Mirror by Sylvia Plath

The poetess, Sylvia Plath, by making the mirror speak in the poem, ‘Mirror’, gives it life and uses it to explore the theme of change, decay, old age and death.

Lines 1 to 3: The mirror makes factual statements that it is made of silver and is precise in its job of reflection. It has no preconceived notions or ideas and so whatever appears before it, it takes in (swallows) immediately just as each thing is and reflects it back without distortion (unmisted), without being influenced by emotions, prejudices or ideas of love and hate.

Lines 4, 5: But it has no intention of being cruel. It wants to be truthful. It compares itself to the eyes of a little god having four corners as it can see and reflect everything in front of it.

Lines 6 to 10: Most of the time it reflects the pink worn out wall opposite it so much so that the wall has become a part of its personality. But its reflection of the opposite wall is broken (flickers) over and over again by faces that come to look into it and by darkness or night.

Lines 10, 11: The mirror compares itself to a lake. A lake is deep and when it reflects back a person, it seems to reflect him from its depth. So when a person looks into the mirror, it not only reflects back his physical appearance but through it, it reflects the depth of his self. A woman bends over the mirror (the lake) searching deep into the mirror to find out what she really is.

Lines 12 to 14: Dissatisfied with what she sees, she turns to the moonlight and the candles for consolation whom the mirror calls ‘liars’ as their dim light deceives by concealing her defects and her age. But the mirror continues to reflect her back faithfully the way she is. The woman bursts into tears and restlessly moves her hand as she realises she is aging and losing her beauty from the mirror’s reflection.

Lines 15,16: In spite of reflecting her truthfully, she considers the mirror important to keep checking herself. She visits it regularly especially in the morning.

Lines 17, 18: The woman has been looking into the mirror from the time she was a young girl. She seems to have drowned her youth in the mirror which compares itself to a lake. The mirror stands for the passage of time. The present reflection of the woman is compared to a terrible fish rising from the depths of the lake. It is a terrible fish because it reflects her old age and loss of beauty and is a reminder to her the old age and death are creeping closer towards her day by day.

If you felt that this information has been useful for you and if you feel inclined to help orphans kindly donate money to the orphanage that my friend runs. First, take a little time to go through its website: 
https://sites.google.com/site/anbuillamsamayanallur/ 

Snakecharmer by Sylvia Path

As the gods began one world, and man another,
So the snakccharmer begins a snaky sphere
With moon-eye, mouth-pipe. He pipes. Pipes green. Pipes water.
Pipes water green until green waters waver
With reedy lengths and necks and undulatings.
And as his notes twine green, the green river
Shapes its images around his songs.
He pipes a place to stand on, but no rocks,
No floor: a wave of flickering-grass tongues


Supports his foot. He pipes a world of snakes,
Of sways and coilings, from the snake-rooted bottom
Of his mind. And now nothing but snakes

Is visible. The snake-scales have become
Leaf, become eyelid; snake-bodies, bough, breast
Of tree and human. And he within this snakedom

Rules the writhings which make manifest
His snakehood and his might with pliant tunes
From his thin pipe. Out of this green nest

As out of Eden's navel twist the lines
Of snaky generations: let there be snakes!
And snakes there were, are, will be-till yawns

Consume this piper and he tires of music
And pipes the world back to the simple fabric
Of snake-warp, snake-weft. Pipes the cloth of snakes


To a melting of green water, tiII no snake
Shows its head, and those green waters back to
Water, to green, to nothing like a snake.
Puts up his pipe, and lids his moony eye.



Creation is a theme dealt with in all religious philosophies. The creator of all things is called God and man, the peak of creation, is also a creator in a limited sense. He thinks, acts and produces art, literature, technology, architecture and so on. The artist was considered and is considered even now as the prime creator among men. The poet creates too and in the poem ‘Snakecharmer’, Sylvia Plath does just that and more. She creates the character of the snake charmer depicting him as a creator, the creator of the world of snakes. The snake charmer could also denote Satan and he creates the world of evil. This meaning can be give with reference to the story of Adam and Eve.

