Answer the following questions.

(Types of Poems)
(i) Define poetry.
Ans. Poetry is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of
language --- such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre -- to evoke
meanings in addition to, or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning.
(ii) What is an aubade?
Ans. Aubade is a love poem welcoming or lamenting the arrival of the dawn. One
of the finest aubades in literature occurs in Act II, Scene III, of Shakespeare's play
Cymbeline. It begins with the famous words, "Hark, hark! The lark at heaven's
gate sings". Donne's "The Sun Rising" is also an aubade.
(iii) What is a ballad?
Ans. A narrative poem, often of folk origin and intended to be sung, consisting of
simple stanzas and usually having a refrain. The Anonymous medieval ballad,
"Barbara Allan", exemplifies the genre.
(iv) What is a folk ballad?
Ans.Folk ballad is a song that it traditionally sung by the common people or a
region and forms part of their culture. Folk ballads are anonymous and recount
tragic, comic, or heroic stories with emphasis on a central dramatic event.
Examples include "Barbara Allan" and "John Henry".
(v) Define a carol?
Ans. A carol is a hymn or poem often sung by a group, with an individual taking
the changing stanzas and the group taking the burden or refrain. Examples
include "The Burning Babe" and "The Twelve Days of Christmas"
(vi) What is a dramatic monologue?
Ans. A dramatic monologue is a poem in which an imagined speaker addresses a
silent listener. It is a 'mono-drama in verse'. Examples include Robert Browning's
"My Last Duchess" and T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock".
(vii) Define elegy.
Ans. An elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral
song of a lament for the dead. It usually ends in consolation. Examples include
John Milton's "Lycidas" and W.H. Auden's "In Memory of W.B. Yeats".
(viii) Define an epic.
Ans. An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject
containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation
narrated in elevated style. For example, Homer's "Iliad" is an epic.
(ix) What is a mock epic?
Ans. A mock epic is a satire or parody that mocks common classical stereotypes or
heroes and heroic literature. Typically, a mock epic either puts a fool in the role of
the hero or exaggerates the heroic qualities to such a point that they become
absurd. Examples include John Dryden's "Mac Flecknoe" and Alexander Pope's
"The Rape of the Lock".
(x) What is an epigram?
Ans. An epigram is a short, satirical and witty poem (statement) usually written as
a couplet or quatrain but can also be a one lined phrase. It is a brief and forceful
remark with a funny ending. Examples include Walter Savage Landor's "Dirce" and
Ben Jonson's "On Gut".
(xi) What is an epithalamion?
Ans. An epithalamion is a lyric ode in honour of a bride and bridegroom usually
containing suggestive language and innuendo. Examples include Theocritus' "The
18th Idyll" and Edmund Spenser's "Epithalamion".
(xii) What is a hymn?
Ans. A hymn is a religious poem praising God or the divine, often sung. In English,
the most popular hymns were written between the 17th and 19th centuries.
Examples include Isaac Walts' "Our God, Our Help" and Charles Welsey's "My
God! I Know, I Feel Thee Mine".
(xiii) What is a lyric?
Ans. A lyric is a short poem which expresses personal emotions or feelings, often
in a song-like style or form. It is typically written in the first person. Examples
include John Clare's "I Hid My Love" and Louise Bogan's "Song for the Last Act".
(xiv) Define an ode.
Ans. An ode is a long, often elaborate stanzaic poem of varying line lengths and
sometimes intricate rhyme schemes devoted to the praise of a person, animal,
place, thing or idea. Examples include P.B. Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" and
John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn".
(xv) What is a sonnet?
Ans. A sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme
schemes. In English, a sonnet has 3 quatrains followed by a couplet and ten
syllables per line. (iambic pentameter). It usually expresses a single, complete
thought, idea or sentiment. Examples include P.B. Shelley's "Ozymandias" and
John Keats' "When I Have Fears".
QUESTION NO. 5

Symbolism in Blake's Poetry

Introduction
The poetry as well as the whole art of William Blake is abundant with symbols.
There is hardly any poem in the "Songs of Innocence and Experience" which does
not possess symbols. A symbol is an object which stands for something else as
Shelley's wind symbolizes inspiration, Ted Hughes's Hawk symbolizes terrible
destructiveness at the heart of nature and S.T. Coleridge's Albatross represents a
psychological burden that feels like a curse. Most symbols are not like code
signals, like traffic lights, where red means stop and green means go, but part of a
complex language in which green can mean jealously or fertility, or even both,
depending on context. The major symbols in Blake's poetry are; lamb, rose,
children, tiger, garden, stars, forest, looms and net.
1. Lamb
William Blake loves lambs. They connect religion with both human and natural
world. Traditionally, the lamb is a symbol of renewal, victory of life upon death,
gentleness, tenderness and innocence. White colour of the lamb stands for purity.
In the Christian Gospels, Jesus Christ is compared to a lamb because he goes
meekly to be sacrificed on behalf of humanity. Moreover, lambs, as baby sheep,
are connected to the theme of childhood that runs through the "Songs of
Innocence". By contrast, "Songs of Experience" contains only one reference to a
lamb. The Speaker of "The Tyger" asks,
"Did he who made the lamb make thee"?
2. Rose
Sunflower, lily and rose are the common flowers that appear in Blake's poetry
as symbols. Sunflower represents a man who is bound to earth, but is pinning for
eternity. Lily is a symbol of love which is without any self-reference, neither
defending itself nor causing any pain and destruction. Rose, as a symbol, has a
rich and ancient history. In the ancient Rome, roses were grown in the funerary
gardens to symbolize resurrection. According to medieval tradition, they
represent chastity or virginity and thus are associated with young girls. In
Christianity, the rose is a frequent symbol for the Virgin Mary, who is called a
"rose without thorns". The rose garden is a symbol of paradise. However, the rose
of William Blake symbolizes beauty, virginity, innocence and London.
3. Children
On account of their playfulness and freshness, Blake sees children as symbols
of imagination and artistic creativity. He also uses them as an image of innocence.
The child motif emphasizes the suggestions of simplicity and lack of
sophistication. Much of the moralistic teaching of Blake's day stressed the infant
and boy Jesus as a figure with whom children could identify. However, the Gospel
accounts of Jesus' birth and childhood include experience of human violence and
so emphasize the vulnerability of the child. Thus like the lamb, the child
represents gentleness and innocence, together with vulnerability and openness to
exploitation.
4. Tiger
It is unclear what the tiger exactly symbolizes. It may symbolize the violent and
terrifying forces within the individual man. The splendid but terrifying tiger makes
us realize the God's purposes are not so easily understood. At the same time, the
tiger is symbolic of the Creator's masterly skill which enabled Him to frame the
"fearful symmetry" of the tiger. But the lion described in the poem "Night" offers
an interesting contrary to the tiger. Both the beasts seem dreadful, but the lion,
like the beast of the fairy tale, can be magically transformed into a good and
gentle creature: the tiger cannot. The tiger also represents the energy and
imagination of man. Really, the list is almost infinite. The point is, the tiger is
important, and Blake's poem "The Tyger" barely limits the possibilities.
5. Garden
The garden is a symbol providing the location of love and temptation leading to
captivity. The garden is commonly recalled in the "Songs of Experience". In the
garden, mankind is walled or fenced off from his neighbours; man tends his own
desires, particularly by self-conscious affections and jealousies. The garden is a
sickly consolation among the evils of London. There are "Soft Gardens" and
"Secret Gardens". In a garden of delight, mankind is surrounded by shadows.
Urizen himself planted a "garden of fruits". This is Eden, never associated with
innocence, but always with temptation, the tree of mystery and forbidden
knowledge. This aspect of Eden is prototype of Blake's symbol of the garden.
6. Stars
Stars are often used to symbolize heavenly bodies, purity, distance, light in the
darkness, unattainable things, good luck and eternity. In dreams, a shooting star is
a sign of self-fulfillment and advancement in life. However, Blake uses the star
symbol in his own specific sense. The stars are never romantic. At one level, stars
and darkness are commonly assumed to endanger health. The symbol of the stars
assumes another dimension when it is associated with material and spiritual
repression. This is said to reflect Blake's reaction against the rational thoughts of
his times.
7. Forest
The forest, that seems to overgrow the hills of Innocence, with its
impenetrable superstition, is one of Blake's most powerful symbols. The
conventional beginning is seen in the "Poetical Sketches" where the "thickest
shades" provide concealment from the sun in "To Summer", and in "To the
Evening Star", the lion "glares through the dense forest". This poem is typical in its
refined holiness of eighteenth century mannerism, which Blake soon outgrew. In
"Songs of Innocence", the groves of "Night" and "The Little Black Boy" still occur
in a religious context, and we are moving towards the mention in "America"
where the Royalist oppressors crouch terrified in their caverns.
8. Looms and Net
A loom is a device used to weave cloth. The basic purpose of any loom is to
hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft
threads. In the prophetic books, the symbols of loom, with the action of weaving,
the web and the net represent the soft, delusive terror of sexual dominance and
these symbols run together. "The silken net" in "How Sweet I Roamed from Field
to Field", suggests the trap of tenderness. The eighteenth century sought in public
works to slave its conscience over prostitution, poverty and disease. For Blake, it
was hypocrisy, while the old order perpetuated itself, and an oppressive social
and moral code fostered the destitution and traffic in childhood that all professed
to deplore.
Conclusion
It is established that Blake is a highly symbolic poet. His use of symbolism is
unique and cinematic. It paints a lively and pulsating picture of dynamic life
before us. He has depicted nature and human nature; animals and plants as
simple but profound symbols of powerful forces. What is different in Blake is that
he is not modeling after any symbols but his own. His handling of symbols is
markedly different from that of the French symbolists. His symbols are not
mechanical or inflexible. He has used archetypal symbolism in his poetry. In short,
symbolism is the main trait of William Blake as a poet and this has been well
crystallized in his legendary work, "The Songs of Innocence and Experience".
Answer the following questions. (Structural Elements of a Poem)
(i) How many types are there of verse form?
Ans. There are more than 50 types of verse form. Famous verse forms include:
ballad, blank verse, dramatic monologue, elegy, epic, epithalamion, free verse,
limerick, ode and sonnet etc.
(ii) What do you understand by rhyme scheme?
Ans. A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem.
Words that have different beginning sounds but whose endings sound alike are
said to rhyme. Examples: time, slime, mime/ revival, arrival, survival/ greenery,
machinery, scenery.
(iii) What is rhythm?
Ans. Rhythm is the pattern of flow of sound created by the arrangement of
stressed and unstressed syllabls in accentual verse or of long and short syllables in
quantitative verse. Rhythm is a pattern of beats, while meter organizes these
beats in an understandable way.
(iv) What is a couplet?
Ans.A couplet is a unit of verse consisting of two successive lines, usually rhyming
and have the same meter and often forming a complete thought or syntactic unit.
This is the shortest stanza. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open).
(v) What is a heroic couplet?
Ans. A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used in
epic and narrative poetry. It refers to poems constructed from a sequence of
rhyming pairs of lines in iambic pentameter. For example: "Know then thyself,
presume not God to scan/ The proper study of Mankind is Man".
(vi) Define a stanza?
Ans. A stanza is a grouped set of lines within a poem, usually set off from other
stanzas by a blank line or indentation. It is equivalent of a paragraph in an essay.
One way to identify a stanza is to count the number of lines. Thus: couplet (2
lines), tercet (3 lines), quatrain (4 lines), cinquain (5 lines), sestet (6 lines), septet
(7 lines), octave (8 lines).
(vii) What is a quatrain?
Ans. A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines.
There are twelve possible rhyme schemes but the most traditional and common
are: AABB as in A.E. Houseman's "To an Athlete Dying Young" and ABAB as in
Gwendolyn Brooks' "Sadie and Maud".
(viii) What is a sestet?
Ans. A sestet is a group of six lines of poetry, especially the last six lines of an
Italian or Petrarchan sonnet. Common rhyme schemes of a sestet include CDECDE
or CDCCDC.
(ix) What is an octave?
Ans. An octave or octet is a group of eight lines of poetry, especially the first eight
lines of an Italian or Petrarchan sonnet. Common rhyme scheme of an octave is
ABBAABBA.
(x) What is a blank verse?
Ans. Blank verse is a category of poetry based on unrhymed lines and a definite
meter, usually iambic pentameter. Examples of blank verse can be found in
Shakespeare, William Cullen Bryant and Robert Frost.
(xi) What is a free verse?
Ans. Free verse is an open form of poetry. It does not use consistent meter
pattern, rhyme or any other musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of
natural speech. Examples of free verse can be found in Mathew Arnold, T.S. Eliot
and Ezra Pound.
(xii) Define meter.
Ans. Meter is the rhythmical pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in verse.
The predominant meter in English poetry is accentual-syllabic. Falling meter refers
to trochees and dactyls while iambs and anapests are called rising meter. Each
unit of stress and unstressed syllables is called a "foot".
(xiii) What is an iamb?
Ans. An iamb is a metrical foot consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a
stressed syllable. The words "unite" and "provide" are both iambic. It is the most
common meter in all the plays and poems of William Shakespeare. In Robert
Frost's "After Apple Picking", the iamb is the vehicle for the "natural", colloquial
speech pattern.
(xiv) Define iambic pentameter.
Ans. Iambic pentameter is a kind of rhythmic pattern that consists of five iambs
per line, almost like five heartbeats: daDUM daDUM daDUM daDUM daDUM.
Many of Shakespeare's works are great examples of iambic pentameter. For
example, If MUsic Be the FOOD of LOVE, play ON. (Twelfth Night)
(xv) What is foot is poetry?
Ans. A foot is a unit of meter, consisting of a combination of stressed and
unstressed syllables. A combination of feet makes up a line of meter. The most
common feet in English are iamb (daDUM), trochee (DUMda), dactyle (DUMDUM)
and anapest (dadaDUM).
QUESTION NO. 12

