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  • Discuss the autobiographical element in ‘Tintern Abbey’ by Willilam Wordsworth

    Discuss the autobiographical element in ‘Tintern Abbey’ by Willilam Wordsworth

    Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey or simply Tintern Abbey is, like William Wordsworth’s The Prelude, a sort of poetical autobiography. Of course, this is no total autobiography of the poet’s life and activities. It is rather a poetical record of the poet’s intimate relation with Nature all through his life. From this angle, Tintern Abbey may well be taken as the poetical autobiography of Wordsworth’s emotional response and attitude to the appeal of Nature in different stages of his life- his boyhood, youth, and manhood. In fact, the poem, like The Prelude, traces the growth of his poetic soul in relation to the world of Nature, seen, perceived, and even imagined by him in course of his life.

    The composition of the poem is based on an experience that the poet had. While Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy were making a tour, they arrived, in the course of their travel, at Tintern and Chepstow on July 17, 1798. It was while visiting Tintern Abbey that Wordsworth composed this magnificent poem one day. The place, previously visited by him alone, some five years back in 1793, had cast a deep impression on his mind, and the present visit served to confirm the same. The poem, indeed, was inspired by the poet’s personal experience, and remains autobiographical. It lights up, to a very great extent, the man in Wordsworth, particularly the lover of Nature in him. Referring to this poem, Mr. Myers, one of the most profound of Wordsworthian critics, observes: “The Lines Written Above Tintern Abbey have become, as it were, the locus classicus, or concentrated formulary of Wordsworthian faith. They say in brief what is the worth of the poet’s biographer to say in detail.” That the poem bears an intensely personal element is well and distinctly borne out here.

    The essence of romantic poetry is felt much in its subjectivity. The critic (Myers) emphasises rightly the subjective aspect of Wordsworth’s poetry, which is one of the chief distinguishing characteristics of his romantic genius. This long poem is entirely autobiographical in its implications, although the information it provides refers more to the poet’s internal circumstances and less to their external ones. It may, therefore, be better regarded as a spiritual and moral autobiography of the poet in Wordsworth. The period when Wordsworth composed these lines can be taken as the seed time of his ethical and spiritual ideas, as well as his poetic temperament. This developed into blossom and fruit in the ensuing period of his long life, but the seeds of all these were sown at a very early age. The poem is a practical manifestation of this poetic growth.

    Furthermore, the poem reveals Wordsworth’s deep love for his sister and the influence she had on him. The poet declares in his poem that the whole scene is doubly dear to him on account of his sister’s association with it. More than this, the poet asserts that even if Nature had not taught him the lesson of sobriety and wisdom, his sister’s presence near him would replace that want, and that joy would be his so long as he remembered her. The last portion of the poem is entirely addressed to her. The poet’s intense yearning for beholding in her what he once was is intimately personal:

    Oh! yet a little while
    May I behold in thee what I was once.

    The concluding address contains the poet’s frank confession of his unfailing attachment and dedication to Nature as her tireless devotee and worshipper

    …….. and that I, so long
    A worshipper of Nature, hither came
    Unwearied in that service; rather say
    With warmer love-oh! with far deeper zeal
    Of holier love.

    All this testifies more than enough to the autobiographical aspect of the poem.

  • Stream of Consciousness; Its Rise, Characteristics, Examples

    Stream of Consciousness; Its Rise, Characteristics, Examples

    The stream of consciousness novel is an improved and more delicate form of the psychological novel, which Richardson, George Eliot, Mrs. Gaskell, and many others treated long before. The term ‘stream of consciousness’ was, perhaps, used first by May Sinclair in connection with Dorothy Richardson’s novels. What characterizes this class of novel is the treatment of a character-a man or a woman—not in their external life and actions, but in their inner world of psychology. A deep probe is made here into the dark corridor of the human mind, and an analytical survey is attempted to the intricate flow of the human brain. The technique here is to render consciousness active in itself, as it flows from moment to moment. This technique is frequently used, with varying degrees of intensity, by Dorothy Richardson, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf, three notable names in this kind of fiction.

