The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Inheritance of Loss is the second novel by Kiran Desai that was published in 2006. The novel won the Booker Prize in 2006. In 2007, the American Literary Society National Book Critics Circle also chose the book for the Best Fiction Award. The novel touches on the sensitive theme of Colonialism and its impact on postcolonial India. The novel explores the social and cultural conflicts that emerged due to the effect of Colonialism. The novel also stresses the social, cultural, economic, and psychological impacts on the migrants. It discusses the problems of illegal migrants in the U.S. Another major theme of the novel is the civil unrest in India during the mid-1980s and highlights the ethnic and cultural demands by Gorkhas in Northeast India for independence and a separate state government. The novel also raises the issue of Multiculturalism and Miscommunication.

Characters of Inheritance of Loss:

Biju is a nineteen-year-old boy whose father is a poor cook working in India. Biju leaves India for the US for a better future. He reaches New York City as an undocumented immigrant. Isolated and insecure, Biju struggles to make ends meet and dreams of returning home. Sai is a teen orphaned girl. Her parents died in an accident. She lives with her grandfather who is a retired Judge. Jemubhai Patel is the grandfather of Sai. He belonged to a poor farmer’s family but his father saved enough money for his good education. He went to Cambridge for higher education by using the money he got as a dowry in his marriage. At Cambridge University, he suffered excessive discrimination. He returned to India and cleared the Indian Civil Service examination to become a judge. Bose is one of Jemubhai Patel’s friends from his Cambridge days. He helped Jemubhai learn the English ways and customs. Gyan is a poor college graduate of Nepalese origin. He takes an active part in the Gorkha National Liberation Front activities. Meanwhile, he also begins tutoring physics to Sai who belongs to a rich family of Gujrati origin. Sai develops a romantic attachment with Gyan. While Gyan acknowledges her love, he cruelly betrays Sai, who he believes symbolizes the class of people who oppress him. Lola is an upper-class Bengali widowed woman who lives with her sister Noni. Lola’s daughter, Pixie, works for BBC London and Lola is very proud of her because she idolizes British culture. Lola is prejudiced against poor Nepali people and adheres to a strict interpretation of class division. Noni is a middle-aged unmarried woman living with her elder sister. She used to be the tutor of Sai during her younger age. Like Lola, Noni appreciates British culture. Bomanbhai Patel is Jemu’s father-in-law. He used to be a supplier during the British Raj and made a good fortune. He idolizes British culture and marries his daughter Nimi to Jemu because he is pursuing a Cambridge education. Nimi or Bela is the dauhter of Boman and wife of Jemu. She was married to Jemu when she was fourteen years old girl. She was a simple Indian teen girl. When Jemu returns from Cambridge, she tries to develop an emotional connection with him but finds him brutal. She resists his abuses but when she realizes that he hates her for being Indian, she becomes depressed because despite her trying, she fails to assimilate into British culture. Jemu rapes her, degrades her, and then leaves her at her father’s home. Harish-Harry is the owner of an Indian cafe in the U.S. where Biju works. He is a cruel and greedy employer who exploits the poor illegal immigrants. Father Booty is a Swiss missionary who lives in Kalimpong and runs a dairy farm. He has been illegally living in India for years. The police catch him during the insurgency of the Gorkha National Liberation Front and force him to leave India. Uncle Potty is a brat son of wealthy parents who studied at Oxford. He is the nearest neighbor of Jemu. Pradham is the leader of the Gorkha National Liberation Front.

Summary of The Inheritance of Loss:

The novel is set in 1986. The story begins at retired Judge Jemubhai Patel’s home called Cho Oyu who is sitting with his granddaughter in the verandah. It is a large, English-style Bungalow located outside of Kalimpong.

Armed insurgents of the Gorkha National Liberation Front attacked their home and demanded all the rifles and other valuables that Jemubhai had collected. After the robbery, Jemu sends his cook to the police station. After the initial investigation, the police accuse the poor cook of being an accomplice of the robbers. They search his hut for evidence but find nothing except some letters written by his son Biju who is working in the U.S. The cook suffers humiliation but the police get no evidence of his involvement.

Meanwhile, Biju is working at a restaurant in Manhattan. The owner of the restaurant is asked by the authorities to perform a green card check. Since Biju is an undocumented migrant, he is asked to leave the place and is forced to look for employment somewhere else. He continues getting jobs at various restaurants but nowhere he gets any job security. He continues to suffer from anxiety, ill-treatment, and discrimination.

At Kalimpong, Jemu has a flashback. He was the son of a poor farmer but was good at studies. He got a chance to go to Cambridge University for higher education but he didn’t have enough money. Jemu met Bomanbhai Patel, a businessman and supplier of goods to the British government, and asked for monetary help. Bomanbhai was impressed by Jemu’s future prospects so he suggested the marriage of Jemu with his fourteen-year-old daughter Nimi. Jemu agreed to the marriage and suggested that he would consummate the marriage after returning from England. He got enough dowry to go to England. He faces constant discrimination throughout his schooling in Cambridge and adapts himself to English speech and customs as a result. He decides to return to India and clears the Indian Civil Service examination to become a judge. He returns to India contemptuous of his native land and people. Bomanbhai sends Nimi to live with him but Jemu doesn’t like Nimi because of her Indianness. Nimi is a traditional girl with no idea of English culture. Jemu tries to teach her the English ways but he fails and then he begins to abuse her. Once she had taken the powder puff that he brought from England. As he looked for it, his family ridiculed him for using it. By the time he discovered that Nimi had taken it, he was furious, and he raped her. In the following days, he insisted that she speak English and follow English customs, which she refused to do. He took off her bangles, threw away her hair oil, and pushed her face into the Western-style toilet when he discovered her squatting on it. He then left her at their home while he went away on tour. After many years, he learned that Nimi had given birth to his son, and later on, she was probably murdered by her brother-in-law.

