B. Wordsworth by V.S.

Naipaul

Compound Questions and Answers from B. Wordsworth by V.S. Naipaul

1. (a) Referring to the story 'B. Wordsworth describes what story did the poet narrate to the child? What was
its significance?

The child and the poet became friends over a period and he visited the poet's house regularly to meet him.
During one such visit, the poet narrated to the boy a story about a girl and a boy who were in love and their love
culminated into a happy marriage. Both poets, while the boy poet loved words, the girl poet loved to watch the
flowers and the trees in the garden. They lived in a one-room house but were contented with the life they were
living. Soon, the girl poet announced the arrival of their baby in their house. But unfortunately, they could never
celebrate the arrival of the baby because it died in her womb. The girl too died, leaving the boy poet sad and
fuming over his life and destiny. He refused to payattention to the girl's garden which resulted in its growing
high and wild. The significance of this story is that the poet narrated his own story to the child. Though he never
accepted the fact that the boy did understand the feelings and the heart with which the poet conveyed the
story. He presented his own life in a nutshell. The death of his wife had created a vacuum in his life and
rendered him wordless. He saw no meaning in the beauty of life and continued to live for the sake of it. The
same applied to his poetry. The love that he poured in the words went away with his wife's death. What was left
were words which were mechanical with no feelings. Thus, his poetry was drab with no real inspiration to touch
the heart of the readers. Thus, the poet though wished to write the greatest poem of the world but his
incapacity to feel love without the inspiration of his wife had rendered him useless.

(b) What was the poet's tragedy?

The poet arrived at the child's house with the request to be allowed to look at the bees in his yard. During this
sojourn in the yard, both the poet and the child had a conversation where it was revealed that the man is a poet.
The poet during this conversation revealed that he loved to watch things whether it is the bees, ants, centipedes
or the flowers in the morning glory. He looks at them and cries. The boy is puzzled by the poet's words and is
unable to grasp the depth of it. He wonders as to why a man would cry looking at the trivial things of nature. He
is nonetheless intrigued. The poet enquires the child if he loves his mother to which he innocently replied that
when she is not beating. At this point of time, the poet asks him to buy the greatest poem ever written on the
mother from him for only four cents. The child went to ask his mother for the same but is rebuffed by her and
she asks the poet to leave the house immediately. The poet remarks this snubbing as poet's tragedy as people
are unwilling to buy poetry even at four cents.

The author through this incident highlights the sad condition of the poets who have no respect in society. They
fail to earn money and live life on reasonable terms. People often reject their words without any consideration
of the efforts behind them and if art is appreciated, they fail to get compensated monetarily. Thus, in both the
cases, it is a poet's tragedy whether suffering the financial problem or being snubbed artistically.
(c) What request did the stranger make that surprised the child and why?

The last request was from a decently dressed man who begged to be allowed to watch some bees in the yard.
The man wore a hat, white shirt and trousers and spoke in good English. The request was extremely unusual
because beggars usually came asking for food, money or things, a request to be allowed to watch bees was
highly intriguing. The house had four gru-gru palm trees which were full of uninvited bees. Though the child's
mother agreed to his request and allowed him inside yet she asked her son to keep a watch on him. While
watching the bees with the man, the child came to know that the man was a poet who watched and observed
several things before writing about them. The request initially seemed bizarre but on the revelation of his true
calling the child was satisfied.

2. (a) With reference to the short story 'B. Wordsworth' what was the greatest poem of the world all about?

B. Wordsworth during his walks with the little boy revealed to him about the secret of writing the greatest poem
of the world. The greatest poem of the world is invariably different from what he had been working upon till
now. This poem is deep and holds the maximum attention and hard work of the poet to ensure it's a success,
unlike his other writing ventures. Wordsworth wants this poem to strike a chord with his readers that none
others could do. Therefore, he writes only one line in a month even at the cost of completing his poem in the
next twenty-two years. Wordsworth wants to ensure that this poem of his surpasses not only his expectations
but also of his readers. Thus in the one line that he writes each month, he infuses all the experiences of that
month. He works fervently to create the masterpiece of a poem only to never complete it.

