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William Butler Yeats

William Butler Yeats (13 June 1865 – 28 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of
the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival
and became a pillar of the Irish literary establishment who helped to found the Abbey Theatre. In his later
years he served two terms as a Senator of the Irish Free State.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

Summary: W. B. Yeats is an Irish poet who eagerly aspires for love and peace in his poems. The
subject matter of the poem is the decline of humanity, and the feelings of uncertainty and the
fear for the future. This poem is a historical moment in time as it marks the beginning of the
Second World War. The poet tends to take shelter in nature to escape from the cruelties of the
city life. In The lake Isle of Innisfree Yeats hopes that he will go to Innisfree to settle there. He
says that he will build a hut there with clay and reeds. In his garden, there will have nine bean
rows, a bee hive, and he will live serenely there. He assumes that he will have peace of mind
throughout the whole time there. There will have dim midnights, bright noons and musical
evenings. He wants to be in such a place where he can enjoy the sound of water flowing. At the
end of the poem he says that even living in the chaos of the city he can enjoy all these in the deep
core of his heart. It will provide him with absolute happiness. Here the poet is very much eager
for peace. He is impatient for having peace. He knows that nature can relieve him of the city's
chaos.

Easter 1916
Summary: The poet draws a picture of the people of Ireland before the Easter Rebellion of 1916.
The life of the Irish people was running on an even keel. It is full of fun and frivolity. He was
deeply moved by the heroism and martyrdom of the insurgents. But, now he has a little
sympathy for their political method. In the poem, the poet draws the picture of the people o f
Ireland before the Easter Rebellion of 1916. The poet talks about the men whom he used to meet
at the end of the day. He and other Irishmen had been leading a meaningless life until a number
of nationalist leaders died as martyrs during the Easter week of 1916. The poet mentions about
many people like four rebels who fought in the uprising and common people like the woman
who spent her days in ignorant good-will, man who had kept school' and many other people
who were part of the uprising and its 'terrible beauty'. The poet believes that it is the
responsibility of the society to remember the martyrs as they shows immense bravery to change
the world for creating the terrible beauty.

The Second Coming

Summary: The Second Coming is known as one of the most powerful poems of Yeats. Yeats
believed that civilization and barbarism occurred in alternating phases, each of which started in

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small beginning and gradually spirited outwards (gyre) in wider and wider extremes, until it
suddenly collapsed and gave way to a new and opposed phase. In this way twenty centuries of
Christianity have seemed only to lead up to a hideous second coming, something that follows
naturally from the first coming (The birth of Christ)- a sphinx- like monster of cruelty and
ugliness. He begins the poem by telling us that our civilization has lost all controlling authority.
Yeats tells us that things are disintegrating. He says that the centre, things and authority are
unable to hold themselves together. So, complete anarchy is let loose upon the world and this
anarchy is bringing with it a lot of bloodsheds. In this tide of bloodsheds whose colour has
become dimmed due to excess of blood the first thing which drowns is the ceremony of
innocence. The situation is worsened by the fact that the best people are not sure of themselves
and their convictions whereas the worst people being very confident are full of 'passionate
intensity'.

Sailing to Byzantium
Summary: Byzantium is the old name of Constantinople or Istanbul which was the capital of the
Roman Empire. Byzantium a Christian city which had dominated the scene after the fall of
Rome, seems to Yeats an ideal place of culture and wisdom. In Sailing to Byzantium Yeats faces
old age with the wish to forget his decaying body and educates his soul for immortality. The
poet says that Ireland is not the right place for old man because here all are caught in a sensual
music which make them neglect the ageless artistic achievements of the intellect. In the country
of dying generation of birds the young lovers celebrate things which are a slave to the natural
cycle of birth and death. The young lovers, the birds, Salmon falls, mackerel crowded seas, fish
and fowl all sing only one song- the song of the senses. All these at the same time, are creatures
who are very much subject to death. If old age frees a man from sensual passion, he may rejoice
in the liberation of the soul, he is admitted into the realm of the spirit and his rejoicing will be
increasing accordingly as he realises the magnificence of the soul. But the soul can learn best in
its own great works.

Ques. 01. Write a critical appreciation of Sailing to Byzantium. [NU. 2008, 2014]

Ans. Byzantium is the old name of Constantinople or Istambul which was the capital of the
Eastern wing of the Holy Roman Empire. It was noted for its art, culture and wisdom. However,
in the poem, it is no real city but a country of imagination, a Utopia, a retreat from the process of
ageing and decaying. To W. B. Yeats Sailing to Byzantium symbolizes a journey from the sensual
to the spiritual world or the world of art, intellect and the spirit.

The poet is growing old and he finds that the country, Ireland, powers, where he lives at present
is not suited to an old man. It is a country in which all living creatures, young and in the fullness
of their are given to sensual and sexual pleasures. Reproductive activity goes are on everywhere.
Birds, beasts and fish all alike are indulging in sensual pleasures. In this world of sensuality
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nobody cares for the intellectual achievement, for the works of art and literature which a the
products of the mind and the spirit, and hence immortal.

Old age is a time of physical decay and he becomes as worthless and helpless as a scarecrow. He
is a contemptible figure unless he devotes himself to study and intellectual activities. The older
he grows, the greater should be his devotion to art. Since Byzantium is the traditional home of
art, the poet has decided to devote himself to the study of its rich treasures. Therefore the poet
sails for Byzantium and as soon as he reaches there, he prays not to God, but God's saints to
come down from heaven and teach him the appreciation of art. They should purify his heart of
all physical passions and desires, for he is old like a dying animal, incapable of any physical
enjoyment.

The theme of Sailing to Byzantium has been presented by vivid imagery taken from the world of
nature, the ancient world of art as well as the world of imagination. All the images used to
picture the sensual world evoke both its power of enchantment and the pathetic transience of
the life within it. The young lovers, the singing birds that must die soon, the fish swarming in
the waters, all make a music in praise of fertility and natural mortality. But the only part of the
life-cycle now applicable to the old man is death. The phrase "monument of unageing intellect"
sums up the world which is contrasted with the sensual world represented by fish, flesh or fowl.
The poem is very rich in its use of metaphor and symbols also. The two opposing sets of
symbols as also the two opposing sets of intense and poignant images are allowed to interact
with each other and the pattern is not only intricate but also it adds to the richness of the texture
of the poem. The analogy with music is also one of the principles working at the centre of the
poem. In the end, everything in the poem-image, metaphors, symbols, movement and stanza
division contributes to strengthening the dilemma at the centre of the poem which is admirably
realised by doing full justice to the two sets of choices available in the poem.

To sum up, Sailing to Byzantium is a wonderful poem that affects the readers' minds greatly.

Ques. 02. Write a critical appreciation of the poem "The Second Coming".

The opening lines of the poem impart us a picture of the disintegration which has overtaken the
Christian civilisation. The diminishing force of Christianity is conveyed to us through the idea
that Christianity is like a falcon – a symbol for man who no longer
hears the call of the falconer, i.e. God.

As a result, the falcon has lost contact with the falconer and it becomes directionless. Things are
falling apart and there is no stabilizing force. The shadow of disorder, lawlessness, and
confusion is looming over the world. The “blood-dimmed tide” is the tide of violence. This tide
has drowned the “ceremony of innocence”.

