A thing of beauty - John Keats

The poet says that a beautiful thing is a source of endless joy. It has eternal beauty which
never fades away. A beautiful thing is like a shady shelter which gives us a sleep full of sweet
dreams, good health and relaxation.
We get attached to the beautiful things around us and weave a pretty band which binds us
with our life, it becomes the reason for us to live.The Earth is full of hatred, greed and
negativity. According to the poet, the gloom and sadness caused by this negativity fades away
with the positive vibes of the beautiful things that surround us.
The poet lists out some of the beautiful things that surround us.He says that the numerous
creations of God like the Sun which gives us energy, the moon's beauty, the trees which give
us shade are the natural beauties around us. The various animals like the sheep that surround
us make our world lively. The pretty flowers like daffodils make the world green and lively.
The flowing streams of water cool and refresh us in the hot summer season. The forests
which are full of the pretty musk rose flowers are a beautiful sight to the eye.
All these are the things of beauty. Also, the stories of the brave soldiers who laid their lives to
protect their people are beautiful and inspiring. These beautiful things are like a fountain of
immortality bestowed upon us by God. They inspire us to live on and maintain our faith in
goodness.

LITERARY DEVICES

METAPHOR

‘bower quiet’-refers to a quiet shady part in the garden

‘sweet dreams’-happy dreams

‘wreathing a flowery band’-connecting to nature

`pall’-a covering like a shroud

‘endless fountain of immortal drink’- refers to the deeds of great men and women that have
made them a source of inspiration for people of all times
The list of beautiful things is metaphors and symbols of nature.
Alliteration
noble natures, cooling covert, band to bind

Imagery:
Flowery bands, shady boon, clear rills, daffodils in green world, Grandeur of dooms, cooling
covert , endless fountain of eternal drink
Symbol:

A ‘simple sheep’ — refers to mankind as Christ is considered the shepherd who leads human
souls out of the dark world of sins and temptations

Transferred epithet:
’’Gloomy days’’ and ‘ unhealthy and over darkened ways’

OXYMORON
‘’Mighty dead’’

THEMES OF THE POEM

1.Things beautiful have an embalming effect.
2.They help us cope with negativity
3.They make life more meaningful
4.God has blessed us with object of beauty
5.We need to bond with them
Keeping quiet - Pablo Neruda

Now we will count to twelve

and we will all keep still.

At the very start of the poem, Neruda sets the momentum of stillness for us. He urges his
readers to count to twelve and remain still. By using twelve Neruda is giving reference to
hours of the day(clock) or months of the year/ a sacrosanct number associated with divinity
(Bible), faith , hope and completeness

For once on the face of the earth

let’s not speak in any language

Neruda wants people to stop using language and be silent. But it's not just about being quiet.
He also wants to break down cultural differences and discrimination. He believes that if
people stop using language and stay still, they can come together as global citizens and see
themselves as part of a bigger human community. Neruda's message is that we should unite in
stillness and let go of our cultural identities for a while.

Let’s stop for one second,

and not move our arms so much.

By asking people to lay down their arms and ammunition, Neruda is making a call for peace.

It would be an exotic moment

without rush, without engines,

The poet wants us to appreciate the beauty of stillness and silence. He suggests an exotic
moment when everything slows down, even engines. By imagining a world where engines
stop, he highlights the need to reverse the negative effects of industrialization. It's a time to
escape the fast-paced and competitive nature of our modern world.

We would all be together

in a sudden strangeness.

In these lines, Neruda promotes a sense of unity among people. He envisions a world where
all our activities and constant communication come to a halt. In this moment of stillness, the
world will unite in a unique and unprecedented way. The suddenness of this stillness, as
emphasised by the poet, will create a wonderful feeling of unfamiliarity. The resulting peace
from such complete silence and stillness will bring everyone together, serving as a common
bond.
Fisherman in the cold sea

would not harm whales

The fisherman here stands for the exploitation and aggressive activities of man especially
with regard to nature. The poet hopes that keeping quiet would bring in a rush of
introspection and in an attempt to understand oneself and the world around, people will stop
inflicting harm on others as well as themselves

And the man gathering salt

would look at his hurt hands.