Wordsworth fails to sell his poetry and his failure as a salesman takes a toll on his ability to write continuously
without expectations. It is tragic that the world refuses to appreciate poetry and considers poets to be
worthless, writing absurd things. The little boy's appreciation makes him see some hope and this is why he
reveals only one line of his greatest poem, However, he is soon disillusioned and realizes the world does not
appreciate deep thoughts. B. Wordsworth himself acknowledges his mistake of spending his entire life writing
the greatest poem in the world and living a dream that was never going to be a reality.

(b) Why did the poet negate his own story at his death bed?

The poet, negating his own story at the death bed, wanted to shield the little boy from the harsh realities of life.
The poet could see the latent talent within the little boy to be a poet. He saw his early life in the little boy. The
fire and curiosity to understand the little things in life was explicitly visible in the boy. The reflection of a poet in
making, who would have to invariably face the same trials and rejections as a poet, hurts the poet to no end. He
wanted to save the little boy from the misery and tragedy of the real-life where there are no buyers and
appreciators of a poet's words. Poets are considered to be worthless, churning out nonsensical content for the
sake of appreciating beauty. People fail to see through the deep meaning of a poet's words and feel the
enlightening experience by reading it. Thus, to save the boy from the fate that he met in his life as a poet, he
negates his own story at the end, making a mockery out of his own existence.

(c) 'It was just as though B. Wordsworth had never existed.' Explain the significance of the last line of the
story.

At the end of Naipaul's story, "B. Wordsworth" the little boy revisits Alberto Street a year later and finds no trace
of the poet and his humble abode. The mango tree and the plum tree and the coconut tree had all been cut
down, and there were brick and concrete everywhere. It was just as though B. Wordsworth had never existed.

The last line of the story elucidates the fact that B. Wordsworth was never the greatest poet in the world. He
failed to make an impression on the minds of the readers and therefore lived a life of oblivion. Poets are the
greatest treasure troves for society because they express the unexpressed by using the power of their beautiful
words. Long after they are gone, people always remember them for the words they wrote. Unfortunately for B.
Wordsworth, he could not make a mark as a poet, enough to be remembered by the world after he was gone.
Therefore, his house being pulled down had no significance as he was just another human being dead and
forgotten with no trace of existence in this world.

Long Questions and Answers

1. What are the issues raised in the story B. Wordsworth? OR What does V.S. Naipaul want to convey through
his story, B. Wordsworth?

B. Wordsworth is basically a simple and sweet story that speaks about the life of an aspiring poet. But the story
also highlights certain serious issues and endeavours faced by the ordinary people of Miguel Street. The major
issue is the status of poets in a society inhabited by common people, whose life revolves around the business of
existence. Poetry does not make any sense to them. In fact, poets are not treated seriously. Their beautiful
words on nature or on people hardly get noticed. When he tries to sell his poem, he is told to 'haul his tail away.'

The poet is used to such rejection. The worst part is that poets are not considered a good company. The author's
mother beats him when he comes back after spending a day with the poet. The poet also raises poetic
sensibilities in the child but tries to turn him back from the attempt as he feels the boy will not get anywhere
with this talent. So he tells the boy that all the talk about his poem is a lie. A year later, when the boy tries to
locate the house, he cannot see a sign of it. It seemed like it has vanished and that B.

Wordsworth never existed. The name of the poet also suggests the disparity between the white and black poets.
White is renowned and stays in the civilized society of literature and culture. The black one fades into oblivion.
Even his house is pulled down after his death and no trace is left. What Naipaul does in the story is, to raise the
question of the role of the creative artist in society. Miguel Street people do not waste their time watching a
swarm of bees in their backyards, for they have been socialized to look away from their backyard or laugh off
everything that doesn't pertain to the business of

living. They don't take lessons from nature and thereby lose half the pleasure of living or learning. Their life is
devoid of reflection, contemplation, and inquiry. It is sad that even though the poet is society's creative artist yet
his voice is not heard.

