English Summary

Define The Word Lyric Poems: When the poets write any poem which is emotional and rhyming, it is called a lyric poem. Such types of poems are known to explore strong emotions, especially romantic feelings.

How To Write A Lyric Poem?

A lyric poem is a short version of a poem, which has almost songlike e features. The root word of a lyric is a lyre, which is of Greek origin and means “singing to the lyre.” The pronunciation of lyric is done as leeyr-rick. Any lyric poem is easily identified by its musical nature.

Short and high musical verses characterize a lyric poem. They can convey extremely powerful meanings. In a lyrical poem, the poets make use of literary devices like rhyme or meter. These literary devices create a songlike quality within the poem.

The feelings or emotions conveyed through the poem are most likely to be related to the poet himself’s feelings. It is one of the most common poetic forms that are still found today. The most common takeaways of lyric poems are that they convey the speaker’s emotions and are musical.

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The Origin And History Of Lyricism

The origin of lyricism in poems can be traced to Greek culture. In Greece, it was most often found that lyric poetry was combined with music and was played on lyre. A lyre is a string instrument with a U shape. The works of Sappho (610 to 570 BC) have shown lyricism most often.

In ancient Greece, there was a specific meaning ascribed to lyric poetry. The technical meaning of it was a verse often accompanied by a lyre, barbitos, or cithara.

Similar traits of lyricism were found in other parts of the world too. It was between the fourth century BC and the first century AD that lyricism came to view through the Hebrew poets’ works. These poets composed lyrical psalms, which the people sang in an ancient Jewish style.

During the eighth century, through haiku and various other forms, the Japanese poets expressed their ideals. They often expressed their emotions through lyrical poems too. Among the more famous Chinese writers, Li Po (710 to 762 AD) depicted aspects of lyricism in his work.

There was a shift from their regular epic narratives about gods and war heroes in the western world. This gave rise to lyric poetry in their domain, and in the western world, lyric poetry came with a personal tone and appeal. The poets of Europe drew their inspiration from Greece and also from Egypt or Asia.

Lyric Poetry Types

The most common categories that poetry is put into are three: Narrative, Lyric, and lastly, Dramatic. Lyric poetry is, however, the most common. It is extremely difficult to classify it, yet there is a wide range of approaches to it.

It is difficult to be classified as nearly anything, from war to love, from art to patriotism, that can be easily explored in a personal and emotional tone. Thus there are many approaches to it.

There is also no prescribed form of lyrical poetry. Some sonnets can be considered lyrical poetry, and there are also rondeaus to villanelles that are considered lyrical poetry.

Lyric Poem Classification

Many times scholars tend to categorize lyrical poetry into Lyric of Thought, Lyric of Emotion, and Lyric of Vision. But, this type of categorization is not agreed upon by many scholars.

There can be didactic poems in the Lyric of Thought type, which are usually directed at teaching. It also includes intellectual poems, like satire.

In the Lyric of Vision type, there are visual poetries like May Swenson’s “Women.” There are line arrangements and a zigzag pattern in the poem, which makes it visual. Some other poets have used colors or 3D shapes and even unusual topography for satisfying Lyric of Vision.

In the Lyric of Emotion type, some poems depict emotions and sensations. The works are usually associated with the personification of sentiments and expression of human emotions.

What Is The Reason Behind Writing It?

Lyrical poetry depicts a wide range of things, including emotions, admissions, and even confessions. They have a flowery and flowy language and are simple yet deep at the same time.

So, the simplest reason that poets resort to lyrical poems is that they can easily express their feelings and emotions through them. The audience relates to such poems easily, and it is an effortless way of understanding the nature around us.

Examples Of Lyricism In Famous Poems

Example 1: “The Wold Is Too Much With Us” by William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth (1770 to 1850) is a famous name among the English poets. It was the notion of Wordsworth that poetry is a powerful flow of feelings.

“The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; —

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!”

In his poem “The World Is Too Much With Us,” he has clearly expressed his passion, which is clearly illustrated in a few statements like “a sordid boon!”. Wordsworth has condemned materialism and alienation from nature in his poem.

Although the poem depicts the essence of spontaneity, it was also carefully nurtured. In this poem, the poet has clearly expressed his outrage about the Industrial Revolution’s effects on the then economy.

Example 2: “Praise Song for the Day” by Elizabeth Alexander

The poem “Praise Song for the Day” was written by Elizabeth Alexander, a famous American poet. She wrote the poem to be read at President Barack Obama’s inauguration, the first-ever black president.

“Say it plain: that many have died for this day.

Sing the names of the dead who brought us here,

who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges,

picked the cotton and the lettuce, built

brick by brick, the glittering edifices

they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle, praise song for the day.

Praise song for every hand-lettered sign,

the figuring-it-out at kitchen tables.”

Through the poem, Alexander paid tribute to the African culture that lay in the US and urged the people belonging to various races to live in peace. Although the poem does not rhyme, its rhythmic repetition of phrases creates a beautiful musical effect.

The poem serves two traditions. One, it is an occasional poem, which was written for a specific purpose, and two, it is a song for praising someone. It depicts the essence of praise for the American president. Occasional poems are quite similar to ode, as they depict passionate expressions of praise.

Example 3: “Do not go gentle into that good night” by Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas (1914 to 1953) has depicted lyricism through his poem “Do not go gentle into that good night.” He has used a number of literary devices in the poem.

“Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at the close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.”

This poem depicts a son’s plea to his father, who is dying. He wants to explain to his father that death is the ultimate end for all. Nevertheless, they do not give up. They constantly fight for their life. The entire poem seems to be based on the line “Old age should burn and rave at close of day.”

The literary devices like alliteration and repetition of a specific line are continuously done throughout the poem. The rhyme scheme of the poem is simple and consistent, going on at ABC ABC. These features show the characteristic of lyricism throughout the poem.

Example 4: “Dying” penned by Emily Dickinson

Most of the poems by Emily Dickinson (1830 to 1886) depict the essence of lyricism.

“I heard a fly buzz when I died;

The stillness round my form

Was like the stillness in the air

Between the heaves of storm.

The eyes beside had wrung them dry,

And breaths were gathering sure

For that last onset, when the king

Be witnessed in his power.”

The poem “Dying” depicts in the way of its simple rhyme scheme, ABCB. There is also the use of Iambic meter, which is yet another feature of a lyric poem. The poet here speaks about her observations when someone is about to die.

Her poem is hypothetical in nature and expresses her sentiments about death. The poet expresses her detachment from the affairs of the world.

Some Other Popular Lyric Poems

• “Whose List to Hunt” written by Sir Thomas Wyatt
• “Upon Julia’s Clothes,” written by Robert Herrick
• “The Heart Asks Pleasure First” penned by Emily Dickinson
• “A Quoi bon Dire” by Charlotte Mew
• “Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey” penned by William Wordsworth.

Other Names Of Lyricism

There are other terms that often come to describe lyric poems. Some common terms that people might come across are:

• Musical
• Emotional
• Melodious
• Melody
• Expression

The Adventure Summary in English and Hindi Pdf. The Adventure is written by Jayant Narlikar.

Learncram.com has provided The Adventure extra questions and answers pdf, theme, class 11 english The Adventure summary in hindi, analysis analysis, line by line explanation, note making, ppt, lesson plan, class 11 ncert solutions.

