Poetic Appreciation of all poems

Standard: XII Marks in Exam: 04

2.1 Song of the open road

The poem ‘Song of the Open Road’ is taken from the well-known poetic
volume ‘Leaves of Grass’ by Walt Whitman. Walt Whitman is the pioneer
of the poetic form Free verse that's why he is called the father of free
verse. The title of the poem is significant and apt because the road
signifies mobility.
The present poem is a beautiful fusion of human feelings like softness of
heart, self-awareness and liberty. The Poet used the simple language to
elaborate the freedom. As the poem is in free verse there are neither
rhyming pairs nor rhythm. But the poet had used figurative language and
the prominent figures of speech are Repetition as well as personification
as many words are repeated, and poet personify the non-human objects. It
enlightens us with the poet’s self-realizations about the journey of life. It's
our choice which way we should go because the road never leads us, we
have to decide. That's why good fortune or luck is not required as we are
the good fortune or luck.
The poem is about self-realization, and the consistency in life. The poet is
against staying in one place for too long.
The special features of the poem are its pictorial quality and imagery
which appeals to our sense organs. The Poet is able to create pictorial
quality by his beautiful descriptions of nature and various elements of
nature.
People should take the road as a point to start over towards something
new. The journey of life should be mobile and always on the road to move
on.
The poem gives us the moral of life that we should keep moving ahead in
spite of any obstacles and difficulties in life. I love this poem because it's
a self-motivational poem which helps to bring good discipline in our life.

2.2 Indian Weavers

Sarojini Naidu is a celebrated poetess known as the "Nightingale of

India". The short poem ‘Indian Weavers' is composed by the poetess in
the year 1920. Apart from being a poetess, she was a writer as well as a
strong political activist.
Though the poetess highlights the craft and skill of the weavers. She
speaks about the three important stages in a man's life which are birth,
marriage, and death, and relates them to different colors and different
times of the day. The poet talks about three types of dresses that the Indian
Weavers weave at three particular times of the day. Metaphorically each
time and the dress weaved in that time symbolizes a particular stage of
life.
The poem has three stanzas of four lines each. The rhyme scheme of the
poem is AABB as the first line rhymes with the second and the third line
rhymes with the fourth. The poem is in conversation mode as the poetess
asks the questions to the weavers and the Indian Weavers answer the
question the poetess. The language is very simple to understand but it's a
figurative language because the poetess used many figures of speech like
Simile, Metaphor, Alliteration, and Imagery. The prominent figures of
speech are similes The Special Feature of the poem is the poetess had
created a beautiful picture of the artistic work of the Indian Weavers. At
the same time, it has implied meaning because the poetess not only talks
about the various times of the day but also the three important stages in
human life, and the different color significance in life. The moral of the
poem is as the day passes through various phases, we humans too have to
pass through different phases of life and every phase has its importance. I
like the poem very much as it depicts the real picture of human life and
various phases in human life.

2.3 The Inchcape rock

The famous ballad “The Inchcape Rock” is written by the renowned

English poet Robert Southey. The basic theme of the poem is that those
who do bad things will ultimately be punished accordingly and poetic
justice was done.
This is the ballad of seventeen stanzas of four lines each with the regular
rhyming couplet with the rhyme scheme, AABB. As the poem has four
lines of stanzas which are also known as quatrains. The present poem is
about an attempt by the Abbot of Aberbrothok to install the warning bell
on Inchcape rock which was removed by a sea pirate, Ralph. The pirates
met with an accident on the same rock on his return journey. Poet tells
the above story in the narrative style. Though the language looks simply,
it has many old English words. The poet has used various images and
symbols to create a live beautiful mental picture before the eyes of the
readers. The poet also enriched the beauty of the poem with various
figures of speech. Prominent figures of speech in the poem are
personification, alliteration, repetition, Inversion, simile, metaphor
apostrophe, and Onomatopoeia.
The poem, The Inchcape Rock, teaches a moral lesson- “As you sow, so
shall you reap.” The poem proves the principle that crime gets its
punishment. I like the poem very much as it depicts the phenomenal
picture before our eyes at the same time it conveyed the ultimate truth of
life, "If we have done something bad with someone, we have to face the
same bad situation” it's rightly said, "As you sow so shall you reap.”

2.4 Have you earned your tomorrow

The poem, 'Have You Earned Your Tomorrow' Is the inspirational poem
of the well-known British American poet Edger Guest. The poet used to
write in very simple language optimistically that's why he is known as a
Peoples' Poet. A similar simplicity and optimism can be seen in the
present poem. The poem is in question form, the poet has been asking the
questions to readers. It is quatrains as it has four lines stanza structure.
The poem has four stanzas of four lines each with a regular rhyme scheme.
The first line rhymes with the second and the third line with the fourth.
Hence the rhyme scheme of the poem is aabb, ccaa, ddee, faa. The
speciality of the poem is that it has eleven questions in the poem, hence
the prominent figure of speech in the poem is Interrogation. There is one
more noticeable figure of speech in the poem which is Alliteration.
The main theme of the poem is inspiration. It's an inspirational poem that
enables the readers to do self-Introspection and helps us with self-
improvement. The poet is asking the readers that they have secured their
future by helping others or doing their duties for others. The poet said that
today's good deeds will be the treasure of tomorrow. It also focuses on the
karma philosophy that earns your tomorrow by doing good to others
today. The questions in the poem are telling us to do good to others or to
make someone's day.

