Theme Writing/Appreciation of poems

Textual and Non-Textual Poems

                         The Traffic Police

Amidst killer speeds I stand

Facing the traffic, stretching my hand.

I am seen on kid’s books and as cartoons everywhere

Educating people and asking them to beware

Of the erratic traffic and the signboards

Seen on almost all the roads.

So that you’re safe I see each one of you

But my sweat, my plight on the road sees who?

Be it sunny or rainy,

For your safety I must be

Vigil and agile, on the middle

Standing erect, as fit as a fiddle.

Oh! My ear hurts! Oh! My head aches!

Oh! Look at the weather --- such unpredictable days!

But I cannot swerve; I must be on duty.

I care for your safety.

Be it noisy or dusty; Be it sunny or rainy;

I must be on duty. I care for your safety.

Theme: The main theme of the poem “The Traffic Police” is the duties, responsibilities and hazards of a traffic police. The poem reflects the sincerity of the traffic police and his commitments to people’s safety. To perform his duties properly, he has to be active, vigil. Moreover, he endures hardship and hides his own sorrows and sufferings. In a word, the poet wants to honour the traffic police, who makes an important role in the society in spite of being deprived.

Love and Friendship

                                                          William Shakespeare

Blow, blow, thou winter wind,

Thou art not so unkind

As man's ingratitude;

Thy tooth is not so keen,

Because thou art not seen,

Although thy breath be rude.

  

Heigh-ho! Sing heigh-ho! unto the

green holly,

Most friendship is feigning, most

loving mere folly:

Then heigh-ho, , the holly!

This life is most jolly.

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,

That dost bite so nigh

As benefits forgot:

Though thou the waters warp,

Thy sting is not so sharp ,

As friends remembered not.

Heigh-ho! sing heigh -ho! unto the

green holly.

Theme: The main theme of the poem “Love and Friendship” by William Shakespeare, is the futility of love and human relationship. Here the poet thinks that human friendship is feigning and hypocritical. In human society friendship is often pretense, and love is nothing but absurdity and foolery. Honest and genuine love and friendship is difficult to find. It has no depth or significance. So he glorifies winter wind and thinks that winter wind is not as unkind as man’s ingratitude. That’s why he laments that human is far crueler than nature.

The  School Boy

-William Blake

I love to rise in a summer morn (1)

When the birds sing on every tree;

The distant huntsman winds his horn,

And the skylark sings with me:

O What sweet company!

But to go to school in a summer morn,-

O it drives all joy away!

Under a cruel eye outworn,

The little ones spend the day

In sighing and dismay.

Ah then at times I drooping sit, (2)

And spend many in anxious hour;

Nor in may book can I take delight,

Nor sit in learning's bower,

Worn through with dreary shower.

How can the bird that is born for joy

Sit in a cage and sing?

How can a child, when fears annoy,

But droop his tender wing,

And forget his youthful spring!

Theme (Stanza 1 and 2): The main theme of the poem “The School Boy” by William Blake, is about the innocence and tenderness of childhood. The poem beautifully points out how our faulty education system snatches away delight and pleasure of our students and suggests that education should be joyous and attractive. A traditional school takes away  all the happiness of a child. If a child remains under the umbrella of annoying fear and tension, he can never enjoy his childhood.

O father and mother if buds are nipped, (3)

And blossoms blown away;

And if the tender plants are stripped

Of their joy in the springing day,

By sorrow and care's dismay,-

How shall the summer arise in joy,

Or the summer fruits appear?

Or how shall we gather what griefs destroy,

Or bless the mellowing year,

When the blasts of winter appear?

Theme (Stanza 3): In the poem “The School Boy” by William Blake,  the poet addresses the parents to be sympathetic to their children. If children are deprived of their joy and sent to a school of cruel environment, it will lose all its innocence and lead a joyless life. The poem conveys that if children are suppressed or forced, and thus, their potentiality is damaged, they cannot grow properly to enjoy life or to face the reality. They should be let grow naturally so that they can be ready to lead a meaningful life.

Dreams

-D.H. Lawrence

All people dream, but not equally

Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their mind,

Wake in the morning to find that it was vanity.

But the dreamers of the day are dangerous people,

For they dream their dreams with open eyes,

And make them come true.

