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About the Poem- 
“We are the music makers” is an ode by the British poet or Irish descent Arthur William Edgar O’Shaughnessy. O’Shaughnessy was deeply influenced by French poetry, by the Pre-Raphaelite group and by Charles Swinburne. His first published collection of poetry was called “Epic of women” (1870), which was followed by “Lays of France” (1872) and “Music and moonlight” (1874) under which the first poem is the ode which is popularly known by its famous first line “We are the music makers”. This poem is a tribute to all creative artists in the world.

Summary of Ode “We are the Music Makers”

Stanza I

The poet begins the poem by addressing all the artists like musicians, writers, painters and so on. He calls them “music-makers” and “dreamers of dreams”. He doesn’t mention a specific art form which gives the poem a universal appeal. Music offers the best escape routes from the harsh monotony of everyday life. The artists are capable of creating a world of their own where they can wander alone by the sea and ponder over things by the secluded stream. There is a sense of despondence in every artist which serves to feed the fire in them and shape their creativity into artistic works. 

The poet also brings into limelight the hard life of the artists who are often regarded as “losers” and “forsakers” by the society as they are often believed to be eccentric as they are beyond the reach of the society.. They suffer from loneliness and often there comes a point where all they have is their art as they do not pursue worldly pleasures. “The pale moon” is a symbol of the minimal income of the artists in our society. This also draws our attention to the poor artists who look for a good fortune or patrons to help them sell their art. However, even though the artists remain isolated and aloof from the mainstream society, they are the ultimate “movers and shakers”. This is exactly where the phrase “movers and shakers” originated. Artists are rebellious; they are capable of stirring powerful emotions in the minds of the people. Through their art, they can bring a change in the world.

Stanza II

“Dover Beach” by Matthew Arnold: About the Poem

English Victorian poet Matthew Arnold’s most famous poem “Dover Beach” is a dramatic monologue where the poet expresses his frustration and hopelessness of the modern chaotic world. He also expresses his view that this kind of situation where there is “neither joy, nor love, nor light, / nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain” has been created by the decline of ‘faith’, religious faith to be precise.

The poem begins with a straightforward description of nature and the speaker calling his beloved to see the beautiful sea and to hear the sound of the waves. The setting is inside a room, may be a hotel, on the coast of the English Channel near the English town Dover. The speaker and his beloved are looking outside their window at the French coast across the sea.

So, at the beginning it would seem to be a love poem, or even a sonnet, as the first stanza consists of fourteen lines like a sonnet, with a change of tone at the ninth line as it should be the case for a sonnet. But, obviously, the rhyme scheme does not comply.

It is only in the fourteenth line of the poem that the readers are introduced to some serious thoughts with the “eternal note of sadness”.  The unpleasant roar of the waves brings a sense of melancholy to the speaker’s mind. In the second stanza the speaker is reminded of the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles who also heard the sounds of the Aegean Sea and then wrote tragedies on human misery. In the next stanza, the speaker laments the lack of faith in the modern society. Here he compares faith with the receding tides. In the last stanza of ‘Dover Beach’, the speaker urges his ladylove to “be true to one another” as the new world, that seems to be so beautiful apparently, does not evoke much hope for him.

To talk about the stylistic aspects of the poem, the lines are mostly rhyming. The poem consists of 37 lines and is divided into four unequal stanzas. Use of enjambment (continuation of a clause or sentence to the next line of a poem) gives the poem faster pace.
Example: The tide is full, the moon lies fair
          Upon the straits; on the French coast the light
          Gleams and is gone;…

It is also rich in the use of visual and auditory images while describing the sea and the waves. Example:           On the French coast the light gleams and is gone; (visual imagery)
             … the sea meets the moon-blanched land, (visual imagery)
             you hear the grating roar of pebbles (auditory imagery)
             … tremulous cadence slow, (auditory imagery)

Metaphor has been used in the line “The sea of Faith / Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore“. And there’s a Simile in the line “Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.”

Line-by-line Explanation of “Dover Beach“

First Stanza

The sea is calm tonight.
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits;

It is night. The calm and quiet sea is filled with water at the time of high-tide. The moon is shining brightly (fair) upon the narrow English channel (straits).

                    …on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.

Our speaker is staring at the French coast  some twenty miles away on the other side of the channel. He sees the light on the French coast gleaming. And now, as the light has gone off, he concentrates on the English shore instead. The famous cliffs (steep rocks on the sea shore) of Dover stand tall with their large wavering reflections in the quiet sea.

Come to the window, sweet is the night-air!
Only, from the long line of spray
Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,

The speaker asks his mistress to come to the window to enjoy the sweet night-air coming from where the sea meets the moonlit land of France.

Listen! you hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,

He now asks her to listen to the continuous and irritating (grating) sound of the pebbles drawn by the waves. The waves are drawing the stones backward to the sea and then again throwing (fling) them back onto high shore (strand) on their return journey.

Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.

The sound of the waves begins and stops, and again begins. The trembling rhythm continues slowly. But now, it brings the eternal note of sadness — the monotonous rhythm of the waves makes the speaker depressed. The tone of the poem now changes from cheerful to melancholy.

Second Stanza

Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the Ægean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.

The speaker is now reminded that Sophocles also heard the same sound sitting on the shore of the Aegean Sea. That brought to his (Sophocles’) mind the picture of human sufferings like muddy water (turbid) going in and out (ebb and flow).

Our speaker has also found a feeling of sadness hearing similar sound beside the northern sea (The Strait of Dover is between the English Channel and the North Sea.) far away from Sophocles’ Aegean Sea.

Third Stanza

The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.

Human Faith, the religious faith and faith in fellow people once covered the earth like sea water. It was at its fullest as the tide is now. Faith covered the earth like the folds of a bright girdle folding (furled) well. The comparison suggests that it was not loose, but tightly attached to this world. It was the time when faith made everything easy and solved many problem, made people united and brought meaning to life.

But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.

The speaker regrets that those days are now past. Faith is fading away from the society just like the wave is from the shore. Now he only hears the sorrowful roar of the retreating steps of faith with the receding tides. It only leaves behind the chill night wind whistling (breath) over the desolate beach with dull (drear) edges of the cliffs and raw (naked) pebbles (shingles). The poet here creates a fearful picture of the underlying nakedness of the colourful modern world.