    The stream of consciousness novel is concerned with the atmosphere of a mind. It is not a novel of incidents or action, but instead treats the inner world of man. It depicts and illuminates the particular moments of human experiences and feelings, and reveals how a mind is affected at its core by the same. It shifts from external reality to inner revelation, from the outward world of action to the inner realm of reverie.

    The central aspect of this class of novel is its inward turning towards mental experiences and shocks. The novelist exposes how a man’s mind moves mysteriously and how it flows continuously yet quite intricately. He makes a penetrative analysis of this tendency of the mind, dissecting it in all its elusive and dynamic aspects. His is an expressionist technique to reveal different characters- their inmost thoughts, moods, feelings, however inconsequent or fragmentary these may be. There may appear to be something chaotic, but in essence, the whole approach is consistent.

    The novel is often claimed as a modern epic. No doubt, a novel may possess the vastness of an ancient epic in its plot and characterization. But it is particularly an epic of human psychology. The intricate and mysterious flow of the human mind is brought out in a stream of consciousness novel, and here it assumes an epic character not in its plot-construction, but in its treatment of human psychology. Of course, such a novel has a plot, but the purpose of the plot is not to tell a story of external life but to reveal, as noted already, the inward trend of the mind. Indeed, it has no story in the old conventional sense, and its chief characteristic lies in the treatment of the inner world of certain men and women in a certain situation or background.

    The stream of consciousness novel is, in reality, a record of the inner stream of a human mind. It presents a character in a particular situation, and the trend of his or her thinking or feeling is scrutinized with an artistic exactness. Its effectiveness lies in the delineation of a character more graphically, accurately, and impressively than what is found in traditional novels. It brings to the surface the working of the subconscious state of mind, which is as real as life itself.

    It is quite interesting to examine how and where the stream of consciousness technique originated in English fiction. Something like this is found to occur in the psychological introspections made by several classical novelists of the past, including Richardson, Smollett, Fanny Burney, Sterne, George Eliot, Mrs. Gaskell, and, of course, Dickens, among others. Something this, too, occurs when a character is found to subject himself or herself to the impassioned self-scrutiny, as seen in Jane Austen’s Emma. Sterne’s Tristram Shandy may be taken as a specific instance in this respect. This is claimed even as the first real stream of consciousness novel. But the technique has more sophistication and exclusiveness in modern English fiction after Joyce and Virginia Woolf.

    Some of the most famous examples of Stream of consciousness novels are:

    • James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses
    • Henry James’s Portrait of a Lady
    • Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, Mrs Dalloway
    • Dorothy Richardson’s Pilgrimage
    •  Jack Kerouac’s On the Road
    • William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying
    • Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Notes from Underground
  • Summary and Critical Analysis of the poem The Lake of Innisfree by W.B.Yeats

    Summary and Critical Analysis of the poem The Lake of Innisfree by W.B.Yeats

    The poem The Lake Isle of Innisfree expresses the poet’s desire to go to Innisfree, which is a small island in a lake on Lough Hill in Ireland. He wants to go there to live a simple, lonely, and peaceful life close to nature, avoiding busy city streets.

    In the first stanza, the poet expresses his desire to go to Innisfree and to live there in a lonely cottage made of clay and wattles. He will feed on honey and beans, and hear the murmur of bees. In the second stanza, he stresses that he will enjoy the peace there and nature’s charms from morning to midnight. In the final stanza, he describes his urge to go there, for the lapping sound of the lake calls him even when he stands surrounded by the busy city life.

    Though the poem deals with the individual desire of the poet, its execution is such that it is endowed with a universal significance. To escape from the crowded city to enjoy the loneliness, peace, and liveliness of the countryside is an eternal desire of man-a desire expressed by poets from the Elizabethan to the modern age. Yeats has given deathless expression to the same universal theme.

