Pity me not because the light of day
At close of day no longer walks the sky;
Pity me not for beauties passed away
From field and thicket as the the year goes by;
Pity me not the waning of the moon,
Nor that the ebbing tide goes out to sea,
Nor that a man's desire is hushed so soon,
And you no longer look with love on me.
This have I known always: Love is no more
Than the wide blossom which the wind assails,
Than the great tide that treads the shifting shore,
Strewing fresh wreckage gathered in the gales:
Pity me that the heart is slow to learn
When the swift mind beholds at every turn.
Discussion on: 24 March 2011
What stayed with you:
Lots of powerful images...
image in the lines 1 and 2 - of the dark
image in the lines 3 and 4 - how nature grows old through the year
She is sad but she doesn't want to be pitied. She is sad because a relationship is ending.
She has been in and out of relationships and wishes they would last for ever but they don't.
She compares tides coming in and going out to a man's desire which changes. In this she is bringing her feminist side out. She is using a stereotype - all men want the same thing.
She has always known how powerful love can be - and how potentially destructive as well.
In the last two lines she asks to be pitied because her heart has not learnt what her mind always knew.
Rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg
This makes it a Shakespearean sonnet - 3 quatrains followed by a couplet. This makes it a sonnet, Viraj! And no, we cannot have a sonnet which is longer or shorter :).
[Just to remind everyone that the other type of sonnet is Italian or Petrarchan and is divided into one octave and one sestet. And no, that doesn't mean there's a space between the two parts - the poem can be in one block. You would find the "division" in the rhyme scheme or the thoughts expressed perhaps even in the mood or tone.]
Sensory images:
Lines 1 and 2 - a visual image of the light fading from the sky at the end of the day - it becomes dark - a comparison to the end of the relationship. We are assuming that during the relationship night did not become "dark". Figuratively speaking, it is the sunset of the relationship. However, she doesn't want to be pitied for this.
Lines 3 and 4 - a visual image of seasons growing "old" as the year goes by. We notice the word "beauties" as it connects perhaps to women - or a woman growing old. It could also be read at a more literal level as various beautiful things that flower in spring and summer and then die out.
NB: the first quatrain ends with a semi-colon thereby carrying forth the mood of sadness caused by the end of the relationship as well as the "not wanting to be pitied" feeling.
Lines 5 and 6 - two visual images - one of the moon growing smaller, the second one of the tide going out to the sea. The moon is associated with relationships, love, lovers; it is also associated with the tide. The moon apparently also affects our hormones [thank you, Shashank, for that piece of information]. The tide ebbing - is like love is being drained out leaving the shore empty.
Lines 7 and 8 - two images - the first one is probably auditory - because a "man's desire" is silenced very soon. [Yes, Abhay, I agree that this is a stereotype.] The second image is visual - "he" doesn't have the same love in his eyes.
Discussion on: 25 March 2011
Lines 9 and 10 - we think this is a very strong image which combines a visual - that of a flower - and an organic image of it being assaulted by the wind. It's a comparison between love and a flower which is attacked by the obstacles [the wind] which love [or the people in love] has to face. According to Shashank, the phrase "This have I known always" is significant as the poet says that she has always known that there are two sides to love which her mind has known - but her heart has looked only at the good side.
Lines 11 and 12 - she continues the comparison of love this time with the "great tide" - strong, powerful - and the "shifting shore" could be an unsteady base or changing moods - it's a visual image combined with an organic one of "treading". "Fresh wreckage" could be according to Shashank old relationships and Aakriti feels that it could be fights that they have. Where in line 10 she has introduced the idea of a strong [assailing] wind, it is echoed in line 12 as a "gale" [thank you, Jasmehar].
Lines 13 and 14 - now she asks to be pitied because, metaphorically, the heart [the symbol of love] and it is said that love is blind - so when people are in love, they don't think straight, don't act as they normally would, don't listen to their minds [thank you, Abhay, for putting that so neatly].
What is your personal response - how do you relate to this poem?
Abhay: If I could meet the poet I would tell her to stop obsessing about the relationship; there's more to life than love - for example, games.
Jaideep and Mansher [in chorus] - love is not the priority - money is.
Jasmehar - money can't buy everything - you can buy books with money but you cannot buy education; you can buy a clock but not time. Money can buy sex, but not love, and it cannot fill the emptiness inside you.
Abhay: it is said that the best things in life come free.
[The exchange with Shashank cannot be published on the Web. Although I'm certain that everyone in class will remember this exchange of all the other discussions we had.]
Disha: fights are often kept aside but keep coming back.
Aakriti: without love your mind and heart will not be at peace.
Atil: nothing to share.
Shruti: not really felt any of this.
Viraj: doesn't want to share.