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The Adventure Summary in English by Jayant Narlikar

About the writer Jayant Narlikar

Name	Jayant Narlikar
Born	19 July 1938 (age 81 years), Kolhapur
Spouse	Mangala Narlikar
Awards	Padma Vibhushan, Adams Prize, Padma Bhushan, Prix Jules Janssen
Known for	Steady-state model, Hoyle–Narlikar theory of gravity

The Adventure Theme

This is an extract of the later half of the story ‘The Adventure” by Jayant Narlikar. It is a science fiction story in which two theories, the Catastrophe theory and the lack of determinism in Quantum theory, are tried to be explained through an imaginary set of events which would have occurred in the life of a professor of history if the result of a battle more than 200 years earlier would have been different.

The Adventure About the Characters

Professor Gangadharpant Gaitonde: He is an eminent professor of history working in Pune. He has a catastrophic accident which causes him to transition to a parallel world for 60 hours.

Rajendra Deshpande: He is a mathematical and scientific expert who tries to rationalise Professor Gaitonde’s experience by applying the Catastrophe theory and the lack of determinism in Quantum theory.

The Adventure Summary in English

Earlier Part of the Story (Not the Part of Text)
Professor Gangadharpant Gaitonde was an eminent historian and a leading public figure of Pune. He was much in demand for presiding over public functions. He had just completed his 999th occasion for presiding at a function. He had decided that his thousandth appearance on the stage would be for history. That occasion was to come two weeks later at a seminar devoted to the Third Battle of Panipat.

While he was walking home, a truck on the road hit him. He lost consciousness. When he regained consciousness, he had transited to a parallel world (although he was not aware of this). He was in hospital. After recovering, he was discharged from the hospital the next morning. He tried to reach his home, but he found that it did not exist in the parallel world. He decided to go to Bombay because his son was working in a British company there. He went to Pune railway station and took a train to Bombay. The extract starts from here.

Gaitonde’s Journey to Bombay
When Gaitonde had to get a permit to visit Bombay, he was told that Bombay was British territory while the rest of India was independent. On the journey in a first class compartment of the Jijamata Express, he sat beside Khan Sahib, who would be going on to Peshawar from Delhi on business. Then he realised that there had been no partition of India (in this parallel world). On the route, the train stopped only at Lonavala, Karjat and the border town of Safhad, where the permits were checked. It did not stop at Kalyan, but finally terminated at Victoria Terminus in Bombay. While going through Bombay’s suburbs, he observed that the carriages of the local trains had the British flag painted on them, indicating that they were passing through British territory.

Gaitonde Fails to Find his Son
Gaitonde had planned out his activities on his visit to Bombay. He would try to meet his son and then go to a big library to solve the mystery of his transition. When Gaitonde stepped out of the railway station, he saw ‘East India House’, which indicated that the East India Company still existed in Bombay. Further, he found various British companies and buildings on the road. He visited his son’s office to meet him, but found that no such person worked there, although the company was the same one. This made Gaitonde realise the truth of what Rajendra Deshpande had told him earlier about the Catastrophe theory. He had really made the transition to a parallel world.

Gaitonde Finds the Information he Needed
He visited the Town Hall building in which the library of the Asiatic Society was located. Luckily for him, it also existed in the parallel world. In the library he also found the five books on Indian history which he had written. On going through the fifth volume, which gave India’s history after the death of Aurangzeb, he found that the result of the third battle of Panipat in 1761 was written differently from what he knew, although he was the author of this book in the parallel world.

It said that the Marathas had won the battle, whereas he knew that they had lost it. From here onwards, the history of India changed, which explained what Gaitonde had been experiencing for the last few hours.

He found confirmation in a Marathi journal about how exactly the Marathas had won the battle. The Marathi journal stated that a bullet fired by the Afghans in the battle just brushed the ear of the leader of the Marathas, Vishwasrao. Gaitonde in the real world had written in his fifth volume that Vishwasrao had been killed by a cannon shell in the battle and the Marathas lost their morale and the battle subsequently, because that was what earlier historians had written. In the parallel world, Vishwasrao survived, rallied his troops and won this battle.

India’s Remaining History in the Parallel World
The remaining history of India, as recounted in the fifth volume Gaitonde was reading, can be summarised by saying that India never went under British rule. The Marathas did not allow the East India Company to expand its influence in India. In fact, its influence was limited to a few places like Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. India gradually became a democracy but allowed the British to carry on in Bombay on a lease for commercial reasons. The lease was due to expire in the year 2001, 15 years after the time of this story.

Gaitonde Returns to the Real World
Gaitonde left the library when it closed in the evening, indicating to the librarian that he would come back next morning. After taking a meal, he went for a stroll to Azad Maidan. There was a lecture going on there. When Gaitonde saw a vacant presidential chair on the stage, he went and sat on it, thinking that it was for him, because in the real world he had been invited for such a seminar. The audience reacted by strongly protesting against Gaitonde sitting on the presidential chair.

The reason was that, in this world, the people had become sick of hearing long introductions, vote of thanks and remarks of the chair. They were only interested in what the speaker was speaking and had abolished the custom of having a chairman long ago. The chair kept on the platform was only symbolic.

Gaitonde got up and started speaking, but the audience pelted him with tomatoes, eggs and other objects as they did not want any remarks from him. When Gaitonde still did not stop speaking, the audience swarmed on to the stage to remove him. During the commotion, Gaitonde disappeared. Actually he had suffered another catastrophe by being knocked unconscious by the mob and returned to the real world, as he was found on the Azad Maidan the next morning with his clothes torn. He had no idea what had happened and so he returned to Pune.

Rajendra Deshpande Explains What Happened to Gaitonde
Gaitonde narrated his adventure to his friend Rajendra Deshpande, a mathematical and scientific expert. Rajendra tried to explain to him what had happened by explaining how the Catastrophe theory and the lack of determinism in Quantum theory applied to his adventure.

When Rajendra felt that Gaitonde had imagined- things because he may have been thinking about the third battle of Panipat at the time the truck hit him, Gaitonde showed Rajendra the torn-off page of the history book from the other world, about Vishwasrao escaping death. In the book in the real world, the account was given as Vishwasrao being hit by a bullet and dying. So in the real world, the Marathas had not won, the East India Company had flourished and so on.

At first, Rajendra was perplexed by this new evidence. But, after further discussion with Gaitonde, Rajendra Deshpande explained that he had come to the conclusion that there could be many ‘different worlds existing at different points of time’. They could all have a different history. Professor Gaitonde had been to another parallel world. The time was the present but its history was quite different.

Gaitonde Refuses to Chair any More Seminars
When Rajendra suggested that Gaitonde could recount his adventure at the thousandth seminar he was presiding over after a few days, Gaitonde told him that he had already declined the invitation, as he did not want to chair any more seminars. Probably he remembered the treatment he had received from the audience in the parallel world when he tried to chair a seminar.

The Adventure Chapter Highlights

Professor Gaitonde had a collision with a truck. At that time he was thinking of the Catastrophe theory and its implications for history.

He found himself in another Bombay, which looked more like England as it was much cleaner and had many big English shops). The East India Company was flourishing there.

In this Bombay, he went to the Asiatic Society library in the Town Hall to read some history books, including the ones he had himself written.

Most of the history was as he knew it in his world, but the point where the history had changed was the third Battle of Panipat. In this different world, the Marathas had won this battle.

Then the Marathas did not allow the East India Company to expand its influence in India. In fact, its influence was limited to a few places like Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. India had become a democracy but allowed the British to carry on in these cities for commercial reasons.