Once a person starts reflecting on their own life, man, represented here by the salt gatherer,
they will begin to recognize the lessons they have learned, symbolized by their hurt hands. In
the busy and chaotic nature of life, people rarely take the time to introspect and understand
themselves. However, during a peaceful and extraordinary moment, when people finally calm
down and assess their lives, they will experience a sense of self-realization and gain a deeper
understanding of themselves.

Those who prepare green wars,

wars with gas,

wars with fire,

victory with no survivors, would put on clean clothes

and walk about with their brothers

in the shade, doing nothing.

Neruda suggests that embracing stillness will benefit individuals and society. It will end
destructive actions against nature ("green wars") and halt conflicts between nations. Soldiers
can see each other as brothers instead of enemies. Doing nothing can bring significant
benefits.

What I want should not be confused

with total inactivity.

(Life is what it is about,

I want no truck with death.)

The poet explains that when he talks about "keeping quiet" and being still, he doesn't mean
complete inactivity. While physically being still and quiet, our minds will remain active.
Silence allows us to generate valuable insights that can have the power to transform the
world. Absolute stillness, both physically and mentally, would be like death, which the poet
wants to avoid. His intention is to promote introspection and reflection that nurture life. His
call for rest should not be misunderstood as a call for eternal rest.

If we were not so single-minded

about keeping our lives moving,

and for once could do nothing, perhaps a huge silence

might interrupt this sadness

of never understanding ourselves

and of threatening ourselves with death.

Neruda believes that our survival instincts often overshadow our self-reflection. We get
caught up in materialistic pursuits, neglecting to truly understand ourselves. By embracing
the silence he suggests, we can escape this misery and tap into genuine happiness through
self-realization.

Perhaps the earth can teach us

as when everything seems dead

and later proves to be alive.

In the above-quoted lines, the poet asks us to take lessons of dormancy from Mother Nature.
During winter, life seems to stagnate as ice covers everything and sucks all traces of life.
However, what seems dead at one instant actually blossoms into life with the onset of spring.
What the poet is implying here is that stillness is always succeeded by a period of
rejuvenation. Hence, we must not be scared of being in the still and keeping quiet. Just as
Nature has shown us, our apparent inactivity will be awarded eventual growth and prosperity.

Now I’ll count up to twelve,

and you keep quiet and I will go.

In the end, the poet gracefully departs, having sparked introspection and reflection within us.

His role as a poet is complete, and it is now up to us to embrace his message and strive for a

meaningful existence that benefits both ourselves and society.

A roadside stand - Robert Frost

Themes:
Social divide between the rich and the poor
Unequal pace of development between the cities and villages.
Sense of distress and dissatisfaction among the rural poor.
Callous attitude of the government.

The little old house was out with a little new shed
In front at the edge of the road where the traffic sped,
A roadside stand that too pathetically pled,
It would not be fair to say for a dole of bread,
But for some of the money, the cash, whose flow supports
The flower of cities from sinking and withering faint

The poem presents an old house where a peasant family probably lives. The peasant has put
up a new shed beside the road. The shed has been personified (personification) to plead. The
poet, however, stresses that it does not plead for bread or the basic amenities of life i.e. the
peasant has not set up the shed as a means of living but rather as a source of additional
income apart from his trade. The peasants who live in the countryside yearn for some city
money. Note that there is no difference between the money in the countryside and money in
the cities – the only difference being their usage. While money in the countryside was fit
only for a hand-to mouth lifestyle, the city money, in excess, could bring in luxurious
benefits. In the poem, Frost artfully describes the city money as the incentive for the growth
and upkeep of the city’s flowers and beauty.

