Saturday, June 11, 2011

Laugh And Be Merry--- John Masefield

The primary idea of creation is happiness. Masefield in this poem reminds us that sorrow or unhappiness is a passing thing; what is lasting and universal is joy.Life is not a bed of roses. In moments of trials and tribulation, men will do well to have recourse to nature which is an embodiment of God's beauty and grandeur.
The poet advises us to laugh and be merry. He say :-----------remember, better the world with a song. Better the world with a blow in the teeth of the wrong.”Man should face the trials, life casts in his way with determination without relinquishing to dejection. The duration's of man's life on Earth is short.So he should make use of his short, brief stay on Earth by laughing away his troubles and sorrows. Man should remember, how in olden times, God created Heaven and Earth
for giving joy to him. He shaped with the sweet pattern of music and filled them with intoxicating wine, namely his extreme joy and delight.As the very purpose of God is to provide men with joy, man must laugh and drink the joy of the sky from the deep blue cup. He mus join in the chorus of the merry song of the stars in their orbits. Man must fight against difficulties and be happy in his work.He must draw happiness and inspiration from everything around him.The joy of life is the very basis of our brotherhood and mutual love. Man must live happily with his fellowmen like brothers residing in an inn. He must play the game of life cheerfully and pass through the journey of joy till he reaches his ultimate goal
or destination
[For M C H E Students only]

The story of Cinderella

Once upon a time, there lived an unhappy young girl. Unhappy she was, for her mother was dead, her father had married another woman, a widow with two daughters, and her stepmother didn’t like her one little bit. All the nice things, kind thoughts and loving touches were for her own daughters. And not just the kind thoughts and love, but also dresses, shoes, shawls, delicious food, comfy beds, as well as every home comfort. All this was laid on for her daughters. But, for the poor unhappy girl, there was nothing at all. No dresses, only her stepsisters’ hand-me-downs. No lovely dishes, nothing but scraps. No nice rests and comfort. For she had to work hard all day, and only when evening came was she allowed to sit for a while by the fire, near the cinders. That is how she got her nickname, for everybody called her Cinderella. Cinderella, even dressed in rags with a dusty grey face from the cinders, was a lovely girl. While her stepsisters, no matter how splendid and elegant their clothes, were still clumsy, lumpy and ugly, and they always would be.
One day, beautiful new dresses arrived at the house. A ball was to be held at Court and the stepsisters were getting ready to go to it. Cinderella, didn’t even dare ask, “What about me?” for she knew very well what the answer to what would be. Cindrella was staying at home to wash the dishes, scrub the floors and turn down the beds for her stepsisters. They will come home tired and very sleepy.Suddenly something amazing happened. In the kitchen, where Cinderella was sitting all by herself, there was a burst of light and a fairy appeared. “Don’t be alarmed, Cinderella,” said the fairy. “The wind blew me your sighs. I know you would love to go to the ball. And so you shall!”“How can I, dressed in rags?” Cinderella replied. “The servants will turn me away!” The fairy smiled. With a flick of her magic wand, Cinderella found herself wearing the most beautiful dress, the loveliest ever seen in the realm.“Now that we have settled the matter of the dress,” said the fairy, “we’ll need to get you a coach. “Quick! Get me a pumpkin!” she ordered. “Oh of course,” said Cinderella, rushing away. Cinderella soon returned with a fine pumpkin. Then the fairy turned to her “You, bring me seven mice!” “Good!” exclaimed the fairy. With a flick of her magic wand — wonder of wonders! The pumpkin turned into a sparkling coach and the mice became six white horses, while the seventh mouse turned into a coachman, in a smart uniform and carrying a whip. Cinderella could hardly believe her eyes. She was given the prettiest glass slippers in the world. The fairy allowed her to to the ball and she should return before twelve'o clock. For that is when the spell ends. Your coach will turn back into a pumpkin, the horses will become mice again and the coachman will turn back into a mouse, and you will be dressed again in rags and wearing clogs instead of these dainty little slippers!
When Cinderella entered the ballroom at the palace, a hush fell. Everyone stopped in mid-sentence to admire her elegance, her beauty and grace. “Who can that be?” people asked each other. The two stepsisters also wondered who the newcomer was, for never in a month of Sundays, would they ever have guessed that the beautiful girl was really poor Cinderella When the prince set eyes on Cinderella, he was struck by her beauty. Walking over to her, he bowed deeply and asked her to dance. And to the great disappointment of all the young ladies,he danced with Cinderella Cinderella had a wonderful time at the ball, but, all of a sudden, she heard the sound of a clock: the first stroke of midnight! She remembered what the fairy had said, and without a word of goobye she slipped from the Prince’s arms and ran down the steps. As she ran she lost one of her slippers, but not for a moment did she dream of stopping to pick it up! If the last stroke of midnight were to sound… oh, what a disaster that would be! Out she fled and vanished into the night.
The Prince, who was now madly in love with her, picked up her slipper and said to his ministers, “Go and search everywhere for the girl whose foot this slipper fits. I will never be content until I find her!” So the ministers tried the slipper on the foot of all the girls… and on Cinderella’s foot as well… Surprise! The slipper fit her perfectly. “That awful untidy girl simply cannot have been at the ball,” snapped the stepmother. “Tell the Prince he ought to marry one of my two daughters! Can’t you see how ugly Cinderella is! Can’t you see?”Suddenly she broke off, for the fairy had appeared. “That’s enough!” she exclaimed, raising her magic wand. In a flash, Cinderella appeared in a splendid dress, shining with youth and beauty. Her stepmother and stepsisters gaped at her in amazement, and the ministers said,“Come with us, fair maiden! The Prince awaits to present you with his engagement ring!” So Cinderella joyfully went with them, and lived happily ever after with her Prince.

