AN ELEGY

The pride of long glorious ancestry, the pride and pomp of power, beauty and wealth are all subject to decay which is the inevitable fate of all. The glorious careers of men will also end in death.

Memorials inscribed with decorations or life-like bust cannot call back the dying men. The voice of earthly fame and honor cannot revive the dead men or words of flattery cannot produce any response in the dull insensitive ear of death.

Poverty repressed the creative energies and checked the smooth movements of the mind. They did not have the scope for education. They did not have the knowledge enriched by the passage of time.

Many gems of bright and pure colour lie hidden in the dark depth of the sea. Many beautiful flowers blossom in obscure corners unseen by men and they waste their beauty in the desert air.

Poverty prevented them from becoming great men and receiving the praise of the people. Because of poverty, they could not challenge the threats of danger and ruin or bring plenty and prosperity to their lands by good administrators. Thus they were deprived of the praise and appreciation of their countrymen.

Poverty limited the scope of their virtues as well as their crimes. They were not ambitious and did not commit murders to satisfy their ambition and they were not proud and unkind to others like rich men.

These poor men did not have the pains of hiding conscious truth and checking the genuine shame of hiding truth. They did not offer tributes of flattery and praise to the rich and the luxurious with verses.

These poor people of the village lived far away from the noise and crowd of people struggling madly for money and fame. They lived with their honest desires in the calm and solitary valley of life. They carried on their activities peacefully and kept the even course of life.

The dying man wishes a shelter in the loving breast of his dear one. He wishes some tears of affection when they die. Even after death man wishes some tributes of recognition and remembrance. The burning desire for remembrance remains even after death.

ROMANTIC PERIOD

Romantic Period

1790-1830

Historical Background

·       European War:1793-1815

·       The French Revolution-1789

·       Extinction of the French Republic

·       Rise and Destruction of the power of Napoleon

·       Restoration of the Bourbon dynasty

·       Reform Bill-1832

Effects

Long war brought inevitable misery

Low wages, unemployment, and heavy taxation gave rise to fiery resentment among the common people

The Reform Bill was a grudging concession to the general discontent

Poets

William Wordsworth

1770-1850

Conscious rebel and reformer

Philosophy

He endowed Nature with a new meaning and significance

He believes that Nature is the greatest teacher of man

His great contribution to English poetry was the re-interpretation of Nature as a vital entity, a speaking presence and an acting principle

Nature was regarded as exerting edifying influence on human life

Wordsworth made a revolt against urban industrial civilization and considered the evils of modern life as stemming from man's separation from Nature

He made a fervent plea for return to Nature and wanted through his poetry to re-establish a spiritual kinship between man and Nature and thus to restore humanity to the glory and dignity which they had lost under the increasing impact of industrial revolution.

He perceived the presence of a spirit that is imminent in Nature and the mind of man

He saw Nature of man with new eyes and his whole work is an attempt to communicate the new vision

He also celebrated the dignity and beauty of common men

Language:

His poetry was written in the language of the common men

He spearheaded the movement against the neo-classical school/artificial drab poetry of the 18th century which was town bred and which indicated a total neglect of Nature and the humbler aspects of human life

He threw his weight against the 'poetic diction' -the gaudy, insane phraseology of the 18th century

Works-

Lyrical Ballads (1798) published jointly with Coleridge

Tintern Abbey and The Prelude are eloquent expressions of his philosophy of Nature

The Prelude analyzed the growth of his poetic genius during his childhood and youth and explained in detail the development of his attitude to Nature

ART OF WRITING ESSAY TYPE ANSWERS

LEARN THE ART OF WRITING ESSAY TYPE ANSWERS

It has been often found that it is a difficult task

to write essay type answers.

DRAWBACKS:

·       Limitation of knowledge regarding the subject.

·       Inability to express thoughts freely.

·       Difficulty to expand the lines.

·       Lines are repeated quite regularly.

SOLUTION:

·       Try to gather as much knowledge as possible regarding the topic.

·       Take a note of the point to be mentioned in the answer.

·       Try to remember the points.

·       Learn the ability of expanding few lines.

·       Learn how to repeat a single line by changing the style or pattern.

*Do not mention irrelevant or superfluous points.

ABSALOM AND ACHITOPHEL : CHARACTERS

ABSALOM

·       Duke of Monmouth

·       He is a good looking young man with aspirations to the throne.

·       He is a suave speaker with pleasing personality.

·       He is a curious combination of recklessness with bravery, fine manners and polished exteriors, hypocrisy and presence.

 ACHITOPHEL

“…the false Achitophel was first

A name to all succeeding ages curst.”

NEGATIVE ATTRIBUTES:

·       Earl of Shaftesbury

·       He is a villain, evil and dangerous.

·       He is an unscrupulous political intriguer.

·       He is dangerous because of his ambition and superior intellect, which he uses for subversive ends.

·       He is desirous of unchecked power.

·       He had a stormy mind encased in a pigmy body.