2. Give the characterisation of B. Wordsworth.

B. Wordsworth is one of the characters of Miguel Street. He has a soft nature. He is creative and curious about
his surroundings especially Nature. He is reflective, contemplates a lot and observes the mysteries of existence
and distils lessons from them.

B. Wordsworth equates himself with W. Wordsworth as he feels their nature is similar. Both love nature and get
divine lessons from it. But he is not appreciated by the society he lives in. They are indifferent to him. But he
does not care as he stoically accepts his position. He befriends the young boy and teaches him to appreciate the
beauty all around, but later he himself tells the boy that all he told him were lies and he should not go back to
him. Maybe he does not want the young boy to be like him and get alienated from society.

The poet has written one line of his poem: 'The past is deep'. He hopes to finish it in twenty-two years. He also
tells the boy, 'When you are a poet, you cry for everything. What he means is that a poet is so sensitive that he is
moved by many things which other people will not even respond to. He also wonders about his own identity.
When the policeman asks him who he is, he replies, OI has been asking myself the same question for the last
forty years". This sums up his existence.

B. Wordsworth, on the whole, comes as a sensitive, intelligent, caring and loving being who wins our heart with
his frank and straightforward nature and wins our appreciation with his wisdom and understanding. He is a
friend, guide and philosopher to the boy. He believes the boy as well as whoever appreciates nature can become
a creative artist.

B Wordsworth : Part – 1

Questions and Answers for ISC Echoes Collection of Short Stories

Question : (a) Describe briefly the narrator’s first meeting with B.Wordsworth.

Ans : – The narrator lived in Miguel Street. Three beggars used to call every day at hospitable houses in the
street. They would get something or the other from the narrator’s house also. One day a stranger came there.
He called the narrator ‘Sonny’ and enquired if he could come inside his yard to watch the bees. The stranger was
a tidily dressed man and he spoke very good English. The narrator’s mother grudgingly let the stranger come in.
The stranger told ‘Sonny’ that he could watch ants for days. He was fond of watching scorpions, centipedes etc.
The stranger further told the narrator that he was a poet and his name was Black Wordsworth (B. Wordsworth).
The white Wordsworth (William Wordsworth) was his brother. He also said that like the great poet Wordsworth
he could also watch a flower and cry. He also showed the narratora poem which he had written and he wanted
to sell it for four cents. The narrator’s mother rudely dismissed the offer. This was their first meeting.

Question : (b) What do you think, is the message which ‘B.Wordsworth’ wants to convey?

Ans : – ‘B.Wordsworth’ is a character-based story. Such a story does not aim at conveying a message to the
society. It is upto the readers to deduce some relevant message from the story. ‘B.Wordsworth’ implicitly coveys
a message. It is that good old values such as love, devotion, sincerity, sentimentality and sensitivity have
disappeared for the new world. The poet, ‘B.Wordsworth’ and the boy ‘Sonny’ are hypersensitive souls. They are
certainly endowed with poetic temperament but are a failure in life. In fact it is the failure of a system. The
writer wants to convey the message that the society must ensure conditions in which fine artists like poets could
live with honour and dignity.

B.Wordsworth conveys another message also. It is regarding environment. In the name of development, if we go
on felling trees to raise concrete buildings it will give birth to many environment related ills.

Question : (c) Comment on the friendship between B.Wordsworth and the boy in the story ‘B.Wordsworth’.
Why does their friendship appeal to the readers?

