Poem in Brief: On the Grasshopper and the Cricket "The poetry of earth is never dead" "The poetry of earth is ceasing never"

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Milo Shields
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1 John Keats was born on October 31st, 1795 in London, England. He was a romantic poet and his poetry was marked by vivid imageries expressed through philosophy and great sensuous appeal. Some of his famous works are Ode on a Grecian Urn, Ode to a Nightingale, Ode to Autumn, On Grasshopper and the Cricket, Endymion, Hyperion and many more. Poem in Brief: On the Grasshopper and the Cricket is a fine sonnet and a symbolic poem. The grasshopper symbolizes summer while the cricket symbolizes the cold winter. The opening line of the poem suggests that the poetry of earth is never dead. Every poet has been attracted towards nature and so has Keats been. Through his poem, On the Grasshopper and the Cricket the poet asserts that no matter what the season is, whether it is the sweltering summer or the harsh cold winter, the music and the poetry of the nature is never dead. During a very hot summer day, all the birds take rest under shady trees. Due to the scorching heat of the sun, they are tired and stop their twittering and singing. Yet the music of the earth does not come to a halt. The grasshopper goes on hopping from one hedge to another, chirping and singing merrily to continue with the music of the earth. It continues to sing delighting until he is satisfied and tired out with fun that it takes rest under some shady weed. The poet again mentions that the poetry of the earth will never cease. It is omnipresent and ever-lasting. During the bitterly cold winter evening, when all living creatures have taken shelter for rest, an atmosphere of loneliness and silence prevails. Even then the poetry of the earth continues without any break. The cricket which has been driven indoors to seek the warmth of the stove sings a shrill song and it gets louder and louder as he gets more and more warmth from the stove. Now the living beings and the animals who are in slumber cannot find any difference in the song of the cricket from that of the grasshopper. They think the music of the grasshopper is still continuing. Therefore, Keats wants to convey that all music is same whether it comes from the grasshopper or the cricket. The singers may be different but the tunes created are all expressions of love and happiness. "The poetry of earth is never dead" which is the opening line of the octave and the poem; and "The poetry of earth is ceasing never" which is the first line of the sestet. Keats asserts emphatically that no matter what the season, whether it is the peak of scorching summer or the bitterly cold winter season the music and 'poetry' of Mother Nature will be omnipresent and add vitality to the environment. The octave and the sestet compare and contrast a hot summer day and a bitterly cold and lonely winter evening. It's so hot that the usually chirpy and active birds have taken shelter amongst the shady trees and the whole countryside seems to be quiet, but just then one can hear the ever active grasshopper chirping away merrily in the hedges.

2 Similarly when one is cosily sheltered in the comfort of his home in front of a warm stove from the cold frosty winter and is beginning to feel lonely, the silence is shattered by the shrill chirpings of the cricket which adds meaning to the lonely winter evening without filling it up by reminding him of the music of the grasshopper in the summer months. This poem asserts the way in which "the poetry of earth" never ceases nor dies, as its song is carried on throughout the year by nature in its various guises. The title refers to the way in which the grasshopper and cricket are able to carry on this poetry even in the harshest or most inhospitable of weathers, when all other forms of nature are silent. The grasshopper is able to "take the lead / In summer luxury" in the heat of the summer when "birds are faint with teh hot sun." Likewise, in the depths of winter, when "the frost / Has wrought a silence" the cricket is able to sing out its poetry of earth from the stove. Both the cricket and the grasshopper therefore seem to operate as a pair, one taking over from the other, to ensure, as is repeated twice in this Romantic poem, that nature, or, "the poetry of earth" is never dead and there is always some example of the beauty of nature that characterises this form of poetry. It is a fact that in his life Keats was a neglected poet. Wordsworth rejected him as a pagan. Shelley called him Greek. But Leigh Hunt only could see a great poet in him. Quite sometime after his death, slowly the interest in is works grew. Arnold found in him an ideal poetic character. The critics the last part of the nineteenth century like Pater, wild, and Symons saw in him a pure poet. The Georgian poets parse him for his appreciation of the beauties of the imaginative world. The modern poets praise him for having extended the possibilities of English language and bounds of subjective experience. Keats is now a greater influence on the recent poets. Keats's life and poetry are inseparable. Each of his poems is inspired by an intimate personal experience, yet it attains impersonality. There is a healthy integration of life and art in his poetry. With his feeling for beauty he could perceive the vital connection between beauty and truth. "On the Grasshopper and Cricket" is a fine sonnet of Keats. Here the expresses his conviction that poetry is some how directly created in the poet's soul by nature. Every object of nature inspires the poet to create poetry. Keats's senses were keenly alive to the beauty of natural phenomena. So he finds the music of nature as non-stop. Seasons may change. Singers may be different. But the music of earth goes on. Summer and winter are the toughest seasons of the year. In summer it is extremely hot and in winter it is very cold. So in these two seasons there are rare sings of joy and music on earth. But here the poet points to the poetry of earth during summer and winter. In the hot summer noon all the birds take rest under shady trees. Due to extreme heat they stop singing. Still the music of earth does not come to an end. Soon the grasshopper takes over the charge. It goes on jumping about the newly mown meadow. Its chirping sound is

