Milton's Use of Epic Simile in "Paradise Lost", Book-I


"Three poets, in three distant ages born,
Greece, Italy and England did adorn.
The first in loftiness of thought surpass'd;
The next in majesty; in both the last:
The force of Nature could no further go;
To make a third she join'd the former two."

John Dryden (1631 - 1700)

 

Epic simile is, in simple words, an elaborate comparison that travels beyond the point of comparison and gives a complete poetic picture of some scene or incident suggested to the mind of the poet. They are used for illustration and ornamentation. They add dignity to the style. Such long-tailed similes stand by itself illuminating and beautifying much more than the ordinary narrative.

Analysis of the Character of Rosalind, the heroine of William Shakespeare's "As You Like It"


 In his tragedies William Shakespeare excels in the characterization of tragic heroes, in the comedies his artistic excellence is well marked in the portrayal of woman characters. ‘’They are the sunlight of the plays obscured at times by clouds and storms of melancholy and misdoing, but never subdued or defeated.” the world of Shakespearean comedy is world made safe for women. In Rosalind, the heroin of As You Like It, there is true womanliness with heroic courage and feminine charm, with strength, brilliance, unselfishness and high spirit. She is ideal of what we will wish the woman of our heart to be. She has been romantically drawn with great artistic skill. 

Joseph Addison as a Social Critic with Special Reference to "Mischiefs of Party Spirit"


  XVI. Mischiefs Of Party Spirit
Essays From Addison edited by J H Fowler Spectator No. 50, April 27, 1711

 

Addison ’s essays, his chief title to fame, are charming and delightful in themselves, and are of great importance for the influence which they had not merely upon literature but upon life and manners.His writings are of all good tastes of life. Here is sweet pool of imagination combined with acute objective writing. Sometimes like a social critic and a satirist he attacked all human vices, frailties, vanities, affectations etc., but his attacks were not fierce; ferocious, or bitter. “He attacked the little vanities, and all the big vices of his time, not in Swift’s terrible way which makes us fell hopeless of humanity, but with a kindly ridicule and gentle humour which take speedy improvement for granted” (Saintsbury). In his present essay Mischiets of Party Spirit Addison focuses on the evils that are escalating in the society through a jealous adherence to narrow and parochial party interests as practiced by various political parties and personages.

An Analysis of "The Hungry Stone" By Rabindranath Tegore as a Romantic Story


The Hungry Stone is a romantic tale of wonder and mystery. 
Salient features of romanticism in The Hungry Stone.

The Hungry Stone is a romantic tale impressing us by bold invention and appealing to that taste for the supernatural. Spectral and mysterious as the atmosphere of the story is, it is made to look credible. Tagore affects this with the help of lovely strokes of the brush. Realistic descriptions of nature, little human touches here and there, and interposition of day and night – all these produce an effect of probability on the mind and make us feel the hard earth beneath our feet. Tagore has succeeded in effecting an organic blend between the natural and the supernatural and rousing us up to the sublimity and intangibility of an ethereal terror that enchants rather than repels.

Analysis of Hell in "Paradise Lost" , Book-I by John Milton


Of all the narrative passages in Paradise Lost, Book-I , John Milton’s description of Hell stands out unique by virtue of its graphics pictorial quality and its evocation of a sense of gloomy terror.   Milton's "Paradise Lost" does not make any specific mention of the Baroque style of art, which is distinguished by its ornate and dramatic forms. However, the epic poem itself, which is regarded as one of the greatest pieces of English literature, exhibits the grandiose and dramatic characteristics of Baroque art too.
Though Milton was aware of the Renaissance concept that heaven and hell are no specifics topographical locals, but states of the mind itself, he clings to the medieval concept of Hell of having topographical entity. Milton presents Hell as a place designed for the eternal punishment of the fallen angels. Hell is a place for removed from the celestial seat of bliss. It is situated in the nethermost depth of abyss, and it takes nine days and nights to fall into this dreadful pit from heaven. Hell is an assemblage of all the arbitration human emotions – pains, despair, envy, restlessness, heartlessness, heartburn etc. This scene of barren desolation is thus described by Milton
          “A Dungeon horrible on all rides round,
          Serves only to discover sights of woe ….”
Here is sinister wilderness, ‘a dismal situation waste and wild’. While Satan surveys Hell as far as he can see and observe, He finds it a vast, gloomy and dreary region. It is like a huge underground prison house terrible to behold.

Analysis of Thomas Hardy's "The Darkling Thrush" -- A Darkling Hope


In the sense of brevity and descriptive art The Darkling Thrush is the masterpiece of Thomas Hardy which at the same time expresses his mixed reaction - pessimism and optimism for the coming generation. At the fag end of the nineteenth century, i. e.  on 31st December 1900, the last day of 19th century , the day the poem is composed, the poet is somewhat listless. The vast desolate winter atmosphere and lifelessness create a fit occasion to give rise in the poet’s mind to the central thought embodied in the poem- a pensive  reflection to life and society.