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The “CEREMONY OF INNOCENCE” represents for Yeats those fanatical men who have seized
power. The ruthless, full of passionate intensity of fanaticism seem to rule the whole world. As a
result, the pure and best men have grown sceptical and they have lost all conviction.

The indication is that some new revelation or a new “coming” is near. The first revelation or the
first coming was the birth of JESUS CHRIST which heralded the Christian civilisation. The
phrase “SPIRITUS MUNDI” stands for “SPIRIT OF THE WORLD”. The Stoics used this phrase
for the vital force of the universe but it should be noted that William Butler Yeats has employed
it for a kind of corporate imagination similar to the racial sub-conscious described by
psychologists.

In other words, the phrase “Spiritus Mundi” which has caused to be the property of any
personality that signs, even direct messages flow from “Spiritus Mundi” which the poet and the
philosopher have only to see, hear, and recognise.

The SPHINX - the shape with lion’s body and the head of a man represents ruthless and
merciless violence, “moving its thighs” conveys the clumsy, powerful, and stirring of the shape
into life. The shadows of the desert birds reel away from it in the giddiness of nightmare. As it
shows things moving, birds over the desert see it and
begin to scream.

During the twenty centuries of the Christian civilization, this beast was sleeping but is about
make its appearance in the world. This will be the “Second Coming” and it will supersede Christ
who was born two thousand years ago at BETHLEHEM. The new period in human history will
be one of monstrous animal power.

Thus, WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS’ “THE SECOND COMING” contains a "HORROR-VISION” of

the destruction of the world as we know it and the prophecy of era of infinite and sheer cruelty
and suffering.

Ques. 03. What personal elements do you find in Yeats' poetry?

[DU. 1993, NU. 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015]
Or, How does Yeats' use personal elements in his poetry? [NU. 2001]

Ans. In the poetic career of W. B. Yeats his friends, relatives and admirers played a very
significant role. A major portion of his poetry was written about his friends, admirers and the
persons with whom he was associated by love or fellow-feeling. In doing this he has been
remarkably successful in enlarging them to heroic proportions. To understand Yeats's poetry
one requires the knowledge of some of the events of his life.

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The most important factor in Yeats's personal poetry is his love for Maud Gonne and the sense
of loss resulting from his failure to marry her. When You Are Old, Her Praise, No Second Troy,
Among School Children, The Tower and Prayer for My Daughter, all make direct or indirect
references to her. All the poems celebrate her as being "the loveliest woman born out of the
mouth of Plenty's Horn".

With his growing years Yeats came in contact with some friends and admirers who left deep
impression on his literary mind, and who appear in his poetry by name. Lady Augusta Gregory,
Major Robert Greygory, John Sange, John O'Leary, and Synge are few of them. He was also
influenced by some clubs. Yeats was the founder member of the Dublin Hermetic Society and
studied spiritualism, magic, theosophy and Buddhism with his friends. He also became a
member of Madame Blavatsky's Theosophical Society and the Order of the Golden Dawn. In
1891 he founded the Rhymer's Club in London and worked with Lionel Johnson, Ernest
Dowson, Pound, Arthur Symons and others. In these years he was influenced by 'French
Symbolism' which later on led him to take part in the "Imagist" movement. His wife Georgie
Hyde-Lees helped him develop his esoteric system. In different stages of his, he had different
influences and this resulted in three major stages of his poetry.

Yeats' biography is closely interwoven with his poems. To have a full understanding of his
poems an intimate knowledge of his life is essential. There are many references to personal
details in quite a number of his poems. The poems such as Among School Children, The
Municipal Gallery Revisited, and even Easter 1916 bring in quite a personal touches. We also
find poems like A Dialogue of Self and Soul and Sailing to Byzantium which try to tackle
personal problems on a universal level.

To sum up, Yeats's success in turning his personal emotions, likes and dislikes into great poetry
is really remarkable. Very few modern poets have succeeded in turning the powers of poetry to
such an effective personal use and yet preserve the necessary impersonality of poetry in which
Yeats believed as much as T. S. Eliot did.

Ques. 04. What romantic elements do you find in the poems of W.B. Yeats?
Illustrate your answer from the poems you have read [NU. 2007, 2011, 2013]
Or, Trace elements of romanticism in Yeats's poetry. Or, Yeats's poetry is a perpetual effort to
escape-Do you agree with the statement? If so, give reasons for your answer. Or, Can Yeats be
termed a late romantic? Give reasons for your answer. [NU. 2012] Or, In what sense is W. B.
Yeats the last romantic poet?

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Ans. W. B. Yeats, as he declares himself, is one of the last romantics. There is enough in his early
poetry and also in his later poetry that is unmistakably romantic, although the later Yeats
belongs to the modern tradition. His early poems arose out of his love for Irish folklore,
imagined wanderings with lovely phantoms, and occasionally a Keatsian richness of the
sensuous apprehension of the beauty of nature. The most distinct traits of romanticism traceable
in Yeats's poetry are the romance of mythology and folklore, escapism. mysticism, occultism,
romantic love, self-revelation, use of symbols, sensuousness, etc.

In his early poems, Yeats used the mythology of Gaelic heroic legends and folklore. This
mythology had the same fascination for the young Yeats as Greek mythology had for the poets
of the Renaissance. As a follower the Pre-Raphaelites, Yeats shows his tendency of escapism in
the poems such as The Man Dreamed of Faeryland, The Lake Isle of Innisfree. Innisfree is an
island in a lake near Sligo where the poet spent his boyhood holidays with his grandparents. So
standing on an actual pavement in London, the mature Yeats dreams of this island in a fit of
homesickness. The Lake Isle of Innisfree gives expression to this feeling of weariness and
longing for an ideally simple but beautiful place, It is a symbol of a peaceful place, where the
poet's soul may find rest and tranquillity. Thus the poem records the poet's mood of escapism in
the romantic tradition.

A very important ingredient of Yeats's romanticism is his use of symbols. He was greatly
influenced by the symbolist movement in France. The symbols of Yeats's early poetry are occult
in character. He makes use of the occult symbols, of rose, lily, bird, water, tree, moon and sun.
Some of the symbols employed in his mature poems are the Tower, the Swan, Byzantium.

Love is regarded as a romantic theme and Yeats-wrote a large number of love poems which bear
the reminiscences of his passionate but frustrating love-relation with Maud Gonne, the famous
politician of Ireland. The poems such When You Are Old, No Second Troy celebrate the beauty
of Maud Gonne and his intensely passionate heart

Self-revelation is another romantic trait in Yeats's poetry. Similarly a large bulk of Yeats's poetry
relates to his own personality, his inner conflicts, his friendships etc. A Prayer for My Daughter
and Among School Children are deeply personal revelations.

To conclude, W. B. Yeats began his career as a late Romantic. Romanticism associated with
lyricism and escapism suited the young Yeats but he was quick enough to step into a maturer
mode of poetry as it is marked by his poem A Coat.

Ques. 05. Evaluate Yeats as an Irish nationalist poet. (N.U. 2016, '19) Or, Show W.
B. Yeats as an Irish national poet.

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Or, Find out Irish elements in Yeats' poetry.

Or, What marks of patriotic feelings do you notice in Yeats' poetry?

