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POEMSONNET NO: 116

Let me not to the marriage of true mindsAdmit impediments. Love is not loveWhich alters when it alteration finds,Or bends with the remover to remove.O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,That looks on tempests and is never shaken;It is the star to every wand’ring bark,Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeksWithin his bending sickle’s compass come;Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

If this be error and upon me prov’d,I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.

- William Shakespeare

Note: The first collected edition of Shakespeare’s sonnets appeared in 1609.There are totally 154 sonnets and the major themes of these sonnets includethe destructive power of time, the permanence of poetry (art), triangularlove and the analysis of amorous emotion (love). It has to be noted thatapart from these 154 sonnets Shakespeare also wrote two long poems titled‘Venus and Adonis’ and ‘The Rape of Lucrece’.

Sonnet: A sonnet is a lyric (short, personal poem) written in a single stanzaconsisting of fourteen lines. Sonnet 116 (“Let me not to the marriage . . .”)deals with the theme of true love. Many critics consider it “incomparable”and call it “the finest of all”. In this poem various images are used tohighlight the nature of true and deep love.

Glossary and notes:

admit impediments : refers to the Christian marriage servicewhere the priest asks the peopled gatheredif they have any objections to the couplegetting married“Impediments” means obstacles

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ever-fixed mark : a prominent land or sea-mark which guidesships; true love guides one through thevoyage of life

it is the star...height be taken : during Shakespeare’s time peoplebelieved that the stars influenced men’scharacter; in the journey of life, to many a“wandering bark” (a lost boat) the star ofgenuine love turns out to be the guidingfactor; a star’s “height” (altitude) can bemeasured but the extent to which it controlsthe fate of man (its “worth”) cannot bedetermined; similarly, the depth (“worth”)of true love cannot be measured

love’s not...compass come : true love cannot be destroyed by Time;external beauty can be destroyed by timebut not true love; note the destructivepower of time (“bending sickle”)

edge of doom : day of the last judgement (on the last dayof the world)

Comprehension questions:

1. Mention any two qualities of true love.2. What is inconstant love?3. Comment on the nature of Time. What does Time do to beauty?

Appreciation questions:

1. Give a suitable title to the poem. Give reasons for your choice.2. Do you like the poem? Why?3. Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sound in several nearby

words. Example: “Let me not to the true marriage of true minds.”4. What are the other instances of alliteration in this sonnet? Give two

examples.

Answer the following passages with reference to the context:

1. ‘Which alters when it alteration finds,Or bends with the remover to remove.’

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2. ‘It is the star to every wand’ring bark,Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.’

Activity:

1. Translate the poem into Tamil.2. Collect poems in Tamil which speak of true love.3. Who is your close friend? Write a poem on your friendship.

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POEMTHE SOLIT ARY REAPER

Behold her, single in the field,Yon solitary Highland Lass!Reaping and singing by herself;Stop here, or gently pass!Alone she cuts and binds the grain,And sings a melancholy strain;O listen! for the vale profoundIs overflowing with the sound.

No nightingale did ever chauntMore welcome notes to weary bandsOf travellers in some shady haunt,Among Arabian sands:A voice so thrilling ne’er was heardIn spring-time from the cuckoo-bird,Breaking the silence of the seasAmong the farthest Hebrides.

Will no one tell me what she sings?Perhaps the plaintive numbers flowFor old, unhappy, far-off things,And battles long ago:Or is it some more humble lay,Familiar matter of to-day?Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,That has been, and may be again!

What’er the theme, the maiden sangAs if her song could have no ending;I saw her singing at her work,And o’er the sickle bending –I listen’d motionless and still;And, as I mounted up the hill,The music in my heart I boreLong after it was heard no more.

- William Wordsworth

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William Wordsworth, an eminent poet of nature, was born on 7th April,1770, at Cockermouth, Cumberland, in the Lake District. Though he losthis parents at a very young age, his uncle gave him a good education. Hismeeting with Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1795, proved to be a turning pointin his life. They, together published, ‘The Lyrical Ballads’ in 1798,Wordsworth succeeded Robert Southey as Poet Laureate in 1843 andremained in office till his death in April 1850.

Glossary

yon : yonder, beyondhighland : Scotlandvale : valleyHebrides : a group of islandsplaintive : sadchaunt : chantsickle : a tool used for cutting grass and crops

Comprehension

I. Indicate your choice by putting a (ü)

1. The reaper isa. cutting the grain and binding itb. singing a songc. cutting and binding the grain as well as singing

2. The reaper’s songa. was sadb. joyousc. neither

3. The song was abouta. some recent tragedyb. a battlec. the poet is not sure

4. The poet stopped to listen because

a. he was tiredb. the song was deeply touchingc. he had heard the song before

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II. Pick out words from the poem, which describe the reaper’s song.

III. Pick out the words from the poem which mean ‘solitary’.

IV. Answer the following with reference to the context:1. ‘No nightingale did ever chaunt More welcome notes to weary bands.’2. ‘The music in my heart I bore Long after it was heard no more’.

V. Appreciation questions

1. When we make comparisons, we say “this is like ................”(something else)

e.g. “This child is gentle as a lamb.” These are called similes. An impliedsimile is a metaphor.

In the poem, what does the poet say about the reaper’s song and abouther voice? What does he compare them to?

2. Poets and musicians generally believe that the most thrilling / beautiful songsare the saddest ones. Do you agree? Discuss with your partner.