 Poems of the Past and the Present (1901), which includes The Darkling Thrush, contains many poems expressing Hardy's dismay with British imperialism. There he also mourns the passing of agricultural society and sees little cause to celebrate England’s rapid industrialization, which destroy the customs and traditions of rural life. Here in The Darkling Thrush ,in the transition of two centuries, he finds nothing hopeful or constructive. Yet there remains remote possibilities which the thrush prophesies.                                        

  First of all the poet presents a desolate winter scene at the close of the day. People living nearby had retired indoors. There was frost which was pale as ghost. The inclement weather of the winter still prevailed and the sun has already set on the western horizon. The stems of the bine trees have already reached the sky. Each and every member of the society was in earnest quest of their domestic entertainments. The poet is leant upon the gate. The sharp features of the landscape appeared to be the corpse or dead body of the nineteenth century. The century was almost dying. The process of birth and growth seemed to have stopped in the rigorous winter. The sky was cloudy, a storm was blowing. Every living being felt gloom and depression. But suddenly a song issued from the dark and decayed branches of the tree. It was spontaneous and it comes from the inner most core of the heart. It was excessively joyous and delightful. An old thrush that was lean, frail and weak was singing to his heart’s content in the midst of enveloping darkness. His plume was perturbed by the gust of wind. The poet finds the ray of hope in the bird’s song. He hopes for the coming golden future.

                Hardy’s thrush represents his pessimism in the midst of optimism or reversal. It seems that Hardy is stranded between optimism and pessimism, between hope and despair. The poet is acutely suffering from a kind of dilemma or conflict. The evening symbolizes left helpless, despair, frustration, metal darkness and disillusionment. But the song of the thrush symbolizes the spirit of hope a hope for a world of beauty, a world which is devoid of ugliness, the hope of the beginning of a new era or century or Millennium. It represents the passing away of an old century and heralding of a bright and hopeful new century.

                In The Darkling Thrush, Hardy the pessimist sings the glory of Hardy, the optimist. Although all was not right with his world, yet all was not wrong, all was not dead. Only for a moment, the pulse of the life seemed to stop but in the very next moment with all spontaneity life spring up with all its “joy illimited”. Beneath the wintry desolation there lies the eternal pulse of germ and birth. Behind the death of the old century there is the birth of new century, behind death and despair there is hope and life. From the very title of the poem it is clear that the thrush is sitting in the dark in the encircling gloom just like Hardy himself in “the long drip of human tears”. Yet out of this gloom bursts a song of hope, out of the goodnight air trembles forth an air of good morning – “if winter comes can spring be far behind”. The thrush thus symbolized the spirit of resurrection of new life of joy and hope that lay in store of the future, the store of the new century. The poet has not been transported out of the “growing gloom” of the present century but his response to the thrush’s song is positive. Although the “blessed Hope” i.e. knowledge of hope and prosperity only the bird has and of which the poet is yet unaware, Hardy accepts the bird’s song as a sign that there is hope for the future.

                Hardy’s The Darkling Thrush is the basis of Hardy’s self-designated “evolutionary meliorism. Hardy has a growing consciousness or awareness of the ‘blessed hope’ for the future generation. Hardy is basically pessimistic but a note of optimism is noticed here in his faith in man’s future. The song of the thrush is joyous and spontaneous. The bird by virtue of its instinct knows the future but the poet is not aware of. Here Hardy’s attitude to nature is philosophical. Nature’s outward appearance may change but life in Nature in never dead.     

"Of Studies" by Francis Bacon -- the Theme and Style of the Essay


Of Studies is the first essay of the first collection of ten essays of Francis Bacon which was published in 1597. But it was revised for the edition of 1612. More than dozen new sentences were added and some words were also altered. Of Studies is typically Baconian essay with an astonishing terseness, freshness of illustrations, logical analysis, highly Latinized vocabulary, worldly wisdom and Renaissance enlightenment.




Bacon through a syllogistic tripartite statement begins his argument to validate the usefulness and advantage of study in our life. Bacon has the power of compressing into a few words a great body of thought. Thus he puts forward the three basic purposes of studies: “Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability”. He later expands his sentence to bring lucidity and clearness. Studies fill us delight and aesthetic pleasure when we remain private and solitary. While we discourse, our studies add decoration to our speech. Further, the men of study can decide best on the right lines in business and politics. Bacon deprecates too much studies and the scholar’s habit to make his judgment from his reading instead of using his independent views.

