B,A(HONS) ENGLISH ,(FIRST YEAR) Broad Questions ( Introduction to Poetry)

B,A(HONS) ENGLISH ,(FIRST YEAR)
[B.A (HONS) IN ENGLISH COACHING @ MIRPUR-10 ,CELL:01713030838 BY KHAN SIR,B.A(HONS) M.A(ENGLISH)DU (ONLY FORSTUDENTS OF ENGLISH HONS ]

Broad Questions ( Introduction to Poetry)

1. Discuss the theme of destruction and decay in Shelley’s ‘ Ozymandias’.
2. Discuss Wordsworth as poet of joy with reference to ‘ I wandered Lonely as a Cloud’.
3. What is sessuousness? Examine ‘ Ode to Autumn’ as a sensuous poem.
4. Critically comment on Emily Dickinson’s obsession with death/ theme of death.
5. What vision or philosophy of life has been expressed in ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening?
6. Write an essay on Dylan Thomas’s treatment of childhood in ‘ Fern Hill’?
7. Comment on Adrienne Rich’s protest against the repression of women in ‘ Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers’.
8. Ted Hughes’s Pike symolizes the violent trait in human being. Elucidate.

Q. Discuss the theme of destruction and decay in Shelley’s poem, Ozymandias.

Answer:
“Ozymandias” is a unique and well-known sonnet by Percy Bysshe Shelley. It deals with several themes. Tragedy of human life is the main theme of the poem. But the theme of decay and destruction is obviously shown here too. We find a broken statue of Ozymandias in a vast desert. Various limbs of the statue are scattered here and there. Such ruinous picture has created a very destructive and awe-inspiring feelings in us.
Shelley likes to deal with the theme of decay and destruction in his poems. He often uses myths and symbols to convey it. He is a radiant optimist about the future. So he often thinks deeply of destroying old things to set up the new. But he does not want to destroy anything to create new things in “Ozymandias”. Rather he gives us a fair description of the ruinous statue of Ozymandias. He introduces the end of this mighty king to convey a defferent message. He has talked about the vanity of human wishes and the meaninglessness of huaman hope.

The speaker refers to a traveller who has just come from an ancient country. Then the traveller has told us about what he has observed in Egypt. He says that he finds a huge but broken statue in the desert of this old country. The two legs of it stand on the pedestal. The body of the statue is not upon them. Its shattered face is lying near them. It almost sinks on the sand. There is frown in the face. The lips of the face are wrinkled. There is also sneer of cruel order. In this respect, the speaker remarks well that the sculptor who makes it understands the character of the man behind the statue. Now both the king and the sculptor are dead. But the statue remains in a broken and fragmentary condition. Thus we get an exact delineation of destroyed statue of Ozymandias.

Time is very cruel. It devours anybody. It does not consider who is powerful. It does not count who is poor. By the ravages of time, everything is destroyed and meets destruction. Human life comes to an end and proves futile. Ozymandias boasts but realises at last—
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

But ode day, all his boast, wealth and power are vanished away. After his death, all his power and greatness turns meaningless. Even his statue that he got erected in his life time turned into a heap of ruins. In this respect, the poet says—
“Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
Thus the pride, arrogance, cruelty and snobbery of Ozymandias had dashed to the ground. All of them meet destruction.

Thus Shelley deals with several themes in “Ozymandias”. Ozymandias did not realise that he had a limited span of life. He had to die and all his glories became futile. He forgot that he is not immortal. Nothing is permanent in this world. Even his absolute pomp and power was not permanent. Everything must decay and die. But it is an irony of fate that man forgets this absolute truth.