Gaitonde wanted to find out how the Marathas had won the battle. According to one history book in the library, the Maratha army’s morale was boosted when Vishwasrao managed to escape death narrowly.

After leaving the library in the evening, he went for a stroll to Azad Maidan. There was a lecture going on. When Gaitonde saw a vacant presidential chair on the stage, he went and sat on it, thinking that it was for him, because in the real world he had been invited for such a seminar. But in this world, people were fed up of long speeches and had abolished the ’chairing’ custom. They got angry because Gaitonde would not stop talking. They threw various things at him and then got onto the stage to throw him out. But suddenly Gaitonde vanished.

He was found in the Azad Maidan, in his own familiar world. Where had he been for two days?

He went back to Pune and showed Rajendra Deshpande the proof that he had been somewhere else and was not imagining things. It was the torn-off page of the history book from the other world, about Vishwasrao escaping death. In the book in his own world, the account was given as Vishwasrao being hit by a bullet and dying. So in our world, the Marathas had not won, the East India Company had flourished and so on.

Through discussions, Professor Gaitonde and Rajendra Deshpande came to the conclusion that there could be many ‘different worlds at different points of time’. They could all have a different history. Professor Gaitonde had been to another world. The time was the present but its history was quite different.

The Adventure Word Meaning

Word – Meaning
ghat section – section of railway track in the Western Ghats, i.e. the hilly region
landscape – painting of a countryside or rural scenery
roared through – passed through with a roaring sound without stopping
racing – fast thinking
state of affairs – situation
Sarhad – border town
Anglo-Indian – An Indian of English descent or of mixed English and Indian parentage
ventured – dared to ask
Central – Bombay Central railway station
been wound up – stopped its operations
blow – setback
volume – book in a series of books
blow-by-blow account – detailed description
morale booster – event that improved their confidence and raised their morale
from the sidelines – but not taking part in it
relegated to – assigned to a lower rank or position
political acumen – political shrewdness with keen insight
pockets – areas
puppet – actually under control of another
de facto – existing
astute – marked by practical intelligence
Shahenshah – ruler
rubber-stamp – formally approve
doctored accounts – narratives changed so as to deceive
after his heart – to his liking
throng – crowd
panda1 – temporary structure
gave vent to – expressed his feelings and ideas
valiantly – courageously
dumbfounded – greatly surprised
smugly – with a self-satisfied look
Bakhar – form of historical narrative written in Marathi prose
food for thought – something that requires serious consideration
pacing – walking to and fro
catastrophic – sudden happening causing damage and/ or suffering
take issue – disagree
definitively – finally with authority
ignoramus – ignorant
trajectory – path
proceeded – carried on
speculating – guessing

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No Men are Foreign Summary Analysis and Explanation

About the Poet James Kirkup
James Kirkup (1918-2009) is the Director of the Social Market Foundation and the former Executive Editor – Politics for The Telegraph. He was a lobby journalist for 16 years. He was a prolific poet and translator. His work includes several dozen poetry collections, six volumes of autobiography.

Poet Name	James Kirkup
Born	23 April 1918, England, United Kingdom
Died	10 May 2009, Andorra
Genre	Poetry, fiction, journalism
Books	I, of all people, No More Hiroshimas
Education	Grey College, Durham, Durham University

No Men are Foreign Introduction

This poem covers various points of similarity between people from all countries. It reminds us that we are all the same for we are all humans related to each other, despite differences in race, geography or language. Hating other people because they are different, or raising arms against each other only show our narrow mindedness. We must consider the entire world as a big family where no one is stranger.

No Men are Foreign Summary of the Poem

The poem tells us that all people are essentially the same. We should not see other people as foreign or strange just because they come from some other country or place. Humanity is the same all over the earth. All divisions based on nation, caste, creed, color, religion or language are baseless since we all have the same basic needs and to fulfill them, we depend on the same resources available on the earth. People everywhere have the same physical, mental and emotional experiences.

They are in no way different or strange even though they wear different clothes, speak different languages and profess different religions. We are all the same with same feelings and emotions. If we harm anyone, we are harming ourselves because we all are related to each other with the same thread of humanity. We must keep in our minds that if we destroy another country, we are destroying our own earth.

Since we are all same, we must not take arms against any one because we only defile our earth by such actions. The dust and smoke caused by war weapons pollute the very air we breathe in. So, all violence of all kinds should be stopped. It will lead us to a better life. Thus, the poet urges us that we should live in peace and harmony and do works for spreading fraternity all around us.

These are important things which enrich humanity. Poetic Devices Used in the Poem Rhyme scheme: The poet does not follow any identifiable rhyme scheme in this poem. It is a free verse. Rhetorical devices: Simile: A single body breathes like ours. They have eyes like ours. Metaphor: The poet uses this device in the third line as he compares his fellow human beings with his own brothers.

For example, Like ours: the land our brothers walk upon He again uses it on the sixth line when he compares war with winter since reduced resources are available at both those sides. For example, Are fed by peaceful harvests, by war’s long winter starved He uses it for the last time in the 18th line when he compares wars with hells. For example, Our hells of fire and dust outrage the innocence

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Reach for the Top Summary Analysis and Explanation

About the Poet Santhosh Yadav
Santosh Yadav is an Indian mountaineer. She is the first woman in the world to climb Mount Everest twice, and the first woman to successfully climb Mt. Everest from Kangshung Face. She was, of course, a kind-hearted person and a daredevil who was dedicated to her mission. Her strength was her physical fitness, mental toughness, and climbing skill.

Poet Name	Santosh Yadav
Born	1969 (age 51 years), Joniawas
Spouse	Uttam Kumar Lal (m. 1992)
Education	Maharani College
Awards	Padma Shri
Nationality	Indian

Reach for the Top Introduction

The chapter ‘Reach for the Top’ consists of two biographical pieces that depict persistent endeavors to reach the top. The first part recounts the journey of Santosh Yadav, the only woman in the world who has scaled Mt Everest twice.

The second part is about Maria Sharapova, a Russian girl who reached the summit of women’s tennis when she was barely eighteen. The story of the two women inspires us to set our goals and achieve them ignoring all the hurdles.

Reach for the Top Summary of the Lesson

Santosh Yadav is the only woman in the world to have climbed Mt Everest twice. She was born in the small village of Joniyawas of Rewari district in Haryana where the birth of a daughter was not generally welcome. She was the sixth child in the family with five sons, a sister to five elder brothers. Her family named her ‘Santosh’ which means contentment.

But she was not content with her place in the traditional set up of the family and adopted a different lifestyle. She used to wear shorts instead of traditional Indian dresses. She was determined to change the people around her because only then she could achieve what she had dreamed.

Her parents were affluent landowners with orthodox attitudes. They had no interest in giving much education to their daughter. So they sent her to the local village school. When Santosh turned sixteen, her parents pressurised her to marry because most of the girls in their village used to get married at this age. But she didn’t listen to them.

She firmly told her parents that she would not marry before getting a proper education. Her parents got angry and refused to pay for her education. But that didn’t deviate her from her goal. She planned to do part-time work to pay for her school fees. Seeing her determination, her parents finally agreed to pay for her education.

After passing the high school examinations, Santosh Yadav went to Jaipur for further education. She joined Maharani College and got a room in Kasturba Hostel. Living in the hostel, she used to watch people climbing the Aravalli Hills.

She could not resist herself from asking some mountaineers if she could join them. They gave a positive reply which encouraged her to take to climbing. She joined Uttarkashi Nehru Institute of Mountaineering after completing her college semester in Jaipur.