Ans. W. B. Yeats is one of the greatest poets of the English language. But he is an Irish poet with
great love for his country. He displays at large Irish folklore, Irish heroic story. Irish history that
are in his mind His patriotic fervour prompted him to join the organisation like Irish Republican
Brotherhood. Yeats greatly respected the Irish nationalis leader, Parnell. It was under the
influence of John O'leary, a Fenian leader, that Yeats developed an interest in Irish nationalism,
and read Irish patriotic literature and joined a young Ireland society.

Yeats' patriotic fervour finds expression in his attempt to highlight the countryside, folklore,
tradition, mythology and above all the culture of Ireland. The poem The Wild Swan at Coole
combines Irish countryside with Irish folk belief and legends. In the poem, the poet gives us an
impressive description of the lake at Coole Park. His heart captures the exquisite calm and
quietness around the lake. The poem captures the serene beauty of nature. He says:

"The trees in the autumn beauty, The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky"

Yeats' sense of nationalism and patriotic fervour is evident in Easter 1916. On the Easter
morning of 1916 Irish nationalists launched a revolt against the British Government. The revolt
was unsuccessful and a number of nationals were executed.

Yeats' desire for Ireland's independence was the product of his emotion rather then politics. As
an Irishman, he was passionately attached to his country by ties of ancestors and pride in his
country's history and legends but he was gradually disillusioned when he felt the violence and
hatred by the Irish political leaders were a meanness of spirits, a kind of selfishness and Lack of
breeding which was poisoning the heroic Irish noblity.

Yeats highlights the long cherished customs and traditions of Ireland. He possessed a deep
rooted respect for the Irish aristocracy. According to Yeats, custom and ceremony are apposed to
arrogance and hatred, which are found in the common people. The aristocratic way of life is
rooted in custom and tradition, which are the sources of all beauty and innocence. The poet says:

"How but in custom and in ceremony Are innocence and beauty born?"

at the beginning of the poem The Second Coming. Yeats sums up the situation of the world after
the First World War as it is seen by Yeats. The falconer has lost control and the world itself is out
of joint.

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Thomas Stearns Eliot

Thomas Stearns Eliot OM (26 September 1888 – 4 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher,
playwright, literary critic and editor. Considered one of the 20th century's major poets, he is a
central figure in English-language Modernist poetry.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Summary: The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock is an interior monologue. It is adequately suited
to mirror the inner condition of the speaker of this dramatic monologue. The speaker is one of
the victims of urban civilization caught up in a round of social parties which by contrast
emphasis an interesting tragic figure. He is a man caught in a sense of defeated idealism and
tortured by dissatisfied desire. His neurotic nature, his invalidity to face the problems of life is
reflected in his delay and procrastination. He feels helpless and confused in his attitude to love.
He realises futility and impotence of his life. The poet compares himself to a worm wriggling on
a wall. He has measured his life, with coffee spoons something which is trivial and insignificant.
He has mixed in high society, known. women intimately, smelt their bodies and dresses, but he
has not been able to decide about the fature course of his life whether he should settle down
after marrying the girl he loves. The trouble with Prufrock is that though he is in love, he cannot
decide about making a proposal to a lady. He feels nervous and diffident. He is almost a coward
in love. He is mentally disturbed and wants to escape reality, in order to avoid taking any
decision; he is disgusted with his indecision and longs for being submerged in the sea as an
escape from the consequent humiliation on rejection.

The Waste Land

Summary: Eliot uses the phrase The Waste Land to convey the idea of emotional and spiritual
sterility and barrenness. To him all Europe appeared to be a spiritual waste land, Laid waste by
the sexual sins of the modern man.

The Waste Land consists of several levels of experience crossing out of various waste lands: i.
The Waste Land of religion in which there are rocks but no water. ii. The Waste Land of spirit
from which all moral and spiritual springs have evaporated and iii. The Waste Land of the
instinct for fertility where sex had become merely a mechanical means of animal satisfaction
rather than a potent life giving source of regeneration. The poem gives us a vision of desolation
and spiritual drought of our time. The disintegration of the modern civilization is due to several
causes such as sexual perversions, loss of faith and moral values, lack of human relationships,
commercialization of life, mental tension, politics and wars. In the first section entitled by The
Burial of The Dead', the poet says that the modern waste land is entirely desolate and the people
are all spiritually dead and sterile. It is like a rocky barren land. Man does not know what

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spiritual fertility means. The Waste Landers could protect themselves from this problems, if they
took shelter in the shadow of the red rock. This protection of the red rock is entirely different
from the shadow which is behind them in the morning (early age) and which rises to meet them
in the evening of life (old age). The second poem, A Game of Chess introduces with a purpose to
show the degeneration of human civilization through the violation of chastity and the
predominance of lust. It also introduces the monotony of modern life. It is a graphic evocation of
a world of loveless loving and the consequent degradation of the human self. In the other poem
'Death by Water' and 'What the Thunder Said' the poet gives a warning to all mankind to beware
of the materialistic life and worldly pursuits.

Ques. 06. How does Eliot build up an atmosphere of futility and barrenness in
The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock? [N.U. 2016] Or, Discuss how The Love song of J.
Alfred Prufrock represents the conflict of a modern man. Or, How does T. S. Eliot express the
conflict of modern man in the poem The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock? Or, What is
Prufrock's dilemma? Does he succeed in resolving it? Or, Comment on the theme of
hesitation and indecision/ procrastination in The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock.
[N.U. 2015, '17]

Ans. The Love song of J. Alfred Prufrock is a dramatic monologue presenting a middle aged
modern man who is unable to take a decision about making the proposal of marriage to the lady
he loves. Prufrock is a neurotic character, he feels helpless and confused in his attitude to love.
He realises futility and impotence of his life.

J. Alfred Prufrock is the central character of T. S. Eliot's famous man. poem The Love song of J.
Alfred Prufrock. The poem is in the nature of an interior monologue. Prufrock is not an actual
character but a successful model of a modern man. His speech and activities show the
temperament and character of a modern r Prufrock is a character who wants to make love to
women but he does not have the courage to propose a lady. He is timid and nervous. He is so
paralysed of his will that he cannot bring himself to propose to his lady because he thinks that
whatever he says to the lady will be answered by "That is not what I meant at all. Behind this
hesitating mental condition of Prufrock we find a disease of modern routine works, the aimless
life of the city dwellers and the monotonous round of social parties.

Prufrock is very timid and his timidity results from his experience about the society in which he
lives. His life is a series of meaningless activities because he is unable of 'dare' and 'force' the
movement to a crisis'. He knows "Arms that are bracelated and white and bare' and 'perfume
from a dress', but he is incapable of action. Thus he exhibits a Hamlet like temperament. Hamlet
has put the nature of his own ailment in such remarks as "thus conscience doth make cowards of
us all and the native hue of resolution is sicklied over with the palecast of thought." it means
that the hyper of intellect paralyses that will to act and breeds procrastination.
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Prufrock represents a man of split personality. He has no power to reach decision whether he
should propose to his sweetheart or not. He represents a split consciousness, a division between
heart and head. In fact, he has two selves, a romantic and a realist. His heart is his romantic self
clearly suggests that he lacks the necessary courage to speak out his feelings and propose to her.
However, his romantic self does not loosen its hold upon him. So he begins to ponder.

"Then how should I began

To spit out all the butt ends of my day And how should I presume?"

At one time Prufrock thinks of a plan to make a proposal to his ladylove, but he feels nervous to
talk about himself. He is afraid of death. Prufrock takes refreshment to gather courage to make a
decision. Supposing he talked about his proposal to his Lady, but she might turn round and tell
him that she had no desire to marry him. That is why he feels extremely nervous.

