SUMMARY OF ALL POEMS

ODE TO AUTUMN

As its title would suggest, “To Autumn” celebrates the bountiful beauty of the fall. In the
poem, autumn is a season characterized by a rich abundance of life. The culmination of
weeks of summer warmth and sunshine, autumn sees trees overloaded with fruit, beehives
dripping with honey, and thick vines trailing up the sides of farmhouses.

Often, the poem is taken to be no more than an ode to a lovely, life-filled time of year that is
often overshadowed by spring and summer. And yet, running underneath this celebration of
life is a sense of impending decay. Autumn’s abundance is only possible because it comes at
the end of the growing season, and all this well-being exists on the brink of death; as winter
approaches, fruit will rot, leaves will fall, and crops will be harvested. This doesn't diminish
the loveliness of autumn, however, and instead suggests that beauty shines all the more
powerfully in the moments before it will soon be gone. In a way, then, death is just as much a
part of autumn's loveliness as is life.

The speaker envisions autumn as a transitional season that straddles the line between
abundance and decay. Tree limbs “bend” under the load of their apples, while gourds “swell”
and the flowers are “set budding more, / And still more.” The fruits are at their sweetest and
juiciest, ripe “to the core.” In a sense, they are beautiful and delectable precisely because they
are on the verge of rot (that is, of dying).

Indeed, all of these images veer close to destruction: were things to grow without end,
perhaps the tree limbs would break under the weight of their fruit, the gourds would burst,
and the bees would drown in "their clammy cells" (i.e., their over-filled hives).
More life would transform this beauty into something grotesque—which perhaps is why the
speaker appreciates autumn not as a season of growth, but rather one of impending death and
reaping.

The second stanza takes up this idea by focusing on the harvest, describing the “winnowing
wind,” the “half-reap’d furrow,” and the harvester’s “hook.” Each of these images depicts the
separation and cutting associated with farming, especially the “hook,” or scythe; each also
clearly evokes death.

But the speaker softens these images, lending all this death a kind of pleasure. The
“winnowing wind” results in “hair soft-lifted”; the personified autumn lies “sound asleep” on
the “half-reap’d furrow”; and the scythe does not cut, but “Spares the next swath.” Later,
autumn loiters drowsily in the fields, gazing into the brook and the “last oozings” of the cider
press. Like the swollen fruit from stanza 1, these end-of-autumn images bulge forth with
sensuous beauty that combines both life and decay.

The poem ultimately presents death as a sort peaceful rest at the end of frenzied activity. To
this end, the speaker depicts the day's transition into night (and the broader seasonal transition
into winter) as a process similar to falling asleep. First comes the onset of evening, as “barred
clouds bloom the soft-dying day.” Like autumn and its fruits, the day is dying—but softly.
This process has the beautiful quality of a flower that slowly blooms and wilts. Next, the
dying sunlight “touch[es] the stubble-plains with rosy hue.” It makes the freshly mowed
plains, an image of death, appear gentle and beautiful.

Meanwhile, a chorus of animals elegizes the end of autumn. Knowing death is on the horizon,

the speaker interprets the gnats’ hum as “wailful” and mournful. The speaker also recognizes
beauty in the singing crickets and the robin who whistles “with treble soft.” Finally, the
swallows gather and sing against the void of the darkening sky, which will soon pummel the
land with harsh weather. All this music, which might appear any time of year, takes on a
special beauty in the gathering shadow of death.

WHERE THE MIND IS WITHOUT FEAR

“Where The Mind Is Without Fear” is a pre-independent poem in which the poet sincerely urges to
God to awake his fellow beings for the realization that the essential need to live in a free and
united country. He wants his countrymen to awake and enjoy the life of full dignity and honour.

His countrymen would not be superstitious or believers of blind faith rather than they would lead
the life of enlightened and educated.
He wishes to the people, to be honest, open-minded and industrious. Then only they would
stretch their ‘arms towards perfection’ and the nation can actually achieve the apex of success.

They need to use their reasons over their blind faiths and must be ready to accept new thoughts
and ideas. He requests God to free his country from manipulation, corruption, and slavery. He
yearns for an awakened country where there would be freedom of the mind and expression of
ideas.

The poem invokes the deep patriotic feelings. Our country is subjugated by castes, creed,
superstitious beliefs and biased ideas. Tagore earnestly appeals to God that a country would be
where people’s ‘head is high’ and ‘knowledge is free’.

His country would not be divided and fragmented into pieces due to their narrow thoughts. They
should express their words not from the mind but from ‘the depth of truth’ and heart.