    The mood of the poem is lyrical, and its tone is cheerful. The purpóse behind the composition of the poem is to convey a longing for the freshness and loveliness of nature which cannot be had in busy and oppressive city life. The quality of the theme is romantic in the sense that it aims to evoke a sense of wonder for things that are simple and common in nature, and are not often found in crowded cities.

    The poem is a lyric consisting of three four-line stanzas, each with the rhyme scheme abab. The lines combine both iambic and anapaestic metres. The anapaestic speeds up the motion and heightens the urgency of the poet to go to Innisfree, while the iambic conveys his steady determination to achieve his object. The diction is simple but impressive; it is also steeped in literary flavour. The stamp of the poet’s creative power is particularly noticeable in such expressions as the following: bee-loud glade, peaces comes dropping slow, the veils of the morning, full of the linnet’s wings, lake water lapping with low sounds, and deep heart’s core.

    The poem expresses a longing for a land away from the din and bustle of city life excellently. The small cabin with nine bean rows and a hive in a bee-loud glade with the lake water lapping with low sounds and the passage of time from morning to midnight with soft light and gentle sound recreate in many of us a yearning for a distant and enchanting land in comparison to which our life in a crowded, busy and dull city pales into insignificance. By imaginative and romantic touches the poet succeeds in making us keenly admire the charms of his Innisfree.

    Also read: Discuss the patriotic notes in W.B.Yeats’s poem ‘Easter 1916’

  • Explain the line “A terrible beauty is born” from Yeats’ poem “Easter 1916”

    Explain the line “A terrible beauty is born” from Yeats’ poem “Easter 1916”

    Wherever green is worn,
    Are changed, changed utterly:
    A terrible beauty is born.

    This is the concluding part of W.B. Yeats’s patriotic poem Easter 1916. After paying his eulogy to the great Irish patriots who stood, fought, and died to liberate their land from the British occupation, the poet here asserts that everything is brought to an utter change by that great sacrifice of Easter 1916.

    The Easter Rising of 1916, led by Irish patriots, resulted in a disastrous outcome. The brutal force of the British imperialistic power slew the leaders of the Rising and many more. Yet, out of this dreadful, ghastly matter has come a grand and glorious history – the history of the patriotic struggle of suffering and sacrifice. The cause of Irish freedom is proudly represented by the green emblem, which is worn by Irish patriots. The Easter Rising brought about a thorough and drastic change in the situation. From the state of humility and obscurity has come the grandeur of heroic sacrifice and the splendour of love for the land. That dreadful blow, ever the British power has brought out an unblemished glory to dazzle.

    The expression is an unequivocal eulogy by the poet of the Irish freedom movements and bears out his patriotic fervour and devotion to the cause of his land, Ireland.

    Also read: Justify the title of the poem The Tyger by William Blake

  • Discuss the patriotic notes in W.B.Yeats’s poem ‘Easter 1916’

    Discuss the patriotic notes in W.B.Yeats’s poem ‘Easter 1916’

