WEL COME TO MY

PRESENTATIONNARENDRA KUMAR NIDHI

LOWER SEC. TEACHER

SHREE DURGA HIGHER SEC. SCHOOL ,BAREWA-KALAIYA-10

BARA

NARENDRA KUMAR NIDHILOWER SEC. ENGLISH TEACHERIN DURGA H.S.SCHOOL,KALAIYA

WEATHERS BY THOMAS HARDY

Thomas Hardy

This is the weather the cuckoo likes, And so do I; When showers betumble the chestnut spikes, And nestlings fly; And the little brown nightingale bills his best, And they sit outside at 'The Traveller's Rest,' And maids come forth sprig-muslin drest, And citizens dream of the south and west, And so do I. 

This is the weather the shepherd shuns, And so do I; When beeches drip in browns and duns, And thresh and ply; And hill-hid tides throb, throe on throe, And meadow rivulets overflow, And drops on gate bars hang in a row, And rooks in families homeward go, And so do I. 

Weathers by Thomas Hardy Born

2 June 1840 Stinsford, Dorchester, Dorset, England Died

11 January 1928 (aged 87) Dorchester, Dorset, England Resting place

Stinsford parish church (heart)

Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey (ashes) Occupation

Novelist, Poet, and Short Story writer

Alma materKing's College LondonLiterary movementNaturalism, Victorian literatureNotable work(s)Tess of the d'Urbervilles,Far from the Madding Crowd,Collected PoemsJude the Obscure

One of the themes of Hardy's poetry that it is hard to ignore is the weather and the countryside, and in this simplistic poem Hardy re-visits these themes by focussing on two different states of weather and how one is desired and loved by himself and others and the other state of weather is disliked and shunned

The first season is spring, when "showers betumble the chestnut spikes, / And nestlings fly." The singing of the nightingale and the feeling of joy in people as spring comes, announcing the end of winter, creates an excitement in the natural world that is shared by the narrator.

The second season is autumn, which "the shepherd shuns." This is when "beeches drip in browns and duns," and birds such as rooks, in an attempt to escape the bad weather, "homeward go." This sentiment of wanting to escape the bad weather is shared by the narrator, who likewise heads home to his warm house

Things to note in this poem is the simplistic, child-like rhythm that is reinforced by repetition of lines such as "And so do I," that make this a poem more for children compared to Hardy's more serious poems.

THIS IS THE WEATHER THE CUCKOO LIKES

AND SO DO I

This is the weather the cuckoo likes,And so do I;

The poem is about good and bad weather. The first stanza describes good weather and the second stanza describes unpleasant weather. The pleasant weather is weather the cuckoo likes. The cuckoo is a bird that can be seen in England in the spring and summer. the poet likes summer weather too.

WHEN SHOWERS BETUMBLE THE CHESTNUT SPIKES

When showers betumble the chestnut spikes,

Betumble is old-fashioned. It means to make tumble = to make fall.This is the time when showers = short periods of rain make the chestnuts fall from the trees. Chestnuts are the fruits from the tree with the same name. They are shiny and brown inside a green spiky hull. They start to be ripe in the late summer.Showers are pleasant when it’s hot, but too much rain is unpleasant. In the second stanza we’ll have lots of rain.

AND NESTLINGS FLY

And nestlings fly; Little birds fly out of

the nest.Nestling is a word we wouldn’t use

anymore now. It sounds old-fashioned.

AND THE LITTLE BROWN NIGHTINGALE BILLS HIS BEST

And the little brown nightingale bills his best,

This line sounds melodic because of the alliterative b in brown and bills and best.A nightingale is a small songbird, famous for its beautiful song. “Bills his best” means he presents his best song. This is a word play, as bill can both mean the bird’s beak (hard mouth) and bill in the sense of sell, present.

And they sit outside at ‘The Traveller’s Rest, 

And they sit outside at ‘The Traveller’s Rest,

 The “they” must be some people. “The Traveller’s Rest” sounds like the name of an inn (a hotel for travellers) or a pub. 

And maids come forth sprig-muslin drest, 

And maids come forth sprig-muslin drest, Maids is an old-fashioned word for girls.Come forth is old-fashioned for appear.“Muslin” is an old word for a soft cotton fabric that was used for women’s dresses a lot. Sprig-muslin may refer to the cloth being embroidered or decorated by tree or flower branches. “Drest” is an old-fashioned spelling for dressed.

And citizens dream of the south and west,And so do I.

And citizens dream of the south and west,And so do

I. The pleasant season makes people dream of travelling. And the poet feels like going

on a trip too.

This is the weather the shepherd shuns,And so do I;

This is the weather the shepherd shuns,

And so do I; Shun means avoid.Shepherd is the job of guarding the sheep as they walk in the fields.Naturally, shepherds don’t like their job in the heavy weather of autumn or winter.And the poet doesn’t like to be outside either.

When beeches drip in browns and duns 

When beeches drip in browns and duns A beech is a common tree in England. In the autumn, its leaves colour and drop off the branches. “Dun” is a dull brown colour, almost grey. The trees drip because it’s been raining. 

And thresh and ply

 

And thresh and ply

The trees (or its branches and leaves) thresh = beat and throw. They ply = twist. The image is of branches moving violently in the wind.

And hill-hid tides throb, throe on throe

And hill-hid tides throb, throe on

throeThe tides = movements of ebb and flood. They are hidden behind hills. Throb means beat like a heart. A throe is a painful contraction, some movement that your muscle would make when it feels pain.

And meadow rivulets overflow,  

And meadow rivulets overflow,

 A meadow is the grassland on which cows and sheep graze. Rivulets are small rivers or streams of water. Overflow means be filled with too much water; flood.When rivulets overflow it’s because it has been raining a lot.

And drops on gate bars hang in a row,  

And drops on gate bars hang in a row,

  if you listen to the rhythm, you’ll hear how musical it is. It’s also an enjoyable image when you see the raindrops hanging in a row from the gate bars = fence. I don’t know whether you’ve ever noticed a row of drops hanging from some iron stick or trellis (the open ironwork in windows, fences, etc.); when the light catches them it’s very pretty

And rooks in families homeward go,And so do I.

And rooks in families homeward go,And so do I.

A rook is a kind of crow (= a large black bird that can’t sing). They eat seeds from the land, besides insects and worms. If they all think the weather is too bad to stay outside, it means the weather really is terrible!And the poet goes home in this kind of weather too.