Bomanbhai took care of his son who went to Moscow for a job and got married there. Sai's parents were killed in a tragic bus accident in Moscow. As a result, Sai was withdrawn from a convent school and taken to live with her grandfather, Judge Patel. Judge isn’t too happy with the responsibility of Sai but he feels that God has given him a chance to correct the wrongs he did to Nimi. Sai finds a surrogate father in the cook who is very sympathetic towards her.

In the U.S. Biju begins working at the Queen of Tarts bakery where he meets a Pakistani young man Saeed. Saeed is cordial towards him and teaches him somehow to remain safe as an undocumented illegal immigrant in the U.S. Biju begins to question his prejudice against people from Pakistan and other ethnicities as they had never done anything harmful to him or to India, unlike white people. Saeed marries an American woman to get a green card and then he divorces her cordially.

Biju sends letters to his father in which he lies about his success in America. The cook sends letters to Biju, requesting him to help other young poor Nepalese to get a place in America which overwhelms Biju. Judge Jemu sends Sai to Nooni’s house for tuition. Nooni treats Sai very well and teaches her about Western culture. As Sai continues to grow, Nooni feels that she cannot teach her anymore. For her physics tutoring at age 16, the judge hires a young Nepali man named Gyan, with whom Sai becomes romantically involved.

The situation in Kalimpong continues to deteriorate due to the uprising of the Gorkha National Liberation Front. Police randomly torture civilians, GNLF members illegally take up residence on Noni and Lola's property, and shortages bring the entire community to the brink of starvation. Gyan and Sai's relationship turns sour as Gyan joins the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF). To Gyan, Sai represents the oppressive social and political systems that prevent him from advancing in life. Having tutored Sai in Cho Oyu, Gyan has intimate knowledge of the mansion. He informs the GNLF of the judge's cache of weapons.

After the robbery, Gyan feels guilty but doesn’t wish to reveal his involvement in the robbery. Thus, he begins to ignore Sai. One day, Sai decides to follow him and learns that he is living in very poor conditions. When Gyan sees her, they fight bitterly. Gyan slaps her in his anger and says that he supports GNLF and he hates Sai because she belongs to the upper class. Sai retorts that he used to enjoy cheesecakes with her at her house. Gyan’s sister listens to all this and she informs Gyan’s grandmother about his involvement with GNLF. Gyan’s mother is totally against any such insurgency. Being the matriarch of the family, he asks Gyan to immediately break all ties with Pradham, the leader of GNLF, and not to attend the upcoming Indo-Nepali Treaty burning, effectively ending his involvement with the GNLF. Relieved to no longer be politically aligned, Gyan considers making up with Sai.

Meanwhile, Pradham announces that he will require one man from every family in Kalimpong. The cook doesn’t wish to join GNLF so he tries to run away. On the day of protest against the Indo-Nepal treaty, the parade turns bloody, several police officers are beheaded, and many civilians are injured. The cook barely escapes; traumatized, he returns to Cho Oyu.
At the judge’s house, a poor woman arrives, requesting the release of her husband who was wrongfully jailed for robbing his house. The woman continues to beg the judge for mercy but he blatantly refuses. Saddened and desperate, the poor woman steals Judge Patel's beloved dog, Mutt, and sells her. Upon discovering the loss of his treasured pet, the judge frantically searches the village and then brutally beats the cook, blaming him for the dog's disappearance.

Meanwhile, Biju begins working at the Gandhi Cafe owned by Harish-Harry who is a mean man. Harish-Harry invites the staff to live in the basement below the kitchen, but then pays them a quarter of minimum wage. While working there and living in strenuous conditions, Biju falls ill. He asks for advance payment for his treatment but Harish declines to help him and says that if he cannot work he must return to India. Biju is too tired and brutalized by the continuous discrimination he faces in the U.S. and decides to come back to India. He brings all his savings and expensive American goods. In India, he finds that the roads to Kalimpong have been blocked because of curfew. Unable to find any way to go back to his home, he bribes GNLF members to drive him to the village. After days of driving, the insurgents rob Biju, taking even his clothes and shoes. His leg gets injured when he tries to oppose the GNLF members who leave him on the road. On his still injured leg, Biju walks to Cho Oyu wearing nothing but a woman's nightdress. The cook and Biju reunite, both overjoyed.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchid by Kiran Desai | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchid by Kiran Desai | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchid is the first novel by Kiran Desai which was published in 1998. Kiran Desai is the daughter of renowned Indian novelist Anita Desai. Kiran Desai was born in Delhi. At 14, she left India to live in England where her mother got a teaching job. Later on, Kiran moved to the United States with her mother where she completed her studies.

Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchid is in the genre of Magical Realism with themes including Nature vs Modernity, Traditions, Customs, Expectations, and Commercialization of Religion and Spirituality. The story of the novel is based upon the real-life incident of Kapila Pradhan, an Indian man living in Orissa who lived up a tree for 15 years. Kiran Desai took inspiration from his story and set her novel. The novel won the first prize in the Betty Trask Awards in 1998.

