THE TOYS : A POEM BY PATMORE

 

THE TOYS : A POEM BY PATMORE

Coventry Patmore was a British poet and literary critic. He was born on 23 July 1823 and died on 26 November 1896.  His main concern as a poet and articles writer was religion, spiritualism and philosophy. The Unknown Eros and some mystical odes of divine love and married love are his best poetry.

The Toys is one of his most popular poems which deals with children’s  interest like playing with toys which his father does not lie and punishes him even when he knows that his son is motherless. However, the father soon feels guilty and realizes that even adults play with toys like material goods but God treats them  as His sons and forgives them.

The poem which is given below is in simple, dignified language.

The Toys

My little Son, who looked from thoughtful eyes

And moved and spoke in quite grown-up wise,

Having my law the seventh time disobey’d,

I struck him, and dismissed

With hard words and unkiss’d.

---His mother, who was patient, being dead.

Then , fearing lest his grief should hinder sleep,

I visited his bed.

But found him slumbering deep,

With darken’d eyelids, and their lashes yet

From his late sobbing wet.

And I, with moan,

Kissing away his tears, left others of my own;

For, on a table drawn beside his head,

He had put, within his reach,

A box of counters and a red-vein’d stone

A piece of glass abraded by the beach.

And six or seven shells,

A bottle with bluebells,

And two French copper coins, ranged there with careful art

To comfort his sad heart.

So when that night I pray’d

To God, I wept and said:

Ah, when at last we lie with tranced breath,

Not vexing Thee in death,

And Thou rememberest of what toys

We made our joys,

How weakly understood

Thy great commanded good,

Then, fatherly not less

Than I whom Thou hast moulded from the clay,

Thou ‘lt leave Thy wrath, and say.

‘I will be sorry for their childishness’.  

                                                *********

G.R.Kanwal

18^th January 2025