Latin Loan Words in English language

The language formation is a continued process of growth and decay. The phenomenon of borrowing words and word-formation is the way of enriching one language. In the history of 1500 years English language has various foreign borrowing that is instrumental in the development of the English vocabulary. Contact with other cultures through conquest, and collaborations the sociopolitical circumstances, the need to explain new ideas have been the main reasons for borrowing words from various resources. Alike Celtic, Greek, French and Scandinavian borrowing, Latin loans are very important in the enrichment of English language.

English is profusely influenced over a considerable period of time. This Latin influence on English language is heralded by England’s contact with the Latin civilization. In the old English we find much of the Latin words associated with agriculture and war. Words like camp (battle), segn (banner), pil (pointed stick), mil (mile) etc are early borrowing. Besides, words associated with trade enter into the domain. Because of the enormity of wine trade we find words like win (wine), must (new vine), flase (bottle), eced (vinegar) etc. in the domestic field hardly we have any cycene (kitchen) to cook food or cuppe (cup) to drink coffe or disc (disk) to have any dinner.

With the Christianization of Britain in 597 A.D begins another phase of Latin borrowing to define the new conceptions, new religion, new ideas, and new faith. In the massive inflow of Latin words are both learned and popular during this time. We have had ‘Church’, ‘bishop’, ‘alms’, ‘alter’, ‘angel’, ‘anthem’, ‘canon’, ‘hymn’, ‘pope’, ‘psalm’, relic etc. during this period. Later, by the tremendous influence of Church in domestic life we find Latin ‘silk’, ‘radish’, ‘pine’, ‘plant’, ‘school’, ‘master’. The Latin gradually reaches the literary, medical, botanical and intellectual fields. We have no ‘history’ without Latin. The disease of ‘cancer’, ‘paralyses might get their names otherwise. Whom do we call a ‘ceader’ tree? How can be a jungle without ‘tiger’ and a desert without “camel’?

In the Middle English period, i.e. 1150 A.D. – 1500 A.D, comes via French and through translation works. The translation of the Vulgate Bible gives the English people words like generation, ‘persecution’, and ‘transmigration’. The other borrowed words during this time include words from law, medicine, allegory, theology, science, literature etc such as ‘conspiracy’, ‘custody’, ‘frustrate’, ‘genius’, ‘infinite’, ‘intellect’, ‘limbo’, ‘pulpit’, ‘secular’, ‘scripture’, ‘testify’ and many more.

In the Renaissance the Latin words flood into English texts in overwhelming proportion. Firstly, they are twain influenced by French and Latin. Secondly, native words and French words are remodeled into closer resemblance with their Latin origins. The old English ‘descrive’, ‘perfect’ gets the new form ‘describe’, ‘perfect’ by Latin influence. Yet there are the great mass of borrowing in the early modern English comes directly from Latin. Numerous examples can be cited: ‘affidavit’, ‘agenda’, ‘alibi’, ‘animal’, ‘bonus’, deficit ‘exit’, ‘extra’, ‘fact’. ‘Maximum’, ‘memorandum’, omnibus, ‘propaganda’, ‘veto’ etc.

          In the present-day scenario of the technical and scientific English, Latin shares with Greek the honour of being the source of rich host of new coinages. Words like ‘coaxial’, ‘fission’, ‘interstellar’, ‘neutron’, ‘mutant’, ‘penicillin’, ‘radium’, ‘spectrum’, ‘sulfa’ etc have become an integral part of the English technical vocabulary. Hybrid forms i.e. partly Latin and partly Greek, such as ‘egomaniac’, ‘speleologist’, ‘terramycin’ etc. have also entered the English lexicon in a major way. What is conspicuous about the introduction of Latin words during the modern period is that they have entered the language mainly through the medium of writing. The Latin elements in English, except the earliest ones, have been the work of Churchmen, and scholars.

          The Latin loan words add enormous addition to the English vocabulary. It fills up the gaps in the native stock of words. The Latin epithets and synonyms give the masculinity in English. The Latin dignifies and intellectualizes the English. Yet one can not deny that excessive Latinization of English has stunned the growth of native vocabulary. Sometimes, theirs superfluous and purposeless coinage has encouraged an inflated style full of learned and bombastic words and phrases. In spite of these, the very Englishness of English is still there and it is the power of English language that it assimilates Latinization into its natural growth. 