2.5 Father returning home

‘Father Returning Home’ is the famous poem by Dilip Chitre, taken from
'Traveling in the cage'. He is known as a bilingual poet. He has translated
‘the popular Marathi Abhangas (Spiritual Poem) 'says Tuka into English.
He received the Prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for his remarkable
contribution to poetry as well as to Translation. The present is an
autobiographical poem where the poet shows the complete solitude and
lethargic life of an old man in modern society by depicting a picture of his
father returning home from work. Thus, the main theme of the poem is
"Man's Isolation from a materialistic man-made World ''. The poet
expressed his feelings for his working father. He realized that his father
was neglected and uncared for despite being the lone bread-earner for the
family.
Though the poem ‘Father Returning Home’ has autobiographical touch,
it goes beyond its autobiographical significance. As is an account of every
old man in a suburban area who does hard work for his family but leads a
monotonous life where no one to converse with him, understand his
feelings, and look after him.
The poem consists of two stanzas of the first stanza 12 lines and the
second stanza 13 lines. It is a free verse where there is no rhyme and no
rhythm. The poem is very symbolic the very structure of the poem is also
symbolic as the lack of rhythm symbolizes that the poet’s father was
uncared-for life. The language is easy and simple but full of imagery and
symbolism. It is in first person narrative where the poet himself is the
speaker who narrates the isolated life and monotonous routine of his
father. The prominent figures of speech in the poem are Alliteration,
Simile, and Onomatopoeia. The poet expresses his feelings for his old
father, but every old father has almost the same condition so we can take
the moral from the poem that 'we must look after the elderly members in
our family and society' I like the poem very much as it depicts the real
picture of monotony and lethargic life of the elderly hard-working person
in the modern society.

2.6 Money
The poem "Money" is the poem taken from the famous poetic volume of
W. H. Davies "The Collected Poem" published in the year 1916. The poet
has an identity as Welsh Poet and writer as he was born and brought up
there. The poem deals with the theme that "the real happiness is not in
being rich but the real happiness one must become poor" because the poet
has an experience that whenever he had money, he had many friends but
they were interested in his wealth but after becoming poor he had very
few friends but all of them are true. The poet realized that real happiness
we can feel only when we become poor.
The poem has five stanzas of 4 lines each with a regular rhyme scheme
where only the second- and fourth-line rhyme with each other, thus the
rhythm scheme is abcb. The poet enriches the poem with many figures of
speech like Simile, Repetition, Inversion, Antithesis Onomatopoeia, etc.
The language used by the poet is very simple and easy to understand. The
special feature of the poem is that the poet used the used interjection... O!"
in the very first and last stanzas to show the intensity of his feelings. The
moral of the poem is money may be very important but the most important
thing in life is real friends which we can get only in poverty. So, we must
value people and not money. I like the poem very much because this poem
tells the harsh reality of life.

2.7 She walks in beauty

The poem "She walks in Beauty" is composed by the renowned English

poet Lord Byron. The poem has three stanzas of six lines each. The poem
tells us about the female beauty of the unnamed woman. The poet has
used several poetic devices to describe the unparalleled beauty of the
woman. The poet used figures of speech like Similes, "like the night",
alliteration "stray skies", metaphor, and personification (the poet
personified the organs of a lady.
The poem has the regular rhyme schemes ababab as there are rhyming
pairs in every alternate line.
Though the present poem is considered a love poem, the main theme of
the poem is pure beauty and the harmony of mind and body.
The poet speaks about the physical and spiritual beauty of a woman. He
praised her beauty. At the same time, he also speaks about the perfect
amalgamation of day and night light and dark. Another theme is about
inner and pure beauty which enhances outer beauty. Her inner beauty is
so pure that it takes her to the level of divinity due to her purity and
innocence.

2.8 Small towns and rivers

The poem "Small Towns and The River’ is composed by the Indian

poetess Mamang Dai. The theme of the poem is mortality, life vs death,

eternity, nature, and spirituality. The theme of mortality is the dominant

theme of the poem.

The poem describes a landscape and Nature where the river is a dominant

phenomenon. The poem has figurative language, the poetic device like

various figures of speech used by the poet like Alliteration, Antithesis,

Inversion, Metaphor, Onomatopoeia, Personification, Repetition, Simile,

and Transferred Epithet to enhance the beauty of the poem.

Personification is a prominent figure of speech in the poem where human

qualities are attributed to the river "the river has a soul", The poem

describes the love for nature and the attachment of the poetess to her

hometown. The poetess also believes in spirituality, the people from the

northeast believe that the soul of their beloved is immortal and dwells in

the company of nature. The special feature of the poem is that along with

regular figures' speech the poem is known for Imagery and Symbolism.
The poetess also showed her concern about the development and the

destruction of nature due to modern development.