The poem ends where it began. There is no progress. The poet has succeeded in highlighting the
dilemma of enervated man as well as the sordidness and pettiness of modern urban civilisation.
He seems to represent thwarted desires and modern disillusionment.

Ques. 07. What elements of irony do you find in The Love Song of J. Alfred
Prufrock? [NU. 2014] Or. Explain the irony inherent in the title of the poem, The Love
Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Comment on the significance of the title The Love Song of J.
Alfred Prufrock.
Or, Bring out the ironical implications used in the title of The Love Song of J. Alfred
Prufrock. [NU. 2009]

Ans. Irony is a literary device or mode of humorous or sarcastic expression in which the
intended meaning of the words used is the very opposite of their usual sense. The main focus of
irony is contrast between what is expressed and what is implied. The Love Song of J. Alfred
Prufrock is replete with different kinds of ironies.

The title of the poem indicates that it is a love song but, in fact, it is a story of failure in love. In
the poem there is hardly any mention of lovemaking. The lover rather invents reason for
postponing the proposal to the lady. He analyses his feelings which reveals his helplessness and
his incapacity for love. There are two obstacles in the way of his making a love proposal. Firstly
he is very much concerned about his old age. Secondly, he is reluctant to give up the single state
in which he has been engaging himself in sexual intimacy with opposite sex. The irony of
situation is that he would like to make love but there are serious issues which prevent him from
doing so. He yearns for love but he has no capacity for it.

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The protagonist in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock finds excuses for postponing his
decisions. As an ordinary lover he should have been bold and aggressive, but, in reality, he is
cowardly and timid. He feels like a pinned worm who cannot face the curious eyes of ladies.
Throughout the whole poem Prufrock talks of love, but he wants to assail his beloved and
escape the reality:

Again in the poem there is a strange juxtaposition of the high and the low, the grand and the
mean. The important things are placed side by side with the trivial. Let us see the contrast
between the first and the last line - "Let us go then you and I" is the antithesis of the last line -
"Till human voices wake us and we drown". Similarly what starts as very important in value is
brought down to the level of the mean and the trivial. For example, "I have measured out my life
with coffee spoons". Thus through ironical implication the poet has brought about the futility
and barrenness of urban life.

Ques. 08. Comment on Eliot's use of symbolism in The Waste Land.

Or, Show how The Waste Land is a fabric of myth and symbolism.

Ans. The Waste Land of T.S. Eliot is a fabric of myth and symbolism. With the help of
symbolism he penetrates far below the conscious levels of thought and feeling. The poet resorts
to symbols and images which help him create an 'objective correlative' of his own vision or
experience in the mind of the readers. Eliot is greatly influenced by the French symbolists like
Mallarme, Laforgue and the English metaphysicals.

Eliot's symbols are mainly traditional and drawn from literatures and mythologies of the past.
Moreover, the same symbols are frequently repeated. For example, the dry bones' signify
spiritual decay, and desolation, and 'rats' the ugliness and horror of modern civilization. In the
same way, 'dry grass', 'cactus land', 'rocks', 'winds singing dryly are all symbols of spiritual
sterility. "The unreal city' and the crowds moving across London Bridge are linked up with
Dante's Limbo, and therefore signify the decadence of contemporary life and civilization.

The basic symbol in The Waste Land is drawn from the Fertility Ritual which is suggested by the
book, From Ritual to Romance, but this is reinforced by other devices. The common source of all
the myths which have inspired the major symbol of the poem lay in the fundamental rhythm of
nature that of the death and rebirth of the year and their varying symbolism was an effort to
explain the origin of life.

'Waste Land' the basic symbol represents the modern materialistic life. Eliot refers to "A heap of
broken images" and "Rock and sandy road" in order to indicate the degrading impact of
materialism upon Christianity. Here "rock" symbolizes materialistic thoughts regarding money,
wealth, financial success, etc. The road is the path of materialism and it is 'sandy' because it

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exists in the desert of the waste land where nothing spiritual grows. Another basic symbol is
that of 'water' which stands for the milk of human kindness, or rather the water of selfless
Christian brotherly love called Agape. To be precise "water" stands for selfless love for man and
God. But the waste land has no trace of this water as Tiresias says, "Here is no water but only
rock". In his phrase "Death by Water", which is also the title of section IV, "water" is a symbol of
the ocean of material wealth and riches.

Further, Tiresias, the protagonist symbolises a noble, God-loving human soul, which possesses
the powers of prophetic vision, and that is why he finds the materialistic world as a waste land.
Since he is an objective co-relative, he is the symbol of Eliot's own soul.

To sum up, The Waste Land is replete with symbols of various types. Some of the symbols are
complex no doubt but by using hundreds of symbols, Eliot has added a grandeur to his poem
and conveyed his theme most successfully and effectively.

Ques. 09. Write a note on the theme of salvation as you find in The Waste Land?
[NU. 2013]

Ans. The theme of The Waste Land is the spiritual decay, the unemotional sexuality, and the
general aimlessness which have characterized all periods of history. Certain ages have, no
doubt, produced saints and sages like the Buddha and St. Augustine, but even the people of
those ages suffered for lack of religious faith, for

prevalence of lus and moral degeneration. By means of parallelism, Eliot has shown the
similarity of problems in the past and the present. He refers to a number of waste lands which
are alike in their problems. The root cause of these waste lands, their barrenness and desolation
was loss of moral values and sexual perversion. Then Eliot takes us into the very heart of the
waste land which was post-war Europe and makes us realize the full plight of a whole
generation. Among all the causes of degeneration of the European civilization, Eliot thinks, sex
perversion is the prominent one. Sex, the most important aspect of human life, finds its meaning
in love and procreation, but it has been perverted from its proper function. Now it is used for
animal satisfaction and monetary gains. Easy sexual relationship is found among all the sections
of society. Eliot cites several examples of failures in love such as Marie, the German Princess
who has a bitter memory, Isolde, who died for love. the Hyacinth girl who became a victim of
guilty love, Belladonna, victim of her own nerves, Philomel, reduced to a voice, Lil who looks so
antique at the age of only thirty-one, the typist girl and her lover with their indifference to sex
act, and the Thames maidens who lament the loss of their chastity.

According to Eliot, modern people, forgetting the values of religion and morality, have become
too commercial, self-centred and selfish. Moreover, most of the people in the urban area are
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suffering from neurosis as a result of frustration, isolation, lack of communication, etc. Thus due
to the sins of sexual perversion, lust, the evils of materialism, and lack of faith and morality, the
modern world has become a waste land, and the inhabitants of this world are spiritually dead.

Through The Waste Land Eliot not only gives us a record of the spiritual decay of the modern
civilization, but also suggests its remedy. He refers to the ancient Indian history as described in
the Upanishad, when northern India suffered from drought and famine. The people prayed to
Projapati (their Creator) for help. The God answered their prayer and spoke three words
through thunders-Da Da Da. These three words are the basic principles of the survival of
civilization. The first principle is "Datta" meaning to sacrifice oneself for a noble cause. The
second principle is "Dayadhavam" which means to sympathise with the suffering humanity by
shaking off one's egotism. The third principle "Damyata" which means an inner discipline for
controlling one's thoughts and passions.

