Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer Day (William Shakespeare) - Critical Appreciation

Posted by anjila | Posted in | Posted on 8:15 AM

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"Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day" is a Shakespearean sonnet that develops one dominant idea. Shakespeare compares a lady with a beautiful summer day in this poem. He finds her beautiful and immortal like his own sonnet. This poem has three quatrains and a couplet. It follows the rhyming pattern abab, cdcd, efef, gg. The poet develops the ideas in the three quatrains and the conclusion of the poem is embedded in a couplet.

The poet compares a lady, probably his beloved, to a summer's day which is all pleasant. The summer's day is lovely and pleasant but she is more than that. The poet also accepts the transience of pleasure and beauty of the natural things and season. The buds of May are not free of wind's touch. Similarly summer's lease is very short.

The sun is sometimes very hot and its golden complexion becomes dim. The beauty of every beautiful thing decreases and is ultimately spoiled naturally or accidentally. But the external summer's beauty he finds in her beauty will never disappear nor will she lose the beauty she has. The death will not be proud of taking her because she has been immortalized in the lines of his verse. She may die physically, but her beauty will remain alive in the lines of verse.

As long as the human race remain on earth and people can read lines of the poems, she will be remembered and will be immortal. Thus, the main concern of the poem is immortalizing beauty through the work of art, especially poem.

To The Moon (P.B. Shelly)

Posted by anjila | Posted in , | Posted on 7:52 AM

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"To The Moon" is very short and interesting poem. It is a one sentenced poem that describes the moon in detail. The moon is the symbol of mother Goddess and it is believed that she imparts the peace and prosperity to the people of the world. But the poet evaluates the moon from different angles. He finds the moon joyless that does not find anything constant on the earth. The moon has her own course and she is always in motion. She is alone in the sky amongst the stars which are not the moons. The moon is changing like the joyless eyes that finds no constant object. Everything in this universe is inconstant and is separate entity. Everyone, though among friends, is alone and wandering here and there and of course is in quest of constancy.

The moon is personified in the poem. He finds that the moon is not energetic but pale due to weariness of climbing up the heaven and looking down the earth continuously. The journey of the moon is endless and it is certain that it is a repetitive journey and there is no progress or forward movement. On the other hand the moon has the pang of being changed continuously. The moon is alone in the sky because the stars are of low origin, nobility and birth. Nothing equals to the moon on the sky. She is noble and elegantly born but she is also not perfect. She is in quest of constancy.

So, presenting the problem of the moon, the poet is telling us that nothing is constant and perfect in itself but is always in process of becoming something different

Summary Of "The Hunter Gracchus (Franz Kafka)"

Posted by anjila | Posted in , , | Posted on 6:46 AM

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In the harbour people are busy playing, drinking and selling fruits, etc. A death ship sailed to that place. The boatman anchored that ship with a rope. There was a corpse covered with the colorful silk cloth. No one was interested in that dead body. The boatman showed a great two-storied house on the left of the sea and they took the corpse to the door of that house. A small boy opened the door and they all entered. The door was shut. Flock of doves was delighted to fly around the house as if their food was inside. A woman on the boat gave some grains and the doves ate happily.

A gentleman came to the harbour and looked around gloomily. He knocked at the door. The boys opened the door and they welcomed him warmly. The boatman came there and led him to the first floor. The bearers were setting the candles on the head of the dead body. They lighted the candles but it did not give more light. The corpse looked like a hunter. The gentleman went near the corpse and put his hand on his forehead. he knelt down and started praying. All the bearers were sent out. The dead body opened the eyes suddenly and asked him who he was. The gentleman said that he was Burgomaster of Riva. The dead body said that he was hunter Gracchus. He had fallen down in the Black Forest of Germany long ago when he was hunting there. He had been dead since then. The ship missed the way and they were there. He struggled to climb the steps up to go to the heaven but all in vain. When he reached the door of the other world, he was awakened by the light and found himself on the boat. The wife of the boatman offered him the same wine. He stayed there on the wooden bed covered with a dirty shroud. His beard and hair were tied together. He heard the water hitting his ship.

The terrible fete came after his death. he was brought to a wrong place. He had performed his duty of hunter responsively before his death. It was not a fault, not a sin. No one helped him. The thought of helping him became a kind of illness that had to be cured by taking to bed. Therefore he did not ask for help in the end. Burgomaster asked him how he would stay with them in Riva. He answered that he knew nothing. The ship had last rudder and it was driven by the wind that blew in the undermost region of death.