He urges God to guide his countrymen for moral awakening to fight for their rights against British
inhuman rules. Liberate them from the fear of oppression, repression, and subjugation. Unshackle
the chains of fear and direct them to the paths of progress and prosperity.

They should be confident not confined. There would not be injustice and inequality in the country
on the basis of caste, creed, and gender.

Countrymen should be unprejudiced and open-minded accepting the new challenges and changes.
They should lead their lives of decency and dignity.

To conclude “Where The Mind Is Without Fear” is a poem in which Tagore reveals his personal
quest for the Divine and characterized by a variety of original themes both in thought and
expression.

Therefore, this poem is remarkable to a great extent which expresses the intensity of the feeling
of freedom. His poem is universal in its appeal and envisions the ‘heaven of freedom’ and happier
future for mankind.
O CAPTAIN ! MY CAPTAIN !

In the first stanza of ‘O Captain! My Captain!’, the speaker shouts with sheer
excitement to the ship’s captain about making it home safe and sound. The
ship after enduring tough storms and impenetrable winds made it back on
the dock. Jaded and exhausted after a tiresome journey, the mission has
been a roaring success. Although the ship is yet to arrive safely in the
harbor, ‘land ahoy’, ‘land ahoy’ as the ship is close by and people are
seemingly exulted by its sight.

The church bells are ringing and people act animatedly as the ship nigh the
shore. The excitement escalates as the boat nears the harbor. The keel has
been thrown in to steady the moving ship. The keel is a reference to a ‘ship’
as well, same as ‘all hands on deck’ means all people should be ready.

As the ship draws near the harbor, the poem takes on a dark turn,
foreboding something unfavorable to be revealed. ‘Grim and daring’ are
the terms referring to the twisting mood. The would-be ghost ship carries
some unwanted news for the awaiting crowd.

Thereafter, he speaks from the heart. The heart has shattered and torn over
the death of the ship’s captain. The breakdown of emotions is surging from
the sailor as the fallen comrade lies beside him, in all his glory but dead.
Drops of blood are flowing on the ship’s deck, the blood of Abraham
Lincoln.

The sailor implores the now dead captain to rise from the dead. The act of
talking to the dead is known as an apostrophe. The reason being, the
people ashore await their prized captain to lead the way and stamp his
mark on history. The crowd is jubilant as they celebrate using some devices
such as raising the flag in victory, holding flowers, and cheering for the
captain. The crowd is getting restless, as anticipation rises to catch a
glimpse of their ship’s captain. Alas! He’s no longer with them.
In actuality, the ship’s captain is not his biological father, but truly his
respect and reverence for him stand greater than his actual father. The
sailor looks at the fallen comrade and wishes this nightmare was just a
dream. Alas! As the reality sets in, the sailor realizes, the damage is
irreparable.

In the last stanza of ‘O Captain! My Captain!’, the sailor looks sadly at the
dead captain in pure agony. He observes his lips to have paled a la that of a
corpse. The captain fails to respond to his cries of helplessness. The
liveliness from the captain’s face has drained now. His pulse has stopped
and he’s unlikely to move from now on. The ship has landed safely in the
harbor with its anchor thrown in. The voyage is now complete. The sailor
reminisces about the trip to be extremely arduous yet they crossed the line
with a trade-off.

The concluding lines of the poem explicate the fact that the sailor has some
bad news to share with the awaiting crowd. He appeals directly to the loud
jeers, cheers, and ringing bells for the much-awaited captain. Again, the
poet uses synecdoche to represent the entire American audience at large as
the poem relates to the death of Abraham Lincoln. The sailor feels
uncomfortable as he needs to relay the bad news to the populace at large,
as the victory celebrations come to a standstill eventually.

ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE

This poem is a masterpiece of Shakespeare’s keen observation and fine

poetry. All the World’s A Stage is an extract from Shakespeare’s famous
play As You Like It. Shakespeare is regarded as the world’s greatest
dramatist and poet.
 
In this poem, he has masterfully described various stages of human life. He
compares the world with a big stage and all human beings are actors and
actresses. Man first appears in this stage as an infant crying and vomiting in
the arms of a nurse or mother.
 
Then he is seen as a schoolboy with a shining morning face, walking slowly
and unwillingly to school. Soon he becomes a young man burning with the
passion of love and singing in praise of his beloved. In the next stage, he is
like an ambitious soldier who is ready to undertake any adventure in order to
gain honor and fame.
 
In the next stage, he plays his role as wise and mature justice. Then we find
him as an old man with spectacles on the nose and a bag in his hand. His
size shrinks and his manly voice turns into a thin childish voice. His last stage
is very pathetic as he loses almost all his senses and joys of life.