    W.B. Yeats was intimately connected with the freedom movement in Ireland, and he was, as such, in close kinship with a number of Irish political leaders. His political interest was patriotic, and his aim was definitely to emancipate his fatherland from servility to British imperialism.
    Yeats’s poetry includes some poems occasioned by his political interests or active association with specific political events, as well as his ardent sympathy for certain political personalities fighting for Irish freedom. Among such poems may be mentioned September 1913, Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen, and Easter 1916. Of course, nowhere is Yeats’s poetical art lost in any political propaganda.
    His poem Easter 1916 appears, more than the other two poems, to be a politically inspired work. It is an exclusive commemoration of a momentous situation in the Irish struggle for liberation against the brutal British power. While the other two poems are related to the immediate social and political contexts of the time, “Easter 1916” is, at least partly, a revolutionary song. The poem was written in September 1916, when the poet was staying with Maud Gonne, one of the chief architects and organisers of the Irish freedom movement. The poem records his deep feelings for and spontaneous reaction to the Easter Rising in Dublin, when the Irish Republican Brotherhood occupied the city’s central position under the leadership of Patrick Pearse and James Connolly. Of course, the result was eventually disastrous. The Irish freedom fighters had to surrender to the brute force of Britain. A good many Irish patriots were killed in the confrontation, and several leaders, at least fifteen, were executed after their court martial by the British army.
    Yeats’s poem is a sort of celebration, with honour and pity, of that memorable event. His poem records, rather feelingly, how the revolutionaries faced their cruel adversaries and remained steady and firm in their cause of liberation. He mentions how those Irish revolutionaries, with their common ways of living and their usual joys and funs, took up arms to liberate their land from oppressive rule. He mentions in the opening stanza of his poem how those unknown patriots came out of their counters and desks in the office, situated in some old buildings. Their faces looked brightened with a happy zeal. They talked at their ease around the fireplace of their club and did not miss a chance to crack jokes and jeers in the course of their easy-going gossip and entertainment.
    That was the usual way of living of those Irish men and women who loved their freedom and their land. They came out of their daily drudgery and casual gossip and involved themselves deeply in the grave cause of their land, braving the threat of a mighty force. Of course, the result was terrible. There was the ruthless slaughter of those inspired lovers of their land. Their death was terrible, but it had a deathless beauty in their self-sacrifice. In the poet’s language-“A terrible beauty is born.”
    In this context, the poet mentions some of the participants in the 1916 Rising, intimately known to him, such as, Constance Markiewicz, Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh, John MacBride, and James Connolly. The first one was one of the leaders of the operation. Patrick Pearse, a poet, was the founder of St. Enda’s School; his friend and helper was Thomas MacDonagh. John MacBright, Maud Gonne’s husband, and James Connolly, a trade union leader, were the leaders and organizers of the Irish revolutionary army. Yeats’s poem refers reverently to them and their great dedication to their country’s cause.
    Yeats’s feeling of admiration and profound sympathy for their cause is found echoed in the poem. Out of their routine-bound, dreary way of living, those people remarkably came out and stood together as firm as a stone. Whatever might be monotonous or comical in them had an abrupt change, with the sparks of their glorious end, and the poet unequivocally confirms the same :
    Transformed utterly, A terrible beauty is born.
    Those persons died, painfully suffering. Yet, their death is not the end of everything. No doubt disaster wiped them all. Their English foes, with their imperialistic faith, might question the necessity of their death. Yet, in Yeats’s line, this is no death, for the heroes are not dead. They live in the dream of those who love their land and form the very material of their song. Their sacrifice is too great, too long, to be cast aside. It is to be acknowledged as solid and permanent. Yeats’s conclusion is agog with his unequivocal admission of their timeless existence in the heart of Ireland :
    I write it out in a verse-
    MacDonagh and MacBride
    And Connolly and Pearse
    Now and in time to be,
    Whereever green is worn,
    Are changed, changed-utterly !
    A terrible beauty is born.
  • What is Euphuism? Its Characteristics

    What is Euphuism? Its Characteristics

    Euphuism is an elegant Elizabethan literary style characterized by an excessive use of balance, antithesis, and alliteration, as well as frequent use of similes drawn from mythology and nature.

    The word is also used to denote artificial elegance. It was derived from the name of a character in the prose romances Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit (1578) and Euphues and his England (1580) by the English author John Lyly. Although the style soon fell out of fashion, it played an essential role in the development of English prose. It appeared at a time of experimentation with prose styles, offering prose that was lighter and more fanciful than previous writing.

    The Euphuistic style was used less frequently in the 17th century because it was regarded as overly ornate and artificial. However, it provides a telling insight into the cultural and fashionable concerns of its period. Some royal historians argue that the style influenced the language of the royal court throughout the period.

