english

Impact of science on Man

Science is a system of acquiring knowledge based on scientific method and research. Science is also a continuing effort to discover and increase human knowledge and understanding. Modern science is relatively new having it's origin about 350 years ago. Inspite of it's recent origin it has made very rapid progress and completely transformed outwardly the manner of our living. But before that Science was not an organised branch and neither were there any scientists. Instead there were primitive men who were less evolved and for whom the earth was a big puzzle. He did not dare to venture to places unknown to him to avoid any mishap. The sun, the moon and the stars amazed him. These heavenly bodies were held in great reverence. He was helpless and at the mercy of nature. Hence, he worshipped its forces. But his inquisitive nature made him do some primitive research. And the invention of the wheel and the discovery of fire were his achievements. This initiation into the scientific arena was a small step for man but a giant leap for mankind. It is because of the scientific knowledge accumulated over the last three centuries, and its application in the form of technology that our lives have changed outwardly. It didn't change as much in thousands of years as it has changed since the last one hundred years or so. The impact of science on society is very visible. Progress in agriculture, medicine and health care, telecommunications, transportation, computerization and so on, is part of our daily living now. The goals that had not been generally discussed, largely for lack of intelligent understanding of the process and its possibilities are very much a reality now. Humans have now the power to blunt the hardships of existence, from pain and disability and the prolongation of individual life. Scientific advances have sharpened our perception of future prospects. From time to time we also see major scientific breakthrough, like the advancements in understanding the genetic code. The advent of science has altered the life of man. He has been able to venture deep in seas and discovered new lands. Earth's round shape, it's revolution around around the Sun, laws of gravitation, electricity, invention of telephone, telex etc. have made him the new master of the earth. The same earth, from whose power he was afraid.
The successive discoveries and inventions in the fields of medicine, agriculture, communication etc. have given the conveniences, comforts and power to humans but in no part of the world are human beings happy, at peace with themselves, living without violence. The aim of developments in science were to usher in an era of peace and prosperity. But on the contrary it has lead to greater violence, sorrow, tension, new diseases, environmental crisis, war to name a few. On the one hand Science has been a boon to mankind and on the other it has also proved to be a bane. Moral values are being ignored, the social fabric of the society is breaking up and environment is in crisis. The same nature which gave him such valuable resources, is now being abused and ignored. In his pursuit of excellence, man ignored his foresight
Positive Effects of Science

Prolonging life and eliminating various deadly diseases. Advancements in space research, artificial satellites have promoted communications. These satellites have helped in broadcasting, weather forecasting etc. Invention of mobile phones, internet, fax and e-mail has not only further enhanced communication but it also has economically benefited us. Technological changes such as the Bluetooth wireless service have revolutionized communication. Wireless technology has made synchronized exchange possible and has lead to advanced office efficiency.Agriculture with improved methods of irrigation, better quality seeds, use of fertilizers, hybrid seeds and drought resistant seeds, new tools and implements, tractors and harvesters has also been revolutionised. Atomic energy when harnessed by man, for peaceful purposes, yields good results. Isotopes of some radioactive materials are used to cure diseases. Atomic energy is used to run reactors to produce electricity. It has proved to be a viable alternative to the fossil fuels.
Carbon-14 is used by archaeologists to find the exact age of an organic fossil. It has led to low mortality rate and has increased life-expectancy. Smallpox, polio, plagueand cholera have been almost eradicated from the face of the earth.

Negative Effects of Science
Indiscriminate industrialization and urbanization have resulted in alarming levels of pollution. Rivers are choked with sewage, industrial wastes etc. Various modes of transport have contributed to further deterioration of the planet and now pose a threat to the very existence of the flora and fauna. The destructive potential of atomic energy was witnessed in August 1945, when the United States dropped atom bombs in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those who survived the nuclear bombing are still suffering from its aftermath. Weapons which are more sophisticated and destructive than their earlier versions have been created. Man has also started stockpiling biological and chemical weapons. Biosciences, meant for the betterment of mankind are now used to make disease germs which can be used in the battle field. Majority of all the scientific research being done currently is directly or indirectly meant for developing weapons and supported by the Defence Ministry in every nation. There is lot of Technological Evolution but there is nil or minimal Psychological Evolution of the society. Hatred, groupism, casteism, division on basis of nationality, linguistic, religious and other groups still continues to be a malice