She begins the poem by saying that just as gods and men begin worlds, meaning create, so does the snake charmer begin ‘a snaky sphere’, here ‘sphere’ standing for the ‘world’ of snakes. The instruments he uses are the ‘mouth-pie’ through which he blows hypnotic music and his ‘moon eye’. The tune issuing forth out of the mouth pipe can be compared to the words of Jehovah, as quoted in the Book of Genesis of the Bible, who created through His words and His first words were “let there be light”. ‘Moon eye’ could denote dreamy or hypnotic eye that can hypnotise the snakes or the ability of Satan/Evil to hynotise people into doing evil.

Plath then uses the image of water to speak about the world of snakes as water stands for life and creation. The charmer ‘pipes water green’ until the water flickers and like reeds, the snakes move. His notes make the ‘green river’ of snakes ‘twine’ or coil ‘around his songs’. The words ‘twine’ ‘around his songs’ seem to suggest that the snake charmer knows the world of snakes and controls their movements from the ‘snake-rooted bottom of his mind’. Green water could also be the symbol of greed, lust and jealousy, the vices that cause man to be evil.

The snake is compared to a tree and a human. The snake scales are compared to leaves and eyelids, and snake bodies compared to boughs and the breast of man. Again the control of the snake charmer over the snakes is stressed by saying that he ‘rules’ over his ‘snakedom’. The snake ‘writhings’ seem to take their essence from ‘his snakehood’ and ‘his might’. Satan is mighty in the world of Evil.

Just as man began his history from the Garden of Eden, so too has the snaky generation evolved from Eden’s navel. The allusion is to the serpent in the Garden of Eden mentioned in the Book of Genesis. Just as God made all things with the words “Let there be …”, so has the snake charmer uttered the words ‘let there be snakes’ and there were, are and will be snakes.

When the charmer tires of playing the pipe, he pipes the snake world back to the green water. For some time he creates and commands totally a tantalizing world of snakes and like God capable of destroying what he has made, he un-creates the world of snakes.

If you felt that this information has been useful for you and if you feel inclined to help orphans kindly donate money to the orphanage that my friend runs. First, take a little time to go through its website: 
https://sites.google.com/site/anbuillamsamayanallur/ 

HOLY SONNETS. XIV. - Batter My Heart By John Donne

Batter My Heart

Batter my heart, three-person'd God ; for you
As yet but knock ; breathe, shine, and seek to mend ;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betroth'd unto your enemy ;
Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,

Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

The poet uses unconventional (unusual) imagery (not the usual imagery used for God-man relationships) in each of the three quatrains to ask God passionately to reclaim him back from his life of sin to a life with God. The main idea behind the poem is Donne's desperate struggle to be at one with God; he feels he is losing the battle. He depicts the bonds preventing him from doing God's will through images of war, sex, and marriage.

Donne, opens with a dramatic exclamation:
Batter my heart, three person'd God
The force of this opening line is maintained throughout the poem, right to the last line with its 'you ravish mee'. The rhythm is an insistent hammering and the images are nearly all of violent action. The explosive 'B' of the opening word is continued in the alliteration of lines 3 and 4:
. . . and bendyour force, to breake, blowe, burn . . .

In the first quatrain (1st four lines), he uses the imagery (metaphor) of a blacksmith. He compares God to a blacksmith and himself to an object. He begs God not to just gently ‘knock’, ‘breathe’ ‘shine’ and try to mend him like a blacksmith trying to mend a dent in an object, but ‘batter’, ‘break’, ‘blow’ and ‘burn’ his heart so that God can create a new person (object) with a new heart. There is also the metaphor or image of a door used. His heart is compared to a door and he asks God not to gently knock but batter it to enter his heart. There is a hint of a paradox in these lines. To restore him or make him a new man he has to be destroyed first by God.

In the second quatrain, he uses the simile of a town forcibly taken from its rightful owner (war imagery). The town is compared to his heart and the owner to God. At present his heart has been captured by sin (to another due) as reason (reason is God’s viceroy as it is the faculty given by God to man to help man think and live a good life) has not been able to defend him but has been defeated (captiv’d) by desires of the body.

