A CREED (A Poem by Edwin Markham)

 

A   CREED

(A Poem by  Edwin Markham)

                        THERE is a destiny that makes us brothers

                                None goes his way  along:

                         All   that  we  send into the lives of others

                                 Comes back into  our  own.            

 

                          I care not what his  temples or his creeds,

                                    One  thing holds firm and fast ---

                           That in to his fateful heap of days and deeds

                                    The soul of man is cast.

Edwin Markham was born on 23 April  1852  at  Oregon City, United States. He passed away on 7 March at Staten Island, New York, United States. His original name was Charles Edward Anson Markham. He was about 43, when he dropped Charles and adopted  Edwin.

 

Edwin as not just a  poet among poets. .  He was different because of his exclusive  interest in the unhappy life of labourers exploited by the capitalistic class. His popularity shot up the day his poem “The Man with the Hoe”, which begins with the following lines, was published. :

 

                                    Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans

                                    Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground,

                                    The emptiness of the ages in his face,

And on his back the burden of the world.

 

Edwin appeared  as the voice of the workers, when  there were  no supporters of  their rights and principles of social justice in the United States.

 

                                    “A Creed” is a great poem on universal brotherhood, in the     face of different creeds and individual houses of worship. Its message  is the unity of mankind ordained by an invisible  destiny :  

                                   

“There is a destiny that makes us brothers;

                                    None goes his way alone.

                                    All that  we send into the lives of others

                                    Comes back into our own. “

Edwin believes that “none goes his way alone” because he is surrounded by a caravan of countless co-travellers , walking with him in spiritual relationship.   There exists a spiritual bond among all human beings. It mutually affects their lives.  What we send into  the lives of others comes back into our own  because into the ‘fateful heap of days and deeds/The soul of man is cast.’ People are physically aloof but spiritually together.         

           

To put it briefly, ‘A Creed’ is a poem about  much-need religious harmony and inter-faith unity.    

 

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29^th August 2021                                                G.R.Kanwal                                                                    

THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE GLOW-WORM (A poem by William Cowper)

 

THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE GLOW-WORM

                              (A poem by William Cowper)

 

A NIGHNGALE that all day long

Had cheered the village with his song,

Nor yet at even his note suspended,

Nor yet when even time was ended,

Began to feel, as well he might,

The keen demands of appetite;

When looking eagerly around,

He spied far off, upon the ground,

A something shining in the dark,

And knew the glow-worm by his spark;HHHHHHHHuuggghhhhh/0+.21

So, stooping down from hawthorn top,

He thought to put him in his crop.

 

The worm, aware of his intent,

Harangued him thus, right eloquent;

“Did you admire my lamp,” quoth he,

“As much as I your minstrelsy,

You would abhor  to do me wrong,

As much as I to spoil your song;

For ‘twas the selfsame Power Divine

Taught you to sing, and me to shine;

That you with music, I with light,

Might beautify and cheer the night.”

The songster heard this short oration,

And warbling out his approbation,

Released him, as my story tells,

And found a supper somewhere .

 

The English poet, William Cowper, was among the most famous of his time. He was born on 26^th November 1731 and died  of edema on 25^th April 1800. According to literary history , his work was appreciated by a large audience. His attention to nature and common life , which prefigured the concerns of Romantic poets like William Wordsworth , inspired  Samuel Taylor Coleridge to regard him “the best modern poet.” He is credited to have changed the direction of 18^th century nature poetry  by his  writings  about the daily  scenes of the English countryside.

According  to William J. Long, a literary historian, Cowper shows the struggle between  romantic and classical ideals. As  for his life , it was a pathetic story of a shy and timid genius who found the world of men too rough, and who withdrew to nature like a wounded animal.

On the whole Cowper’s poems look dreary , and are only occasionally  marked by a certain gentleness and a vein of pure humor .

 

Of all his works, The Task  (1785) which carries description of homely scenes, of woods and brooks ,  of plowmen and  teamsters is the best.

Cowper is also famous  for his numerous hymns and a collection of  letters published in 1803.

Last and most famous of all is his humorous compositions is the ballad “John Gilpin” which , says William J. Long,  should be read by every student , if not the whole, at least  the last  stanza :

Now let us sing, Long live  the King,

And Gilpin, long live he !

And wen he next doth ride abroad

May I be there to see.

 

Cowper has left  many remarkable quotes like:  

 

(I)God moves in a mysterious way. His wonders to perform, He plants his footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm.  (II) Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face. (III) God made the country, and man made the town. (IV) Wisdom is humble that he knows no more. (V) O solitude , where are the charms That sages have seen in thy face? Better dwell in  the midst of alarms, Than reign in the horrible place. (VI) Variety’s  the very spice of life, that gives it  all its flavour.

 

            THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE GLOW-WORM is a fable with multiple morals. Both the characters in the poem have been given human qualities. The nightingale is a bigger creature. After delighting the village with his melodious song , he feels keenly hungry; spots a glow-worm and decides to eat him. The glow-worm perceiving his intention, uses his oration in such  a manner that the  nightingale takes no time to  change his mind.   