Characters of Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchid:

Sampath Chawla is the protagonist of the novel. He was born with rains after a long drought, so he is named Sampath, which means ‘good fortune.’ However, he doesn’t believe that he is lucky. He is a 20-year-old man who works at the local post office of the fictional village Shahakot. Sampath is highly imaginative and often fails to perceive the difference between reality and his imagination. He dislikes his boring job. Kulfi Chawla is Sampath’s mother. Like Sampath, she is also a bit strange and is known for her unusual behavior. When Kulfi’s father noticed her peculiar behavior, he was worried that it would be difficult to marry her and thus he arranged her marriage with Mr. Chawla in a hurry. Mr. Chawla loves Kulfi but fails to understand her unusual behavior and cravings for exotic food. Pinky Chawla is Samapth’s younger sister. She is a rather empty-headed teen Indian girl interested in clothes, appearances, and romance. She is embarrassed by her brother initially and only gradually feels sympathy for him. She is pretty and likes to get her own way; she is not afraid to ride the bus and stab aggressive men with her hairpin.

Mr. R. K. Chawla is the husband of Kufi and father of Sampath and Pinky. Unlike Kulfi and Sampath, he is a man of reason, a true bureaucrat and banker, he works at the Reserve Bank of Shahkot. Despite his love and lust for Kulfi, he gets disturbed by her nonchalance and strange behavior. Initially, he tries to change her but finds it impossible. When he sees that his son Sampath is also becoming like her mother, he tries his best to mold him but fails again. The C.M.O (Chief Medical Officer) of Shahkot is a corrupt man who is more worried about his own profits than the well-being of the public. The D.C. (District Collector) of Shahkot is a young, honest, hardworking man who tries to solve the crisis in Shahkot without enraging any of the involved communities. Mr. D.P.S. is the head of the post office and is Sampath's boss. He fires Sampath during his daughter's wedding when Sampath drops his pants in the fountain in front of the wedding guests. Mr. Gupta is a colleague of Sampath at the post office who is sympathetic towards him. Later on, he becomes the secretary to the new District Collector and advises him on the tense situation in Shahkot. Hungry Hop Icecream Boy is a young teen who sells Kwality ice cream from a cart in front of the cinema and rescues Pinky Chawla and her grandmother from the enraged monkey trapped in the cinema hall. Pinky gets infatuated by him but he fails to notice her romantic attention. Pinky begins writing letters to him and ultimately, he too begins growing feelings for her. Pinky plans to elope with him but he is not sure of doing such a daring task. Finally, he decides to elope but is caught by the forces who come to capture the monkeys in the guava orchard. Brother John was a missionary teacher of English literature at the school of Sampath during his school years. He was fired from his job for pinching the butt of a sweeper woman. Miss Jyotsna is a young beautiful woman working at the post office. Sampath loves her but fails to express his feelings. After Sampath accidentally comes to be viewed as a holy man, Miss Jyotsna grows to truly revere him and believe in his apparent holiness. Ammaji is Samapth’s grandmother. She is the kind of grandmother who is traditional and supportive to the younger generations, going along with her son, or granddaughter who wants to go to a movie—anything to keep the family together. The Atheist spy is a schoolteacher who hates his job in Shahkot and hopes to win fame as an undercover agent. Sampath Chawla is his first assignment from the Branch to Uncover Fraudulent Holy Men (BUFHM).

Summary of Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchid:

The novel is set in a fictional town Shahkot situated in the remotest part of northern India. The story begins during a strong heatwave during the insufferable summer that results in a long drought that turns the lives of the people of Shahkot miserable. Mr. R.K. Chawla is the head clerk of the Reserve Bank of Shahkot and his wife Kulfi is pregnant. She is known for her eccentric behavior and during her pregnancy she has been eating a lot of exotic food and fruits. Mr. Chawla tries to control her behavior but realizes that it is impossible and rather chooses to fulfill her demands. This makes Mr. Chawla and his family a topic of ridicule in the town. Kulfi is beautiful and Mr. Chawla loves her but she is not responsible enough to manage the homely duties. Thus, Ammaji, Mr. Chawla’s mother takes the responsibilities of home in her hands. The day when Kulfi gives birth to her child, everybody in the town rejoices because, on the same day, rains pour in the village streets. Right after his birth, the Swedish Red Cross makes a food drop right in front of Sampath's house.

The son of Mr. Chawla is celebrated as the harbinger of good fortune and rain by everyone. Not only does he bring on the much-needed rain, he causes the Red Cross, flying over Shahkot, to drop food for the hungry people. Thus, Mr. Chawla names his son Sampath which means good fortune.

While everyone believes that Sampath is destined to become a highly successful influential man, his eccentric mother and demanding father are not so sure about him. As he grows, Mr. Chawla realizes that just like her mother, Sampath too is a bit eccentric. He fails to concentrate on real subjects and often drifts in his own imagination. His father tries to discipline him so that he may attain a better education and become a successful person but he fails.

At the age of twenty, Sampath is a restless and absent-minded young man who works at the Shahkot post office. He still lives in the same house where he was born, with his mother Kulfi (whose odd behavior and cravings have persisted), his demanding father Mr. Chawla, and his kindly grandmother Ammaji. Pinki is Samapth’s younger fourteen-year-old headstrong sister who remains occupied with beautifying herself.

