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Two Stories about Flying Poem analysis line by line Explanation
Two Stories about Flying Poetic Devices
About the Poet Liam O’ Flaherty
Poet Name | Liam O’Flaherty |
Born | 28 August 1896, Inishmore, Ireland |
Died | 7 September 1984, Dublin, Ireland |
Spouse | Margaret Barrington (m. 1926–1932) |
Movies | The Informer, Uptight, The Puritan, Last Desire, Jacqueline |
His First Flight Summary of the Lesson
‘His First flight’ is an interesting story of a young seagull who was afraid of flying. He did not have confidence. He thought that his wings were not strong enough to support him. All the family members had already left him. They tried to encourage him to fly but failed. He was left alone on the ledge. There was a wide chasm between him and his parents.
He tried to reach his parents and took a little run also but the sight of the widespread green sea frightened him and he ran back into his nest. His brothers and sister had already learned the art of flight.
But the young seagull could not muster the courage to take that plunge which appeared to him so difficult. His parents came around calling to him, shrilly upbraiding him, threatening to let him starve. But the young seagull did not move.
He was alone for 24 hours and ate nothing. He was hungry. He wanted to reach his parents who were sitting opposite to him but without flying. There was a wide gap between the two rocks. There was no possibility of reaching there without flying. He saw his brothers and sister who were flying and catching the fish. They taunted him for his cowardiceness. He wanted to follow them.but the fear stopped him.
He was extremely hungry. He saw his family taking rest on the rock opposite to him. He tried to attract their attention by pretending to be sleeping. But nobody noticed him. His mother was looking at him. The young seagull cried begging her to bring him some food. But she did not respond.
After some time, his mother picked up a piece of fish and flew across him. He was excited on seeing his mother picking up a piece of fish and flying across him. He was excited on seeing his mother coming towards him. He uttered a joyful cry.
He leaned out eagerly, tapping the rock with his feet. But when she was just opposite to him, she halted. The young seagull was surprised. The sight of fish in her beak maddened him. He could not control himself and dived at the fish. The mother flew over him.
He fell downwards with a loud scream. But his wings opened up automatically. He cried and to save himself he flapped his wings. Now he felt as if he was soaring in the sky. He was not falling headlong now. He flapped his wings once again and soared upwards.
He gave a joyous scream now. He was joined by his family in his first flight.
He was near the sea now. He saw a vast green sea beneath him. His parents and other family members landed on the sea. They called the young seagull also. He dropped his legs to stand on the sea. His legs sank into it. He screamed with fright and attempted to rise. But he was too weak and exhausted to rise.
His feet sank into the sea water and then his body touched it. He sank no further. Now he was floating happily. His family praised him for his efforts and offered him scrapped dog-fish. He had made his first flight successfully.
The Black Aeroplane Summary
The Black Aeroplane Summary of the Lesson
The author was flying his old Dakota DS 088 aeroplane over France. He was on his way to England. It was a beautiful moonlit night. The sky was clear. The author was happy to have an easy flight. He was dreaming of meeting his family and having a good breakfast on reaching home. It was 1:30 am.
On his way he called the Paris control room and informed about his flight and destination. He was advised by the control room that he should turn twelve degrees west. He checked the compass and other instruments and followed the instructions. He also switched over to his second and last fuel tank.
It was a clear sky and the pilot had an easy flight. But suddenly, he saw huge storm clouds in front of him. He could not fly over them because he did not have enough fuel. He could go back to Paris. But his eagerness to meet his family and have breakfast stopped him from taking this decision. He decided to take the risk. He flew his plane straight into the black clouds.
Everything was black inside the clouds. Nothing could be seen outside the aeroplane. He saw that his compass and other instruments had stopped working. He did not know where he was and how to come out of the clouds. He was lost in the storm.
Suddenly, he saw a black aeroplane flying next to him. He was happy to see another plane near him. The pilot of the black plane waved his hand and asked the author to follow him.
The author followed him like an obedient child. The black plane flew in front of the Dakota for about half an hour. The fuel in the Dakota was about to exhaust. The author again felt scared. His plane could fly only for ten minutes more.
But soon the black plane started going down and the author landed safely on an airport. After landing safely, the author wanted to thank the pilot of the black aeroplane. He asked the woman at the tower about the second pilot. The woman replied that there was no other plane in the sky that night.
The author was surprised and asked himself, “Who was the pilot on the strange black plane?”
The author could not meet the pilot of that strange black plane.