 

            The contents of the glow-worm’s speech are quite  illuminating. He tells the nightingale that  both of them admired each other’s respective qualities. The world needed both of them , one for the delightful song and the other for much-loved  light. Not only this,  both of them have been assigned these roles , not by earthly but by the same heavenly power.  

 

“It was  the self-same Power Divine

Taught you to sing, me to shine;

That you with music, I with light,

Might beautify and cheer the night.      

 

The glow-worm’s oration had the magical impact upon the  nightingale who released him immediately and ‘found a supper somewhere else.”

            Some of the morals conveyed through this fable are:  The creator of all beings is one; all have their respective roles to play; all should  appreciate each other’s qualities and  learn to co-exist peacefully.  

 

             Briefly, the poem is a plea for the politically pronounced  policy of ‘Live and let live”.  By suggestion, it is also a strong argument for avoiding violence and treating all nations, big or small , with the same degree of respect.  

  

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23 August 2021                          G. R. Kanwal

WHEN SHYLOCK CRIED In Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice”

 

                         WHEN  SHYLOCK  CRIED

In Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice”

 

In this 16^th century play, Antonia,  a Christian merchant,  takes a heavy loan from a Jewish moneylender,  Shylock,  on the condition that if he doesn’t repay the loan by the deadline, Shylock will have the right to take a pound of his flesh.

At the time the play was written, the Jews stood infamous and disrespectable. There was inter-religious disharmony which is strongly reflected in the following speech of Shylock in answer to a question by an Antonio’s friend Salarino.

Salarino. I am sure, if he forfeit , thou shall not take his flesh: what is that good for ?

Shylock. …if it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, and hindered me (caused me to lose) half a million; laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated (incited) mine enemies; and what is his reason ? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes ? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions (limbs), senses, affections, passions ? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is ? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh ?  If you poison us , do we not die? And if you wrong us; shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian , what is his humility (kindness, humanity) ?  Revenge . If a Christian wrong a Jew , that should his sufferance (endurance) be by Christian example  ? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me , I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better (improve) the instruction. “

        Shylock’s cry emphasises two great truths. First, all humanity is one. There is no biological difference between a Christian and a Jew. There is also no emotional and psychological difference in their personalities.  The followers of both the religions are also subject to the same physical hurts and their healing devices. Their affections and passions are no different. The second truth is  that  revenge breeds revenge. To hate and harm a person because he is a Jew will compel a Jew to treat a Christian similarly.  

            Shylock’s cry is a very loud message  for religious antagonists.  It succeeds in   establishing that creedal inequalities are man-made. For God all humans are equal. It is, therefore, necessary that they recognise amongst themselves a physical, mental and emotional co-relation  and  refrain from mutual hatred. Hatred cannot breed love, nor can revenge breed tolerance. To dream about social harmony , when we do not  treat the people of other faiths with the same spirit of love and  respect as  we do  ourselves is vain. Religious harmony  cannot be had as a gift , it has to be earned.

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19^th August 2021                                                                    G.R.Kanwal                    

     

N O W (A Poem by A. A. Procter)

      

                                     N     O      W

                                             (A Poem by A. A. Procter)      

 

RISE ! For the day is passing

And you lie dreaming on;

The others have buckled their armour,

And forth to the fight are gone:

 

A place in the ranks awaits you,

Each man has some part to play;

The Past and the Future are nothing,

In the face of the stern today.

 

Rise from your dreams of the Future----

Of gaining  some hard-fought field;

Of storming some airy fortress,

Or bidding some giant yield:

 

Your future has deeds of glory,

Of honour (God grant it may!)

But your arm will never be stronger,

Or the need so great as Today.

 

Rise  ! if the past detains you,

Her sunshine and storms forget;

No chains so unworthy to hold you

As those of a vain  regret :

 

Sad or bright, she is lifeless ever,

Cast her phantom arms away,

Nor look back, save to learn the lesson

Of a nobler strife Today.

 

Rise ! for the day is passing:

The sound that you scarcely hear

Is the enemy marching to battle ----

Arie ! for the foe is here !

 

Stay not to sharpen your weapons,

Or the hour will strike at last,

When from dreams of a coming battle,

You may wake to find it past !

                          …………

            The English poet Adelaide Anne Procter was born on 30^th October 1825 at Bedford Square, London. She died on 2^nd February 1864 as a patient of tuberculosis   

 

Her biographers highlight her precocious intelligence on the basis of  her considerable proficiency in French, German, and Italian. She was also very good at drawing and in music. 

Surrounded by a favourable environment, she developed a keen interest in literature and  started composing poetry at a very young age. She was just eighteen when she contributed her poems to the “Book of Beauty”.

Procter  wrote profusely.  Charles Dickens, the novelist,  got her poems in the magazines with which he himself was associated.  

Procter is stated  to have become not only a  famous  poet of Victorian era but also a favourite poet of Queen Victoria.  Her success never went to her head. Her father was also a poet. She is reported to have  remarked: “Papa writes poetry; I write verses.”

 

               Procter was a practical humanist. Her concern  for the sick, the    destitute, homeless, and less fortunate of her own sex was of a very high degree.