Science, beyond Boon or Bane
With all his scientific discoveries and technologies, man has proved his superiority over the other beings in nature. His thoughtless acts has caused irreparable damage to his own self as well as to the environment. Science made man civilized but in the process he has abused and ignored nature. Even though with genetic engineering we might develop new power but will it be used for the benefit of mankind and for the earth at large. There is a great need to use science scrupulously to have a positive impact. It is very important to watch your next step, but before you take the next step, make sure that you have a long vision, which gives the direction to that step. It's time that we should use science with a good conscience and prudence. Live and Let Live should be the new mantra of life. We need to distinguish between science and technology. Science is the quest for truth about Nature. Its aim is not to produce technology but to understand how Nature works and discover the tremendous order and intelligence operating around us. The problems exist because of lack of understanding of life and the psychologically primitive state in which we find ourselves. Our Universe is not just an object it is a very intelligent force. Our body is a perfect example of order, a million activities occur with a perfect order within our body. An that also without any conscious voluntary effort on our part, but we have not discovered order in our consciousness, which is virtue, peace of mind, love, happiness, compassion, freedom from conflict, non-violence.. There is disorder in our consciousness. All the successful scientific quest have been successful because the order already exists in universe. Though Newton discovered gravitation but it was always there even a million years before. The laws of Nature are independent of the scientist. Technology is a by-product of science, but science itself is the quest for truth about Nature. History is witness to the fact that man has used it and is still using it primarily for destruction rather than for construction, bringing our planet and our lives to a level of danger which never existed before. A deeper understanding of life and of ourselves is the need of the hour. Scientific knowledge is supposed to be value-neutral. And humanity needs to discover what is called the scientific spirit as the spirit is always more important than the technique, the knowledge or the method in any activity

CHAPTER-8
INTERPRETER OF MALADIES

SUMMARY OF STORY
The Das family is in India on vacation, and Mr. Das has hired Mr. Kapasi to drive them to visit the Sun Temple. The family sits in the car, which is stopped near a tea stall. Mr. and Mrs. Das are arguing about who should take their daughter, Tina, to the bathroom, an Mrs.Das ultimately takes her. Ronny, their son, darts out of the car to look at a goat. Mr. Das, who closely resembles Ronny, reprimands him but does nothing to stop him, even when he says he wants to give the goat a piece of gum. Mr. Das tells Bobby, the younger of their two sons, to go look after Ronny. When Bobby refuses, Mr. Das does nothing to enforce his order.
Mr. Das tells Mr. Kapasi that both he and his wife were born and raised in the United States. Mr. Das also reveals that their parents now live in India and that the Das family visits them every few years. Tina comes back to the car, clutching a doll with shorn hair. Mr. Das asks Tina where her mother is, using Mrs. Das’s first name, Mina. Mr. Kapasi notices that Mr. Das uses his wife’s first name, and he thinks it is an unusual way to speak to a child. While Mrs. Das buys some puffed rice from a nearby vendor, Mr. Das tells Mr. Kapasi that he is a middle-school teacher in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Mr. Kapasi reveals that he has been a tour guide for five years.
The group sets off. Tina plays with the locks in the back of the car, and Mrs. Das does not stop her. Mrs. Das sits in the car silently and eats her snack without offering any to anyone else.Along the road, they see monkeys, which Mr. Kapasi says are common in the area. Mr. Das has him stop the car so he can take a picture of a starving peasant. Mr. and Mrs. Das quarrel because Mr. Das has not gotten them a tour guide whose car has air-conditioning. Mr. Kapasi observes that Mr. and Mrs. Das are more like siblings to their children than parents.
Mr. Kapasi tells the Dases about his other job as an interpreter in a doctor’s office. Mrs. Das remarks that his job is romantic and asks him to tell her about some of his patients. However, Mr. Kapasi views his job as a failure. At one time, he had been a scholar of many languages, and now he remains fluent only in English. He took the interpreting job as a way to pay the medical bills when his eldest son contracted typhoid and died at age seven. He kept the job because the pay was better than his previous teaching job, but it reminds his wife of their son’s death. Mr. Kapasi’s marriage was arranged by his parents, and he and his wife have nothing in common. Mr. Kapasi, seduced by Mrs. Das’s description of his job as “romantic,” begins fantasizing about Mrs. Das.
When they stop for lunch, Mrs. Das insists that Mr. Kapasi sit with them. He does, and Mr. Das takes their picture together. Mrs. Das gets Mr. Kapasi’s address so that she can send him a copy of the picture, and Mr. Kapasi begins to daydream about how they will have a great correspondence that will, in a way, finally fulfill his dreams of being a diplomat between countries. He imagines the witty things he will write to her and how she will reveal the unhappiness of her marriage.
At the temple, Mrs. Das talks with Mr. Kapasi as they stare at friezes of women in erotic poses. Mr. Kapasi admires her legs and continues to dream about their letters. Dreading taking the Dases back to their hotel, he suggests that they go see a nearby monastery, and they agree. When they arrive, the place is swarming with monkeys. Mr. Kapasi tells the children and Mr. Das that the monkeys are not dangerous as long as they are not fed.

Mrs. Das stays in the car because her legs are tired. She sits in the front seat next to Mr. Kapasi and confesses to him that her younger son, Bobby, is the product of an affair she had eight years ago. She slept with a friend of Mr. Das’s who came to visit while she was a lonely housewife, and she has never told anyone about it. She tells Mr. Kapasi because he is an interpreter of maladies and she believes he can help her. Mr. Kapasi’s crush on her begins to evaporate. Mrs. Das reveals that she no longer loves her husband, whom she has known since she was a young child, and that she has destructive impulses toward her children and life. She asks Mr. Kapasi to suggest some remedy for her pain. Mr. Kapasi, insulted, asks her whether it isn’t really just guilt she feels. Mrs. Das gets out of the car and joins her family. As she walks, she drops a trail of puffed rice.
Meanwhile, the children and Mr. Das have been playing with the monkeys. When Mrs. Das rejoins them, Bobby is missing. They find him surrounded by monkeys that have become crazed from Mrs. Das’s puffed rice and are hitting Bobby on the legs with a stick he had given them. Mr. Das accidentally takes a picture in his nervousness, and Mrs. Das screams for Mr. Kapasi to do something. Mr. Kapasi chases off the monkeys and carries Bobby back to his family. Mrs. Das puts a bandage on Bobby’s knee. Then she reaches into her handbag to get a hairbrush to straighten his hair, and the paper with Mr. Kapasi’s address on it flutters away.