·       He is restless in peace, and could only survive in facing danger.

·       He could only enjoy chaotic and stormy times.

·       He is false in friendship and merciless in enmity.

·       He would rather ruin the country if he could not rule over it.

POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES:

·       He has a sense of integrity, honesty and fair sense as a judge.

·       He is a highly intelligent and brave man.

·       He is not a fool, but the great wits and bravery has made him unfit for times of peace and the political scene.

 CORAH

·       Titus Oates

·       He is the son of a weaver.

·       He aspired to become great by inventing the popish plot.

·       He has sunken eyes, harsh voice, long chin and red complexion.

·       He spread rumours for ulterior motives.

SHIMEI

·       Slingsby Bethel, the Sheriff of London.

·       He is greedy for money.

·       He is a man of zeal, piety and wisdom, but the ends to which he uses these deflate the man most affectively.

·       He kept the Sabbath and broke it only if he could gain out of it.

·       He was so stingy that his kitchens were cold and the cooks had forgotten their culinary skills.

·       He was so miserly that his cooks had quite forgotten their trade.

·       He fed his servants on spiritual diet.

·       He makes money by the convenient method of cheating and praying.

 ZIMRI

“A man so various that he seemed to be

Not one, but all mankind’s epitome.”

·       Duke of Buckingham

·       He constantly changed his opinions, was fickle-minded about hobbies, ideas and occupations.

·       His interest varied from women to rhyming and drinking.

·       He is such a various man that he changed his mind at least a ten thousand times

·       He is not an individual, the epitome of mankind

·       In the course of a month, he became alchemist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon.

·       He was interested in innumerable spheres, apparently in a shallow manner.

·       He used to go to the extremes whether he was praising or condemning anybody.

·       He wasted his money and was an easy dupe even of fools.

·       He is a fool, not a knave.

 PEOPLE

·       They are restless, ungrateful and easily swayed.

·       They are fickle-minded wavering between one political party and another.

·       They are the “rascal rabble”, never content with what they have.

·       Having helped to install the king on his throne they now wanted to dethrone him.

·       The English people are “headstrong, moody and murmuring race”, who could find fault even with god.

·       They demanded unlimited freedom and changed their principles restlessly.

ALEXANDRINE

LITERARY TERMS RELATED TO POETRY

ALEXANDRINE

·       In English, a line of verse consisting of six iambs (i.e. iambic hexameter), totaling 12 syllables. The Spenserian stanza (consisting of 9 lines) ends with an alexandrine.

·       The name of the line is derived from a 12^th century French romance about Alexander the great, written in this form.

·       It become the standard line of French epic and dramatic poetry after being revived by Ronsard and others in the 16^th century.

·       After being perfected by Racine and other dramatists in the 17^th century, it became the predominant of all serious French poetry.

·       Spenser handled it skillfully for both emphasis and stanzaic continuity.

·       In general alexandrine has proved too unwieldy for continuous use in a long work.

·       Pope vividly demonstrated the reasons for its relative unpopularity among the English poets:

“A needless Alexandrine ends the song

That like a wounded snake drags its slow length along.”

EPIC SIMILES IN PARADISE LOST BOOK IV

EPIC SIMILES IN PARADISE LOST BOOK IV

SATAN:

To The Mariners

Satan when he approaches the Garden of Eden is greeted by gentle breeze charged with the fragrance of numerous blossoms. He lingers so that he might indulge his senses and enjoy to the utmost the delicious perfumes. Milton likens him to the mariners who slacken sail in order to breathe the sweet perfumes of Arabia, wafted across the sea when they are past the Mozambic.

To a prowling wolf, a thief

When Satan leaps over the wall of paradise, he is compared to a prowling wolf, a thief who breaks into the house of a rich burgher.

To a Lion and Tiger

Satan assumes the forms of a lion and tiger, when he comes close to Adam and eve to observe their life.

Like Teneriff or Atlas

Feeling the touch of the celestial spear, with the same explosive force, “as when a spark lights on a heap of nitrous powder” stored for preparation against a rumoured war. Satan’s native form is recovered. Confronted with hostile numbers, Satan rises to his full stature and stands, “like Teneriff or Atlas, unremoved”.

ANGELIC SQADRONS:

Spears to the bearded corn

Milton describes the reaction of angelic squadrons to Satan’s taunts and challenge. They tremble in wrath and they stand there with their pointed spears like blades of corn in a field at the time of harvest.

BEAUTY OF PARADISE:

“fair field of Enna”

The beauty of the Garden of Eden has surpassed all other lovely spots celebrated in history and mythology. Milton compares the Garden of Eden to the “fair field of enna”, “that sweet grove of Daphne”, “the inspired Castalian spring”, and “the Nyseian isle”.

EVE:

To Pandora

She was brought to Adam in the lovely arbour by a genial angel. Milton compares her in this respect to Pandora who was brought by Hermes to the unwise son of Japhet. The opening of Pandora’s Box brought all ills to man’s life. Even so the temptation of eve has brought sin and death to mankind.

