Appreciation of all Poems

STD : XII SUB : ENGLISH (NEW SYLLABUS)

Poets / Poetess at a glance

Sr. Name of the poem Poet / Known as Page
No. Poetess No.
1 Song of the Open Road Walt Whitman Father of Free Verse 1 to 2

2 Indian Weavers Sarojini Naidu Nightingale of India 3 to 4

3 The Inchcape Rock Robert Southey Poet Laureate of 5 to 6

England
4 Have You Earned Your Edgar Guest People’s poet 7 to 8
Tomorrow
5 Father Returning Home Dilip Chitre Indian English poet and 9 to 10
translator
6 Money William H. Welsh poet and writer, 11 to 12
Davies spend life in UK and US
7 She Walks in Beauty George Gordon Lord Byron, Romantic 13 to 14
Byron poet
8 Small Towns and Mamang Dai Indian poetess, active 15 to 16
Rivers Radio and TV journalist
 POETIC APPRECIATION
[ All poems in the syllabus ]
STD : XII SUB : ENGLISH (NEW SYLLABUS)

2.1 Song of the Open Road

Walt Whitman [1819 to 1892]

About the poem, poet and the title

The poem 'Song of the Open Road' is written by an American poet Walt Whitman
(1819 to 1892). He was a poet, an essayist and a journalist. He is called "The Father
of Free Verse. He is known for his major literary works…..

1. Leaves of Grass
2. O Captain! My captain.

The poem ‘Song of the Open Road’ is taken from 'Leaves of Grass'. It is a beautiful
blend of self-awareness, free will and tenderness of heart.

The title of the poem is suggestive. The words "Song" and "Open Road” suggest
happiness and freedom. The word road has multiple meaning. It signifies -
1) mobility
2) a point to start over towards new
3) Journeyof life.

Theme of the poem

Freedom, joy of free life and optimism are the major themes of this poem. The poet
encourages the readers to be true to themselves, to live a life freely and enjoy the
freedom of life. He also advocates to be aware about our responsibilities.

Poetic style

As the poet is the master of "Free Verse", the poem "Song of the Open Road" is the
fine example of it.
Irregular stanza, varied length of lines, use of parenthesis at the end, are its remarkable
features.

The poem is full of various figurers of speech like Alliteration, Metaphor, Repetition,
Paradox; imageries like ‘constellations’, ‘long brown path’ etc. add the beauty.

Language / Poetic Devices in the poem

The poem is written in a simple and effective language which is easy to understand. It
is written in a Free Verse so there is no rhyme scheme and metre. The poem consists
of beautiful and vivid imageries, like 'long brown path'. It is also full of various figures
of speech like Metaphor, Personification, Repetition, Alliteration etc.

Special Features

The poem is remarkable for….

1) Free Verse structure
2) Irregular stanzas.
3) Irregular length of lines and stanza symbolizing the complexities / difficulties one
has to face in life.
4) Vivid imageries in the poem.

Message/Morals/values in the poem

The poem teaches us to be optimistic and to be happy. It encourages us to enjoy the

life in healthy and free world. Also it motivates us to fill our heart with immense
pleasure.

My Opinion about the poem.

I really appreciate the poem because the poem carries the theme of freedom and joy of
life. The poem is full of optimism and teaches us to enjoy the immense pleasure of
life.

*********************
2.2 Indian Weavers
Sarojini Naidu [1879 to 1949]

About the poem, poet and the title.

The poem "Indian Weavers" focuses over Indian artisan - the weavers. The adjective
Indian, in the title is used with a definite purpose appreciating the work of Indian
weavers. It is apt and suitable.

Sarojini Naidu, the poetess of this poem was…..

• a political activist and the first Indian woman to become the President of Indian
National Congress.
• Later she became the Governor of the United Provinces in 1947, the first
woman to hold the office of the Governor.
• She is known as the ‘Nightingale of India’ for her literary work.

Theme of the poem

The poem consists / depicts the picture of weavers weaving the clothes at three
particular times of a day. These three particular times- namely the morning, the
evening and the night symbolizes three particular stages of human life - childhood,
adulthood, and the end / death of life respectively.

Poetic style

The poem consists of a three regular stanzas, and it is short and compact in the
form. It is full of symbolism. Each stanza of the poem represents the three important
events of life: birth (childhood), adulthood (youth) and death (old age). Regular
rhyme and structures of the poem is its remarkable feature.

Language and poetic devices

The poem has a conversational tone. Poet, in every stanza, asks the weaver what he
was doing, and the weaver replies.
The poem has regular rhyme - aabb.
Imageries like ‘break of day’, ‘fall of night’, ‘chill moonlight’ make the poem rich.
It also consists of various figures of speech like Alliteration, simile, Metaphor,
Symbol, Interrogation etc.

Special Features

1) Symbols in the poem.

