HOW’S MY COAL?

HOW’S MY COAL?
 THEME

The poem is a wake up call for the supposedly wisest creature on the
earth – we, the human being. In the quest of development and
exploring the nature, we have been indiscriminately using all the
resources that we have at our disposal and in the process have
pushed ourselves on the brink of an impending disaster that can
consume the consumers. In order to wake the consumers – we people
– from our slumber, the poet sermonises on the importance of
judicious usage and conservation of natural resources, and suggests
using renewable and inexhaustible resources.
Explanation – Stanza-1 & 2
Stanza – 3 & 4
Stanza -5
Summary.
The given poem has been written in free verse. The language and irregular pattern of lines make it sound
casual, informal and quite extemporaneous. It is a monologue by the Earth in which we human beings
are the intended and obvious audience. Each stanza talks about one source of energy.
The poet has personified the earth as the narrator through whom he advises us that fossil fuels like coal
and petroleum products must be used judiciously that they may last long, so that future generations can
also fulfill their energy related needs. He warns us that we must not either misuse, overuse or spoil it. In
order to conserve exhaustible resources like coal and oil (Petroleum) , he suggests harnessing wind
energy. The poet through Earth as a narrator seems to be enquiring if we have been able to exploit wave
power and suggests that we should focus on wave energy. Earth is said to have hired a metaphorical
intern ( referring to scientists doing research on wave energy) to expedite the process of generating
wave energy. The poet , lastly impresses upon us that we should start using solar energy because the
other sources of energy are only meant as a back – up for cloudy days, hinting at the fact that the sun is
an inexhaustible source of energy which can be tapped daily except on cloudy days.

Poetic devices
Personification – A literary device in which an inanimate object or idea is used as if it is a
human being. In the poem, the speaker is the earth, hence it is said to have been
personified.
Metaphor – with this poetic device a comparison is made between two dissimilar
things or persons for invoking some kind of similarity, without using “ as” or “like”.
It is often used to represent an underlying facet of something.
In the poem, “intern” refers to the scientists working on wave energy.
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