     Key Points
  Some Common Groups of Latin Loanwords in English:

Law: Many legal terms in English come from Latin, such as habeas corpus, pro bono, and de facto.
Science: Latin has had a major influence on scientific terminology in English, with words like biology, chemistry, and physics all having Latin roots.
Religion: Many words associated with religion in English have Latin origins, such as sacrament, baptism, and confessional.
Medicine: Latin loanwords are also commonly found in medical terminology, with words like diagnosis, prognosis, and prescription all coming from Latin.
Government and Politics: Many political terms in English also have Latin roots, including democracy, referendum, and veto.
Education: Latin words have also made their way into educational terminology, such as curriculum, syllabus, and magna cum laude.
Art and Music: Latin loanwords are commonly found in the worlds of art and music, with words like opera, symphony, and ballet all having Latin origins.
Everyday Language: Finally, many everyday English words have Latin roots, including alias, agenda, and ad nauseam.       


  References

History of the English language : Lounsbury, Thomas R., 1838-1915 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (n.d.). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/historyofenglish00loun_0

Curzan, A., & Emmons, K. (2004, January 1). Studies in the History of the English Language II. Walter de Gruyter.

Slang is an Integral Part of Any Language – This is Also True for English


Words are vehicles for the conveyance or expression of thoughts and ideas, and they only mean what we choose to make them mean. Thus we have babu English , slum English , slang English etc.  Now let's locate what slangs are.

The slang words as it is defined by The Oxford English Dictionary as language of a highly colloquial type, considered as below the level of educated standard speech and consisting either of new words or of current words employed in some special sense. Slang is mainly the creation of those who despite or disregard convention and hanker after novelty of expression in the belief that it shows independence and originality.

Old English Heroic poem (Beowulf and others) : Anglo Saxon pagan poetry: Pre- Christian poetry


 The Anglo Saxons and the Jutes, of Germany bring among them their language, paganism and their district warrior traditions as they invades the Roman colony of Britain in the fifth and sixth century. The Anglo Saxons are fierce and adventurous people with the fondness of war and love for the blue sea. Their manliness, heroism and hard toil are exhibited in Anglo Saxon heroic poetry. Here we come across a generally elevated elevating, and male centered literature, one which lays stress on the virtues of a tribal community, on the ties of loyalty between lord and liegeman, on the significance of individual heroism, and on the powerful sway of ‘wyrd’ or fate.

"The Kite" by William Somerset Maugham is a Study of Oedipus Complex?



The name of Oedipus has been borrowed from the classical story of king Oedipus who unknowingly married his own mother and had children by her. The psychologists, Sigmund Freud and others use the term Oedipus complex for ‘a manifestation of infantile sensuality in the relations of the child to its parents. It is a state in which a person shows excessive affection for the parent opposite in sex to him or herself, and corresponding distance from others’. A great part of his life is actually controlled by this subconscious desires and passions, over which he has no control.

Significance of ‘Porter Scene’ in William Shakespeare's "Macbeth"

The porter scene or the discovery scene (Act II Scene III) in Macbeth has attracted many critical commentary and conjecture. It comprises of two climaxes – the comical porter’s apparently irrelevant and tipsy comments and the discovery of the treacherous murder of Macbeth’s guest, King Duncan. Now, let us examine from close quarter the importance of this scene.  

 The Satirical porter scene written in earthly prose is intended a comic relief in the grim tragic atmosphere. The sordid, tense and serious atmosphere of conspiracy and murder is slightly eased by the humourous speeches and incidents of the porter. It is woven into the drama in such a way that they have widened and enriched, rather than weakened, the tragic significance. Alike the gravediggers in Hamlet, the speeches of the Fool in King Lear, the Porter’s nonsense verbatim aims to relieve the tension and heightens the tragic element by contrast.

The porter who has the duty to guard the gate and welcome the visitors is in drunken state and imagines in the Hell Gate. The castle of Macbeth is alike hell and villainy of Macbeth has invested it to its utmost notoriety. Thus the irony in Porter’s speech can well be read. The porter next fancies that three men, a farmer, a Jesuit equivocator and an English tailor knock for admission. Commenting on the farmer, the porter says: “Here’s a farmer, that hang’d himself on th’ expectation of plenty: come in, time-server, have napkins enow about you; here you’ll sweat for’t”. A farmer who hoarded corn expecting to make money, committed suicide as the price of the crops dropped due to bounteous harvest. The porter asks him to bring many hand kerchiefs to wipe away the sweat because the hell is very hot. The porter imagines the second applicant for the entrance into hell to be a believer in equivocation who can say yes and no to the same question to suit his purpose. But the equivocation has not opened the gate of heaven i.e. pleased God, and he has to knock at the gate of Hell. The porter next, imagines the third knocker as the English tailor come to heat his iron. Finally, the porter finds the place too cool for hell and says, “I’ll devil porter it no further”.

