1-I wandered Lonely as a Cloud

Overall plot:
Wordsworth strongly believes that Nature is full of joy and has a life of her own. The sight of a
very large number of golden daffodils looks very charming to the poet. It appears to him that
the flowers are very happy and enjoying the pleasant atmosphere.
1-The speaker walks alone, similar to a solitary cloud in the sky floating over hills and valleys. Suddenly,
the speaker sees a long and bustling row of daffodils. They are near the lake and the trees and flutter
and shift as they are blown by the breeze.

2-Comparing the daffodils to stars in the sky, the speaker notes how the flowers seem to go on without
ending, alongside a bay. The speaker guesses there are ten thousand or so daffodils, all of their heads
moving as if they were dancing.

3-Near the daffodils, the waves are glinting on the bay. But the daffodils seem more joyful to the
speaker than the waves. A poet couldn't help being cheerful, says the speaker, in the cheerful company
of the daffodils. The speaker stares at the daffodils lingeringly, without yet realizing the full extent of the
positive effects of encountering them.

4-After the experience with the daffodils, the speaker often lies on the couch, either absent-minded or
thoughtful. It is then that the daffodils come back to the speaker's imaginative memory—access to
which is a gift of solitude—and fills the speaker with joy as his mind dances with the daffodils.

2-Light breaks where no sun shines

Overall plot:

Thomas uses beautiful imagery in this poem to express how it feels for a man when he suddenly gets a
ray of hope in the midst of all the dark hours and struggles that he has been going through. The poet has
used the parts of the body to express his thoughts and to show how it feels when a person in distress
gets a single hope to get out of it. How a wave of joy passes through the entire body and the mind
rejuvenates over the sign of a new hope.

1-The poem, “Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines”, opens with the title as the first line. Firstly, the poet
compares hope to light and water. He says that hope comes like light where there is darkness and like
water where it is dry. He opines that it gives strength to the heart and pushes it to strive. Hope brings
life flesh to bones without flesh. In short, the first stanza symbolizes the power of hope to light and
water that can bring life to a lifeless body.

2-The second stanza of the poem, “Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines”, compares hope to a burning
candle. The poet says that the candle of hope does not melt. It brings vigor to the youth and chases
away senility from the adult. Dylan Thomas glorifies the power of hope by calling it a creator of life. The
poet remarks that hope brings life to a sterile place. Like a fine fruit of fig, man’s strength expands and
reaches the stars because of hope.

3- The third stanza of the poem, “Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines”, describes the nature of the energy
brought by hope in one’s eyes. It comes up like dawn and makes the strength of blood flow like the sea.
The energy flows without any fence or hurdle. The energy is expressed in a mixture of joy and sorrow. It
appears as a smile born out of the tears of joy.

4- The fourth stanza of the poem, “Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines”, describes the effect of hope
chasing away sorrow and negativity. Hope chases darkness from the moon-like eyes. It brings warmth to
the bones and drives away cold. It allows an individual to remove and throw away the dress of winter-
like sorrow. Hope lets a person dream of a positive and bright spring-like future in their eyes.

5- The final stanza of the poem, “Light Breaks Where No Sun Shines”, highlights how deep hope can
reach into an individual. Even when one’s faith is lost and the future is hidden, hope shines like a light.
Even when thoughts become hopeless and logic fails, hope can revive one’s energy. Hope appears at the
tip of the thought and provides the power to create the future. Life and energy flow like light and like
the sun shining on a wasteland.

3-London

Overall:

Blake takes a very negative and hopeless view of the city and the lives of those living within it. He hated
the way London was becoming, looking negatively on business and materialism. Blake felt himself as
free, and the poem is a comment on others living in London.

1-The speaker takes a walk through the designated streets of London. This walk brings the speaker near
the River Thames, which seems to have its course dictated for it as it flows throughout the city. The
speaker sees signs of resignation and sadness in the faces of every person the speaker passes by.
2-The speaker hears this pain too, in the cries men as well as those of fearful newborn babies. In fact, in
every voice in the city, in every law or restriction London places on its population, the speaker can sense
people's feelings of being oppressed by city life.

3-The speaker hears the cry of young chimney-sweeps, whose misery brings shame on the Church
authorities. Thinking of unfortunate British soldiers dying in vain, the speaker imagines their blood
running down the walls of a palace.

