Can you identify this musical instrument?

PIANOD.H. LAWRENCE

PIANO – D.H. LAWRENCESoftly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;Taking me back down the vista of years, till I seeA child is sitting under the piano in the boom of tingling stringsAnd pressing the small poised feet of a mother.

In spite of myself, the insidious, mastery of songBetrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belongTo the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outsideAnd hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.

So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamourWith the great black piano appassionato. The glamourOf childish days is upon me, my manhood is castDown in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.

D.H. LAWRENCE

POET: David Herbert Richard Lawrence.BORN: 11th Sep 1885 at Eastwood in England.DIED: 2nd March 1930 at Venice in France.

This poem is about D.H. Lawrence’s reminiscences of his childhood days…

Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;Taking me back down the vista of years, till I seeA child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling stringsAnd pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings, A woman is singing a song

softly. The poet hears the song. Her song takes him to his

childhood days. As a child he was sitting under

the piano. His mother was singing a song

while she was playing the piano.

He touched her poised fingers. She smiled at him as she

enjoyed his gentle touch.New words:Dusk – evening timeVista – viewPoised feet – balanced feet.

In spite of myself, the insidious, mastery of songBetrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belongTo the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outsideAnd hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.

The woman’s mastery over the song reminds him of his boyhood days.

His heart weeps for the Sunday evenings.

He used to sit in a cosy parlour and sing hymns during winter season.

They used to sing the hymns with the guidance of the piano.

New Words:Insidious – spreading gradually.Hymns – songs in praise of God.Cosy parlour – Comfortable private

room.

So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamourWith the great black piano appassionato. The glamourOf childish days is upon me, my manhood is castDown in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.

The woman sings in high pitch. The poet’s mind is filled with his old

memories. So he couldn’t concentrate in the

song. He lost his manhood in the flood of

his old memories. He cries for the past like a child.

New Words:Vain – uselesslyClamour – shout loudly in a confused wayAppassionato – The most tempestuous piano sonata.Glamour – Attraction.

AlliterationSoftly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;Taking me back down the vista of years, till I seeA child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling stringsAnd pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings,

In spite of myself, the insidious, mastery of songBetrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belongTo the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outsideAnd hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.

So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamourWith the great black piano appassionato. The glamourOf childish days is upon me, my manhood is castDown in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.

Rhyming Words & Rhyme schemeSoftly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;Taking me back down the vista of years, till I seeA child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling stringsAnd pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings,

Rhyming words: me/mi/-see/siː/; strings/ˈstrɪŋs/-sings/sɪŋs/In spite of myself, the insidious, mastery of song  Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belongTo the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outsideAnd hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.

Rhyming words: song/sɒŋ/-belong/bɪˈlɒŋ/; outside /ˌaʊtˈsaɪd/ -guide/ɡaɪd/

So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamourWith the great black piano appassionato. The glamourOf childish days is upon me, my manhood is castDown in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.

Rhyming words: clamour/ˈklæmə(r)/-glamour/ˈɡlæmə(r)/; cast/kɑːst/-past /pɑːst/

Rhyming Scheme of the poem: aa, bb

Figures of SpeechPERSONIFICATION

-Attributing human qualities to non-living things.“And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.”

METAPHOR - Metaphor is an indirect comparison. It compares two

objects without using the connective words ‘like’ and ‘as’. “……………………………………………..my manhood is cast

Down in the flood of remembrance………………”SIMILE

- It compares two objects through some connective words ‘like’ and ‘as’.

- “……………………………… I weep like a child for the past”

Figure of SpeechOnomatopoeia-It is a word that imitates the sound of an object.

“A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings”

Onomatopoeic words: boom tingling“And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide”.

Onomatopoeic word: tinkling

“So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour”

Onomatopoeic word: burst

Paragraph The poet listens to a woman’s song. It

reminds him of his childhood memories. When he was a child, he used to sit under the piano and press his mother’s feet while she sang songs. The woman sings extremely well. But it couldn’t draw the attention of the poet as he is immersed with his boyhood days. In winter season they used to sing hymns in a comfortable private room with the guidance of piano. The poet lost his manhood in the flood of his old memories and he cries for the past like a child.

Poem Comprehension“Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to

me;”1. Who is singing the song?

A woman is singing the song.2. How is the woman singing?

She is singing softly.3. When does she sing?

She sings in the evening.4. Who does ‘me’ refer to?

‘Me’ refers to the poet.

“Taking me back down the vista of years, till I seeA child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings”

1. What is meant by ‘vista’? ‘Vista’ means a view.2. Who does ‘I’ refer to?

‘I’ refers to the poet/ D.H. Lawrence.3. Who is the child?

The poet/D.H. Lawrence is the child.4. Where is the child sitting?

The child is sitting under the piano.

“And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings,”

1. Who does ‘she’ refer to?‘She’ refers to the poet’s mother.

2. What is the child doing?The child is pressing the mother’s feet.

3. What is the mother’s reaction?The mother smiles at the child.

“In spite of myself, the insidious, mastery of songBetrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong”

1. What is meant by ‘insidious’?Insidious means spreading gradually.

2. What betrays the poet?The song of the woman betrays the poet.

3. What does his heart weep for?His heart weeps for his childhood days.

“To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outsideAnd hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.”

1. What is the season mentioned here?Winter is the season mentioned here.

2. What is meant by ‘hymns’?‘Hymns’ mean songs in praise of God/ Devotional songs.

3. What is meant by cosy parlour?Cosy parlour means a comfortable room.

4. Who is the guide referred here?Piano is the guide.

“So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamourWith the great black piano appassionato. The glamour”

1. Who is the singer?The woman is the singer.

2. What is the appassionato?It is the most tempestuous piano sonata considered by Beethoven

3. What is meant by glamour?Glamour means attraction.

“Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is castDown in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.”

1. What is cast down in the flood of remembrance?The poet’s manhood is cast down in the flood of remembrance.

2. Who weeps like a child?The poet weeps like a child.

3. How does the poet weep?The poet weeps like a child.

4. What does the child weep for?The poet weeps for the past/ childhood days.