Ans : – B.Wordsworth lived in a small hut away from the city . Being creative and imaginative he had no friends.
He used to spend his time by going round to sell his property, observing nature and to meet poets. The young
boy was fatherless. He too needed love and affection. His mother used to beat him. She used very harsh words
for him. No wonder the two became good friends. Their loveliness brought them together. The friendship
between the two is strengthened by the boy’s visit to the poet’s house in Alberto street. The poet shows the boy
his house with a yard having some fruit trees and wild bushes. The boy eats about six mangoes and stains his
shirt. When he reaches home he is beaten by his mother for loafing. The boy returns to the poet’s house. The
poet’s consoling words provide a healing touch to the boy’s bruised ego. At the poet’s place, they begin to spend
a lot of time together. The poet tells the boy a tragic love story of a boy poet and a girl poet. The boy
understands it rightly to be the poet’s own story.

B Wordsworth : Part – 2

Questions and Answers for ISC Echoes Collection of Short Stories

Question : (a) Why, according to the poet, is poetry, a source of trouble?

Ans : – According to the poetry, is certainly a bad profession. It is often not

saleable. That is why when the boy asks his mother if she would like to buy a

‘poetry for four cents’ her sharp response is “Tell that blasted man” (the poet) to

“haul his tail away from my yard.”

In such circumstances, the poet can do little to survive.

In fact one of the themes of this story is that in the modern, materialistic world

poetry hold no charm. It is a source of trouble. Poets are crazy, abnormal

beings. They have no respect in modern world. They are looked upon a tramps.

B.Wordsworth is a poet. He is working on an ambitious poem. But he has to

sing calypsonians in the calypso season to earn some money, though it is not

sufficient . Later in the story he takes a U-turn. He denies before the boy ‘Sonny’

that he has any thing to do with poetry. We feel that he is doing this

intentionally because he wants to wean the boy from poetry business because

he knows that poetry is a source of trouble. He does not want the boy should

suffer as he has done in life.

Question : (b) Do you agree with the view that one of the themes of

B.Wordsworth is escapism? Discuss and illustrate.

Ans : – Escapism can be defined as a habitual diversion of the mind to purely

imaginative activity or entertainment to forget about the harsh realities of life.

B.Wordsworth is a failure as a poet, but he embraces escapism by excessively

praising his own poetry. He is disillusioned and prefers to live in the world of

imagination. He admires the great poet William Wordsworth but he never goes

ahead with the writing of his most ambitious poem. He knows that in reality

nobody has ever bought a single copy of his poetry still he claims that the poem

he wants to sell is the ‘greatest poem about mothers’.

B.Wordsworth is an escapist. He has not achieved anything in reality. His

dreams are all in his head. His actions do not complement his dreams and

aspirations. He wishes to write a poem that would speak to all humanity but he

never succeeds. B.Wordsworth is conscious of his escapism. Towards the

ending of the story he shatters the boy’s illusion of a romantic world. This he
does because he wants the boy not to be an escapist like him. He wants the

boy to discover reality and be a part of the real world.

Question : (c) What do you think about the ending of the story? Is it satisfactory

or not? Discuss.

Ans : – When B.Wordsworth and the boy became very intimate, the former

showered love on the latter as if he had been his own son. The boy too became

very attached to him. Both spent a lot of time together. The scene of lying

together on the grass and watching the stars reveals a poetic sensibility in an

unpoetic world. In the company of B.Wordsworth the boy has a new experience

something he has never undergone before.

The attachment between the two grows so strong that the boy feels pained on

finding the signs of death on the poet’s face. The boy has tears in his eyes.

Then he bursts out crying. At this stage B.Wordsworth tells him that whatever

he told him about the boy poet and the girls poet (his own story) was all made

up. He added that his talk about poetry was also made up. It is doubtful

whether the poet is speaking the truth. Perhaps B.Wordsworth denies having

been a poet in order to wean the boy from treading his path. He does not want

the boy to suffer like him.

The poet’s death shocks the boy. The story, however, does not end on his death.

