Owner: Literary Jewels URL:http://www.literarybonanza.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Tue, 07 Aug 2007 07:14:31 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: This blog is dedicated to the jewels of literature, including novels, poetry, writers and their writings. It is about American literature, English literature, African literature, Indian English literature etc. I have made an attempt to interpret literatur Site statistics:Click here
Justice Delayed is Justice Denied 2008-02-22 10:09:00 What is justice? Is it definable? Let’s try. Is it impartiality? Or is it being fair? The concept of justice is actually a subjective one and also entails at the same time being objective in judgment. Justice
according to some is getting a fair treatment, while for others it is getting justice being delivered in courts. But a question that arises here is: Do all the judgments delivered in courts mean justice? If you have any doubts read John Grisham’s ‘The Innocent Man’. It can be called an eye-opener, although we are already in the know of many loopholes of law.Meursault was awarded death sentence not because he murdered an Arab but because he didn’t cry at his mother’s funeral. It was he was ‘the outsider’ at his own hearings in the court.Shakespeare did see to it that ju
Realism in 'Joseph Andrews' 2008-02-21 09:20:00 Henry Fielding was the pioneer of realism in English fiction. Both Fielding and Richardson were broadly speaking realists. Fielding also reacted against Richardson’s sentimentalism as a falsifying influence on the study of reality, although he does not reject sentimentalism altogether. “His desire”, says Cazamian, “is to give sentiment its right place; but also to integrate it in an organic series of tendencies where each contributes to maintain a mutual balance.”Fielding is one of the few writers who, despite the wideness of their scope are capable of observing the demands of reality with perpetual ease.His novels hold up to view a representative picture of his age. He is as authentic a chronicler of his day as Chaucer was of the later fourteenth century. Fielding’s truth is n Read more:Realism
, Joseph
, Andrews
'The Grapes of Wrath' - A Study in Detail (Part II) 2008-02-06 06:46:00 (Part I – see previous post) Steinbeck in this epoch-making novel ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ has also described the concept of ‘oversoul’. Many philosophers and men of religion, not only in America but also in other parts of the world, have expressed their belief that there is an ‘oversoul’ of which all human beings are parts. In ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ this idea has been given a practical shape when the Joad family, after many deaths and separations, realizes that the only way of being happy in this world is to love others like oneself and help them as far as possible. Steinbeck has Casy rephrase Emerson’s concepts of the Oversoul and self-reliance. He helps unite the prisoners in California jail when they effectively protest against the sour food there and his death during Read more:Study
, Detail
'The Grapes of Wrath' - A Study in Detail (Part I) 2008-02-03 09:42:00 The Grapes of Wrath is a strongly sustained social and political narrative that provides and accurate and faithful description of a critical period in American history. The novel is a post-depression novel and the writer John Steinbeck’s epic masterpiece of social consciousness in its picture of helpless people crushed by drought and depression. The novel is usually described as a novel of social protest, for it exposes the desperate conditions under which one group of American workers, the migratory farm families, was forced to live during 1930s.In the depths of the greatest economic depression these people had to abandon their homes and their livelihoods. They were uprooted and set adrift because tractors were rapidly industrializing the Southern cotton fields and because erosion and d Read more:Study
, Detail
'Murder in the Cathedral' - An overview 2008-01-31 09:35:00 ‘Murder in the Cathedral
’ was written for the Canterbury festival in 1935. The play follows the event in Canterbury after Becket’s return in 1170. A chorus of women laments the absence of their archbishop and the people’s helplessness. In the schism between the Church and the State, it is announced that Becket is returning, the news is welcome but all, save the second priest, are fearful of King Henry II’s reconciliation with Becket and wonder if it is to be trusted. Becket enters determined to resolve the crisis, though he knows that it may cost him his life. In the long scene, in the play, the Four Tempters illustrate the conflict. His decision provokes within himself, the temptation to seek martyrdom is powerful. Becket realizes that the only course he has to follow is to offe