Like eve, Pandora also was the first created woman, though, in contrast to eve, she had been created expressly to bring woe to humanity for Prometheus’s defiance of Zeus by stealing fire from heaven.

URIEL

To a Meteor

Uriel comes gliding on a sunbeam to warn archangel Gabriel of the presence of Satan in paradise. He travels swift as a meteor – a meteor which darts through the autumn night, warning mariners about the danger from which they can expect danger.

TALENT

Everyone is born with some natural talents. Everyone is different from others in nature and behavior. Everyone is unique and has some innate ability within him. Everyone has the ability to do something which others can't do. Everyone is talented. We can't imitate others or act like others. Everyone has his own way of managing things or acting according to circumstances. Everyone has his own way of decision making.

We cannot recognize our strengths or potentials. Every human being is born with some inner talents. Everyone has some potential within himself. We are unaware of our natural capabilities. Our confidence helps us to recognize our potentials. One can recognize one's talent only in adversity. Adversity helps us to identify our strengths. It helps in the growth of our potential.

Criticism helps us to recognize our weaknesses and overcome those flaws. It helps us to recognize our mistakes or faults and reform or correct ourselves.

STRIKE

Strike is a curse for every country. It paralyses the economic growth of a state or a country. It affects the daily life of the common people who works on wage basis. It can never be a blessing for any nation. It can neither solve any problem nor can bring out any solution. It in fact creates many problems. It paralyses a nation’s progress both and socially and financially. It becomes a potent political weapon in the hands of the corrupted political leaders. The fickle minded common people become a mere puppet at the hands of the corrupted political leaders who looks after their selfish motives and gains. The people are utilized for creating violence and all sorts of nuisance. The common people and the daily workers suffer as a result of the strikes and the road rallies. They cannot go to their workplace and had to sit at their homes like disabled persons. A country makes it progress everyday both financially and socially. But all these kinds of disability stop a nation from fulfilling her commitments.

OLD ENGLISH PERIOD

Old English Period

The Anglo-Saxon Literature

·       Later 5th Century - 1066

·       Poetry made its appearance much before the Prose.

·       Conversion of England into Christianity-597 AD

·       Norman conquest- 1066 AD

·       Latin was the official language of  this era

The surviving portion of old English poetry is preserved in the following Manuscripts:

Manuscripts:-

·       Beowulf MS- British Museum

Contains Beowulf and Judith.

·       Junius MS- Bodleian Library,Oxford

contains Caedmonian Poems.

·       Exeter Book- Chapter Library of Exeter Cathedral

contains two signed poems of Cynewulf, Elegies.

·       Vercelli Book- Cathedral Library at Vercelli near Milan

contains Two signed poems of Cynewulf (including Elene) and Andreas and The Dream of the Rood.

Old English Language:-

Narrative and Alliterative,mostly borrowed from Latin

Elaborate verbal system and declinable grammer.

Four Dialects:-

Northumbrian,Mercian,Kentish,West Saxon

Poetry:-

·       Pagan,Elegies,National,Epic,Lyric and Heroic.

·       Pagan-Widsith,Beowulf,Waldere

·       Elegies-The Wanderer,The Seafarer,Wife's Lament,Husband's Message

·       Lyric-The Wanderer,The Seafarer

·       Epic-Beowulf

·       Heroic-Waldere,Beowulf,The Fight at Finnsburh,The Battle of Maldon

Beowulf:-

Theme: Continental Germanic

Characters:

Beowulf-King of the Geatas

Hrothgar-King of the Danes

Grendel-Monster

Grendel's mother

Dialect:West Saxon

Kenning:-

Picturesque Compound words

e.g Bone-house i.e body

Sea-wood i.e ship

Peace-weaver i.e women

Poets:-

·       Caedmon-

Divinely inspired Monk of 7th Century

wrote Biblical stories

Works-The Genesis,Exodus,Daniel,Christ and Satan.

·       Cynewulf-

More educated than Caedmon.He lived during the 9th Century.

His works bears his signature in runnic characters

Works-Juliana,Elene,Christ,The Fates of the Apostles,The Dream of the Rood.

Prose:-

Language and Style-simple,straight forward but unpolished.

Prose writers:-

·       King Alfred-

He belonged to the 9th century

"Father of English Prose"

He was the King of Wessex (871)

Works- Translations of Latin books,and The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was inspired and sponsored by him

·       Pastoral care of Pope Gregory

·       History of the world of Orosius

·       Bede's Ecclesiastical History

·       Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy

·       Soliloquies of St.Augustine

Asser was the biographer of King Alfred.

·       Aelfric-

Church-man

Abbot of Eynsham in 1005

He was well known for his Grammar.

Works-Catholic Homilies,Lives of the Saints,Colloquy.

·       Wulfstan-

Bishop of Worcester and Archbishop of York

Works-Sermo Lupi ad Anglos