Tight Corners - E.V.

Lucas

Introduction
In the essay 'Tight Corners' E.V. Lucas points out that tight corners can be both mental as
well as physical but the mental tight corner is too much to bear.
The Narrator's Tight Corner :
Once the narrator went with his friend to 'Christie's, an auction-sale hall, where Barbison
pictures were put up. The narrator knew nothing about art pictures nor had enough money to
participate in the bidding. He had only sixty-three pounds and that too in the bank. He had no
securities either. The auction started and the narrator, not understanding the seriousness, started
raising the bid amount marginally. By that time a Daubigny picture was put on sale. A rich man
bade four thousand guineas for it. As usual, the narrator, just for fun, raised the bid by fifty
guineas more.
The Difficult Situation for the Narrator :
Lucas thought that someone would raise the bid further. But to his amazement, nobody
else bade after that. The narrator was panic-stricken. No doubt, he unwittingly got into a (mental)
tight corner. He could not find ways as how to raise such a huge amount. Sensing the danger his
friend had already left the place. Finally, the narrator decided to confess his foolishness to the
auctioneer himself and get rid of the critical situation.
Turn of Events :
All on a sudden, the unexpected happened. At that time, the rich bidder's agent came and
offered fifty guineas, provided he passed on the art picture to the first bidder. The narrator was
immensely relieved. He was about to weep in joy. Yet, he had the presence of mind to demand a
hundred guineas. When a cheque for that amount was given to him, his joy doubled.

Water The Elixir Of Life by Sir.C.V.Raman

In this essay “Water – The Elixir Of Life”, Sir. C. V. Raman brings out how water is
indispensable to plant and human life and how it also causes evils like soil-erosion. He also tells excess of
water can be preserved for good purposes.

In the first part of the essay, Raman talks poetically of the beauty of water. Water trickling down
the rocks or water collected in small ponds that satisfy the thirst of passing cattle are beautiful sights. Big
tanks play a vital role in South Indian agriculture. Much of the rice is grown under them. It is a beautiful
sight to watch the sun rise or set over them.

One of the most remarkable facts about water is that it carries silt to far-off places where it is
finally deposited .The land where silt is deposited is usually very fertile. The silt that mixes with the salt
water of the sea precipitates rapidly. The colour of the water changes successively from the muddy red or
brown to yellow and green and finally to the blue of the deep sea. These varying shades are also
fascinating.

The flow of water has undoubtedly played a great part in geological processes. Rapidly flowing
water carries away the rich top layer of the soil. This phenomenon is called soil erosion. The problem of
soil erosion is of major significance in various countries especially in India. Soil erosion in the initial
stage is unnoticed. Later, it results in the formation of deep gullies, ravines and ruts. These things affect
agriculture. The terracing of the land, the construction of bunds to check the flow of water, the practice of
contour cultivation and the planting of some types of vegetation are the measures that can be used to
check soil erosion.

Water is the basic of all life. Every animal and plant contains water in its body. Water is essential
for its body. Moisture in the soil is equally important for the life and growth of plant trees.

The conservation and utilization of water is fundamental for human welfare. At present
streams and rivers wastefully empty themselves into the sea. It is clear that the adoption of techniques
preventing soil erosion would help to conserve and keep the water where it is wanted.

TREE SPEAKS – C. Rajagopalachary

Introduction: In this essay, the author speaks about the loosing of our culture along with
practices we cherished in yester years. The cutting down of a tree upsets us the biological cycles
as we all know. The author even in those days, was concerned about the likely ecological
imbalance caused by man’s indiscriminate cutting down of trees. He also points out that the tree
and such other ones have a life of their own.

Colonel’s evening walk: C.Rajagopalachary narrates an incident which made him realize the
importance of the trees. He had a friend named Ray Johnson who was a medical officer in
Salem. Colonel Johnson was a great lover of trees. He had the habit of talking to the trees on the
roadside, during his evening walks. “He would bend intimately and kiss the trees and whisper to
them kind words. This was odd but very beautiful to see”.

Killing of beautiful girl: One day Mr. Johnson was shocked when a forty years old, huge pipal
tree had been felled because it was too near the district board office. He wanted to voice his
strong protest against it. The next day when Rajaji saw him, Colonel said, “They have killed my
tall, beautiful girl. They say this tree was too near the building. Who asked them to place their
building so near the tree? The tree has been growing there these forty years, and this upstart
building came to be there only last year” with eyes filling.

Rumination: The doctor’s feelings made a deep impression on Rajaji. He visited the place next
day late evening and saw the fallen giant pipal tree and ruminated, “Was each branch a separate
life and the tree an uprooted family or was it even bigger than that, each flower having its own
soul, the whole tree being a great city?”

Author’s dream: He remembered the belief of Hindus that every tree had a life and soul like
humans. That night the giant pipal tree appeared in his dream and asked, “Here I am, killed,
murdered. I want you to take up my cause. They paid treble coolie rates to coax the men who at
first refused to cut me down. The silver pieces seduced the good men.”

Conclusion: Rajaji agreed to the words of the papal tree. He wrote a letter to the ‘Madras Mail’
condemning strongly the folly of felling old trees. The members of the bar criticized him for his
pre-occupation with trees, when everyone fighting for India’s freedom. Though Rajaji took
active participation in the freedom struggle, he did not regret writing about the pipal tree.

THE SOLITARY REAPER - Wordsworth

Introduction: William Wordsworth (7 April 1770 – 23 April 1850) was a major English
Romantic poet. Wordsworth’s most famous work, The Prelude (1850), is considered by many to
be the crowning achievement of English romanticism. Wordsworth and his friend Samuel
Taylor Coleridge invented a new style of poetry in which nature and the diction of the common
man trumped formal, stylized language.

Form: The four eight-line stanzas of this poem are written in a tight iambic tetrameter. Each
follows a rhyme scheme of ABABCCDD, though in the first and last stanzas the “A” rhyme is
off (field/self and sang/work).

Summary: "The Solitary Reaper" opens with the speaker directing our attention to a solitary
reaper (someone who cuts down crops—like corn or rye—by hand). William Wordsworth’s
rendition of the delight a simple peasant girl derives from nature and how the entire atmosphere
reverberates with that happiness.

The poet sees a highland girl reaping the harvest and singing. The poet compares her
song with the song of a nightingale, soothing his sorrows, easing his weariness, just the same
way as the nightingale welcomes the weary travellers in the shady oasis of the Arabian sands.
The maiden’s song is also compared to the song of the cuckoo bird which is the harbinger of
summer and ushers in happiness. The song of the maiden is as thrilling and convincing as the
song of the cuckoo bird which is effective enough to break the silence of the seas.

The poet cannot understand the dialect of the song, he is unable to comprehend its
meaning, but is able to gauge from its sad tone that it probably relates to some unhappy memory,
some battles fought long ago. The poet also feels that the song may be about the commonplace
things like joys or sorrows.

The poet feels that the girl’s song would have no end and would continue forever. The
poet saw the girl singing as she bent over her sickle. The song of the maiden was so mesmerising
and spellbinding that it held the poet motionless and still. When the poet started mounting the
hill, the song could not be heard but it left an indelible mark on the poet’s heart. For the poet, it
would always remain a fresh evocative memory. The poem also shows how the appeal of music
is universal.