Sampath never did good in his studies and got a mediocre job at the post office. His father tries to counsel him on how he can get a better job or at least a raise in salary at the Post Office where he works. Sampath pays no attention to his father's advice. At the Post Office, Sampath spends hours alone, steaming open letters written to and from neighbors, and by so doing, he learns a great deal about their personal lives and their secrets. Sampath is fired from his job one night at the wedding of his boss's daughter, where he gets drunk and makes a fool of himself by stripping and dancing in a fountain. Disgraced Sampath returns home in distress. Kulfi feels sorry for Sampath, with whom she feels a great connection, and gives him a fresh guava. After he eats it, he immediately feels energized and transformed. With no job and no prospects of one, his father is frantic and orders his son to immediately go job hunting.

Sampath decides to run away from his house and the next morning, he takes a bus to the outskirts of town. The epiphany of the taste of guava that he ate last night still lingers in his mind. He notices a dense guava orchard and enters. He searches for the tallest guava tree. Atop this tree, he feels comfortable and at peace for the first time. He embraces the sweetness of the fruit and the tranquillity of the view. He begins imagining himself as a guava belonging to the tree. Alarmed by how much time Sampath begins spending in the guava tree, his family decides to arrange a marriage for him. However, Sampath has no interest in girls. He was infatuated by Miss Jyotsna who was his colleague at the post office but never dared to express his feelings. He dismisses the girl suggested by his father. This results in the growing curiosity of the townspeople who pass by him every day. Sampath used to read their postcards during his stint at the post office and thus he already knows a great deal of secrets about these people. When he begins questioning these passers-by about their daily lives, they imagine he is a holy man with psychic powers as he knows so much about them.

Mr. Chawla sees a business opportunity in this and allows Sampath to live atop the guava tree. Ammaji also helps her son and begins a tea stall near the guava orchard. Kulfi and Pinky begin caring for Sampath’s needs while he stays at the Guava tree. Soon Sampath begins offering sermons to the visitors who believe he is a holy man.

A schoolteacher of Shahkot daily notices this crowd gathering. He is an atheist and a member of the Branch to Uncover Fraudulent Holy Men (BUFHM). BUFHM appoints him as a spy to gather evidence against Sampath to expose his fraud. He begins to visit the guava orchard to listen to Sampath’s sermons. He notes down every dubious thing that Sampath says. But he fails to attain any clue against Sampath’s fraud while Sampath’s fame grows along with Mr. Chawla’s fortune. Soon local newspapers and TV channels begin featuring programmes and news items about Sampath.

As Sampath’s fate as a prophet is sealed, he lives entirely atop the tree, receiving food, clothes, supplies, and medicine from those below. Sampath hasn’t changed as a character, but people now revere him like a god – his previous laziness and drunken behavior are forgotten. His family moves into the orchard, and the economy benefits from this new-found prophet – buses make frequent visits to the site, merchants ply their trade, and those building the family’s new home at the orchard secure work. One day, a group of monkeys appears in Sampath’s orchard and takes a liking to him. But before long, they discover alcoholic beverages brought to the orchard by one of Sampath’s visitors. The monkeys become drunk and violent, and they’re soon hooked on alcohol, seeking it out wherever they can find it. Soon enough, the monkeys begin terrorizing the town of Shahkot in their unruly search for alcohol.

As the townspeople suffer the menace of monkeys, the inept government officials try to control them but fail. Meanwhile, some of the devotees of Sampath begin praying for the monkeys and giving them gifts as they feel they deserve respect. On the other hand, another group of people feel harassed by the monkeys and want to get rid of them. The monkey crisis becomes a huge controversy. Sampath feels sick and overwhelmed as his visitors argue furiously about the monkeys. He ran away and started living in this tree to escape from his responsibilities, but now he’s being forced to face new, more stressful expectations. He realizes that the peace and simplicity of the grove has been ruined, and he longs to escape before he’s trapped in this life forever.

He begins planning to run away again but finds no way. He decides to pretend as if he has been changed into a guava. The monkeys help him as they carry him further upward towards the top of the tree. Thus, the people and the atheist spy cannot see or catch him. Meanwhile, Kulfi makes a pot of stew beneath the tree. The spy tries to climb up and catch Sampath but Sampath disappears and after some time, something falls into the pot of stew. People notice that the branch on which the spy was standing had snapped and he fell down into the pot of stew. The novel ends here leaving the reader wondering if Sampath is still alive or not.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

Introduction to Songs of Innocence by William Blake | Structure, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The very first poem of the illustrative poetic collection Songs of Innocence by William Blake is titled ‘Introduction.’ In this poem, the poet explains the purpose and inspiration behind the poetry that he wrote for the book. Songs of Innocence is the first part of the later enlarged poetic collection Songs of Innocence and Experience; the two contrary states of the human soul. The whole theme of the poetic collection is that though a human being is innocent and pure during his infancy and childhood, he is prone to corruption and falls into the corrupt ways of the world as he grows old. Songs of Innocence is written in a pastoral setup. In the introductory poem, the narrator is described as a piper. He is happily piping when he sees a child on a cloud. The child asks him to pipe a song about a lamb, and when he does sing, the child weeps on hearing it. Again, the child asks the piper to sing and he sings the same song. The boy begins laughing with joy. The boy then demands that the narrator write his songs down so that "every child may joy to hear" them. Such fluent, creative joy, the poem suggests, is part of what innocence is all about. But darker notes in the poem remind readers that childlike innocence must also confront a world of pain and suffering.

Contrasting the figure of the Piper of Songs of Innocence, the introductory figure of Songs of Experience is the Bard.

