Mir Afzal Composed upon Westminster Bridge, Sept. 3, 1802, by William Wordsworth Study Questions 1. What is the main theme of Westminster Bridge? Wordsworth’s claim that his vision of London is the best on the planet is clearly exaggerated, not to mention impossible to verify. But it is an innocent exaggeration, one that puts us “in the … Read more
This poem Abou Ben Adhem is is a short, fable-like poem written by an English poet James Henry Leigh Hunt. The central idea of this poem is that God love those who loves their fellow men. Love of fellow men is the best type of worship. Abou Ben Adhem’s name was top of the list of those, who love their fellowmen. In this the poet has conveyed the ideas of happiness, peace and love through easy and flowing rhymed couplets.
The World is Too Much with Us, Late and Soon by William Wordsworth Vocabulary sordid – dirty boon – blessing, gift forlorn – sad, sorrowful creed – statement of believe Questions and Answers 1. What is the poem’s form and meter? The poem is a Petrarchan sonnet, written in iambic pentameter. 2. What is the … Read more
Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Vocabulary sinuous – twisting cedarn – cedar chaffy – teasingly dulcimer – an hourglass shaped instrument Questions and Answers 1. With what meter and rhyme schemes does Coleridge achieve musical and rhythmic sound? The poem is written in iambic tetrameter. The first stanza has a rhyme scheme of A/B/A/A/B/C/C/D/E/D/E. … Read more
Jenny Kiss’d Me by Leigh Hunt 1. Who is the poem addressed to? The poem is addressed to Time (the capitalized ‘T’ suggests it is Father Time) 2. What does the first line of the poem infer about the relationship between the speaker and Jenny? Answers will vary. Note: The poem’s first line says that … Read more
A Hanging by George Orwell Introduction The essay ‘ A Hanging’ by George Orwell describes an incident of hanging one prisoner. Orwell describes the event in his usual dramatic and ironic style. The essay is remarkable for the vivid characters that Orwell has portrayed. Like ‘Shooting an Elephant’, the incident of hanging takes place in … Read more
Neutral Tones by Hardy Summary The poem ‘Neutral Tones‘ belongs to the group of ‘love poems‘ of Hardy. It is composed in the year 1867. It depicts the separation of lovers. It is about Hardy‘s love relations with his cousin Tryphena Sparks before he fell in love with Emma Gifford in 1870, his beloved who … Read more
Ode to the West Wind by Percy Bysshe Shelley Summary to The Poem ‘Ode to the West Wind’ is one of the most engaging odes in English literature. The poem is a forceful, mind-blowing description of the West Wind. Shelley, here, presents the West Wind both as a creative and destructive force. According to Shelley, … Read more
The Raven by Edgar Allan Introduction: ‘The Raven’ is one of the Edgar Allen Poe’s most famous works, as well as one of the best early examples of ‘gothic literature,’ which was the forerunner to the modern horror genre. The poem ‘The Raven’ was first published in 1845 and is a gothic poem. Because the … Read more
“Crossing the Bar†by Alfred, Lord Tennyson About the poem This is a lyrical poem. Tennyson wrote it when he was 81, while crossing the river Solent after a serious illness. He explained to his son that the “Pilot†was the Divine, the Unseen who always guided us.The poem is considered the “Swan Song†of … Read more
The Windhover by Gerard Manley Hopkins Summary of The Windhover The Windhover was composed on 30 May 1877, the same year as ‘Pied Beauty,’ but did not get publication until 1918. Hopkins chance to notice a common kestrel, often known as Windhover due to its proclivity for hovering, when awakening early one morning. Hopkins was … Read more
Sonnet CXVI by William Shakespeare Vocabulary: impediments – obstacles tempests – storms sickle – a pole with a hook, used for farming grain Summary of Sonnet 116 Sonnet 116 is one of the most well-known poems in English literature first published in 1609. This sonnet, like so many others by Shakespeare, is centred on love. … Read more