Fourth Stanza

Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;

The desolate speaker now again turns to his beloved and urges her to be faithful to each other. The dreamy modern world which seems so beautiful with its varieties, is not really a source of joy, love, light, certainty, peace or help for pain for the speaker. This chaotic artificial world doesn’t induce much hope for him.

And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.

Now the speaker compares this world to a dark place where we are completely unaware of what we are doing. We are in a confused struggle as if ignorant soldiers are fighting with each other in the darkness. This is Matthew Arnold’s assessment of the morally corrupted modern world full of vanity.

Source:  https://englicist.com/

Crossing the Bar: About the poem

Crossing the Bar, an elegy written by the British poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, is a poem focusing on the transience of life and the finality of death. Lord Tennyson was a poet of the Victorian period and remained the poet laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during his lifetime. He is well celebrated to this day for his short lyrics.

‘Crossing the bar’ was written in 1889 when the poet was visiting the Isle of Wight and published in a volume Demeter and Other Poems (1889). He was eighty years old at the time and was down with a severe illness, from which he eventually recovered. The illness, however, made the poet ponder on Death as he himself was very old and nearing his time. He uses the metaphor of crossing a sand bar to represent death in this poem. He died three years later, and although he wrote a few more poems, he requested that all of his poetry volumes be ended with this poem. Thus, the poem is an important one and can be seen as Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s choice of his final words.

Crossing the Bar: Form and Structure

The poem consists of four stanzas, and each of them are quatrains. The poet uses the classical rhyme scheme of abab. The structure of the poem is akin to that of a ballad verse but it falls short of the metre. There is no apparent metre to the poem.

The length of the lines is a feature of interest in the poem. The poet varies the length of the lines between ten, six, and four syllables per line randomly throughout the poem.

The entire poem is connected, both in theme and conceit. The stanzas do not stand individually on their own. They are tightly knit and carry the meaning forward to the next ones.

Crossing the Bar: Line by Line Explanation

First stanza:

“Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!

The poem begins with the speaker describing the atmosphere. He says it is sunset and the evening star can be seen in the sky. Someone is calling the speaker. It is a clear, unmistakable call. It is the call of death. The speaker believes that his death is close. It is interesting to note here the imagery the poet presents before us at the start of the poem. ‘Sunset’ and ‘Evening star’ represent the end of the day. Just as the day is about to end, the speaker says that his life is drawing to an end as well.

And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

Here the poet uses his famous metaphor of ‘Crossing the bar’, describing death as an act of passing beyond life. The word ‘bar’ here means a sandbar. A sandbar is a geographical structure which forms around the mouth of a river, or extends from a ‘Spit’ by slow deposition of sediments carried by the current over millions of years. The structure forms a kind of barrier between the water inside (the river water) and outside it (the open sea). The poet uses this sandbar as a symbol of death, with the water inside representing his life, and the water beyond representing the afterlife. He wants to ‘put out to sea’ without the ‘moaning of the bar’. The poet wishes his death to be without pain and without mourning.

Second stanza:

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,

Through the poem, the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson compares his impending death to crossing a bar. In the stanza, the speaker of the poem talks about the inevitability of death.
The poet wishes that when he ‘put(s) out to sea’, that is when he dies, let it be like a ride which seems asleep as it moves. The speaker wants his death to be smooth. Like a calm sea wave, which is ‘too full for sound and foam’ the speaker hopes that his death will be silent, smooth and quick, making no fuss.

When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

In the subsequent lines, the poet uses the example of the river and the sea to express the kind of death he wishes for himself. The water from the sea evaporates and turns into clouds; these clouds bring rain, entering that water into the river, and these rivers too flow, carrying their water and eventually pouring it into the sea. They, thus complete a cycle, and the water returns from where it came. Just so, the speaker, considering himself like the water, says that he is returning where he came from. ‘The boundless deep’ here apparently stands for the sea, and in an allegorical sense to the place the poet believes he will go to after his death. Here, we should notice that this stanza is a strict continuation of the idea introduced in the first stanza. The last lines of the first stanza together with this one makes up the meaning of the verse.

Third Stanza:

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!

In the third stanza, the poet again resorts to describing the atmosphere to convey his inner feelings. It was sunset when the speaker started the poem, but now it is twilight. The sun has already gone down the horizon and dusk is settling. The speaker can hear the evening bell tolling. It is the indication that night is approaching. Then after a while it gets dark. It is night. The poet here uses twilight to show us the state of his life. Just as the day has ended, his life too is about to end. Here twilight stands for sadness, darkness and grief portray the speaker’s miserable state before his death.

And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

The speaker expresses his hope that there will be no ‘sadness of farewell’ upon his death. The ‘sadness of farewell’ is ambiguous and can mean both the speaker’s own sadness as he departs from life, or the sadness of the people whom he leaves behind and who are saying farewell to him. However, we think, the former is more relevant. Again, Lord Tennyson writes ‘When I embark’ to convey the idea of the speaker’s death. Thus, it is evident from the word ’embark’ that death is not seen as a final destination by the poet, but rather as a new beginning.

Fourth stanza:

For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,

In the previous stanza of the poem, we see the speaker’s positive attitude towards death. It is seen to be exemplified in this final stanza of the poem. We understand that the speaker has accepted his reality – inevitability of death. He appears to have made his peace with the idea of his fast approaching death.
He says that he will be beyond the boundaries of time and place and the flood of death will carry him far away. This is going beyond the reach of this world. The speaker suggests that there is a place beyond our time and space where he hopes to go after his death. We are, thus, acquainted with the poet’s belief in afterlife.

I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.

These final lines of the poem are shrouded in allusions and hidden meanings. Firstly, we are told that the speaker hopes to see his pilot face to face when he will have crossed the bar. Here, the word pilot is a direct reference to God. Lord Tennyson had peculiar views on religion. On one hand, he disapproved of Christianity, while on the other, we see wide use of religious things and ideas in his works. Since God is considered to drive the world and all living things, we see the pilot reference of the divine world in the poem.

Also, the use of the word ‘crost’ is interesting. While it might simply be a word to suggest ‘Crossing’ the bar, it is speculated that it might be a reference to Christ, as crost is similar in sound to both Christ and Cross. If so, then we find another allusion from the poet to region and afterlife.
The poem thus ends on a positive note with the poet both accepting the finality of death and hoping to meet God in the afterlife.