Wordsworth As a Poet of Nature

1. Introduction

2. Nature is a Living Being

Wordsworth conceives of Nature as a living personality. He believes that there
is a divine spirit pervading all the objects of Nature. This belief
called Pantheism finds a complete expression in the "Tintern Abbey" when he
tells us that he has felt the presence of a sublime spirit in the setting sun, the
round ocean, the living air, the blue sky, the mind of man etc. This spirit, he say,
rolls through all things:
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things.
3. Nature is a Teacher
Wordsworth considers Nature to be our best and truest teacher. Like the
senior Duke in "As You Like It" by Shakespeare, he too finds --
Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything. (Act II, Scene I)
In Wordsworth's words --
One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can. (The Tables Turned)
4. Nature is a Healer
Nature is "the balm of hurt minds", Wordsworth discovered when he was in
the grip of great spiritual crisis. England's declaration of war against France was a
great shock to Wordsworth. The crisis deepened when Napoleon betrayed the
French Revolution by entering upon a career of military aggression. All his hopes
for the betterment of humanity collapsed. He was filled with gloom and despair.
From his mood he was rescued by the influence of his sister Dorothy. And she was
able to to this by directing him to his first love - Nature of Lake District of England.
Wordsworth came back from Germany. The lovely hills, stormy winds, murmuring
fountains, meandering rivers, and the mighty mountains of the beautiful Lake
District brought peace and solace to his subjected soul.
5. Man is a Part of Nature
Rather than placing Man and Nature in opposition, Wordsworth views them as
complementary elements of a whole, recognizing Man as a part of Nature. He
perceives that there is a harmony between the soul and Nature and the soul of
Man. This harmony is everlasting if Man's soul is unsophisticated. He relates in
"The Prelude" how shepherds of the Lake hills had been seen by him as part of
the wild scenery in which he lived and he mixed up their lives with the grandeur
of Nature and came to honour them as part of its being. Indeed, many of
Wordsworth men and women are felt to be the incarnations of the different
moods of Nature. Lucy and the Highland Girl seem to embody the spirit of joy in
Nature: Ruth, Margaret and the Leech-gatherer are incarnations of its more grave
aspects.
6. Company of Nature Gives Joy

7. A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever

The beautiful sights and melodious sounds in the world of nature have a
permanent place in Wordsworth's heart. These never sink into oblivion. And,
when recollected, these render him great joy in his pensive hours. In his poem
"Daffodils", Wordsworth says how the beautiful scene of the daffodil flowers
dancing in the gentle breeze is painted on screen of his mind, never to be wiped
out. It flashes upon his inward eye and fills his heart with pleasure. It is the "bliss
of solitude". Similarly, the sweet music of the solitary reaper in "The Solitary
Reaper" is stored in his memory as a source of joy and inspiration. In short, this is
Wordsworth's theory of "emotion recollected in tranquility".
8. Nature is a Source of Comfort and Strength

9. Absence of Ugly Side of Nature

Wordsworth celebrates the beauty, harmony and sublimity of Nature, he is
fortified by its calm and unbroken order, 'the holy plan' of Nature. But Nature is
not all a May-day. She has a harsh and terrifying sight, of which Wordsworth was
apparently oblivious. He loses sight of Nature "red in tooth and claw with
rapine". He is silent as to her mysterious disorders of pain, cruelty and death.
Nature is cruel and careless of the happiness of her millions of subjects. The
scenes where the poet found pleasure and solace are battlefield and slaughter-
house for other creatures. Pain, fear and bloodshed are a part of the law of life.
Thus "Wordsworth's eyes avert their kin from half of human fate", it has been
said. To this extent his poetry of Nature has been considered partial and
incomplete.
10. Conclusion
QUESTION NO. 17
Answer the following questions. (Sound Devices Used in Poetry)
(i) Define alliteration.
Ans. Alliteration is a stylistic device in which a number of words, having the same
first consonant sound, occur close together in a series of multiple words. For
example, A big bully beats a baby boy.
(ii) Define assonance.
Ans. Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds or diphthong in non-rhyming
words. Assonance is merely a syllabic resemblance. For example, "Men sell the
wedding bells", "that dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea". (William Butler
Yeats)
(iii) What is consonance?
Ans. Consonance is the repetition of the same consonants within a sentence of
phrase. This repetition often takes place in quick succession. The repetitive sound
is often found at the end of a word. For example, "He struck a streak of bad luck",
"All mammals named Same are clammy".
(iv) Define resonance.
Ans. Resonance is the quality of richness or variety of sound in poetic texture, as
in Milton's: "and the thunder .......... cease now / To bellow through the vast and
boundless Deep".
(v) What is cacophony?
Ans. Cacophony is the use of words that combine sharp, hard, hissing, or
unmelodious sounds. These words have jarring and dissonant sounds that create
a disturbing, objectionable atmosphere. For example, "With throats unslaked,
with black lips baked, / Agape they heard me call." (The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner by S.T. Coleridge)
(vi) What is euphony?
Ans. Euphony is the use of words and phrases that are distinguished as have a
wide range of noteworthy melody or loveliness in the sounds they create. For
example, "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, / Close bosom-friend of
the maturing sun; / Conspiring with him how to load and bless / With fruit the
vines that round the thatch-eves run;" (Ode to Autumn by John Keats)
(vii) Define onomatopoeia.
Ans. Onomatopoeia is a word which imitates the natural sound of a thing or
action. It creates a sound effect that mimics that thing described, making the
description more expressive and interesting. For example, "The moan of doves in
immemorial elms, / And murmuring of innumerable bees ....". (Come Down, O
Maid by Alfred Lord Tennyson)
(viii) What is repetition?
Ans. Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few
times to make an idea clearer. For example, "Because I do not hope to turn again
/ Because I do not hope / Because I do not hope to turn .... (Ash-Wednesday by
T.S. Eliot)
(ix) Define rhyme.
Ans. A rhyme is a matching similarity of sounds in two or more words, especially
when their accented vowels and all succeeding consonants are identical. For
instance, the word-pairs listed here are all rhymes: skating/dating,
emotion/demotion, fascinate/deracinate, and plain/stain.
(x) What is an internal rhyme?
Ans. Internal rhyme is a rhyme in which a word in the middle of a line rhymes with
a word at the end of the same metrical line. It is also called middle rhyme, since it
comes in the middle of lines. For example, "Double, double toil and trouble. / Fire
burn and cauldron bubble". (Macbeth by William Shakespeare)
(xi) What is a near rhyme?
Ans. A near rhyme is a rhyme in which the stressed syllables of ending consonants
match, however, the preceding vowel sounds do not match. It is also called half
rhyme, imperfect rhyme or slant rhyme. For example, "If love is like a bridge / or
maybe like a grudge, (To My Wife by George Wolff)
(xii) Define rhythm.
Ans. Rhythm is the pattern of flow of sound created by the arrangement of
stressed and unstressed syllables in accentual verse or of long and short syllables
in quantitative verse. Rhythm is a pattern of beats, while meter organizes these
beats in an understandable way.
(xiii) What is an accent?
Ans. Accent is a rhythmically significant stress on the syllables of a verse within a
particular metrical pattern, usually at regular intervals. In basic analysis of a poem
by scansion, accents are represented with a slash (/).
(xiv) What is modulation?
Ans. Modulation is the harmonious use of language relative to the variation of
stress and pitch. It is a process by which the stress values of accents can be
increased or decreased within a fixed metrical pattern.
(xv) Define meter.
Ans. Meter is the rhythmical pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in verse.
The predominant meter in English poetry is accentual-syllabic. Falling meter refers
to trochees and dactyls while iambs and anapests are called rising meter. Each
unit of stress and unstressed syllables is called a "foot".
QUESTION NO. 19

Shelley As a Romantic Poet

Introduction
Romantic poetry is the poetry of the Romantic era; an artistic, literary, musical
and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th
century. It involved a reaction against prevailing Enlightenment ideas of the 18th
century, and lasted from 1800 to 1850, approximately. Romantic poetry contrasts
with neoclassical poetry, which is poetry of intellect and reason, while romantic
poetry is the product of emotions, sentiments and the heart. The best known
romantic poets are William Blake, William Wordsworth, Lord Byron, John Keats,
S.T Coleridge, Mathew Arnold and Percy Bysshe Shelley. The major romantic
elements found in the poetry of Shelley are; love of nature, imagination,
melancholy, supernaturalism, Hellenism, beauty, idealism and subjectivity.
1. Love of Nature
Like the other Romantic poets, Shelley too was an ardent lover of Nature. Like
Wordsworth, Shelley conceives of Nature as one spirit, the Supreme Power,
working through all things. He celebrates Nature in most of his poems as his main
theme such as The Cloud, To a Skylark, To the Moon, Ode to the West Wind, A
Dream of the Unknown. In his treatment of Nature, he describes the things in
Nature as they are, and never gives them colours. He gives them human life
through his personifications, but he does it unintentionally for he felt they are
living beings capable of doing the work of human beings. His mythopoeic power
has made him the best romanticist of his age. He also believes in the healing
aspect of Nature and this is revealed in his "Euganean Hills" in which he is healed
and soothed by the natural scene around him and also the imaginary land.
2. Imagination
Belief in the importance of imagination is a distinctive feature of romantic
poets. 'Facts' said Shelley, 'are not what we want to know in poetry, in history, in
the lives of individual, in satire or panegyric. They are the many diversions, the
arbitrary points on which we hang and to which we refer those delicate and
evanescent hues of mind, which language delights and instructs us in precise
proportion as it expresses.' Shelley calls poetry "the expression of imagination",
because in it diverse things are brought together in harmony instead of being
separated through analysis. Shelley made a bold expedition into the unknown and
he felt reasons should be related to the imagination. His expedition was
successful when he made the people understand that the task of imagination is to
create shapes by which reality can be revealed to the world.
3. Melancholy
Melancholy occupies a prominent place in romantic poetry, because it is a
major source of inspiration for the Romantic poets. Though Shelley was a man of
hope and expectation and spiritualistic about the future of mankind, yet he
represents himself in his poems as a man of ill luck, subject to evil and suffering.
He expresses this in his "Ode to the West Wind":
Oh, lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud.
I fall upon the thorns of life, I bleed!
A heavy weight of hours has chained and bound
One to like thee.
4. Supernaturalism
Most of the Romantic poets used supernatural elements in their poetry.
Shelley's interest in the supernatural repeatedly appears in his work. The ghosts
and spirits in his poems suggest the possibility of glimpsing a world beyond the
one in which we live. In "Hymn to Intellectual Beauty", the speaker searches for
ghosts and explains that ghosts are one of the ways men have tried to interpret
the world beyond. The speaker of "Mont Blanc" encounters ghosts and shadows
of real natural objects in the cave of "Poesy". Ghosts are inadequate in both
poems: the speaker finds no ghosts in "Hymn to Intellectual Beauty", and the
ghosts of Poesy in "Mont Blanc" are not real thing, a discovery that emphasizes
the elusiveness and mystery of supernatural forces.
5. Hellenism
The world of classical Greece was important to the Romantics. Shelley wrote
"Hellas" which is the ancient name of Greece. "Ozymandias" is an ancient Greek
name for Ramses II of Egypt. Shelley was mainly influenced by Platonism. Plato
thought that the supreme power in the universe was the spirit of beauty. Shelley
borrowed this conception from Plato and developed it in his metaphysical poem
"Hymn to Intellectual Beauty". Intellectual Beauty is omni-potent and man must
worship it. The last stanza of "The Cloud" is Shelley's Platonic symbol of human
life. In fact, Shelley frequently turned to Greece as a model of ideal beauty,
transcendent philosophy, democratic politics, and homosociality or
homosexuality.
6. Beauty
Beauty is an other element of Romanticism in Shelley's poetry. Beauty, to
Shelley, is an ideal in itself and a microcosm of the beauty of Nature and he calls it
"Intellectual Beauty". He celebrates Beauty as a mysterious power. In the de arts,
to intellectual Beauty, he says that when Intellectual Beauty departs this world
becomes a "dim vast vale of tears, vacant and desolate" and if human heart is its
temple, then man would become immortal and omnipotent:
Man were immortal and omnipotent
Did'st thou, unknown and awful as thou art,
Keep with thy glorious train firm state
Within his heart.
7. Idealism
Idealism is the very much common characteristic especially in second
generation Romantic poets. Shelley's idealism falls under three subheadings.
Revolutionary, Religious and Erotic.
(i) Revolutionary Idealism: His revolutionary idealism is mainly due to French
Revolution. Through his Queen Man, The Revolt of Islam, and Prometheus
Unbound, he inspired people to revolt against by scorning at the tyranny of state,
church and society and hoping for a golden age.
(ii) Religious Idealism: Though Shelley was a rebel, he was not an atheist. He
believed in the super power of God, and he imagined God as supreme 'Thought'
and 'Infinite Love'.
(iii) Erotic Idealism: Shelley believed in the abstract quality of love and beauty --
love as infinite and beauty as intellectual. He celebrates love as a creator and
preserver in his "Symposium"; and beauty as Supreme Spirit in "Hymn to
Intellectual Beauty".
8. Poetic Style
Shelley's poetic style is also romantic. To some extent, it is an imitation of
William Wordsworth's style. He uses a lot of powerful symbolism and imagery,
especially visual. The series of gorgeous similes in "The Skylark" show the
romantic exuberance of Shelley. His diction is lush and tactile. But he never uses
any ornamental word and every word fits in its place and carries its own weight.
They express the diverse feelings of the poet with the notes of music which
appeal to every human beings's ears. He uses terza rima in his "Ode to the West
Wind" which is one of the finest uses of terza rima in an English-language poem.
Conclusion
In brief we can say that every bit of Shelley's poetry is romantic. Shelley's joy,
his magnanimity, his faith in humanity, and his optimism are unique among the
Romantics; his expression of these feelings makes him one of the early nineteenth
century's most significant writers in English. Of all the Romantics; Shelley is the
one who most obviously possessed the quality of genius-quickness, grasp of
intellect, the capacity of learning languages rapidly, ability to assimilate and place
scientific principles and discoveries. Due to his premature death, he attained the
iconic status as the representative tragic Romantic artist like Byron and Keats. No
wonder Shelley is heralded as the best Romantic poet of his age.
QUESTION NO. 25
Answer the following questions. (Poetic Devices of Meaning I)
(i) What do you mean by figurative language?
Ans. Figurative language means language in which figures of speech like similes
and metaphors are used to build meaning beyond the literal. It has five different
forms; understatement or emphasis, relationship or resemblance, figures of
sound, errors and verbal games. For example, "She runs like the wind", "How
could she marry a snake like that?"
(ii) What is a literary allusion?
Ans. An allusion is a casual reference to a person, place, event, or another
passage of literature, often without explicit identification. Allusions can originate
in mythology, biblical references, historical events, legends, geography, or earlier
literary works. For example, "Don't act like a Romeo in front of her." - "Romeo" is
a reference to Shakespeare's Romeo, a passionate lover of Juliet in "Romeo and
Juliet".
(iii) What is an analogy?
Ans. An analogy is a comparison in which an idea or a thing is compared to
another thing that is quite different from it. It aims at explaining that idea or thing
by comparing it to something that is familiar. Metaphors and similes are tools
used to draw an analogy. For example, "This flea is you and I, and this / Our
marriage bed, and marriage temple is". (The Flea by John Donne)
(iv) What is an ambiguity?
Ans. Ambiguity is a word, phrase or statement which has more than one meaning.
Ambiguity leads to vagueness and confusion. For example, "Thou still unravish'd
bride of quietness", (Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats). "Still here may mean
"an unmoving object" or may may be interpreted as "yet unchanged".
(v) What is apostrophe?
Ans. Apostrophe is an exclamatory figure of speech in which the poet addresses
an absent person, an abstract idea, or personification. For example, "O death,
where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"(vi) What is an allegory?
Ans. An allegory is an extended metaphor in which abstract ideas, concepts and
principles are described in terms of characters, figures and events in ways that are
comprehensible to its viewers, readers, or listeners. For example, George Orwell's
novel "Animal Farm" is a political allegory.
(vii) How is a simile different from a metaphor?
Ans. A simile directly compares two things with the help of words "like" or "as".
For example, "Her cheeks are red like a rose". Whereas, metaphor identifies
something as being the same as some unrelated thing. For example, "All the
world's a stage".
(viii) What is personification?
Ans. Personification is an ontological metaphor in which an inanimate object or
abstraction is represented as a living person. For example, "No time to turn at
Beauty's glace / And watch her feet, how they can dance." (Leisure by William
Davies). The poet has personified Beauty.
(ix) What is hyperbole?
Ans. Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of
speech. It is used to create emphasis on a situation. It may be used to evoke
strong feelings to create a strong impression, but is not to meant to be taken
literally. For example, "I had to wait in the station for ten days - an eternity". (The
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad)
(x) Define symbolism.
Ans. Symbolism is the use of words, places, characters, or objects that mean
something beyond what they are on a literal level. For example, Blake's tiger
symbolizes creative energy, Shelley's wind symbolizes inspiration, Ted Hughes's
Hawk symbolizes terrible destructiveness at the heart of nature.
(xi) Define understatement.
Ans. An understatement, the opposite of hyperbole, is a literary device in which a
writer or speaker attributes less importance or conveys less passion than the
subject would seem to demand. For example, "The desert is sometimes dry and
sandy" is an understatement.
(xii) Define irony.
Ans. Irony is a contrast or discrepancy between what is said and what is meant or
between what happens and what is expected to happen. For example, "The
butter is as soft as a marble piece."
(xiii) What is a dramatic irony?
Ans. Dramatic irony is the dramatic effect achieved by leading an audience to
understand an incongruity between a situation and the accompanying speeches,
while the characters in the play remain of the incongruity. Probably the most
famous example of dramatic irony is the situation facing Oedipus in the play
"Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles.
(xiv) What is imagery?
Ans. Imagery is the use of figurative language to represent objects, actions and
ideas in such a way that it appeals to our physical senses. There are seven kinds of
imagery. These include visual, auditory, tactile, thermal, olfactory, gustatory and
kinesthetic imagery. For example, "The Woods are lovey, dark and deep".
(Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost)
(xv) What is euphemism?
Ans. Euphemism means using a mild or gentle word or phrase instead of a blunt,
embarrassing, or painful one. For instance, saying "Grandfather has gone to a
better place" is a euphemism for "Grandfather has died". Frequently, words
referring directly to death, unpopular politics, blasphemy, crime, and sexual or
excremental activities are replaced by euphemisms.