Phus Eliot suggests that spiritual rebirth or salvation from sins may be achieved through the
principles of Datta, Dayadhavam and Damyata. According to him, reformation should begin
first with the individual self and then a regeneration of the whole world is possible.

Dylan Marlais Thomas

Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose
works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no
dominion", as well as the "play for voices" Under Milk Wood. He also wrote stories and radio broadcasts
such as A Child's Christmas in Wales and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog. He became widely
popular in his lifetime and remained so after his death at the age of 39 in New York City. By then, he had
acquired a reputation, which he had encouraged, as a "roistering, drunken and doomed poet"

Poem In October
Summary: Dylan Thomas's open-worked poems of reminiscence and autobiographical emotion
such as Poem in October communicate more immediately to the reader through the fine lyrical
feeling, compelling use of simple emotion. In this poem, Dylan Thomas describes in gr eat detail
his thirtieth birthday, which he celebrates in his hometown Swansea, Wales, a small fishing
village. In a mood of grief the poet feels that he has made one more forward stop in his march
towards death. But a moment later his mind travels back to his mind, travels back to his
childhood and he recalls some of his childhood experiences. Like a child he walks through the
town very early in the morning, while its other inhabitants are still asleep, heading for the hill.

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He feels that he is greeted on his birthday by the herons sitting like priests on the seashore, by
the calls of the seagulls and rooks, by the rising waves of the ocean, by the birds flying above the
farm and declaring his name. In his imagination, the poet Dylan sees the boy Dylan as a hero
and lord in the country of apples, pears and currants. He imagines all these, till the weather
makes an abrupt change. In that change he seems to relieve moments of his childhood and a
great feeling of joy surges through the poet, as the joys and mysteries of life seem to dance
around him. This poem is an attempt to recapture the memories and the elation of the days of
childhood. How far it is desirable that a man should escape from mature reality and try to find a
refuge in childhood, is a matter of opinion.

Ques. 10. Write a critical evaluation of "Poem in October".

Ans. "Poem in October", written in 1944, is one of the finest lyrics of Dylan Thomas. It is a
birthday poem, published in the volume of poems entitled Deaths and Entrance, 1946. The poet
describes his birth anniversary as his "thirtieth year to heaven". meaning thereby that he has
made one more forward step in his march towards heaven, i.e. Death. There is a mixed feeling of
pleasure and pain.

The poem, in fact, is an attempt to recollect the glorious vision and innocence of childhood and
thereby find an escape from the harsh realities of life. The theme has been presented by
evocative statements with imagery, symbols, similes, metaphors, paradoxes, allusions, puns, etc.
It is a poem in free verse. It is composed of seven structurally identical stanzas, each with ten
lines. The stanzas are well connected by a lovely patterns of gentle wavy rhythm up to its end.
Then arrangement of each stanza in long and short lines is also significant. The movement of the
lines from long to short and from short to long, and again to the short, followed by long lines
implies the oscillating movement of the poet's mind between "weathers" and "times" and
between the town below and up the hill. The metre used for the poem is as light and easy in its
movement as its theme. It is Thomas's coming to light from darkness, and this coming out or
movement is lovely, slow and lyrical.

As for technical devices, the poem is rich in imagery and symbolism. In fact, the images become
symbols carrying deep thoughts and states of the poet's mind. For example, the image "heron
Priested shore" assumes a symbolic meaning. To the poet "the heron" is a symbol of sacredness
and it is regarded as a priest sitting on the seashore. It also expresses religious sentiment of
Thomas.

Similarly the waves of the ocean rising high seem to the poet a kind of prayer to heaven on the
occasion to his birthday. Thus there are various types of symbols scattered all through the poem.

"Poem in October" is actually a poem about the making of poetry out of youth. The poet

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highlights his present condition through the initial metaphors of location and then moves to a
consciousness of the past in terms of this present. In the contrast between these two periods
there is an inherent awareness that the art of poetry is the means for apprehending this past and
making it meaningful. Youth, by itself, has no poetic existence. The mature poet who has
paradoxically, lost the very youth he longs to capture, gives to that existence. In this process he
comes to understand the mature "caring" that, separating him from the child, makes it possible
for the "mystery" to sing and also to be alive. In his youth he heard the "parables" that form the
basis of his mature religion. This upbringing was inferential and it was proved by the fact that
the poem about it end with prayer. In his youth the poet also experienced delights as expressed
by his mature poetry. The form and ordered structure of

"Poem in October" shows his mature artistic skill and creativity. To conclude, "Poem in October"
is one of Dylan Thomas's most successful poems.

Ques. 11. Mention and discuss the religious elements in Dylan Thomas's poems.
(N.U. 2015)

Ans. A religious poet is primarily a celebrator, a celebrator in the sense of one who celebrates the
creation and more particularly the human condition. Thomas is such a poet who will see himself
and man in general as a metaphor or analogy of the world.

Dylan Thomas was greatly influenced by his pious mother who used to go to church regularly
and read no books except the Bible. He acquired the perfect love for God. Thomas was
influenced by John Donne and other metaphysical poets of the 17th century. The Poem in
October is replete with religious sentiments all through the poem. The poem starts with a
religious feeling. Thomas celebrates the thirtieth birthday but for him a birthday is not an
occasion of joy but a grief, because he feels that every birthday is one more forward step in his
march towards heaven (death). In a mystical mood he feels that everything belongs to him. The
poet finds all nature holy. The herons sitting on the shore seem to him to be priests, praying for
him. Even the waves of the ocean seem to rise high in order to pray to the heaven for the poet.

The vision of the birds flying over the farms and the white horses, proclaiming the poet's name
and that of the 'wetchurch' looking like a snail with its horns through mist are the expressions of
a religious sentiment. To highlight the glorious visions of his childhood, the poet refers to the
parables of sunlight and the legends of the green chapels which are also tinged with a mystic
vision. The poem ends with a religious tone. To sum up, Dylan Thomas does not advocate any
particular theology but the Biblical imagery and a kind of religious sentiment lends a sacred
character to some of his poets.

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Ques. 12. Discuss the theme of " Poem in October". [NU. 2014] Or, What is the
underlying idea of Dylan Thomas's "Poem in October"?

Ans. Dylan Thomas wrote on a large variety of subjects. A number of his poems are on his own
birthday and "Poem in October is one of them.

The poet celebrates his thirtieth birthday and he realises with a sense of grief that he has crossed
another milestone on the road to heaven, i. e. on the road to death, but a moment later his mind
is filled with a kind of joy when looking around in the pleasant morning he finds that the whole
world belongs to him. He feels happy that he is greeted by many objects and creatures of nature
such as the priest like herons sitting on the shore, the fish in the pools of water, the seagull and
the rooks, the boats sailing on the water. The poet walks out of the town (Laughorne in
Carmarthenshire, Wales), summoned by the call of the birds, and the beauties of the natural
sights.

It seems to the poet that even the water-birds and the birds flying over the trees are aware of his
birthday and seem to be celebrating the occasion by flying over the farms and over the white
coloured horses, proclaiming his name. October, the autumn month in which Thomas was born,
is often rainy. Confusedly the autumn rain is transformed into a "shower" of all his days past,
which he now remembers. The dream world into which the poet has escaped from the harsh
reality is broken and the herons and the 'high tides' which seemed to him to be celebrating his
birthday and praying for him are no longer there. They dive into the ocean as if to disappear
from the scene.

