AD's English Literature

“Heaven lies about us in our infancy”   William Wordsworth   (1770 - 1850) Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood The poet William Wordsworth  (1770 - 1850) believes that every human being is a sojourner in the mortal world, whereas his real home being heaven. In fact, the poet starts with the major premise that men descend form God. To Wordsworth, God was everywhere manifest in the harmony of nature , and he felt deeply the kinship between nature and the soul of humankind. Man has his soul which knows no decay and destruction. But as one is born, one begins to be confined within the flesh. The soul, bound in his body, can not liberate in his infancy. He trails the clouds of glory, the glory of heaven from which he emanates: "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar: Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter ...

“Nullum quod tetigit non ornavit” (He touched nothing that he did not adorn). (A memorial to Oliver Goldsmith in Westminster Abbey)  The inscription, written by Dr. Johnson  👉Mr. Hardcastle and Mrs. Hardcastle - A Comic Pair Infusing Fun and Laughter  👉A Hilarious Dynamic Duo in "She Stoops to Conquer" 👉Quirks, Misunderstandings, and Mirth - The Hardcastles Steal the Show Introduction:  A Hilarious Contrast: Mr. Hardcastle and Mrs. Hardcastle - A Perfect Foil for Fun and Laughter Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith's " She Stoops to Conquer " is a witty comedy and it has as usual, five youths- Marlow, Hastings, Kate, Constance and Tony Lumpkin- at the centre of it. But this is not to say that the two old figures are pushed to the background. Mr. Hardcastle and his wife Mrs. Hardcastle are no insignificant. Rather, they make a comic pair contributing largely to the fun and laughter of the play.  In fact,   " She Stoops to Conquer "  features an...

Elusive Embraces: Sir Thomas Wyatt's Exploration of Love in 'They Flee from Me' Unveiling Romantic Decline: Sir Thomas Wyatt's "They Flee from Me" and the Satirical Cynicism of Loveless Lovemaking in Renaissance England Sir Thomas Wyatt Imbibed with the spirit of the renaissance   Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey initiate the cult of writings sonnets and love – lyrics in England. They, particularly Wyatt, express their sense of ecstasy or agony caused by their requited or unrequited love in their songs and sonnets . In the light of this Renaissance background, let us examine Wyatt’s poem “They Flee from Me” (1557) which is the perplexed observations of a man whose romantic popularity has passed, perhaps because he was too kind and attentive to the woman who previously loved him. It also unfolds the poet’s mild satire and cynicism, directed against the practice of loveless lovemaking on the part of some women belonging to high society in t...

Dover Beach: A Poetic Portrait of Modernity's Meditative Elegy Dover Beach: A Poetic Reflection on Modernity's Ephemeral Sadness Matthew Arnold Matthew Arnold’s Dover Beach (1867) is a finest specimen of modernity,  meditation and elegiac tone . Arnold’s Dover Beach presents the ephemeral human feeling of sadness through the image of the sea.  Written in 1867, during a time of significant societal and intellectual changes, the poem reflects Arnold's concerns about the erosion of traditional beliefs and values in the face of an increasingly secular and industrialized world.  Though a dramatic monologue, Dover Beach presents Arnold’s philosophy of life. In his essay The Study of Poetry Arnold uses the two words ‘poetry’ and ‘criticism’. He boldly affirms that poetry should be a criticism of life. By the words ‘criticism of life’ Arnold means “the affairs of life”. And by the word ‘poetry’ he means ‘poetic beauty.’ So the expression ‘criticism of life’ means poetic be...

“I can suck melancholy out of a song, as a weasel sucks eggs.” William Shakespeare  (1564 - 1616) English poet and playwright. As You Like It , Act 2, Scene 5 Exploring the Contradictory Nature and Choral Role of Jaques in Shakespeare's Play Introduction The chapter of Jaques is of abiding interest among the critics for his worldly wisdom, antiromantic stance, privileged criticism, melancholia and complex individualism. In fact, the introduction of Jaques is As You Like It adds nothing in the development of plot. Yet it carries a deep rooted design of motley-minded gentelmanliness, ripe observation, cynical pasturing and learned found. Now take a few sketchy details of the character to learn its diversity , Inconsistent and  Choric in As You like It . The Enigmatic Jaques: A Multi-Faceted Character in Shakespeare's "As You Like It" Jaques is Shakespeare ’s rare creation-as various as Ariel, Caliban or Iago. He is at once ‘the first hand, light and brill...

Nissim Ezekiel’s "Poet, Lover, Birdwatcher":  An introspective exploration of identity, love, and nature Craftsmanship, Sensuousness, and Intellectual Depth: Exploring Nissim Ezekiel's Poetry Nissim Ezekiel ’s poems are as a rule lucid and are splendidly evocative and satisfyingly sensuous. His poetry reveals more careful craftsmanship, a more conscious intellectuality. His sensuous sketches as well as his serious efforts on behalf of the experience have won Ezekiel numerous appeals for both his young adult and adult writing. In quality and integrity they are conversational directness and ease without losing himself in discursiveness. A Lyrical Tapestry of Observations, Love, and Artistic Pursuits in the Tapestry of Life Poet, lover, Birdwatcher (included in the volume The Exact Name ) is such a poem where beauty and bareness of statement go together where it weaves the themes of birdwatching, wooing and writing poetry together, and shows their resemblance: the need fo...

  A Set of 26 Objective Questions and Answers A. In which year The Faerie Queene was published? What metrical innovation the author used here? The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser was published in 1590 Books I-III, Books IV-VI in 1596. Here Spenser invented a unique nine-line stanza, now known as the Spenserian stanza, for use in the poem. B. What is the core subject of Milton’s Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained ?  Milton’s masterpiece Paradise Lost dramatizes the Biblical account of humanity’s banishment from Paradise and in Paradise Regained Jesus triumphantly resists Satan and regains the Paradise lost by Adam and Eve.