Themes
The Difficulty of Communication
Communication breaks down repeatedly in “Interpreter of Maladies,” often with hurtful consequences Mr. Kapasi, who is the interpreter of maladies, as Mrs. Das names him, has lost his ability to communicate with his wife, forcing him to drink his tea in silence at night and leading to a loveless marriage. He has also lost his ability to communicate in some of the languages he learned as a younger man, leaving him with only English, which he fears he does not speak as well as his children. Mr. and Mrs. Das do not communicate, not because of a language barrier but because Mrs. Das hides behind her sunglasses most of the time and Mr. Das has his nose buried in a guidebook. The children do not listen to their parents, nor do they listen to Mr. Kapasi about the monkeys. All these frustrated attempts at communicating with one another lead to hurt feelings. The Kapasis are trapped in a failing marriage. The Dases are openly hostile to each other. The Das children run rampant over their parents and everyone else. And Mr. Kapasi and Mrs. Das are unable to reach a level of friendship that they both may have sought, if only they could speak with one another openly. When Mrs. Das loses Mr. Kapasi’s address at the end of the story, it marks the termination of the possibility that they could reach out to each other and the definite end to all communication between them.

The Danger of Romanticism

Every time a character in “Interpreter of Maladies” fails to see the truth about another person, the results are in some way harmful. The main conflict of the story centers on two people who romanticize each other, although in different ways. Mr. Kapasi sees Mrs. Das as a lonely housewife who could be a perfect companion to him in his own loneliness. He misses or ignores cues that she may not be interested in him for his own sake because, at some level, he wants her to be this companion. He sees many details about her, such as her bare legs and Americanized shirt and bag, but he passes over others, such as the way she dismisses her children’s desires and her selfishness with her snack. Such unflattering details do not fit with his conception of her. Likewise, Mrs. Das wants Mr. Kapasi to become a confidante to her and solve her personal and marital difficulties. She views him as a father figure and helper and misses or ignores indications that he may not fit those roles. For example, she doesn’t notice that he is uncomfortable with her personal revelations and presses him for help even when he explicitly tells her that he cannot give it to her.
Besides romanticizing one another, the characters also romanticize their surroundings, resulting in insensitivity and danger. Mr. Das, for example, photographs the Indian peasant whose suffering he finds appropriate for a tourist’s shot. He sees only what he wants to see—an interesting picture from a foreign land—not the actual man who is starving by the roadside. Even when Bobby is surrounded by monkeys, in genuine distress, Mr. Das can do nothing but snap a picture, as though this scene is also somehow separate from reality. Throughout their trip, Mr. Das fails to engage with India in any substantial way, preferring to hide behind the efficient descriptions in his guidebook. His romanticized tourist’s view of India keeps him from connecting to the country that his parents call home.

Character List

Mr. Kapasi - The Indian tour guide who accompanies the Das family on their trip. Mr. Kapasi was once fluent in many languages but now speaks only English. He once dreamed of being a diplomat but now works as a translator in a doctor’s office, a job he acquired when his young son died from typhoid. Mr. Kapasi lives in a loveless, arranged marriage and no longer sees himself as a potential object of interest for women. He entertains fantasies about Mrs. Das but is ultimately horrified by her confession of infidelity and self-absorption.
Mrs. Mina Das - The self-absorbed wife of Mr. Das whose infidelity has isolated her from her husband and children. Mrs. Das cares only about herself and her needs and has little true connection to the people around her. After having an affair eight years ago and conceiving Bobby, she never told Mr. Das or Bobby the truth. Her need to confess her past transgressions horrifies Mr. Kapasi.
Mr. Das - The middle-school science teacher who hires Mr. Kapasi to accompany the family on their trip. Mr. Das takes a voyeuristic interest in India and its people, not really connecting with his surroundings except through his camera and guide book. Mr. Das is a passive, ineffective parent, incapable or unwilling to reprimand his children for misbehaving. In a moment of crisis, when Bobby is surrounded by monkeys, he fails to do anything but accidentally take a picture of the scene.
Bobby Das - The younger Das son, who is not actually Mr. Das’s child. Bobby does not resemble Mr. Das physically or temperamentally. He is surly and treats Mr. Das disrespectfully.
Tina Das - The young Das daughter. Tina whines and misbehaves, seeking her mother’s attention and failing to get it.
Ronny Das - The eldest Das child. Ronny does not listen to his parents, preferring to do what he wants to do.