Santosh never looked back thereafter. She went on an expedition every year which matured her climbing skills very fast. She scaled Mt Everest at the age of twenty and became the youngest woman in the world to achieve the feat.

She impressed her seniors with qualities like iron will, physical toughness and mental endurance. She was very helpful to the co-climbers. During the 1992 Everest mission, she managed to save another climber who would have died if she had not shared her oxygen with him.

Within a year, she scaled Mt Everest a second time which secured a unique place for her in the annals of mountaineering. The Indian government recognised her achievement by awarding her with one of the nation’s top honours, the Padmashri.

Santosh Yadav is a great environmentalist. She collected and brought down 500 kilograms of garbage from the Himalayas which shows her concern for the environment.

Still I Rise Analysis: Written by Maya Angelou, “Still I Rise” was published by The Random House in 1978. Born in 1928, Maya has faced a traumatic childhood and very problematic adulthood. Her history of past life made her start writing which not just became a voice for her but also for thousands and thousands of people who have had traumatic experiences and has been oppressed in society for racism and other negative things.

Besides being such a talented poet, she is a memoirist and also a civil rights activist. She has received a handful of awards for her memorable works and accumulated over more than fifty honorary degrees. She is quite popular among the readers for her seven biographies that focus on her childhood and adult life. She spoke (read- screams) out about the long-oppressed African Americans, knows as the black people (a slang term).

Her works are really memorable, which speaks out for the oppressed people and is considered a defence for the African Americans. Maya Angelou’s most works are regarding her life story- what things she faced when growing up.

The poem “Still I Rise” is a voice for the black people, as it talks of the way society has tried to suppress the blacks. The poem is mighty and brings out a message that ‘society’s judgments cannot determine one’s success and that she would break all the boundaries laid by racism and rise above the society and be equal in everyone’s eyes.

Summary of Still I Rise Analysis

The poem is about the inner voice that finally speaks out in public. Though it was written with oppression in mind, it has a universal appeal. The message given out by the poem is loud and clear- no matter how much there has been tried to oppresses the victims, they will still rise and will rise high above the people who tried to oppress them. She (the poet) appreciates her own strength and is confident about what she says. On the one hand, the poem can be seen as a powerful, strong woman warning people of her strength (seen as a perspective of her past life and history) and, on the other hand, a voice for the suppressed black African Americans.

Still I Rise Analysis Structure and Form

The poem includes 47 lines in total, giving birth to seven quatrains and two end stanzas. The phrase “I rise” has been repeated like a mantra in the last stanza to emphasise it. The poem follows a rhyming scheme of ABCB for the first seven stanzas, and the eight and ninth stanzas follow a different rhyming scheme that knits the story together and gives a solid ending to the poem. The eight stanzas have a rhyming scheme of ABABCC, and the ninth has the rhyming scheme of ABABCCBBB.

Still I Rise Analysis Tone and Mood

Throughout the poem, the tone is the tone of a strong woman who screams for justice for her race. Her inner voice screams of all the wrongs that have been done to her while growing up. She screams for justice for her people. The tone’s confidence talks of the strength she has in herself to fight against all the odds.

Also, it indicates the love and compassion for her race which has been sadly oppressed and put under control for years. She has created a mood for protest, asking for justice for her people. The poem’s tone and mood have been set in such a way that when a reader finishes reading the poem, he will carry with him a spirit of truthfulness, strength, and a mood for protest against the wrongs done.

Still I Rise Analysis Poetic Techniques and Figurative Language

The poem is intertwined with figurative language and smiles with similes and metaphors knitted to almost every line. Various poetic techniques like anaphora, enjambment and alliteration have also been used.

Anaphora means the repetition of a phrase or a word at the beginning of multiple lines in a poem. One good example of anaphora used in the poem- the phrase “you may” has been used at the beginning line of the poem and again at the beginning of the third line of the first stanza.

Alliteration is the appearance of the same letter in closely connected words. For example, in the eighth stanza, “huts of history” is a perfect example. In the ninth stanza, words like “gifts” and “gave” have been used very closely, which is another example of using the rhetorical device alliteration in the poem.

Enjambment is a rhetoric device that forces the readers to jump to the next line and then the next. It basically occurs when a line or phrase is suddenly cut off at a point that is not the expected natural stopping point. Good examples are the transition between line two and line three of the first and line two of the second stanza.

A simile ( a rhetorical device ) is a comparison between two things that are interconnected with words like – “like” and “as”. one of the examples of a simile in the poem is found in the third stanza, “just like hopes springing high” and lines three and four of the fourth stanza ” laugh like I’ve got gold mines.”

Themes of Still I Rise Analysis

The major themes of the poem “Still I rise” are self-empowerment, injustice and perseverance. Throughout the piece of oppression, there’s a cry heard again and again. The “you” she refers to represents all the hard times and unequal treatment injustices that had to be fought among communities creating an unseen barrier with no rules for the prior community.

Still, the well-known history retains ashes over ashes to prove the major community’s evil stare towards others.She throws a prior self-derogatory way in which she thinks of a better half and trying it by herself; the poet is gentle and independent of her own self-doubt and addresses herself to be proud and loved even if there were thousands of barriers.

The poet seems to have empowered herself and tried to teach the basic concept of life, to never doubt one’s abilities, strength, beauty, intelligence, or worth cause all you are is what defines you; the reason to live is clear then. There were nights with crying, endless questions and terror revolving, but all the poet knew it was confidence and the last slash of hope.

 

Still I Rise Analysis Stanzas

Analysis of the Poem, Stanza by Stanza-

Stanza one

”You may write me down in history.

With your bitter, twisted lies,…

……But still, like dust, I’ll rise.”

Analysis- In the first stanza, Maya Angelou gives her all to prove that nothing and no soul on earth can oppress her or keep her from rising. She turns a blind eye to the history books write about her as she knows that they are filled with “twisted lies”. She doesn’t care if others “trod” her “in the very dirt.” No matter what they do, she will rise.

Stanza two

”Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

…..

Pumping in my living room.”

Analysis– The second stanza opens with a question. She asks the listener if her sassy tone is upsetting them. The poet notices that the people in her society are “beset with gloom” whenever she achieves success. She is very well aware that she has succeeded in life as a writer and, more importantly, as a woman.

Stanza three

”Just like moons and like suns,

With certainty…..

…..Still, I’ll rise.”

Analysis- In this stanza, she compares herself with the sun and the moon because of how they are affected by tides. This helps give the readers a clear understanding of how much society tries to keep her down or oppress her; it is in her nature to rise higher and stand against oppression just like the tides respond to the moon.

Stanza four

”Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head…..

…..Weakened by my soulful cries?”

Analysis- The speaker’s questions in this stanza are somewhat curt, direct and accusing. She knows her success isn’t received well by the racist mindset of the people in her society. She aims these questions at the society that has been trying since the first day to oppress her.

She asks them if they want to witness her weakened and broken. She knows that her society does not like to see black women rising to power and using their voice against the oppression and racism prevalent among them. The speaker is well aware of these and tries to bring attention to them by asking these cutting questions.

Stanza five–

”Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don’t you take…

….Diggin’ in my own backyard.”

Analysis- Here the poet tries to showcase the society scenario where it can’t watch up to a black woman full of pride and tries to oppress her in every sense in her success. The poets add a tone of sarcasm by pretending to have comforted the speaker, which wasn’t the actual thing. She took every allegation in such an awful comeback that she proves to be happy and gives zero interest to what people utter.

Stanza six

”You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with…

……But still, like air, I’ll rise.”

Analysis- The poet is now straightforward to the point that isn’t really easy going. She doesn’t care. Nothing can stop her from being successful. All the back talks and front mocks can’t get her into their way of judging looks and words. Even if it kills her, she’ll be like air.

Stanza seven

”Does my sexiness upset you?…..

…..I’ve got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?”

Analysis- By now, the poet is convinced by her confidence and now questions society back in every way possible. She tactically asks the unanswered questions of which the poet is aware. Through this means, she reveals the immense self-confidence she has despite all the bully.

Stanza eight

“Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise……..

……..Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.”

Analysis- History turns it’s pages where shame is proven again and again. Slavery is a well-known text para, but here, the poet stands independent, thus clears her to wish to live free even if that means the destruction of her own breath.

Stanza nine

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise…..

…….I rise

I rise.

Analysis- In the final stanza, the poet emphasises that she would leave behind the dark days of her past and rise in a clear splendid sky breaking all the barriers hat chained down her. She puts importance to the phrase “I Rise” by repeating it. The speaker does not hate to stop her from becoming what she had always dreamed of- rising above society.

Similar Poems of Still I Rise Analysis

Where all the hopes crashed upon, the only chance to create another morn was to lead down the crashes and gain through all the ashes. All the threats couldn’t handle the fearlessness. All that is empty was disabled. Everything was meant to be done without the promise of today.

The poem is based on how white was prevalent among all. Through every sense, it depicted good and, strangely, hinted at something bad. Black, you see!

All the madness and glory hindered by, where confidence raised it’s soul high. Every night had that sign of history repeating, terror and fear crossing over the innocent mind. The only tunnel through this dark beat was to rise high up. Skies are near, and hope is still alive. After all this time, where people pushed back, confidence pulled back. Then and there, the answer is craved. “Still I rise”.

Angelou is known for writing empowering poems that talk of the inner child who screams for justice for her wrongs in childhood and growing years. Another poem that talks of the oppressed are “I know why the caged bird sings “.

Some other similar poems are “Phenomenal Women” and “Women Work”. Works of other authors like Audre Lord’s “power” is also quite similar to this poem. Another poem named “Primer for Blacks” by Gwendolyn Brooks also has similar instincts to this poem penned by Maya Angelou.

Students can also check the English Summary to revise with them during exam preparation.

The Cop and the Anthem Summary Analysis and Explanation By O. Henry

About the author O. Henry

Author Name	O. Henry
Born	11 September 1862, Greensboro, North Carolina, United States
Died	5 June 1910, New York, New York, United States
Full Name	William Sydney Porter
Short stories	The Gift of the Magi, The Last Leaf
Nationality	American

The Cop and the Anthem Introduction

The story is a humorous one. Soapy, the vagabond was looking for a shelter in winters. He was young but did not work. He wanted to be arrested for three months of the winter season. So he tried every effort to be jailed but when he decided to live a dignified life, he was arrested. Not for the harm he does, but for arguing with a cop.

The Cop and the Anthem Summary of the Lesson

Soapy was a homeless and jobless man. He was restless because of approaching winters. Birds moved to the south, leaves fell from trees, men wanted new warm clothes.

These signals intimidated him of winters. He wanted a shelter and he could think of Blackwell’s Island prison. Instead of choosing southern skies or Bay of Naples, he chooses prison where he could have food and shelter.

He kept himself warm by covering and wrapping himself with newspaper. Soapy could keep his body and soul together by begging but he might be asked to do in return to the favor.

Thinking about all the pros and cons, he assured himself that he would be on the wrong side of the law. So that the count might punish him and sent him to jail.

Soapy went out of Madison Square to the great street. He went into a restaurant after checking his looks and appearance. But he was stopped by the head waiter.

The next idea that struck his mind was to break a glass window with a stone. Seeing a policeman arriving at the scene, he stopped. But his second idea had failed as the cop thought that wrong does would run away from the crime scene.

Then, he entered a restaurant where he ordered food of his choice but refused to make payments. Rather than handing him over to police, they threw him out. A policeman was present on the scene but laughed away.

He tried his luck again; in front of the theatre, he started shouting and acting like a drunk man. Yet the cop spared him by saying that they were instructed not to arrest college students.

When he saw the umbrella of a man who was buying a newspaper, he decided to steal it. He dared to confront the man so that he would be arrested. The man, however, was humble enough and admitted it was his mistake.

Depressed he walked south toward Madison Square. He stopped at an old childhood home. He became nostalgic and mesmerized by the soft music, he stopped there. He remembered the days when there were friends, beautiful thoughts that turned into hopeless days.

He heard his conscience and reassert as to pull his strength to become a man of dignity. As he was young, he could change his life. He pulled up his socks to live his life with honor.

By then, a cop enquired about his intention at as Soapy just turned into a confident man argued and tried to justify his presence. Yet in contrast to his supposition, he was sent to jail.

Students can also check English Summary to revise with them during exam preparation.

The Sound of Music Summary

The Sound of Music Introduction

The lesson has been divided into two parts. Both are associated with the subject of music and the personalities who made music their life. Evelyn Glennie turned out to be the most sought after musician internationally in spite of her disability.

She was profoundly deaf but learnt to listen to music with her body instead of the ears. She became the perfect player of the xylophone and earned huge name and fame. Bismillah Khan, on the other hand, became India’s most revered shehnai maestro.

He was the winner of Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of India. He performed not only in India but abroad too.

The Sound of Music Summary Part 1

Evelyn Glennie is a multi-percussionist, who can play thousands of instruments to perfection. She is the most sought after musician of the world. She reached the pinnacle in spite of being profoundly deaf. But she excelled in the field of music by dint of her hard work and firm determination.

Evelyn’s loss of hearing had been gradual. It was first noticed by her mother when she was just eight-years-old, waiting to play the piano. By the time she was eleven, it was discovered that her hearing was severely impaired as a result of gradual nerve damage.

It was a big shock for her and her family. But she was determined to lead a normal life and pursue her career in music. She was greatly supported by percussionist Ron Forbes who spotted her potential and decided to work with her. He began by turning two large drums to different notes and advised Evelyn to not listen with her ears but try to sense it some other way.

Soon, she discovered that she could sense certain notes in different parts of her body. She also learnt to open her mind and body to sounds and vibrations. After that she never looked back. She decided to make music her life. She joined the

prestigious Royal Academy of Music and got excellent marks. She gradually moved from orchestral work to solo performances. She proved her excellence in this field too.

Evelyn Glennie believed in hard work. It was her hard work combined with firm determination which made her the world’s most sought-after multi-percussionist with a mastery of some thousand instruments.

In 1991 she was presented with the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious Soloist of the Year Award. She gives free concerts in prisons and hospitals. She also takes classes for young musicians.

Thus, she is a shining inspiration for the deaf and handicapped children. She has proved that nothing is impossible. You just fix your goal and start doing hard work. You will get there.

The Sound of Music Summary Part 2

This part of the lesson throws light on the origin of the shehnai and the contributions of Ustad Bismillah Khan to bring this musical instrument onto the classical stage.

Pungi, a musical instrument, was banned by Emperor Aurangzeb because of its unpleasant sound. It was improved by a barber of a family of professional musicians. The barber brought several changes in this instrument until it produced soft and melodious sounds. He then played it before royalty and got immense appreciation. Since it was first played in the Shah’s chambers by a nai, the instrument came to be known as the ‘shehnai’.