 

                  “Now “ is an inspirational poem. Its very first line is a wake-up call. It tells the lethargic soldiers to get up because  others have already buckled their armour ‘and forth to the fight are gone.”

 

The lethargic soldiers are absent from their ranks. They have failed to realise that  each man has some part to play, and moreover it is the present moment which is most important doing one’s duty.

 

Compared with the stern present, the shadowy past and the hazy future are totally insignificant. Dreams about winning great battles in the future are unrealistic  because  dreamers will not be so strong  then as  they are today.    

 

                 The poet advises the readers to get up and disallow the bright and dull times of the past to detain them from going to their fields of action. The past whether it was sad or bright is now lifeless. Its phantom arms  should not be allowed to hold them back.

 

The past  can be  good only to learn the lesson of fighting  a nobler strife    

Today.

                    The poem is a repeated call to the lethargic to become instantly active.  They should not lose even a single moment in sharpening their weapons because any delay will  result in their irreversible defeat and  their dreams about fighting future battles will also end once for all.  

 

                     The title of the poem is “Now” which means only the current moment real.  Dwelling on the past is wasteful and dreaming about the future is sheer stupidity.

                                               

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18^th August 2021                                 G. R. Kanwal

                                                                          

 

H A P P I N E S S

 

H A P P I N E S S

Happiness is a poem by  Emily Perkins  Bissell,  an American social worker and activist  (May 31, 1861-March 8, 1948) who wrote under the pseudonym Priscilla Leonard.

She was born in Wilmington, Delaware, where , at very young age, she became famous for establishing in the city its first public kindergarten and  for introducing in the state the child labour laws. According to her biographers,  in 1883 , she founded an organization, currently known as the West End Neighbourhood House to render social services to German families and immigrant Irish of Wilmington.

HAPPINESS is one of her best- known inspirational poems. It reads as follows:

HAPPINESS is like a crystal

Fair and exquisite and clear,

Broken in a million pieces

Shattered, scattered far and near.

Now and then along life’s pathway,

Lo! Some shining fragments fall;

But there are so many pieces

No one ever finds them all.

 

You may find a bit of beauty,

Or an honest share of wealth,

While another just beside you

Gathers honor, love or health.

Vain to choose or grasp unduly,

Broken is the perfect ball;

And there are so many pieces

No one ever finds them all.

 

Yet the wise as on they journey

Treasure every fragment clear,

Fit them as they may together,

Imaging the shattered sphere,

Learning ever to be thankful

Though their share of it is small;

For it has so many pieces

No one ever finds them all.

           

            Happiness, which is the theme of this poem, has no definite meaning.  It is lexically described as cheerfulness, high spirits, carefreeness, euphoria, ecstasy, merriment and bliss. There are many more descriptions.  For example, a happy man is expected to be a  pleased, delighted, gratified, satisfied , fortunate or  contented man. On  the basis of such expectation, some social scientists and philosophers assert that the existence of happiness is an illusion; the reality is  its ceaseless pursuit.

 

All the states of happiness listed above are transitory. They go on changing. AS the English novelist  Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) said happiness is an occasional episode in a general drama of pain;  and American author Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-64) says: “Happiness in this world , when it comes, comes incidentally,--Make it  the object of pursuit, and it leads us a wild-goose chase, and is never attained.

           

Priscilla Leonard’s poem begins like this:

           

Happiness is like a crystal,

            Fair and exquisite and clear,

            Broken in a million pieces,

            Shattered, scattered far and near.

            Now and then along life’s pathway,

            Lo! Some shining fragments fall,

            But there are so many pieces

            No one ever finds them all.

 

English biographer John Aiken (1747-1822)  echoes this idea in these words:  The sunshine of life is made up of very little beams that are bright all the time.” Add to this the words of John Porter, American authoress (Born 1960): “Happiness is a sunbeam which may pass through a thousand bosoms without losing a particle of its original ray; nay, when it strikes on a kindred heart, like the converged light or a mirror, it reflects itself with redoubled brightness. It is not perfected till it is shared. “           

 

For Priscilla happiness is a collective noun comparable to a crystal ball which is not only blear but also fair and exquisite.  In its shattered and scattered shape, one can see its million pieces along life’s pathway. These pieces symbolise various sources of happiness like beauty, love, honour, health and wealth and many more.  However, no human being can collect all these pieces and make them his own exclusive share.  The pieces of this ball are meant to be shared by the entire humanity.

 

The metaphor of crystal ball selected  by Priscilla has spiritual significance. Whereas the crystal ball  is used to make predictions, it also  registers its presence on many pious  occasions like weddings and sacred celebrations. It is therefore a divine gift for which man should be readily grateful. What Priscilla intends to say is that health and happiness, love and beauty, honour and fame are bestowed by God , in whatever measure,  and it is the religious duty of man to express his gratitude to God.  The wise, says she, treasure every fragment clear…learning ever to be thankful, though their share of it is small, for it has so many pieces no one ever finds them all.      

 

 Finally, the following words of French philosopher, Blaise Pascal (1623-63): ”Happiness is neither within us only, or without us, it is the union of ourselves with God.“

 

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3^rd August 2021                                                                                  G. R. Kanwal