Poetry speaks

Poetry Speaks Confessions of a Born Spectator One infant grows up and becomes a jockey, Another plays basketball or hockey, This one the prize ring hates to enter That one becomes a tackle or center, I am just glad as glad can be That I am not them, that they are not me. With all my heart I do admire Athletes who sweat for fun or hire, Who take the field in gaudy pomp, And maim each other as they romp, My limp and bashful spirit feeds On other people’s heroic deeds. Now A runs ninety yards to score, B knocks the champion to the floor, Cracking vertebrae and spines, Lashes his steed across the line, You’d think my ego it would please To swap positions with one of these. Well, ego it might be pleased enough, But zealous athletes play so rough They do not ever in their dealings Consider one another’s feelings. I’m glad that when my struggle begins ‘Twixt prudence and ego, prudence wins. When swollen eye meets gnarled fist When snaps the knee, and cr...

Poetry Speaks Once Upon A Time Once upon a time, son They used to laugh with their hearts And laugh with their eyes: But now they only laugh with their teeth While their ice-block-cold eyes Search behind my shadow. There was a time indeed They used to shake hands with their hearts But that’s gone, son Now they shake hands without hearts While their left hands search My empty pockets. “Feel at home!”, “Come again”: They say, and when I come Again and feel At home, once, twice There will be no thrice - For then I find doors shut on me. So I have learnt many things, son I have learned to wear many faces Like dresses – home face Office face, street face, host face Cocktail face, with all their conforming smiles Like a fixed portrait smile. And I have learned too To laugh with only my teeth And shake hands without my heart I have also learned to say “Goodbye” When I mean “Good-riddance”: To say “Glad to meet you” Without being glad; and to say “It’...

Q & A for 'The apology' Short Answers: 1. Why does the poet apologise? The poet apologizes beccause he is wandering around aimlessly according to the on-lookers, while they are toiling hard to earn a living. 2. Who is he apologising to? The poet apologises to mankind in general and in particular he apologises to men who are working hard in the fields. 3. Do you think it is right on the part of the poet to be idling away when the people are at work? The poet is not idling away his time because his mission is to appreciate nature and her beauty and translate it into a poem. In doing so, he draws men's attention to the wonders of nature and thus evokes in them a reverence and awe to nature and most importantly to it's creator. 4. How does he justify his action? He justifies his action by pointing out that if everyone toiled away in a mundane manner there would be no one left to appreciate the beauty and the mystery of nature. 5. Which lines in the poe...

Q & A for 'Earth' Short Answers: 1. What do the various physical features of the Earth reveal to the poet? The poet has discovered the earth’s dreamon the plains. He has admired her splendid presence on the mountains and observed her tranquillity in the valleys and touched her mysteries in the caves. 2. Why is the poet apologetic to the Earth? Pick out the lines that indicate this. The poet is apologetic because of the insensible wars that are waged. The earth is filled with skulls and bones of the dead and we pollute the earth with our wastes. The lines in the 3 rd stanza indicate that the poet is apologetic to the earth- “We pierce your bosom with swords and spears. We plant your fields with skulls and bones. We empty our wastes in your bosom,” 3. Why does the poet call the Earth merciful? The poet calls the Earth merciful because thogh we use the elements of the Earth to make weapons of destruction, the Earth in return gives us beautiful roses an...

Q & A for 'Laugh and be merry' Short Answers: 1. How can we make this world a better place to live in? The world can be a better place to live in if man is cheerful and when injustice is meted out to him. 2. What is man's span of life compared to? Man's life is compared to a thread. The poet thereby says that man's life is as slender as a thread and he has a short span of life. 3. What did God feel when He created the earth? God was immensely pleased with the creature of earth and He filled it with His happiness. 4. Who are the guests and where do they stay? We, human beings are the guests and the earth we live in is the inn. 5. What is referred to as beautiful inn? The earth is described as a beautiful inn. 6. How should man treat his fellow beings? Man should treat his fellow beings as his own brothers. 7. "Glad till the dancing stops, and the lilt of the music ends." - Explain. Man must be cheerful and merry while he li...

Q & A for 'The Flying Wonder' Short Answers: 1. What was the aspiration of Wright brothers? The aspiration of Wright brothers was to build a glider and fly like the birds. 2. Were they successful in realising thier cherised dream? Yes, they were successful in realising thier dream. Their first aeroplane flew after a lot of strugles. 3. When did the first plane take off? In 1903, the first plane took off and Orville Wright steered it. 4. What kind of relationship did the brothers share between themselves? The two brothers shared a devoted relationship with each other. They supported and encouraged each other. 5. What do you think about their achievement? The achievement of Wright brothers stands as a testimony for hardwork, dedication and the power to dream. I believe that the Wright brothers' achievement is a glory to man kind as it has enabled him to fly. 6. What is the meaning of the phrase "Skinned their noses"? The phrase "Skinned...

Q & A for 'A Sonnet For My Incomparable Mother' 1. What qualities has the daughter imbibed from her mother? The poet F.Joanna has imbibed qualities like sacrifice, devotion and love from her mother. 2. "You let me seperate and let me free." - What is the meaning of the line? When she grew up, her mother made her daughter independent of her by giving her a life partner. She is no more dependent on her mother. 3. Pick out the pairs of rhyimg words from the poem. The rhyming words are Know-Ago Tears-Years Security-Free Be-Me 4. What does the poet want to emphasize in the last two lines? In the last two lines the poet emphasizes that she is trying her best to be the same kind of mother that her mother was to her.