Revival of Poetic Drama 2008-01-31 08:04:00 According to Francis Fergussan, a poetic drama is a drama in which you “feel” the characters are poetry and were poetry before they began to speak. Thus poetry and drama are inseparable. The playwright has to create a pattern to justify the poetic quality of the play and his poetry performs a double function. First, it is an action itself, so it must do what it says. Secondly, it makes explicit what is really happening. Eliot in his plays has solved the problem regarding language, content and versification.In the twentieth century, the inter-war period was an age suited to the poetic drama. There was a revival and some of the poets like W. B. Yeats and T. S. Eliot tried their hands in writing of poetic plays. This was a reaction against prose plays of G. B. Shaw, Galsworthy and others Read more:Poetic
Poetic Drama 2008-01-18 02:21:00 The term ‘poetic drama’ became popular during the middle of the twentieth century. It was T.S. Eliot who revived this drama/term as a reaction to the drama of ideas popularized by Galsworthy and G. B. Shaw under the influence of Ibsen. Even Shaw has written ‘The Quintessence of Ibsenism’, in which he gave his manifesto and showed the influence of Ibsen. As a critic T. S. Eliot has written essays like ‘Poetry and Drama’ and ‘Possibility of Poetic
Drama’ and so on. In ‘Poetry and Drama’ he points out that poetry and drama are inseparable from each other. Poetry mirrors the heart of the person which the reader cannot conceal. Poetic Drama, according to T. S. Eliot, has far reaching effects as it affects the emotions of person directly., as a practitioner of poetic drama,
Lines from Wordsworth's Immortality Ode 2008-01-14 10:13:00 "The Clouds that gather round the setting sunDo take a sober colouring from an eyeThat hath kept watch o'er man's mortality;Another race hath been, and other palms are won.Thanks to the human heart by which we live,Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,To me the meanest flower that blows can giveThoughts that do often lie too deep for tears."(extract taken from ‘Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood )I consider these lines penned by Wordsworth as one of the most precious literary jewels. How beautifully he has summed up the whole thing! It seems as if he has described a lifetime, and at the same time the whole generation of mankind – he refers to the Sun as “that hath kept watch o'er man's mortality”. Read more:Lines
Ode: Intimations of Immortality by William Wordsworth 2008-01-13 07:11:00 AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ELEMENTS IN THE IMMORTALITY ODEApart from its philosophical aspect, the great Ode on the Intimation of Immortality is also in the nature of a personal document. It was written on the eve of his happy marriage with Mary Hutchison, when he was still at the height of his powers. But the poet felt that a great change had come over his relations with nature. The familiar objects of the external world were still there as usual. He could still find joy in nature, but could no longer perceive her appareled in celestial light as before. The poet was terribly shaken by the loss of ‘vision’ and asks the poignant question:Whither is fled the visionary gleam?Where is now, the glory and the dream.The poem, in short, faithfully records a grave spiritual crisis and how it was overcome Read more:William
‘The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ - R. L. Stevenson 2008-01-06 08:13:00 Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 –1894) was a Scottish novelist, poet and a travel writer. He wrote a novella ‘The Strange
Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ that was first published in 1886. The book was a very successful one – it was an instant success. The novel is about the duality of human nature. There is an animal hidden inside the man – the evil side of our self. The human soul has been portrayed as the battleground of the good and the evil. The novel is an insight into the working of the subconscious mind.The following is a paragraph quoted from the novel itself:“It was a fine ... day.... I sat in the sun on a bench; the animal within me licking the chops of memory; the spiritual side a little drowsed, promising subsequent penitence, but not yet moved to begin. After all, I
'Blow! Blow! Thou Winter Wind' - Shakespeare 2008-01-03 10:01:00 The poem 'Blow! Blow! Thou Winter Wind' :Blow, blow, thou winter wind,Thou art not so unkindAs man's ingratitude;Thy tooth is not so keen,Because thou art not seen,Although thy breath be rudeHeigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly;Most friends is feigning, most loving mere folly:Then, heigh-ho, the holly! This life is most jolly.Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,That dost not bite so nighAs benefits forgot: Thou thou the waters warp,Thy sting is not so sharp As friend remembered not.(Shakespeare
, As You Like It, Act III, sc. ii)The poem entitled ‘Blow! Blow! Thou Winter Wind’ is a song sung by the character named Amiens in the drama written by William Wordsworth. Amiens is one of the lords who have by their own choice come with Duke Senior, who had been banished by his brother. Am