We are told how the boy visits the poet’s house a year later, and is shocked

that his house is nowhere to be seen.

………It had been pulled, and a big, two-sided building had taken its place. The

mango tree and the plum tree and the coconut tree had all been cut down, and

there was brick and concrete everywhere.

Thus, the story ends on a sad note. The death of the poet has larger meaning. It
is suggestive of the demise of an era in which people loved nature and upheld

good human values. The new world of ‘brick and concrete’ has no room for the

sensitive people like B.Wordsworth. This suggestive ending is quite satisfactory

and lends depth to the story

B Wordsworth : Part – 3

Questions and Answers for ISC Echoes Collection of Short Stories

Question : (a) B.Wordsworth, like his ‘brother’ B.Wordsworth was a lover of

nature. Discuss.

Ans : – B.Wordsworth is a sensitive fellow. He is a sort of poet who

mischievously says that white Wordsworth (William Wordsworth) is his

brother. Like his brother the great Romantic poet. B.Wordsworth is also a lover

of nature. He likes to watch a variety of objects in nature be it the bees or a

small flower. He is fond of natural surroundings. He keeps his yard all green

and bushy.

B.Wordsworth has a poetic sensibility and he likes to lie on the grass and

watch the stars in the sky. He wants the boy to share his love of nature. Very

affectionately he takes the boy out for a walk. The boy too feels big and great

while watching the stars above him.

Like his brother W.Wordsworth, he is romantic at heart. In his yard he has a big

mango tree, and coconut tree and a plum tree. The place, where B.Wordsworth

lived looked wild as though it wasn’t in the city.

B.Wordsworth was a part of nature. A year after his death when the boy

visited Alberto Street, he was pained to see that his trees, his bushes were no

longer there. It appeared to the boy as if B.Wordsworth had never existed.

Question : (b) Relate in your own words the love story which the poet told the

boy. Do you think it was his own story.

Ans : – When the boy and the poet became good friends, the boy asked him

why he kept all the bush in the yard. The poet then told him a story. It was of a

boy and a girl. They met each other and fell in love. They loved each other so

much that they got married. They were both poets. They loved words. The girl

loved grass and flowers and trees. They lived happily in the single room. The

girl got pregnant. One day she told the poet, “we are going to have another

poet in the family.” But unluckily she died with the foetus in her womb . Her

husband became very sad, and did not touch anything in the girl’s garden. The

garden became bushy and wild.

Yes, I think it was the poet’s own story. As he told the story to the boy, he

seemed to grow old.

Question : (c) What was the poet’s dying confession? As he told the story to the

boy, he seemed to grow old.

Ans : – One day when the boy came to see the poet in his house, his condition

was very bad. He began to cry. He told the boy that the poem was not going

well. The boy observed that the poet wasn’t looking at him. He was speaking

as though the boy wasn’t there. The boy felt that he could see death on his

face.

The poet looked at the boy and asked him to come. He pulled the boy to his thin

chest and made a shocking confession. He told the boy that the story he had

told him earlier about the boy poet and the girl poet was not true. He added

that even his talk about poetry and the greatest poem in the world was untrue.

He asked the boy to never to return to his place. Then he fell into silence and lay
dead. The boy ran home crying, like a poet.

The poet was very intelligent and wise. He had developed a rapport with the

boy. He did not want the boy should be another failed poet like him. He had

realized that there was no place for good old values such as love for nature,

devotion, sincerity, sentimentality and sensitivity in the new world. He made the

confession to wean the boy from poetry which is a bad profession

B Wordsworth : Part – 4

Questions and Answers for ISC Echoes Collection of Short Stories

Question : (a) What is the symbolic significance of the death of B.Wordsworth?

Ans : – Before his death B.Wordsworth makes a shocking confession. He tells

the boy that everything he told the boy-the story of a boy poet and his wife, a

girl poet, and even the talk about poetry-was untrue. He tells the boy never to

return to his place. With these words he dies.