QUESTION NO. 33
Answer the following questions. (Poetic Devices of Meaning II)
(i) Define oxymoron.
Ans. Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are joined to
create an effect. The common oxymoron phrase is a combination of an adjective
proceeded by a noun with contrasting meanings e.g., "cruel kindness" or "living
death". However, the contrasting words/phrases are not always glued together.
The contrasting ideas may be spaced out in a sentence e.g., "In order to lead, you
must walk behind.
(ii) What is a paradox?
Ans. A paradox is an anomalous juxtaposition of incongruous ides for the sake of
striking exposition or unexpected insight. It functions as a method of literary
composition - and analysis - which involves examining apparently contradictory
statements and drawing conclusions either to reconcile them or the explain their
presence. For example, "I must be cruel to be kind" (Hamlet by Shakespeare),
"Child is the father of man". (William Wordsworth)
(iii) Define satire.
Ans. Satire is a technique employed to expose and criticize foolishness and
corruption of an individual or a society by using humour, irony, wit, exaggeration
or ridicule.
(iv) What is escapism?
Ans. Escapism is the desire to retreat into imaginative entertainment rather than
deal with the stress, tedium, and daily problems of the mundane world. Pitted
against its supposedly superior counterpart, realism, escapism is considered
inconsequential and superfluous. Genres which can have elements of escapism
include; romantic poetry, romance novels, fantasy fiction and thrillers etc.
(v) What is escape literature?
Ans. Escape literature includes books and short stories about desperate
protagonists escaping from confinement -- especially from prisoner-of-war camps
during the First and Second World Wars. Examples include; The Tunnellers of
Holzminden by H.G. Dunford and The Wooden Horse by Eric Williams.
(vi) What is pessimism?
Ans. Pessimism is a state of mind in which one anticipates undesirable outcomes
or believes that the evil or hardships in life outweigh the good or luxuries.
Pessimism is often described by using the crappy metaphor that a glass of water is
half empty rather than half full. Friendrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Thomas
Hobbes and Charles Baudelaire are some famous pessimists.
(vii) What is mysticism?
Ans. Mysticism is a belief in direct experience of transcendent reality or God,
especially by means of contemplation and asceticism instead of rational thought.
The poetry of William Blake, Emily Dickinson and Rumi is full of mysticism.
(viii) Define romanticism.
Ans. Romanticism was an artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe
in the late 1700s and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis
on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, departure form
attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules
and conventions. The major Romantic poets include; Blake, Wordsworth,
Coleridge, Keats, Shelley and Byron.
(ix) What is negative capability?
Ans. Negative capability is a term coined by English poet, John Keats. It is a
writer's ability to accept uncertainties, mysteries and doubts without any irritable
reaching after fact and reason. An author possessing negative capability is
objective and emotionally detached, as opposed to one who writes for didactic
purposes.
(x) What is Hellenism?
Ans. Hellenism was a neoclassical movement which emerged after the European
Renaissance in Germany and England. The term Hellenism refers stories, novels,
dramas, or poetry that has been inspired by classic Greek literature or makes use
of classic Greek style or forms. In English, Keats, Shelley and Byron are considered
examplars of Hellenism.
(xi) What do you mean by supernaturalism?
Ans. Supernaturalism is a secular designation for those who believe that there are
beings, forces, and phenomena such as the human soul, God, angels, miracles,
pixies, faeries, hobbits, magic etc which claim to interact with the physical
universe in remarkable and unique ways. The poetry of S.T. Coleridge is full of
supernaturalism.
(xii) What do you understand by medievalism?
Ans. Medievalism is the systme of belief and practice characteristic of the Middle
Ages, or devotion to elements of that period, which has been expressed in areas
such as architecture, literature, music, art, philosophy, scholarship, and various
vechicles of popular culture.
(xiii) Define comedy.
Ans. A comedy is a dramatic work that is light and often humorous or satirical in
tone and that usually contains a happy resolution of the thematic conflict. A
Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare, Every Man in His Humor by Ben
Johnson and Arms and the Man by Bernard Shaw are examples of comedy.
(xiv) What is a parable?
Ans. A parable is a story or short narrative designed to reveal allegorically some
religious principle, moral lesson, psychological reality, or general truth. The Blind
Men and the Elephant by John Godfrey Saxe and Heart of Darkness by Joseph
Conrad are examples of parables.
(xv) What is sensuousness?
Ans. Sensuousness is poetry is that quality which appeals to our five senses. In
other words, it is a quality which affects our five senses of smell, taste, touch,
hear and sight at one. The poetry of Keats is full of sensuousness.
QUESTION NO. 1
Answer the following questions.
(i) What is Epic Theatre?
Ans. Epic theatre is a form of political drama intended to appeal to reason rather
than the emotions. It replaces the dramatic unities with an episodic structure; an
important feature is the alienation effect, in which actors and audience are
discouraged from identifying with the characters of scenes depicted. The best
examples of this drama are Brechet's plays "The Three Penny Opera" and "Mother
Courage".
(ii) What is Theatre of the Absurd?
Ans. Theatre of the Absurd is a form of drama that emphasizes the absurdity of
human existence by employing disjointed, repetitious, and meaningless dialogue,
purposeless and confusing situations, and plots that lack realistic or logical
development. "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett is an example of the
Theatre of the Absurd.
(iii) What is socialism?
Ans. Socialism is a theory or system of social organization that advocates the
vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution,
of capital, land, etc, in the community as a whole. "Animal Farm" by George
Orwell is an exponent of socialism.
(iv) Why is 'Hedda Gabler' rather than 'Hedda Tesman' the title of the drama?
Ans. Hedda's married name is Hedda Tesman; Gabler is her maiden name. On the
subject of the title, Ibsen wrote: "My intention is giving it this name was to
indicate that Hedda as a personality is to be regarded rather as her father's
daughter than her husband's wife".
(v) Why does Ibsen choose a woman as his protagonist in 'Hedda Gabler'?
Ans. Life was tough for a woman in Victorian Norway and Henrik Ibsen was a
feminist so he chose a woman as his protagonist in "Hedda Gabler". Hedda is 'the
female Hamlet" in "Hedda Gabler".
(vi) Describe the physical appearance of Hedda.
Ans. Hedda is a woman whose "face and figure show refinement and distinction.
Her complexion is pale and opaque. Her steel-grey eyes express a cold, unruffled
repose. Her hair is of an agreeable brown, but not particularly abundant".
(vii) Is Hedda a symbol of new woman?
Ans. At the time Ibsen wrote "Hedda Gabler", the term 'new woman' has
emerged to describe 'women who were pushing against the limits which society
imposed on women". Hedda is an idle, emancipated woman. She is a model case
of a 'new woman' who ultimately finds no satisfaction in liberation.
(viii) What clashes between aristocracy and the bourgeoisie does the play
'Hedda Gabler' reveal?
Ans. The aristocratic Hedda, Brack, and Lovborg have dark colour whereas the
bourgeois Thea, Miss Tesman, and Geroge are all fair. The aristocrats are smart,
quick, rebellious, jaded and aware while the bourgeois are middle-class, slower,
more naive, and end up getting played by the other camp.
(ix) What does Hedda complain?
Ans. Hedda complains throughout the play that she is bored by a tedious,
monotonous life in which nothing new ever happens. Even after her marriage, she
complains to Brack about the unending tedium of her honeymoon with Tesman.
(x) Why is Hedda so cruel to other females in 'Hedda Gabler'?
Ans. Hedda is cruel to Aunt Julia and Mrs. Elvsted because she is not a nice lady.
She is a jealous, dishonest and neurotic woman. She wants to be a man and
resents her sex. That's why she hates Thea so much -- because Thea is the
epitome of femininity.
(xi) How do we know that Hedda is a dishonest character?
Ans. Hedda tells Tesman that he ought to to write Eilert Lowvborg a long letter
but then immediately reveals to Mrs. Elvsted that she only did this to get rid of
him. When talking to Judge Brack, Hedda says that she really does not care for the
house Tesman has bought for her, yet she lets Tesman go on believing that the
house is precious to her. From these examples we know that Hedda is a dishonest
character.
(xii) Hedda may be portrayed as a victim of circumstances.
Ans. Hedda is a female of Victorian era who finds no outlet for her personal
demands. She is trapped in a loveless marriage, completely stifled, living below
her standards, married to a buffoon, and about to have a baby she in no way
wants. Thus she is a victim of circumstances.
(xiii) According to Hedda, what is 'beautiful death'?
Ans. For Hedda, suicide is the "beautiful death" because in suicide one has to
power to determine when and how to die. She gives Lovborg one of her pistols to
have a "beautiful death" but when he dies from an unintended shot, she realizes
that the "beautiful death" is still a fantasy.
(xiv) For the achievement of what ideal does Hedda die?
Ans. Hedda is unhappy, bored, trapped in a loveless marriage, completely stifled,
living below her standards, married to a buffoon, and about to have a baby she in
no way wants. She commits suicide because she thinks that death will confer on
her ultimate immunity from exposure and scandal, and absolute freedom from
the control of husbands and would-be lovers.
(xv) What is the thematic significance to Aunt Rina's sickness and death?
Ans. Rina is Julie Tesman's sister and George's aunt. Rina is terminally ill at the
beginning of the play and dies towards the end. Her sickness lingers over the
action. Auntie Julie cannot every stay long at the Tesman's home because she
must take care of Rina. Rina's impending death occasions Tesman's absence at
the beginning of Act IV, making an opportunity for Brack to have his final, secret,
manipulative meeting with Hedda.

