Critical Appreciation of the Poem “Ode to the West Wind”

“Ode to the West Wind” ,  Critical Appreciation

“Ode to the West Wind” is one of the most famous poems by Shelley and it was published in the same book, which consists of his famous drama, Prometheus Unbound and many magnificent lyric poems. He wrote this poem in the autumn of 1819 in Florence. The poem is considered as one of the noblest lyrics in English. It bears testimony to the poetic genius that Shelley was.

Consider Shelley as a Lyrical Poet

Shelley as a Lyrical Poet 

Percy Bysshe Shelley is one of the great Romantic poets in English literature. His poetry is marked by excellence and power in several departments. In the first place, he possesses the lyrical gift or the power of embodying in musical language some transient but vivid emotion or some passing mood in such a way as to reproduce the feeling in the reader. Commonly acclaimed as one of the supreme lyrical geniuses in English poetry, Shelley’s poetry is always pleasant reading because of the lyrical qualities it embodies. 

Figure of Speech are Used in “To a Skylark” by Shelley

Figure of Speech in “To a Skylark”

In “To a Skylark”, Shelley uses a number of poetic devices with a view to bringing his idea home. The poem opens with the trope figure of speech called an apostrophe in which an object or a nonhuman entity—in this case, the skylark – is spoken to as thought it were a living human: “Hail to thee, blithe Spirit!” Personification occurs when the poet addresses the bird as if it were a human being. There follows in the fourth line of the opening stanza a synecdoche in “thy full heart”, wherein a physical object-

“heart” is used to represent the whole, the skylark. A metonymy occurs in the fourth line of the second stanza: “The blue deep thou wingest”.  The “blue deep” is a suggestive specific object that represents a larger whole or general concept: In this case the metonymy of “blue deep” is standing for the Earth’s physical atmosphere or sky. There are metaphors in the poem with the skylark being Shelley’s natural metaphor for poetic inspiration and expression. Shelley uses metaphors to describe the days light such as “arrows of the sun”. There are alliterations line expressions like “pale purple even”, “of that silver sphere” or “Till the world is wrought”. The poem also abounds in Shelley’s use of similes to capture the joy and beauty of the bird and its song. There are similes in expression like “like a cloud of fire”, “like an unbodied joy”, “Like a glow-worm golden” or “Like a rose embower’d”.

 

You Can also Read:  Critical Appreciation of the Poem “Ode to the West Wind”

 

What Picture of a Black American do you Get from the Poem, ‘I, Too, Sing America’?

Picture of a Black American from the Poem, ‘I, Too, Sing America’

The persona of the poem, ‘I, Too, Sing America’ speaks out as a black American slave at a white American’s house. He gives a brief but significant picture of himself as a slave. This poem was published in 1945, about a decade before the Civil Rights Movement in America which started about the year 1955, and ended with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Nearly hundred years after the Proclamation of Emancipation, African-Americans were

regarded as inferior citizens of America and denied equal rights and privileges with the Whites. In the 1940s, many black Americans were servants in the white Americans’ houses. This poem gives a short description of how the persona was treated at a white man’s house. The house master sent him to kitchen for having his meal there, when some white guests visited them. The black servant was not allowed to sit and eat with them.  A clear distinction was made between the black and the white Americans.

The poet gives a very brief account of the condition of the black American slave, but though brief, the picture is significant, and representative of the conditions of the black Americans in all situations of their life in America.

What Impression do you form of Estragon in Waiting for Godot?

Impression of Estragon in Waiting for Godot 

Of the two tramps in Waiting for Godot, Estragon impresses us as the earthier one. He seems to be more animal, more related to things physical. His concern with his boots symbolizes concern with his roots in the soil. He seems to be in easy communion with the darker side of human nature. He is not afraid of the instinctive, irrational, unconscious forces in himself. He is less intelligent and less able than anyone to decide which day it is. He is unable to follow Vladimir’s religious discussion, expressing ignorance and

bewilderment over such things as the Bible, the Saviour and Salvation. He does not even know the story of the two thieves’ on the cross. When Vladimir expresses concern over the apparent disagreement of the Gospels when they deal with this episode, Estragon finds no intellectual problem. Further he is dependent on Vladimir. Estragon has to be reminded continually that they must wait for Godot. Estragon suggests from time to time that it might be better if he and his friend parted, but as Vladimir informs us he always comes crawling back.

 

You Can also Read:

• Beckett’s treatment of time in Waiting for Godot

• "Waiting for Godot" as a Play Belonging to the Theater of the Absurd

• Significance of the ‘Tree’ in the Setting of Waiting for Godot

• What does Waiting for Godot Imply for the Characters on Stage and for the Audience

 

Discuss the Symbolic Significance of the Setting in Heart of Darkness

Symbolic Significance of the Setting in Heart of Darkness

Africa itself with its forests its heat and its mysteries is only a symbol of the larger darkness which exists in the heart of man. It is true that Heart of Darkness leads us to the dark region of the heart of man who has surrendered himself to the weaker passions of life such as greed and lust for wealth. The dark forests of central Africa also symbolize primitive savagery lust and greed the darkness of ancient savagery and barbarism. The degeneration of the white men

under the corroding influence of these tropical regions is symbolic of the degeneration and decay corruption and loss of values of contemporary civilization. This decay and disorder is also symbolized by the rusting boilers upturned engines and railway lines decaying machinery etc. which Marlow comes across at the first company’s station. The inner station of the company where Kurtz stays symbolizes the subconscious and the fog which envelops the ship symbolizes the difficult process through which alone one can reach the subconscious. 

You Can also Read:

• Significance of the Last Words of Kurtz: The Horror! In Heart of Darkness

• Character and Role of Marlow in Heart of Darkness

• What Does “Ivory” Symbolize in Heart of Darkness

• Setting of the Novel, Heart of Darkness