Source:  https://englicist.com/

Birches by Robert Frost: About the poem

Robert Frost’s icy ‘Birches’ is more than just the fond ramblings of a nature lover. It is also a personal quest to achieve balance between different worlds. Frost expresses this idea using birch trees as an extended metaphor and the recurring motif of a lively lad climbing and swinging down on them. By openly sharing his thoughts and feelings, Frost encourages the reader to identify with the poem and seek out their own harmony. We deal with so many expectations, realities and duties in our daily lives; sometimes we lose focus on the plain joy of living. Birches then becomes relevant today, gently reminding us to find an oasis of calm and refreshment that one can tap into when things get tough.

Birches, originally titled ‘Swinging on Birches’ was one of Frost’s early works published in 1916 — right in the middle of World War I. Behind its simple charm, there is a world weariness that hints of the turmoil during that period, especially in the middle verses (Lines 11-17). Perhaps in his own way, the poem was Frost’s attempt to soothe in troubled times — telling us to embrace Life’s simple pleasures and find peace. It probably explains why the poet chose the theme of escaping to transcendence — a state of existence that is  better than the normal one.

Frost speaks as a friend sharing his inner self, adopting a first person conversation style. The poem becomes a dramatic monologue — a steady one-person talk to another. There’s an easygoing feel with a certain wistfulness,  as the poet merges his current reality with his youthful memories.
Structurally, Birches is a stichic — a poem with no stanza breaks. This gives the poem a free flowing tone, enhanced with the use of enjambment — a style where verses break into the next line without punctuation. The poem is chiefly written in blank verse— an unrhymed iambic pentameter. Along with the beat in the words, Frost uses the sense of sound to add aural (relating to sound) texture to the poem. We see techniques like:

Onomatopoeia — Words that mean what they sound. They click upon themselves (Line 8)
As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel. (Line 10)
Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish (Line 40)

Sibilance — Hissing sounds that come from words with s, z, sh and zh. Soon the sun’s warmth makes them shed crystal shells (Line 11)

Consonance — Repetition of similar sounding consonant sounds in neighboring words.
It’s when I’m weary of considerations, (Lines 44-48)

All in all, Frost may have had a special corner for the Birch trees themselves. In Fifty Poets: An American Auto Anthology, he remarked that if an ark (In Christian belief a giant lifeboat that housed one pair of earth’s living beings during the Great Flood) was sailing and Frost were allowed to choose a single plant on board, he would select the birch tree. Thanks to the birches playing muse to Frost, we have this charming poem that teaches us to look inside for happiness. Hear the poem in Robert Frost’s own voice.

‘Birches’ : Explanation by Line

When I see birches bend to left and right
Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy’s been swinging them.
But swinging doesn’t bend them down to stay
As ice-storms do.

There is something almost playful about the Birches. Unlike their seemingly serious counterparts — “lines of straighter, darker trees”— the birches do not conform, they are scattered to left and right. Their odd angles trigger the poet’s imagination and he fancies that a boy has been swinging about them. Then again, the poet’s rational side is aware that the bent birches aren’t really the aftermath of a boy’s mischief; rather this is the work of an ice storm. Reality might not lend itself to a delightful backstory, but it doesn’t lessen the beauty of the icy birches either. Have a glimpse of what Frost saw in the winter birches.

Often you must have seen them
Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning
After a rain. They click upon themselves
As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored
As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.

Observe how the poet involves the reader in sharing experiences — “you must have seen them”. The ice storm has created a silver thaw —  a glaze caused by freezing rain on an exposed surface. Stirred by the breeze, the fragile ice make clicking sounds against each other. We see the birches filled with icy prisms, turning “many colored” as they refract the winter sunlight. Birch-bark is scored with horizontal markings called ‘lenticels’ — these are the tree’s pores. The poet compares the overall effect of the ice in the scored birch-bark to ‘enamel’ in cracked glaze pottery.

Soon the sun’s warmth makes them shed crystal shells
Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust
Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away
You’d think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.

As the sun further softens the ice, the birches release a shower of ice crystals to the relatively hard snow crust. We see brittleness with a hint of violence in the poet’s language — shattering, avalanching, broken glass, fallen inner dome of heaven.
Old planetary models have the concept of Celestial spheres — an outdated belief that each heavenly body was enclosed in spheres. More significantly, these were ‘imagination based’ concepts. Science proved otherwise. So when Frost says, “You’d think the inner dome of heaven had fallen”, what he probably also means is that the factual world has crashed into his imaginary world, represented by the inner dome of the celestial sphere. There is an internal conflict as realism makes him shed his daydreams and reflections, indicated by the “heaps of broken glass to sweep away”.

They are dragged to the withered bracken by the load,
… to dry in the sun.

Here, the poet contemplates the suppleness of the birches, thinking about endurance in the face of Life’s struggles. “They are dragged to the withered bracken by the load” — Life can sometimes weigh heavy on our creative selves forcing us closer to ground realities. The parallel is seen in the birches bent heavy by ice towards the ‘withered bracken’, a type of fern that grows at ground level.  Still bent so much, the birches do not break. And yet because they are bent for a long time, they are never quite the same — warning us of the danger of suppressing ourselves.
Then as if to move away from the serious turn of his thoughts, the poet suddenly springs up an aesthetic simile — a more direct form of comparison than a metaphor. Just for the sheer poetry of it, the poet now compares the perennially bent birch trees to young girls sunning out their wet hair. This is his rebellion — like the birch trees, he has to bow to reality, but he isn’t going to be broken by it. He will bounce back. He does so by letting his artistic thoughts run wild.

But I was going to say when Truth broke in
… could play alone.

We keep seeing the poet alternating between whimsy and practicality. But the lines here speak of his willful choice on how he perceives the world. Despite Truth’s persistence, personified here like an adult, prim, precise and more often than not, a fun spoiler; the poet prefers the whimsy. The spunky lad of his imagination swings back into view.  Out on an errand to bring back the cows, the boy still finds the time and inspiration for pleasure. Even in this world, work is mixed with play. We find our imaginary friend happily romping around the birches; not put out by anything, whether it be the lack of playmates, special equipment, season or circumstance.  Like him, the poet too finds a carefree thrill in his own playground- his imagination. No excuses not to have fun!

One by one he subdued his father’s trees
… I dream of going back to be.

Frost once remarked, “…it was almost sacrilegious climbing a birch tree till it bent, till it gave and swooped to the ground, but that’s what boys did in those days”. Nostalgia fills these lines, as the poet details the boy’s skill in climbing and swinging from the birches. We can sense the poet reliving his childhood in his daydreams. There is also a subtext of becoming worldly wise here where the boy practices and learns of aiming high, testing boundaries, knowing how much to push, making the most of what’s at hand and Life’s other big little lessons.