The sound of shehnai began to be considered auspicious. But its use was limited to temples and weddings. It was Bismillah Khan who popularised this instrument in India and abroad. Bismillah Khan belonged to the Benaras Gharana. He was born on 21 March 1916 at Dumraon in Bihar. His father, grandfather and other paternal ancestors were great shehnai players.

Bismillah Khan began to show his interest in music when he was just five-year-old. As a young child he would regularly go to the Bihariji temple to sing the Bhojpuri ‘Chaita’. He watched his maternal uncles practising the shehnai with great fascination. Slowly, he started getting lessons in playing the instrument and would sit practising throughout the day. He made the river Ganga his favourite spot to practise in solitude. At the age of 14, he accompanied his uncle to the Allahabad Music Conference where he got huge appreciation at the end of the recital. The opening of the All India Radio in Lucknow in 1938 proved to be a big break for him. His shehnai came to be heard very often on radio afterwards.

Bismillah Khan greeted the independent India with his shehnai from the Red Fort on 15 August, 1947. He travelled far and wide giving many memorable performances and won many national and international awards. He became the first Indian to perform at the prestigious Lincoln Centre Hall in the United States of America. He also took part in the World Exposition in Montreal, in the Cannes Art Festival and in the Osaka Trade Fair. The national awards conferred on him included the Padmashri, the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan. In 2001, he was awarded the Bharat Ratna. India’s highest civilian award.

Bismillah Khan loved his country deeply. When he was in a foreign country, he kept yearning for India. He was very fond of Dumraon and Benaras. He could not stay away from Benaras because the river Ganga was there. He also got huge success in the celluloid world. He gave his music in two films. His composition ‘DU ka khilona hai toot gay a….,’ turned to be a nationwide record-breaker. But he could not come to terms with the artificial glamour of the film world and remained a true devotee of music throughout his life.

A Psalm Of Life Analysis: “A Psalm of Life” was written by the famed New England poet and professor Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. First published in New York in 1838 literary magazine The Knickerbocker, the poem was inspired by a conversation between Longfellow and a fellow professor.

Students can also check the English Summary to revise with them during exam preparation.

A Psalm Of Life Summary

The young man refuses to accept that life is “an empty dream” or that the soul is dead while speaking from his “heart.”

Instead, he says that life is indeed true and real and that death is not the final goal of life; the soul does lives on and not turn to dust. We are meant to go beyond and act on mere happiness or sorrow.

We still move towards death, even though we are brave. Thus, we must be heroic and seize the life we have, be much more than just dumb beasts. We ought to be wary of the future and the past and instead act and live within the present.

When we look at the great men’s lives, we can see that it is possible to live with meaning and that we leave our “footprints on the sands of Tim” when we depart. It is completely possible that some other person who is actually toiling mournfully may take heart and see our footprints. Knowing this, we should be hopeful and be prepared for anything; we should endeavour to achieve and pursue, as well as “learn to labor and to wait.”

A Psalm Of Life Analysis per Stanza

Stanza 1 – The View of an Anti-Pessimistic

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

“Life is but an empty dream!”

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.

With the life and goals that deny the pessimistic view of the Psalmist, the beginning of the poem starts. The poet does refuse to believe in the negative view of a person’s life. He asks not to tell him this perception of pessimism about life in mournful numbers.

Mournful numbers here actually indicate Psalm verses that tell that life is just a hollow dream. He completely denies that life is filled with misfortunes and is a meaningless dream.

For the soul which is dead at that slumbers; The use of metaphor here tells that the soul which sleeps is as good as dead. The poet says that life is not truly what the sorrowful numbers tell it to be so.

Stanza 2 – The Optimistic View 

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;

“Dust thou art, to dust returnest,”

Was not spoken of the soul.

Here the narrator shares the sanguine view which is trying to instill, the Psalm of Life. Here we get what the poet’s perception or impression of life is. Completely contrasting with the pessimistic view, Longfellow says that life is not a hollow dream, but life is real; life is not an illusion or something that should be wasted.

These lines show the positivity of the poet. In the subsequent lines, the poet challenging the biblical view tells us about the essence of life.

While death is an inevitable destination, the goal of life is not to reach the grave. He says that there were ways with which we can attain immortality for the soul. In the later stanzas, he describes these more.

Stanza 3 – The Guide 

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each to-morrow

Finds us farther than to-day.

The poet now tells us about how life should be lived, with both the polar opposite views of the life discussed.

The poet explains that the explicit pursuit of happiness will eventually lead to sorrow; hence to be sad or happy is not the goal of life. The goal should be content, and we know that both joy and sorrow will be part of life. One should work and improve upon oneself so that one could keep improving. Always try hard and be the better version of what you actually were yesterday.

Stanza 4 – The Ticking Clock

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

Funeral marches to the grave.

In this stanza, we get to know the reason why the poet called life as “real and earnest” in the second stanza of the poem. Longfellow, to express the gravity of the situation, puts two contrasting things against one another. He says time, which is utterly important, is always fleeting from us. It is not going to last any longer, and it waits for none.

So while our responsibilities and goals increase every day, the time that we have to achieve all of that does decreases. Like the ticking of the clock, the heart’s beat is actually a reminder of the fleeting time we poss.

Stanza 5 – The Battle 

In the world’s broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

Be a hero in the strife!

A Psalm Of Life Analysis theme of war in the poem Psalm of Life shows some of the seriousness of the situation which has been brought by Longfellow in this is this stanza. Longfellow calls life as a hutment.

A hutment is a temporary encampment used by military personnel. So the world is referred to as a battlefield, and in this hutment of life, you cannot work according to someone else’s direction completely. Life is harsh and ruthless.

The poet tells us to be the hero and asks us to do how a brave soldier rises in the strife and does on a battlefield. That is how one has to win this battle.

Stanza 6 – No Regret 

Trust no Future, however pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act,–act in the living Present!

Heart within, and God overhead!

The poem’s stanza warns us about two things that are equally plaguing and dangerous, which are very important. He says trust no future, as a pleasant future’s expectations can render one useless because they actually start to live in that. The poet warns us and not to repeat that.

Longfellow also tells us whatever happened, be it good or bad in the past, don’t let it linger in your mind for very long.

Finally, Longfellow says that you should always work at the very instant you are in with faith by living in the present, in yourself and have faith in the consequences.

Stanza 7 – Possibility 

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;

In the Psalm for Life, here the poet motivates us that this whole message is not some unattainable goal. He says that what has been done before and can also be repeated.

The examples that the poet uses in the lives of great men who did choose to go against this pessimistic view of life and always acted in the present. This is the point where he reinforces the line of an immortal soul when he says, “Footprints on the sands of time.”

By doing everything that the great men did, we can make ourselves elevated and noble. And hence, our work will immortally live as our soul.

Stanza 8 – Inspire 

Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.

Longfellow compares our situation with someone in this stanza, else similar is in the future. Like how from the immortal words of great men, we can take inspiration.

Here the use of metaphor for life is a very important thing to note like: “A forlorn and shipwrecked bother.” Her life is compared to a cast ocean and our lives as ships. This beautifully ties with the first stanza where the poet said, “For the soul is dead that slumbers,” as a ship is as good as wrecked that has stopped moving in the ocean.

Stanza 9 – Act Now 

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing

Learn to labor and to wait.

The ultimate stanza is all about keeping all the things we learned in our hearts and starting to act, which should be the ultimate goal of life. We must prepare ourselves for whatever may come in the very future and start working today to be a little better tomorrow so that we can move ahead and grow.