Climbing up the hill, the poet looks up and finds that the clouds are full of larks as in the spring
season. On the hill the poet is confused as to seasons and climates. It is both spring-like and
summery.

As the poet reaches the top of the hill, the harbour seems to dwindle in size and the distant
church looks as small as a snail with "horns" which signifies the towers of the church. It was
possible for the poet to spend his whole birthday in the world of wonder and delight, but the
weather changed. The change of weather here implies a change in the mental climate of the poet.
The poet's mind turns from his present surroundings to something else, namely, his days of
childhood.

The poet remembers the happy and glorious days of his childhood which he passed in Fern Hill,
where was situated the farm of his aunt. It was a country noted for apples, pears, and currants,
and the boy Dylan walked like a lord there.

The poet had, as a child actually witnessed the fields and woods, and now he sees them again
though imagination. He remembers vividly the tears he had shed as a child. The memory of

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those tears makes him feel as if they are once again flowing down his cheeks.

Thus "Poem in October" is an attempt to recapture the sweet memories of childhood through
which the poet seeks an escape, a refuge from the harsh realities of life at least for a moment.

Ques. 13. How does Dylan Thomas feel on his thirtieth birthday?
[N.U. 2013]

Ans. Poem in October is composed in 1944 and it is a birthday poem. When Dylan turned thirty.
In this poem, the autobiographical elements are combined with the registers of time and
memory to refer to experiences that grant a new perspective on life. But he feels sad to think that
he has passed another year on the way to his death. A moment later his mind is filled with a
kind of joy when looking around in the pleasant morning and he finds that the whole world
belongs to him. He feels happy that he is greeted by many objects and creatures of nature such
as the priest like herons sitting on the shore, the fish in the pool of water, the seagulls and the
rooks, the boats sailing on the water. Summoned by the call of the birds and the beauties of
nature, the poet walks out of the town towards the sea shore.

Dylan Thomas describes in great detail his thirtieth birthday which he celebrates in his
hometown of Swansea, Wales a small fishing village. The poet's birthday is a rainy autumn day
in the month of October. He can see the water birds, and other birds flying over the farm house
and the white coloured horses and to him it seems that they are proclaiming his name from
above. The poet climbs up the hill and finds nature in different shapes. As he rides up the hill
towards the top, he finds the weather hot there as in the summer season.

As the poet reaches the top of the hill, the harbour seems to dwindle in size and the distant
church looks as small as a snail with horns, which signify the towers of the birthday in the world
of wonder and delight, but the weather has changed.

He remembers the happy days of his childhood which he passed in Fern Hill, where was
situated the farm of his aunt.

Thus the poet had, as a child, actually witnessed the fields and woods and now he sees them
again through imagination. He remembers the tears he had shed as a child.

Ques. 14. Discuss the use of imagery in the poetry of Dylan Thomas with special
reference to "Poem in October".

Ans. Dylan Thomas attached great importance to the use of imagery in his poetry. As he was a
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poet of both of the sea and the woods, the common scenes and sights of the countryside, the
various objects and phenomena of nature are the most important sources of imagery in his
poetry. Besides these, images of pain, disease, decay and death, as well as sexual imagery are
frequent in his poetry.

On waking up early in the morning the poet witnesses the natural phenomena in a mood of
almost religious joy. He feels that everything belongs to him, and that everything is being done
for his sake. He finds all nature holy. The herons sitting on the shore seem to him to be priests,
praying for him, the waves of the ocean rising high, the calling of the seagull coming from the
shore and that of the rooks from the wood seem to awaken the poet from sleep and pray for him.
Thus the first stanza of the poem offers us a beautiful picture of the dawn around the harbour,
the neighbouring wood, the fish in the pools of water, the herons sitting on the shore, the seagull
and the rook calling, the boats sailing on the water.

In the second stanza there is a fantastic picture of waterbirds and the birds flying over the trees,
the creatures who seem to be aware of the poet's birthday and they also seem to be celebrating
the occasion by flying over the farms and over the while coloured horses, proclaiming his name.
In the third stanza the poet says that the presence of larks flying over the hill indicates that
spring is approaching after the autumn, and again the October sun is warm and seems to lend a
touch of summer to the season. On the hill the confusion of seasons indicates the schizoid's
inability to distinguish between one thing and another. He lives and moves in a world of fantasy
where time, past and present, places, near distant, climates and seasons, all mingle in a lovely
confusion.

In the fourth stanza we come across the picture of the distant church which looks to the poet as
small as a snail. The towers of the church are its horns as it has been likened to a snail. In the
fifth stanza the phrase "Green chapels" gives us a richly sensuous picture.. In a vision the poet
sees "Fern Hill" where was situated the farm of his aunt, where child Thomas spent his happy
childhood like a lord moving about in a country of apples, pears and currants. Finally referring
to the image of "summer noon" the poet says that though he still stands in the "summer noon" of
childhood, he is aware of the town below, "leaved with October blood'-of trees and of his
October heart, which sings this truth. "October blood" refers to the red- coloured autumnal
leaves which have fallen down from the trees.

To sum up, Thomas's imagery is not decorative, it is functional. It serves to impart formal and
structural unity in his poems, and the recurrence of certain image-patterns help us to
understand his meaning. It is true that his images are often exaggerated and obscure but all the
same it is fascinating.

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Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath (/plæθ/; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short
story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of
her published collections, The Colossus and Other Poems (1960) and Ariel (1965), as well as The Bell Jar,
a semi-autobiographical novel published shortly before her death in 1963. The Collected Poems was
published in 1981, which included previously unpublished works. For this collection Plath was awarded a
Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 1982, making her the fourth to receive this honour posthumously.

Morning Song
Summary: In the poem Morning Song the poet says that the mother speaker feels a kind of
strange alienation from the newborn baby. But the mother moves from this strange alienation to
a kind of instinctive sweeping emotion, when she lives with the child for some time the child
starts breathing and crying. This probably happens after the intense labour pain is over and the
mother feels the love for her child. The poem deals with maternal instincts and its awakening. A
woman does not come to motherhood merely by giving birth to a child. She learns a new
behaviour in the process of bringing a child up. The being of the mother is as new as the being of
the child. Even the speaker listening to the sound of the child's cry and getting fascinated is not
self-willed or under her control. She feels it instinctively. Here the poet gives an importance on
love, Love for her new born baby. All through the poem we find the great affection and
tenderness.

Words
Summary: The poem, Words opens with an image of axes. Axes are sharp and their purpose is
to cut wood. Words when released for communication can be sharp and calling words can travel
like echo from the centre like horses and can reach the mind of many. Plan links two seemingly
disparate images, axes and horses.

Words are like sap in the wood. Like water seeking to dominate the rock, the poet has to straggle
to establish here mastery over woods. Words like axes hurt so deep that tears fall like water and
petrify one's self. The feeling of sorrow tries to reaffirm its place into the speaker's expression of
the work of art. Those who venture to remain in the world of creativity for long symbolised by
the horse in the next stanza soon meet their ends and regenerates life from their destruction. Dry
words are indefatigable and rhythmic like the hoofs of the wild horses. The world of creativity
symbolized by wild horse eternal. But human lives are controlled by fate.