Mr. Kapasi
Mr. Kapasi believes that his life is a failure and longs for something more. In his efforts to lift his existence out of the daily, monotonous grind it has become, Mr. Kapasi develops a far-fetched fantasy about the possibility of a deep friendship between himself and Mrs. Das. This fantasy reveals just how lonely Mr. Kapasi’s life and marriage have become. His arranged marriage is struggling because his wife cannot recover from her grief over the loss of their young son or forgive him for working for the doctor who failed to save their son’s life. His career is far less than what he dreamed it might be. He uses his knowledge of English in only the most peripheral way, in high contrast to the dreams of scholarly and diplomatic greatness he once had. In his isolation, he sees Mrs. Das as a potential kindred spirit because she also languishes in a loveless marriage. He imagines similarities between them that do not exist, yearning to find a friend in this American woman. Not surprisingly, the encounter ends in disappointment. When Mrs. Das does confide in him, he feels only disgust. The intimacy he thought he wanted revolts him when he learns more about Mrs. Das’s nature.
In both of Mr. Kapasi’s jobs, as a tour guide and an interpreter for a doctor, he acts as a cultural broker. As a tour guide, he shows mostly English-speaking Europeans and Americans the sights of India, and in his work as an interpreter, he helps the ailing from another region to communicate with their physician. Although neither occupation attains the aspirations of diplomacy he once had, Mrs. Das helps him view both as important vocations. However, Mr. Kapasi is ultimately unable to bridge the cultural gap between himself and Mrs. Das, whether it stems from strictly national differences or more personal ones. Mr. Kapasi’s brief transformation from ordinary tour guide to “romantic” interpreter ends poorly, with his return to the ordinary drudgery of his days.
Mrs. Mina Das
Mrs. Das’s fundamental failing is that she is profoundly selfish and self-absorbed. She does not see anyone else as they are but rather as a means to fulfilling her own needs and wishes. Her romanticized view of Mr. Kapasi’s day job leads her to confide in him, and she is oblivious to the fact that he would rather she did not. She persists in confiding even when it is clear that Mr. Kapasi has no advice to offer her. Mrs. Das is selfish, declining to share her food with her children, reluctantly taking her daughter to the bathroom, and refusing to paint her daughter’s fingernails. She openly derides her husband and mocks his enthusiasm for tourism, using the fact that they are no longer in love as an excuse for her bad behavior. Although Mrs. Das has been unfaithful, she feels the strain in her marriage only as her own pain. She fails to recognize the toll her affair takes on her husband and children. Rather than face the misery she has caused, Mrs. Das hides behind her sunglasses and disengages from her family. Likewise, when her attempt at confiding in Mr. Kapasi fails, she leaves the car rather than confront the guilt that Mr. Kapasi has suggested is the source of her pain. Mrs. Das embodies stereotypically American flaws, including disrespect for other countries and cultures, poorly behaved children, and a self-involvement so extensive that she blames others for her feelings of guilt about her infidelity. She is messy, lazy, and a bad parent. She has no concern for the environment or her effect on it and drops her rice snacks all over the ground, riling the local wildlife. She represents what is often called the “ugly American,” a traveler who stands out in every situation because of her expansive sense of self-importance and entitlement.

Review Questions
1. How long does Mr Kapasi caculate it will take before he he gets a letter from Mrs.Das?
2. What is on Mrs.Das shit that keeps making Mr. Kapasi look Interpreter of Maladies examines the impact of acceptance and rejection on people. Discuss.
3. Why is the book named after the particular story, “Interpreter of Maladies”?
4. Discuss the significance of Partition as a theme in Interpreter of Maladies.
5. Why does Mrs. Das reveal to Mr. Kapasi that she is not Bobby’s father?
6. Discuss the immigrant experience as explored in the collection Interpreter of Maladies.
7. Do you believe Boori Ma’s tales of her luxurious life? Does it matter if she was telling the truth?
8. What does “sexy” mean in the story of the same name?
9. Food is a recurring motif in Lahiri’s stories. Choose a few examples and discuss their significance.

JOHN DONNE’S “THE GOOD MORROW

I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then?
But sucked on country pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers' den?
'Twas so; but this, all pleasures fancies be.
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desired, and got, 'twas but a dream of thee.

And now good-morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear;
For love, all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room an everywhere.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,
Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown,
Let us possess one world, each hath one, and is one.
My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;
Where can we find two better hemispheres,
Without sharp north, without declining west?
Whatever dies, was not mixed equally;
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I
Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die.
Paraphrase
Stanza 1. I am surprised—I swear by my faith—what we both did till we fell in love. Perhaps, we were satisfied with our childish pleasures (like sucking mother’s milk). May be we enjoyed the simple joys of nature in the country before the realization of true love. Perhaps, we slept for many years like the seven sleepers who slept in the cave. All the former pleasures compared to the present one are just fancies. If I found any beautiful girl whom I killed and got, she was just a shadow or reflection of your beauty.
Stanza 2. Now that our souls have awakened to a new-life, let us say ‘good morning’ to them. Our souls watch each other not out of suspicious or fear but out of love Our love prevents us from running after any other sight or pleasure. Our small room of love is as good as the whole world. Let the navigators roam over the seas and discover new worlds for themselves. Let the maps show to the other people the different worlds that exist. We are happy with the possession of one world—the world of love—where the lovers are united into one.
Stanza 3. My face is reflected in your eye and likewise your face is seen in my eye. Our faces reveal to us that our hearts are pure and innocent. We two, between the both of us, constitute two hemisphetes which are better than the geographical hemispheres because our first hemisphere is without the slanting North Pole (with its bitter cold), and our second hemisphere is without the declining west (where the sun sets). So, our love is not subject to vagariest of weather or time (decline). We know that only those things die whose constiuents are not mixed proportionately. Our two loves are one because they are exactly similar in all respects and as such none of them will die. Our mutual love can neither decrease nor decline nor come to an end. Our love is immortal.