Structure of Introduction to Songs of Innocence:

The poem is written in the form of a lyric. It is a 20-line poem set in five quatrains (four lines each). Some of these quatrains are written in heroic stanza form. The poem is written in trochaic tetrameter. There is no fixed rhyming scheme. Stanzas 1 and 4 follow the “ABAB” pattern, while stanzas 2, 3, and 5 use an “ABCB” pattern. This nursery rhyme shape suits a poem of childlike glee and creative inspiration.

It is the frontispiece of Songs of Innocence and works as the preface of the collection, giving a brief idea of the whole collection. In Hear Thy Voice (Introduction to Songs of Experience) the speaker describes his conversation with the Bard. Introduction to Songs of Innocence is structured as a dialogue between the narrator and the boy of vision which is described by the narrator to his audience. The poet has used Imagery, Symbolism, Allusion, Repetition, and Metaphor in the poem.

Summary of Introduction to Songs of Innocence:

Stanza 1 and 2 Lines 1-8

“Piping down the valleys wild

Piping songs of pleasant glee

On a cloud I saw a child.

And he laughing said to me.

Pipe a song about a Lamb;

So I piped with merry chear,

Piper pipe that song again—

So I piped, he wept to hear.”

The poet envisions himself as a shepherd who happily pipes the songs of happiness “down the valleys wild.” While doing so, he sees a vision of a boy sitting on a cloud. The poet feels that the child is admiring the song he is piping. The boy requests the shepherd to pipe another song about a Lamb. Blake used Allusion here. The ‘Lamb’ also refers to God, alluding to the innocence and the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ on the cross. The ‘valleys wild’ symbolizes the poem's rural, rustic, pastoral setting. The piper was happy finding an audience so he piped the song cheerfully. The boy asked him to pipe the song again and the piper obliged. But this time, the boy was sad as he thought about the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ on the cross.

Stanza 3 Lines 9-12

“Drop thy pipe thy happy pipe

Sing thy songs of happy chear,

So I sung the same again

While he wept with joy to hear ”

The narrator gets enchanted by the boy of vision. The boy requests again to sing the song about the Lamb. He asks the piper to “Drop his pipe” and sing his “songs of happy chear.” The shepherd realizes the divine nature of the boy from vision and he immediately obeys the request made by the boy. When the piper sings the song of Lamb, the child weeps again but this time, it is the cry of joy. The boy is too happy by the beauty of the song.

Stanza 4 Lines 13-16

“Piper sit thee down and write

In a book that all may read— 

So he vanish'd from my sight. 

And I pluck'd a hollow reed.”

In the stanzas 1-4, the narrator explains the inspiration and purpose of his writing the songs and poems that he wrote for the collection. He describes his conversation with the boy of vision that he saw sitting on a cloud. This conversation ends in the fourth stanza. The boy, after hearing the cheerful song of the piper, suggests him that he should “sit down and write” the songs he has created. The child suggests that he write them down “In a book that all may read”. The purpose is to spread the innocence and peity of these songs to a greater audience. The piper obliges again. The piper picks a hollow reed to use it as a pen.

Stanza 5 Lines 17-20
“And I made a rural pen,

And I stain'd the water clear,

And I wrote my happy songs

Every child may joy to hear”

The piper picked up a ‘hollow reed’ and used it as a ‘rural’ or not sophisticated pen. He used the clear water as stained ink. Here the poet used allusion again. Using the reed for a pen and stained water for the ink alludes to the act of creation to nature. The easily acquired tools provided by the natural world serve to emphasize the spontaneity of the works in Songs of Innocence. The narrator explains his purpose is to let every child have the joy of hearing these songs of innocence.

The poet also employed Parallelism in the poem. The shepherd's progression from piping, to singing, and finally to writing parallels the poet's own progression from inspiration, the music, to the initial composition of the poem, the lyrics, and finally the creative act of putting the words in poetic form.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

Hear thy Voice by William Blake | Introduction to the Songs of Experience

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. ‘Hear thy Voice’ is the first poem of the illustrated poetic collection Songs of Experience by William Blake which was published in 1794. Blake combined his two collections Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience in the same year and republished them. Hear Thy Voice is the first poem or frontispiece of Songs of Experience and it is also known as Introduction to the Songs of Experience. The very first poem offers the contrast between the two separate collections. While Blake wrote Songs of Innocence at an early age and most of those poems are written more simply to resonate with younger audiences, the poems of Songs of Experience are more captivating with rich and intricate symbolism, imagery, and metaphoric mysticism.

Blake wrote Songs of Innocence while opposing the idea of Original Sin and suggested that childhood is a protected state of innocence but it is not immune to the corrupt ways of the fallen world and its institutions. Thus, he stressed the importance of children's literature and juvenile education. His idea of innate innocence and goodness in human beings became the centerstone of Romanticism.

The Illustrative figure of Hear Thy Voice shows the same shepherd and winged child from the “Innocence” frontispiece. But the shepherd has captured the winged child and wrestled him firmly upon his head, pinning his arms to the earth, restricting his flying. The poem suggests that contemporary ideas and reason have restricted the creativity and imagination of people and they must raise their voice. Hear Thy Voice is an invocation to all of humankind to cast off their degenerate condition of suffering and blindness and to begin to self-govern the material universe (“fallen fallen light renew”) instead of remaining its prisoner.