2) Use of rhyme and regular structure

3) Depiction of three stages of human life.

4) Rich imagery.

5) Poem can be sung as a song.

Message / Values / Morals in the poem.

1) Life is just like a clothes full of various colours of happiness and sorrow.

2) As there are three times of day, there are also three stages of human life everyone
has to go through.

3) Life begins with joy, hope, aspiration and happiness, runs with actions, adventures,
progress, struggle and achievements and ends with sorrows, griefs and sadness.

My Opinion about the poem

I really appreciate the symbolism in the poem.

The times of a day symbolizing the stages of life, is noteworthy.
The various colours also symbolise the various stages of life.
The poem itself is a fabric / cloth intertwined perfectly.

********************
2.3 The Inchcape Rock
Robert Southey [1774 to 1843]

Title of the poem

Title of the poem is directly related to the theme of the poem.

‘The Inchcape Rock' is a sandstone, a reef at the East coast of Angus, Scotland. It is
the same rock on which the story of the ballad took place.

Poet and the Theme

The poem is written by the British poet Robert Southey. He was a ‘Poet Laureate of
England’ from 1813 to 1843. Some of his popular poems among the school children
are …..
1) The Scholar
2) The Battle of Blenheim
3) Bishop Hatto

It is basically a story of an Abbot of Aberbrothok, and a villainous character Sir

Ralph the Rover.
The Abbot of Aberbrothok installed the bell on Inchcape Rock for the help of
mariners. On the contrary, Sir Ralph the Rover was envious about the Abbot of
Aberbrothok for having blessed by the people. In the anger, he cuts down the bell on
the Inchcape Rock; but ultimately caught in danger and could not save himself as a
result of the cutting the bell down.

Poetic Style

The poem is a ballad to be sung and enjoyed. It is a story and has a flow of events
which creates an excitement in the reader's mind while reading. Along with it ….

1) The struggle in the ballad

2) Chain of events
3) Use of archaic words
4) Figurative use of language, is remarkable.
Language / Poetic devices in the poem

Language in the ballad is typically folkloric and lucid. Prosaic (ग4लेखनाकडे झक ु णारी)
use of language, archaic diction, regular use of rhyme i.e. a-a, b-b and the dialogue of
the Ralph throughout the poem make the poem an exciting. Ample use of figures of
speech makes the poem a masterpiece.

Special Features

Very few poets like S.T. Coleridge tried the form of ballad.
Robert Southey's 'The Inchcape Rock' is one of masterpieces among his arts - widely
popular among the readers. The story in the poem is legendary which appeals to the
adults as well as children.

Message in the poem.

'The Inchcape Rock' is a poem which gives us a message that those who do wrong
things, will meet with due punishment.

It also teaches us to appreciate good things of others and do good deeds in all the
possible ways.

My opinion about the poem

I always like to listen the ballads as inspiring stories in our history and the historical
events. This is one of them which I enjoyed so much.

I also appreciate the message in the poem that people, who do something with bad
intension, themselves fall into the trap laid by them. It is rightly said, 'Evil digs a pit
for other's but falls into the same'.

*********************
2.4 HAVE YOU EARNED YOUR TOMORROW
Edgar Guest (1881 to 1959)

About the poem, poet and the title

"Have You Earned Your Tomorrow" is an inspirational poem. In this poem, the
speaker is asking the readers whether they have done anything to improve the life of
another human being or not. The poet wants to say that it is up to you whether you will
have a better future or not.

Therefore, one should consider one's actions and deeds carefully and plan accordingly
for a better future.

The poet Edgar Albert Guest was British born American poet. He is known as
‘people's poet’. His poems often have an inspirational and optimistic view of life.

The title of the poems is a verbal question. Here "to earn" means to make better / to
do something good, and “tomorrow” means future. Poet ask readers do to something
good to others so that you will also receive something good.
In short, it tells us, 'as you sow, so shall you reap'.

Theme of the poem

The poem carries the theme that 'as you sow, so shall you reap'.

If you do good to others, you shall receive the good too. Also, the poet presents a
number of probing questions to the readers about how they spend their days.

The major theme of the poem is "one should consider one's actions and deeds carefully
and plan accordingly for a better future”.

Poetic style / Language / Poetic devices

This is an inspirational poem. Repetition of question to emphasize the saying makes

the poem appealing.
It attracts the reader by its simple style of language and the optimistic tone of writing.
Four stanzas in the poem consist of four lines each (quatrains).
Interrogation and Alliteration figure of speech are dominantly used in the poem. The
rhyme scheme is a,a,b,b.
Special features

1) Questions asked by the poet in line no 1, 2 and 4 in each stanza.

2) Optimistic tone of the poet.

3) Reflective in the form -reflects the thought of the poet

Values / Message/ Morals

The poem teaches us multiple moral lessons...