Summary of The Good Morrow by John Donne
This article focuses on the theme of The Good Morrow by John Donne and is specially written keeping in mind the students of English Literature and those who are in their high schools. Before going through the theme of “The Good Morrow” we recommend you read the analysis and a few answers. Click of the individual links.
“The Good Morrow” is a specially envisioned love poem which is celebrated by modern readers because of its contemporary take on love. Before going through the critical analysis of Good Morrow, it needs to be understood that Love has been defined here as a state of eternal bliss where the body and the soul are not divorced but work as a single orchestrated unit to offer a divine experience to the lovers. Donne has developed this theme by a blend of dramatic progression of thoughts and intensity of feelings. The poem emphasizes upon a spiritual awakening after the lovers wake up from their carnal past which awards “The Good Morrow” with titular justification.
The thematological exploration of the main body of the poem brings to our notice its trio-partite structure where the first part sheds light upon the past of the lovers which was riddled by their encounters with make-believe beauties. The lovers indulged in these meaningless liaisons to make up for the absence of a true love which concertize every abstract entity of human desire. Donne has compared that past to “snorting” in “seven sleeper’s den” and “weaning” on “country’s pleasures childishly” in two separate metaphysical conceits to express his passionate contempt and rejection. The poet’s disgust however diffuses when he realizes that his carnal past led to his divine present which paves way for the second element of the theme.
The theme for the second part of Good Morrow begins in the manner of a traditional aubade – “And now good morrow to our waking souls” where the physical act of waking up has been compared to a spiritual awakening. This is where the title of the poem is viewed in an intricate relationship with the theme. “Good Morrow” refers to the lovers’ acknowledgement of their divine present where the binarization of platonic and physical has crumbled to give a totality of experience that blinds the lovers to the world around as they are completely encapsulated in their “little room”. It is worth noticing here that the “morrow” would not have arrived without the lovers’ act of physical union in the preceding night which establishes that the way to spiritual love is through material fulfillment and not by dismissing the latter. It is this union of sexual and philosophical love as a unified sensibility which is important for a “Good morrow” in the lives of the lovers. The relationship which the poet shares with his beloved is based on the fundamentals of assurance and trust. There is perfect mutuality between the lovers but this mutuality never infringes their individuality – “Each hath one and is one”
The third part of the poem gives us a glimpse of the lovers’ futures which the poet believes will stretch till eternity. This is because he has awarded their love the quintessence of the fifth element of nature owing to its purity. This purity has vested the poet’s love with the powers of immortality such that it can counter and surmount all the destructive effects of death.
Thus we see that by establishing a link between the past, present and the future of the lovers, Donne has succeeded in developing the theme of the spiritual and emotional greatness of a perfectly passionate secular love. The title suggests that a spiritual awakening in love that has been triggered by physical union is responsible for the quintessence of true love.

THEME OF “THE GOOD MORROW”
The central theme in The Good-morrow is the nature and completeness of the lovers' world. Donne takes the everyday idea that lovers live in a world of their own with little sense of reality, and turns it right round, so that it is the outside world that is unreal. The intensity of their love is sufficient to create its own reality. When they watch each other, it is not, as in the outside world, out of fear, but to complete themselves, as each one is half of the world needing the other half. The poem is one of contrasts: between gross physical lust and true love; between the poet’s profligate past and the lovers’ present spiritual awakening; between earthly worlds sought by sea discoverers and the spiritual world discovered by the lovers. These contrasts are brought out in the main themes of sight, awakening from sleep, and earthly versus spiritual worlds. Renaissance theories saw the sense of sight as central to the birth and continuance of love. In this poem, the sense of sight is seen in two opposing guises: the roving eye of the libertine, and the constant, steady gaze of mature “true” love. This theme is introduced in the sixth line of the first stanza, where he refers to the attractive women whom he saw, desired, and “got”—a deliberately unsubtle expression. The triumphant opening to the second stanza brings forth the comment that the poet and his lady do not watch each other out of fear, since their true love controls “all love of other sights”—meaning, all interest in the outside world (turning “one little room into an everywhere”). In the third stanza, the lovers gaze into each other’s eyes so single-mindedly that they see each other’s reflections. Moreover, the steadiness of their gaze is reinforced by the true, plain hearts that “rest” in their faces—an image of openness and trust in each other.