Structure of Hear Thy Voice:

Blake used the Iambic tetrameter for this poem consisted of 20 lines set in four stanzas of five lines each. The poem has a consistent rhyme scheme of ABAAB in each stanza. Blake used Personification, Anthropomorphism, Symbolism, Imagery, Alliteration, and Repetition in this poem along with some illustrious Metaphors. The poem is structured as a dialogue between the Bard and the speaker. The Bard is a symbol of inspiration and creativity, while the speaker represents an individual who is struggling to find their voice. The dialogue between the two is meant to inspire the speaker and help them find their creative voice.

Summary of Hear Thy Voice:

Stanza 1 Lines 1-5

“HEAR the voice of the Bard,
Who present, past, and future, sees;
Whose ears have heard
The Holy Word
That walk'd among the ancient trees;”

The speaker suggests that one should hear the wise words of the Bard who has seen the present, past, and future, he is omniscient. The Bard heard the almighty and his ‘Holy Word’ that were meant to govern and bully all of mankind. Blake accuses the almighty of being an oppressive tyrant father figure. In line 5, Blake used Allusion to the Garden of Eden (“the ancient trees”) where Adam and Eve were punished for eating a fruit from the ancient tree. Blake used Capitalization with the beginning word (HEAR) to emphasize the importance of what the Bard has to say. The Bard appears to be some mystical person with cosmical awareness, who sees the present, past, and future.

Stanza 2 Lines 6-10

“Calling the lapsed soul,
And weeping in the evening dew;
That might control
The starry pole,
And fallen, fallen light renew!”

The poet explores the fallen state of humanity in this poem and calls him a ‘lapsed soul’. The sad humanity has been evicted from the state of innocence and hence has lost the connection with the divine. Thus, humanity weeps in the evening dew. The imagery suggests a compassionate feeling towards the human who just lost his innocence and fell for the corrupt world. Blake continues his Allusion to the Garden of Eden which is comparable to the state of innocence (childhood). He describes the expulsion from Eden and the individual’s loss of innocence upon becoming aware of mortality. The souls have fallen into sin and away from heaven.

The fallen man has a strong desire to ‘control the starry pole’, or to regain a sense of order, reason, and spiritual guidance that he lost in the fall. As he falls, he finds darkness all around and thus makes an earnest plea to ‘renew’ the light. The light is innocence, and the man requests for the restoration of the lost state of innocence, emphasizing the impact of individual awareness on the forfeiture of carefree childhood innocence.

Blake used metaphors (Starry Pole) for reason and spiritual guidance. ‘Weeping in the evening dew’ is a fine example of imagery. ‘Fallen, fallen light renew’ is an example of alliteration.

Stanza 3 Lines 11-15

“'O Earth, O Earth, return!
Arise from out the dewy grass!
Night is worn,
And the morn
Rises from the slumbrous mass.”

The Bard notices that the man is not able to stand again and thus he addresses the Earth. Blake used Anthropomorphism, casting Earth as a representation of the Divine Feminine. He tries to awaken the earth and ‘arise from out the dewy grass.’ The Bard offers an imagery of Divine earth sleeping in the dewy grass as if in hibernation which suggests the subjugation of the feminine by the patriarchial religious and societal setup. The Bard calls the feminine to arise and revolt. He says that the night is passing while the morning is arising from the ‘slumbrous mass’ which symbolizes a spiritual and feminine renaissance.

Stanza 4 Lines 16-20

“'Turn away no more;
Why wilt thou turn away?
The starry floor,
The watery shore,
Is given thee till the break of day.'”

The Bard again addresses Humanity and exhorts that humans must face the truth and must not turn away from it. “Turn away no more,” serves as a fervent plea, urging a cessation of avoidance or denial. The subsequent question, “Why wilt thou turn away,” adds a contemplative dimension, compelling humans to think why should they turn away or should they?

‘The starry floor’ and ‘watery shore’ suggest the limitless extent of a creative mind that the man can use if he breaks off the shackles. The Bard further warns that this opportunity is temporal or time-bound, this freedom that humans can enjoy is of a fleeting nature and thus humans must grab it. Instead of blaming themselves for being sinful, humans must attain pleasure through their creative capacities. The creator argues that the fall of humanity is a result of sin but the Bard counters, saying it is due to the creator’s restricted visions of inspiration and spirit and his lack of permission and allowance in a law-governed society.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

A Cradle Song by William Blake | Structure, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. A Cradle Song is a poem by William Blake from his Illustrated collection Songs of Innocence published in 1789. It is a 32-line poem that can be sung as a lullaby that a mother normally sings while rocking her infant to sleep.

The poem offers two contrasting feelings and thoughts in a balance. On one hand, the narrator is at peace with her child, trying to make him sleep. All the ‘little sorrows’ and worries ‘sit and weep’ during the night as everything is calm and peaceful. However, as the dawn breaks, the peace is "stolen" from the child, and "cunning wiles" creep into the child's heart. Blake offered a contrast of day and night in his book Songs of Innocence and continued developing his theory of contraries and their importance that he postulated in his book The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. The mother is aware of her inability to alter or stop her child from growing up in this world and losing all of his/her innocence. She is aware of the sinful world her baby will grow up and eventually die in and that is why she cries while her sweet baby sleeps in the cradle. Blake uses the word ‘sweet’ ten times in the poem, suggesting the angelic innocence of the baby that will be lost when the child grows up.