3. Which stanza of this poem did you like best? Learn it and recite it to yourclass.

4. Can you think of poems / songs in your mother-tongue that reapers sing?Share your information with your class. Think about festive occasionstoo.

5. Have you seen reapers harvesting grain? Are they usually alone or in groups?See if you can find any similarities in the reapers you have seen and the onementioned in this poem. Do they sing or do they work silently?

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POEMBE THE BEST

It you can’t be a pine on the top of the hill,Be a scrub in the valley – but beThe best little scrub by the side of the rill;Be a bush, if you can’t be a tree.If you can’t be a bush, be a bit of the grass,And some highway happier make;If you can’t be a muskie, then just be a bass-But the liveliest bass in the lake!We can’t all be captains, we’ve got to be crew,There’s something for all of us here.There’s big work to do and there’s lesser to doAnd the task we must do is the near.If you can’t be a highway, then just be a trail,If you can’t be the sun, be a star;It isn’t by size that you win or you fail-Be the best of whatever you are!

- Douglas Malloch

Glossary

scrub : bushes and small treesbass : an edible fishrill : a small streammuskie : a type of rose that smells like musk

Comprehension questions:

1. Some lofty and lowly things are compared in this poem What arethey?

2. We can’t all be captains, we’ve got to be crew – Explain.

3. Is size important in life?

4. What should be our attitude towards work?

5. What is the message of the poem?

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Appreciation questions:1. Write down the rhyming words in the poem.2. Which line do you like most?3. If you can’t be ........... then be .................

Complete the sentence with suitable ideas.4. Could you add two more lines to the poem – If you can’t be ............. then just be ..................5. Which structure gets repeated in the poem?6. How is ‘repetition’ effectively made use of in this poem?7. Some expressions in the poem bring vivid pictures to our minds. Can

you identify some of them?

Parallel Reading

Here is a piece from Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’. Go through it andsummarise its message.

Polonius’ advice to his son

And these few precepts in thy memoryLook thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,

Nor any unproportion’d thought his act.Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.

Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;But do not dull thy palm with entertainmentOf each new – hatch’d, unfledg’d courage.

BewareOf entrance to a quarrel; but, being in,

Bear’ t that th’ opposed may beware of thee.Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice

Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment.Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,

But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy;For the apparel oft proclaims the man;

.…..……………………………….Neither a borrower nor a lender be;

For loan oft loses both itself and friend,And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.This above all – to thine own self be true,And it must follow, as the night the day,Thou canst not then be false to any man.

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POEMA PSALM OF LIFE

What the Heart of the Young Man Said to the Psalmist

Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream! -For the soul is dead that slumbers, And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest! 5 And the grave is not its goal;Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way; 10But to act, that each tomorrow Find us farther than today.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave,Still, like muffled drums, are beating 15 Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world’s broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life,Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Be a hero in the strife! 20

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Trust no Future, how’er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead!Act, - act in the living Present!Heart within, and God o’erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us 25We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,Sailing o’er life’s solemn main, 30A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing, 35 Learn to labor and to walk.

- H W Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), the greatAmerican poet, was a professor at Harvard. His great fame beganwith the publication of his first volume of poems ‘Voices of theNight’ in 1839, which included “A Psalm of Life,” one of nineteenthcentury’s best-loved poems. His other collections include Ballads(1841), Evangeline (1847), Hiawatha (1855), The Courtship ofMiles Standish (1858) and Tales of a Wayside Inn (1863).

Longfellow was the most popular poet of his age and duringhis lifetime he became a ‘national institution’. “His work was

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musical, mildly romantic, high-minded, and flavoured withsentimental preachment” (Norton Anthology of AmericanLiterature).

“This poem seems to give a great deal of good advice. Ittells the reader not to waste his/her time but to be up and going;not to be discouraged by failures but to have a heart for any fate;not to judge life by temporary standards but to look to eternalreward.” (Brooks and Warren)

Glossary (the line numbers are given for easy reference):

Psalm /sA:m/ : song or poem1 numbers /'nVmbEz/ : poetic metres, rhythms3 slumbers /'slVmbEz/ : sleeps7 dust /dVst/ : Refer to Genesis (The Bible)

3:19. “Dust thou art, and untodust shalt thou return.”

10 destined end : goal/'destInd end/11-12 : There should be progress every

day of our lives and tomorrowshould be much better than today.

13 fleeting /fli:tIN/ : passing/brief14 stout /staOt/ : strong15 muffled/'mVfld/ : not easy to hear18 the bivouac of life : simple temporary camp made by/QE 'bIvOGk Ev laIf/ : soldiers. Here it refers to the

temporary stay (sojourn) in thisworld.

31 forlorn /fE'lC:n/ : lonely and sad

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I. Answer the following questions briefly in about 50 wordseach:

1. What does the life of great men teach us?

2. Highlight the significance of the line, “Act in the living present.”

3. Comment on the last line of the poem: “Learn to labor, not to

walk”.

II. Answer the following question briefly in about 200 words:

What is the message of this poem?

III. Answer the following questions:

1. Mark the rhyme scheme of the poem. The rhyme scheme for

the first stanza is as follows:

Tell me not, in mournful numbers, a

Life is but an empty dream! - b

For the soul is dead that slumbers, a

And things are not what they seem. b

2. Alliteration: “Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant

sound in several nearby words.” Note that in alliteration the

sound and sense go together.

“For the soul is dead that slumbers

And the grave is not its goal.”

In the first line, /s/ is repeated (soul-slumbers), and in the

second line /g/ is repeated (grave-goal). Find out two more instances

of alliteration.