QUESTION NO. 9
Answer the following questions.
(i) Name three other plays written by Shaw.
Ans. The famous plays of Bernard Shaw include; Arms and the Man, Candida, The
Devil's Disciple, Caesar and Cleopatra, Man and Superman.
(ii) What is the source of the title 'Arms and the Man'?
Ans. The title of the play, "Arms and the Man", has been taken from Dryden's
translation of the opening lines of "Aenied" by Roman poet, Virgil. The opening
lines of Dryden's translation run as follows: "Arms and the Man I sing, who forced
by fate, / And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate".
(iii) What is the historical background of the play 'Arms and the Man'?
Ans. Victorian rule (1837 - 1901), Victorian literature and Serbo-Bulgarian War (14
November 1885 - 28 November 1885) is the historical background of the play
"Arms and the Man".
(iv) What are the major themes of 'Arms and the Man'?
Ans. Love, war, imcompetent authority, ingorance vs. knowledge, class, bravery
and personal honesty are the major themes of "Arms and the Man".
(v) What is the major conflict in 'Arms and the Man'?
Ans. There are two distinct conflicts in the play. The first conflict is the view of war
as romantic and idealistic and the true realities of war as illustrated by the
character of Bluntschli. The second conflict would be the view of love and
marriage as illustrated through the character of Louka.
(vi) In which two countries the war was going in 'Arms and the Man'?
Ans. The war was going on between Serbia and Bulgaria. The Serbo-Bulgarian War
erupted on 14 November 1885 and lasted until 28 November 1885. Final peace
was signed on 3 March 1886 in Bucharest.
(vii) What is pragmatism?
Ans. Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that began in the United States
around 1870. Pragmatism is a rejection of the idea that the function of thought is
to describe, represent, or mirror reality. Instead, pragmatists consider thought an
instrument or tool for prediction, problem solving and action.
(viii) How does Bernard Shaw view romanticism?
Ans. Shaw has a low opinion of romanticism. Romanticism in "Arms and the Man"
serves as the play's theoretical villain. It is always a reflection of ignorance; once a
character gains knowledge, they abandon their poetic ideas as Sergius and Raina
do.
(ix) What is meant by the subtitle 'An Anti-Romantic Comedy'?
Ans.Arms and the Man, subtitle "An Anti-Romantic Comedy" means that the
dramatist purpose is to satirize the romantic conception of life. Shaw has no faith
in emotions and sentiments. Throughout the drama he denounces the idealism
and insists on realism. He does it through humour of character and homour of
situation at the same time.
(x) What is Byronism?
Ans. Byronism refers to an attitude which possesses the characteristics of English
poet Byron or his poetry, especially romanticism, melancholy, and melodramatic
energy. Byronism is seen in the character of Major Saranoff, who is a shining
example of Raina and her mother's romanticized image of a hero. Sergius is also a
Byronic hero because he has an underlying despair about life.
(xi) There are many types of war and many types of love in 'Arms and the Man'.
Ans. There are two wars; Serbo-Bulgarian War and Russain-Austrian War. There
are two types of war; romanticized war and realistic war. Three love affairs;
Raina-Sergius, Raina-Bluntschli, and Louka-Sergius can be grouped into two
categories - romantic love and realistic love.
(xii) What characteristics make a person a good soldier?
Ans. Captain Bluntschli represents Shaw's ideal soldier. He harbors no romantic
ideals; he views was as business to be efficiently dispatched. If Bluntschli
demonstrates what a soldier should be, Sergius and Major Petkoff demonstrate
what he should not be. Sergius is filled with poetic ideas about bravery and
honour, and Major Petkoff is the picture of incompetence.
(xiii) Which character best serves as Shaw's spokesman?
Ans. Captain Bluntschli serves best as Shaw's spokesman. He is a thirty four year
old realist who sees through the absurd romanticism of war. He is the
representative of average humanity; he is what Shaw would like Man to be.
(xiv) Which characters have illusions about themselves and the world they live
in?
Ans. Raina, Catherine and Sergius have illusions about themselves and the world
they live in. Raina reads romantic novels and imagines herself a heroine. Raina's
mother, Catherine, shares many of her daughter's allusions about love and
warfare. Sergius believes in the romantic ideals championed by poetry and opera.
(xv) Who holds the most power in Petkoff's household?
Ans. Catherine, Raina's mother and Petkoff's wife, holds the most power in
Petkoff's household. She runs her house energetically and ably, with a strong
ruling will and definite ideas about upholding her position as an aristocrat.

Major Themes in "Arms and the Man"

1. Ignorance vs. Knowledge

The play is mainly concerned with the clash between knowledge and
ignorance, or, otherwise stated, between realism and romanticism. Raina and her
fiance Sergius are steeped in the romanticism of operettas and paperback novels.
Bluntschli uses his superior knowledge to disabuse Raina of her military delusions,
while the experience of war itself strips Sergius of the grand ideals he held. The
couple's idealized vision of warfare deflates in the face of additional information.
In the realm of love, the couple's pretensions are defeated by the thoroughgoing
pragmatism of their respective new matches: Bluntschli and Louka. Both the Swiss
Captain and Bulgarian man confront their lovers about the gap between their
words and their true selves. When faced with reality, both Raina and Sergius are
able to abandon their romantic delusions and embrace their honest desires.
2. The Realities of War
When Catherine and Raina imagine war they picture brave and dashing officers
fighting honorable battles. The reality of war falls far from this romanticized
vision. In the play's opening scene Bulgarian soldiers hunt and kill fleeing Serbians.
Once Captain Bluntschli appears, he becomes an eloquent messenger for the
horrors of war. He describes conditions of starvation and exhaustion at the front
lines. What first appears to be most glorious moment in the war, Sergius' cavalry
charge, is revealed to be an absurd case of dumb luck. Later in the play Captain
Bluntschli helps Major Petkoff and Sergius coordinate the return routes of
surviving troops so as to prevent starvation. Since the play begins in the
aftermath of the Serbo-Bulgarian War, the reader does not experience any
titillating battles, only a grinding post-war reality where hunger and death loom in
the background.
3. The Realities of Love
Raina and Sergius are as delusional about love as they are about war, seeming
to have derived their understanding of romance primarily from Byronic poetry.
They celebrate each other with formal and pretentious declarations of "higher
love", yet clearly feel uncomfortable in one another's presence. The couple, with
their good looks, noble blood and idealist outlook, seem to be a perfect match,
but in Shaw's world love does not function as it does in fairy tales. Instead Raina
falls for the practical and competent Swiss mercenary that crawls through her
bedroom window and Sergius for the pragmatic and clever household maid. Love
does not adhere to conventions. Moreover, love is not some abstract expression
of poetic purity. Love in the play is ultimately directed at those who understand
the characters best and who ground them in reality.
4. Jingoism and National Pride
Every war is initiated either in the name of nationalism or to manifest one's
creed and its superiority. Bernard Shaw focuses on the notion that none focuses
the superiority of humanity and the values associated with it. Catherine wants her
daughter to be worthy of her fiance because he is a war hero: "Oh, if you have a
drop of Bulgarian blood in your veins, you will worship him when he comes back."
Catherine does not like the treaty of peace because the Serves ought to be taught
that the Bulgarians are mighty.
5. Feminine Sentimentalism
Sentimentality of the fair sex has always been subject to criticism and fun for
the writers since ages. Women are considered soft at heart and weak in the mind.
They are easy to move and influence. Our dear Raina and her mother prove to be
of this category; however, Louka, a rough and tough maid, proves to be of
another kind. The way the daughter and mother help escape the fugitive soldier is
really amazing and unbelievable.
6. Incompetent Authority
Throughout the play competence and power do not align with established
authority. Louka repeatedly flouts social rules. By violating traditional ideas of
authority and power, she is able to win marriage to a handsome and wealthy war
hero. Her manipulation of Sergius demonstrates that control does not necessarily
derive from social authority. Likewise, Catherine manipulates her husband Major
Petkoff, withholding information and shepherding him about. Major Petkoff, as
the oldest wealthy male, should be the most powerful character according to
contemporary social hierarchy. Yet Petkoff proves to be a buffoon; he is, in fact,
the character least able to control outcomes, as he rarely understands what is
unfolding before him.
7. Class
Class has a large and continuous presence in the play. The Petkoff's upper-class
pretensions are portrayed as ridiculous and consistently played for laughs. The
family's pride in their so-called library becomes a running joke throughout the
play. Shaw praises the family's more local and humble roots: admiring the oriental
decorations in Raina's bedroom and describing Catherine earthy local beauty.
Raina's outdated Viennese fashions and Catherine's tea gowns are treated as
ridiculous. Louka's struggle demonstrates many of the effects of class in Bulgarian
society. She feels restricted by her station, which condemns her to a life where
reading books is considered presumptuous. Using her wit, Louka manages to
escape these boundaries, achieving equality with the wealthy Sergius.
8. Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy has been the age old problem with mankind. Humans claim one
thing while believe in another. Similarly, the soldiers fighting in the name of
national pride and bravery are cowards. The aristocrats have hypocrites and they
present themselves for what they are really not. They show off a humane and
gentle appearance but inside of them they are cheaters and losers. Sergius flirts
with Louka while Raina has romantic imagination about the Swiss despite both
Raina and Sergius are engaged with each other. Ironically, both vow of great and
pure love which is "higher love" for Sergius and "worthy" love for Raina. Catherine
would not shout for the servant because it is considered indecent.
9. Bravery
In the beginning Sergius, like Catherine and Raina, imagines bravery as the will
to undertake glorious and theatrical actions. This belief leads him to lead a
regiment of cavalry against a line of machine guns. Despite his dumb luck, the
action identifies him as an incompetent figure. When he returns at the end of the
war, Louka challenges his romantic notions of bravery. Sergius admits that
"carnage is cheap": anyone can have the will to inflict violence. Louka submits
that the subtle bravery required to live outside social rules and constrains is more
worthy to praise. At the play's end Sergius demonstrates this kind of bravery
when he embraces Louka in front of the others and agrees to marry her. Like
Sergius, Captain Bluntschli also undermines traditional understanding of bravery.
10. Personal Honesty
It is through personal honesty that all the play's major conflicts are resolved.
Raina abandons her indignant posturing and admits that Sergius exasperates her,
allowing her to pair up with Bluntschi. Likewise, Sergius overcomes his overly
romantic understanding of the meaning of love and bravery, opening himself to
an engagement with Louka. It is only when the couple confronts and accepts their
true desires and feelings that they find happiness with their ideal partners.
Pretending to share noble love makes both Raina and Sergius miserable. In the
end, even Bluntschli embraces his inner romantic self, asking for the hand of the
girl he is smitten with. Each characters gives in to his honest desires and is
rewarded with an optimal outcome.
QUESTION NO. 17
Answer the following questions.
(i) When and where does the play 'Waiting for Godot' take place?
Ans. All the action takes place next to a tree on a country road, beginning on the
evening of one day and ending on the evening of the next. The presence of the
tree and a rock of some sort is apparently important, at least according to Beckett
-- the setting, he says, is complete with animal, vegetable, and mineral.
(ii) Why is the play 'Waiting for Godot' in two acts?
Ans. "Waiting for Godot" appears to have been structured on sets of binaries.
There are two messenger boys, two sets of characters and hence two acts. The
two acts show two sides of the same character. Moreover, the two acts describe
circular events which means the play could go on forever.
(iii) What is the basic difference between Act I and Act II of 'Waiting for Godot'?
Ans. "Waiting for Godot" has a circular structure. From Act I to Act II, there is no
difference in either the setting or in the time. The basic difference between Act I
and Act II is the reversal of fortune of Pozzo and Lucky. Whereas Pozzo was clearly
the master and Lucky was his slave in Act I, in Act II Pozzo is blind and Lucky mute.
They have become dependent on each other for survival.
(iv) What are the major themes of 'Waiting for Godot'?
Ans. Humour and the absurd, freedom and confinement, modernism and
postmodernism, condition of the universe, devaluation of language, uncertainty
of all knowledge, search for meaning, choices, truth, time, religion, friendship,
hope and dependency are the major themes of "Waiting for Godot".
(v) What is the significance of Godot in the play 'Waiting for Godot'?
Ans. Beckett denies that Godot is "God". On the surface, Godot is a person for
whom the characters are waiting, but who never arrives. In this play, Godot
represents a personal god to which we attach our hopes to make our lives better.
Vladimir and Estragon wait Godot to get their lives improved.
(vi) What is an absurd play?
Ans. An absurd play is a form of drama that emphasizes the absurdity of human
existence by employing disjointed, repetitious, and meaningless dialogue,
purposeless and confusing situations, and plots that lack realistic or logical
development. "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett is an example of absurd
play.
(vii) How does 'Waiting for Godot' demonstrate the qualities of theatre of the
Absurd?
Ans. "Waiting for Godot" has a loose plot, there is no significant change in setting,
its characters are mechanical puppets, its theme is unexplained, there is no witty
repartee and pointed dialogue, and above all Estrogen and Vladimir's endless
waiting for Godot is completely absurd.
(viii) Mention the modern qualities which are present in 'Waiting for Godot'.
Ans. "Waiting for Godot" is a modern play in the sense that it defies classic
standards. Modern writers had a new liking for fragmented forms and
discontinuous narratives, and "Waiting for Godot" is a superb example of
fragmented form.
(ix) How is 'Waiting for Godot' a tragicomedy?
Ans. "Waiting for Godot is a mixture of comic and tragic elements. Musical
devices, circus acts, cross-talks and the atmosphere of the play are stuff of pure
comedy. However, Lucky's pathetic situation, the night-mares, the attempted
suicide and above all Estrogen and Vladimir's waiting for something who never
comes turn this comedy into a tragicomedy.
(x) What is the moral of the play 'Waiting for Godot'?
Ans. Life is condensed down into absolutely nothing and only the friendship
between Vladimir and Estragon is able to stave off temporarily the loneliness of
such a barren existence. We enter the world with no sense of identity and
gradually as we grow up assume our identity from things around us -- our
families, our achievements etc. However, our assumed identity may be based on
illusory concepts.
(xi) In what language was 'Waiting for Godot' originally written?
Ans. "Waiting for Godot" was originally written in French in 1948, with the title
"En attendant Godot". Beckett personally translated the play into English. The
world premiere was held on January 5, 1953, in the Left Bank Theater of Babylon
in Paris.
(xii) What is 'mandrake'? What is its symbolic reference?
Ans. Mandrake is a plant of the nightshade family, with a forked fleshy root which
supposedly resembles the human form and which was formerly used in herbal
medicine and magic; it was alleged to shriek when pulled from the ground. In
"Waiting for Godot", Vladimir says, "Where it falls mandrakes grow". It refers that
mandrakes grow where the semen of the hanged man has dripped onto the
ground.
(xiii) What does the song about the dog signify in 'Waiting for Godot'?
Ans. In the beginning of Act II, Vladimir moves about feverishly on the stage and
suddenly begins to sing a dog song -- an old German Balled. It is a circular song. It
is emblematic of the circularity and repetitiveness of the play as a whole. It also
reinforces Beckett's idea of the loss of individuality, and creates more conflict
between Vladimir and Estragon.
(xiv) What does Lucky's 'Dance in a Net' symbolize?
Ans. When Lucky is commanded to dance in Act I, Pozzo reveals that he calls his
dance "The Net", adding, "He thinks he's entangled in a net". Thus Lucky's dance
symbolizes the agony, strain and entanglement in life to magnify the ultimate
suffering of human existence.
(xv) What is the function of the audience in 'Waiting for Godot'?
Ans. In the Theatre of the Absurd, there is an attempt to draw the audience into
the play and make them feel involved. In "Waiting for Godot" it is never revealed
conclusively who or what Godot is, this unknown force can be seen
metaphorically represent that for which the audience is waiting in their own lives.
The audience relates to the protagonists because waiting is common for all.
QUESTION NO. 25

Answer the following questions.