Structure of A Cradle Song:

It is a 32-line poem set in 8 stanzas or quatrains (4 lines each). The poem follows a simple rhythm scheme of AABB in each quatrain. Blake employed the couplet structure in A Cradle Song in which each pair of lines rhyme. This couplet form offers a Cadence (the natural rhythm of a piece of text, created through a writer’s selective arrangement of words, rhymes, and meter) to the poem. Blake used Alliteration, Anaphora, Allusion, Assonance, Consonance, Enjambment, Imagery, Symbolism, Metaphor, and Simile in the poem.

Summary of A Cradle Song:

Stanza 1 and 2 (Lines 1-8)

“Sweet dreams, form a shade

O'er my lovely infant's head!

Sweet dreams of pleasant streams

By happy, silent, moony beams!

Sweet Sleep, with soft down

Weave thy brows an infant crown!

Sweet Sleep, angel mild,

Hover o'er my happy child!”

The speaker is a mother who is singing a lullaby to encourage her infant to sleep. She tells the baby that it will be wonderful if he sleeps as nothing but sweet dreams and smiles hovering over him in his sleep. The mother says she can trace an angelic figure over her child who is sleeping happily, as if the angel is there to protect the child.

Both the stanzas begin with the word sweet which is repeated again in the third line of each stanza. In the first quatrain, the narrator emphasizes sleep and how it brings sweetness. In the second stanza, the mother enjoys the sight of happiness on the face of her sleeping infant. The brows of sleep over the child’s face appear like a crown to her and she could sense the presence of an angelic or divine figure, protecting the child, hovering over the infant.

Blake used Anaphora in the first two stanzas, repeating the phrases ‘Sweet dreams’ and ‘Sweet sleep’ at the beginning of the first and third line of both stanzas. Consonance is used in the opening line (Sweet dreams, form a shade) with repetition of the sound / d / in quick succession.

In the third line, the repetition of the vowel sound / e / (Sweet dreams of pleasant streams) and in the 8^th line, the vowel sound of / o / (Hover over my happy child) have been repeated making use of Asonance. Enjambment has been used in both of the quatrains. Blake used metaphor and personification suggesting the sleep has brows that hover over her infant. These quatrains offer imagery and symbolism of motherly love towards her child.

Stanza 2 and 3 Lines (9-16)

“Sweet smiles, in the night
Hover over my delight!
Sweet smiles, mother's smiles,
All the livelong night beguiles.

Sweet moans, dovelike sighs,
Chase not slumber from thy eyes!
Sweet moans, sweeter smiles,
All the dovelike moans beguiles.”
The narrator observes that sweet periods of sleep at night bring a sweet smile to the face of her infant and that delights her as she smiles. The peaceful night and the calmness of her sleeping child beguiles her and she wishes the night remain lifelong, her child may always remain peaceful and innocent like he is appearing right now when he is sleeping in the peaceful night. She is all protective and wishes that her child should be completely innocent with the experience of ‘woe,’ he should not face any suffering. Her child is moaning like a dove in his sleep and that enchants her, as if the child is an angel, may be the Christ himself. 
Blake began introducing Allusion to Christ in the fourth quatrain. Anaphora has been continued with ‘Sweet smiles’ repeated in the first and third line of 3rd stanza and ‘Sweet moans’ in the first and third line of 4th stanza. The first four stanzas each begin with the word “sweet” which is repeated in the third line, but moves from “Sweet dreams” to “Sweet sleep” to “Sweet smiles” to “Sweet moans.” This suggests a progression from the world of innocence to experience. In the fourth stanza, Blake used Simile  suggesting the sighs of the infant are like doves, or moans are beguiling like doves.

Stanza 5 and 6 (Lines 17-24)

“Sleep, sleep, happy child!
All creation slept and smiled.
Sleep, sleep, happy sleep,
While o'er thee thy mother weep.

Sweet babe, in thy face
Holy image I can trace;
Sweet babe, once like thee
Thy Maker lay, and wept for me:”
As the child sighs and moans, the mother gets worried that he may get awake. Thus she begins to sing for her child to sleep. She says all creation of God has slept, you should also sleep. She says that though you have your own suffering to bear in future, you have to face all of them as it is already destined by the Almighty God for you. However, the mother comforts herself by believing that her baby is fresh from God. He can still see him. Just as she smiles on her baby, Jesus Christ also smiles at him. This way, she forgets the reason for her weeping. The mother can trace the image of Christ mirrored in her child’s face. She says that once Jesus was also a child and she could see the ‘holy image’ on her infant’s face. The stanza alludes the mother to be Virgin Marry and her infant Christ. However, despite her infant’s angelic face, she weeps because she is very well aware of the fact that her child is fated to grow up, suffer the pains and pangs of his part, and then will die. Though she can do her best to protect her child, and calm herself, the hard reality is that he will have to face what God has destined for him.
She further says that even the Christ was also born like her infant, he wept for all of us, but he also saved all of us. Christ also faced the sufferings of crucifixion and execution, but he bore all these sufferings for the welfare of the human race.
Stanza 7 and 8 (Lines 25-32)
“Wept for me, for thee, for all,
When He was an infant small.
Thou His image ever see,
Heavenly face that smiles on thee!