The polished traffic passed with a mind ahead,

Or if ever aside a moment, then out of sorts
At having the landscape marred with the artless paint
Of signs that with N turned wrong and S turned wrong
Offered for sale wild berries in wooden quarts,
Or crook-necked golden squash with silver warts,
Or beauty rest in a beautiful mountain scene,

The polished traffic is the skillful use of a transferred epithet in the depiction of the urban
city-dwellers who passed through the countryside with their minds preoccupied in their
profession and the related. The poet states that in their preoccupation, if ever aside remained
a moment, they spent it on scrutinizing and judging the destitution of their surroundings.
They appear mad at having the beauty of the landscape marred by the presence of the shed
and other rustic signs. The poet goes on to mention a few of the produce being sold at the
shed.

You have the money, but if you want to be mean,

Why keep your money (this crossly) and go along.
The hurt to the scenery wouldn’t be my complaint
So much as the trusting sorrow of what is unsaid:
Here far from the city we make our roadside stand
And ask for some city money to feel in hand
To try if it will not make our being expand,
And give us the life of the moving-pictures’ promise
That the party in power is said to be keeping from us.

The paragraph is a dramatic monologue by the peasant in charge of the shed. The peasant
agrees that money indeed belongs to the city dwellers, however, if they were interested in
imparting biased judgment and other uninvited observations, they could keep their money to
themselves and move along. Their complaint on the marred scenery does not hurt the
peasants as much as the sorrow that is left unsaid. ‘Trusting Sorrow’ is a metaphor and refers
to the fact that the peasants set up the shed in the hopes (‘trusting’) of attracting city folk to
buy their produce, thus providing the additional income to enjoy the luxuries of life.
However, they are disappointed (‘sorrow’) in the fact that no one is interested in their sales,
but rather on the elimination of the shed that mars the landscape. Once again, the poet
stresses on the fact that the peasants do not want the money as the lone source of income but
as an additional allowance that will provide them with the lifestyle depicted in the movies.
‘City Money’ is used by the poet as it differs from country money in usage but shares the
same source. Using light satire, Frost admonishes the political party in power for keeping
the farmers from enjoying an equal lifestyle like the city-dwellers.

It is in the news that all these pitiful kin

Are to be bought out and mercifully gathered in
To live in villages, next to the theatre and the store,
Where they won’t have to think for themselves anymore,
While greedy good-doers, beneficent beasts of prey,
Swarm over their lives enforcing benefits
That are calculated to soothe them out of their wits,
And by teaching them how to sleep they sleep all day,
Destroy their sleeping at night the ancient way.

Farmers tend to live in rustic areas due to the presence of farmlands. The idea behind the
paragraph is that real-estate brokers force farmers from the villages into towns promising
them riches and benefits. The farmers will indeed be rich for a while after which they will be
left scoundrels ultimately resulting in the benefit of the brokers. ‘Greedy good doers’ and
‘beneficent beasts of prey’ are both oxymoron (and great use of alliteration). They stand for
the estate brokers who try to make the farmers leave the land by promising the farmers
benefits that make them complacent, so the farmers will not have to think for themselves any
longer as they will no longer be in want. Now sluggish, the farmers have learnt to sleep all
the day thereby losing their sleep at night. ‘The ancient way’ spoken of over here simply
refers to the lifestyle wherein one works and toils during the day, coming home tired in the
evening and thereby taking a well-deserved good night’s rest.

Sometimes I feel myself I can hardly bear

The thought of so much childish longing in vain,
The sadness that lurks near the open window there,
That waits all day in almost open prayer
For the squeal of brakes, the sound of a stopping car,
Of all the thousand selfish cars that pass,
Just one to inquire what a farmer’s prices are.
And one did stop, but only to plow up grass
In using the yard to back and turn around;
And another to ask the way to where it was bound;

Using the terms ‘childish longing’ the poet skillfully demonstrates how the wish for a
customer becomes almost an obsession with these peasants. However, it still is in vain.
Sadness here has been personified again, as lurking near the open window, almost praying
for a city-dweller stop by the shed and at least inquire on farmer’s prices, let alone purchase
anything! Citing an example, Frost says that a car indeed stopped by, but it had nothing to do
with the shed. It merely revved up its engine, plowing up grass in order to turn around. Yet
another car did stop, but only to ask for directions. ‘Selfish cars’ is yet another skillful use of
a transferred epithet.