The death of B.Wordsworth has a symbolic significance. It implicitly means that

good old values such as love, devotion, sentimentality and sensitivity have

disappeared in the new world. A year later when the boy walks along Alberto

Street where the poet lived, there is no sign of the poet’s house. A two storey

building has replaced B.Wordsworth’s house . The trees have been cut down.

There is a brick and concrete everywhere. It is again symbolic. Brick and

concrete in place of fruit trees and wild green, indicates the demise of an era in

which people loved nature and upheld old human values; an era with which

William Wordsworth is associated.

Question : (b) What is your assessment of B.Wordsworth? Is he a tramp or a

poet? Discuss.
Ans : – From the way B.Wordsworth has been introduced in the story, it is

difficult to say whether he is tramp or a poet. B.Wordsworth visits the house of

the boy whom he calls Sonny one day. He seems to be different from other

callers. Soon after his entry he tries to sell a poem in vain. This gives us the

impression of his being a tramp. He himself confirms later that he remains out

of work most of the time. All this is like a tramp.

But when the friendship between the poet and the boy grows, he tells the boy a

tragic story of a boy poet and a girl poet. The boy the realizes that it is the

poet’s own story. Towards the ending of the story the poet himself denies

everything that he had told the boy. Should we call him a liar? The way he

denies everything is very meaningful. We realize the purpose behind it. As a

failed poet he has suffered a lot. He does not want that the boy should also

suffer like him. He wants to wean him away from poetry business. In the light of

this we can’t say that the poet is a tramp. He is poor and needy but he never

cheats or begs. He is sincere and loves the boy dearly.

Question : (c) In ‘B.Wordsworth’ how does Naipul contrast two modes of lifethe modern and traditional?

Ans : – ‘B.Wordsworth’ is set in Trinidad in contemporary times. The natives live

with the whites who once ruled them. There is much difference between the

ways of life of the natives and the whites. The blacks are suspicious of the

ways of their white neighbours. In fact both distrust each other and yet both

have to depend upon each other for various needs. The natives are mostly not

as refined as the whites. Anybody who speaks English is a suspect in the eyes

of the natives. B.Wordsworth is black but his manners are refined. No wonder

the boy’s mother instantly dislikes him.

Throughout the story the writer has built up a contrast between the modern
world which is developed and refined and the traditional which is fast

developing.

It is towards the end that we see a real contrast between the new world and

the old one. The development in urban areas in Trinidad is obliquely referred to

as a threat to the old world of peace and contentment. The good old values

such as love, devotion, sincerity, sentimentality, sensitivity, etc. have almost

vanished in the new world. The old world is of course, represented by

B.Wordsworth and the boy. They are endowed with simplicity, innocence and

sensitivity of the old world. How this world is being pulled down is symbolically

represented by the pulling down of the house of the poet after his death:

Thus, the story contrasts two modes of life-harsh and realistic as represented

by the boy’s mother and the changes brought about in the manner of

development, and the sincere, sentimental way of life as represented by the

poet and the boy.

B Wordsworth : Long Questions

Questions and Answers for ISC Echoes Collection of Short Stories

Question 1 : In the story ‘B.Wordsworth’ Naipul contrasts two models of life.

Discuss with close reference to the text.

Ans : – It is important to note that the story ‘B.Wordsworth’ is set in Trinidad in

contemporary times. The black natives live with the whites who once ruled

them. There is a lot of difference between the ways of life of the native sand the

whites. There is a lot of suspicion in the minds of the blacks about their white

neighbours. In fact, both distrust each other, and yet both have to depend upon

each other for various needs. Most of the natives are, for example, not so
refined and cultured as the whites are. Anybody who speaks good English is a

suspect in the eyes of the natives. B.Wordsworth is a black native – ‘B’ stands

for Black. However, as he speaks good English and his manners are refined.