Smiles on thee, on me, on all,
Who became an infant small;
Infant smiles are His own smiles;
Heaven and earth to peace beguiles.”
In these lines, the poet moves away from the child while exclaiming the greatness of Christ. In the beginning, the mother was singing her child to sleep. She was enchanted by her infant’s angelic face. Now she compares her child’s sleep, smiles, and suffering of her child with Jesus Christ. She says that just as the child weeps, Jesus Christ also “Wept for me, for thee, for all, When he was an infant small.” He too had a heavenly face like the child. She mentions how earth and heaven are in complete harmony and at peace, thanks to the sufferings of Jesus, who bore it all for us.
The theme of the poem changes from motherly care to the human perspective of God and how ‘woe and joy’ the two contraries, are essential parts of life, none can be avoided. 
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

To Summer by William Blake | Structure, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. To Summer is the second lyric poem of William Blake’s collection Poetical Sketches which was published in 1783. In his Season Songs, William Blake gave a hint of the major characters of his personal mythology. In the first poem, he invokes Spring which turns out to be an embodiment of Tharmas, one of the four Zoas, who were created when Albion, the primordial man, was divided fourfold. Tharmas or Spring is the peaceful embodiment of sensation and youthfulness. Next comes Summer, which can be equated to Blake’s mythological creature Orc—the embodiment of passion and energy, and the opposition to Urizen, who is represented in winter. Spring is the season that spreads the seed of innocence and the summer is the period when that seed is used and offspring are to be produced. Summer is the immediate state following Spring where marriage is consummated with fertilization.

To Summer is again an invocation in which Blake personified and celebrated the summer season.

Structure of To Summer:

The poem is composed of nineteen lines set in three stanzas. The first and the last stanzas are sestets containing 6 lines each while the second stanza is a heptet with seven lines. There is no particular rhyming scheme in any of the stanzas, however, Blake used half-rhymes in many of the lines. In this poem, Blake expresses his deep appreciation for the natural world and its transformative power on the human spirit. Through vivid imagery, sensory language, and musical rhythm, he invites the reader to join him in a joyful celebration of life and creativity.

Blake used Personification, Imagery, Enjambment, Caesura, Apostrophe, Anaphora, Metaphor, and Alliteration (use of the same consonant sound multiple times) in this poem.

Summary of To Summer:

Stanza 1 Lines 1-6

“O thou who passest thro' our valleys in
Thy strength, curb thy fierce steeds, allay the heat
That flames from their large nostrils! thou, O Summer,
Oft pitched'st here thy goldent tent, and oft
Beneath our oaks hast slept, while we beheld
With joy thy ruddy limbs and flourishing hair.”

Blake begins with the personification of Summer and describes how Summer has arrived, and pitched his “golden tent. “ He “slept“ underneath the oak trees while “we, “humanity, enjoyed his presence. He depicts summer with ‘ruddy limbs and flourishing hair’ like a strong man. One may notice the use of Apostrophe as though Summer is present, it cannot respond to the invocation. The poet is addressing something incapable of responding. Blake imagines Summer as a god-like figure who visits England each year and brings pleasure to the worlds of the young men, women, and artists of the nation. The fire of the sun is a metaphor for passion, the speaker recognizing the “fierce stead” of “the heat [and] flames” and the “joy” the natural world experiences in its glow.

Blake's use of the word "thou" instead of "you" suggests a sense of intimacy and familiarity with the season. It suggests that it is not the first time but summer arrived in the land in the past also. In the opening two lines, Blake used Enjambment while in line 5, he used Alliteration, repeating the sound of ‘b’ (beneath, and beheld).

Stanza 2 Lines 7-13

“Beneath our thickest shades we oft have heard
Thy voice, when noon upon his fervid car
Rode o'er the deep of heaven; beside our springs
Sit down, and in our mossy valleys, on
Some bank beside a river clear, throw thy
Silk draperies off, and rush into the stream:
Our valleys love the Summer in his pride.”

The second stanza is a heptet in which the poet describes the importance of summer for the people of his nation and how they feel rejuvenated and joyous at the arrival of summer. The poet describes how good it was when summer arrived in the past “upon his fervid car, “ and brought joy for the people. Enjambment has been used in lines 8 and 9. In addition, Blake used Caesura in the 9th line, breaking it in the middle ( “Rode o’er the deep of heaven; besides our springs.”) Blake used sensory language and alliteration to make the poem lively. He repeats words starting with ‘r’ and ‘s’ which offers an idea of the sound of a rushing stream. Blake describes summer making love or consummating the marriage with the valleys of his land. The valleys have dropped off their clothing and are in a naked/natural state (‘Silk draperies off’) and they ‘love the Summer in his pride’.

Stanza 3 Lines 14-19

“Our bards are fam'd who strike the silver wire:
Our youth are bolder than the southern swains:
Our maidens fairer in the sprightly dance:
We lack not songs, nor instruments of joy,
Nor echoes sweet, nor waters clear as heaven,
Nor laurel wreaths against the sultry heat.”

This stanza is again a sestet. The poet continues to describe how summer strengthens and brings joy to the people. Everything appears more beautiful in this ‘naked/natural ’ state (“silk draperies off”) and nothing is “lacking” in the “dance” and “sultry heat” of this euphoric season.

Blake begins with Anaphora, repeating the word ‘Our’ at the beginning of lines 14, 15, and 16. The whole of England is celebrating the marriage of summer with the English valleys. The bards, singers, and writers of poetry are striking their silver wire, playing their instruments. The youths are bold in their warmth and joy.

Blake also expresses his nationalistic fervor when he compares the English youth with ‘the southern swains.’ He says that the English young men are bolder, and the English maidens are ‘fairer in the sprightly dance’ to celebrate the summer. This suggests that English people are more passionate and alive than those living in southern parts as they are more used to the weather of summer.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!