POETRY APPRECIATION
Poem 1: Coromandel Fishers
Sarojini Naidu’s themes are indigenous and capture the spirit of India. Her poems are melodic
compositions brilliant with fine diction and figures of speech conveying pulse, passion and power.
A sense of urgency is thus created at the outset with the call ‘Rise, brothers rise’ and the wind and
the dawn are personified to lend vibrancy to the poem.
‘Wealth of the tide’ is a remarkable metaphor to suggest that the fishes are the treasures the fisher
folk lay their hands on, like victorious kings exploiting a rich territory.
The sea, the cloud, and the waves are also personified as if they are bound in close ties to the
fishermen. Despite its dangers, the sea is portrayed as a nurturing force and the cloud and the
waves as mighty powers showing their solidarity with their comrades, the fishermen, driving their
boats and bringing down showers of rain to the thirsting seas.
The fates of the fishermen are subject to the whims of the sea-god; nevertheless, they repose
a strong faith in the omnipotent God holding the storm by the air and hiding them in His breast.
Repose in the delectable shades of coconut glades or mango groves or sands on moonlit nights
are indeed a strong attraction after a hard day on the seas. An efficient use of alliteration is made
employing the words ‘sweet’, ‘scent’, ‘sands’ and ‘sound’ to suggest an overwhelming feeling of
peace and tranquillity.
The lines become vibrant yet again with ‘spray’ and ‘foam’, ‘sky’ and the ‘sea’ personified to establish
the allure of the sea.
POETRY APPRECIATION
Poem 2: Invictus
The poem is written in four stanzas, each consisting of four lines with a rhyme scheme of abab.
It heavily employs figurative language to convey the sufferings of the poet. The night is thus a
metaphor for the abject misery and gloom that threatens to engulf the poet, while dire circumstance
is personified. The darkness of night is compared to the darkness of hell.
The expressions ‘looms but the Horror of the shade’ and ‘menace of years’ effectively convey the
miseries of the past. Yet the poet remains unafraid.
The scroll of fate opens to reveal punishments destined for the poet but he resists them, suggesting
boldly that he is the master of his fate and the captain who guides the soul.
POETRY APPRECIATION
Poem 3: Six Shared Seasons
The poem is composed in three-line stanzas and employs free verse. As the poet writes, ‘South Asia
blended as Southasia is a charming orthographic innovation that indicates the region’s civilizational
unity.’ While the first part of the poem concentrates on the plight of separation of people across
borders involving unavoidable protocols, elaborate security measures and an apathetic outlook
towards the poor, the second part is dedicated to the seasonal harmony and geographical unity of
South Asia, now divided into hostile countries. The poem concludes on a note of regret - though we
are blessed with natural bounty, we have failed to learn lessons in sharing and living in harmony.
The poet makes use of diction indigenous to his native land - the names of the seasons like ‘grishma’,
‘sarat’ or ‘hemanta’, and their glory lend a special charm to the poem and account for its mellifluous
quality. In a nutshell, the poem is an earnest effort to recognise the folly of bickering and disputes
among South Asian countries and a hope to ameliorate it.
POETRY APPRECIATION
Poem 4: Ozymandias
Shelley’s sonnet on the fragments of a huge statue of an Egyptian pharaoh begins with a statement
that arouses the interest of the reader at once:
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert.
The mention of a traveller brings forth the promise of a story. A sense of mystery and curiosity is
effectively created at the beginning of the poem. It soon unfolds the truth of how time makes a
mockery of the boastfulness of even the most powerful kings.
Ozymandias is first and foremost a metaphor for the ephemeral nature of political power, and in that
sense the poem is Shelley’s most outstanding political sonnet. But Ozymandias symbolizes not
only political power—the statue can be a metaphor for the pride and arrogance of all of humanity.
The sculptor ‘well those passions read,’ Shelley tells us: he intuited, beneath the cold and commanding
exterior, the tyrant’s passionate rage to impose himself on the world. Ozymandias’ intense emotions
‘survive, stamp’d on these lifeless things.’ What remains besides is the sculptor’s labour of love
albeit in a mutilated state bearing testimony to ‘the hand that mocked’ the king’s passions ‘and
the heart that fed.’ ‘Mocked’ here has the neutral sense of ‘described’, as well as its more familiar
meaning, to imitate in an insulting way. The sculptor mocked Ozymandias by depicting him, in a way
that the ruler could not himself perceive.