And another to ask could they sell it a gallon of gas

They couldn’t (this crossly); they had none, didn’t it see?

Another car stopped by to ask for a gallon of gas. Now enraged at the thoughtlessness of the
city-folk, the peasant rebukes the driver, “No, we don’t sell gas! We sell produce – Don’t
you see??”

No, in country money, the country scale of gain,

The requisite lift of spirit has never been found,
Or so the voice of the country seems to complain,
I can’t help owning the great relief it would be
To put these people at one stroke out of their pain.
And then next day as I come back to sane,
I wonder how I should like you to come to me
And offer to put me gently out of my pain.

Once again the poet wishes to draw a fine line between the city money and country money.
The country scale of gain is different from that of the city’s as its standards are much lower.
Due to these low standards, the country scale of gain cannot provide the happiness (lift of
spirit) as they earn just enough to meet their daily needs. This urges the poet to wish that he
could put the farmers out of their pain at one stroke. This somehow inspires readers to do so
too by augmenting guilt. This poem is a rage that the poet feels wherein he himself
empathizes with the peasant farmer. However, he also wonders for the future wondering
how he would respond if someone else comes up to him and offers to put him out of his
pain at one stroke, tomorrow, once he has steadied himself back to sane. By this, he
wonders about the efficiency of such kind of a solution as the farmers may not accept such
immediate relief from their problems.
Poetic Devices

Personification-pathetically pled, sadness that lurks near the open window there/ that waits all
day, voice of country

Metaphor-the flower of cities from sinking and withering faint, swarm over their lives

Oxymoron and alliteration-greedy good-doers, beneficent beast of prey

Transferred epithet-polished traffic, selfish cars

Aunt Jennifer's Tigers - adrienne rich

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers is a poem by Adrienne Rich illustrating her feminist concerns. In the
male dominant world, a woman of her time was only supposed to be a dutiful homemaker.
This poem through the world of Aunt Jennifer, tells us about her inner desire to free herself
from the clutches of abusive marriage and patriarchal society.
The first stanza opens with Aunt Jennifer’s visual tapestry of tigers that are fearless of their
environment. "Bright topaz denizens of a world of green" – evoke an image that these regal
tigers are unafraid of other beings in the jungle. Bright here signifies their powerful and
radiant persona. There is a sense of certainty and confidence in the way these tigers move as
can be seen in the line – "They pace in sleek chivalric certainty".
In the second stanza, the reality of Aunt Jennifer is revealed as she
is feeble, weak and enslaved, very much the opposite of the tigers she was knitting. Her
physical and mental trauma is depicted in the line – "find even the ivory needle hard to pull".
Even though a wedding ring doesn’t weigh much, "the massive weight of uncle’s wedding
band, sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand" signifies the amount of dominance her husband
exercised over her. This also means that her inner free spirit has been jailed by the patriarchal
society.
The last stanza starts on a disturbing note about Aunt Jennifer’s death. Even her death
couldn’t free her from the ordeals she went through which can be seen in "When Aunt is
dead, her terrified hands will lie still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by". But her art
work which was her escape route or in a way, her inner sense of freedom, will stay forever,
proud and unafraid. The tapestry calms her down, it becomes her voice. She gives vent to her
feelings through the tapestry.

Aunt Jennifer has been living her life in accordance with the rules laid down by her husband.
Her life lacks expression and is overburdened by the demands and duties of her married life.
Although old and weak, she still has to face oppression by her husband. Her fear is palpable.
These are the ordeals that the poet talks about.

Wedding band: symbol of oppression in an unhappy marriage. Marriage is socially and

legally binding, making women silently accept their subjugation and male domination,
especially in a patriarchal society. Its weight refers to the burden of gender expectations.
Ringed means encircled or trapped in hardships and sufferings, losing individuality and
freedom.