Review Questions
1. Donne’s use of meter is frequently surprising; he will often apply a regular ABAB rhyme scheme to lines of wildly erratic tempo. What are some of the poems in which he uses this technique?
What effect does it have on the poems, either aesthetically or thematically, or both?
2. What is a critical analysis of John Donne as a poet of love??
3. What is the “seven sleepers den” in the poem Good Morrow by John Donne?
4. What are the metaphysical qualities we can see in the poem “Good Morrow?
5. How we can discuss the theme of the poem “The Good-Morrow” by John Donne?

POEM: ODE ON INTIMATIONS OF IMMORTALITY

There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight,
To me did seem
Apparelled in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.
It is not now as it hath been of yore;—
Turn wheresoe’er I may,
By night or day,
The things which I have seen I now can see no more

To me alone there came a thought of grief:
A timely utterance gave that thought relief,
And I again am strong:
The cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep;
No more shall grief of mine the season wrong;

A single Field which I have looked upon,
Both of them speak of something that is gone:
The Pansy at my feet
Doth the same tale repeat:
Whither is fled the visionary gleam?
Where is it now, the glory and the dream?

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 nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!
Shades of the prison-house begin to close
Upon the growing Boy,
But He beholds the light, and whence it flows,
He sees it in his joy

Thou, whose exterior semblance doth belie
Thy Soul’s immensity;
Thou best Philosopher, who yet dost keep
Thy heritage, thou Eye among the blind,
That, deaf and silent, read’st the eternal deep,
Haunted for ever by the eternal mind, —
Mighty Prophet! Seer blest!
On whom those truths do rest,
Which we are toiling all our lives to find,
In darkness lost, the darkness of the grave;

Full soon thy Soul shall have her earthly freight,
And custom lie upon thee with a weight,
Heavy as frost, and deep almost as life!

Hence in a season of calm weather
Though inland far we be,
Our Souls have sight of that immortal sea
Which brought us hither,
Can in a moment travel thither,
And see the Children sport upon the shore,
And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore

The Clouds that gather round the setting sun
Do take a sober colouring from an eye
That hath kept watch o’er man’s mortality; Thanks to the human heart by which we live,
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.

In the first stanza, the speaker says wistfully that there was a time when all of nature seemed dreamlike to him, “apparelled in celestial light,” and that that time is past; “the things I have seen I can see no more.” In the second stanza, he says that he still sees the rainbow, and that the rose is still lovely; the moon looks around the sky with delight, and starlight and sunshine are each beautiful. Nonetheless the speaker feels that a glory has passed away from the earth.
In the third stanza, the speaker says that, while listening to the birds sing in springtime and watching the young lambs leap and play, he was stricken with a thought of grief; but the sound of nearby waterfalls, the echoes of the mountains, and the gusting of the winds restored him to strength. He declares that his grief will no longer wrong the joy of the season, and that all the earth is happy. He exhorts a shepherd boy to shout and play around him. In the fourth stanza, he addresses nature’s creatures, and says that his heart participates in their joyful festival. He says that it would be wrong to feel sad on such a beautiful May morning, while children play and laugh among the flowers. Nevertheless, a tree and a field that he looks upon make him think of “something that is gone,” and a pansy at his feet does the same. He asks what has happened to “the visionary gleam”: “Where is it now, the glory and the dream?”
In the fifth stanza, he proclaims that human life is merely “a sleep and a forgetting”—that human beings dwell in a purer, more glorious realm before they enter the earth. “Heaven,” he says, “lies about us in our infancy!” As children, we still retain some memory of that place, which causes our experience of the earth to be suffused with its magic—but as the baby passes through boyhood and young adulthood and into manhood, he sees that magic die. In the sixth stanza, the speaker says that the pleasures unique to earth conspire to help the man forget the “glories” whence he came.
In the seventh stanza, the speaker beholds a six-year-old boy and imagines his life, and the love his mother and father feel for him. He sees the boy playing with some imitated fragment of adult life, “some little plan or chart,” imitating “a wedding or a festival” or “a mourning or a funeral.” The speaker imagines that all human life is a similar imitation. In the eighth stanza, the speaker addresses the child as though he were a mighty prophet of a lost truth, and rhetorically asks him why, when he has access to the glories of his origins, and to the pure experience of nature, he still hurries toward an adult life of custom and “earthly freight.”
In the ninth stanza, the speaker experiences a surge of joy at the thought that his memories of childhood will always grant him a kind of access to that lost world of instinct, innocence , and exploration. In the tenth stanza, bolstered by this joy, he urges the birds to sing, and urges all creatures to participate in “the gladness of the May.” He says that though he has lost some part of the glory of nature and of experience, he will take solace in “primal sympathy,” in memory, and in the fact that the years bring a mature consciousness—“a philosophic mind.” In the final stanza, the speaker says that this mind—which stems from a consciousness of mortality, as opposed to the child’s feeling of immortality—enables him to love nature and natural beauty all the more, for each of nature’s objects can stir him to thought, and even the simplest flower blowing in the wind can raise in him “thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.”

Form
Wordsworth’s Immortality Ode, as it is often called, is written in eleven variable ode stanzas with variable rhyme schemes, in iambic lines with anything from two to five stressed syllables. The rhymes occasionally alternate lines, occasionally fall in couplets, and occasionally occur within a single line (as in “But yet I know, where’er I go” in the second stanza).