This apparently disjointed, discordant and drunken statement of the porter is sometimes criticized as unshakespearean. It is considered spurious by Coleridge who declared emphatically that this low porter soliloquy was written for the mob by some other hand, perhaps with Shakespeare’s consent. Even those who admit that it was actually Shakespeare, would contend that Shakespeare was compelled to incorporate such trivial stuff to satisfy, the plebeian audience’s craving for sensationalism and grossness. There are still others who would find this scene to be a regrettable practical necessity, “to give a rational space for the discharge of certain action” as Edward Capell says, "It gives Macbeth time to wash his hands and put on his night gown. There is yet other who would justify the porter scene on the ground that this scene provides a dramatic need of comic relief."

But De Quincey (De Quincey, 1800) finds the scene all Shakespearean but denies the part of comic relief. In fact, in his views it intensifies the tragic impact in the play. He believes that both Lady Macbeth formed to ‘the image of devils’. The next world is getting prepared for this message. In this intermingling period, the porter appears in the scene. Like a great artistic skill here is the hell-gate compared to Macbeth’s castle. The one a tipsy, tip soliciting menial whose language is vulgar, whose jests are filthy but who after all is not a murdered; the other, Macbeth, a valiant warrior speaking poetry and yet a murderer. Thus the contrast between the porter and his master is also established. The imagination of the porter is also of hell minus tragic pangs, but a continuation of a tragic suspense.

The porter scene is thus a significance of the subtleties of the hidden self pity and terror of tragic dreams. It further opens up two major dramatic opportunities. It gives the audience a most needed comic relief from the tragic monotony. Added with it, the scene also builds an important time panes to reenter into the tragic domain of murderous Macbeth.
                                                                                         

Summary Note: The "Porter Scene" in William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" holds several significant elements within the play:

💪Comic Relief: Placed immediately after the intense murder of King Duncan, the Porter Scene provides comic relief, easing the tension and allowing the audience to briefly relax.

💪Symbolism: The Porter, who serves as a gatekeeper, symbolizes the entry of evil into Macbeth's castle, reflecting the play's overarching theme of corruption and chaos.

💪Drunkenness and Guilt: The Porter's drunken ramblings allude to the effects of alcohol, mirroring Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's inebriation with guilt after Duncan's murder.

💪Irony: The Porter's references to hell and equivocation are laden with dramatic irony as he unknowingly describes the chaos and deception that have just occurred.

💪Foreshadowing: The Porter Scene foreshadows the coming turmoil in Scotland under Macbeth's rule, as it highlights the consequences of his ambition.

In summary, the Porter Scene serves as a multifaceted and significant moment in "Macbeth," blending humor, symbolism, and foreshadowing while providing a brief respite from the play's dark and intense themes.

References

Macbeth; : [Shakespeare, William], 1564-1616 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (n.d.). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/macbeth02shak

Shakespeare Navigators. (n.d.). http://www.shakespeare-navigators.com/

Shakespearean tragedy : lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth : Bradley, A. C. (Andrew Cecil), 1851-1935 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (n.d.). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/shakespeareantra1905brad

Coleridge, S. T. Thursday, 14 January 1819 (<span class=’italic’>Macbeth</span>). Cambridge Core. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/coleridge-lectures-on-shakespeare-18111819/thursday-14-january-1819-macbeth/41F4975CA30D01C66B64FB462999AC26

De Quincey, T. (1800, January 1). On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth.

Mr William Shakespeare : his comedies, histories, and tragedies : set out by himself in quarto, or by the players, his fellows in folio, and now faithfully republish’d from those editions in ten volumes octavo, with an introduction : whereunto will be added, some other volumes, notes, critical and explanatory, and a body of various readings entire : Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (1768). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/mrwilliamshakesp10shak_1

Aphoristic Style of Francis Bacon -- Illustrations from the "Essays"


Terseness of expression and epigrammatic brevity are the most obvious characteristics of Bacon’s style

 In matter of style Francis Bacon is professedly a Senecan. Though Cicero was the acknowledged master of Renaissance prose, Bacon realized that intricate effects of the ornate copious style that characterized Cicero could not be fully realized in the English language. So far, the great defect in English prose had been its prolixity and diffuseness. Bacon put an end to this. He preferred a probative authenticity of an aphoristic prose style. His prose is characterized by brief, pithy sentence units. His language has the terseness of expression and epigrammatic shortness. Indeed, Bacon comes very close to the Lypsian brevity. The concept of brevity which affected Lypsius certainly influenced Bacon and accordingly brevity is the soul of Bacon’s essays. It is because of a cryptic compression in Bacon’s style that he is described by Joseph Hall as the English Seneca. His essays show some of the finest feats of compression.