It’s when I’m weary of considerations,
… come back to it and begin over.

The poet acknowledges his escapist tendencies. Sometimes Life gets tough and becomes “a pathless wood” – another simile – with no guidance to ease the confusion or harshness along the way. In times like this, the poet feels the need to take a break. He has “considerations” or responsibilities, so physically leaving might not be an option. His mind provides an instant vacation instead, offering a refresher before he gets down to tackle Life’s challenges again.

May no fate willfully misunderstand me
And half grant what I wish and snatch me away
Not to return. Earth’s the right place for love:
I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.

Be careful what you wish for – The poet becomes wary of his wishful thinking. Fate is personified here, like a naughty sprite that could purposely twist the poet’s yearnings – snatching him into a dream world with no point of return. Frost is clear that he doesn’t desire to stay only in one world or the other. Love on earth anchors him and he cherishes the bonds that hold him here.

I’d like to go by climbing a birch tree,
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.

But the imaginative world still beckons. The birch trees call out to the poet, tempting him to scale the heights of his imagination, towards the carefree bliss that is ‘heaven’–but still within the borders of his sanity – “till the tree could bear no more”. Refreshed after touching this glorious high point, the poet wants to land where he left from. The birch tree becomes the bridge between two worlds, inviting us to touch the sky yet keeping us rooted at the same time.

That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.

Sometimes, it helps to take a breather. A mini holiday can energize your soul, giving you a chance to unbend from life’s harshness.  It may not be an actual get-away, but even the imaginative world offers a powerful alternate reality. What’s important is that there is time to let go of ourselves, to introspect.

It is meaningful that the poet specifies ‘both’ when he says “That would be good both going and coming back”. The ‘going’ offers one a chance to rejuvenate, the “coming back” offers the relief of a lighter, if not fresher perspective to life. At the end of the day, this poem is all about dealing with realities and still finding a happy place – even if it’s in your mind, and even if it is as simple as swinging through birches in a winter wonderland.

Source:  https://englicist.com/

The Darkling Thrush: About the poem

Published in December 1900, at the end of the 19^th century, ‘The Darkling Thrush’ symbolically mourns the passing of an era. In that respect, it is an elegy — a mournful poem that deals with death — here, the death of the century. As a matter of  fact, the poem was originally called ‘The Century’s End, 1900’.  But it was also the dawn of the 20th century. Probably giving way to his guarded optimism about what the new age would bring, Hardy renamed the piece to the more cheery title as we know today — The Darkling Thrush.

‘The Darkling Thrush’ is rich in metaphor. ‘Darkling’ means ‘of the darkness’, and conveys an ‘end of days’ metaphor. Here the dusk doesn’t just refer to the dimming of light. On a deeper level, we deal with despair and death of the century. Add the winter landscape to this, and things get more dismal.

Thankfully not all is doom and gloom. There is another focal point to this poem — the Thrush.  A complete antithesis (contrast) to what everything else in the poem represents, the bird speaks of Hope, Joy and Change. This play of light and shade called chiaroscuro effect is treated equally in the poem. All these are lofty concepts that go beyond our five senses. Such poems based on abstract ideas are called abstractions.

Change is never easy. More often than not, we do not have a choice but to accept it.  ‘The Darkling Thrush’ is about one person’s reaction to this change. It is about hope in the face of despair, about endings and cautious beginnings, about courage when all seems lost, depending on the way you look at it.

Form and language of the poem

Hardy does not bring any drama with the structure and wordplay in the poem. He was seeing enough of that in real life. Rather the poet chose to bring symmetry to the poem. He neatly divides the poem in two halves, allocating 2 of the 4 stanzas for his two main subjects — the winter evening, then the thrush. Each stanza is an octet — i.e. it comprises of 8 lines. Hardy even coined his own words — outleant, blast-beruffled, spectre-grey, contributing to the ordered meter/ rhythm of the poem. These words don’t occur anywhere else in the English language and are called nonce words (Have fun coming up with your own).

We have an ababcdcd rhyme scheme; each stanza repeats the same pattern but with a different end rhyme. The other sound devices used in the poem are:

Assonance: Repetition of similar vowel sounds. At once a voice arose among (O and A sounds- Line 17)

Consonance: Repetition of similar consonant sounds in neighboring words.
And Winter’s dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day (Lines 4-5) An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom. (Lines 24-28)

Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds.
That I could think there trembled through (Line 29)
His crypt the cloudy canopy, (Line 11) Alliteration is a type of consonance. Here is an instance where the two overlapped:
In blast-beruffled plume (Line 25)
Consonance (L sound) + Alliteration (B sound)

The Darkling Thrush: Line by Line Explanation

First Stanza

I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-grey,
And Winter’s dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.

The poet paints a somber picture of the world. The mood feels lonely and meditative, the speaker watching as a silent bystander leaning upon the coppice gate — a gate that opens onto the woods. In his loneliness, the poet has personified Winter and Frost. Frost is described as ‘specter–grey’ or ghost-like grey. The Winter’s dregs — the fallen snow and heavy fog — are making the twilight/ dusk (the weakening eye of day) look desolate. So, as you can see, the Winter and the Frost are bleak company — they cannot arouse any sense of cheerfulness.

The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires

Climbing plants, dead for winter, have left behind only their climbing stems or bine stems. They add to the gloominess as the poem compares them to the simile of strings of broken lyres (a musical instrument) notching the sky. This comparison is also important in suggesting the lack of music or happiness for that matter.
Even people seem listless and haunting, instead of living their lives. Then people going home and seeking their household fires add to the image of the gloomy end of the day. There is no vibrancy in life or color.

Second Stanza

The land’s sharp features seemed to be
The Century’s corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
The wind his death-lament.

Winter in the Northern Hemisphere is also the end of the year.  Here it becomes even more meaningful, as the end of the year in this case also marks the end of the century. This is why the century is personified as a corpse; the harsh winter landscape defining its wasted body. The ‘cloudy canopy’ or sky covers the century’s tomb and the sad wind becomes a song of death.

The ancient pulse of germ and birth
Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
Seemed fervourless as I.