Friday, June 03, 2011

Summary & Analysis--"The Ballad of Father Gilligan"

A ballad is usually a short narrative poem telling an interesting story. Since Yeats' poem "The Ballad of Father Gilligan" tells the story of how God himself took pity on the weary Gilligan and sent an angel instead of him to minister the last communion to a dying parishioner and thus ensuring that his soul went to heaven, the title of the poem is indeed very apt. W.B.Yeats' poem "The Ballad of Father Gilligan" is a literary ballad based on an incident either true or fictional belonging to the poor illiterate Irish folk.Since Yeats' ballad is a literary ballad he has deliberately worked into his poem some of the characteristics of the traditional ballad which belonged to the oral tradition and was never written down.
Summary and Analysis:--Yeats tells a story in verse. An old priest was weary and sad because most of his flock had died. He was sent for by a sick man, but fell asleep in his chair before answering the call. The stars multiplied and God talked to mankind.In the morning, Father Gilligan awoke with a start, realizing that he had not done his duty. He rides to the sick man's house where his wife answers the door and says that the man has died. Father Gilligan is horrified and cries "mavrone!" until the woman thanks him for coming the previous night. He falls to his knees and thanks God for sending an angel down to do his work when he was too tired to do so.This poem takes a ballad form - a traditional form, usually sung, with regular, short stanzas that tell a story. It has a more overtly religious content than most of Yeats's poems. As a protestant who turned to theosophy and mysticism, Yeats usually stays away from Catholic themes. Yeats also usually stays away from the Irish language, which he uses in this poem when he writes, "mavrone!" which is the Irish, "mo bhron," a cry of grief. The poem not only speaks to the poverty of rural Ireland, but also to their extreme religiosity. The priest is horrified by the fact that he did not make it to the bedside of the sick man before he died because no one performed the rites of extreme unction, meaning in the Catholic tradition that the man did not die in a state of grace, and therefore cannot go to heaven. The divine intervention which caused this not to be the case is an affirmation of a loving, kind God. Yeats intends this ballad as an homage to the traditional poetry and legend of his country. He was a collector of similar Irish stories and songs and appreciated their immediate, naive beauty. Certainly this tale draws upon the character as well as the form of the traditional Irish ballad.He has employed the ballad quatrain throughout his poem,comprising eight syllables in the first and the third lines which do not rhyme and six syllables in the second and fourth lines which rhyme.
Another important feature of the traditional ballad which Yeats has incorporated in his poem is repetition. For instance he has repeated "moth-hour" twice to poetically describe dusk and dawn. in order to emphasize the rural background of his ballad. The traditional ballads belonged to the illiterate rural folk and were passed on from one generation to the next by word of mouth. The poor illiterate villagers never possessed a clock or a watch and they always told time by the changes which took place from time to time in Nature.In the Irish countryside, both at dusk and at dawn the countryside would swarm with moths. The villagers would ascertain that it was either dusk or dawn by the presence of the moths.Just as Father Gilligan had dozed he was disturbed from his sleep by the urgent call of another dying parishioner. Wearily, Father Gilligan began to grumble and murmur about his lack of rest:
But the very next instant he checks himself seeks God's forgiveness and kneels down by the side of his chair and begins to pray. However, shortly Father Gilligan is completely overwhelmed by sleep. Soon, it is night and once the stars appear in the sky the moths disappear,The tired Father Gilligan slept the entire night kneeling down by the side of his chair. Early in the morning, at dawn he woke up to the cheerful sound of the chirping sparrows and once again the moths which appeared in the twilight reappeared at dawn:his soul Poor Father Gilligan realized his mistake and rushed off to the house of the dying parishioner, only to be greeted by the dead man's widow with the news that he had actually come earlier on and had ministered the last communion to the dying man and by doing so had ensured the salvation of: