THE EAGLE A POEM BY TENNYSON

 

                          THE EAGLE

                        A POEM BY TENNYSON

Whereas the English poet Alfred Tennyson (1809—1892) is known for his longest poem “In Memoriam“  which he completed in 17 years, from 1833 to 1850, grieving at the death of his very intimate friend Arthur Henry Hallam, he is also famous for his shortest two –stanzas of three  lines each poem “The Eagle”. According to literary critics in this short poem Tennyson uses artistic devices like personification , imagery and simile to render the  eagle  more than a mere bird.

 

                Dictionaries define the eagle as a bird of prey with keen sight. Dr, Roland DeRenzo says eagles fly alone at high altitude; have vision, are tenacious and never surrender to the size or strength of its prey. Urdu-Persian poet philosopher  Dr. Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938) uses the word “Shahin” for Eagle and presents him as a symbol of loftiness of ideas, bravery  and upward spiritual flight.

                   The text of  Tennyson’s “The Eagle” reads as follows:

 

“He clasps the crag with crooked hands;

Close to the sun in lonely lands;

Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

 

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;

He watches from the mountain walls,

And like a thunderbolt he falls.”

 

Tennyson’s eagle symbolizes freedom, power, enlightenment and fortitude. It is a model of fearless onward movement for humans.

 

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G.R.Kanwal

11^th July 2023

TWO COUPLETS

 

          TWO  COUPLETS

1.     “As long as skies above are blue

            To you, my love, I will be true”

2.     “Life teaches us ---- how to live

Love teaches us ----how to forgive.”

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     G. R. Kanwal

      9^th July 2023

                       

THE QUALITY OF MERCY

THE QUALITY OF MERCY

            Dictionary defines ‘mercy’ as capacity for holding oneself back from punishing, or from causing suffering to, whom one has the right or power to punish.

            Some of the synonyms of ‘mercy’ are: leniency, pity, forgiveness, generosity, charity, sympathy, kindness, soft-heartedness and compassion.

             Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes (1547—1616) said among the attributes of God, although they are all equal, mercy shines with even more brilliance than justice.

             Probably, the best of all quotes on this subject is the sonnet written by the British dramatist and poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616) which reads as follows:

            “The quality of mercy is not strain’d,

            It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven,             

            Upon the place beneath : it is twice bless’d;

            It blesseth him that gives and him that takes;

            ‘T is mightiest in the mightiest ; it becomes

            The throned monarch better than his crown ;

            His sceptre  shows the force of temporal power,

            The attribute to awe and majesty,

            Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings :

            But mercy is above this sceptred sway.

            It is enthroned in the hearts of kings ,

            It is an attribute to God himself,

            An earthly power doth then show likest God’s

            When mercy seasons justice.

                                                                                                From: Merchant of Venice, Act 4.  

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G.R.KANWAL

7^TH JULY 2023

                                                   

 

SHAKESPEARE ON MEN AND GODS

SHAKESPEARE ON MEN AND GODS

British dramatist and poet William Shakespeare (1564-1616) has left hundreds of thoughts on a large variety of themes.  Most of those them are full of wisdom and impressively quotable.  Given below are only five of them  concerning men and gods. As I am quoting them from memory , it is impossible  to recall the names of all the plays in which they occur. As for their worth, they are unquestionably great.

1.     Men are sometimes masters of their Fate.

2.     There is a tide in the affairs of man

Taken at the flood leads on to Fortune.

3.     The fault dear Brutus is not in our stars     

But in ourselves that we are underlings.  (Julius Caesar)

4.     As flies to wanton boys are we to the Gods

They kill us for their sport                             (King Lear)

5.     The Gods are just, and of our pleasant vices

Make instruments to plague us.

 

       Shakespeare is most admirable for the fact that his views are not one-sided.  He looks at his themes from every pro and anti angle and expresses them objectively.

                                                            *******

G.R.Kanwal

6^th July 2023

 

    

                                               

QUOTES ABOUT TEACHERS AND TEACHING

 

QUOTES  ABOUT TEACHERS AND TEACHING

On this Guru Purnima Day (July 3), let us share  some quotes about teachers and teaching. Briefly speaking, teachers are not as great as gurus. While they (teachers) impart knowledge, gurus dispel darkness of minds and souls. They enlighten their pupils thoroughly. Lord Buddha is a great example of a perfect guru.