Theme of poem

The ode has several themes. It depicts the visionary experiences of childhood, the fading of youthful vision with the advance of age, the natural piety that binds our days each to each, and the philosophical compensations of maturity. It also expresses the idea of pre-existence and the hope of immortality— not as an illusion but as a ‘master light’. The poet seems to have laid emphasis on the theme of immortality which is placed absolutely in the foreground by the title of the poem. The central theme is the immortal nature of the human spirit, intuitively known by the child, partly forgotten by the growing man, but to be known once more in maturity through intense experience of heart and mind. “But this is not to say that the doctrine of pre-natal existence is set forth deliberately by Wordsworth as an accepted belief. Southey titled the balance away when he called the poem. ‘The Ode on Preexistence— a dark subject darkly handled’. Wordsworth’s prosaic and scrupulous statement is a good answer to the question we are often constrained to ask of a poet: Do you really believe what you say? He says that he has not meant to inculcate a belief in a prior state of existence. ‘It is far too shadowy a notion to be recommended to faith as more than an element in our instincts of immortality’.
The Beneficial Influence of Nature
Throughout Wordsworth’s work, nature provides the ultimate good influence on the human mind. All manifestations of the natural world—from the highest mountain to the simplest flower—elicit noble, elevated thoughts and passionate emotions in the people who observe these manifestations. Wordsworth repeatedly emphasizes the importance of nature to an individual’s intellectual and spiritual development. A good relationship with nature helps individuals connect to both the spiritual and the social worlds. As Wordsworth explains in The Prelude, a love of nature can lead to a love of humankind. In such poems as “The World Is Too Much with Us” (1807) and “London, 1802” (1807) people become selfish and immoral when they distance themselves from nature by living in cities. Humanity’s innate empathy and nobility of spirit becomes corrupted by artificial social conventions as well as by the squalor of city life. In contrast, people who spend a lot of time in nature, such as laborers and farmers, retain the purity and nobility of their souls.
The Power of the Human Mind
Wordsworth praised the power of the human mind. Using memory and imagination, individuals could overcome difficulty and pain. For instance, the speaker in “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey” (1798) relieves his loneliness with memories of nature, while the leech gatherer in “Resolution and Independence” (1807) perseveres cheerfully in the face of poverty by the exertion of his own will. The transformative powers of the mind are available to all, regardless of an individual’s class or background. This democratic view emphasizes individuality and uniqueness. Throughout his work, Wordsworth showed strong support for the political, religious, and artistic rights of the individual, including the power of his or her mind. In the 1802 preface to Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth explained the relationship between the mind and poetry. Poetry is “emotion recollected in tranquility”—that is, the mind transforms the raw emotion of experience into poetry capable of giving pleasure. Later poems, such as “Ode: Intimations of Immortality” (1807), imagine nature as the source of the inspiring material that nourishes the active, creative mind. The Splendor of Childhood
In Wordsworth’s poetry, childhood is a magical, magnificent time of innocence. Children form an intense bond with nature, so much so that they appear to be a part of the natural world, rather than a part of the human, social world. Their relationship to nature is passionate and extreme: children feel joy at seeing a rainbow but great terror at seeing desolation or decay. In 1799, Wordsworth wrote several poems about a girl named Lucy who died at a young age. These poems, including “She dwelt among the untrodden ways” (1800) and “Strange fits of passion have I known” (1800), praise her beauty and lament her untimely death. In death, Lucy retains the innocence and splendor of childhood, unlike the children who grow up, lose their connection to nature, and lead unfulfilling lives. The speaker in “Ode: Intimations of Immortality” believes that children delight in nature because they have access to a divine, immortal world. As children age and reach maturity, they lose this connection but gain an ability to feel emotions, both good and bad. Through the power of the human mind, particularly memory, adults can recollect the devoted connection to nature of their youth.

