A Time to Believe by B J Morbitzer
The poem A Time to Believe by B J Morbitzer is a thought-provoking and inspirational poem. It aims to give the readers hope and reasons to believe in better things, in order to change their lives. This motivational poem encourages readers to always be hopeful and to fulfil all hopes and goals with trust and self-confidence. Thus, the main theme of this poem is to have faith and belief on yourself.
Summary
The poem ‘A Time to Believe’ is an optimistic poem that shows the reader what it means to believe. The author, B J Morbitzer, uses ordinary images to express a message of positivity that will appeal to those who want to fulfil their dreams. The poet describes “belief” as knowing that every day is fresh and full of hope that miracles will happen and that dreams would come true. He starts by saying that believing requires understanding that unlikely tasks would ultimately come to fruition and trusting the creator’s plans. To believe, he says that he understands the importance of a loving spirit, the purity of a child’s eyes, the wonder of experience; as it is through these that one learns to love one another.
To believe also means that we must know that there is a strength inside each one of us that teaches us to pick up the fallen parts of our life and to rebuild it again. The poet adds that to believe is to know that life is a blessing, and that we are never alone. He ends the poem on a note of positivity by saying that to believe means to wait patiently in the expectation that wonderful surprises will come our way.Our hopes and aspirations will eventually be achieved.
Tone of the poem
Thought-provoking, serious and motivational is the tone of the Poem.
Structure and stanzas:
4 lines in each stanza, except in the last stanza, which has 5 lines.
Figures of Speech/Poetic Devices
1. Identify and explain the Figures of Speech in the following lines from the extract.
i. “To believe is to find the strength”
Ans: a. Epigram – It is a brief, witty statement about the topic.
iii. “We are never alone,”
Ans: a. Epigram – It is a brief, witty statement about the topic.
iv. “that wonderful surprises are just waiting to happen,”
Ans: a. Alliteration – Here the sound of the letter ‘w’ has been repeated for poetic effect.
b. Consonance – The consonant sound of the letter ‘r’ has been repeated in the line.
c. Epigram – It is a brief, witty statement about the topic.
v. “And all our hopes and dreams are within reach.”
Ans: a. Alliteration –Here the sound of the letter ‘a’ has been repeated for poetic effect.
b. Consonance – The consonant sound of the letter ‘r’ has been repeated in the
line.
c. Epigram – It is a brief, witty statement
about the topic
Questions and Answers
1. Name the following.
Q. The two qualities that are required to recover after a shocking event.
ii. That which must be cherished.
iii. The requirement for making our dreams come true.
Ans: i. strength, courage
ii. life
iii. belief
Q. Describe the attitude that the poet advises everybody to have.
Ans: The poet advises the readers to have an attitude of being receptive to the unimaginable, to have faith and belief that one’s dreams will be realised and to have patience.
Q. We should believe that we are strong and courageous. Give reasons.
Ans: We should believe that we are strong and courageous because we are the only ones who can lift ourselves when we face the worst situations in life.
Q. Write an Appreciation of the poem in the tabular format.
Answer:
Title: ‘A Time to Believe’
Poet: B J Morbitzer
Rhyme: Scheme Stanzas 1, 2, 3, 4: abcd
Stanza 5: abcc
Stanza 6: abcde
Favourite line: “The innocence of a child’s eyes and the beauty of an ageing hand, ” Theme / Central Idea: One must believe sincerely, imagine that which has never been imagined before trust in the Creator’s plans and realise that one has immense potentials to realise one’s dreams.
Figures of Speech: Alliteration, Consonance, Epigram, Imagery, Personification and Repetition Why I like/dislike the poem: I like the poem as it is very positive and has a very encouraging message to give to the reader
Q. Make a list of any six things that the poet wants us to accept as true.
Ans: i. Every day brings new hopes and dreamspossibilities.
ii. Miracles do happen.
iii. Dreams come true.
iv. One must see wisdom in God’s plans.
v. Courage and strength lie within us.
vi. Life is a gift.
Q. Find from the poem positive qualities to fill up the web.
Ans: i. believe ii. hope iii. trust iv.courage
v. strength
Read the lines below.
i. ‘To believe is to see angels dancing among the clouds.’
The above line contains a human characteristic ‘dancing’ given to something non-human, ‘angels’. The Figure of Speech used in the line is called, ‘Personification.’
ii. ‘To believe is to know that
Everyday is a new beginning.’
iii. ‘To believe is to know ……… life is a gift.’
Lines in poetry, such as the above, state a general truth and can be used as sayings or quotes, etc. They contain the Figure of Speech called Epigram.
Epigram closely resembles a proverb.
Q. Find from the poem three other examples of Epigram.
Ans: i. Trust that miracles happen.
ii. Strength and courage lie within us.
iii. All our hopes and dreams are within
reach if we only believe.
Q. Rearrange the letters to make meaningful
words, occurring in the poem.
i. clearmis ii. sowmid
iii. gearuoc
iv. rissupser
v. tabyue vi. madres
vii. laveu viii. downre
Ans: i. miracles ii. wisdom
iii. courage iv. surprises
v. beauty vi. dreams
vii. value viii. wonder
Q. Write down words from the poem that describe the following.
i. sky ii. heart
iii. hand iv. beginning
v. surprises
Ans: i. stardust ii. nurturing
iii. ageing iv. new
v. wonderful
Q Say WHY
(a) ………. the sky has a magical quality.
Ans. The sky has a magical quality because it has scurrying clouds twinkling
(b) ………. even an ageing hand has beauty.
Ans. Even an ageing hand has beauty because it can teach us how to love.
(c)………… we should believe that we are strong and courageous.
Ans. We should believe that we are strong and courageous so that we can recover after we have gone through difficulties and shocks, and return to our normal lives again.