In winter, Nature is generally at a standstill. Life’s vibrancy (ancient pulse of germ and birth) seems to have stopped (shrunken hard and dry). The dormant environment feeds the poet’s brooding frame of mind. The scale of his pessimism increases. Dull observations escalate to a despairing mindset and the poet only sees a world without promise or future.

Third Stanza

 At once a voice arose among
The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
Of joy illimited;

Suddenly, like the proverbial silver lining to dark clouds, a joyful song breaks into the poet’s despairing outlook from among the frosty twigs overhead. The poet calls the thrush’s melody a ‘full-hearted evensong’ — prayers sung at the end of the day, in the evening. The song was coming out of boundless joy. Look at the use of word ‘illimited’, suggesting something uncommon.

An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom.

But who was it singing? It was an old thrush bird — feeble, lean and small, with its feathers disarranged by the wind (blast-beruffled). Though the thrush’s appearance does not arouse any hope, heedless of the oppressive environment and the growing darkness — the mark of struggling to survive in winter — the thrush sings. The bird puts his soul into his voice as he belts out a happy tune to no one but the Eternal Listener (Remember the word ‘evensong’, a prayer?).
Though the title of the poem suggested that it was all about a thrush, it took two and a half stanzas to get to the first mention of the bird. But still, the thrush and its song seem to overcome the initial melancholy that the atmosphere brought even to the readers.

Fourth Stanza

So little cause for carolings
Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
Afar or nigh around,

No one knows what inspires the darkling thrush singing (compared to singing Christmas carols). The ‘ecstatic sound’ of the thrush is in complete contrast to such a hopeless situation. The poet cannot think of any earthly event or cause, near or far away that could be responsible.

That I could think there trembled through
His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
And I was unaware.

The thrush’s song is an enigma, and the poet marvels at the blessed Hope or knowledge the bird has. There are no straight answers. Does the thrush sing a song of farewell — a hymn of gratitude for the good things that have been? Or does he sing a song of hope — a reassurance of good things that are to come?  Like the poet, we can only wonder, keep our hearts open and just be glad that there is a reason to be happy at all.
Source: https://englicist.com/

The Spider and the Fly: An Introduction

Do you listen to your ‘spider sense’? That tingling instinct warning you when something doesn’t seem quite right. It’s a feeling not easily explained, but worth regarding. Especially in a world where not everything is what it looks like. More often than not, ignoring those stay-safe instincts and good common sense doesn’t end well.

Now just because this is a dark topic, doesn’t mean that our approach has to be dark too. There’s a lot of interesting work in the form of satires, black comedies, observational comedies and other genres that allow us to look at serious things in life through not-so-serious eyes. Humor used like this is like bitter medicine taken with sugar – helps things go down easier. Today’s piece, ‘The Spider and the Fly’ is a funny little serious piece in this vein. The poem takes us through a spider’s ultimately successful attempts in enticing a fly into its web. Now, if only that fly would have kept listening to her ‘spider sense’…

Written by Mary Howitt in the 19^th century, The Spider and the Fly is a cautionary fable that falls in this dark humor category. As most fables go, it anthropomorphizes characters to convey moral lessons. Anthropomorphism means to endow a non-human character with human traits and behaviors. For example, throughout the poem, we see the spider’s web described with features as in a normal human house. We see a pantry, bed, mirror, stairs and so on. These human touches also serve as metaphors giving the poem an absurd relatability that makes its moral lesson more memorable.

The poem syntax itself isn’t all too complicated. It follows a strict aabbcc scheme where the couplets (2 line verses) rhyme. Since it was tailored keeping children in mind, a lot of focus is put on visual imagery and easy sounds. Here are a few examples of the techniques we see used to this effect:

Repetition: Where words are repeated together. It is used extensively throughout the poem for emphasis and drama.
Line 5: “O no, no!”
Line 30: “Come hither, hither, pretty fly…”
Lines 36-37: Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, and green and purple hue;
                        Thinking only of her crested head — poor foolish thing!

Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds. Line 7: soaring up so high (‘s’ sound or sibilance)
Line 19: You’re witty and you’re wise! (‘w’ sound)

Consonance: Repetition of similar consonant sounds in neighboring words.
Assonance: Repetition of similar vowel sounds.

The Spider and the Fly: stanza wise analysis

Stanza 1

Will you walk into my parlor?” said the spider to the fly;
“’Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy.
The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,
And I have many pretty things to show when you are there.”

Thus begins the spider’s pursuit of the fly – with a charming invitation into his home. Yet this sociable chat is edged with a sense of mistrust, a sense of danger that comes with these two characters, the spider and the fly, being natural predator and prey.

Pay close attention to the spider’s words. The spider describes his parlor as the ‘prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy’. The act of spying is to watch something secretly. We share secrets and confidences with our close ones.  Inviting the fly to spy into his abode, the spider is trying to send the message that he considers the fly to be close. See how the spider portrays his home as a mysterious wonderful place. More details are added to arouse the fly’s curiosity. The parlor may be reached through a ‘winding stair’ and it is filled with ‘many pretty things’.

“O no, no,” said the little fly, “to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne’er come down again.”

Thankfully, the fly wisely sees through the spider’s deviousness. She knows that those who go through the ‘winding stair’ into his home never come out. It implies she is aware that the spider has eaten his previous guests. This is one extended invitation she shouldn’t be accepting. She clearly declines, telling the spider that to ask her into his home is ‘in vain’ – or useless.

Stanza 2

 “I’m sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high;
Will you rest upon my little bed?” said the spider to the fly.
“There are pretty curtains drawn around, the sheets are fine and thin,
And if you like to rest awhile, I’ll snugly tuck you in.”

The spider has been keeping a close eye on the fly.  He tries a different tactic for his next move. This time the spider feigns concern.

Posing as a sympathizer, the spider pretends to fret over how tired the fly must be (I’m sure you must be weary, dear) after what he feels is a day of intense flying.  He goes so far as to personally offer her a respite from the day’s activities. The cunning villain also adds a subtle dose of flattery.  ‘Soaring up so high’ is how he describes the fly’s flight. He hopes the fly will lower her guard if she feels that she has a kindly shoulder to lean on.

And how temptingly he offers his prospect of a little rest like offering water to a thirsty traveler. A cozy little bed, with light sheets to rest on. A quiet place, with pretty curtains drawn around to make it cool and dark. To an exhausted person, this would be a bliss. The perfect atmosphere to ‘snugly tuck’ in. This means to ensure a comfortable snooze, by securing the bedsheets closely around oneself.