Theme: The main theme of the poem “Dreams” by D.H. Lawrence is that the visionary people always turn their dreams into reality. Dreams vary from person to person. People who dream at night while sleeping forget everything in the next morning. This kind of dreams come from the nasty regions of their mind and they are all hollow inside. But there are some other dreamers who are really dangerous. These dangerous dreamers dream during day time and  dream keeping their eyes open and make them come true to reach their goals.

                                                                  

                                                                        Dreams

                                                                   Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken -winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

Theme: The main theme of the poem  “Dreams” by  Langston Hughes is the importance and impact of dreams in every human life. The poet in this poem suggests his readers to hold on tightly to their dreams. Dreams provide us with hope, solace and comfort. A man without dreams has no goal or objective in life. According to the poet, if dreams die life will be like a bird with damaged wings that cannot fly. When dreams go away life becomes a ‘barren field’ covered with frozen snow.

                                                                                                                                                                              

September 1, 1939

-W.H. Auden

I sit in one of the dives

On Fifty-second Street

Uncertain and afraid

As the clever hopes expire

Of a low dishonest decade:

Waves of anger and fear

Circulate over the bright

And darkened lands of the earth,

Obsessing our private lives;

The unmentionable odour of death

Offends the September night.

Theme: The main theme of the poem September 1, 1939 by W.H. Auden is the destruction caused by the war and the present condition of the modern world. The poet here highlights the decline of humanity and the feelings of uncertainty and fear. Through a historical event, he points out that war brings nothing but death and sufferings. In a word, the poem bitterly criticizes war, and the destruction caused by war.

                                                           The Lake Isle of Innisfree

 -W.B. Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;

Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee.,

And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there,

for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;

There midnight's all a-glimmer, and noon a purple glow,

And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,

I hear it in the deep heart's core.

Theme: The main theme of the poem “The Lake Isle of Innisfree” by W.B. Yeats is about the poet’s desire to escape from his present to live close contact with nature to achieve peace and solitude. He was born in a world of turmoil and frustration which was inflicted by mechanization, hatred and war. In the cities, people lost all human compassions and conscience. That’s why the poet has expressed his own dream to go to the lake island ‘Innisfree’ to get relived of the drudgery of city life and find real peace.

She Walks in beauty

-Lord Byron

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that's best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes:

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impaired the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven trees,

Or softly lightens o'er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express,

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!

Theme: The main theme of the poem “She Walks in Beauty” by Lord Byron is the description and glorification of the beauty of a woman by his ardent lover. The poet here compares her to lots of beautiful things but the things are dark like ‘night: and ‘starry skies’. Here the poet expresses his awe and amazement at the appearance of the woman. Her beauty has a kind of harmony between dark and light. Thus, the theme of contrast between light and dark is also explored in the poem.

I Died For Beauty

- Emily Dickinson

I died for beauty, but was scarce

Adjusted in the tomb,

When one who died for truth was lain

In an adjoining room.

He questioned softly why I failed?

"For beauty," I replied.

"And I for truth- the two are one;

We brethren are," he said

"And I for truth-  the two are one;

We brethren are," he said.

And so, as kinsmen met a-night,

We talked between the rooms,

Until the moss had reached our lips,

And covered up our names.

Theme: The poem “I Died For Beauty” by  Emily Dickinson deals with the theme of beauty and truth. Here the poet means to say that truth and beauty are identical. They are portrayed as parallel in various ways. The poet also implies that even such great principles as beauty and truth are subjects to the ravages of time.

Because I Have Seen Bengal’s Face

-Jibanananda Das

Because I have seen Bengal’s face I will seek no more;

The world has not anything more beautiful to show me.

Waking up in darkness, gazing at t1ic fig-tree, I behold

 Dawn’s swallows roosting under huge umbrella-like leaves. I look around me

 And discover a leafy dome-Jam, Kanthal, Bat, Hijol and Aswatha trees-

All in a hush, shadowing clumps of cactus and zedoary bushes.