It is significant that all that remains of Ozymandias is a work of art and a group of words. Shelley
demonstrates that art and language long outlast the other legacies of power.
The works that were to be the despair of other pharaohs have completely disappeared. Even the
gigantic statue of himself that he had commissioned has been reduced to two legs, a shattered face,
and a pedestal.
Time renders fame hollow: it negates the ruler’s proud sentence and we are left with a grim picture
of the trackless sands of Egypt.
In a way, the artist has become more powerful than the king. The only things that ‘survive’ are the
artist’s records of the king’s passion, carved into the stone.
The poem concludes with the alliterative phrases ‘boundless and bare’, ‘lone and level’ depicting the
vast tracts of sandy desert that surrounds the statue of Ozymandias, an effective metaphor for the
nothingness that replaces human vanity.
POETRY APPRECIATION
Poem 5: Rules of the Game
‘Rules of the Game’ is a simple and delightful poem written from a child’s point of view. Written as
the first person narrative, the poem instantly grabs our attention and draws our sympathy for IT
makes us feel sympathetic towards those children who do not have a school ground big enough for
them to play football in.
The narrator is a child whose innocence and clever understanding of the rules win our admiration.
It is striking that the narrator understands that rules are a matter of mutual understanding and may
be bent with some agreement to be more original and creative. For example, one may reverse the
direction of snakes and ladders, or have different numbers of players on opposing teams, or have
no goalkeepers at all. These also function as amusing portrayals of a child’s rich imagination and
ingenuity of ideas.
However, the clever depiction of rules also indicates keen observation coupled with a childish
innocence. The narrator seems to be observant, drawing conclusions from every day experiences
as well as a familiarity with punishable offences and acts that have to be avoided.
It would probably take a child to teach an adult how to be innovative in one’s approach to play rather
than conforming to a set pattern of conventional rules. After all, games are played for amusement
and entertainment, and as long as they are played according to a set of acceptable norms there may
not be any objection to them.
The narrator is not averse to following the rules of a game. In fact, he or she understands that
running away with the ball in one’s hands could put an end to the game and that starting a fight
with one’s opponents could lead to the game being called off. A ball can be held in the hand only
in rugby, not in football. The narrator’s perspectives are original and clever, and the poem is a witty
take on the rules of football, a game loved by many children.
POETRY APPRECIATION
Poem 6: Lines Written in Early Spring
Wordsworth was a worshipper of Nature. His poetry of Nature goes beyond sensuous presentation
and description to vision and interpretation. The poem ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’ depicts the
poet’s joyful experience of nature. He describes the beauty of nature with a child-like joy and echoes
his belief that Nature possesses a soul, a conscious existence, and an ability to feel joy and love.
And ’tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.
He imagines that Nature has one living soul which entered into flower, bird, and stream, and gave
each a soul of its own. Between this spirit in nature and the mind of man there is a certain harmony,
which enables nature to communicate its own thoughts to man, and man to reflect upon them until
an absolute union between them is established.
It is because he has experienced this harmony that the poet laments that people have moved away
from nature on account of the distractions of an urban life, and fail to enjoy its pleasures, feel the
external manifestations of divine grace, or derive lessons of wisdom from it.
POETRY APPRECIATION
Poem 7: Mercy
Mercy and forgiveness are two basic tenets of Christianity. While developing her argument in the
court, Portia appeals to Shylock to show mercy to Antonio, hoping to transform his mind. Saying
that mercy is not ‘strain’d’ suggests that mercy is a natural quality of the human heart and must be
bestowed freely without any coercion. It has an impact as the gentle showers of rain have on the
parched earth below. The ‘crown’ becomes a symbol of a king’s worldly power and authority, as
much as the sceptre, the sign of absolute sway the king holds over his subjects.
Another important point in Portia’s argument is that Mercy is a moral virtue. It does good to the
person who shows it and also to the person to whom it is shown. A person who shows mercy is
morally elevated and the person who receives it is benefitted as well. While referring to kings and
the noble act of tempering justice with mercy, Portia makes her final point that people placed high
in life ought to be benevolent and merciful in their dealings with others.