Summary- "The Use Of Force (William Carlos Williams)"

Posted by anjila | Posted in , , | Posted on 6:17 AM

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There was no patient to doctor except Olson, who had asked him to visit his sick daughter to treat her. When he reached the patient's house, the sick child's mother welcomed him to the kitchen where the sick child was on the lap of her father. The father tried to get up to greet the doctor, who let him sit down comfortably. The doctor took of his overcoat and looked around. The parents looked at him distrustfully.

The sick child looked at the doctor with her eyes wide open to show her protest but did not move at all. She was an attractive and strong child. Now she was breathing rapidly. The doctor knew that she had high fever for three days. There were many sick persons around. The doctor asked if she had a sore throat. The parents replied together that she had not. There were many students suffering from diphtheria in her school. He called her to open her mouth to inspect her but she did not obey him. The mother assured that he would not hurt her. The doctor however, did not like the mother's expression. The sick child nearly clawed the doctor's eyes. His glasses dropped to the kitchen floor, Mathilda's parents were ashamed. They spoke the words of apology. The mother shook the sick child by her arm. The doctor now broke in. He said that he was to examine her throat anyway. Therefore, either the child had to open her mouth or he would have to open it for her.

She did not move at all. She began to breathe faster. Then the fight began. The doctor said that if the parents took the responsibility, he would not examine her throat. The father then tried his best to open her mouth but could not do it. The doctor told her to put her in his lap and hold her wrists. Then the child began to scream. She said that they were killing her. The doctor grasped the child's head with his left hand and pressed the instrument between her teeth. He tried his best to examine the throat but he could not. The child broke his instrument instead. The doctor then asked for some kind of spoon to open her mouth, which was already bleeding. Her tongue was cut so she shrieked hysterically. The doctor was also furious. He could have torn the child apart. but he had social duty to perform. He had to protect that child. Therefore, he finally used his force to examine the throat. He discovered that she had a sore throat for three days and struggling hard to keep her secret. Now she was truly furious and began to attack. She had only been defensive before. She tried to get off her father's lap and fly at the doctor while her eyes were full of tears of defeat.

Summary- "To Bobolink, For Her Spirit(William Inge)"

Posted by anjila | Posted in , , | Posted on 5:36 AM

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To Bobolink , for Her Spirit presents the real picture of the deeds and dedication of the autograph seekers in American city, New York. In America and abroad also young people especially the fan of movie stars have set a tradition. They spend a lot of time waiting for their favourite movie stars outside the club, restaurant or pub house etc. They gather at the clubs and discuss about the individuals life and career of the movie stars. This play focuses on how some young people spend their time waiting on the movie stars. How do they undergo the extreme hardship watching and waiting at entrances of clubs and restaurants.

The play is about the group of old and young admirer of film stars. Bobolink and Nellie are experienced and senior autograph collectors. Other two boys Renaldo and Frits, and a pairs of girls Gretchen and Annemarie are quite young and inexperienced. They are waiting for Perry Como outside the gate of 21 clubs. The play presents their futile attempt of autograph hunters.

Bobolink and Nellie have collected a good deal of autographs while others are just learning the art. Young group cannot distinguish the film stars from common people and just go asking for their autograph. They have classified the autograph seekers into two categories, stuck up and not stuck up. They have the opinion that the great actors and actresses like Lana Turner, Tyrone Power etc. etc. are not stuck up. Renaldo and Frits approached two couples suspecting them to be the same movie stars but Bobolink and Nellie maintained their dignity. Bobolink declared that she had no time to waste for anybody who might be famous in future. Till the end of the play they are waiting for their celebrity.

Appropriate references to people and places in the dialogue and stage directions serve to create the atmosphere of glamour which fascinates the young people. In spite of the domination of the senior, the junior's hope and enthusiasms are irrepressible. They remind us that we should have devotion and belief in our work. Every person in every society has the object of admiration. An athelete, a guru, a leader, etc may provoke our intense admiration. Identifying ourselves with him enables us to fulfill our wish through a kind of day dream. The only difference is that some people are able to give due importance to our responsibilities despite such vain dreams.