Poetry Speaks Earth How beautiful you are, Earth, and how sublime! How perfect your obedience to the light and how noble is your submission to the sun. I have walked over your plains, I have climbed your stony mountains I have descended into your valleys; I have entered into your caves. On the plains, I have discovered your dreams, On the mountains, I have admired your splendid presence. And in the valleys, I have observed your tranquility; In the caves, I have touched your mysteries. We pierce your bosom with swords and spears. And you dress our wounds with oil and balsam We plant your fields with skulls and bones. And from them, you rear cypress and willow trees, We empty our wastes in your bosom and you fill Our threshing floors with wheat sheaves, And our winepresses with grapes. We extract your elements to make Cannons and bombs but out of Our elements you create lilies and roses How patient you are Earth, and how merciful! Are you an atom ...

Poetry Speaks A Sonnet For My Incomparable Mother I often contemplate my childhood, Mom. I am a mother now, and so I know Hard work is mixed together with the fun; You learned that when you raised me long ago. I think of all the things you gave to me: Sacrifice, devotion, love and tears, Your heart, your mind, your energy and soul- All these you spent on me throughout the years. You loved me with a never-failing love You gave me strength and sweet security, And then you did the hardest thing of all: You let me separate and set me free. Every day, I try my best to be A mother like the mom you were to me. -F.Joanna Explanation This sonnet is written by the poet F.Joanna, which portrays the hardships a mother undergoes in bringing up her children. In turn her daughter who has become a mother conveys her love and affection for her mother in this very soulful sonnet. The daughter contemplates on her childhood and accepts that bringing up children is har...

Poetry Speaks The Flying Wonder "Said Orville Wright to Wilbur Wright, "These birds are very trying. I'm sick of hearing them cheep-cheep About the fun of flying. A bird has feathers, it is true. That much I freely grant. But must that stop us, W?" Said Wilbur Wright,"It shan't." And so they built a glider, first, And then they built another. -There never were two brothers more Devoted to each other. They ran a dusty little shop For bicycle repairing. And bought each other soda-pop And praised each other's daring. They glided here, they glided there, They sometimes skinned their noses. -For learning how to rule the air Was not a bed of roses- But each would murmur, afterward, While patching up his bro. "Are we discouraged, W?" Of course we are not, O!" And finally, at Kitty Hawk In Nineteen-Three (let's cheer it!), The first real aeroplane really flew With Orville there to steer it! -And...

Poetry Speaks Don't Quit When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, When the road you're trudging seems all uphill, When the funds are low and the debts are high, And you want to smile, but you have to sigh, When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest, if you must, but don't you quit. Life is queer with its twists and turns, As every one of us sometimes learns, And many a failure turns about, When he might have won had he stuck it out; Don't give up though the pace seems slow-- You may succeed with another blow. Often the goal is nearer than, It seems to a faint and faltering man, Often the struggler has given up, When he might have captured the victor's cup, And he learned too late when the night slipped down, How close he was to the golden crown. Success is failure turned inside out-- The silver tint of the clouds of doubt, And you never can tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems so far, So stick to th...

Poetry Speaks The Apology Think me not unkind and rude, That I walk alone in grove and glen; I go to the god of the wood To fetch his word to men. Tax not my sloth that I Fold my arms beside the brook; Each cloud that floated in the sky Writes a letter in my book. Chide me not, laborious band, For the idle flowers I brought; Every aster in my hand Goes home loaded with a thought. There was never mystery, But 'tis figured in the flowers, Was never secret history, But birds tell it in the bowers. One harvest from thy field Homeward brought the oxen strong; A second crop thine acres yield, Which I gather in a song. -Ralph Waldo Emerson Explanation This poem is in the form of an apology.It is written by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The poem starts with a plea from the poet.He tells the hard working men in the field not to think of him as unkind and rude he is walking through groves and valleys while they worked.He sa...

Poetry Speaks Laugh And Be Merry Laugh and be merry, remember, better the world with a song, Better the world with a blow in the teeth of a wrong. Laugh, for the time is brief, a thread the length of a span. Laugh and be proud to belong to the old proud pageant of man. Laugh and be merry: remember, in olden time. God made Heaven and Earth for joy He took in a rhyme, Made them, and filled them full with the strong red wine of His mirth The splendid joy of the stars: the joy of the earth. So we must laugh and drink from the deep blue cup of the sky, Join the jubilant song of the great stars sweeping by, Laugh, and battle, and work, and drink of the wine outpoured In the dear green earth, the sign of the joy of the Lord. Laugh and be merry together, like brothers akin, Guesting awhile in the rooms of a beautiful inn, Glad till the dancing stops, and the lilt of the music ends. Laugh till the game is played; and be you merry, my friends...

Poetry Speaks Be Glad Your Nose Is On Your Nose Be glad your nose is on your face, not pasted on some other place, for if it were where it is not, you might dislike your nose a lot. Imagine if your precious nose were sandwiched in between your toes, that clearly would not be a treat, for you'd be forced to smell your feet. Your nose would be a source of dread were it attached atop your head, it soon would drive you to despair, forever tickled by your hair. Within your ear, your nose would be an absolute catastrophe, for when you were obliged to sneeze, your brain would rattle from the breeze. Your nose, instead, through thick and thin, remains between your eyes and chin, not pasted on some other place- be glad your nose is on your face! -Jack Prelutsky Explanation This poem goes to tell us that we should always count our blessings. We are created by the good Lord, in his image with all our limbs and or...