Interestingly, the ‘fine and thin’ sheets bring to mind the fine silk of a cobweb. If the spider tucks the fly into this bed, she could find herself in permanent slumber.

“O no, no,” said the little fly, “for I’ve often heard it said,
They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed.”

Then again, perhaps the spider tried too hard when he proposed to personally tuck the fly in. Weary or not, the fly is still alert to the perils of falling for the spider’s flattery. She turns him down on his own offer, remarking that everyone knows of the spider’s ill repute as a host.  As she hears, no one who goes for a sleepover at the spider’s, ever wakes up again.  Her refusal is not just based on her own observations now.
This time, she is even more firm. In addition to her “O no, no!” note her repetition of ‘never’ for emphasis- “They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed.”

Stanza 3

Said the cunning spider to the fly, “Dear friend, what shall I do,
To prove the warm affection I’ve always felt for you?
I have within my pantry good store of all that’s nice;
I’m sure you’re very welcome; will you please to take a slice?”

Still the spider perseveres. Now he tries to manipulate the fly into feeling guilty for not accepting his many gestures of friendship.
“Dear friend, what shall I do…? Here’s the catch though- the spider is eager to prove his friendship – but is still on his terms. At the end of the day, he’s using guilt as another roundabout way to get the fly into his home.“I have within my pantry good store of all that’s nice”– These constant invitations to see or sample something or another in his house is almost a pitiful refrain. He is desperate and at his wit’s end (or so it seems) on how to gain the fly’s trust.

“O no, no,” said the little fly, “kind sir, that cannot be;
I’ve heard what’s in your pantry, and I do not wish to see.”

It’s commendable the way the fly fights politeness with politeness. She addresses the spider as ‘Kind sir’ – a dainty reply to his ‘Dear friend’. It shows that while the fly shows courtesy to the spider, she is not keen on him as a friend and will still keep her distance. The fly then proceeds to firmly turn down his invitation and tactfully alludes that she already knows what’s in the spider’s pantry (his past victims) and is not interested in knowing more.

Stanza 4

 “Sweet creature!” said the spider, “You’re witty and you’re wise!
How handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes!
I have a little looking-glass upon my parlor shelf,
If you’ll step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself.”

Vanity is the spider’s choice weapon now. He heaps flattery on the fly. In praising her wit and wisdom, the spider sends the message that he acknowledges that the fly is a smart cookie. This well-placed compliment could have lulled her into a false sense of security, for the fly could assume that she was smart enough to see through the spider’s evil plans. And the enemy himself admitting this – heady praise indeed!

Immediately after, the spider begins to praise her loveliness – those gauzy wings and brilliant eyes. The spider speaks as if the fly does not realize her own beauty. He wants to show her how lovely she is. Again an invitation, to see herself in the looking glass. One moment is all he asks of her, one moment is all he needs.

It’s something to note that until now, the spider used to ask for the fly’s consideration – Will you walk into my parlor? Will you rest upon my little bed? Will you please to take a slice? But this time he’s not asking. His temptation takes the form of a suggestion. It’s almost as if there is a strategy to these tactics he uses.

“I thank you, gentle sir,” she said, “for what you’re pleased to say,
And bidding you good-morning now, I’ll call another day.”

You sense the change in tone. From the earlier unhesitating “O no, no!” our little fly doesn’t seem too vehement in her refusal now. True, she hasn’t accepted the spider’s invite; we could even say she is stalling. After all, the fly still hasn’t specified when she will visit the spider. But while she hasn’t said yes, she hasn’t given an outright ‘no’ like she used to earlier either.
This hesitation from the fly and not an outright falling for the spider’s flattery is an insight into the poet’s understanding of the human psyche. Very rarely do people change their stances/opinions suddenly unless something drastic occurs. This juncture is also a kind of watershed moment where the reader senses that the fly may actually be warming up to the spider. It also creates suspense – will the fly fall for the spider or will she stand by her better instincts?

Stanza 5

The spider turned him round about, and went into his den,
For well he knew the silly fly would soon be back again:
So he wove a subtle web, in a little corner sly,
And set his table ready to dine upon the fly.

After all that talk of the fly being witty and wise, we now see what the spider actually thinks of the fly – he calls her ‘silly’.  Like so many others he has lured before, he is confident that she has predictably fallen for his honey tongued scheme. Up until now, just like the fly, we had our suspicions – the fly’s discomfort, her observations on the guests that never return, the rumors about the spider, the spider’s continuous wheedling to come to his home. But it is at this point in the poem, that the spider’s evil intent becomes clear.

While we may still be guessing as to whether the fly will stay away, the spider seems to be in no doubt of the outcome (For well he knew the silly fly would soon be back again). You can literally see him gloating. He weaves a web not easily noticeable (a subtle web) – ready to trap the fly. His devious plan comes to light as he sets his table for the fly – not as his guest to dine with, but as his feast to dine on.

Then he came out to his door again, and merrily did sing
“Come hither, hither, pretty fly, with the pearl and silver wing:
Your robes are green and purple; there’s a crest upon your head;
Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead.”

‘Come hither, hither, pretty fly,’ the spider calls out eagerly. Feeling like he has baited his prey, the spider rapidly reels the fly in with vivid flattery. The ‘robes of green and purple’ refer to the color of the fly’s body, the ‘crest’ or crown likely the fly’s antenna. ‘Gauzy wings’ have now become ‘pearl and silver wing’; ‘brilliant eyes’ are now ‘eyes like diamond bright’. More exquisite detail follows – in fact, you’ll be hard pressed to find a fly described so tantalizingly anywhere else.
Note the use of simile here. The poet likens the fly’s bright eyes to diamonds, against the spider’s dull eyes which are compared to lead. The spider is self-depreciating so as to highlight the fly’s beauty.

Stanza 6

Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little fly,
Hearing his wily flattering words, came slowly flitting by.

‘Alas, Alas!’ – The poetic lament for ‘Oh no!’ is uttered! With these words, one can only foresee doom for the fly.  What’s even more vexing is that the fly was actually a wise creature at the beginning. But as the poet says Alas! – Vanity will be her downfall and she becomes silly and foolish. Lured in by the spider’s devious sweet talk – his ‘wily, flattering words’– the fly sets aside her sensible self. Yet, there’s still a part of her that is wary of how safe the situation is. We see her ‘slowly flitting by ’– guardedly testing the waters as she comes closer to the spider’s home.