1) One should consider one's deeds and actions carefully and plan accordingly for a
better future.

2) Our today’s action decides our tomorrow.

3) As you sow, so shall you reap.

4) Service to man is service to God.

My opinion about the poem

I am really got inspired by the poem.

I understood that it is always necessary to keep in mind that our today’s acts and deeds
decide our better tomorrow. Every student, rather every person must read this poem.

************************
2.5 FATHER RETURNING HOME
Dilip Chitre [1938 to 2009]

Title of the poem

The Title 'Father Returning Home' is apt, directly related to the theme of the poem.
It is also suggestive, which suggest how a father returns home tired and wearied.

About the poet and a poem

Poet Dilip Chitre is well known Indian English poet and a translator.
He also contributed in painting, film-making and worked as a columnist. He received
Sahitya Akadami Award for his well known translation work "Says Tuka"...

This poem 'Father Returning Home' draws a portrait of a suburban commuters.

The father in this poem is a typical middle class person who has dull, monotonous,
exhausting and pitiable daily routine.
Poem also describes the forced alienation of a father at home.

Language and style

The poem is reflective in style. Poet Dilip Chitre portrayed the plight of a middle-class
suburban commuter who has dull, monotonous and pitiable daily routine. The
loneliness of a father is also depicted through the symbolic words like ‘yellow light’,
‘gray platform’ etc.

The language in the poem is a typical instance of Indian English. Prosaic and simple
structure of lines aptly reflects the simple and middle-class lifestyle of a father in the
poem.

Poetic Devices

Written in 'Free Verse' , the poem is full of various figures of speech like….

1) Simile: e.g. 'Now I can see him getting off the train

Like a word dropped from a long sentence.'

2) Alliteration: e.g. 'Suburbs slide past his unseeing eyes.

3) Onomatopoeia: e.g. ‘soggy’, ‘cling’ etc.

4) Transferred Epithet: e.g. ' .....fade homeward though the humid monsoon nights'.

Special features

It is a typical poem depicting the Indian middle-class lifestyle.

Imageries like ‘gray platform’, ‘father drinking a weak tea’, ‘father eating a stale
chapati’, in the poem are striking.
Children’s refusal to share their joys and sorrows with hardworking father, the painful
loneliness of the father, neglected basic needs of him, make the poem more
melancholic.

Values / Morals/ Message in the poem

1) Poem makes us to think about the hardwork, loneliness, and the feeling of
negligence of a Indian middle-class father.
2) The poem indirectly teaches us to consider the feeling of middle-class person
and respect him.
3) It also teaches us to respect and value the age old people and care for their basic
needs.

Opinion About the poem

The poem 'Father Returning Home' depicts the picture of typical suburban middle
class people.
It is related especially to the Indian families and culture.
That's why, the poem gives us the real picture of our own families or of our near ones.

*********************
2.6 MONEY
William H. Davies (1871 to 1940)

About the poem, poet and the title

The poem 'Money' tell us about the rich man who wants to be a poor man to find the
real happiness. It is when we do not have money or lost our money, we realize how
important the money is. At the end, the poet says that now he doesn't have money, he
has true friends though they are few in number.

The poet William H. Davies was born in Newport, Wales. Formerly he was a tramp or
hobo - homeless and jobless, and moves from place to place - a braveling worker in
the United Kingdom and United States. Later he became a peddler (someone who
travels about selling his wares - as on the streets or at carnivals) and street singer in
England. He published his first volume 'The Soul's Destroyer and Other Poems'.

The title of the poem is apt and directly related to the theme of the poem. The title
'Money' shows the influence and importance of money in the world.

Theme of the poem.

As shown in the title 'Money' itself is the theme of the poem.

The poem / poet tells us that money is not everything in life. It is just a means to make
progress.

As the poet experienced, if we have money with us we have many false friend. If we
lost our money, people around us quickly leaves us.

Poetic style / Language / Poetic devices

The poem is reflective. The poet tells us that he had an experience in life. The
language in the poem is simple and easy to understand.

This poem has rhyming scheme a, b, c, b. It consists of figures of speech like

Inversion. Antithesis, Simile etc.
Special features.

1) Ample use of figures of speech is the feature of this poem.

2) The irony in the poem- the poet having money and many friends because of money
and he has few friends remained when he is penniless is noteworthy in the poem.

3) Various imageries in the poem like 'many a false man as a friend / Came knocking
all day at my door' or '......felt I like a child that holds a trumpet...' makes the poem
effective.

4) Antithetic use of words like ‘poor-rich’, 'many- few’, is also remarkable in the
poem.

Message / Value / Moral in the poem

1) Money is just a means to live a life not a goal to be achieved.

2) Money cannot give us a real happiness

3) Money may be many things but it could not he everything in life.

4) There may be many friends around us just for we have money with us. They are not
loyal to us but to our money,

5) We must differentiate between false friend and our real friends.

