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-Brian Mendonca
On my First Son
by Ben Jonson
Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy;
My sin was too much hope of thee, lov'd boy.
Seven years tho' wert lent to me, and I thee pay,
Exacted by thy fate, on the just day.
O, could I lose all father now! For why
Will man lament the state he should envy?
To have so soon 'scap'd world's and flesh's rage,
And if no other misery, yet age?
Rest in soft peace, and, ask'd, say, "Here doth lie
Ben Jonson his best piece of poetry."
For whose sake henceforth all his vows be such,
As what he loves may never like too much.
Theme: The poem is an elegy in honour of a son whom the poet lost to the plague when he was just 7 years. The English poet Ben Jonson (1572-1637) consoles himself saying that it is better to die young than to face the prospect of old age. It was written in 1603 and published in 1616. It is not a sonnet because it is 12 lines not 14.
Courtesy: poetryfoundation.org
The World Is Too Much With Us
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!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.
Theme: The English poet Wordsworth (1770-1840) laments the fact that we are out of tune with nature. He yearns to see the pagan Greek Gods like Proteus (God of the sea) and Triton (Demigod of the sea) mingle with humanity and enchant their lives. Written in 1802, published 1807.
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1939) by American short story writer James Thurber (1894-1961) is about Walter who escapes a humdrum life - doing errands for his wife - by daydreaming. In his various avatars he becomes a navy pilot, a surgeon, a sharp shooter, and a fighter pilot. Written at a time when America was pulling out of the Great Depression of 1929, the story invests the Americans with make-believe bravado.
In the short story by Katherine Mansfield titled 'A Cup of Tea', a rich woman Rosemary Fell, calls a girl to have tea with her at her home. Her plans for the girl change when her husband finds the girl pretty. Katherine (1888-1923) is from New Zealand.
The epic battle between the sea and the old man is told in the novel by Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) titled Old Man and the Sea.
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Pic: mapofthemonth.com
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