In the final quatrain, he uses yet another image, the image of marriage. He says that though he dearly loves God he is helpless as he is married (betroth’d) to God’s enemy, that is, to sin. Donne's imagery conveys the idea that the forces which bind him are not only very powerful but also deeply personal. To be 'betroth'd' to the devil implies a deep involvement. He pleads with God to apply his will and divorce him from the devil (untie, or break that knot again) and remarry him (take mee to you) so that he can be free from the devil. Here the poet uses a paradox, namely, that he has to be imprisoned (enthrall) in order to be free. If one is imprisoned one cannot be free. However the paradox is resolved because it is God who is captivating/imprisoning him so that he can be free from the devil and sin.

In the final line of the couplet, he uses yet another paradox, that is, he asks God to ravish him so that he can be chaste. Here, sexual imagery is used. ‘Ravish’ literally means have sex violently/forcibly or rape. One cannot be chaste or a virgin if one is ravished. Once again the paradox is resolved because if it is God who takes possession of him entirely and violently, he will be chaste or pure without sin.

If you felt that this information has been useful for you and if you feel inclined to help orphans kindly donate money to the orphanage that my friend runs. First, take a little time to go through its website: 

https://sites.google.com/site/anbuillamsamayanallur/ 

Night of the Scorpion

The narrator, probably the poet himself when he was a small boy, narrates the incident of his mother getting stung by a scorpion one night and the reactions of others to this in the poem. The poem also gives an insight into the behaviour, reactions and beliefs of the villagers.

1 to 7
Ten hours of continuous rain had made the scorpion seek shelter under a sack of rice in the house of the narrator. After stinging his mother, it went out risking the rain again. The tail of the scorpion is referred to as devilish or evil because it contains poison and also because of the belief that the devil acts through the poison of the scorpion.

8 to 18

As the news spread the neighbouring farmers came pouring in and recited the name of God to lessen the effect of the poison. The poet uses the simile of “swarms of flies” to show the behaviour of the villagers, namely, flocking in numbers and buzzing the name of God like flies buzzing. They visit either to witness the mother in pain or to contribute in the prayers. The onomatopoeic words ‘buzzed’ and ‘clicked’ reflect their constant noise. Their lanterns and candles seemed to make giant scorpions shadows of them on the wall. Through this depiction of the shadows the poet wants to convey the narrator’s fear of the situation and create the frightening background. They searched for the scorpion to stop it from moving because they believed that the poison moved in mother’s blood when the scorpion moved. But their search was in vain. They hoped and prayed that the scorpion stayed still in a place.

19 to 31

They expressed the belief that the pain would burn away the sins of her previous birth and decrease the misfortunes of her next birth. They also hoped that the sum of evil which is balanced against the sum of good in this illusionary world become diminished with her pain. They hoped and believed that the poison would purify her mind of her physical desires and ambitions. They sat around her with calm faces as though they seemed to understand why the woman was stung and the consequences of the sting as stated in their beliefs. The tranquil expression on the peasants’ face is in direct contrast to the painful struggling of the narrator’s mother.

32 to 43

People continued coming into the house along with more rain. All the while the mother twisted with pain on the mat. Though the narrator’s father was a sceptic and a rationalist, he tried everything - medicinal powder, herbs and mixtures. Following a belief that was prevalent, he also poured a little paraffin upon the bitten toe and lit a match to it hoping to burn up the poison. His actions are in direct contrast to his views because he wants to try out everything possible to save his wife. The narrator also watched the holy men perform their rites and chant holy verses to lessen the effect of the poison.

44 to 48

The poison lost its effect after twenty hours. The mother’s reaction was only to thank God for sparing her children from the scorpion and choosing her instead to sting. Thus the mother stands as a symbol of selfless love for her children.

