Hello Friends,
This blog is my response to the task assigned to us by our Prof. Dr. DilipSir in thinking activity on W. H. Auden's Poems. So read, understand and enjoy. Happy Learning!!!
Q-1 Which lines of 'September 1, 1939' you liked the most? Why?
Ans. The lines from the poem I liked the most are as follows:
"And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die."
The first line from above tells us that no one exits alone. We all need one another, we all are dependent on each other. This tells us to live in harmony with others and it also highlights the importance of universal brotherhood. We need to help others whenever in need and in return we'll be helped when we need. It's not possible to live alone. So just like porcupines in order to protect themselves from cold, they stay close to one another even if their own pines hurt them but at least they'll be protected from cold and death. So we also have to live in unity with others because alone we'll perish or else we may die or might be in danger.
The second line tells us that hunger leads one to do anything, it may lead one to do crimes also, this leads people to stealing, begging, harsh jobs in very dangerous conditions, it leads one to work hard and earn. So hunger leads people to be drawn towards positive or negative ways. Those who have no choice left are drawn towards negative ways. So we should and even leaders have to see to it that everyone should get basic necessities of life by appropriate means so as to avoid crimes and doing unwanted things.
The third line is connected with the second line. It applies to all human beings that for hunger all will do anything whether he is citizen or police. The meaning is that if police faces some troubles then he may also do the things which should not be done. One thing hunger or the basic needs of human beings lets humans, whether common beings or great people to do anything that comes to their minds and in their rescue at the moment. So we all need to work hard in order to avoid such life threatening situations. And if we've everything we need then we should care for our fellow beings also that they find appropriate ways to get a livelihood. We need to educate our future generations to walk on the right path from childhood only.
The fourth line tells us that we must love one another or we must die. It's like a command do or die. There's no choice. It tells us that we must love one another or out of hatred we'll perish. The world grows in love.
"Without love our Earth is like a tomb."
Even in Christianity it is said that, "Love one another as I have loved you." "God is Love." The speaker highlights the importance of love, love makes us live and it avoids all types of wars. Love is at the root of all virtues. We all need to be loved by others so we must love others. In giving is all that we receive.
So due to all above reasons, explanations and interpretations I like the above lines from the poem "September 1, 1939".
Q‐2 What is so special about 'In Memory of W B Yeats'?
Ans. The Poem "In the Memory of W. B. Yeats" by W. H. Auden is written on death of W. B. Yeats. Yeats died on 28 January 1939 in France. So this poem can be considered an elegy.
In this poem Auden deals on three main themes:
1. On W. B. Yeats
2. On poets in general
3. Role of poetry
This poem is a Meditation, Thinking, Reflection on the role of and place of POETRY in modern world.
Here modern world means people have not time for poetry. It raises many questions in our mind like
What is the purpose of poetry?
Why we require poetry?
What is the use of literature?
Can poetry make anything happen?
Should poetry make anything happen?
Should poetry change the world? Why?
This image shows one of the themes of Auden's poem In Memory of W B Yeats. It tells us that although poem does not treat but in pain and sickness, it gives strength, it provides positive enery to fight the difficulties, to continue inspite of many problems, pains and failures. It's food for the mind. So it's advised to read books whether happy or sad. Literature is medicine for mind and it prevents many mental health issues. It gives solutions to many of our problems.
If we have evil within us, we'll see and learn evil from literature, films, songs, books, magazines, etc. But if we have good within us, then it will help us to see good in everything. We'll be able to find good even in something worst. It also depends upon how we see the things. Our thoughts, opinions, view, mental insight matters the most rather than the external factors.
But all these things, people in this modern world aren't able to understand. They don't have time to read poems or books or any work of literature. But when problems come in life and if they're unable to tackle them, when mental pressures increase, tension arises, that leads to mental health problems. Then one is advised to read books, refer to literature. In modern world, busy life has many times many more problems to tackle so infact in these times literature becomes more important in life of people.
In this poem, Auden tells that how the poem has to struggle a lot for it's survival. Poet finds it difficult to make his poems survive in this world where people are so busy that they don't have time to read literature.
There is one very interesting and very important article on Why Literature? By Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa. It shows how people react to literature and why literature is so important. Below are some glimpses from the same article.