[B.A (HONS) IN ENGLISH COACHING @ MIRPUR-10 ,CELL:01713030838 BY KHAN SIR,B.A(HONS) M.A(ENGLISH)DU]
Q. Comment on Wordsworth as a poet of joy and solitude with reference to / Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.
Or
Discuss Wordsworth as a poet of solitude with particular reference to / Wandered a Lonely Cloud.
Or
Discuss Wordsworth as a poet of joy with reference to’/ Wandered a Lonely Cloud.
Answer:

“I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth deals with the beauty of the daffodils and their impact on his mind. The sight of the daffodils fills the poet’s mind with an intense sense of joy. It also vanishes away his earlier sense of loneliness. The joyful memory of the beautiful daffodils works even in the later period of his life.

The poem at first depicts the poet’s sense of solitude. This sense of solitude came from his lack of contact with nature. The poet walked lonely as a cloud floating high over vales and hills. However, his loneliness did not last long. He suddenly came across the daffodils, which appeared before him in their most beautiful form.

As a result, his sense of separation was overpowered with a stronger sense of joy. The poet’s increasing awareness is reflected in his use of words, as he says first “a crowd”, then “a host” of golden daffodils. Thus the poet found an order in the seemingly disordered scene of the daffodils. The movement of the daffodils in the gentle breeze was rhythmic, they were “fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” The poet saw the daffodils in relation with the lake and the trees. Thus he no longer felt lonely. He found that he had a close contact with nature.

The poet became so overjoyed with the sight, colour and movement of the daffodils that his imagination played with them. In the poet’s mind, water, earth and air mingled harmoniously. He employed some similes from nature to express the beauty of the daffodils. They were like the stars that shine and twinkle on the milky way. Again, they stretched parallel with the margin of the bay. In his enthusiasm and urge to search for a pattern, the poet related that he saw ten thousand flowers at a glance. Moreover, they were dancing in a lively manner. The daffodils were not only associated with the stars, but also with the waves of the lake. These waves also danced but the dance of the daffodils was more impressive than that of the waves. As the poet says —
“The waves besides them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay.
In such a jocund company.”
The poet became joyous because his poetic sensibilities were enkind’.ed to see the dancing rhythm of the flowers. He found “jocund company” and his earlier sense of loneliness vanished away. In his Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth says that a poet has greater organic sensibility than the common man does and he has “usually thought long and deeply.” It was such a mind of the poet that became overwhelmed with the beauty of the daffodils.

The poet then describes how in his tranquil moment he recollects the scene. Whenever the poet lies restfully on his couch in a solitary mood, the beautiful sights of the daffodils flashes upon his mental eye. The joy of the recollection is a gift of solitude. At that time his heart is filled with the same pleasure that he experienced when he actually saw the daffodils.

Thus the poem deals with the sense of solitude and the sense of joy. The poet remains solitary when he feels himself cut off from nature. But his sense of solitude gives away when he interacts with nature. Even the memory of the beautiful sights if nature offers him tremendous joy. This recollection arouses his poetic emotion and helps him write poem.
[B.A (HONS) IN ENGLISH COACHING @ MIRPUR-10 ,CELL:01713030838 BY KHAN SIR,B.A(HONS) M.A(ENGLISH)DU]

.Q. How does Keats give a sensuous description of autumn in To Autumn!
Or
What is sensuousness? Examine To Autumn as a sensuous poem.
Or
In what sense does Ode to Autumn represent the perfection of Keats’ sensuous art?
Or
Keats’s poetry begins with sensuousness and ends in thought. Discuss.
Or Write a critical note on the sensuousness of Keats.
Or
In what sense do we call Keats a sensuous poet?
Answer:
Sensuousness is a quality in poetry. It is derived from the five senses. It affects the sense of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. Sensuousness is a paramount quality of John Keats’ poetical genius. Keats is pre-eminently the poet of the senses and delight. No one has catered to and gratified the five human senses to some extent as Keats. He is a great lover of beauty in the concrete. His religion is the adoration of the beautiful sounds and sights. It is his love of beauty which introduces the element of sensuousness in his poetry. When we deeply ponder over his poetry, we find that his poetry begins with sensuousness and ends in thought. His “To Autumn” is not an exception.