If you felt that this information has been useful for you and if you feel inclined to help orphans kindly donate money to the orphanage that my friend runs. First, take a little time to go through its website: 

https://sites.google.com/site/anbuillamsamayanallur/ 

My Mother at Sixty-six by Kamala Das

My Mother at Sixty-six

by

Kamala Das

Driving from my parent's

home to Cochin last Friday

morning, I saw my mother,

beside me,

doze, open mouthed, her face

ashen like that

of a corpse and realised with

pain

that she thought away, and

looked but soon

put that thought away, and

looked out at young

trees sprinting, the merry children spilling

out of their homes, but after the airport's

security check, standing a few yards

away, I looked again at her, wan,

pale

as a late winter's moon and felt that

old

familiar ache, my childhood's fear,

but all I said was, see you soon,

Amma,

all I did was smile and smile and

smile

A note: I stopped teaching CBSE 5 years ago and I'm out of touch. So I haven't really worked on the explanations and edited them. You might find some of the explanations not up to the mark especially this poem. You will surely find better explanations on the net. One such site recommended by one of the readers which is really good and tailor made for CBSE is http://englishportal12.blogspot.in/?view=mosaic 

In this poem, Kamala Das explores the theme of ageing and death and isolation through a narration involving her mother.

While driving from her parent’s home to Cochin, she notices her mother sitting beside her dozing, her face pale like a dead body and her thoughts far away. This reminds her painfully that her mother is old and could pass away leaving her alone.

Putting that thought aside she looked out at the young trees speeding by and children running out of their homes happily to play. These remind her probably of youth and life, her own younger days and her mother when she was young.

But after the security check at the airport, looking back at her mother standing a few yards away, she finds her looking pale like the winter moon. She feels that familiar pain and childhood fear of the thought of losing her mother and of being lonely just as she had been when she was young because she was different from other children. She could only keep smiling and tell her ‘see you soon’ knowing full well that she might not see her.

Explanation for the poem "Curtain"

A note: I stopped teaching CBSE 5 years ago and I'm out of touch. So I haven't really worked on the explanations and edited them. You might find some of the explanations not up to the mark especially this poem. You will surely find better explanations on the net. One such site recommended by one of the readers which is really good and tailor made for CBSE is http://englishportal12.blogspot.in/?view=mosaic 

The poem deals with the theme of separation, especially between lovers. The background for the poem is the tumultuous times that England and Europe were going through leading to the Second World War.

The first stanza begins with the word ‘Goodbye’ used for parting. This word ends the first stanza and begins the second. The lovers wish each other goodbye and their intertwined (laced) fingers loosen symbolising a gradual break in their relationship. The sense of touch is evoked in this stanza. The warmth of their relationship symbolised by their hand clasp, slowly breaks down and finally becomes cold and distant like the stiff, cold (frosted) flowers of a garden in November. Their separation is felt sharply and piercingly like bullets. For them even darkness, that unites without distinguishing, feels separate and strange.

The second stanza states that their relationship has broken down fully. This is conveyed by the words “There is no touch now” and by comparing their relationship to a wave that has now broken down in the lonely sea of the world. Though there is a possibility of words still to be spoken or for communication, the separation is too great a gulf for this to happen. It is so great that it swiftly out measures time (time makes us gradually forget) and engulfs one’s identity too.
The third stanza pictures the state of separation. It is like the dreamer startled from her sleep, but the vivid image of the dream is lost in the process of waking. It is a state of vagueness about a vivid moment of life. All the senses like taste and sight feel numb. Even feelings have turned cold as denoted by the words ‘clinic heart’ (dead heart). So there is no question of the heart breaking.

The final stanza asks questions about the separation like whether it easy and if there is nothing besides this ‘quiet disaster’; quiet because it is known only to them. The final question is whether there is cause for sorrow because in the final kiss of parting, which is compared to a ‘white murder’ of love relationship, they have become two different people, (two ghosts, two Hamlets, two soliloquies) living in a distant physical and mental world of the future.

If you felt that this information has been useful for you and if you feel inclined to help orphans kindly donate money to the orphanage that my friend runs. First, take a little time to go through its website: 
https://sites.google.com/site/anbuillamsamayanallur/