For example:
“Studies serve for delight, for ornament and for ability”.
                                                                         of Studies
“To use too many circumstances, ere one come to the matter, is wearisome, to use none at all, is Blunt”
                                                                 of  Discourse

           
Picture courtesy
Like Emerson, the modern American writer, Bacon has the same style of a series of trenchant and apparently disconnected sayings where the writer endeavours to reach the reader’s mind by a series of aphoristic attacks. Let us take an example from Of Studies where he says, “They (studies) perfect Nature, and are perfected by experience; For Natural Abilities, are like Natural plants, that need pruning by studies. And studies themselves, doe give forth Directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience”.
-          This sentence is structurally senecan in its crisp easily separated units; also in the
fact that it is not periodic, but states its main paint at the beginning, and then upbeats, or expands it.

Bacon’s aphorisms are the most quotable among the English writers. A large number of his observations have become proverbial and popular household commonplaces. Examples readily come to mind:
Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; writing an exact man”    

Of Studies
“Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested”.Of Studies

“He that questioned much, shall learne much, and content much.”Of discourse.
                                                                           
Similar examples reality come to mind from Bacon’s other essays too. For example in Of Death Bacon says: 
“Revenge Triumphy over death; love slights it; Honour as pireth to it; Gruief Flieth to it; Fear preoccupateth it”.
                                                            Or
In of Praise Bacon says in neatly compressed sentence:
            “ Praise is the reflection of the virtue. But it is the reflection glass or body which giveth the reflection”.

Though Bacon rejected the copious style, quite paradoxically he is a rhetorical writer. Macaulay says “though Bacon did not arm his philosophy with the weapons of logic, he adorned her profusely with all decoration of rhetoric. His eloquence …….. would have entitled him to a high place”. In his essays Bacon had taken ample resort to certain rhetorical devices in order to establish his points. Of these devices, similes, metaphors and climaxes abound in his texts.

In of Studies he compares our natural abilities to the growth of a plant. As a plant need pruning, our natural qualities are to be decorated by studies. In of Discourse the talkative ‘posers’ are beautifully compared to the tedious gay dancers. Such examples can easily be multiplied.

Saintsbury is rather critical on Bacon and says, “that he dazzles, amuses, half-delusively suggests, stimulates, provokes, lures on, much more than he proves, edifies, instructs, satisfies, is indeed perfectly true”. L.C. Knights also finds fault with Bacon for his allegedly stolid unimaginative use of the English language. We may wish to disagree these paints. Basically, no doubt, Bacon evolves an expansive style because his purpose requires it; but he can also use ampler structure to display the finer beauties of the English language. Thus, such aphorism is the result of Bacon’s brevity which meant to create a clarifying, penetrating impact upon the readers.  


 Reference
1. The Project Gutenberg Works of Francis Bacon. (n.d.). The Project Gutenberg Works of Francis Bacon. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/59163/59163-h/59163-h.htm
2. The essays, or counsels, civil and moral, of Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Albans. (1890, November 15). Notes and Queriess7-X(255), 400–400. https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/s7-x.255.400a
3. Woodward, P. (2017, December 3). Sir Francis Bacon: Poet Philosopher Statesman Lawyer Wit (Classic Reprint).
4. Essential articles for the study of Francis Bacon : Vickers, Brian : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (n.d.). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/essentialarticle0000vick
5. Knights, Lionel Charles, ‘Selected Essays in Criticism’. Cambridge University Press.1981.

An Analysis of Rabindranath Tagore’s "The Hungry Stone" as a Supernatural Story


With the progress of civilization we have learnt many things-- explored newer worlds, yet the mystery of death remains vogue. We have the infinite query – what’s after death? The rhythm of life and its saga, its pleasures and sorrows are trapped into the eerie patter of the mystery of death. Rabindranath Tagore’s supernatural stories depict this aspect. His Hungry Stones, Nisithe, Sampatti Samarpan etc are few of the exquisite examples.

            The artistic beauty of The Hungry Stones as a supernatural story is that it creates an atmosphere at once metaphysical yet factual, at once imaginative yet probable. It satiates the readers about their momentary disbelief of the supernatural atmosphere by dragging readers into the opacity of the poet’s abysmal conscience. Supernaturalism can only be felt by the sixth sense. The Hungry Stones pervades a mysterious romantic atmosphere that becomes a subject of extra sensual feeling – a sixth sense. In fact, the entire story of The Hungry Stones is the pure fabrication of the sub-conscious mind of the collector of cotton duties at Barich. Driven by the solitary Palace and its mighty opacity, he hears the story of the palace built by Emperor Mohmud Shah II about 250 years ago. He listens footfall on the steps of Sustra river, confuses himself in simultaneous murmur of the Persian damsels taking their baths, lost utterly into the song of bulbuls from the edges in the corridors, and muses himself in the strange unearthly music of the cackle of storks in the gardens.