4-Most of all, the speaker hears the midnight cries of young prostitutes, who swear and curse at their
situation. In turn, this miserable sound brings misery to their tearful new-born children. The speaker also
imagines this sound plaguing what the speaker calls "the Marriage hearse"—a surreal imagined vehicle
that carries love and death together.

4-Philip Larkin, Wants

Overall:

Philip Larkin's short poem "Wants" focuses on the fundamental human need for seclusion, the desire to
be alone in a quiet personal space, escaping from the noise and madness of the social whirl. Further, it
also suggests that 'beneath it all' there is oblivion running on by itself, like a kind of script error in the
background we humans cannot ever control.

1-In the first stanza of ‘Wants’ the speaker begins with a simple statement. He says that “Beyond all this,
the wish to be alone”. Since this is the first line of the poem, that which he is moving “beyond” should
be considered to be the rest of the world, and all its complications. He feels that the desire to be by
oneself always exists, just beneath the surface.

Some of the things the speaker wishes that he and the rest of humanity could get beyond are listed out
in the next three lines. Each of these lines begins with “However”. This use of anaphora emphasizes the
impossibility of escaping contemporary life. There is always something in a way that keeps one from
being alone when they want to be.

The first thing he mentions is “invitation cards”. Through figurative language, he imagines that there are
so many demands on one’s time throughout life that the sky “grows dark” with them. This is a more
complicated, and poetic, way of saying that they never stop coming. There is always someone asking
one to be somewhere or do something.

In the next two lines, he mentions the “printed directions of sex”. He is referring to the programmed
way in which one reacts to the need for sex. One’s actions are replanned, printed and clear. There is no
way around it. The same can be said for the next line which mentions family. This gathering in particular
is one that is taking place under a “flag-staff” or flag pole. Friends, partners, and family are three of the
things which keep one from being alone. The flag-pole speaks to a sense of duty to one’s relatives and
perhaps to the country one lives in.

The final line of this stanza is a repetition of the first. Larkin is emphasizing the way that the desire for
solitude is at the beginning and end of everything else one might want.

2- The form that the first and fifth lines of the first stanza took is repeated in the second stanza. This
time though, the poet states that “Beneath it all, the desire for oblivion runs”. Here, he is stating that
beneath all of one’s attempts to the contrary, there is an innate human desire for “oblivion.” This can be
interpreted in two ways, that he is speaking about death itself, or about a state in which one is entirely
alone and sensorially muted.

Just like in the first stanza the poet moves through three different examples of how one works against
their own wants. First, there are the “artful tensions of the calendar”. This is the passing of time, and the
planning out of days. One might in reality want to be dead, or at least separate from the rest of the
world, but still, the planning goes on.

He also mentions “life insurance” and the “tabled fertilely rites”. These are two ways humans push back
against death and insure that their hand will be felt after their gone. Through the creation of children
and the payouts associated with life insurance plans, one’s life continues.

In the fourth line, the speaker states that throughout life humans try to look away from death. By
avoiding that which is going to happen no matter what one does, humans go into “oblivion” unprepared.
The poem concludes with Larkin repeating the first line again (just as he did in the first stanza).

5-Flying- crooked
In lines 5 and 6, Graves directly connects the butterfly and humanity: "Yet has- who knows so well as I?-
A just sense of how not to fly[...]". The reader can then analyze the entirety of the poem equating the
flight of the butterfly with the flight of humanity.

First, "honest idiocy" of line 2 suggests a person who is inherently idiotic, who has developed contrary to
what is deemed cool or desirable.

Lines 3 and 4 add tones of dismay and defeat as this person has accepted his fate of crookedness.

Line 6, "a just sense how not to fly", suggests a period to trail and error, of continuous failure as
attempts are made at fitting the mold and being socially acceptable.

Lines 7 and 8 describe a directionless and unstable life, one who "lurches" here and there, a word that
gives negative imagery of one being tossed about, uncertain, and without the means of personal
support.

Lines 9 and 10 give the sense of an elite group ("the acrobatic swift") who are skillful and graceful, but
also with some sort of twist of humor and irony, turns the perspective into one that calls flying crooked
a "gift" that even this skilled group of elites does not have. This then giving the cabbage white butterfly
(or the person of interest) a tad of pride in his difference, positivity in his ability to digress from the
values of imitating high class living, and courage to explore beyond the mold which society has created.