"It has often happened to me, at book fairs or in bookstores, that a gentleman approaches me and asks me for a signature. “It is for my wife, my young daughter, or my mother,” he explains. “She is a great reader and loves literature.” Immediately I ask: “And what about you? Don’t you like to read?” The answer is almost always the same: “Of course I like to read, but I am a very busy person.” I have heard this explanation dozens of times: this man and many thousands of men like him have so many important things to do, so many obligations, so many responsibilities in life, that they cannot waste their precious time buried in a novel, a book of poetry, or a literary essay for hours and hours."
"Nothing teaches us better than literature to see, in ethnic and cultural differences, the richness of the human patrimony, and to prize those differences as a manifestation of humanity’s multi-faceted creativity. Reading good literature is an experience of pleasure, of course; but it is also an experience of learning what and how we are, in our human integrity and our human imperfection, with our actions, our dreams, and our ghosts, alone and in relationships that link us to others, in our public image and in the secret recesses of our consciousness."
"One of its first beneficial effects takes place at the level of language. A community without a written literature expresses itself with less precision, with less richness of nuance, and with less clarity than a community whose principal instrument of communication, the word, has been cultivated and perfected by means of literary texts. A humanity without reading. untouched by literature, would resemble a community of deaf-mutes and aphasics, afflicted by tremendous problems of communication due to its crude and rudimentary language. This is true for individuals, too. A person who does not read, or reads little, or reads only trash, is a person with an impediment: he can speak much but he will say little, because his vocabulary is deficient in the means for self-expression."
"This is not only a verbal limitation. It represents also a limitation in intellect and in imagination. It is a poverty of thought, for the simple reason that ideas, the concepts through which we grasp the secrets of our condition, do not exist apart from words. We learn how to speak correctly—and deeply, rigorously, and subtly—from good literature, and only from good literature. No other discipline or branch of the arts can substitute for literature in crafting the language that people need to communicate. To speak well, to have at one’s disposal a rich and diverse language, to be able to find the appropriate expression for every idea and every emotion that we want to communicate, is to be better prepared to think, to teach, to learn, to converse, and also to fantasize, to dream, to feel. In a surreptitious way, words reverberate in all our actions, even in those actions that seem far removed from language. And as language evolved, thanks to literature, and reached high levels of refinement and manners, it increased the possibility of human enjoyment."
So, now we can understand better that why literature is so much important in our life.
Ans. Yes, in contemporary times also we do find tyrants and people who silently support them. For example in some rallies Trump allowed people to go without masks. In some parts of India also when people were going for election rallies they weren't wearing masks and in rallies also so many people gathered in spite of corona pandemic and when people aren't suppose to gather in such a big number.
There are games that caused players to go astray like blue whale which was banned later on. Then today also we've games like PUBG which cause people to waste lots of time, data, money and it even causes lots of stress. It then becomes an addiction and causes youngsters to waste their best time of life, when the youth of the nation are suppose to be working towards growth, progress and development of self and the nation rather than wasting time, energy and causing stress in playing games on digital platforms.
There are people who don't wear masks, don't maintain social distance, and they spread Corona among many others. Due to these even the people who are taking so many precautions had to suffer. Medical faculties are urging the authorities to take strict measures to prevent the spread of Corona but some people are just not cooperating and they are becoming the tyrants of our times. So we shouldn't support such people infact to voice against such tyrants who are disturbing the peace, health and hygiene of the country.
1,836 Words.
Works Cited
1. "Mario Vargas Llosa Defends Great Literature." The New Republic, 14 May 2001, newrepublic.com/article/78238/mario-vargas-llosa-literature.
2. MKBU, Prof. Dr. DilipSir Barad. "September 1 1939 | W H Auden | Sem 2 Hybrid Classes 2021 05 06." YouTube, Prof.Dr.DilipSir, 6 May 2021, youtu.be/VmGlS-ZT8MU.
3. MKBU, Prof.Dr.DilipSir Barad. "Epitaph on a Tyrant | W H Auden | 2021 05 05 | Sem 2 Hybrid Classes." YouTube, Prof. Dr. DilipSir Barad, 5 May 2021, youtu.be/ZnqPB0mjoq8.
4. ---. "In Memory of W.B. Yeats | W.H. Auden | Sem 2: Hybrid Classes | 2021 05 07." YouTube, Prof.Dr.DilipSir Barad, 7 May 2021, youtu.be/L-85uCBN0SI.