With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew
Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, and green and purple hue;
Thinking only of her crested head — poor foolish thing! At last,
Up jumped the cunning spider, and fiercely held her fast.
He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den,
Within his little parlor; but she ne’er came out again!

Our worst fears are realized. Mesmerized by thoughts of her reflection, she gradually approaches the spider’s web. Unheeding her instincts, the fly hardly offers any resistance. Note the lines where the poet repeatedly stresses how the fly is ‘thinking only of her…’ Clearly engrossed in her own beauty, the fly is impervious to the danger she is in.

This was the moment the spider had been building up so long for. Quickly, he pounces on her – ‘fiercely held her fast’. Now deadly and focused on his goal, the spider wastes no time. The home that he had so charmingly described before reveals its deadly designs. As the poem rapidly takes us through the spider’s winding stair, his dismal den, his little parlor; our foreboding is realized and we know there is a grisly end for the poor fly. For just like she remarked once of the others before her, ‘she ne’er came out again!’

Consider the portion ‘at last’. It is an example of enjambment and is the only such line that occurs in the poem. Enjambment is a poem composition technique where a verse breaks midway to continue as the next line of verse. So you see the ‘at last‘ portions serves a dual purpose. It can be read as a common part of 2 sentences in this case:

• …poor foolish thing! At last — The fly finally fell victim to the spider.
• At last, Up jumped the cunning spider — The spider finally achieved his goal.

Stanza 7

And now, dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly, flattering words, I pray you ne’er give heed;
Unto an evil counselor close heart, and ear, and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale of the Spider and the Fly.

There’s a change in the narration style of the poem as the poet ends her tale. She breaks off from the storytelling mode and directly addresses her audience, offering up a warning or moral to conclude the poem.

‘Take a lesson from the Spider and the Fly’, the poet counsels. Be distrustful of useless, sweet talk that is insincere. Not all praise or advice is genuine, therefore you must be careful of who you listen to. ‘Unto an evil counselor close heart, and ear, and eye’ – For that matter, the poet would rather like us not coming into contact at all with sweet tongued people with not-so-sweet intentions.

Source:  https://englicist.com/

Desiderata by Max Ehrmann: About the poem

Written in 1927, Max Ehrmann’s didactic poem (a morally instructional piece) Desiderata (Latin for ‘desired things’) offers a code for life emphasizing tolerance, inclusion and optimism. The poem is full of wise sayings and gentle guidance. The reader is urged to find peace within themselves, and project this inner peace in their dealings with the world. We see the poem endorsing an attitude to accept the world in all its entirety, with all its contrasts.

Considering his occupation as a lawyer, Ehrmann’s poem portrays his ethical and temperate leanings to the art of living. Max Ehrmann once wrote in his diary “I should like, if I could, to leave a humble gift — a bit of chaste prose that had caught up some noble moods.”  That ‘humble gift’ which he mused about in his diary became a timeless legacy – Desiderata.
Desiderata is a prose poem that retains poetic elements like imagery and emotion, but in ‘prose’ or natural speech form. There is no undue embellishment in rhythm or tone.  In Desiderata’s case, its beauty stems solely from its clear meaning and tender intent. This simple telling of universal wisdom is perhaps what will continue it for generations to come. In its wisdom, the poem is comparable to Rudyard Kipling’s famous poem ‘If–’.

Note:  Desiderata earned Ehrmann his most fame posthumously. The poem was widely published in numerous formats, in various languages. It also came to be released as a title track in a namesake music album by Warner Brothers in 1971.

Desiderata : Line by Line Explanation

Stanza 1

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

The opening promises a realm of tranquility ahead. The world is loud and fast. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the sensory overload. Keep your calm or ‘Go placidly’ is what the poet advises. Interestingly the poet asks us to ‘remember’ this peace, implying that this is not a new experience. On occasion, everyone has felt a serenity when left alone in silence. Sometimes, we forget to draw into this ‘peace’ when we get lost in the frenetic pace of our lives. Therefore the reminder – Keep calm and cool off.

As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.

Simply, give respect and keep your respect. The poet speaks of being ‘on good terms with all persons’ or getting along well with people. It is wise to play the diplomat. And who doesn’t like being loved by everyone? But we owe it to ourselves not to shortchange our own principles and beliefs. The poet notes that we might need to fight to do the right thing- ‘without surrender’.  Life is never neat. The poet understands the difficulty of the choices we face and that’s probably why he says ‘as far as possible’. Try not to get on the wrong side of people while doing the right thing.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

‘Truth’ here is the intimate sharing of one’s self- thoughts, experiences, feelings, ideas or beliefs. The poet guides us to speak our truths ‘quietly and clearly’.  ‘Quietly’ – allowing our truth the dignity it deserves while not imposing it on anyone. ‘Clearly’ so that those who genuinely want to listen will take something of worth.

and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

It takes courage to speak up. It takes an open mind to listen – a different sort of courage. The poet asks us to give others the respect that we would expect for ourselves. He points out that even people who seem dull or ignorant have their own hidden stories. It’s not necessary you’ll gain insights from every conversation you have, but ‘listening’ keeps us humbled and aware.

Stanza 2

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.

Throughout the poem Desiderata, we see an emphasis on staying calm. The poet believes this to be vital in achieving peace. Loud and aggressive people can give out unhealthy vibes, stirring feelings of stress and restlessness around them. They seek to dominate and become ‘Vexations to the spirit’ – or distressing to the soul.  You are the company you keep. The reactions these people provoke will simply disturb your equilibrium. Hence, the poet advises to best avoid such people if inner peace is the reader’s goal.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Be content with who you are. The poet advises not to evaluate our worth through comparisons with every other person. If you see yourself as better, misplaced pride would make you arrogant. If you perceive yourself as inferior, chances are you’ll likely turn resentful and petty. Bottom line, stay true to yourself. You have to be your own biggest critic and your own biggest fan.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Perhaps one of the most subtle ways anyone has said ‘Don’t rest on your laurels’. The poet tells us to allow ourselves credit where it is due – ‘enjoy your achievements’. Savoring the fruits of one’s labor makes the effort worth it. Yet at the same time, he tells us to enjoy our ‘plans’. This is a gentle nudge to go onward, plan ahead to move onto greater things; don’t just rest on past achievements.