    Characteristics of Euphuism:

    • Euphuism, taken from the name of Lyly’s character Euphues, meaning graceful and witty in Greek, is constructed using very particular rhetorical techniques. Antithetical balanced sentences are comprised of two matched clauses that have a contrasting meaning.
    • Oppositions the contrasts in the sentences are often denoted by phonological patternings like alliteration or assonance, and by words, which although different in meaning, are similar in spelling or pronunciation.
    • Conflicting Meaning: The conflict in meanings is generated in this style because of the way that puns are used; references to common proverbs and natural history, for example, where there is some play on the duality of meaning.
    • Aural Ornateness, the balance and antithesis of Euphuism, gives rise to a distinctive tone in its delivery. Prose Only Euphuism is a prose form only and cannot be discerned in verse.
    • In fact, the most ornate and baroque prose styles of some early 17th-century writers suggest that Lyly’s influence was considerable.
    • Prose only; Euphuism is a prose-only form.

    The influence of euphuism can be seen in the works of such writers as Robert Greene and William Shakespeare for example Comedy of Errors, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Love Labour’s Lost, etc. Both of them imitated the style in some works and parodied it in others.

  • John Lyly and His Famous Works

    John Lyly and His Famous Works

    John Lyly was born in 1554. He was the grandson of William Lily. He was probably educated at the King’s School, Canterbury, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He served as secretary to Edward de Vere, the earl of Oxford, was MP successively for Hindon, Aylesbury, and Appleby (1589- 1601), and supported the cause of the bishops in the Martin Marprelate controversy in a satirical pamphlet, Pap with an Hatchet (1589).

    John Lyly, who had sprung at a bound into fame by the publication of his prose romance Euphues, the Anatomy of Wit, had a successful dramatic career, too. An Oxford scholar and highly cultivated gentleman, Lyly was the author of several popular comedies as

    • A moste Excellent Comedie of Alexander, Campaspe and Diogenes (1584),
    • Sapho and Phao (1584),
    • Gallathea (1588)
    •  Endymion, the Man in the Moone (1588),
    • Midas (1589-90),
    • Mother Bombie (1590),
    • Loves Metamorphosis (1590) and
    • The Woman in the Moone (1594).

    Lyly’s subjects are mostly drawn from mythologies and legends, both foreign and native, such as Sir Thomas North’s The Diall of Princes (1551) and George Pettie’s The Petite Pallace of Pettie his Pleasure (1576). His plays, however, reveal his interest, skill, and originality in tackling traditional themes. Of course, these plays reveal nothing of his remarkably structural command over plot or dramatic probe in the representation of characters. His plays are found to have reposed mainly on the lively invention of situations, the flight of fancy, and the dazzle of dramatic dialogue.

    Lyly’s importance in the sphere of the comic drama also lies in his innovation of love as the thematic material for his plays. His comedies are pivoted by love in which romantic men and women participate, and here Lyly appears to be a potent influence on Shakespeare’s romantic comedies. The romantic comedy is believed to have originated with him in the Elizabethan era.

    Yet, Lyly’s significance is not ignorable, and his contribution to English drama is an admitted fact. He is given the position of an innovator in the dramatic history of England for three specific reasons. As one of the early comic authors, Lyly is an innovator, and his contribution to the development of the English drama, particularly the English comedy, is surely immense.

    First, he is found to have introduced prose into the original comedy. Except for the play The Woman in the Moone, his other plays are all written in prose. Of course, Gascoigne’s Supposes, a prose play, was written before. But this is actually an adaptation from a Latin play. The establishment of prose as the right medium of dialogue for comedy is definitely an act of literary originality for the theatre of the age, depending solely on the blank verse. To pass from the doggerel of the early popular comedies to the polished conversation in prose is to enter a new world of expression.

    Lyly’s next contribution is the establishment of the high comedy as a form of drama, highly appealing to the people of breeding and culture. The previous farcical comedies, produced by physical sensationalism, are found replaced by the intellectual comic sense, so wonderfully exhibited in Lyly’s plays, designated as high comedies. The true comic spirit depends not on the forced laughter provoked by farcical situations and characters but on the intellectual understanding of the contradiction of life and the creation of pleasurable sensation out of this. Lyly’s plays bear this out effectively.