‘To Autumn” is a poem of beauty and bounty of nature in \utumn. Here we find images after images which are vivid, :oncrete, precise and sensuous. In the first stanza, the poet has lescribed different fruits in such a way that they make our tongue vet and full of juice. He shows grapes and apples get ripe in \.utumn. These fruits get filled with juice. Other fruits like gourd ilso get swollen with juice. In this time, budding continues. Some lowers begin to bloom late in the season. The bees are made to think hat warm days will never come to an end. Thus the images satisfy >ur senses of sight, taste, smell and hearing.

Autumn is personified as a winnower, a reaper, a gleaner, and a ider-presser in the second stanza. In other words, it is treated as a voman doing the main four jobs of crops generally done in the eason. So Autumn is a human figure sitting careless on a granary loor. She also represents herself as a reaper or a gleaner. Finally, she s seen as a cider-presser who watches the last drops of the juice lours by hours. We seem to feel the intense stimulating and narcotic ffect of poppies. Thus the imagery pleases the senses of smell, taste nd sight.

The dominating sensuous imagery of the third stanza is of sound. Ve hear the sounds of different animals, birds and insects. The small ;nats create a mourning sound among the river sallows. Full-grown imbs bleat. Hedge-crickets sing. The robin red-breast whistles and ;athering swallows twitter in the sky. They all make the music of Autumn. While we listen to such music of the season, we are also ware of the beautiful visual images. That is, our sense of sight is ;reatly gratified too. In the evening, the long-drawn-out clouds are een in the sky. They look purple by the rays of the setting sun.

There is no doubt that Keats’s sensuousness is the corner-stone f his poem. All our five senses are highly satisfied by his escription of beauty and reality. He is very naturally inclined to ive us sensuous pictures of what he sees and feels. We are ometimes blind to see beyond the sensuous aspects of his poem. But ic fact is that being a pictorial artist, Keats is a thinker and a ensuous poet. So we find that his “To Autumn” begins with ensuousness and ends in thought.

.Q. Critically comment on Dickinson’s obsession with Death.
Or
Show how Emily Dickinson evaluates death and immortality in Because I Could Not Stop for Death.
Or
How does Dickinson consider death and immortality in Because I Could Not Stop for Death”!
Or
Comment on Emily Dickinson’s attitude to death in Because I Could Not Stop for Death.
Or Discuss the way Dickinson looks to death.

Answer:
“Because I Could Not Stop for Death” is one of the greatest poems in English language”, says Alien Tate. The poem by Emily Dickinson deals with the most-discussed theme and a very common subject in literature, Death. The poetess has described Death as a kindly touched inevitable force. Her treatment of Death is both conventional and unconventional. In this poem, she has dramatized the idea of human life whose progression, end and the possibility of its approach to eternity are shown.

In our mortal life, we are very free in this earth. We are also very busy with our works and responsibilities. So we have no time to think of Death in the hours of business. We hardly think of him. But Death is inevitable and definite in his time of appearance. He knows no delay. He is famous for his gentleness and kindness. However, Dickinson visualizes that Death kindly stopped for her along with Immortality. She says in the first stanza of the poem—
“Because I could not stop for Death
He kindly stopped for me—
The Carriage held but just Ourselves—
And Immortality.”
The coming of Death with Immortality means that Death and Immortality exist side by side. In other words, Death is the gateway to enter into the world of Immortality. Here we get Dickinson’s quite surprising and greatly unconventional conception of Death. We also find her conventional attitude to Death here.

According to the poetess, Death is an all-time follower or companion to our lives. Life and Death grow together. They pass their time gradually. After a certain period, they mingle into each other too. This concept can be analyzed in an another way. It is that birth or creation begets Death. Birth is the first indication of him. A child is bom. With the progress of time, it gets young. Then it grows old and ultimately passes away. Thus we find that the more the child grows, the more it advances towards Death. This is the reunion. When we go through the poem, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”, we feel that Death knows no haste. His carriage goes on moving very slowly. In fact, his slow movement and knowing no haste mean that Death has been working since the beginning of the creation. On the other hand, life approaches for this sure direction in every step of time.