Summary of the Poem
The entire earth—all its fields and streams and trees—seemed like heaven to me when I was a child. Now, however, as spring begins to unfold its splendor, I no longer perceive the world this way. True, there is much beauty around me rainbows, roses, moonlight, sunlight, the reflection of the stars on evening waters. But these sights, magnificent as they are, lack the full glory of what I once saw.
.......At this moment, while the birds sing and the lambs frolic, my inability to perceive the fullness of this glory makes me sad. But the sounds of nature—the wind and the waterfalls—cheer me as I realize all the earth is happy, land and sea. Even the beasts revel in the spirit of spring. Shepherd boy, let me hear your shouts of joy!
.......You creatures of the forest, I hear the calls you make to one another, and I hear the heavens laugh with you in your joy. I feel your happiness—all of it. How could I be sullen on such a fine May morning. Children are picking fresh flowers in a thousand valleys, the sun shines brightly, and babies leap in their mother's arms. But even amid all this joy and wonder, there is a tree and there is a field that speak to me of something that is missing. So, too, does the pansy at my feet. Where is that heavenly glory I once perceived?
.......When we are born, our souls—which previously existed in the celestial realm—go to sleep momentarily. When they awake to the new world around them, they forget almost everything about their heavenly existence. But a hint of that existence remains in our souls even though the world begins to enclose us, like prison walls. Still, a growing boy can perceive heavenly light. But when he becomes a man, the light fades. Earth, without malice, further blinds him to the fullness of the glory he once knew by exhibiting its own glory. However, although the glory of nature is not equal to heavenly glory, it is a reflection of it
.......A child of six, while enjoying the kisses of his mother and the admiring gaze of his father, already begins to plot out the life he will lead and the events he will take part in—a wedding, a festival, a funeral—and prepares himself for business, love, and strife. He may foresee himself in many roles in imitation of others, even down to the time when old age overtakes him.
.......The outward appearance of a child belies the immensity of his soul within. That soul, that inner light, still perceives something of the heavenly presence, still fathoms something of the eternal deep, even as we adults labor in darkness to discover the truths of the eternal realm. You, child, are the best seer, prophet, and philosopher. But why do you, with the memory of the glories of heaven within you, press on so urgently toward adulthood, which dims your inner light and lays its earthly burdens upon your back?
.......But how heartening it is to know that at least a glimmer of celestial light yet lies within us as adults and manifests itself in our natural surroundings. I give thanks for my knowledge of how things are and that nothing can entirely eliminate the awareness in us of the immortal sea that brought us to the shore of life. So sing, birds, a joyous song of May. Though the time will come when the glories of spring's fields and flowers will be forever gone from us, we will not grieve; for we know that greater glories await us beyond death.
.......I love the fountains, meadows, hills, and brooks—the brilliance of a morning sun and the beauty of a flower. But I know that the flower is only a hint of what is to come.
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Review Questions
1. Have you ever had “Intimations of Immortality”? If so, explain the nature of them.
2. The poem says a child is a “Mighty prophet” (line 111). What does a child foretell?
3. Give a critical appreciation of “Ode on Intimations of Immortality”.
4. In an essay, compare and contrast Plato’s belief in the pre-existence of the soul with Wordsworth’s belief on the same topic.
5. What is the view of birth, childhood, the child’s relationship with nature, and the growth into adulthood in Wordsworth, Ode: Intimations of Immortality? How does the speaker feel about the past and how does he find consolation for his grief.

POEM: NISSIM EZEKIEL’S NIGHT OF THE SCORPION

THEME OF POEM
"Night of the scorpion" is a brilliant narrative poem. The protagonist might be the poet himself or a narrator who is the creation of his imagination. The mother is stung by a scorpion on a rainy night. The mother is the most prominent figure in an Indian home. So all the attention is focused on her. They are simple and good and believe in the efficiency of prayer. They believe that prayer can ward off the evil influence. They are a set of superstitious people. They search for the scorpion but in vain. They believe that if the scorpion moves, its poison in the victim will also move and spread all over. The words they speak to console the woman are also related to their superstitious beliefs. Her suffering is caused by the sins she committed in the previous birth. Her endurance will reduce the effect of her sins in the previous birth and it will also make her life happy in the next birth. The good and evil in the world has to be balanced and therefore her endurance of pain will reduce the amount of evil. This also reminds us of the peasants' belief in rebirth. They are illiterate, ignorant and superstitious and they do not know anything other than turn into ritualistic practices and incantations. The narrator's father presents before us a striking contrast. He tries modern scientific treatments. He applies powder, herbs and hybrids. He does not interfere with what the peasants do. He does not object to the curses and blessings. He is quite perturbed and tries every possible remedies. Finally he pours some paraffin in the affected area and applies a match to it expecting the poison to burn off. Even when he does this a holy man goes on performing his rites to remove the effect of poison with an incantation. The scientific remedies tried by the father become as ineffective as the rituals and the incantations of the peasants and that of the holy man. After twenty hours the pain subsides and the woman speaks. The last part of the poem upholds the dignity of the Indian motherhood. The mother's comment: "Thank God the scorpion picked on me and spread my children" is typical of an Indian mother. She is relieved to find that the scorpion let her children alone and thanks God for it. The entire poem may be taken as a tribute to the incomparable love of a mother. The mother's malady causes considerable disturbance not only to the members of the family but to the whole neighborhood. All are anxious to alleviate her pain. Different attempts are made by different people. All these go to prove that the poem is woven around the theme of reverence to the mother. "Night of the scorpion" is typically an Indian poem by a typical Indian poet whose interest in the Indian soil and its ordinary human events of day-to-day Indian life is superb. A good many Indians are illiterate and are blindl superstitious.
But they are simple, loving and lovable. They attempt to save the victim by doing whatever they can. But they do not succeed. The father who is not superstitious and is educated tries his own scientific ways; he too, does not succeed. There is the holy man who performs his rites with incantation. He also fails to find a cure. Finally the cue comes by itself. This can be taken as a proof for the belief in 'fate'; everything in a man's life is pre-destined and man has no role in changing it. The poem is interpreted as a symbolic juxtaposition of darkness and light. The night, the scorpion, the poison and the suffering represent darkness. The incessant rain stands for hope and regeneration. Candles, lanterns, neighbours and ultimately the recovery of the mother represent light. The poem can also be thought of as symbolic of Good and Evil too.

Nissim Ezekiel as a poet