    In the third place, Lyly, as the first master of a grand prose style, is found to have enriched the English play with his Euphuistic style, which was somewhat novel for the then-dramatic world. His nice sense of dramatic dialogue and the application of words, sophisticated and artificial no doubt, is found to have added delicacy, grace, charm, and subtlety to the dramatic expression, so sorely missing in the roughly masculine tone of the previous plays.

    The pastoral comedy was found to be a popular form with the Elizabethan dramatists. The origin of this pastoral comedy may also be traced in Lyly’s comedies, which are found to have a pastoral background with meadows, woodlands, shepherds, and
    shepherdesses. Shakespeare’s pastoral comedies owe to him here.

    John Lyly, George Peele, and Robert Greene, along with Marlowe, Thomas Nashe, and Thomas Lodge, formed the famous University Wits in the literary circle of the Elizabethan age. All of them had a University education and classical scholarship. There was a singular resemblance in their lives and careers. They were all of good birth and social position. They were university scholars, members of learned societies, well-cultivated by foreign travels. They had adequate training to give an enduring force to the English drama that was then struggling hard for its very survival and finding its range of expansion.

    Also read: Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682) and his famous works

  • Peace of Augsburg (1555), Causes and Its Impact

    Peace of Augsburg (1555), Causes and Its Impact

    During the 16th century, the religious unity of the Holy Roman Empire, which comprised a patchwork of territories in present-day Germany, Austria, and parts of neighboring countries, was shattered by the emergence of Protestantism. The Protestant Reformation, led by figures like Martin Luther and John Calvin, challenged the authority and doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, gaining followers across various states within the empire.

    These religious differences sparked numerous conflicts and wars, including the Schmalkaldic War (1546-1547), between the Catholic forces of Emperor Charles V and the Protestant Schmalkaldic League. Despite winning the war, Charles V recognized the growing tensions and sought a more durable solution to prevent further unrest and preserve the empire’s territorial integrity.

    The Peace of Augsburg was a significant treaty signed on September 25, 1555, during the tumultuous period of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It marked a crucial turning point in the religious and political landscape of the Holy Roman Empire. The treaty was a result of the efforts to find a resolution to the deep-seated religious conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in the region.

    Terms of the Peace of Augsburg:

    The Peace of Augsburg negotiated in the city of Augsburg, Bavaria, aimed to settle the religious divide within the empire. Its main provisions included:

    1. Cuius regio, eius religio: This Latin phrase, meaning “whose realm, his religion,” was a fundamental principle of the treaty. It meant that the ruler of each territory within the Holy Roman Empire would have the right to determine its official religion. In other words, the ruler’s religion would become the religion of the state, and the subjects would have to adhere to it.
    2. Recognition of Lutheranism: Lutherans, who were the most prominent Protestant group at that time, gained recognition under the treaty. Their beliefs were acknowledged as valid within the empire.
    3. Temporary Tolerance for Other Protestant Sects: Beyond Lutherans, the treaty allowed other Protestant denominations that had already established themselves in the empire by 1552 to continue practicing their faith without fear of immediate persecution.
    4. Rights of Catholics: Catholicism, being the predominant religion in the empire, retained its status and rights. Catholics were allowed to practice their faith freely throughout the territories.

    Consequences: The Peace of Augsburg brought an end to the religious hostilities within the Holy Roman Empire temporarily. However, the peace was imperfect, as it excluded Calvinism and other emerging Protestant sects from recognition and protection. This exclusion would later become a source of further tensions and conflicts.

    The treaty’s provisions laid the groundwork for the legal framework of the “territorial principle,” which tied religion to the ruler rather than the individual, and this principle persisted in Europe until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

    Ultimately, the Peace of Augsburg did not bring lasting peace to the region, and religious strife continued. The religious and political complexities would intensify, leading to the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), which reshaped the map of Europe and solidified the principles of religious freedom and state sovereignty.