'Fear No More' - from 'Cymbeline' by Shakespeare 2007-12-29 08:08:00 ‘Fear No More’ Fear no more the heat o' the sun,Nor the furious winter's rages;Thou thy worldly task hast done,Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages;Golden lads and girls all must,As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.Fear no more the frown o' the great;Thou art past the tyrant's stroke:Care no more to clothe and eat;To thee the reed is as the oak:The sceptre, learning, physic, mustAll follow this, and come to dust.Fear no more the lightning-flash,Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone;Fear not slander, censure rash;Thou hast finished joy and moan;All lovers young, all lovers mustConsign to thee, and come to dust. The poem ‘Fear No More’ appears as a song in Shakespeare
’s play ‘Cymbeline’. It is a song sung over the supposed death of Imogen, the central female character of the play. The
New Year Resolutions 2007-12-28 22:19:00 The dawn of a new year is a time when we make new resolutions and have new dreams for the coming year. Often the resolutions are as easily broken as they were made.My resolutions for the year that is going to ring in:· Working hard towards making my blog a success· Earning signed cheques from my blog· Reading more and more about English literature to enrich my blogApart from the above mentioned blogging goals, I will strive to· Acquire more knowledge· Write more articles· Get a good score in my examsHave I not been too selfish? That is what the problem is with us humans. We only think about ourselves. We are so engrossed with the material things of life that life passes by us and we never notice; as W. H. Davies had rightly remarked: “we have no time to stand and stare”. Wordswor Read more:Resolutions
, New Year
Wordsworth's ‘Lines written in Early Spring’ 2007-12-26 07:18:00 ‘Lineswritten
in EarlySpring
’ - the poemI heard a thousand blended notes,While in a grove I sate reclined,In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughtsBring sad thoughts to the mind.To her fair works did Nature linkThe human soul that through me ran;And much it grieved my heart to thinkWhat man has made of man.Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;And 'tis my faith that every flowerEnjoys the air it breathes.The birds around me hopped and played,Their thoughts I cannot measure:--But the least motion which they madeIt seemed a thrill of pleasure.The budding twigs spread out their fan,To catch the breezy air;And I must think, do all I can,That there was pleasure there.If this belief from heaven be sent,If such be Nature's holy plan,Have I not reason
'Human Folly' an extract from 'Essay on Man' by Alexander Pope 2007-12-25 10:09:00 'Human Folly
' - the poemWhate'er the passions, knowledge, fame, or pelf,Not one will change is neighbour with himself.The learn'd is happy nature to explore,The fool is happy that he knows no more;The rich is happy in the plenty given,The poor contents him with the care of Heaven,See the blind beggar dance, the cripple singThe sot a hero, lunatic a king;The starving chemist in his golden viewsSupremely bless'd, the poet in his Muse.See some strange comfort ev'ry state attend,And Pride bestow'd on all, a common friend:See some fit passion every age supply;Hope travels thro', nor quits us when we die.Behold the child, by Nature's kindly law,Pleas'd with a rattle, tickled with a straw:Some livelier plaything gives his youth delight,A little louder, but as empty quite:Scarfs, garters, gold, am Read more:extract
, Alexander
, Alexander Pope
Romantic Tradition and Shakespeare (with special reference to 'As You Like It') 2008-03-15 03:23:00 The play ‘As You Like It’ was adapted from a romance in prose called ‘Rosalynde’ by Thomas Lodge. The play was in the romance tradition and at the same departure from it.Disguise and mistaken identity were also the techniques that Shakespeare
borrowed from the romantic literature. These techniques brought confusion in their wake and also resulted in humourous situations. They also enabled Shakespeare to focus attention on the theme that in this world appearances are often deceptive.Shakespearean comedy owes the concept of poetic justice to romance literature. Everything according to the satisfaction of everyone --- well-rounded conclusions with only an occasional dissatisfied human being left as if to suggest that life doesn’t lend itself to such cut and dried solutions and cann Read more:Tradition
, reference
Shakespearean Jewels - Part I 2008-03-20 06:54:00 Shakespeare, since times immemorial, has been known for his witty, precise, pithy and meaningful statements. A few I would like to quote here:“Lord, what fools these mortals be!” (A Midsummer Night's Dream)“Such as we are made of, such we be.” (Twelfth Night)“Life's but a walking shadow, a poor playerThat struts and frets his hour upon the stageAnd then is heard no more: it is a taleTold by an idiot, full of sound and fury,Signifying nothing.” (The Tempest)This was only a drop from the ocean of exalting words from Shakespearean
pen. Read more:Jewels
Literary Jewels from Milton's ''Paradise Lost' 2008-03-18 10:09:00 The following are a few of the passages quoted from John Milton
’s masterpiece, I would say, ‘Paradise
