2.8 Small Towns and Rivers - Poetic Appreciation

 Write a poetic appreciation of the poem 'Small Towns and Rivers' with the help of following points:

* About the poem poet and the title

* The theme

* The language features, style, poetic devices used in the poem

* Message, values, morals in the poem

* Opinion about the poem 

* About the poem, poet and the title: The poem 'Small Towns and Rivers' is written by a great poet, novelist, journalist and a former civil servant from Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, Mamang Dai, who writes in English as well as Adi language. She is the recipient of Padmashree award and Sahitya Akademi Award. This present poem, 'Small Towns  and Rivers' is taken from the collection of the poems 'The River Poems', published in 2004. The poem describes a landscape and Nature where river is a dominant phenomenon. Here the poetess makes us aware that river is also a live thing around her hometown. She uses the sentences like 'river has soul' and 'river knows immortality of water'.

* The theme : The theme of this poem is 'death'. The poem is based on the belief of the tribal people from the North East, that the souls of the beloved ones always continue to dwell in the natural elements around. So she remembers death when she sees the emerging towns. Here she states that when the towns prosper, the nature has been destroyed. The poet has expressed anxiety at the development in the small towns.

* The language features, style, poetic devices used in the poem : The poem consists  seven stanzas. It is in free verse. There is the use of unusual length of poetic lines- some lines are short, some are little lengthier. The poet has used very simple, easy and lucid language so that the readers can easily understand the poem. The poetic devices like Metaphor, Onomatopoeia,Transferred Epithet, Repetition, Simile and Personification are used here in this poem. Here river has given a human quality of having a soul. The poem has an excellent visual imagery where she depicts river during summer and winter season. 

* Message, values, morals in the poem : The poet has mixed feelings for the Nature and towns. Through this poem, she appeals the people to conserve the Nature.

* Opinion about the poem : In my opinion this poem is simple, easy to understand with great message to conserve Nature. We have to take care of it.

2.7 She Walks In Beauty - Poetic Appreciation

 Poetic Appreciation of 'She Walks In Beauty'

 *About the poem/ poet/ title: "She Walks In Beauty" is a poem written by a famous English Romantic Poet, George Gordon Byron who is also known as Lord Byron.The poet belongs to the group of 'Younger Romantic'. The poem appreciates the enchanting beauty of an unnamed woman who is truly remarkable, having an aura or cloud.

* Theme : The theme of the poem is Beauty and Harmony. The poet not only praises her external beauty but also her I ner goodness which makes her so captivatingly attractive and flawless. The poet compares her to the night sky describing her serene and perfect beauty.

* Poetic devices, language and style : This is a short 18 lime lyrical poem celebrating female beauty. This poem consists three stanzas of six lines ie sestets of attractive rhymes. The rhyme scheme used in it is 'ababab'. The language is rich and complex which gives mystical quality to the woman in the poem. The poetic devices like Simile, Alliteration, Antithesis, Metaphor, Repetition, Personification, Inversion, Synecdoche add complexity of the poem. The poem is with full of visual imagery. He uses the pairs of contradictory words to describe the enchanting beauty of the woman.

* Values, message : The poet, Lord Byron gives message to the readers that the external beauty is the reflection of inner goodness.

* Opinion about the poem :  In my opinion, the poem is full of elegance. It creates the powerful impact on the readers' minds, making them understand the meaning of  being 'really beautiful'.