:
life. Some
Voice your opinions quietly and clearly and without being rude; listen to
opinions of others.
the
Try to avoid loud and aggressive people who trouble your soul.

Do not compare yourself with others to save yourself from becoming

either vain or bitter.

Try to be yourself, do not make pretence of love, nor become cynical

about it.

Become mature with passing of time, do not cling to the youthful memories
of past; but strengthen yourself to face the future.
Be disciplined and gentle.

Maintain peace with God and your inner self. Do not let the chaos and
confusions of life affect you from within.
Look at the world with a positive outlook, believe in its beauty, "be
cheerful" and "strive to be happy."

UNDERSTANDING THE PoEM

Discuss 'Desiderata' as a poem that motivates one to remain optimistic

and offers suggestions to lead a happy and peaceful life.

Ans. Desiderata" by Max Ehrmann is a highly motivational poem that acts like
Deacon light in the journey of life. The world is full of chaos, hardships,
ckery, misfortunes, loneliness, drudgery and shattered dreams. It is in
ch a situation that Desiderata' motivates one to remain positive and offers
Sestions to lead a peaceful and happy life.
Acc advice on how to live amidst the
ecept Noise: The poem begins with
s y and confusing world. The poet asks
an
people to accept the noise, i.e., to
acce
ept the world a s it is, but to strive to remain peaceful. Here, the poet is
Sug
Egesting that amidst the chaotic world, learn to remain calm and go deep

DESIDERATA
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