The story of The Hungry Stones is a weird experience of a cotton-collector in a medieval pleasure-palace who resides a few days there. This collector of the cotton duties, a disposer of all things, is the narrator of his own story and the two fellow passengers are the listeners. The scene is at the waiting room in a rail station. It is then 10 p.m and the author and his kinsman are about to lie down for a comfortable doze, when the extra ordinary third person spins the yarn of his story.

            The cotton collector relates his experience in his tale. Driven and derided by the vision of the Persian Maiden and her cry: “Take me away, give me my deliverance; break down the doors of this rooted illusion, this deep sleep, this futile dream. Put me on your horse, take me in your embrace – carry me away through the forest, over the mountains, across the river into your own sunlit room. Give me my deliverance!” the collector losses his self control and finds the world around him trivial meaningless, and contemptible. He is fascinated by the weird spells cast by the marble demon. Karim Khan, a clerk to the collector’s office might have an explanation in metaphysical terms: “There was a time once when many flames of unfulfilled desire and demented lust had teemed and flared inside that place. Every block of stone within it is still hungry, still a thirst, from the curse of that anguished and frustrated longing. Whenever they find a living human being within their grasp, they seek to devour him like ravening demons”. Both the cotton collector and the old clerk Karim Khan realize that there is fatal attraction towards the haunted palace which begets split personality and insanity. One can be tempted to draw a parallel to Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of The House of Usher. D.H.Lawrence’s observation in the context of Poe’s story is also applicable here: “It is the souls of living men that subtly impregnate stones, houses, mountains, continents, and give them their subtlest form. People only become subject to stones after having lost their integral souls”.
            (Twentieth century Interpretations of The House of Usher – D.H. Lawrence)

            A great many of literature has been produced taking the subject of supernaturalism. In Bengali texts Tagore is identified as the architect of psychoanalytical supernatural stories. In him scarcely we find any weird or ape or apparitions’ sudden arrival – rather his is the stories of the man distorted into his self about the two extreme ends – the reality and extra terrestrial footprints. His is the stories of no-ghosts, rather a psychological landscape, deriving its form and colour from the mental states of the central figure. In other words, the author exploits the ‘flow of consciousness’ to communicate the drama of indecision, despair, inactivity or mental vacuity. In The Hungry Stones the alluring dreams of Persian Damsel and its irresistible attractive longing on the part of the collector of cotton duties might be a fascination as ‘all is false’. The story ends in a twist if the story is a pure fabrication or something that can be relied. Nevertheless, a lifelong rupture between theosophist kinsman and the author is the outcome.      

Shakespeare’s Treatment of the Supernatural Element in "Macbeth"


The witches in Macbeth are more symbolic than supernatural

The employment of the supernatural device to arouse the sense of mystery and horror on the stage was very common in the Elizabethan age. The existence of the ghosts, spirits, and fairies was fairly believed at that time both by the ignorant and the learned alike. Whether Shakespeare held that notion or not is a matter of dispute but his are the plays replete with such beliefs. Owing to several dramatic purposes and needs, the supernaturalism in Shakespearean plays is both subjective and symbolic. In Macbeth, the darkest of the Shakespearean plays, is considerably distinguished by its subjective and symbolic interpretations. Its employments serve to intensify the already accumulated dark atmosphere of the play in concern. The supernatural elements in this play comprises of the witches, the ghost of Banquo and other ominous portents noticed just before the murder of Duncan, the king of Scotland

An Analysis of P. B. Shelley's "To a Skylark"


P. B. Shelley, the supreme lyricist in the romantic period always longs for something ethereal, something that is far beyond the ‘sphere of sorrow’. His ‘To a Skylark’ is, as Wordsworth puts in “the expression of the highest to which the poet’s genius has attained”. It is one of the “most marvelous of English lyrics” ever written. It is the expression of a genius who sings “In profuse strains of unpremeditated art”.

Critical Appreciation of T. S. Eliot's " The Waste Land": The Poem That We Should Keep In Mind Before Attending Modern Materialistic Civilization!


Introduction:

Having viewed the modern materialistic civilization from the view-point of spiritualism and Christian Existentialism, T.S. Eliot has represented his reaction in the form of this poem entitled "The Waste Land". It is a symbolical poem composed in the style of poetic esotericism, “Formally the poem has been described as a much of ideas and as a poetic cryptogram”. As such his is the poem of myth and symbols, of a series of trains of thoughts whose parts look unconnected with one another.

The Epigraph:

"‘Nam Sibyllam quidem Cumis ego ipse oculis meis vidi in ampulla pendere, et cum illi pueri dicerent: Σίβυλλα Ï„á½· θέλεις; respondebat illa: άποθανεîν θέλω.’

     For Ezra Pound
       il miglior fabbro."

