Chapter's summary : Text and Summary of Prose and Poem

Summary           Breeze comes to an isolated house in the outskirts of the city. No one lived there only the gatekeeper who kept a over the house. It was all shut and smelt musty. It seemed the companions of breeze did not want her in. They felt jealous of her as she seemed to be cheerful and happy outside the house. The house was old and had become a home to many birds. Being far from the main road, it seemed forlorn and out of the sight of human beings.  Breeze recalls her happy days. Her comrades rise to meet her but she refused. She was not a welcome in the deserted house, Her conversation with wind told of the pathetic condition of the house. Soon after going around the house she decided to leave. She was scared of the air. The description of the house tells it was once a well kept house. But now the occupants could not allow anyone to enter their privacy. The old occupants have no say in it and have to leave? To Read the Sonnet 25 by William Sha...

About the Poem A butterfly is a thing of beauty and therefore a source of joy for ever. How captivating its colors and how intricate the patterns on its tiny wings are! About the Poet           William Wordsworth(1770 - 1885) is the high priest of nature, who calls himself 'a worshipper of nature which teaches us more for man and of a moral evil and of a good than all the sages can.' The poem is addressed to a butterfly. He observes it sucking honey; then he invites it to come to his orchard and sit near him and then they will talk about the days of youth which are no more. Coleridge and he jointly published the 'Lyrical Ballads' which inaugurated the English Romantic Age. To a Butterfly I've watched you now a full half-hour, Self-poised upon that yellow flower; And, little Butterfly ! indeed I know not if you sleep or feed. How motionless ! - not frozen seas More motionless ! and then What joy awaits you, when the breeze Hath found you out among the t...

The Highwayman The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees, The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas, The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, And the highwayman came riding-- Riding--riding-- The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door. He'd a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin, A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin; They fitted with never a wrinkle: his boots were up to the thigh. And he rode with a jeweled twinkle, His pistol butts a-twinkle, His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jeweled sky. Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard, He tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred; He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there But the landlord's black-eyed daughter, Bess, the landlord's daughter, Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair. And dark in the dark old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked W...

About the Poem:           The poem "A River" is written by A.K. Ramanujan. In this poem, the poet has compared and contrasted the attitudes of the old poets and those of the new posts to human suffering. He has come to the conclusion that both the groups of the poets are indifferent to human sorrow and suffering. Their poetry does not reflect the miseries of the human beings. He has proved this point in thr present poem. About the Poet:           Attipate Krishna swami Ramanujan (16 March 1929 - 13 July 1993) also known as A.K. Ramanujan was an Indian poet and scholar of Indian literature who wrote in both English and Kannada. Ramanujan was a poet, scholar, a philologist, folklorist, translator, and playwright. His academic research ranged across five languages: English, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Sanskrit. He published works on both classical and modern variants of this literature and argued strongly for giving local, non-sta...

Speech: "All the World's a Stage"  All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse' arms; And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lin'd, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side; His youthful hose, well s...

About the Poet      Vikram Seth (1952), born in India and educated at Oxford, Stanford and Nanjing Universities, is a trained economist. But he is known more as a writer: novelist, poet, translator, biographer and travel writer. His most important work so far is 'A Suitable Boy' (1993), considered the longest modern novel. It created quite a sensation when it was published, both for its literary novelty and for the huge sum of royalty it received from the publishers. It won him the WH Smith Literary Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize. His other works include The Golden Gate: A Novel in Verse; From Haven Lake: Travels through Sinkiang and Tibet and four volumes of poetry. An Equal Music (1999) is his most recent novel.        Vikram Seth's latest work is Two Lives (2005). A memoir of the marriage of his great uncle and aunt. The Louse and the Mosquito In the King's bed, Creep the louse Lived in her ancestral house. They had dwelt here as of right ...

About the Author           William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is undoubtedly one of the most gifted writers in the world, known for his all-time great plays. The sonnets of Shakespeare are no less famous. They are 154 in number and are divided into two groups. The first 126 sonnets are supposed to be addressed to a gentlemen friend of the poet, for whom the poet had great affection. The dispute about the identity of the poet's friend is unsettled. The other sonnets are addressed to a dark lady of charming beauty. However, all these poems reveal different moods of the poet and explore the intricacies of human relationship. Sonnet 25 comes under the first group of sonnets. Sonnet XXV Let those who are in favour with their stars Of public honour and proud titles boast, Whilst I, whom fortune of such triumph bars, Unlook'd for joy in that I honour most. Great princes' favourites their fair leaves spread But as the marigold at the sun's eye. And in themselves thei...

About the Poet:           Berton Braley (1882 - 1966) was an American poet. He was a prolific writer who wrote about twenty books and most of them were collections of poems. Some of his major works include Sonnets of a Freshman, Sonnets of a Suffragette, Songs of the Workaday World, Things As They Are and The World's One Thousand Best Poems. In 1934, Braley published the autobiographical Pegasus Pulls a Hack Memoirs of a Modern Minstrel. About the Poem:           Start Where You Stand is a motivational poem. The poet believes that we cannot let past events hold us back from achieving what we want today and in future. For the Summary of 'Start Where You Stand', please click the below link >> Summary Start Where You Stand Start where you stand and never mind the past, The past won't help you in beginning new, If you have left it all behind at last Why, that's enough, you're done with it, you're through; This is another ...

About the poet Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) wrote poems in Bengali and in English. In 1913, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for his collection of songs entitled Gitanjali. He has the honour of being the composer of our National Anthem. Tagore could write on deep spiritual and mystical themes with as much ease as he wrote poems for children. About the poem Cloud and Waves describes the child's attachment to his/her mother. Can the allurements of nature appeal more to the child! Cloud and Waves Mother, the folk who live up in the clouds call out to me- "We play from the time we wake till the day ends. We play with the golden dawn, we play with the silver moon." I ask, "But, how am I to get up to you?" They answer, "Come to the edge of the earth, lift up your hands to the sky, and you will be taken up into the clouds." For the Summary of 'Clouds and Waves', please click the below link >> Summary "My mother is wait...

About the poet           Thomas Gray (1716-1771) was a transitional poet and an important precursor to the Romantic Revival. The chief characteristics of his poetry are exquisite craftmanship, condensed expression, love of nature and sympathy for the common man.   About the poem                Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard was first published in 1751. An elegy is a poem which laments the dead. Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard is noteworthy in that it mourns the death not of great or famous people but of common human beings. The poem invokes that classical idea of memento mori a Latin phrase which states "Remember that you must die." The speaker considers the fact that in depth there is no distinction between great and common people. It is a great leveler that renders everyone equal. Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard The curfew tolls the knell of p...

About the Poet           Thomas Hood (1799-1845) was British poet, author and humorist, best known for poems such as "The Bridge of Sighs" and "The Song of the Shirt". He regularly wrote for "The London Magazine". Hood died at the age of 45. About the Poem           I Remember, I Remember is a reflective and emotional poem that shows a rare depth of sentiments. It depicts realistic thought in comparison to the ignorance of childhood thought and experience. It compares the real world to the child's world of fantasy. For the Summary of 'I Remember, I Remember', Please click the below link >> Summary I Remember, I Remember I remember, I remember, The house where I was born, The little window where the sun Came peeping in at morn; He never came a wink too soon, Nor brought too long a day, But now, I often wish the night Had borne my breath away ! I remember, I remember, The roses, red and white, The violets and the lily-c...