LESSON 7

THE LIBRARY
JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER

SUMMARY
Life and order came over chaos and the formless frame of nature after God pronounced ‘LET
there be light!’ The that first shone on the early creatures was faint. Gradually with age, brute
and man were uplifted. Men started writing their thoughts on different materials. Eventually,
the press was found. With it, the thoughts of old thinkers have revived again, and so, their
voices are again being heard and appreciated. The great works and writers of the past are
once again alive along the crowded shelves of the library. Life thrills along the alcove hall of
the library like some Pantheon breathed into life.

PARAPHRASE

Stanza 1
God said, ‘LET there be light!’ and with this, life and order came over the dark and cold
chaos and through the dead and formless frame of nature.

Stanza 2
The light was dull, not bright. It was shone first on giant fern and mastodon, on half-formed
plant and beast of prey, and man as rude and wild as they. They were not intellectual and
knowledgeable.

Stanza 3
Gradually age and time progressed (spread over) like waves in the ocean, the earth developed
and uplifted the beast and man. The man gained knowledge and started writing symbols and
their meanings on the stones and trees’ barks. In other words, the man thought of expressing
his ideas and viewpoints on the things available around him during olden times especially, in
the early man era.

Stanza 4
As the man began expressing his ideas, he adopted various ways of recording them starting
from sedge-wrought rolls to leathern rolls. Many ages passed like this, and eventually, the
printing press was found, the greatest invention of all.

Stanza 5
With the advent of the printing press, the dead souls, i.e., the poets and writers of the past
who were dead now came into existence; their thoughts and ideas were revived or regained
from the past. All other religious beliefs which were within the walls of the religious
institution got a platform or a space to speak out. Now the dead priests’ sermons and the old
poets’ words were recorded in the books. Thus, they were recognized in the books.

Stanza 6
In continuation of the previous stanza, the poet further indicated the set up of the ‘library’
where all these books were stacked properly. He added that the dead poets and writers looked
down on the library as they, the kings of mind, were now honoured in the books. The long-
lost words of the poets, sages, and sibyls had been read by the people since the library was
built.
Stanza 7
In the library, the books were arranged on crowded shelves. These shelves provided insight
into Greek and Roman literature. Now, people got to know various things about this
literature. Not that only, the famous poets and writers of English literature had also been read.
Like, the English playwright, Shakespeare trod once again on the stage (his works were being
read and understood) and the English poet, Chaucer had again got the opportunity to describe
the society of the 14th century in his books.

Stanza 8
In the last stanza, the poet had compared the library with Pantheon, a temple dedicated to all
the gods in ancient Greece and Rome. He further explained that the famous ancient poets and
writers are just like Greek gods who have woken up from a deep trance and got the chance to
live again and speak because of books. The poet further adds that with the vast collection of
books organised in alcove halls, the life thrills as the old voices and thoughts of men are
reclaimed again.

LITERARY DEVICES

RHYME SCHEME-AABB

SIMILE – man as rude and wild as they; age after age, like waves, o’erran

METAPHOR- kings of mind; LET there be light; Pantheon marbles broke

THEME
The theme of the poem is related to how the development of the printing press has helped to
preserve the works of past thinkers and artists. It talks not only about the value of keeping
alive the knowledge and voices from the past but also the thrill and joy that later generations
can derive from them.