The poem bears an epigraph written partly in Latin and partly in Greek. The speaker in the epigraph says that he has noticed the Sibyl at Cymae hanging in a cage and wishing to die; but she could not die because she was almost immortal by virtue of a boon from Apollo. According to recent criticism, the Sibyl hanging in a cage represents the human soul hanging in the cage of Materialism. Being immortal, the soul can’t die. But it is highly miserable, since the materialistic man is constantly haunted by anxiety, cares, worries etc. he is all “fear in a handful of dust”.

The Title Words: 

The title of the poem "The Waste Land" has been inspired by Miss Dessie L. Weston’s book from "Ritual to Romance". It refers to a Waste Land described in one of the Grail Romances. The Land was ruled by the Fisher king. He along with his knights ravished certain maidens who were guardians of the Grail mysteries. Because of that outrage, he became impotent and fell ill, and his land became Waste. Eliot has represented in his poem the modern materialistic world as the wasteland, and its rulers as the modern materialistic man – He has profaned the mysteries of life and being, namely the Soul and God. Consequent upon his outrage, he has become spiritually impotent and has fallen ill with misery and his land has become waste spiritually.

The Theme Stated Through Symbolism: 

The doctrine of Spiritualism, asserts that in the universe all the material forms are unreal. The immortal soul is the only reality and it has real existence apart from matter. The doctrine of Christian Existentialism holds that man must raise his soul above the sins of the Flesh and the temptation of wealth. 
In order to illustrate his point of view, the poem surveys the evil effects of Materialism on the modern society of the West. In part-I he shows that the materialistic society is ruled by sensualism, unholy love, fraud as reflected in Madame Sosostri’s Clairvoyance, and misery born of materialistic desires. In part-II the poet opines that the modern woman considers life a game of chess in which she has to keep her lover under her power by means of her beauty and cosmetics till another lover knocks at the door. In Part-III, he shows that the modern men are burning in the fire by unholy love. The part-IV, he suggests that commercialism leads the modern man only to mirage and death. In part-V the poet sums up the nature of The Waste Land and its impotence. In fact, ‘here is no water but only rock’. The water of selfless love and compassion if missing in modern sphere, there is ‘rocks’ metonymy for materialistic thoughts and deeds. If sensual pleasures, madness for worldly riches and wealth be the crux of modern Waste land, there are three gates to man’s Salvation – Datta, Dayandham and Damayanta:
"Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata.
                  Shantih     shantih     shantih"

In the Upanishads, a collection of Hindu scriptures, it resonates as the thunderous voice. To elucidate, as Hugh Kenner elucidated, "If the most enduring wisdom of humanity harks back to its earliest origins, then the resonance of both thunder and the wisdom of Hindu sages, represents the cosmic voice, untainted by fragmentation into mere echoes." This essence forms the basis for "Datta" ("Give"), "Dayadhvam" ("Sympathize"), and "Damyata" ("Control"), each of which finds its place within the concluding section of the poem. Notably, Eliot restructured their sequence from the original "Damyata, Datta, Dayadhvam."

Who the Protagonist?: 

With fragmentary passages, literary quotations and allusions, there is an apparent lack of logical relationship along them. The reason is that the whole poem is a stream of consciousness in verse of one personage, Tiresias. He is the protagonist. Almost immortal, blind, bisexual he is the hidden poet, the very learned. Through memories, meditations, literary quotations, allusions and implicit contrasts his is the view of materialistic world.

Style & Versification: 

In esoteric style with missing links, quotations from foreign literature, use of myths and symbols are the key points in the poem. The tendency to suppress defining links may be traced back to the French symbolist. The Waste Land symbol is based on the myth of the Grail legend. This symbol has been developed by means of the vegetation myth with the rites of fertility found in ancient Eastern cults. Further, the poem is of striking speech rhythms for a sudden tightening, for a cumulative insistence, or for an abrupt change of mood. In conversational passages the speech rhythm gets down to colloquial level.

Conclusion: 

To conclude, "The Waste Land" is “the most notable single poem” of the modern age. It “goes beyond a mere diagnosis of the spiritual distempers of the age; it is a lament over man’s fallen nature, a prophecy and a promise”. According to prominent critic, it has serious defects. They are inherent in its origin and in method. He observes:
                                 “The Waste Land does not carry within itself all that is necessary for understanding. Its structural basis lies in a special branch of learning, and it involves continual references to other branches of knowledge with which few readers can be acquainted. The piece is not a self contained study”.( G. Bullough.)


References

The Trend Of Modern Poetry : Geoffrey Bullough : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (1949). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.176516

The Waste Land And Other Poems By T. S. Eliot : T. S. Eliot : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (n.d.). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/lp_the-waste-land-and-other-poems-by-t-s-elio_t-s-eliot

t. s. eliot acollection of critical essays : hugh kenner : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (1962). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/tseliotacollecti0000hugh

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