3 heard from hedge to hedge. Heat of the summer is pleasant for it. It enjoys itself by singing and jumping when it feels satisfied it takes shelter under some plant- "He has never done With his delights; for when tired out with fun He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed." The winter evening is extremely cold.' Extreme cold out side send man and animal, bird and insect to their shelter for rest. An atmosphere of silence and loneliness prevails. But even then the poetry of earth continues without a break. The frost has driven the cricket indoors. He seeks the warmth of the stove. From the stove his shrill song comes. As he gets more and more warmth he sings louder and louder- "when the frost Has wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills The cricket's song in warmth increasing ever." In the mean time the human beings feel drowsy. Before the evening they have been listening to the voice of the grasshopper. Now in their drowsiness they do not find the sound of the cricket as different from that of the grasshopper. They think that the music of the grasshopper continues still. Here Keats emphasizes the point that all music is basically the same whether it is the grasshoppers or the crickets. The music produced by different singers may be different. But they are all the expressions of joy. WHEN I SET FOR Summary: The poem comes from Hardy's memory of a these three days in his life. Although nothing is mentioned in the poem about any of this, it is obvious that the poet is quite excited and happy about his trip. Though Lyonnesse is a mythological lost land, beginning with these lines, the poem appears to take the reader on a trip: When I set out for Lyonnesse, A hundred miles away...

4 The reader learns that the trip will cover about 100 miles by train. Initially, the poetic speaker was lonely, probably dreading his time away from home and his comforts. On the other hand, no fortune teller or magician could have foretold what would happen while he was there. The speaker can hardly believe what occurred himself. Nor did the wisest wizard guess What would bechance at Lyonnesse While I should sojourn there. Never telling what did transpire, the reader is fully aware that this was a grand event in the poetic speaker's life. However, he does not explain himself. Note that Lyonnesse is mentioned twice in every stanza. This promotes the idea of the time he spent on this trip was more than real, possibly heavenly. To the poetic speaker, his trip to Lyonnesse put a twinkle in his eyes and magic in his heart. Background: When reading a Thomas Hardy poem, it is always helpful to find out what is happening in his personal life when the poem was written. Many of Hardy's poems recall some event in his life; often, it specifically refers to his relationships. This poem "When I Set Out for Lyonnesse" refers to an actual occurrence which changed Hardy's life forever. The poet narrates the poem using the repetition of the word Lyonnesse several times. This is called anaphora. He wrote his poem with three stanzas which represent the before the trip, during the time there, and the journey home. Oddly, Lyonnesse is a mythical place referred to in the King Arthur legend. His choice to use this setting refer than an actual place imparts an air of magic and mysticism. This place turns out to be a place of joy and happiness. Written in 1869, the poem actually refers to a church near Cornwall where Hardy went to makes recommendations about its repair. This trip was a life altering journey. From his biographical information, Hardy was met at the door by the sister of the priest, who was named Emma. Both Hardy and Emma find the meeting quite interesting. However, it took about three more years for them to become engaged and later marry.

5 A SHORT MONSOON DIARY- SUMMARY The writer, Ruskin Bond, in this diary tells about the nature of miracles and life s little joys and regrets. June 24 was the first day of monsoon mist. The mist was saddening. It concealed the hills and spread silence. The birds stopped singing suddenly. June 25 brought early monsoon rain. It became warm and humid. The mist afforded some privacy also. A boy asked him to describe the hill station and the valley. Ruskin only said that it could have been a paradise, The rain marked the arrival of animals like leopard and thousands of leaks. The leopard lifted a dog from the servant s quarter below the school. Since the rains were there, the insect eating birds had no dearth of food. All night on August 2, the rain drummed on the tin roof. But there was no shower, no thunder. On August 3, the rain stopped. The whisking thrush sang. On August 12, there was endless rain and permanent mist. The writer had nowhere to go. He only looked out of the window. On August 31, snakes and rodents rushed out of their flooded holes. They took shelter in roofs and godowns. The grandmother told the children not to kill the chuchunders, ie. moles because it brought money. By October3, the monsoon rain made way for the winter rain and snow at higher altitude. A hailstorm in the evening hit the place. The poet was quite alone in the house. He was very lonely and quiet. He heard only the rhythm of rain. It enveloped the house. The trees looked not green but dreadful. By March end, the winter also ended. Mussorie had black clouds over it. It hailed half an hour. When it cleared the sky, a rainbow was formed across it.

CLASS II ASSIGNMENT 3. Time: Flexible Maximum Marks: 30. Section A: COMPREHENSION [10]

CLASS II ASSIGNMENT 3. Time: Flexible Maximum Marks: 30. Section A: COMPREHENSION [10] Link Unit 3 A Freshly Baked Cake CLASS II ASSIGNMENT 3 Time: Flexible Maximum Marks: 30 Section A: COMPREHENSION [10] Read this passage. Once upon a time, there lived an ant and a grasshopper in a grassy