6) We can be more happy when we are penniless, than have money with us.

My Opinion about the poem

The poem gives us the real picture of the limits of money to which we give
unnecessary importance.

It also teaches to identify and differentiate between 'real friend' and 'false friend'.
So, I think, the poem is a lighthouse in the journey of one’s life.

********************
2.7 She Walks In Beauty
George Gordon Byron (1788 to 1824)

About the poem, poet and the title

'She Walks In Beauly' is a short lyrical poem celebrating female beauty. The poet
describes an unnamed woman who is exceptionally striking. The poem is thought to
be a love poem.

Poet George Gordon Byron (1788 to 1824) known simply as Lord Byron was famous
English Romantic poet and a satirist. His work 'Childe Harold's Pilgrimage' made him
immensely popular in England.

The title of the poem is lucid, suitable to a love poem. As the poem describes the
beauty of a woman, the title suggest it indirectly.

Theme of the poem.

'She Walks In Beauly' is a famous poem by British Romantic poet Lord Byron. This
poem is about Mrs. Wilmot who is exceptionally striking. The poem praises and seeks
to capture a sense of beauty of this woman. It comprises the theme of love and its
expression.

The speaker compares this woman to a lovely night with a clear starry sky, and goes
on to convey her beauty as a harmonious "meeting" between dark and light.

Poetic style, language and poetic devices

The poem is thought to be the love poem, so the poem seems to be lyrical. The poet
uses many figurative instances to praise the beauty of a woman like….

1) Simile - e.g. She walks in Beauty, like the night'

2) Alliteration - e. g. 'Of cloudless climes and starry skies
3) Antithesis - e.g. 'And all that's best of dark and light'
4) Assonance - e.g. '....like the night', etc.

The poem has a regular rhyme a,b,a,b,a,b.

Special features

The poem depicts the external beauty of a woman at the beginning, but also her inner
goodness in the end.
So the poem is a complete circle of art depicting the human beauty and goodness.

Message / Value / Moral in the poem.

Poem gives the message that beauty and love are the virtues that have been much
valued and adored in human life. They are an integral part of human life.

My Opinion about the poem

I appreciate the poem as a love poem and its allied aspects. The poem is a perfect
blend of beauty and harmony of mind and body.
2.8 Small Towns and Rivers
Mamang Dai (born 1957)

About the poem and the title

The poem "Small Towns and Rivers' depicts the landscape and Nature of poetess’
hometown ‘Pasighat’ and the eternity of natural elements. The poem is based on the
belief of the tribal people, that the soul of the loved ones always continue to dwell in
the natural elements around.

The title of the poem "Small Towns and Rivers' is directly related to the theme of
the poem. One can guess and understand the theme of the poem just reading the title.

About the poetess

The poem is written by Mamang Dai, (born 1957). She is….

- an Indian poet, journalist, and a former civil servant from Itanagar, Arunachal
Pradesh, the North-East religion of India.
- born in 'Adi' Tribal community of Arunachal Pradesh.
- an active radio and TV journalist.
- An Environmentalist and vocal of Nature.
- depicted the tribal life with all aspects of Nature in her poetry.

Her achievements –

1) Padmashree Award (2011)

2) Sahity Akadami Award (2017)

Theme of the poem.

The poem 'Small Towns and Rivers' depicts the landscape and nature where river is a
dominant phenomenon.
The poet expressed anxiety at the developments in the small towns.

We should conserve nature against the developments of towns.

Poetic style
The poetess expresses herself through free Verse. She goes on describing the lovely
nature around her hometown simply in a prosaic way which makes the poem more
readable.

Language and Poetic Devices

The way the poetess describes the landscape and nature through the poem is quite
simple and lucid. The language of the poem is prosaic.

Effective use of free Verse to describe the nature, use of vivid figures of speech like
Simile, Metaphor, Transferred Epithet, Antithesis etc. makes the poem more beautiful.

Special features

1) Effective use of Free Verse to depict the nature is the special feature of a poem.

2) The poem depicts the life and traditions of one of the cornered states of India i.e.
Arunachal Pradesh, and about the tribal community 'Adi' over there.

3) It gives us the message to protect the nature against the developments of small
towns.

Message / Value / Moral in the poem.

The poem is lament over the loss of nature for development.

The poet's love for nature gives us the direct message to love and to protect our mother
earth.

Nature intends to give us all the treasure she had with her. It is up to the human being
how respectfully he accepts the donation by nature.

My Opinion About the poem.

Good for its simple and lucid language, the poem depicts the picture of the nature of
poetess' hometown and the beliefs of 'Adi' community.

The concern of poetess' over the destruction of nature, the various imageries in the
poem, the concepts like 'river has a soul' and 'river knows immortality of water' make
the poem a perfect literary piece of work.