The Rival
Summary: The poem The Rival was written before July, 1962, one year before the death of the
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poet. In this poem, the speaker is desorbing her rival, addressing 'you' saying that the person is
beautiful but ye destructive and influential. The poetry says, "The rival, like the moon, has both
the beautifying effect and destructive effect." Moon is traditionally associated with magical force
and enchantment in myth. The moon shines borrowing the light of the sun but the rival of the
speaker borrows her glory from the speaker. Here the moon, cold and barren reflects the cold
and indifferent relation between husband and wife. Outwardly the husband is like a moon, very
generous but inwardly very cold and barren. The speaker narrates that her husband is stone
hearted. As a result, she is leading a death like existence but he is spiteful and careless. Like the
moon the husband abuses her with his artificial love and becomes a ridiculous figure when he is
exposed to light.

Crossing the Water

Summary: The speaker starts her poem with a horrifying word Black lake. It illustrates Sylvia
Plath's Journey across a Lake near Canada. The repetitive use of the word 'black' helps the
speaker to create an ominous setting. It's a dangerous boat Journey across a river. Two people
who are like silhouettes, almost like shadows, rowing over a black boat on a black lake. From the
beginning we have a bleak experience. This bleakness is deepened by a sense of stillness that
runs through it. She sets a phrase 'black trees go' after they drink here. The question is jarring
because trees literally go nowhere, let alone 'drink'. She claims that the shadows of those trees
must cover Canada. In the second stanza she uses that there is a light reflecting 'from the water
flowers'. The speaker's mood again intrudes upon common sense, leading her to believe that the
leaves of those 'Water flowers' do not wish us to hurry. The speaker describes the leaves of the
water flowers as 'round and flat' and more strikingly, these leaves are filled with, 'dark advice'.
They offer dark advice suggesting something ominous or death. There are words in drops of
water that shake from the oars as they row. The world opens up a mystery to us. As the oars
move the boat through the black water, the speaker perceives that water falling from the sors
alters into cold worlds. The speaker then plainly describes that this somber scene reveals the
'blackness' that is in each human being. "The spirit of blackness is in us" and follows it with the
claim that this blackness is also 'in the fishes'. The speaker notices, 'stars open among the lilies'.
The starlight transforms her black mood from grave to wonder. Finally, in her last two lines
seem to be directed to the reader. They ask if the reader too do not see the light, hear the silent
call, and are not as surprised as the narrator. The silence is also the outcome of the 'astound
souls'.

Ques. 15. Write a critical appreciation of "Morning Song" by Sylvia Plath. [NU.
2013, 2015]

Ans. "Morning Song" was written in February 1961 by Sylvia Plath after the birth of her first
child, Frieda Rebecca Hughes. The theme of the poem is motherhood and the process by which
it is obtained. It deals with maternal instincts and its awakening. Plath avoids sentimentality in
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taking up the subject of becoming a mother in a fatherly way. A woman does not come to
motherhood merely by giving birth to a child. New behaviour is learned in the process of
bringing a child up. The being of the mother is as new as the being of the child. Even the speaker
listening to the child's sounds of cry and getting fascinated is not self-willed or under her
control. She follows her instinct "one cry and I stumble from bed". Her child sings to her with a
"Morning Song" and a bond is established with the help of language gradually.

The theme has been presented by means of imagery, similes and metaphors in free-verse. The
poem contains six stanzas and each stanza has three unrhymed lines of different lengths, thus
giving it all the characteristics of a modern poem.

"Love" is the initial word in the poem and simultaneously the mother speaker in this poem
addresses her recently-born baby. The creativity of "love", motherhood and midwifery is fore
grounded in the opening lines. Using her often favoured figurative mode of the simile Sylvia
Plath emphasises the golden-pink, "Titian", shades of the infant's flesh: "Love set you going like
a fat gold watch".

All through the poem we find the great affection and tenderness, the mother feels for her child.
She is protective, waking to listen to the baby's cries to which she responds immediately. It is not
that Sylvia Plath feels alienated from infant (as some critics have suggested). Rather she senses
the child's individuality. She knows that it is not simply an extension of herself. This why she
says, "Love set you going." In the third stanza, using the natural imagery of -clouds and the
wind, she reminds the child that she is not looking in a mirror when she gazes at it.

The child's natural aspect is projected at the beginning of stanza Four. Its soft breath is
compared to "moth-breath" that "flickers" (vibrates) among the "flat pink roses" (lifeless soft
roses). The comic picture of the mother may be traced in her earnestness, her physical and
perhaps emotional ineptitude, her shapelessness ("cow-heavy") and also her mild vanity. (She
wears an anachronistic Victorian nightgown with floral motifs). Self-deprecating and self-
effacing, she performs appropriate rites of motherhood, her natural as well as cultural duty .

There are other lines that suggest that the mother is rather awestruck by the arrival of her first
born, notably the second stanza. Here a celebration is taking place immediately after the birth
(line 1), and in a daze, the new parents "stand round blankly as wall". These words suggest that
a life-changing event has occurred; but the image of the baby as a 'statue' in a 'museum' and the
child's shadow protecting its parents or threatening their safety seem to be ambiguous. However
we feel that this child is a precious, unique creature.

To conclude, we can say that Sylvia Plath has successfully displayed in her poem "Morning
Song", the experience of being a new mother, her reflective and occasionally uneasy joy at her
first-born child.

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Ques. 16. Comment on male-female relationships in Sylvia Plath's poetry? [NU.

2013]

Ans. There are two kinds of male-female relationships in Sylvia Plath's poetry: those between
fathers and daughters and between husbands and wives/Neither relationship seems to be
happy. In Lesbos" the husbands are impotent, useless, deserving of scornful dismissal. They
could be said of the potential husbands in "The Applicant (Collected Poems). But at least these
men are not physically threatening, as the black demi-devil husbands in "Daddy" most definitely
is. Here the husband is sadistic torturer. The silent, silver suited husband who brings sinister gift
in "A Birthday Present" is alarming too. He to wife in different, more subtle ways. Overall,
heterosexual love relationships are problematic in Sylvia Plath's poems. Even when she writes
excitedly about being pursued by a lover, there is a strong current of violence running through
the poem, "Pursuit", a suggestion that the female is the victim, the bait. She will be eaten up
worn out, cast aside.

Cold or sadistic husbands are mirrored by other sinister male figures in Sylvia Plath's work. In
"The Moon and the Yew Tree" the black, masculine tree is enigmatic, refusing to provide and
comfort or answers, Male figures associated with organized religion and medicine are almost
always threatening, the sexton and rector in "The Bee Meeting" bewilder the startled vulnerable
speaker who is being initiated into bee-keeping, the doctors "The Stones" assault the female
patient's body: they are deliberate clinical torturers.

We find the most shocking descriptions of male violence in Sylvia Plath's work, which occur
when she describes the father figure, specially her own father, Otto Plath. Her poems about her
dead father are some of her most intense works. Like the mother in "Medusa", the father in
"Daddy" is restricting, suffocating. He is more than this. He is a brute and a vampire, a Nazi
commandant, a devil.

Almost the same idea echoes in "The Rival". Though the title is ironic in its own way, we find
two warring figures, husband and wife. It is a poem in which metaphor, subject, and above all,
tone combine to produce the effect of cold, furious animosity and rivalry between husband and
wife. Perhaps it is the reflection of the personal life of Sylvia Plath. She has witnessed and
experienced bitter conjugal relationship both in the case of his parents and in that of her own.