Aunt Jennifer: a typical victim of male oppression in an unhappy marriage, who suffers loss
of individuality, dignity and personal freedom silently. She becomes dependent, fearful and
frail.
Tigers: symbolise untamed free spirit. Here they are the antithesis of their creator’s
personality. The use of colours implies that Aunt Jennifer's tigers and their land are more vital
and enjoy a sense of freedom far greater than her. Yellow (bright topaz) connotes the sun and
fierce energy, while green reminds one of spring and vitality.
They pace and prance freely, proudly, fearless, confident and majestic in their bearing.

Figures of speech-
Alliteration-Finger’s fluttering; prancing proud; weight of wedding band
Visual imagery- Bright topaz denizens;world of green

Irony: It is ironical that Aunt Jennifer’s creations- the tigers will continue to pace and prance
freely, while Aunt herself will remain terrified even after death, ringed by the ordeals she was
controlled by in her married life.

Transferred epithet & synecdoche: Terrified hands

Metonymy: -wedding band that refers to her marriage

Hyperbole: the massive weight of the wedding band…(exaggerated expression)

Contrast: A meek and timidly acquiescent aunt features as a stark contrast to the fearless,
valiant and confident tigers that cannot be tamed. Also, the freedom enjoyed by the denizens
of the green versus the emotional and social confinement of the aunt who feels restrained in
an unhappy marriage
My mother at 66 - kamala das

The poetess was driving back from her parent's home to Cochin when she looked at her
mother seated beside her. She was taking a nap. Her mouth was open and her face was pale
like that of a dead body. The poetess felt terrified and agonized at the thought of her mother
growing old. The poetess also tries to divert her thoughts. She is upset at the sight as it brings
home the fact that her mother is inching close to death.

The poet is pained and shifts her attention outside the car in order to drive out the negative
feelings. She changes her sad mood .The scene outside the window is of growing life and
energy. The rapidly sprinting trees alongside the merrily playing children symbolize life,
youth and vitality. The poet here is reminded of her own childhood when her mother had
been young whereas now she is encircled with the fear of losing her and that has made her
insecure.

She is at the airport to take a flight. It indicates departure and separation which creates
melancholy. As she bids goodbye to her mother, the image of the old, wan, worn out mother
in the twilight of years strikes her again. Here again a simile is used to compare her mother
with a late winter’s moon. The ashen and pale visage of her mother reminds the poet of the
late winter's moon. It has lost its luminosity and it is waning. It is dull, hazy and shrouded,
symbolising the ebbing of life just as both winter and night, symbolise an approaching end.

The poet is feeling the pain of separation, leaving her mother and going. Also, her childhood
fear of losing her mother which she feels that earlier was temporary but now, could be forever
as she could die of old age, is haunting her. She is so pained that it is natural for her to cry but
keeping a brave front she hides her tears and smiles.

The parting words of the poet and her smile signify her pain and fear of losing her mother.
She uses the facade of smiling in order to put up a brave front by hiding this fear behind a
smile. All she can say to her mother before she leaves is, 'See you soon, Amma'. She is aware
of her mother ageing, yet, hopes that she lives on for a long time. The words are used to
reassure her mother and to infuse optimism. All this requires a lot of effort; hence, the
repetition.

(The poem revolves around the theme of advancing age and the fear that adheres to its loss
and separation. It is a sentimental account of the mother’s approaching end through the eyes
of the daughter. The seemingly short poem touches upon the theme of the filial bond between
the mother and daughter smeared in the backdrop of nostalgia and fear. Nostalgia of the past
(the time spent with the mother) and fear of the future without her.
FIGURES OF SPEECH:

· SIMILE:face ashen like a corpse/ face compared to the pale, wan moon
· PERSONIFICATION:trees sprinting-passage of time
· IMAGERY:visual imagery-scene outside the car/ description of the moon
· IRONY:the mother has no hunch of the poet’s pain , fear and anguish
· CONTRAST:scenes outside and inside the car/an old mother in stark contrast
with exuberance and vivacity that accompanies youth
· METAPHOR:children spilling over
· TAUTOLOGY: pale, wan moon/ashen
· REPETITION: and smile and smile…