The poem draws a sad and realistic picture of human life. The underlying
meaning is that life is temporary and changing phases of life pass rather too
quickly. The language is simple and the imagery is attractive. He shows us
that man’s stay in his world is quite temporary. After performing the role
allotted by God, he leaves this world.

In this poem, the poet uses the imagery of acting on stage. He decides
human life into seven stages. He says that this world is a great stage of life.
All human beings are just like actors. 
 
They play their roles and leave the stage through the door of death. These
stages of a man’s life are a baby, a schoolboy, a lover, a soldier, a judge, an
old man, and a very old man.
Explanation
In these lines, Shakespeare describes the various stages of human life. He
says that this world is like a stage on which all human beings appear as
actors. They enter the stage at their fixed times and leave it on their turn.
 
One man plays seven roles in his life. He starts his journey of life as a child.
Shakespeare has given a realistic picture of a child. A child is a helpless
creature. At this stage, he is seen crying and vomiting out milk in his
mother’s arms.
He drinks a large quantity of milk but does not digest it. He seems totally
helpless and dependent in this stage. In this way, he makes her clothes
dirty. The nurse or mother has to look after him and feed him.
In these lines, William Shakespeare wants to tell us that human life is not a
fixed and static thing. It is constantly growing and changing. Man becomes a
schoolboy after passing through the period of childhood.
 
In the second stage of human life, man can be seen as a complaining
schoolboy with a shining morning face walking slowly but not get ready for
school. 
 
Perhaps, change in atmosphere, homesickness, the burden of new
responsibility and the strange and stern attitude of the teacher make him go
to school reluctantly.
 
Shakespeare has drawn a beautiful picture of his schoolboy. He compares it
with the movements of an insect snail. Snail is known for its slow
movements. It is a creeping insect.

The school-going boy also marches to the school like a snail. He always
complains about school, homework, or the teacher. He is not satisfied with
his school and does not want to go to school.

The third stage starts with the man’s stepping into adolescence. Now he is
full of deep emotions and sexual passion. 
 
He is full of energy and vigor. In this stage of life, man is lost in the world of
his own dreams. He runs after his mission in a wild and passionate manner.
He becomes a lover and craves a sweetheart.
 
When he misses his dream queen, he sings sad songs and adores her
beauty. The picture which Shakespeare has given us about the feelings,
emotions, and behavior of a lover is quite correct. Every young man behaves
in a similar manner at this stage of life.

William Shakespeare has given us the most realistic and accurate picture of
the fourth stage of man’s life. In this time man becomes an ambitious
soldier. He is ready to undertake any adventure in order to gain honor, glory,
and fame.
 
In fact, at this stage, a man has all the qualities of a fit soldier. He is at the
climax of his youth and physical strength. His practical life begins at this
stage. He sets high aims and makes great vows. With his small beard, he
looks like a leopard.
 
Power in his body forces him to accept any challenge. He wants to surpass
others. He craves fame. Even for temporary fame, he is ready to take risks in
his life. During this career, he is always ready to undertake adventures and
take risks for money and reputation.

In the fifth stage, a man plays his part as a wise and serious justice. Now, he
is mature in mind. He becomes a good judge of things.
 
He can wisely tell right from wrong. His belly becomes round due to eating
fat cocks. He has a beard of normal cut. He becomes strict in dealing with
routine matters. The severity in his eyes shows the seriousness of the
situation.
He pays full attention to the details of every matter. His conversation is full
of proverbs and wise sayings. In his conversation, he uses instances of past
and present events. In this way, he plays a very important and useful role in
society.

The poet describes the sixth stage of human life. In the sixth stage of life, a
man appears to be an old person. He becomes weak and thinks that he has
retired from the activities of life.
 
The man becomes slim and his former garments become loose to him. He
starts wearing spectacles. The skin of his cheek starts dangling. The clothes
of his youth become very loose and wide his shrunk legs.
 
He becomes so weak that he slips and stagger when he walks. He trembles
at every step. His big and strong manly voice changes into a thin childish
voice and a sound of a whistle can be heard in his breath. In this way, he
plays his role in the world.
The last stage is the stage of oblivion and forgetfulness. It can be called
extreme old age. It is the stage of total forgetfulness and second
childishness. This stage puts an end to the eventful life of man.
 
Man can not enjoy the charms of life. He becomes without teeth, without
eyesight, without taste, and without everything. This is once again the stage
of total helplessness. It evokes a feeling of pathos. At this stage man’s life
becomes very painful and difficult.