Stanza 3

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

A career is essentially what you choose to do with your entire life. Regardless of what work you choose, the poet asks us to ‘keep interested’. Taking an active interest in your work ensures that your work remains interesting. Inevitably it leads to excellence.  In the ‘changing fortunes of time’, one never knows what Fate has in store. Excellence in what you do and finding joy in doing it become invaluable in good times or bad. This is ‘a real possession’ or asset of real value.

Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.

The poet’s words are a warning. Be discreet and keep your own counsel in matters of income and work. There are people who would manipulate a person’s opportunities, strengths and weakness or failures to their benefit. The world can be a scheming place and you should not give your faith blindly. You never know who will take advantage of your reputation or your earnings.  Be on guard and keep your counsel secret is what the poet is trying to say.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

The world might be a tricky place, but as the poet points out – there is also another side to it. You can find heroism in equal measure. Angels walk alongside the demons. There are people with morals and values – those who ‘strive for high ideals’.  In watching your back, the poet counsels, don’t ignore the people who have got your back – who are there to support you. As the poem reads, ‘let this not blind you to what virtue there is’. Give your trust and respect to people who have earned it.

Stanza 4

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.

Be true to your heart. Disney has built an entire franchise on this concept, not to mention how many other brands. Cliché this may be, it is still a challenge. Peer pressure, society’s expectations and the need for acceptance are realities that we constantly face. For peace in your heart, do not fake your feelings- ‘do not feign affection’.

Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Being ’cynical about love’ means to be distrustful or mocking about the existence of love. True Love when found, is eternal. It is ‘as perennial as the grass’ – it does not die after a specified period of time. Even when faced with tough and hopeless conditions – ‘aridity and disenchantment’, love will happen if it has to happen. The poet’s idea behind the use of grass as a metaphor is that like grass, love is unconditional – it does not require any special treatment or season to grow.

Stanza 5

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

The poet portrays Age as a teacher here. Each of the years we live makes us wiser through all we live through. ‘Counsel of the years’ includes our own individual experiences as well as the experience and wisdom of the elders. On the other hand, youth is marked by inexperience, passion and restlessness. When people are young, they are often guided by impulsion. The poet here urges us to give up those emotions of the youth and be guided by the wisdom that mankind has gathered over the ages. Use of the words ‘kindly’ and ‘gracefully’ reminds us to stay humble to life’s lessons without losing our dignity.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

‘Strength of spirit’ is an inner force that is your own. Nurturing this strength is a disciplined decision to build character.  To the poet, this is important because it allows only you to be in charge of your life and happiness. Especially when trouble strikes, more often than not we are caught unawares. Help then is not usually available readily. In times like this, the strength of spirit that you cultivated will stand you in good stead. You are not helpless or at another’s mercy. You know that you can rely on yourself.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Sometimes our minds can be our worst enemy. The poet speaks of ‘dark imaginings’ or negative thoughts that could come from unnecessary worrying, distrust or anger. The poem identifies the root of most fears stemming from tiredness and isolation. Therefore he directs us to consciously steer away from depressing situations and rein our minds in. The ‘strength of spirit’ the poet just spoke about particularly comes in handy here.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

This is a question of setting standards. The poet is discerning enough to mention a ‘wholesome’ discipline. That refers to a code of conduct needed to promote our overall moral well-being.
Then again, the poet reminds us that we are human. Life being the unpredictable teacher that it is, can push us into grey areas – circumstances where a rigid adherence to our principles may not be possible. Then the poet reminds you to ‘be gentle with yourself’ – don’t be too hard on yourself. When life demands, we must find the grace to forgive ourselves and take comfort knowing we did our best in a particular situation.

Stanza 6

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.

Sure, there is a bit of philosophical dreaminess to these lines of ‘Desiderata’. But the meaning is still undeniable. When the poet says ‘you are a child of the universe’, he is reminding you that you are part of a bigger world than you can imagine. Scientifically speaking, on a cellular level, you are comprised of pretty much the same elements as the world around you – primarily carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen. The universe nourishes you with what you require much the same way as it nurtures other beings – right from living things like the trees to nonliving entities like the stars.
The words ‘You have a right to be here’ are profound. No one wills themselves into existence. Each of us were meant to be because of the designs of nature and fate. Therefore, we all have our parts to play. By reminding us of our right to be here, the poet is asking us to appreciate our place in the world and not belittle ourselves or our fellow entities with whom we share the universe.

And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Who are we to grasp the significance of our lives in the great scheme of things? The poet is trying to make us realize that we cannot control everything. We are but tiny specks – infinitesimal beings in this vast universe. We cannot presume to know or fathom the logic or pattern that the universe is working on. Seemingly unrelated events have their own significance, becoming cause and consequence in their own right – ‘the universe is unfolding as it should’.

Stanza 7

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,

Though the working of this universe is beyond our control, the poet is helping us find an anchor. The clue is in the verse ‘Peace with God’. This means to submit to God and let things run their course. Don’t fret on things beyond your control. Understanding that God means different things to each person – ‘whatever you conceive Him to be’, the poet reaches out to a broad audience, making God more accessible. At a personal level, God represents the being that makes you face your feelings, examine your actions and keep your hopes alive. In short, He is the being whom your inner compass – your conscience – converses with.

and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

Life is a jumble — organized and muddled, predictable and random, joyful and sad. Sometimes one after the other, other times all at once. Then add the tangle of the way our lives crisscross with others’. You get the poet’s picture of the ‘noisy confusion of life’.
Our thoughts and deeds (labors and aspirations) are reactions to the contradictory situations and roles Life throws at us. Ideally these should be in sync with our souls. The ‘soul’ is your deepest self – who you are. Yet who you become is sometimes at odds with who you want to be. Listening to your inner self and staying true to your heart are important to keep the inner peace intact.

Stanza 8

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.

Don’t lose sight of the beauty of the world. Sure, bad things happen. The poet admits there are fraud (sham), drudgery (boring, hard work) and unfulfilled dreams. No one can pretend otherwise. But the sweeter parts of Life are also a reality that need to be acknowledged. The poet does not want the bad bits to blind the reader to the good that exists side by side. The world is truly a beautiful place, if you will allow yourself to see it.

Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

In the final word, less is more. Few simple words to provide the most impact. The poet of ‘Desiderata’ tells us to ‘be cheerful; strive to be happy’ – look for the bright side of life. Count your blessings. There is a lot in life to be grateful for. There are things to look forward to.

Source:  https://englicist.com/