When long, long ago. Chand came in his honeycombed boat

To a blue Hijal, Bat and Tamal shade near the Champa, he too sighted

Bengal’s incomparable beauty. One day, alas In the Ganguri,

On a raft, as the waning moon sank on the river’s sandbanks,

Behula too saw countless aswaths bats besides golden rice fields

And heard the thrush’s soft song. One day, arriving in Amara,

Where gods held court, when she danced like a desolate wagtail,

Bengal’s rivers, fields, flowers, wailed like strings of bells on her feet

Theme: The main theme of the poem “Because I Have Seen Bengal’s Face” by Jibanananda Das,   is about the everlasting natural beauties of Bangladesh and the poet’s deep  love for his country. Here the poet wants to express that the beauty of Bengal has no parallel and it is perpetual. Its beauty has been enchanting and giving strength to the people from the time immemorial. The poet explains that since Bengal’s nature has so much to give, he need not seek anywhere else for peace and beauty.

                                 

                                                              The Charge of The Light Brigade

     -Lord Alfred Tennyson

Half a league, half a league,

Half a league onward,

‘All In the valley of Death,

Rode the six hundred.

‘Forward, the Light Brigade!

Charge for the guns he said:

Into the valley of Death

Rode the six hundred.

Theme: The poem “The Charge of The Light Brigade” by Lord Alfred Tennyson, deals with the theme of bravery of the soldiers who rode into the battlefield not thinking of their life. It also points out the loyalty of of the soldiers. They kept riding into the valley of death as they were ordered even though they knew that death was waiting for them there.

                                         

Non- textual poems

                                                                 I wandered lonely as a Cloud

-William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a Cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and Hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, o; golden Daffodils:

Beside the Lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way.

& They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

Theme: The main theme of the poem “I wandered lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth is the spiritual power of nature, which can soothe the mind and remove loneliness. Nature has a tremendous power of making people feel happy. Nature is spiritual, uplifting, soul-cleansing. The poet here beautifully depicts nature at its best form, and projects his extra-ordinary delight in exploring ordinary things.

Rainbow

-William Wordsworth

My heart leaps up when I behold
   A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
   Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.

Theme:The poem “Rainbow” by William Wordsworth deals with the love of nature and the happiness one feels being close to nature. The poet expresses that life is not worth living if one does not have an intimate relation with nature. He also reveals that man is the product of his habits and behavior developed during childhood.

                                                                    To Daffodils               

-Robert Herrick

Fair Daffodils, we weep to see

You haste away so soon;

As yet the early-rising sun

Has not attain'd his noon.

Stay, stay,

Until the hasting day

Has run

But to the even-song;

And, having pray'd together, we

Will go with you along.

We have short time to stay, as you,

We have as short a spring;

As quick a growth to meet decay,

As you, or anything.

We die

As your hours do, and dry

Away,

Like to the summer's rain;

Or as the pearls of morning's dew,

Ne'er to be found again.

Theme: The theme of the poem “To Daffodils” by Robert Herrick is the transience of human life like daffodil flowers. Men have a transient life; even the youth is very short–lived. Comparing human life with the life of daffodils, the poet says that both of them grow very fast to be destroyed soon. Life is short and so we must make the best use of our time.

Time, You Old Gypsy Man
-Ralph Hodgson

Time, You Old Gypsy Man
Will you not stay, 
Put up your caravan 
Just for one day? 
All things I'll give you 
Will you be my guest, 
Bells for your jennet 
Of silver the best, 
Goldsmiths shall beat you 
A great golden ring, 
Peacocks shall bow to you, 
Little boys sing. 
Oh, and sweet girls will 
Festoon you with may, 
Time, you old gypsy, 
Why hasten away?

Theme: The central theme of the poem “Time, You Old Gypsy Man” by Ralph Hodgson, is the importance of time. Time waits for none. The poet implies that if we don’t make the best use of our time, we will never get it back. Time once lost is lost forever. A person can only be successful if he/she values time and uses it properly.

            Under the Greenwood Tree

       -William Shakespeare

Under the greenwood tree Who loves to lie with me, And turn his merry note Unto the sweet bird's throat, Come hither, come hither, come hither: Here shall he see No enemy But winter and rough weather. Who doth ambition shun And loves to live i' the sun, Seeking the food he eats, And pleased with what he gets, Come hither, come hither, come hither: Here shall he see No enemy But winter and rough weather.

Theme: The poem “Under the Greenwood Tree” by William Shakespeare focuses on the  happiness and beauty of pastoral life in contrast to the treachery of city life. The pastoral life is free from all anxieties, problems and difficulties except the unpleasantness of weather. It is also free from all enmity and petty rivalries. So the theme of the poem is the supremacy of nature over courtly and artificial city life.