It ends with the message of keeping achievements and pursuing and never letting life pass and stop. The last line conveys the message to keep working patiently.

About Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow versed in several European languages and was a Harvard scholar. He was quite heavily influenced by Romanticism and made a name as a novelist and poet with works like Hyperion, Evangeline, The Song of Hiawatha and Poems on Slavery. He was also popular for his translation of The Divine Comedy by Dante.

Longfellow did produce some of his best work, such as a collection of poems including Hymn to the Night and A Psalm of Life, which gained him immediate popularity and Voices of the Night. Other publications followed, such as containing “The Wreck of the Hesperus” and the “Village Blacksmith”, Ballads and Other Poems.

What is the summary of the Psalm of Life?

‘A Psalm of Life’ by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow describes the purpose of life, and how one should handle the sorrow and struggles along the way. The poem begins with the speaker contradicting a listener who wants to explain life to him as a matter of number and figures.

What is the meaning of slumber in the context of the poem A Psalm of Life?

At the very beginning of the poem, the poet disapproves of the idea put in the mournful numbers i.e. sad poems that life is nothing but an empty dream i.e. hollow and meaningless like the dream. For him, the soul of those who slumber i.e. sleep (or in other words those who consider life as a meaningless dream) is dead.

Why did Longfellow write A Psalm of Life?

Longfellow was thirty-one when he wrote “A Psalm of Life,” likely writing it to fight back the inertia of depression overtaking him after the death of his wife from the complications of a miscarriage in the latter part of 1835.

What are the values expressed in Psalm of Life?

The values that are expressed in the poem ‘Psalm of life’ is patience, hard work, optimism, self-belief, self –respect, faith in God, self confidence.

What do the stanzas in A Psalm of Life have in common?

What do the stanzas in “A Psalm of Life” have in common? They show stages in a thought process. … The poem adheres to a strict ABAB rhyme scheme throughout each stanza.

The Rattrap Summary in English and Hindi Pdf. The Rattrap is written by Selma Lagerlof.

Learncram.com has provided give a summary of the rattrap, the rattrap short summary pdf, the rattrap author, the rattrap pdf, the rattrap summary cbse notes, what is the message conveyed by the story the rattrap, the rattrap value based questions and answers.

Students can also check the English Summary to revise with them during exam preparation.

The Rattrap Summary in English by Selma Lagerlof

The Rattrap by Selma Lagerlof About the Author

Selma Lagerlof (20 November 1858 – 16 March 1940), a Swedish writer, was the first female to win a Nobel Prize in literature in 1909. Her most remembered book is ‘The Wonderful Adventures of Nils’. Initially a teacher, in 1895, she devoted herself completely to writing. She wrote several books, including novels and collection of stories such as Gosta Berling’s Saga, Invisible Links and The Miracles of the Antichrist.

Author Name	Selma Lagerlof
Born	20 November 1858, Marbacka, Sweden
Died	16 March 1940, Marbacka, Sweden
Profession	Writer, Teacher
Movies	The Enchanted Boy, The Saga of Gosta Berling

The Rattrap Theme

‘The Rattrap’ provides a glimpse into human nature. It emphasises the fact that everybody has an essential goodness deep inside which can be awakened through love and understanding. The story highlights the fact that there is an essential goodness in every human being. At times due to circumstances and situation, a person kills his conscience but the same man, when bestowed with love and affection, exhibits a totally different side of his character.

The Rattrap Summary in English

This story deals with a peddler who sells rattraps of wire that he begged for or had stolen. He is a vagabond, has no home to live in and many times no food to eat. Life is very difficult for him. One day it occurs to him that the entire world is a rattrap and shelter, food, clothing, comforts and luxuries are like baits to entrap people. This idea amuses him and leaves him satisfied as he is deprived of all these things.

One winter evening the peddler, on his rounds, finds a cottage by the roadside. In order to ask for the night shelter, he knocks at the door. He is surprised to get a warm welcome from the host. He is offered not only shelter but food and tobacco. The crofter entertains him with the game of ‘majolis’ and shares with him the secret of his earning of thirty kronor which he has collected by selling milk.

The next day when they both leave the house, the peddler comes back and steals the money. He decides to walk through the woods, instead of taking a road, so as to avoid being caught. But as the night falls, he loses his way in the forest. He is completely exhausted, hungry and cold. He then realises that he is probably walking around the same spot. At this point, he is reminded of the rattrap and begins to feel that the dark forest with its trees, trunk and branches is like a rattrap in which he is caught, having been lured by the thirty kronor that he has stolen.

Fortunately enough, the peddler hears the sound of hammer strokes from an iron mill. Following the sound, he reaches ‘Ramsjo Ironworks. He sleeps near the furnace. The owner of the mill mistakes him for his old regimental comrade Nils Olof. He invites him to his house which he refuses. But when the ironmaster’s daughter Edla Willmansson persuades him to come along with her to their home and spend the Christmas eve with them, he agrees to the same.

The peddler is given proper food and comfort at the ironmaster’s house. Though Edla is not convinced that a captain from the army can fall to such a sorry state, her father says that after a bath and change of clothes, he will emerge polished as a captain. But, on the contrary, when the tramp is given a bath and a shaved the next morning the ironmaster realises his mistake. He finds that the peddler is not his old comrade. At this point, Edla allows him to stay and spend Christmas with them.

The next morning Edla and his father learned in the church that a tramp has robbed a crofter and apprehended that this is the same man. They think that he would have taken away all their silver. But when they reach home, they find that nothing has been stolen. The tramp has already gone. He had left a rattrap as a Christmas present for Edla along with a note and thirty kroner. In his note, he had requested that the stolen money was to be returned to the rightful owner. He told Edla that having been treated with so much dignity and having had his status elevated to that of a captain, he felt that he could not embarrass them. He signed himself as Captain von Stahle.

Students can also check the English Summary to revise with them during exam preparation.

A Tale Of Two Cities Summary By Charles Dickens Analysis and Explanation

About the Author Charles Dickens

Poet Name	Charles Dickens
Born	7 February 1812, Landport, Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Died	9 June 1870, Gads Hill Place, United Kingdom
Plays	A Tale of Two Cities, No Thoroughfare, The Frozen Deep
Children	Francis Dickens, Kate Perugini, MORE

Very Short Summary of A Tale Of Two Cities By Charles Dickens

A Tale Of Two Cities Chapter Summary Introduction

A Tale of Two Cities is a historical fiction novel by the English writer Charles Dickens. It was published in 1859. The story is based on the French Revolution and takes place over seventeen years, starting from 1775 and ending in 1792.

The story begins in 1775 with a man named Jerry Cruncher, who works for Tellson’s Bank, stopping the Dover mail-coach in order to forward an urgent message to a man named Jarvis Lorry. The message from Cruncher is to inform Mr. Lorry that a young woman will meet him at Dover. Lorry responds to Cruncher by saying, “Recalled to Life.” Mr. Lorry meets with Lucie Manette the following day as she has some news about a property that belonged to her father, whom she believes died eighteen years ago. Lorry informs Lucie that her father is alive, contrary to her belief, and was imprisoned in the Bastille in France. On the other hand, Lucie’s mother had also passed away when she was only two years old, so she grew up thinking that both of her parents were gone forever.