    Here are some quotes about teachers and teaching:

1. Alexander the  Great (356-323 B.C), the King of Macdon said: I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well.
2. American author Mrs. Lydia H, Sigourney (1791-1865) said: Teachers should be held in the highest honour. They are the allies of legislators; they have agency in the prevention of crime; they aid in regulating the atmosphere, whose incessant action and pressure cause the life-blood to circulate and to return pure and healthful to the heart of the nation.
3. According to another American author Horace Mann (1796-1859) the teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron.
4. French essayist and philosopher Michel de Montaigne (1533-92) says : A tutor should not be continually thundering instruction into the ears of his pupil, as if he were pouring it through a funnel, but induce him to think, to distinguish, and to find out things for himself; sometimes opening the way, at other times leaving it for him to open; and to accommodate his precepts to the capacity of his pupil.
5. Finally, let us listen to French author Anatole France: Let our teaching be full of ideas. Hitherto it has been stuffed only with facts.  

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G.R.Kanwal

3^rd July 2023

 

                         

 

RUMI’S VIEW OF LOVE

 

RUMI’S  VIEW  OF  LOVE

Rumi is the short name of the Persian poet Mawlana Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi. He was born in Balkh (now in Afghanistan) on 30 September 1207 and passed away in Konya, Turkiye on 17 December 1273. The greatest Sufi mystic and poet in the Persian language, he is famous for his most  didactic epic Masnavi –yi Manavi .  It is a great book in spiritual couplets which have influenced mystical thought all over the world either in the original Persian language or translated versions. Here is an example from Coleman Barks ‘ The Big Red Book, a masterpiece, celebrating Rumi’s mystical love and friendship :

                                    The soul comes every day at dawn

                                     Good to see you again, my friend

                                    The peace of God be with you.

 

In a Persian couplet Rumi says:

 

Bar Shah-e-khub—ruyan

Wajib wafa na bashad,

Ai zard-ruye ashiq !

Tu sabr kun, wafa kun

This is a short view of Rumi’s love philosophy . A slightly wider view is available in the following  liberal English version:

                                    The King of Beauty owes no duty,

                                    Of fidelity to a single one !

                                    Thou pale-faced lover ! do thou cover

                                    Thy love with resignation !

                                    Be faithful ever, and forget never,

                                    His constancy is to every one;

                                    As to every dew-drop, of the Sun !

                                    He loveth all; do thou love all;

                                    So thy smallness shall be all undone,

                                    His greatness shall by thee  be won,

                                    And thou shall gain All of the One !

                                                **********

G.R. Kanwal

2^nd July 2023   

                                   

  

A DIVINE POEM

 

                A  DIVINE  POEM

         English poet and essayist, Joseph Addison (1.5.1672—17.6.1719)  wrote a poem with the title “When All  Thy Mercies , O MY GOD” and published it in his newspaper “The Spectatator” on 9 August 1712. It is a hymn inspired by Psalm 89:1 “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever “ and was first published following an essay on gratitude, accompanied by the following introduction:

            “I have already obliged the public with some pieces of divine poetry which have fallen into my hands, and as they have met with the reception they deserve, I shall from time to time, communicate any work of the same nature which has not appeared in print, and may be acceptable to my readers.”

            “When All Thy Mercies, O My God ” is a great poem of gratitude to God whose mercies are unlimited and are provided to every human being from the beginning till the death of his life. The poem gives concrete examples like:

                 Unnumbered comforts to my soul

                  Thy tender care bestowed,

                   Before my tender heart conceived

                   From whom those comforts flowed.                  

It is not only in present life that God pours His manifold mercies upon His children but as the poet says:

                     Through every period of my life

                      Thy goodness I’ll pursue

                      And after death, in distant worlds,

                        The glorious theme renew.

The poem ends with the stanza”

                         

                        Through all eternity to Thee

                        A joyful song I’ll raise;

                          For, oh, eternity’s is too short

                        To utter all Thy praise!

 The lyrical quality of the poem has made it an all-time popular hymn.

                          Here are three more exemplary stanzas:

                       

When in the slippery paths of youth

With heedless steps I ran,

Thine arm unseen conveyed me safe

And led me up to man.

 

Through hidden dangers, toils and deaths,

It gently cleared my way;

And through the passing snares of vice,

More to be feared than they.

 

O how shall words with equal warmth

The gratitude declare,

That glows within my ravished heart?

But thou canst read it there.

 

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G. R. Kanwal

1^st July 2023