(i) Write the names of four major plays of Edward Bond.
Ans. Edward Bond is the author of some fifty plays. His major plays include; Early
Morning, Lear, The Sea, Bingo, Saved, Narrow Road to the Deep North.
(ii) When did Edward Bond win the Obie award?
Ans. In 1976, Edward Bond's play "Bingo" won the Obie award as Best Off-
Broadway play at Yale Repertory Theatre.
(iii) What is Bond's attitude towards religion?
Ans. "Edward Bond is an atheist and a humanist", says Tony Coult. Bond believes
in mutual respect of religion. In one of his letters, Bond says, "Art can of course be
captured by religion and corrupted by ideology".
(iv) What are the major themes of 'The Sea'?
Ans. Man's ability to survive the worst, man's desire for change, relationship
between individual and society, mutual respect of religion and self appear are the
major themes of "The Sea".
(v) Define symbolism.
Ans. Symbolism is the use of words, places, characters, or objects that mean
something beyond what they are on a literal level. For example, Blake's tiger
symbolizes creative energy, Shelley's wind symbolizes inspiration, Ted Hughes's
Hawk symbolizes terrible destructiveness at the heart of nature.
(vi) What does the character of Willy symbolize?
Ans. Willy is not native of the town. He is a symbol of change in this pessimistic
and lunatic town. He is also symbolic of the truth which is doubted by most. He
stands as a voice for the oppressed ones while the society is unable to listen. He is
the voice of positive change. He appears as a linking force between the oppressed
and the oppressor.
(vii) How is "The Sea" a poetic tragedy?
Ans. "The Sea", set in the rural background of North Cost of England, was
intended as a satirical comedy by the author but deep tragic elements
overshadow the comic aspects of the play. So it is labelled as a poetic tragedy.
(viii) Describe surrealism in 'The Sea'.
Ans. Surrealism in literature is an artistic attempt to bridge together reality and
the imagination. Edward Bond is a surrealist. In "The Sea" Bond surrealistically
shows the ability of human beings to survive the worst, to retain their optimism,
and not to be brought down by the lunacy and injustice of the world they live in.
(ix) What is the setting of the play 'The Sea'?
Ans. "The Sea" is a comedy by Edward Bond set in a small seaside village in rural
East Anglia in 1907 in the Edwardian period.
(x) What is the significance of the title 'The Sea'?
Ans. Bond's earliest projected titles for "The Sea" were "Was Anything Done?"
and "Two Storms". The Sea is a symbol of power, strength, life, mystery, hope and
truth. The tightly knit society of a small town on the East Coast of England is a
battleground just like the Sea over which the victims of an oppressive and morally
impoverished culture wander in made distraction.
(xi) What is the main target of satire in 'The Sea'?
Ans. English form of repression -- the operations and influence of a rigid class
structure, which is carefully worked into the whole fabric of the play, is the main
target of satire in "The Sea".
(xii) Why does Bond encourage the audience to 'change the world'?
Ans. It is a world ludicrously bent on self-destruction. Bond encourages the
audience to "change the world", for betterment must be desired. He believes in
social change with the will of individuals. With this aim of change, the playwright
directs his satire on the rigid, aggressive and repressive class structure of English
society.
(xiii) Sea is the domain of life. How?
Ans. This line is from Edward Bond's play "The Sea". Domain is an area of territory
owed or controlled by a particular ruler or government. There are three domains
of life; earth, air and sea. Sea is the domain of life for fishes, plants and other
marine organisms. Sea is also a metaphor of life.
(xiv) 'People are judged by what they have on their hands. They are important'.
What does it mean?
Ans. These words are spoken by Mrs. Rafi in Scene II of the play "The Sea" by
Edward Bond. She is in Hatch's shop and orders Hatch to show her the gloves
available with him. She tries several gloves and finally likes "style" of a pair.
Gloves are very important for her because she thinks that one uses one's hand to
point, emphasize, gesture, and be judged.
(xv) 'It's a bad world. You have to be a bit mad to understand it'. What does it
mean?
Ans. This line is from Scene III of the play "The Sea" by Edward Bond. It means
that this world is very dangerous, convoluted and cruel. Our common senses
cannot understand the mysteries of this world. So we have to be insane, irrational
and senseless to avoid its understanding.

QUESTION NO. 33
Answer the following questions.
(i) What are the major themes in ‘The Cherry Orchard’?
Ans. Society and Class, Memory and the Past, Social Changes and Progress, Failure
to Grasp Reality, The Struggle over Memory, Contrasting Regions, Class
Distinctions, Self-Destruction, love, time and wealth are the major themes in "The
Cherry Orchard".
(ii) What are the major symbols in ‘The Cherry Orchard?
Ans. Cherry Orchard, breaking string, dropped purse, Fiers' death, nursery,
telegraph poles and Varya's keys are the major symbols in "The Cherry Orchard".
(iii) What is the role of music in ‘The Cherry Orchard’?
Ans. Music is only heard in Act III, during a party on the day of the auction of the
cherry orchard. Madam Ranevsky says, "And the musicians needn't have come,
and we needn't have got up this ball." She wants to hear music for the catharsis of
her pent-up emotions. When Lopakhin purchases the cherry orchard, he
commands the musicians to play to express his happiness.
(iv) What is naturalism?
Ans. Naturalism was a literary movement or tendency from the 1880s to 1930s
that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and
environment had inescapable force in shaping human character. It was mainly
unorganized literary movement that sought to depict believable everyday reality,
as opposed to such movements as Romanticism or Surrealism.
(v) How is ‘The Cherry Orchard’ a naturalistic play?
Ans. "The Cherry Orchard" is a naturalistic play because it focuses on scientific,
objective details. It this is like realism, in that it attempts to portray life "as it
really is". The characters are realistic and complex as human beings are. Like
other naturalistic plays, there is a use of symbolic elements as key devices to
communicate wider meanings.
(vi) What does ‘The Cherry Orchard’ signify?
Ans. The Cherry Orchard means different things to different people. It represents
Lyubov's heritage and her youth -- a disappearing paradise. For Gayev, it is a
symbol of status. For Lopakhin it is a financial opportunity. Trofimov sees the
orchard as a symbol of injustice. Anya gives up her sentimental attachment to it
for a new life.
(vii) Define tragicomedy.
Ans. Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspect of both tragic and comic
forms. Most often seen in dramatic literature, the term can variously describe
either a tragic play with contains enough comic elements to lighten the overall
mood, or, often, a serious play with a happy ending. "The Merchant of Venice" by
Shakespeare and "The Cherry Orchard" by Anton Chekhov are examples of
tragicomedy.
(viii) Is ‘The Cherry Orchard’ a tragedy or comedy?
Ans. "The Cherry Orchard" might be said to belong to the same category as "The
Winter's Tale": it contains a tragedy but does not allow it to be fulfilled. Anton
Chekhov conceived of this play as a comedy. The play in fact, portrays an end of
an aristocratic era with both tragic and comic elements. Thus it best characterized
as a tragicomedy.
(ix) What is modernism?
Ans. Modernism is a philosophical movement that, along with cultural trends and
changes, arose from wide-scale and far-reaching transformations in Western
society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Among the factors that
shaped modernism were the development of modern industrial societies and the
rapid growth of cities, followed then by the horror of World War I.
(x) What is modern about ‘The Cherry Orchard’?
Ans. One thing which is modern about "The Cherry Orchard" is the emphasis on
realism. Moreover, money in the play is a modern element which dictates the
transformation of landscapes from pastoral to industrial. Thus the play is 'out with
the old and in with the new.'
(xi) What is the setting of ‘The Cherry Orchard?
Ans. The action takes place between May and October at a rural estate in Russian
three to four decades after Czar Alexander II freed the serf in 1861.
(xii) What is the central conflict in ‘The Cherry Orchard’?
Ans. The central conflict of the play is the battle between the values of the old
Russia and the values of the new Russia.
(xiii) How is ‘The Cherry Orchard’ perceived by the servant class?
Ans. Firs is the representative of the servant class. To Fiers, the cherry orchard is
something to be revered and remembered, and something that is intimately
connected with past times and a very different kind of life from the life that is
being experienced by the Ranevsky family now.
(xiv) What is the significance of the axe falling in ‘The Cherry Orchard’?
Ans. The axe falling on the tress in Act IV represents the destruction of the
orchard and the old aristocratic way of life in Russia.
(xv) What is the ultimate fate of Firs at the end of ‘The Cherry Orchard’?
Ans. Firs is an old footman, faithful to the Ranevsky family for generations.
Concerned only with the well-being of his employers, he is inadvertently left to
die in the abandoned house, a symbol of the dying past.