The story then takes us to a poor Paris neighborhood named Saint Antoine. Inside a wine shop, we get introduced to Monsieur and Madame Defarge: the owners. Lorry and Lucie are also there, Mr. Defarge takes them upstairs to a small room where Lucie’s father, Dr. Manette: a man who is barely able to speak and spends all of his time making shoes; a skill he learned while imprisoned in the Bastille. Dr. Manette doesn’t know who Lucie is, although she reminds him of his wife. Nor does he recognize Mr. Lorry, his old friend. Lucie and Lorry smuggle Dr. Manette out of Paris and takes him to England.

After this, the story skips ahead by five years into 1780. A treason trial of a man named Charles Darnay is going on: he has been accused of passing English secrets to France. A man named John Barsad testifies against Darnay, the next person to testify is a man named Roger Cly, who formerly worked as Darnay’s servant. Cly states that he had seen Mr. Darnay show papers to various French gentlemen while working for him. The last person testifies, saying that he had seen Mr. Darnay in the mail coach to Dover five years before. Mr. Stryver, Darnay’s attorney, asks the witness if he mistook someone else for Mr. Darnay, but the man is sure that it was Mr. Darnay, himself. Mr. Stryver then asks Sydney Carton, his colleague, to stand up. Everyone at the court is surprised to see how much of a resemblance the two share, and the witness’ credibility breaks down. Mr. Stryver makes the case that Barsad and Cly were the spies, and Mr. Darnay gets acquitted. Afterward, Mr. Darnay and Sydney Carton go to a tavern together. Carton despises Darnay, as he is a reminder for Carton of everything he had given up and could have been.

In France, Marquis Evrémonde, Darnay’s uncle, runs down a plebeian child with his carriage but shows no regret for it. Instead, Evrémonde curses the peasantry and continues on to his chateau, where he waits for Darnay. Darnay arrives to the chateau later on in the day and condemns the vile treatment of the peasants by his uncle’s and the French aristocrats. He renounces the name Evrémonde and informs his uncle that he is going back to England. Later on in the night, Marquis is murdered, with a note being left that only has the word “Jacques” written, the nickname used by the French revolutionaries.

A year later, in 1781, Charles Darnay asks Dr. Manette, who has returned back to his normal life, for permission to marry his daughter, Lucie. Darnay gives his word that he will disclose his real identity if Lucie accepts. At the same time, Carton also professes his love for Lucie and states that even though he doesn’t have much and that his life is pretty much worthless, Lucie has helped him dream of a better and more valuable existence. In the meantime, Jerry Cruncher, who, aside from working for Tellson’s Bank, also works as a “Resurrection-Man, sneaks into the cemetery to steal and sell Roger Cly’s body as he had recently passed away. On the other hand, John Barsad, the other spy, comes by the Defarge’s wine shop. Barsad is hoping to get evidence for the revolution, which is still in secrecy for the most part.

At the same time, a confidential registry is being knitted by Madame Defarge at the shop, the registry contains the names of all those that the revolution plans on executing. In London, on the morning of the wedding, Darnay reveals to Manette his true identity, which leads to Manette relapsing into his old habit of making shoes. After nine days, however, he regains his senses and joins Charles and Lucie on their honeymoon. After returning from their honeymoon, Sydney Carton pays Darnay a visit to ask for his friendship. Charles promises Sydney that he is always welcome to their house, regardless of everything.

The story goes forward by eight years and comes to 1789, the peasants of France have stormed the Bastille, and the French Revolution has officially begun. The peasants target the aristocrats, and in doing so, imprisons Gabelle, a man charged for maintaining the Evrémonde estate after the passing of Marquis. Gabelle writes to Darnay three years later, asking to rescue him. Despite the dangers that he could potentially face, Darnay leaves for France at once.

Up on his arrival to France, the revolutionaries arrest Darnay as he is an emigrant. Lucie and Dr. Manette head to Paris at once, hoping to save Darnay. Dr. Manette uses his influence and the fact that he served time in the Bastille as a way to free Darnay, which proves to be successful as he gets acquitted. However, he is arrested once again on the same night. The charges this time was coming from the Defarge’s. Sydney Carton immediately comes to Paris with a plan to save Darnay and gets John Barsad to help him. We learn here that John Barsad is actually Solomon Pross, the long-lost brother of Miss Pross, the loyal servant who raised and looked after Lucie growing up.

At Charles Darnay’s trial, Defarge submits an old letter that he found in Dr. Manette’s former jail cell in the Bastille. The letter states that the cause of Manette’s imprisonment, which was the fact that the Evrémonde’s (Darnay’s father and uncle) called up Manette to look after a woman whom one of the brothers had sexually assaulted, and the woman’s brother who the same brother had stabbed, killing him in the process. In fear that Dr. Manette would report their crimes, the Evrémondes had him arrested and imprisoned. After hearing the story, Darnay gets castigated by the jury for the misdoings and crimes of his family. The judge sentences Darnay to execution within twenty-four hours. Back at the wine shop, Sydney Carton finds out that Lucie and her and Darnay’s daughter are also targeted for execution by Madame Defarge as well. It is here that we learn that Madame Defarge is the surviving sibling of the man and woman the Evrémondes had killed. Upon hearing this, Carton makes arrangements for the Manettes’ immediate departure from Paris.

He then visits Charles Darnay in prison, the two exchange clothes, and Darnay gets drugged. John Barsad, who is helping Carton with the plan, carries Darnay, disguised as Carton, to a coach that is waiting for him. At the same time, Carton, who is disguised as Darnay, is waiting for his execution. As Darnay, Lucie, their daughter, and Dr. Manette leave from Paris, Madame Defarge comes to Lucie’s apartment in hopes of arresting her. Instead, she finds the very protective Miss Pross, Lucie’s caretaker, and servant, a fight ensues between the two of them, and Madame Defarge ultimately dies from the bullet of her own gun. Sydney Carton gets executed, and the narrator concludes the story by saying that Carton died with the satisfaction of knowing that his life had meaning. That he died for a cause.

What is the main idea of the story a tale of two cities?

The main idea of A Tale of Two Cities is the concept of resurrection. Characters are brought metaphorically brought back to live throughout the novel. For example, Dr. Manette is freed from prison at the beginning of the novel, and Carton is spiritually resurrected at the end of the novel through his sacrifice.

What happened in a tale of two cities?

A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens about Paris and London during the French Revolution. Jarvis Lorry travels to Paris to reunite Dr. Manette with his long-lost daughter, Lucie. … When Darnay returns to Paris to save a former servant, he is arrested by the revolutionaries and sentenced to death.

What does the ending of a tale of two cities mean?

By having Carton predict a future where his sacrifice will allow those “for which I lay down my life [to be] peaceful, useful, prosperous, and happy” and where France will be restored to peace and order, the novel ends with a sense of optimism rather than crushing defeat.

What is the climax of A Tale of Two Cities?

The climax of A Tale of Two Cities occurs during Darnay’s trial, which takes place in a Paris courtroom. … In this momentous scene it becomes obvious to the reader that Madame Defarge’s impertinent hate toward Darnay will only cease when Darnay is executed by the state or Madame Defarge herself dies.

What is the meaning of first paragraph of A Tale of Two Cities?

The first paragraph in the story of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens seeks to bring out the nature of similarity and contrast that existed between England and France at that period, and presently when the author was working on the novel.

What is the main conflict in A Tale of Two Cities?

A Tale of Two Cities is structured around a central conflict between Charles Darnay’s desire to break free of his family legacy, and Madame Defarge’s desire to hold him accountable for the violent actions of his father and uncle.