Shashank -
At close of day no longer walks the sky;
Pity me not for beauties passed away
From field and thicket as the the year goes by;
Pity me not the waning of the moon,
Nor that the ebbing tide goes out to sea,
Nor that a man's desire is hushed so soon,
And you no longer look with love on me.
This have I known always: Love is no more
Than the wide blossom which the wind assails,
Than the great tide that treads the shifting shore,
Strewing fresh wreckage gathered in the gales:
Pity me that the heart is slow to learn
When the swift mind beholds at every turn.
Discussion on: 24 March 2011
What stayed with you:
Lots of powerful images...
image in the lines 1 and 2 - of the dark
image in the lines 3 and 4 - how nature grows old through the year
She is sad but she doesn't want to be pitied. She is sad because a relationship is ending.
She has been in and out of relationships and wishes they would last for ever but they don't.
She compares tides coming in and going out to a man's desire which changes. In this she is bringing her feminist side out. She is using a stereotype - all men want the same thing.
She has always known how powerful love can be - and how potentially destructive as well.
In the last two lines she asks to be pitied because her heart has not learnt what her mind always knew.
Rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg
This makes it a Shakespearean sonnet - 3 quatrains followed by a couplet. This makes it a sonnet, Viraj! And no, we cannot have a sonnet which is longer or shorter :).
[Just to remind everyone that the other type of sonnet is Italian or Petrarchan and is divided into one octave and one sestet. And no, that doesn't mean there's a space between the two parts - the poem can be in one block. You would find the "division" in the rhyme scheme or the thoughts expressed perhaps even in the mood or tone.]
Sensory images:
Lines 1 and 2 - a visual image of the light fading from the sky at the end of the day - it becomes dark - a comparison to the end of the relationship. We are assuming that during the relationship night did not become "dark". Figuratively speaking, it is the sunset of the relationship. However, she doesn't want to be pitied for this.
Lines 3 and 4 - a visual image of seasons growing "old" as the year goes by. We notice the word "beauties" as it connects perhaps to women - or a woman growing old. It could also be read at a more literal level as various beautiful things that flower in spring and summer and then die out.
NB: the first quatrain ends with a semi-colon thereby carrying forth the mood of sadness caused by the end of the relationship as well as the "not wanting to be pitied" feeling.
Lines 5 and 6 - two visual images - one of the moon growing smaller, the second one of the tide going out to the sea. The moon is associated with relationships, love, lovers; it is also associated with the tide. The moon apparently also affects our hormones [thank you, Shashank, for that piece of information]. The tide ebbing - is like love is being drained out leaving the shore empty.
Lines 7 and 8 - two images - the first one is probably auditory - because a "man's desire" is silenced very soon. [Yes, Abhay, I agree that this is a stereotype.] The second image is visual - "he" doesn't have the same love in his eyes.
Discussion on: 25 March 2011
Lines 9 and 10 - we think this is a very strong image which combines a visual - that of a flower - and an organic image of it being assaulted by the wind. It's a comparison between love and a flower which is attacked by the obstacles [the wind] which love [or the people in love] has to face. According to Shashank, the phrase "This have I known always" is significant as the poet says that she has always known that there are two sides to love which her mind has known - but her heart has looked only at the good side.
Lines 11 and 12 - she continues the comparison of love this time with the "great tide" - strong, powerful - and the "shifting shore" could be an unsteady base or changing moods - it's a visual image combined with an organic one of "treading". "Fresh wreckage" could be according to Shashank old relationships and Aakriti feels that it could be fights that they have. Where in line 10 she has introduced the idea of a strong [assailing] wind, it is echoed in line 12 as a "gale" [thank you, Jasmehar].
Lines 13 and 14 - now she asks to be pitied because, metaphorically, the heart [the symbol of love] and it is said that love is blind - so when people are in love, they don't think straight, don't act as they normally would, don't listen to their minds [thank you, Abhay, for putting that so neatly].
What is your personal response - how do you relate to this poem?
Abhay: If I could meet the poet I would tell her to stop obsessing about the relationship; there's more to life than love - for example, games.
Jaideep and Mansher [in chorus] - love is not the priority - money is.
Jasmehar - money can't buy everything - you can buy books with money but you cannot buy education; you can buy a clock but not time. Money can buy sex, but not love, and it cannot fill the emptiness inside you.
Abhay: it is said that the best things in life come free.
[The exchange with Shashank cannot be published on the Web. Although I'm certain that everyone in class will remember this exchange of all the other discussions we had.]
Disha: fights are often kept aside but keep coming back.
Aakriti: without love your mind and heart will not be at peace.
Atil: nothing to share.
Shruti: not really felt any of this.
Viraj: doesn't want to share.
Shashank -
What is an example of a sound effect in lines 9-12 ?
ReplyDeleteAnd what tone does it create ?