6-The windhover

1-This morning I was lucky enough to see a flying falcon, which seemed to me to be the morning's
favorite creature, a prince of daylight with speckled feathers. He was riding the rolling air currents way
up high. He seemed full of pure joy as he controlled the wind like a horse-rider does a horse. After
hovering almost motionless, the bird suddenly dove in a smooth arc, like that of a skater's heel cleaning
sweeping across the ice. The way the bird dove and glided revealed its authority over the strong wind.
Watching the bird moved me profoundly—the bird's flight evidence of its sheer mastery and
achievement!

2-All these different attributes meet together in this bird—beauty, honor, action, air and feathers all in
one! But your fire, Christ, burns even more brightly, powerfully, and beautifully. Oh Christ, my knight in
shining armor!

3-The bird was nothing special when you really think about it—even hard and boring work like plowing a
field makes the upturned soil glitter and shine beautifully. And hot coals, fallen from a fire my lord,
break open to reveal their beautiful red and golden colors.

7-All in green went my love riding

1-2. In the first stanza of ‘All in green went my love riding’, the speaker begins by repeating the title, “All
in green went my love riding”. The images in this stanza are pretty straightforward. The speaker is
describing his nameless love riding a horse “into the silver dawn”. Cummings uses very few words to
convey these poignant images. Something that’s obvious right away is that Cummings is interested in
color. In this stanza alone he mentions three different ones.

In the second stanza, the reader will encounter the first instance of the refrain. Along with his love,
there are “four lean hounds” and the “merry deer”. The latter is a very good example of personification.
He describes the deer as “merry”. It’s clear from the details of the “hounds” and the “deer” that the
woman riding is in fact hunting.

3-4. The third stanza of ‘All in green went my love riding,’ contains several examples of alliteration which
help to paint a rhythmic and poetic depiction of the deer. They’re beautiful, red, and swift. He states
that they are more fleeting than “dappled dreams,” an unusual comparison but one that adds to the
dream-like qualities of this poem. Readers should also take note of the parallelism in lines two and three
of the third stanza. The sentences are similar in every way except that the adjectives change.

Following the second three-line stanza is the second two-line stanza. Here, the speaker describes a
“cruel bugle” that singing out in the scene. This is very likely a hunting horn, “cruel” because of the fate
that’s in store for the deer.

5-6. The fifths stanza of ‘All in green went my love riding,’ reveals that it is the speaker’s lover who blew
the horn. It is at her “hip” as she goes riding into the “silver dawn”. It is at this point that repetition
starts to become very important in ‘All in green went my love riding’. Cummings uses it again, in the
form of anaphora, at the beginning of the sixth stanza. He starts the stanza with “four lean hounds
crouched low and smiling” just like in the second stanza. This time though, the “level” meadow is the
focus rather than the deer.

7-8. The alliteration in the seventh stanza of ‘All in green went my love riding,’ is unavoidable. The
repetition of the “s” consonant sun emphasizes exactly what its describing, the smooth, slippery way the
deer move through the meadow. They are “lean lithe” and once again, “fleet”. It is clear that the
speaker is quite concentrated on the deer, even more so than the hunter/his lover.

The eighth stanza describes the arrowing chasing out after the deer, an unsurprising turn of events. The
arrow is “famished,” longing to meet with the flesh of a deer.

9-10. The ninth stanza is another example of repetition and refrain. The lines are very similar to the first
stanza, with only a few alterations. This time he describes the “Bow” that she has in her possession.
There are not many changes between this stanza and the previous. She is still riding out in the field in
what is a very dreamy setting. It seems that at least right now, this is all that exists in the speaker’s
world. More is added to the setting in the tenth stanza. Now there are “sheer peaks”. While the setting
is expanding, Cummings also makes it seem as though the hunter, dogs, and deer, are on a long journey,
moving from one landscape to the next.

11-12. In the eleventh stanza of ‘All in green went my love riding’, “death” is confirmed as part of the
story. It is “daunting” and the deer are even more “pale” than it is. They are “tense,” making it seem
that they are fully aware that death is coming. The hunter follows as she has been throughout the poem.
She’s headed towards the deer, chasing them down.