The boy’s mother develops an instant dislike of him and avoids him. The

narrator (the boy) says:

His English was so good, it didn’t sound natural , and I

could see my mother was worried. 

Throughout the story the writer has built up a contrast between the modern

world which is developed and refined and the traditional which is fast

developing.

It is towards the end that we see a real contrast between the new world and

the old one. The development in urban areas in Trinidad is obliquely referred to

as a threat to the old world of peace and contentment. The good old values

such as love, devotion, sincerity, sentimentality, sensitivity, etc. have almost

vanished in the new world. The old world is, of course, represented by

B.Wordsworth and the boy. They are endowed with simplicity, innocence and

sensitivity of the old world. How this world is being pulled down is symbolically

represented by the pulling down of the house of the poet after his death:

………..I could find no sign of the poet’s house. It hadn’t Vanished, just like that. It

had been pulled, and a big, two-Storied building had taken its place. The

mango tree and the plum tree and the coconut tree had all been cut down, and

there was brick and concrete everywhere.

Brick and concrete in place of fruit trees and wild green indicates the demise of

an era in which people loved nature and upheld human values – an era with

which the famous poet, William Wordsworth, is associated, and whom

B.Wordsworth calls ‘his brother’ as he too imbibes in him all those qualities and

values which Wordsworth has. The boy feels shocked on the death of the poet

as somebody dear to him has passed away.

Thus, the story contrasts two modes of life – harsh and realistic as represented

by the boy’s mother and the changes brought about in the name of

development, and the sincere, sentimental way of life as represented by the

poet and the boy.

Question 2 : Comment on the ending of the story. Is it satisfying or not? Discuss

with close reference to the story.

Ans : – The story ‘B.Wordsworth’ gives a peep into the life of B.Wordsworth

who is a poet in the real sense of the world. Like a poet, he is quite sensitive,

loving and sincere. He has genuine love of nature. We are not sure whether he

writes poems. It is doubtful if he is writing a long poem which is going to be his

masterpiece. It is his poetic attitude that draws our attention to him. He

showers love on the boy as if he were his own son. The boy, too , becomes very

attached to him. Both spend a lot of time together. The scene of their lying

together on the grass and watching the stars reveals a poetic sensibility in an

unpoetic world. The boy has a new experience , something he has never

undergone before. He recalls the scene in vivid terms:

I had never felt so big and great in all my life.

I forgot all my anger and all my tears and all the blows.

The attachment between B.Wordsworth and the boy grows so strong that the

boy feels pained on finding the signs of death on the poet’s face. The boy has

tears in his eyes then be bursts out crying. It is at this stage that the poet tells

him that what he told him about the boy poet and the girl poet (his own story)
was made up, as was his talk about poetry. Does he speak the truth? There is a

genuine doubt about it. Perhaps the poet denies having been a poet in order to

stop the boy from treading his path. He does not want him to suffer like him.

The poet’s death shocks the boy. The story, however, does not end on his death.

We are told how the boy visits the poet’s house a year later, and is shocked

that his house is nowhere to be seen.

…………It had been pulled, and a big, two-storied building had taken its place.

The mango and the plum tree and the coconut tree had all been cut down, and

there was brick and concrete everywhere.

Thus, the story ends on a sad note. The death of the poet has larger meaning. It

is suggestive of the demise of an era in which people loved nature and upheld

good human values. The new world of ‘brick and concrete’ has no room for the

sensitive people like B.Wordsworth. This suggestive ending is quite satisfactory

and lends depth to the story.

Question 3 : What do you think of B.Wordsworth – a tramp or a poet? Discuss

with examples from the text.

Ans : – It is quite difficult to judge the protagonist in the story ‘B.Wordsworth’.