Lost’. They are a poet’s delight, something to be savoured by a lover of literature, a thing to be cherished by a person with an aesthetic sense and the one who feels elated by the sheer magic of poetry."Accuse not nature, she hath done her part;Do thou but thine, and be not diffidentOf wisdom, she deserts thee not, if thouDismiss not her, when most thou needest her nigh,By attributing overmuch to thingsLess excellent, as thou thyself perceivest.""Here at lastWe shall be free;the Almighty hath not builtHere for his envy, will not drive us hence:Here we may reign secure, and in my choiceTo reign is worth ambition though in Hell:Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.""When th Read more:Jewels
, Literary
, Paradise Lost
Grave Diggers Scene in 'Hamlet' 2008-03-21 08:41:00 The Grave
diggers scene (Act V, sc. i) in ‘Hamlet
’ has been frequently called as a definitive final scene in Hamlet’s journey. According to F.T. Prince, it is the scene in which Hamlet finds his way after stumbling through a jungle of emotions.The grave digger scene is divided into two parts; in the first part, Hamlet contemplates the morality of man as he watches the human skull being tossed from their sleepy graves by the grave diggers. The entry of Hamlet marks the second part of the scene. He exits his feigned madness when he is stared into the face by the reality of the death of Ophelia.Having escaped death at the hands of robbers and from the King’s conspiracy to eliminate him Hamlet comes back an enlightened man. Part of his enlightenment comes from the fact that Hamlet is n Read more:Diggers
Man and his Destiny 2008-03-31 11:27:00 There has been continuous struggle between man and time. In this race time has been the eternal winner. The concept of time machine was only a part of the effort to take over time. But alas! that was not to be. ‘Time and tide wait for none’ they say. There are some things that we can’t mend. Arthur Hugh Clough (British poet) writes, “This world is very odd we see,We do not comprehend it;But in one fact we all agree,God won't, and we can't mend it”As far as mending is concerned, we only like to change what we do not like. And imagine the picture of this ‘odd’ world if each one of teeming millions ventures out to set the world straight according to one’s own likes and dislikes.‘A bad workman always blames his tools’ as goes the English proverb. The practice still continue Read more:Destiny
‘The Seven Sorrows’ by Ted Hughes 2008-04-02 09:04:00 ‘The Seven
Sorrows’ (text)The first sorrow of autumnIs the slow goodbyeOf the garden who stands so long in the evening-A brown poppy head,The stalk of a lily,And still cannot go.The second sorrowIs the empty feetOf a pheasant who hangs from a hook with his brothers.The woodland of goldIs folded in feathersWith its head in a bag.And the third sorrowIs the slow goodbyeOf the sun who has gathered the birds and who gathersThe minutes of evening,The golden and holyGround of the picture.The fourth sorrowIs the pond gone blackRuined and sunken the city of water-The beetle's palace,The catacombsOf the dragonfly.And the fifth sorrowIs the slow goodbyeOf the woodland that quietly breaks up its camp.One day it's gone.It has only left litter-Firewood, tentpoles.And the sixth sorrowIs the fox's sor Read more:Hughes
Words - The Two-Edged Swords 2008-04-05 08:57:00 Words are like beads that drop out of the necklace of thoughts. They are placed in the carvings on the golden pages of time. And you have a ‘stone-studded life’! Words are an expression of your thoughts, emotions, feelings, views, ideas and what not. They are a concrete manifestation of abstract ideas. It is an art to use the right word at the right place. Words are not just letters put together. They carry a world with themselves; you never know what effect a particular word will have in a particular situation. Even a single word can work wonders for you. As George Bernard Shaw has rightly put it, “Words are only postage stamps delivering the object for you to unwrap”. Words can join two hearts or they can break one into two. Words can help you to make people laugh or they can mak Read more:Words
, Swords
Freedom Redefined 2008-04-06 11:30:00 Rousseau remarked, “Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains.” This statement leads us to the question: Does freedom only mean being free from any kind of physical bondage? Is freedom only of the body? This is not the case. The chains here refer to both the physical as well as the mental chains that surround us at all times and at all places. What is more important is a mind that is liberated from all kinds of shackles, all the things that create hurdles in its path of the flight of imagination, of fulfilling the aspirations; the flight to nowhere. The freedom of thought is what empowers your creativity. It lends broad dimensions to your horizons of thought. A mind that is free to think is the thing that helps the person as well as his nation to attain new heights.Another impor Read more:Freedom