13-14. The thirteenth stanza of the poem is an exact replica of the first stanza. After reading the
following stanza, the thirteenth feels like preparation, as if it is building up to the final point of action
that concludes the poem. It becomes clear in the last lines of the poem why the speaker put so much
focus on the deer. All the while they were a metaphor for his heart, that is what she was pursuing, with
the intent to kill. Due to the continued repetition that has taken up the vast majority of the poem, this
change, and revelation at the end is even more powerful.

8- Pity this busy monster, manukind

Overall:

“Pity this busy monster,manunkind” is a poem that emphasizes Cummings’s belief in nature and his
opposition to those things—science, technology, and intellectual arrogance—that he believed attack the
purity of nature. In the opening lines, Cummings makes it clear that man is un-kind—as opposed to
being “mankind”—when he or she engages...

1-3. In the first three lines of ‘pity this busy monster, manunkind’, the speaker begins by restating the
line which would become the title of the poem. He is asking the reader to take a moment and realize
that they should not feel “pity” for a certain entity. It is not described in any great depth at first and a
reader must make a leap as to what or whom the speaker is talking about. The entity to which he refers
is a “busy monster.” This group of beings is then spoken of as being “manunkind.” This originally coined
word refers to humankind itself.

The monster that the speaker is engaged with is all of humanity. They are described as being both
“busy” and monstrous. The reason for this description is flushed out in the next few lines. It is important
to note that from the perspective the speaker is writing in he does not seem to include himself in the
grouping. He is exempt from the judgments he is about to pass.
Humankind is spoken of as participating in “Progress.” At first, this term is only loosely defined— later in
the text the speaker expands on what it is exactly he has a problem with. For now, all the reader knows
is that “Progress” is like a “comfortable disease.” It is something one does not want to make any effort
to stop but is slowly eating away at humankind. There is some aspect of what humankind is attempting,
which the speaker disapproves of, that is putting “death and life” somewhere “beyond.” They are, or will
soon be, no longer a threat to human existence.

4-10. This section of ‘pity this busy monster, manunkind’ defines what the speaker means when he
describes progress. It is any advancement in science, with all of its broad reach, that changes
humankind. The speaker is particularly bothered by a number of different parts of scientific research. He
describes the first as moments in which humankind…

Examples of this type of science are ample. They are any lines of research that seek to further
humankind beyond its current limits. This could mean either physically or mentally. The speaker does
believe that people should reach beyond that which they understand. There is no reason to do this kind
of research as, he thinks, it will only come back to harm humanity.

The next lines speak of how humankind is attempting to “deify,” or make a god of, “electrons.” Science
has become the new religion. It is taking the place of God. He does not approve of this transition and
does not want to see the world transform.

Science should not only stay away from the realm of God, but also that of his creation. The speaker
mentions a “mountainrange” which is altered by science, and the world as a whole being remade as
something completely different.

This is the overarching theme of this piece— that nature should not be altered or supplanted by science.
Humanity, the speaker thinks, is going to “extend” itself “through curving” until the “unwish / returns on
its unself.” That which humanity did not wish for, or seek out through science, will come back to harm
them. At this point they will not be as they were, humans will be “unself.” They will have become a new
form of life completely changed by their own hands.

The last lines of this section ask the reader to understand that a world that has been “made” by
humankind is not a word “born.” They are not the same, as one is unnaturally contrived. The final
phrase asks that the reader pity the “flesh” which is being transformed.

11-13. In the next set of three lines, the speaker continues in the same way. He asks that the reader pity
a few elements of the world which are in the firing line of science. These include the “flesh” which was
mentioned previously, as well as…It is not humankind that deserves one’s pity but those elements of the
world which are changed by humanity’s hand. The “fine specimen of the hypermagical,” which is what
people have become, controls the world through “ultraomnipotence.” They now have an ability that is
beyond God’s. Humankind is in control of everything they touch.

14-15. In the final two lines of ‘pity this busy monster, manunkind’ the speaker concludes his narrative
by stating that “Doctors” know when there is a “hopeless case.” The point of view from which the
narrator is now speaking comes from both his own beliefs and those of the rest of humanity. He is
mimicking humankind’s impulse to write off and abandon that which does not serve them.

In the last line, humanity has chosen to abandon their own world. They have either reached a breaking
point or come to the conclusion that they will live better elsewhere. This is the epitome of what the
speaker hates. He would never choose to see the planet abandoned. These actions, and the progress
which initiates them, are seen as the greatest threat to humankind.