QUESTION NO. 1
Answer the following questions.
(i) What elements in 'Heart of Darkness' appear to be drawn from Conrad's own
life?
Ans. "Heart of Darkness" is a record of Conrad's own experiences in the course of
his visit to Congo in 1890. Marlow's experiences and feelings are very much the
same as Conrad's own had been. Marlow appears as a pessimist in the novel; and
Conrad himself was a pessimist too. Both in external and in terms of the inward
mental life, Marlow meets the same fate which Conrad had met.
(ii) What are the unspeakable rites in 'Heart of Darkness'?
Ans. The unspeakable rites in "Heart of Darkness" concern human sacrifices and
Kurtz's consuming a portion of the sacrificial victims. These sacrifices were
established in the interest of perpetuating Kurtz's position as a man-god.
(iii) What does the Congo river symbolize in 'Heart of Darkness'?
Ans. The Congo River resembles a snake, and the snake symbolizes the idea of
temptation and evil. The river leads Marlow and other Europeans into the heart
of the continent where the temptations prove to be too much for many of them.
Marlow's journey on the river represents a journey into one's inner spirit. As
Marlow progresses further up the river in his search of Kurtz, he begins to learn
more and more about himself.
(iv) How does Conrad complicate the idea of colonization being 'good'? What
kind of negative effects does it have on both white and the black men of Africa?
Ans. Conrad complicates the idea of colonization being "good" by stating that the
goal of European colonization of Africa is to civilize and educate the savages. The
white men see the Africans as savages, and the Africans see the white men as
unwelcome intruders. No party is happy in this situation.
(v) What does darkness represent in 'Heart of Darkness'?
Ans. Darkness is the inability to see: this may sound simple, but as a description of
the human condition it has profound implications. Failing to see another human
being means failing to understand the individual and failing to establish any sort
of sympathetic communion with him or her. It also represents the inherent evil in
humanity.
(vi) Trace the role of Russian in 'Heart of Darkness'.
Ans. The Russian is a devoted follower of Kurtz. The main purpose of the Russian
is that he is the fool of the novel. He acts as a conduit of information about Kurtz
that neither Marlow nor the reader knew before.
(vii) What is the overall impression of the natives that Conrad produces?
Ans. When the narrator identifies natives as a sea of waving disembodied arms, it
seems that Conrad produces a racist perspective on African natives. However, the
narrator views the natives in groups rather than as individuals, and they seem to
have very similar or identical intentions, but there is not necessarily any racist
aspect of that interpretation.
(viii) How does Conrad depict Africans as different from Europeans?
Ans. Conrad depicts the Africans as dark savages and brutes, cannibals;
dehumanizing them to mere animals. Kurtz repeatedly says, "Exterminate the
brutes". In contrast the Europeans are portrayed as almost an Aryan race. Conrad
depicts them as very proper and well groomed which is completely opposite of his
description of the "savages".
(ix) Which literary devices in 'Heart of Darkness' are proto-Modernist?
Ans. Conrad uses an unreliable narrator, a hallmark of proto-Modernist writing.
The narrator is not by his nature a liar but rather put under great pressure by his
environment. As we learn at the beginning of the novel, Africa has driven mad a
great many men. Themes of alienation, confrontation of the other, and disjointing
of man from the natural world are also proto-Modernist.
(x) Who attacks the steamboat as it reaches the Inner Station?
Ans. As Marlow's steamship reaches the Inner Station in a heavy fog, arrows begin
to fly out from the jungle. Marlow blows the steam whistle on the ship and scares
off the attackers. Later, the Harlequin explains that the Africans attacked the ship
because they were afraid the ship was coming to take Kurtz away from them.
(xi) Who is the Intended in "Heart of Darkness"?
Ans. The Intended is Kurtz's naive and long-suffering fiancee, whom Marlow goes
to visit after Kurtz's death. Her unshakable certainty about Kurtz's love for her
reinforces Marlow's belief that women live in a dream world, well insulated from
reality.
(xii) What is the major conflict in 'Heart of Darkness'?
Ans. Both Marlow and Kurtz confront a conflict between their images of
themselves as "civilized" Europeans and the temptation to abandon morality
completely once they leave the context of European society.
(xiii) How are women characterized in 'Heart of Darkness'?
Ans. Conrad is a misogynist and all about the gentlemen. All the women within
"Heart of Darkness" reflect the values of their society and are viewed as nothing
more than trophies for men. They hardly appear to be rounded out characters.
They appear one-dimensional. They live in a separate world.
(xiv) What is the message of 'Heart of Darkness'?
Ans. The message of "Heart of Darkness" is that every man must make certain to
repress the heart of darkness within -- the uncivilized man. For if this is not done,
chaos reigns. It also gives us the message that the result of imperialism is
madness.
(xv) Besides Marlow and Kurtz, other character are not given personal names.
Why?
Ans. The reason behind leaving so many characters without names is to show the
dehumanization of men in the wilderness of the Congo. Most of the people
involved in the trade of the Congo have simply lost their humanity, that is why
they do not have human names; they are reduced to description similar to the
way we refer to inanimate objects.
QUESTION NO. 9
Answer the following questions.
(i) Write the names of four novels of D.H. Lawrence.
Ans. D.H. Lawrence is best known for his novels: Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow,
Women in Love and Lady Chatterley's Lover.
(ii) What is the setting of 'Sons and Lovers'?
Ans. The novel is primarily set at Bestwood, an English coal-mining town in
Nottinghamshire in the early 1900's. Other places include The Bottoms and Willey
Farm. The Bottoms is Bestwood's neighbourhood in which the Morel family lives.
Willey Farm is the home of Miriam Lievers, Paul Morel's first lover.
(iii) What is the significance of the title 'Sons and Lovers'?
Ans. Before publication the novel was titled "Paul Morel", however, it was finally
titled "Sons and Lovers" to broaden its scope. "Sons and Lovers" signify something
incestuous, in the sense that Paul is simultaneously Mrs. Morels' son and her
lover.
(iv) Why does D.H. Lawrence adopt the omniscient narrator in 'Sons and
Lovers'?
Ans. By choosing an omniscient third person narrator, Lawrence positions the
Morel's problems inside the larger historical conflicts of modern industry -- e.g.,
the English mining industry that graces the book's opening pages. Moreover, the
third-person omniscient narrator allows Lawrence to make us a little sympathetic
toward evil or pathetic characters like Walter Morel, whom every other character
seems to hate.
(v) What are the major themes in 'Sons and Lovers'?
Ans. Oedipus complex, bondage, contradictions and oppositions, nature and
flowers, drugs and alcohol, women and femininity, men and masculinity, art and
culture, technology and modernization, family, love and pride are the major
themes in "Sons and Lovers".
(vi) What is Oedipus complex?
Ans. The term Oedipus complex denotes the emotions and ideas that the mind
keeps in the unconscious, via dynamic repression, that concentrates upon a
child's desire to have sexual relations with the parent of the opposite sex.
(vii) How does 'Sons and Lovers' explore the Oedipus complex?
Ans. In "Sons and Lovers", Paul is hopelessly devoted to his mother, and that love
often borders on romantic desire. Lawrence writes many scenes between the two
that go beyond the bounds of conventional mother-son love. Completing the
Oedipal equation, Paul murderously hates his father and often fantasizes about
his death.
(viii) What relationships have been described in 'Sons and Lovers'?
Ans. In this novel, each character pairs up with someone who is quite unlike them,
and they attract to each other either spiritually or sensually. Paul is torn between
his passion for two women, Miriam and his mother Gertrude. His relationship
with his mother is an example of Oedipus complex.
(ix) Why is 'Sons and Lovers' a bildungsroman?
Ans. Bildungsroman is a form of fiction which allows the novelist to recreate
through the maturing of his protagonist some of his own remembered intensity of
experience. In "Sons and Loves", the scenes of family life, the mining background,
Paul and Miriam relationship, and Mr. Morel as a father are examples of
Lawrence's own experience.
(x) What are the elements of Freudian psychoanalysis in 'Sons and Lovers'?
Ans. The elements of Freudian psychoanalysis in "Sons and Lovers" are Oedipus
Complex and Euthanasia. Paul is hopelessly devoted to his mother, and that love
often borders on romantic desire. At the end of the novel, Paul intentionally
overdoses his dying mother with morphia, an act that reduces her suffering and
subverts his Oedipal fate, since he does not kill his father, but his mother.
(xi) What is euthanasia? Who are the victims of euthanasia in 'Sons and Lovers'?
Ans. Euthanasia is the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve
pain and suffering. At the end of the novel, Paul intentionally overdoses his dying
mother with morphia to reduce her pain and suffering. Thus Paul is a victim of
Euthanasia.
(xii) What are the factors that keep Morel family together in spite of their
differences?
Ans. According to Lawrence, 'blood contact', not mental communion, is a
prerequisite in family relations. It is the reason why Paul's father and mother stay
together in spite of their disrupted marriage, and has kept Morel family together
in spite of their differences.
(xiii) Interpret 'He was an outsider. He had denied the God in him'.
Ans. This line is from "Sons and Lovers" by D.H. Lawrence. This line is spoken by a
hidden authorial voice. It is stating that Walter Morel is a bad person. He is a
pretty bad husband and father. There is no sympathy, consideration and
humanity in his character.
(xiv) Who is Gertrude?
Ans. Gertrude is the first protagonist of the novel "Sons and Lovers". She is
unhappily married to Walter Morel, and she redirects her attention to her
children. She is first obsessed with William, but his death leaves her empty and
redirects her energies towards Paul. She bitterly disapproves of all the women
these two son encounter, masking her jealously with other excuses.
(xv) Who is Walter Morel?
Ans. Walter Morel is Gertrude's husband and a coal miner. He was once a
humorous, lively man, but over time he has become a cruel, selfish alcoholic. His
family, especially, Mrs. Morel, despises him, and Paul frequently entertains

QUESTION NO. 17
Answer the following questions.
(i) Write the names of four novels of Virginia Woolf.
Ans. The major novels of Virginia Woolf are; The Voyage Out, Night and Day,
Jacob's Room, Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, Orlando, The Waves, The Years,
Between the Acts.
(ii) What is the function of the 'to' in the title? Why isn't the title just 'The
Lighthouse'?
Ans. "The Lighthouse" in this novel is a symbol of things that are desired, longed
for, and unknown. The "to" in the title suggests that it is a journey to the
Lighthouse. The characters in the novel seem to be like lost little ships, which all
seem guidance, and struggle to find their way in life.
(iii) In how many sections 'To the Lighthouse' has been divided? Also write the
names of the sections.
Ans. "To the Lighthouse" has been divided into three sections, each of which has
been given a title: The Window, Time Passes and The Lighthouse.
(iv) What is the importance of brackets in 'To the Lighthouse'?
Ans. Brackets is an effective plot device to fast-forward time and to age the
surviving characters. The sentences in Brackets in "To the Lighthouse" convey
personal information about the characters, recount the deaths of Prue and
Andrew Ramsay, indicate violence and potential survival, and act as bookends
about Mr. Carmichael.
(v) What is stream-of-consciousness?
Ans. Stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or device that seeks "to depict
the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind. Another
term for it is "interior monologue". The term was coined by William James in 1890
and in 1918 May Sinclair first applied this term in a literary context, when
discussing Dorothy Richardson's novels.
(vi) What does the lighthouse symbolize in 'To the Lighthouse'?
Ans. The lighthouse symbolizes human desire, a force that pulsates over the
indifferent sea of the natural world and guides people's passage across it. Yet
even as the lighthouse stands constant night and day, season after season, it
remains curiously unattainable.
(vii) How is 'To the Lighthouse' a study of human relationships?
Ans. "To the Lighthouse" reveals a close study of the ways and means by which
satisfactory and congenial human relationship might be established. Almost
throughout the novel, we find the movements of characters towards one another
from the state of isolation in which each character is trapped by his own sense of
inadequacy or his private worries. Mrs. Ramsay plays a very significant part to
establish communication between people.
(viii) What is the relationship between the Lighthouse and the novel's narrator?
Ans. Just as Lighthouse guides ships during turbulent times, narrator guides
readers (with indirect interior monologue, parenthesis, and stream of
consciousness). Narrator is very much present -- and the autobiographical
element does not allow author to fully disappear from the novel.
(ix) What is the effect of the passage of time in 'To the Lighthouse'?
Ans. Time is not experienced conventionally in "To the Lighthouse". Instead, time
is anchored in certain select moments, which completely distorts it from the way
a clock experiences time. Time is measured as it is experienced by certain people,
which infuses select moments with incredible importance and duration. Time is
both elongated and compressed to show the destructiveness of time.
(x) What are some of the main symbols in 'To the Lighthouse'?
Ans. The Lighthouse, Lily's Painting, The Ramsays' Summer House, The Sea, The
Land, The Boar's Skull, The Fruit Basket, and The Hen in Mr. Banker's Memory are
the main symbols in "To the Lighthouse".
(xi) What are the major conflicts in 'To the Lighthouse'?
Ans. (i) James wants to go to the Lighthouse but his father says that the weather
won't be good enough to go.
(ii) Lily wants to paint but Charles tells her that women can't write or paint.
(iii) The common conflict that each of the characters faces is to bring meaning and
order to the chaos of life.
(xii) How does Virginia Woolf depict marriage in 'To the Lighthouse'?
Ans. Marriage in Woolf's text is anti-climactic, filled with the day-today duties of
paying bills, attending to company and raising children. Marriage acts as a
unifying thread throughout novel, connecting incongruous moments with
structural unity and clarity. The relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay,
shows the distinctness of character within each counterpart as they are unified to
become a third entity -- the married couple.
(xiii) What is the significance of water in 'To the Lighthouse'?
Ans. Water has a great role throughout the novel, in particular as the characters
spend a great deal of time looking at the sea that separates the Ramsay's summer
home from the Lighthouse. The symbolism of water is complex. It seems to
represent both permanence and ephemerality. It also represents a destructive
and erosive force.
(xiv) What is the place of objectivity and omniscience in 'To the Lighthouse'?
Ans. The repression of subjectivity and use of omniscience in "To the Lighthouse"
enhance the consciousness effect. Woolf discards both the first person and the
third person narration in her novel because she finds the method of narration
known as multiple inner points of view as the best means to project her theme in
the novel.
(xv) Would you consider the ending of 'To the Lighthouse' a happy ending?
Ans. "To the Lighthouse" ends with Lily Briscoe having a revelation about her own
work. She has seen from a distance that Mr. Ramsay has arrived at the
Lighthouse, his children, James and Cam in tow. This sump up happily not only the
achievement of Lily's artistic project, but also of the project of "To the
Lighthouse" as a whole.
QUESTION NO. 25
Answer the following questions.
(i) From where has Achebe taken the title 'Things Fall Apart'?
Ans. The title of Achebe's novel "Things Fall Apart" is taken from William Butler
Yeats' poem "Second Coming".
(ii) What is the significance of the title 'Things Fall Apart'?
Ans. The title of Achebe's novel "Things Fall Apart" is taken from William Butler
Yeats' poem "Second Coming". The title foreshadows the tragedy which the novel
depicts. It also draws attention to the parallels between the English oppression of
Ireland and its oppression of Nigeria.
(iii) Describe the Feast of the New Yam.
Ans. Just before the harvest, the village Umuofia holds the Feast of the New Yam
to give thanks to the earth goddess, Ani. The women scrub and decorate their
huts, throw away all of their unused yams from the previous year, and use cam
wood to paint their skin and that of their children with decorative designs. This is
the beginning of new year.
(iv) What is the meaning of the Igbo proverb, 'When a man says yes his chi says
yes also'?
Ans. The chi is an individual's personal god. This Ibgo proverb implies that a man's
actions affect his destiny as determined by his chi. Okonkwo's chi is considered
"good" but he "[says] yes very strongly, so his chi [agrees]." In other words,
Okonkwo's actions to overcome adversity seem justified, but because he is guided
by his chi, his denial of kindness, gentleness, and affection for less successful men
will prove self-destructive.
(v) Why had the men of Umuofia called a meeting?
Ans. A neighbouring tribe Mbaino had murdered an Umuofia woman and they
gathered to discuss revenge. They also wanted to make sure that every man was
okay for the battle.
(vi) What role do egwugwu play in village culture?
Ans. The egwugwu are a symbol of the culture and independence of the Umuofia.
The egwugwu are seen as ancestral gods, though in actuality they are masked
Umuofia elders. The egwugwu served as respected judges in the village culture,
listening to complaints and prescribing punishments and deciding conflicts.
(vii) What was considered the greatest crime in Umofia?
Ans. The greatest crime a man could commit was to unmask an egwugwu in
public, or to say or do any thing which might reduce its immortal prestige in the
eyes of the uninitiated. And this was what Enoch did. This was more of a crime
than killing even a holy royal python or a fellow clans-member.
(viii) Describe the 'Isa-ifi' ceremony.
Ans. The marriage ceremony presented in "Things Fall Apart" has three parts; The
Bride Price, Uri and Isa-ifi. In the Isa-ifi ceremony, the bride sits in the centre of
the circle of women and men and holds a hen in her right hand. She is asked some
questions. If all the questions are answered truthfully, the hen's throat is slit and
the groom takes the bride away to go on a honeymoon.
(ix) What does 'Ezigbo' mean?
Ans. 'Ezigbo' means the good one (child). Ezigbo is the daughter of Ekwefi and
Okonkow. She is also called Ezimna; meaning true beauty.
(x) What were the ingredients that went into making the medicine for 'iba'?
Ans. The earth provides ways for humans to combat disease. The ingredients that
went into making the medicine for 'iba' were the leaves, grasses and barks of tree.
(xi) Give an account of Chielo's journey to Agbala, having Ezinma on her back.
Ans. While Ekwefi and Ezinma are telling folktales to each other during a
moonless night, Chielo arrives. She says that the god Agbala wants to see Ezinma.
Ezinma, who is very afraid, climbs on Chielo's back. In the dark night, Cheilo
having Ezinma on her back is headed towards the cave of Agbala. Ekwefi follows
them. Chielo enters the cave with Ezinma. Ekwefi sits and waits outside the cave.
(xii) Why was Okonkow famous?
Ans. Okonkow was famous because he defeated the most famous wrestler,
Alalinze. Moreover, he a a well known farmer and warrior. He was also famous
because of how he was able to define his in conjunction with socially established
norms of "success".
(xiii) According to the oracle, why do Unoka's crops fail year after year?
Ans. Unoka, Okonkwo's father, visits the tribe's oracle, Agbala, to discover why he
has bad harvests. Agbala's priestess says that he has no one but himself to blame
for his bad harvests. She points out his laziness in contrast to his neighbours'
admirable work ethic and sends him away with simple advicd: "go home and work
like a man."
(xiv) What does the repetition the the number seven suggest in 'Things Fall
Apart'?
Ans. In several places, the novel explicitly focuses on the theological and moral
similarities between Christianity and Igbo religion. The repetition of the number
seven -- symbolically important to both religions -- is another way of highlighting
the similarities between the two cultures. The text refers to resting on the
seventh day for both cultures.
(xv) Who brings the pots of wine in 'Uri' ceremony of Obierika's daughter?
Ans. The groom's family brings the pots of wine in 'Uri' ceremony of Obierika's
daughter. They bring fifty pots of palm-wine, a very respectable number. The
women of the house drink some wine, including the bride, Akueke.
QUESTION NO. 33
Answer the following questions.
(i) Write the names of four novels of William Golding.
Ans. The major novels of William Golding are; Lord of Flies, The Inheritors, Pincher
Martin, Free Fall, The Spire, The Pyramid, The Scorpion God, Darkness Visible, The
Paper Men, To the Ends of the Earth, Rites of Passage, Close Quarters, Fire Down
Below, The Double Tongue.
(ii) What is the setting of 'Lord of the Flies'?
Ans. "Lord of the Flies" takes place on an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean
probably in 1950. This island is tropical and has a jungle and beaches, and a
mountain. Throughout the book, the setting is in different parts of the island.
(iii) What is the significance of the title 'Lord of the Flies'?
Ans. "Lord" is a word of power, and "Flies" connote death and decay. So "Lord of
the Flies" is a power of corruption, decay and death. "Lord of the Flies" is also the
popular translation of Beelzebub, who is either a demon or the devil himself.
Simon calls the severed pig's head "Lord of the Flies" because he sees it as a
manifestation of the boy's nature -- and possibly his own.
(iv) Why does Golding use British schoolboys in 'Lord of the Flies'?
Ans. Golding was British. He probably used British schoolboys to illustrate how
even boy who have been brought up in a world of rules, regulations and the
classics, who are the very epitome of civilization, can quickly revert to "savagery"
if the right situation arises. He excluded girls because, in his own words, he did
not want "sex to rear its ugly head".
(v) What are the major themes of 'Lord of the Flies'?
Ans. Civilization vs. savagery, individualism vs. community, man vs. Nature,
speech and silence, rules and orders, loss of innocence, the nature of evil,
dehumanization of relationships, the negative consequences of war, and effects
of fear are the major themes of "Lord of Flies".
(vi) How do the boys happen to come to the island?
Ans. The boys are from Military School Britain. The time seems like World War II.
They are being evacuated somewhere by a plane. Their plane crashes but they
survive and happen to come to the island.
(vii) What is the role of religion in the lives of the boys?
Ans. Simon is a Christ like figure and other boys are devils. Like a religious person,
Simon looks into his own heart and accepts that there is a beast within, and face it
squarely. There is almost no role of religion in the lives of other boys who kill
Simon.
(viii) What is the purpose of the expedition of Jack, Ralph and Simon?
Ans. There are two expeditions of Jack, Ralph and Simon. The purpose of first
expedition in Chapter I is to find out if the land is actually an island. On the second
expedition, the mission is to find the beast that Sam and Eric spotted.
(ix) What role does the conch play in 'Lord of the Flies'?
Ans. The conch is a symbol of social order, respect, decency and power. When the
boys hold meetings around the camp fire, only the speaker who is holding the
conch may address the crowd. The speaker with the conch is supposed to be
respected by the group and heard. When the conch gets destroyed, the boys'
civilized world also becomes unglued.
(x) How and why do the boys make fire?
Ans. Boys gather woods and make fire by using Piggy's glasses. They think that
this fire may draw the attention of a plane or passing ship, and in turn, help
facilitate their rescue.
(xi) Who or what is the Lord of the Flies?
Ans. "Lord" is a word of power, and "Flies" connote death and decay. So "Lord of
the Flies" is a power of corruption, decay and death. "Lord of the Flies" is also the
popular translation of Beelzebub, who is either a demon or the devil himself.
Simon calls the severed pig's head "Lord of the Flies" because he sees it as a
manifestation of the boy's nature -- and possibly his own.
(xii) Interpret 'The head is for the beast. It's a gift'.
Ans. This line is from Chapter 8 in "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding. This line
is spoken by Jack. Jack and his hunters sharpen a stick at both ends and place the
dismembered head of a pig on it as a kind of offering for the imaginary beast. It
also shows boys' lust for blood.
(xiii) Interpret 'Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood'.
Ans. This line is from Chapter 9 in "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding. This line
is, in fact, the boys' savage chant in the novel. It symbolizes the loss of reason and
blind emotion. When boys get involved in it, nothing seems real, they lose their
grip on reality. This is why the boys mistake Simon as the Beast and murder him.
(xiv) What does the dead parachutist symbolize?
Ans. The dead parachutist symbolizes; the civilization from which the boys have
been cut off, a link to the adult world, the lack of adult supervision on the island,
the lack of order on the island, the essence of the beast and the lord of the flies,
savagery and evil in action.
(xv) Why does the boys' plan for rescue fail?
Ans. The boys only had one plan for rescue, which was to keep a signal fire
burning on the mountain top. One day Ralph spotted a passing ship. All the boys
were on a pig hunt and the fire was left untended. The ship passed by and the
boys remained unrescued.