In spite of her obvious misgivings about male-female relationships, Sylvia Plath did choose to
write about male subjects on occasions. They occur more frequently in poems first published in
The Colossus. "Suicide off Egg Rock", "The Hermit at Outermost House" and "Insomniac" are all
convincing depictions of male subjects.

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Ques. 17. Discuss the use of myths and imagery in the poems of Sylvia Plath.
[N.U. 2018)

Ans. Sylvia Plath has employed a number of powerful symbols too, manipulating metaphor and
simile expertly. Colour is frequently used. Traditional myths and cultural or historical allusions
serve her well, but at the some time she also forms her own personal myths, which add to the
intensity of her verse.

The effect of Crossing the Water on the mind of the readers is enormous, long and substantial.
The pleasure of reading Crossing the Water in derived from Plath's efficient use of imagery. It is
a poem that illustrates Plath's journey across the lake between American and Canadian water.
Her careful and crafty use of images creates a sensational and frightening atmosphere. The
speaker begins her poem under the influence of an extremely dark mood tersely describing an
ominous setting. The imagery is almost surrealistic creating supernatural scene. An extended
metaphor is used to create a world between life and death. The image of blackness is created by
the repetitive use of word 'black' and its synonyms 'shadows' a little light 'dark' 'pale' 'blinded'
etc. are the use of imagery.

The moon is traditionally associated with femininity and Sylvia Plath invokes it many times. For
her, however, the moon is not a symbol of fertility. Instead, it signifies barren coldness.
indifferent and selfishness. For example, The Rival begins with the picture of cold and barren
moon which reflects the cold and indifferent relation between husband and wife. Although
outwardly the moon looks very beautiful from far distance with its borrowed light, it is barren
and unfit for human habitation. That is why the wife, who is the speaker, finds the reflection of
her husband's character on the moon.

Flowers are used in unusual ways. They are a powerful presence in the poems in which they
appear. Maternal affection is conveyed through a reference to roses in Morning Song flowers are
undoubtedly a symbol of life, even when they seem to lead speakers to thought of death.

There are five main colours in Sylvia Plath's work: red, black, white, blue and green. Red is the
colour of life. Sometimes, he uses images of blood. Blood signifies suffering or mental assault.
Black is the colour of death. It is a masculine colour, frequently used to convey Sylvia Plath's
dissatisfaction with male sex. White is particularly an intriguing colour, while blue is the colour
of motherland.

Throughout her whole career, Sylvia Plath was interested in Greek myths. The most important
myths that appear in her work are the legends of Electra, Medusa and the Colossus, which she
took as the little for her first collection of poems.

Thus, it emerges that the poem epitomizes a substantial means for fulfilling the conscious and

20th Century Poetry Handnotes by Biplob Prodhan – EDNOUB Foundation

 24

subconscious mind depending on its bizarre and surreal imagery. The effect of such imagery
lead us to enter and ply in the dark world of life and death condition and leave a paralyzing
helpless effect on our mind.

Ques. 18. How does Sylvia Plath present motherhood in her poem Morning
Song'? [NU. 2016)

Ans. A number of poems of Sylvia Plath deal with mothering Sylvia Plath is not sentimental
about motherhood. It is not an unambiguously blessed state in her work. The most obvious
positive statement about children is "you're", which can be read as a celebration of pregnancy.
Here Sylvia Plath captures the affection and eagerness of the expectant mother. "You're" and
"Morning Song suggest that Sylvia Plath saw babies as unique, individual personalities; the
child is never simply an extension of the mother in her poetry. She observes babies closely,
showing us the wonder of new life through her use of unusual and unexpected metaphors and
similes to describe infants.

"Morning Song" was written by Sylvia Plath after the birth of her first child, Frieda. She intende d
that it should be the first poem published in the 'Ariel' collection. The tone is different from the
cheerful mood of "you're", although the poet continues to explore feelings and ideas about
motherhood that are familiar from the earlier poem.

From the first word "Love" onward we find the great affection and tenderness the mother feels
for her child. She is protective, waking to listen to the baby's cries, to which she responds
immediately. She stumbles from her bed to feed her. Sylvia Plath's descriptions are as precise
and original as they were in "you're". Here she concentrates on the sound the child makes, its
first 'bald cry' (line 2), its breathing (moth breath. lipe 10), further cries (line 13) and, finally,
cooing (last two lines). She also introduces an intriguing simile that suggests the baby's
otherness (the mouth which opens 'clean as a cat's'). It is not that Sylvia Plath feels alienated
from the infant (as some critics have suggested). Rather she senses the child's individuality; she
knows that it is not simply an extension of herself. This is why she says "Love set you going":
why, in the third stanza- using the natural imagery of clouds and the wind-she reminds the
child that she is not looking in a mirror when she gazes at it. In the fifth and sixth stanzas the
baby is clearly dependent on the mother to fulfil her needs, but she is also independent when
she tries out her "handful of notes". The simile in the last line closes the poem neatly, returning
to the positivity of the opening word; the child growing already, making progress as she
acquires language. The final simile catches the wonder of this development exactly.

We can copclude saying that Sylvia Plath's achievement in this poem is to capture the reflective
and occasionally uneasy joy of the new mother. We can assume that it is the first experience of
being a mother.
20th Century Poetry Handnotes by Biplob Prodhan – EDNOUB Foundation
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Ques. 19. Write a critical appreciation of the poem The Rival. (N.U. 2016, 19)

Ans. The Rival seems to refer to Assia Wevill, the mistress of Ted Hughes. It is possible that it
refers to Sylvia's mother, or to the relationship between some friends of hers who were having
marital difficulties more likely it is a combination of these things, like many other good poems of
English Literature.

"The Rivals' is composed in free verse and it consists of three stanzas, each having five lines of
uneven length, followed by a couplet. The theme of the poem is presented by pure statements
with the helps of metaphor, similes, irony etc. All through the poem, there is an atmosphere of
gloom and unhappiness, and the tone of the speaker who is full of frustration.

The pleasure of reading The Rival derives from Plath's efficient use of figure of speeches. The
controlling metaphor of the poem is the extended metaphor comparing the writer's imagined
rival with the moon. This serves to emphasize the distance in the speaker and her rival's
relationship and the cold hardness with which Sylvia regarded her rival, supposedly her
mother. The image of moon as 'great light borrower' implies that Sylvia's mother takes the life
from her just as the moon takes the light from the sun. The moon, too abuses her subjects. But in
the day time she is ridiculous and also part of the conceit. It demonstrates that the speaker is
jealous of her enemy and believes that she is up to no good. Ticking your fingers on the marble
table, looking for cigarettes, relate the theme of lifelessness.

The tone of the poem is more conventional. It adheres less to formal meter and rhyme as it has to
express the inner personal sentiment of a confession. The poem consists of four stanzas. The first
three stanzas have equal number of lines, five lines each and the last stanza has only two lines
giving a final blow to the tensed relation between the speaker and her rival.

Thus the short poem is stunning in its originality wit, and brutality.

Plath's use of metaphor and simile is vivid and original.

The Rival is written in a simpler style, with a more economical use of words, more direct. The
Rival deals with the very personal issues of suicide, sexual rivalry and, most dramatically, her
complicated relationship with her mother like her relationship with her father.

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Prepared by:

Biplob Prodhan

Founder of EDNOUB.

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Bibliography: Text Books, Internet, Study Guide

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