Our first impression about him is that he may be one of those tramps who move

from place to place asking people for food or money. Such tramps are alluded

to by the narrator in the beginning of the story. His house is visited daily by

three beggars, an old woman and a blind man for food. “Sometimes we had a

rouge”, as he recalls the days of his boyhood. B.Wordsworth is one such person

who one day calls and asks if he can come in and watch bees. He seems to be

different from others. But after his entry into the house, he tries to sell a poem in

vain. This gives us the impression of his being a tramp. Later, he confirms that
he remains out of work most of the time. In the calypso season he sings

calypsoes to make some money.

But does this make him a tramp? It is quite doubtful. Unlike a tramp, he has a

house with a lot of greenery and fruit trees. His love of nature becomes clear.

He loves to watch all kinds of insects. Once he asks the boy to lie down on the

grass and they both watch stars. He also mentions his writing a great poem.

However, the way he describes it is quite mysterious:

‘I have been working on it for more than five years now. I will finish it in about

twenty-two years from now, that is, I keep on writing at the present rate’.

When he adds that he writes one line a month, we are shocked. What sort of

poet is he? Later, he asks the boy to forget whatever he has told him about his

poem. He has told the boy a tragic story about a boy poet and a girl poet who

fall in love and marry, but the girl dies with child in her womb. The boy realizes

that it is the poet’s own story. However, B.Wordsworth says that the story

about the boy and the girl is all a lie.

Now if we believe that he is a liar, he becomes a sort of tramp. But the way he

denies everything about the story and his poem reveals that there is some

purpose behind his denial. As a failed poet he has suffered a lot. He finds in the

boy a poet, at least a sensitive soul. It is while dying that he denies the truth of

his story and his being poet, perhaps in fear that the boy might follow him and

suffer.

Thus, it becomes really difficult to say whether B.Wordsworth is a tramp or a

poet. We feel that he is a failed and dejected poet. He is not a tramp in the

negative sense. He is poor and needy, yet he never cheats or begs.

Question 4 : The short story ‘B.Wordsworth’ explores an unusual friendship

between an old man and a boy.

Ans : – B.Wordsworth , an old man, is a failed poet as he claim s to be. He may

be a tramp also. His true identity remains ambiguous. We are likely to presume

from the given facts that he is a good-intentioned, sensitive and emotional

person. He does not want to harm the boy or anyone else in the world.

He befriends the boy simply because he has fallen for him because of the boy’s

poetic temperament. It is the boy who makes his mother let him come into their

house to watch bees. Again, it is he who lets his mother know the stranger’s

offer of a poem for four cents. He comes close to the man as he flatters him by

saying that he is a poet:

I said, “You really think I is a poet?”

“You’re as good as me,” he said.

The friendship between the two is strengthened by the boy’s visit to the poet’s

house in Alberto Street. The poet shows the boy his house with a yard having

some fruit trees, wild bushes, etc. The boy eats about six mangoes and stains

his shirt. When he reaches home, he is badly beaten by his mother for loafing.

He returns to the poet’s house. The poet’s consoling words provide a healing

touch to the boy’s bruised ego. They come out and walk to a race course, lie

down on the grass and watch stars in the sky. The poet tries to make the boy

learn from nature.

The friendship between the poet and the boy grows further. They begin to

spend a lot of time together. The poet tells the boy a tragic love story of a boy

poet and a girl poet. The boy understands it rightly to be the poet’s own story.

The poet also claims to be writing ‘the greatest poem on earth’. The boy shows

wonder at the ambitious project.

As the time passes, the boy finds the poet very ill. He seems to grow older and

weaker. One day he asks the boy never to return to him. He says that his story

about the boy poet and the girl poet was untrue, and that all his talk about

poetry was a lie. He passes away, as he ‘confesses’. His death breaks the bond

of friendship with the boy.

Sincerity and selflessness in the friendship of the poet and the boy appeal to us

the most. It is perhaps out of his thoughtfulness that the poet dubs himself a

liar. His purpose seems to wean away the boy from treading his path and

suffer like him. The boy’s ‘crying’ out at his death reveals the extent of personal

loss to him.