QUESTION NO. 1
Answer the following questions.
(i) What is literary criticism?
Ans. Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literary works
like poem, drama, and novel etc. Plato's cautions against the risky consequences
of poetic inspiration in general in his "Republic" are often taken as the earliest
important examples of literary criticism.
(ii) What does Plato say about poetry?
(iii) The subject of 'Republic' is politics. Comment.
(iv) What does 'Poetics' deal with?
(v) How does Aristotle define poetry?
(vi) In what three ways does Aristotle differentiate various art forms from one
another?
(vii) What is the difference between epic poetry and tragedy?
(viii) Why does Aristotle value Homer so highly as a poet in 'Poetics'?
(ix) How does Aristotle define 'the universal'?
(x) What are the three meanings of imitation?
(xi) Define the term 'mock epic'.
(xii) What is the main difference between poetry and history?
(xiii) What are the six parts every tragedy must have? Which, according to
Aristotle, is the most important?
(xiv) What, according to Aristotle, is the primary purpose of tragedy?
(xv) What is the place of cathersis in tragedy?

Sidney As a Critic
T.S. Eliot As a Critic
Brooks' View on Keats' Urn
Relationship Between Criticism and Commonsense

QUESTION NO. 33

(a) When all the world is young ..... when all was young!

1. Introduction
(i) Title: Young and Old
(ii) Poet: Charles Kingsley (1819 - 1875)
2. Lines 1-2
When all the world is young, lad,
And all the trees are green;

3. Lines 3-4
And every goose a swan, lad,
And every lass a queen;

4. Lines 5-6
Then hey for boot and horse, lad,
And round the world away!

5. Lines 7-8
Young blood must have its course, lad,
And every dog his day.

6. Lines 9-10
When all the world is old, lad,
And all the trees are brown;

7. Lines 11-12
And all the sport is stale, lad,
And all the wheels run down;

8. Lines 13-14
Creep home, and take your place there
The spent and maim'd among;

9. Lines 15-16
God grant you find one face there
You loved when all was young!

10. Conclusion

(b) Everyone suddenly burst ..... the singing will never be done.

1. Introduction

2.
QUESTION NO. 35

(a) 'Nature' is what we see ...... to her Simplicity.

1. Introduction
(i) Title:
(ii) Poet:
(iii)
2. Lines 1-2
'Nature' is what we see --
The Hill -- the Afternoon --

3. Lines 3-4
Squirrel -- Eclipse -- the Bumble bee --
Nay -- Nature is Heaven --

4. Lines 5-6
Nature is what we hear --
The Bobolink -- the Sea --

5. Lines 7-8
Thunder -- the Cricket --
Nay -- Nature is Harmony --

6. Lines 9-10
Nature is what we know --
Yet have no art to say --

7. Lines 11-12
So impotent Our Wisdom is
To her Simplicity.

8. Literary Devices
(i)
(ii)
(iii)

9. Conclusion

(b) Where had I heard this wind ...... no one left but God.

1. Introduction
(i) Title:
(ii) Poet:
(iii)
2. Lines 1-2
Where had I heard this wind before
Change like this to a deeper roar?

3. Lines 3-4
What would it take my standing there for,
Holding open a restive door,

4. Lines 5-6
Looking down hill to a frothy shore?
Summer was past and the day was past.

5. Lines 7-8
Sombre clouds in the west were massed.
Out on the porch's sagging floor,

6. Lines 9-10
Leaves got up in a coil and hissed,
Blindly struck at my knee and missed.

7. Lines 11-12
Something sinister in the tone
Told me my secret must be known.

8. Lines 13-14
Word I was in the house alone
Somehow must have gotten abroad,

9. Lines 15-16
Word I was in my life alone,
Word I had no one left but God.

10. Conclusion

QUESTION NO. 38

(a) There be none of Beauty's ..... swell of summer's ocean.

1. Introduction
(i) Title: There be None of Beauty's Daughters / Stanzas for Music
(ii) Poet: Lord Byron (1788-1824)
(iii) Poetic Genre: Lyrical poem
(iv) Rhyme Scheme: ABABCCDD/ABABCCDD
(v) Meter Check: Iambic tetrameters and iambic trimeters.
(vi) Theme: Magic of Beauty and power of music
(vii) Tone: Expressive adoring beauty.
(viii) Personification: Beauty, ocean, moon, wind
2. Lines 1-2
There be none of Beauty's daughters
With a magic like thee;
In these lines Beauty has been personified. Beauty is a female and has many
children. All her children are also female i.e. daughters. These daughters are all
beautiful women. There is no match of these beautiful women in this world. This
Beauty can also be a reference to Helen of Troy in Greek mythology who was
considered the most beautiful woman in the world. But Helen of Troy had only
one daughter, Hermoine. Moreover, Beauty is like magic: Beauty has the power
of influencing others by using mysterious forces. Beauty's magic is superior to all
other magic arts because Beauty's charms and spells are the most powerful.
3. Lines 3-4
And like music on the waters
Is thy sweet voice to me:
These lines describe the personified Beauty as a soprano. She has a very
musical, melodious and symphonic voice. Her voice has been compared with the
musical sound of the waves of waters. "Waters" here means ocean. It is a
powerful imagery. "Beauty like waters" is a perfect simile because water is a
standard female symbol in literature. The speaker is mesmerized with the "sweet
voice" of Beauty. Beauty here can also be a reference to Minerva, a virgin
goddess of music. However, the personified Beauty is not virgin. She has many
daughters.
4. Lines 5-6
When, as if its sound were causing
The charmed ocean's pausing,
These lines describe the power of the sound of personified Beauty. The sound
of Beauty is so robust, prevailing and dominant that it causes the waves of the
charmed ocean to pause. The word "charmed" suggests that the waves of ocean
are under the magical spell of Beauty. However, this spell is not everlasting
because "pause" is a temporary stop in action. Thus Beauty is a mermaid who
controls the ocean by the powerful sound of her voice. In short, "when" Beauty
sings, it causes to pause all other music in the world.
5. Lines 7-8
The waves lie still and gleaming,
And the lull'd winds seem dreaming:
These lines are merely overwritten extensions of an already trite theme - the
power of the sound of personified Beauty. The waves of ocean and winds of air
are hypnotized by the magical sound of Beauty. The waves of ocean become
motionless and gleaming. The winds go to sleep and seem dreaming. "Winds"
have been personified here because sleeping and dreaming are human attributes.
In short, the sounds of waves and winds cease to sing and become the obedient
audience of the powerful and magical voice of Beauty.
6. Lines 9-10
And the midnight moon is weaving
Her bright chain o'er the deep,
These lines describe that the moon is also under the spell of the magical voice
of Beauty. The word "midnight" highlights the atmosphere of calm, peace and
quiet. Moon has been personified as a woman who is weaving. In many myths,
the moon is depicted as a gigantic spider which weaves the thread of each man's
destiny. Moreover, there is a myth of an old woman weaving at moon. This old
woman spends her time weaving a never-ending garment. However, here the
moon is weaving "her bright chain". It is, in fact, a crater chain - a roughly circular
depression on the surface of ocean. The moon is weaving this depression from
bottom to top.
7. Lines 11-12
Whose breast is gently heaving
As an infant's asleep:
These lines portray sexual and angelic imagery. The ocean has been
personified as a female. Her "breast" is an example of sexual imagery. The words
"gently heaving" enhance the impact of sexual imagery. Under the influence of
the magical voice of Beauty, the ocean raises her breast in an amiable and tender
motion or as an infant's asleep. "As an infant's asleep" is a simile and an other
imagery. Infants don't sleep as deeply as adults. Thus the charm of the voice of
Beauty on the ocean is temporary. In short, the comparison of ocean's heaving to
an infant's sleep suggests that ocean is innocent and guilt free because it is a part
of nature and beauty.
8. Lines 13-14
So the spirit bows before thee
To listen and adore thee;
These lines recapitulate the power of the voice of Beauty. The spirit of ocean,
wind, moon and the speaker all bow in submission before Beauty. "Bows before"
is an example of alliteration. When Beauty sings, the waves of ocean pause, the
winds go to sleep and seem dreaming, the moon starts weaving. These natural
objects and phenomena do so just to listen and adore the melodious voice of
Beauty. "And adore" is an other example of alliteration. The speaker's spirit is also
showing adoration for the magical voice of Beauty.
9. Lines 15-16
With a full but soft emotion,
Like the swell of summer's ocean.
These lines describe how do others applause the voice of Beauty. The spirit of
ocean, wind, moon and the speaker adore the voice of Beauty "with a full but soft
emotion". "Full" means that they are praising the Beauty's voice as much as
possible and "soft emotion" suggests they are admiring the Beauty's voice with
love, affection and devotion. The poem comes to its climax at "swell". Swell is a
gradual increase in amount, intensity, or volume. Swell is also a sexual imagery. It
is a point at which the sibilance of "summer's ocean" offers a gentle release.
10. Conclusion
The poem is couched in feminine references and is most conveniently
discussed as a love lyric to a woman. However, there is no physical dimension to
the love articulated in the poem. It is famous for its gentle rhythm and the
softness of its imagery -- the quiet tone of the poem creates a tranquil sense of
peace, whilst the rhythm lulls the reader with its ebb and flow, as if the poem
itself has breath of its own. It is written to be set to music, and its musical
qualities have bearing upon its theme and structure. In short, the poem is a clever
way of intermingling two of the greatest pleasures in life: love and music. With its
gleaming waters, dreaming winds, weaving moon, and heaving breast, it is a truly
magical poem.
(b) Bright Star! Would I ..... else swoon to death.