  • Summary of John Keats’ famous poem “Lamia”

    Summary of John Keats’ famous poem “Lamia”

    “Lamia” is a significant poem of John Keats, one of the most prominent figures of the Romantic movement in English literature. The poem opens with a vivid introduction to the mythical creature Lamia, a serpent-woman who was once a powerful queen. Keats draws upon Greek mythology, specifically the story of Lamia, a mistress of Zeus, and her subsequent transformation into a serpent by Hera. Keats masterfully portrays Lamia as a seductive and enchanting figure, capable of assuming a human form and beguiling mortals with her beauty. It is through this guise that she encounters Lycius, a young and innocent man, whom she becomes infatuated with. Their love blossoms, and they embark on a blissful journey together, residing in a luxurious palace that symbolizes the ephemeral nature of their happiness. However, this idyllic existence is disrupted by the sage Apollonius, who suspects Lamia’s true nature and aims to expose her. During a grand feast, Apollonius reveals her serpent form to Lycius, shattering his illusions and dreams. The shock and disillusionment prove fatal for Lycius, who dies, leaving Lamia devastated.

    Keats delves into the complex emotions of grief, despair, and the consequences of deceit through Lamia’s subsequent transformation back into her serpent form. This symbolic act represents her loss of humanity, her shattered hopes, and her descent into isolation and exile. The poem concludes with Lamia crawling away into the wilderness, forever haunted by her unattainable desires. Beyond the tragic love story at its core, “Lamia” explores profound themes and ideas. Keats crafts a cautionary tale about the dangers of pursuing illusions and deceptive appearances. The poem questions the nature of reality, highlighting the fragile boundaries between truth and falsehood, appearance and essence.

    Keats’ poetic language is rich with sensory imagery and vivid descriptions. He employs lush and evocative language to transport the reader into the mythical world of Lamia and Lycius. The poem’s structure and rhythm, characterized by its use of couplets and intricate rhyme schemes, add musicality and elegance to the narrative. “Lamia” exemplifies Keats’ ability to combine elements of mythology, romance, and tragedy into a cohesive and emotionally resonant work.

    Also read: Summary and Analysis of The Legend of Good Women by Geoffrey Chaucer

  • Justify the title of the poem The Tyger by William Blake

    Justify the title of the poem The Tyger by William Blake

    William Blake’s famous poem The Tyger, taken from his volume of poems Songs of Experience, presents a child’s experience of and reaction to the sight of the tiger, a mighty and ferocious animal. This song, quite unlike the companion poem, The Lamb, is no address of the child. His song is not addressed to the tiger, but rather expresses his curiosity about it and the mysterious process of its creation.

    Analytical scrutiny of this child’s song brings out his innocent inquiries and fancies about this dreadful creature and its mighty Creator and His majestic operation in its creation. The child gives out his awe and wonder at the dreadful, stoutly structured, balanced body of the tiger with its flashing eyes. Again, the child speculates fancifully the invincible strength of its Creator.

    What immortal hand or eye
    Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

    He goes on to stipulate further how the Creator could fly, and ‘seize the fire’ of its eyes, and how His rare strength and skill could twist the sinews of its heart and make it alive. Moreover, the child fancies, too, what sorts of mighty tools- the hammer, the chain, the furnace, and the anvil were put into use for the framing of the tiger’s brain. He imagines wonderingly with ‘what dread grasp’ the mighty Creator could ‘clasp’ the terrible creation.

    But the tiger’s robust physical features and the intricate process and the immense power involved in its creation are not all. There are the child’s simple interrogations about the propriety of the creation and the Creator’s own reaction to this, after His creation of the lamb-

    Did he smile his work to see?
    Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

    The whole song is, thus, about the tiger- its physical feature and fierce nature and the majestic and mysterious process of its creation by the immortal and omnipotent Creator. The title, The Tyger, as such seems quite appropriate.