Of Childhood 2008-04-09 01:02:00 What peaceful hours I enjoy'dHow sweet their mem'ry still!(WILLIAM COWPER)Sweet memories, especially those of childhood, never forsake us. Only diamonds are forever, but childhood memories too are. The latter contribute towards letting us stay a kid at heart for the whole of our life. The nostalgic aura of the cherubic childhood adds a touch of blitheness to the otherwise lacklustre and monotonous adulthood in this mechanical modern world. The modern day loneliness is gone with the wind as one reminisces the days 'when God was in his heaven and all was well with the world' (Robert Browning).It is in the childhood that the foundations of a future are laid. We have to construct the palaces of our dreams on these very foundations, so they have to be really solid. Moreover, the base of anythin Read more:Childhood
John Clare's 'I AM' 2008-04-12 03:15:00 I long for scenes where man has never trod;A place where woman never smil’d or wept;There to abide with my creator, God,And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept:Untroubling and untroubled where I lie;The grass below–above the vaulted sky. (JOHN CLARE – 'I AM')What beautiful thought have been presented in these lines! They have been one of my long treasured poetic stanzas. The lines have a picturesque beauty – “the scene where man has never trod”. The phrase brings to mind a place that has, hitherto, not been polluted by human existence. There does not exist the eternal trouble maker, that is, sorrow nor is there anything to make you smile. There is a perfectly balanced living. The other interpretation can be linked
Man and His Destiny - II 2008-04-17 11:09:00 In my earlier post ‘Man and Destiny
’ I talked about the relationship between man and his destiny. At that time I had not planned a second part of the post. But a few days back I heard a couplet that again set me thinking and I couldn’t stop myself from sharing it with my readers. It was in Hindi language (the national language of India). I am presenting it here in English for everyone’s convenience: “Why do we search for our destiny in the lines of our handsWhen even those have destiny who don’t have hands.” Do give it a thought!
'True Growth' by Ben Jonson 2008-04-18 06:47:00 TRUE GROWTHIt is not growing like a treeIn bulk, doth make man better beOr standing long as an oak, three hundred yearsTo fall a log at last, dry, bald and sere.A Lily of a dayIs fairer far in May,Although it fall and die that nightIt was the plant and flower of light.In small proportions we just beauty seeAnd in short measures life may perfect be.(BEN JONSON)A short but a very meaningful poem! It gives us the essence of a happy life. We should not live life by years; it is the moments by which we should live to lead a blissful and fruitful life. We cannot make a year wonderful but at least we can create memorable moments for ourselves and others to cherish. This is the real beauty of a life well lived.What makes our lives tragic is that we often stretch the possibility of an upcoming prob Read more:Growth
Give it a thought! 2008-04-23 11:25:00 "Never Blame A Day In Your Life. Good Days Give You Happiness. Bad Days Give You Experience. Both Are Essential In Life.All Are Gods' Blessings."I got this SMS a few days back. The message set me thinking. It is the universal tendency of human beings to blame something or the other for his mistakes. If not anything else we put the burden on the day - saying it is inauspicious. In reality, it all depends on our actions. There is a direct relationship between our deeds and the results we get. Moreover, we should accept what comes our way. As has been rightly said, "Bad days give you experience". Life is presented before us in all the shades. And anyway, a uniformly coloured life would be too monotonous! Read more:thought
'Abou Ben Adhem' - an opinion 2008-04-25 11:10:00 'Abou Ben Adhem' (text)Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,And saw, within the moonlight in his room,Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,An Angel writing in a book of gold:Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,And to the Presence in the room he said,"What writest thou?" The Vision raised its head,And with a look made of all sweet accordAnswered, "The names of those who love the Lord.""And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"Replied the Angel. Abou spoke more low,But cheerily still; and said, "I pray thee, then,Write me as one who loves his fellow men."The Angel wrote, and vanished. The next nightIt came again with a great wakening light,And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,And, lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest! (Jam Read more:opinion
Memories 2008-04-27 01:48:00 “The leaves of memory seemed to makeA mournful rustling in the dark.”~Henry Wadsworth LongfellowIt is often said, some memories are too sweet to be forgotten. Memories are what make our life worth living. Memories are like the light shining in the otherwise dark corridors of life. They are a nice reminder of the good things of life. ‘All good things come to an end’ but it is through memories that they are kept alive. And we cling to them to have a whiff of fresh and fragrant air. We tend to lean back on our memories to save ourselves from the onslaught of the life ahead. Memories are those moments, which once past may not cross our path ever again. Yet they are our lifeline.“Footfalls echo in the memoryDown the passage which we did not takeTowards the door we never opened”~T.S.
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