1. Introduction
(i) Title: Bright Star! Would I were Stedfast as Thou Art / Keats's Last Sonnet
(ii) Poet: John Keats (1795 - 1821)
(iii) Date of Composition: 1819 and revised in 1820
(iv) Collection: Joseph Severn's Copy of "The Poetical Works of William
Shakespeare"
(v) Poetic Genre: Shakespearean Sonnet
(vi) Setting: The time is night. North Star hints that the speaker is somewhere far
from home, may be at sea.
(vii) Speaker: John Keats
(viii) Addressee: Bright Star and Fanny Brawne
2. Lines 1-2
Bright star! Would I were stedfast as thou art --
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night,
In these lines the speaker wishes to be steadfast as the "Bright Star", but does
not wish to be alone like this star. The word "stedfast" suggests that he is talking
to the North Star, also known as Polaris, which is the only star that remains
motionless in the sky. However, the speaker immediately realizes that
steadfastness cannot be achieved by a human in this world of change and flux. So
he asserts a negative "Not". He points out the star's splendour and isolation in the
night. In fact, the speaker does not want to lead a life of "splendour" in loneliness
and isolation.
3. Lines 3-4
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like Nature's patient sleepless Eremite,
These line emphasize the star's loneliness and motionlessness. The star keeps
an eye on stuff. It spends its time watching with "eternal lids". "Eternal lids" is
a transferred epithet. So, the idea is that, not only does the star watch things and
keep its eyelids open, but it does so eternally. "Patient" and "sleepless" are both
adjectives modifying "Eremite"; a religious hermit who has retired into a solitary
life. The star's sleeplessness is a part of the characterization of the star's non-
humanness, which makes it an impossible goal for a human being to aspire to. In
short, the comparison of the star with an Eremite is a good simile.
4. Lines 5-6
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
The star observes that the waters of the earth are engaged in a "priestlike task"
of ablution. There is movement, aliveness and spiritually on the earth. The
meaning of "ablution" here is of ritual cleansing. Thus it matches up pretty well
with the idea of "priestlike" quality of the waters' task. "Earth's human shores"
means that human activity has stretched all over the globe; the shores of a
continent of land are the edges of human life. In short, the speaker knows that he
is subsequent to change and needs something to return to his pure state.
5. Lines 7-8
Or gazing on the new soft fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors --
These lines describe snow as being a mask that hides the ugliness of the
mountains and moors. The star is gazing on the "masque of snow". "Masque"
here is just an old-fashioned, slightly way of spelling "mask". However, this mask
is not a real mask, but instead a metaphorical mask. Literally speaking, the star is
gazing on a layer of "new" and "soft" snow falling upon "the mountains and the
moors". "Moor" is a barren, lonely, uninhabited place. And so are mountains,
usually . Thus beauty (the snow) is found in diverse places on earth. In short, we
get a chilly feeling from these lines.
6. Lines 9-10
No -- yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,
These lines show the real intent of the poem. The "No" at the beginning is like
an exclamation, the speaker's final comment on everything that has come before.
"Still" is an old-fashioned way of saying "always". So the idea is that the speaker
will be "always steadfast, always unchangeable". He would love to be as
"stedfast" as the star, but he is not jazzed about sitting up in the high heavens
taking in all those dreary sights. Instead, he would like to be just as "stedfast" in
resting his head on his girlfriend's "ripening breast". "Ripening" here means that
the speaker's girlfriend is still fairly young and so is still in the process of "filling
out".
7. Lines 11-12
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
These lines describe the speaker's desire, in which his lover be alive for
eternity. While resting his head on his girlfriend's breast, the speaker wants to
feel her breathing. "For ever" emphasizes the main aspect of the star's existence
the speaker likes to have: its permanence. "Soft" intensifies the sensuality
introduced with "pillow'd". The speaker spins out his description of what he likes
to do even further. Even though he is resting his face on his girlfriend's breast like
a pillow, he does not want to fall asleep there and miss out on all the action.
Instead, he wants to remain awake forever. "Sweet unrest" is an oxymoron and a
typical Keatsian paradox.
8. Lines 13-14
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever --- or else swoon to death.
In these lines the speaker says that if he cannot hear his lover breathe, he will
welcome his own death with no regrets. Repetition of "still" suggests that the
speaker wants to do the same thing forever and ever for the rest of all eternity.
"Breath" is flux, and "tender" makes it positive. "Ever" emphasizes the eternity of
love, passion and sensuality. In a swift reversal, the speaker accepts the possibility
of dying from pleasure. "Swoon" has sexual overtones and "death" carries a great
deal of weight in the final effect and meaning of the poem. In short, these lines
portray the speaker's feelings towards life where death brings no fear and life
means nothing without his lover.
9. Literary Devices
(i) Rhyme Scheme: ABAB/CDCD/EFEF/GG
(ii) Meter Check: Iambic pentameter
(iii) Alliteration: "the mountains and the moors", "still steadfast, still
unchangeable", "soft fall and swell", still, still to hear her tender-taken breath",
"so live ever ---or else".
(iv) Symbols: Bright Star (eternity, isolation), Eremite (isolation), pillow (comfort),
ripening breast (growth, warmth)
(v) Personification: The Star (it is watching and gazing) and waters (they are
engaged in the task of ablution)
(vi) Tone: Sad and depressed
(vii) Imagery: Bright Star, moving waters, earth's human shores, mask of snow
upon the mountains and the moors, love's ripening breast.
(viii) Themes: Love, death, time, loneliness, change and transformation, man and
the natural world, art and experience.
10. Conclusion
The sonnet shows the speaker's infatuation to be with his lover for eternity. He
aspires to the fixed and ethereal beauty of the Star, yet is aware of its limitations:
though bright, steadfast and splendid, it is at the same time solitary and non-
human. The human heart can never be tranquil like the star, for human emotions
know the conflict of joy and pain. The speaker tends to dip into mystic and
unexplained phenomena in the universe to describe his feelings. This is probably
due to the fact that his earthly human self is on the verge towards death and his
spiritual side is fully alive. In short, Keats, like Shakespeare, has combined a
brilliant poetic mind with deep insight into human emotions and experiences.
Thus the poem is a powerful meditation on love, death, time, and nature.

Nature was the source of all joy

for Wordsworth. Nature for him was a living personality just like a teacher, a
guardian and a nurse. Abdul Ghani Dar writes.
Wordsworth is a nature poet, a fact known to every reader of Wordsworth. He is
a supreme worshipper of Nature. Nature has a pivotal position in his poetry.
Wordsworth’s philosophy of nature can be understood within the following three
parameters:
1) He conceived Nature as a living personality.
2) Nature as a source of consolation and joy.
3) Nature as a great teacher, guardian and nurse.
Wordsworth believed that in the living personality of nature a divine spirit,
termed as mystical pantheism, is prevailing in all objects of Nature. This belief
finds a complete expression in tintern abbey where he says that the spirit rolls
through all the objects of Nature:
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things.
He believed that between man and nature there is a mutual consciousness,
spiritual communion or mystic intercourse. He takes his readers into the secret of
the soul’s communion with Nature. His belief is that human beings who grow up
in the lap of nature are perfect and poised in every respect. Tintern Abbey, Three
Years She Grew in Sun and Shower and To a Highland Girl are his typical poems
where this belief is expressed in a simple way. The Highland Girl, an emblem of
female perfection, is born and bred in a natural environment.
Wordsworth looked upon Nature as exercising a soothing and healing influence
on sorrow stricken hearts. He tells his sister Dorothy Wordsworth of the
tranquilling effect of Nature on troubled minds. In Tintern Abbey he says:
And now, with gleams of half-extinguished thought,
With many recognitions dim and faint,
And somewhat of a sad perplexity,
The picture of the mind revives again:
While here I stand not only with the sense of present pleasure,
but with pleasing thoughts.
That in this moment there is life and food
For future years…
So whenever the poet felt oppressed by fretful stir and tension of the world, he
felt relief by thinking about Nature and it scenes.
Throughout his poetry Wordsworth emphasized and highlighted the belief that
Nature is a great moral teacher, the best mother, guardian and nurse of man. For
instance, in Three Years She Grew in Sun And Shower, he says:
Myself will to my darling be
Both law and impulse: and with me
The Girl, in rock and plain,
In earth and heaven, in glade and bower
Shall feel an overseeing power
To kindle and restrain.
The floating clouds their state shall lend
To her, for the willow bend,
Nor shall she fail to see
Even in the motion of the storm,
Grace that shall mould the Maiden’s form
By silent sympathy.
His belief is that there is a direct spiritual communion between man and Nature.
In Tintern Abbey, he says:
The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,
The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul
of all my moral being.
 Wordsworth believed in the education of man by Nature. In this respect
Wordsworth was influenced by Rouseau who was a great educationist of man by
Nature. In The Tables Turned, Wordsworth urges his friend to leave his books and
come out into open Nature which is a living book and since he can learn more
about man and about moral good or evil and the vernal wood than from all the
sages. So in The Tables Turned he says:
Books! ‘tis a dull and endless strife;
Come, here the woodland linnel,
How sweet his music! on my life,
There is more of wisdom in it.
And hark! How blithe the throstle sings?
He, too is no mean preacher:
Come forth into the light of things
Let Nature be your teacher,
One impulse from a vernal wood,
May teach you more of man
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.
According to Wordsworth Nature appears to have a formative influence superior
to anything and thus influences and moulds human character. He tells his sister
Dorothy that “Nature never did betray the heart that loved her (Nature)”, that
Nature can impress the human mind with quietness and beauty; that nature gives
human beings lofty thoughts. He advises his sister to let the moon shine on her
and winds blow on her, i.e., to enlighten herself under the Nature’s influence.
Without learning from Nature-teacher, man’s life is vain and totally incomplete.
In the Prelude, Tintern Abbey and the Immortality Ode Wordsworth traces that
evolution of the development of his love for nature. At the first stage (in the
evolution of thought) Wordsworth found pleasure in roaming about in the midst
of Nature. Like a deer he leaped about over the mountains, by the side of deep
rivers and alone in the lonely streams. He wandered about wherever Nature led
him. His wanderings in the midst of Nature are described by him as a “glad
animal movement” and the joy he enjoyed in the midst of Nature is called a
coarse pleasure. In Prelude Book 1 he says:
Oh, many a time, have I a five year child,
In a small mill-race severed from his stream,
Made one long bathing of a summer’s day;
Basked in the Sun, and plunged and basked again.
Alternative, all a Summer’s day, or Scoured
The sandy fields, leaping through flowery groves,
…and from my mother’s hut.
Had sun abroad in wantoness, to sport.
A naked savage, in thunder shower.
At the second stage, Wordsworth’s love for Nature was purely physical, sensual
and aesthetic. The Picturesque-Nature i.e., mountains, multi coloured and multi
fragranced flowers and noisy water falls and murmuring streams haunted him
thoughtlessly like a passion. In Tintern Abbey he says:
…..The sounding cataract
Haunted me like a passion: the tall rock,
The mountains and the deep and gloomy wood,
Their colours and their forms, were then to me
An appetite; a feeling and a love,
That had no need of a remote charm,
By thought Supplied, nor any interest
Unborrowed from the eye,
Finally at the third stage Wordsworth’s love for Nature attained a spiritual and
intellectual model and he realized Nature’s role as a guardian. He now became
thoughtful as he had now seen the sufferings of mankind as he heard “the still,
sad music of humanity”. In the Immortality Ode he says:
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.
Wordsworth now as a pantheist found a latent but significant spiritual
communication and communion between man and Nature. He realized the living
presence of nature in all objects of nature i.e., the setting sun, in blue Sky and
blue Oceans and blue cosmos etc. etc.