After passing many places, the carriage of Death stops in front of a “House” which seems a swelling of the ground. The term “House” used in connection with the grave signifies the positive or conventional qualities of Death. Hence the poetess thinks that she is buried and since her burial centuries have passed. Actually, the whole course of life is a journey where Death is a constant companion. The chariot of life is taking the poetess towards eternity or Immortality. Emily Dickinson believes in life after Death. She indicates that the burial of the dead body is the spiritual voyage towards infiniteness.

In conclusion, we can say that Emily Dickinson has obviously expressed her personal belief in “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”. Because we are not sure of life after Death particularly after entering into the grave. So we can conclude that life in this earth is limited but eternal after Death. Thus the poetess’ attitude to Death is positive, unconventional and optimistic. In a word, her famous poem, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” is an essay in death-in-life.

.Q. What philosophy of life has been expressed in the poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening!
Or
Why can’t the rider in Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening prolong his stay by the lovely woodside?
Or
Analyze Robert Frost’s vision of life as expressed in the poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”!
Answer: Robert Frost is the most-celebrated poet of America. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is one of the most moving of his lyrics. His poetry suggests the basic truths of human life. In a deceptively lucid language, he presents the ultimate vision of life. The poem is the best specimen of Frost’s candid comments on the conflicting feelings inherent in human beings.

“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is deceptive at the surface level. It sounds like a simple description of a horse rider who casually feels the desire to stop at the middle of his journey. But as a reader reaches the last stanza, he becomes aware that the poem deals with a serious psychological problem of every man.
The poem opens dramatically leading us to an idyllic setting. The speaker is riding a little horse on a journey, perhaps on a journey back home. His way runs by woods. There is neither any farmhouse nor any human habitation nearby. He stops near the woods. The time is evening. It is snowing heavily. The whole atmosphere appears to the speaker very attractive to enjoy the beauty in solitude. His horse gives a shake to its harness bell to remind him that it was peculiar to stay in a cold night without a safe shelter. The horse represents an earth-bound common sense. It fails to understand the deeper conflict that afflicts its rider. On the one hand, he is deeply attracted to the alluring snowfall, beauty, solitude of the woods and death-wish. It is an equally powerful call for duties.

Finally, we find the key-note of the poem. The last few lines reflect the never-ending conflict that goes on in human heart. Here lies Frost’s vision of life. The cold snowy evening by an open forest is not a right place for enjoyment. The speaker alienates himself from the owner of the woods. He keeps himself aloof from the horse and ultimately from all living beings. He is attracted to severely cold solitary woods that have every threat of death. In fact, the poet suggests the speaker’s death-wish by this peculiar attraction. It becomes clearer when he remembers that he has to travel miles before he sleeps. Because he has to keep promises. Here the ‘promises’ becomes the commitment to life. The distance becomes the distance in time and space. The ‘sleep’ turns to be the final sleep or the death. We become conscious that the poet is not talking about a simple lovely, dark, and deep forest. He implies the conflict between a death-wish and a sense of responsibility. The sense of responsibility wins in the conflict. The speaker says—
“But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”
The division ends in a determination of onward march in life. The speaker’s strong determination is suggested by the repetition in the last two lines to carry on the duties. It keeps aside all allurements or hazards. It reflects the poet’s vision of life.

The rider in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” can’t prolong his stay by the lovely woodside. Because he has his duties and responsibilities towards the world. In this respect, Frost’s vision is clear. The claim of life is greater than the death impulses. The metaphysical dimension of the poem is established in the last stanza. In the monosyllabic words of the poem, the poet emphasizes his own solution to the existential crisis of the modern period.

[B.A (HONS) IN ENGLISH COACHING @ MIRPUR-10 ,CELL:01713030838 BY KHAN SIR,B.A(HONS) M.A(ENGLISH)DU (ONLY FORSTUDENTS OF ENGLISH HONS ]