For Stylistic evaluation

Language
Means of communication is called language. Whether written or spoken, it is one of the properties found with the humans that distinguish them from the other creatures of the world. Language is mainly of two types- verbal and non-verbal.
Verbal language
It is the language that can be spoken in words and sentences.
Non-verbal language
It is the language which is not spoken in words and sentences by humans. For instance, body language or gestures are a form of non-verbal language.
Literature
A message conveyed through beautified language is called literature. It is mainly of two types- poetry and prose.

The four types of prose

a) Short story
A story read in a sitting is called a short story. Generally its word limit is considered between 1500 – 3000 words.
b) One-act play
A play having only one act is called a one-act play. An act is defined as the part of a play viewed by the audience in an episode/ sitting.

c) Essay
It is a Greek term meaning ‘an attempt’. An essay is a written attempt to convince somebody in the favour of a topic. It is descriptive, narrative or critical in its approach.

d) Novel
A story that cannot be read in a sitting is called a novel. It is longer than 2500 words.

Poetry
There are three major types of poetry;
i) Lyrical
It can be sung like a song.

ii) Narrative
It tells a story.

iii) Dramatic
It can be presented in the form of a drama.


Drama
The Greek term ‘drama’ means to act or perform. Drama is mainly of two types; tragedy and comedy. A play that ends in melancholy is called a tragedy. The play that ends in delight is called a comedy. A third genre too is found in the drama called the interlude. It is also termed tragic-comedy.

Foregrounding
It is an art of stressing or elongating certain words and syllables in the written language in such a way that those particular words (as desired by the writer) become prominent to the readers giving that particular kind of artistic meaning as considered by the author/ poet. The foregrounded words then along with the parallel words (the unstressed or shortened words and syllables) give a meaning that is more striking to the imagination of the readers. While reading literature and especially poetry, we have to keep in view this aspect in order to get the same meaning from the text that the author / poet intended to convey.
In poetry we find the foregrounded words and syllables with the help of the metre and rhythm (Crystal, 1995).

Types of foot
Iambic
It contains an unstressed and a stressed syllable.

Trochaic
A stressed and an unstressed syllable - combination is there.

Spondaic
It is a pattern of two stresses.

Dactyl
It has one stressed and two unstressed syllables.

Anapaest
It is for two unstressed and one stressed syllable.

Degenerate
It is a foot containing only one syllable.

Bounded foot
It is no longer than two syllables.

Left-headed
In it the left most rhyme is stressed.

Right-headed
In it the right most rhyme is stressed.

Leisure
What is this life if full of care
We have no time to stand and stare?
What žis this žlife if žfull of žcare
We žhave no žtime to sžtand and sžtare? (iambic tetrametric rhyme scheme in the form of a satire)

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No žtime to sžtand bežneath the žboughs
And sžtare as žlong as žsheep or žcows. (‘as long as’ is a simile).

Figures of speech
A figure of speech is an indirect way of saying something making the meaning more striking and appealing to the reader.
Humour
It is a general term. Humour means any device to please the people. It intends to laugh people without making anybody a target. It can be sick, polite, sad or even dark.

Satire
A satire targets someone. It is a part of humour that pricks the target. It can be polite or strong, direct or indirect.

Irony
It is a form of satire targeting someone by saying exactly the opposite to what is actually meant.
(Guddoon, 1992)
Humour
Satire
Irony









Making critical appreciation
When critically appreciating a text especially of poetry, consider the Phonetic, the morphological and syntactic, and the semantic features.

Leisure
Leisure is as important in human life as is work. We cannot prosper in life without work and we cannot work continuously and properly unless we have some moments of recreation in our life other than the working hours.
What is this life if full of care
We have no time to stand and stare?
Not time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

In this satiric lyric the poet asserts the importance of leisure. He argues that our life has become more and more monotonous due to excessive work. It lacks leisure. We have turned our daily routine so mechanical that we don’t have even a minute to enjoy some moments of leisure. We do not have time to stand and stare at the beauty of objects of nature. We have no time to stand beneath the boughs and stare as long as sheep or cows do while grazing.
Written in the iambic metre, the second line “We žhave no žtime to sžtand and sžtare?” asks us in a satirical tone if we don’t have enough time to stand and stare. The simile ‘as long as sheep or cows” again is a satire on the meanness of the sublime human wisdom as compared to the relatively inferior wisdom of the grazing cattle.
No time to see when woods we pass
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass
We have no time to turn at the squirrels which hide their nuts in the grass when we pass through the woods. The poet makes the meaning more assertive by using the alliteration of /w/ and the consonance of /s/ and /z/ sounds. The external rhymes ‘pass’ and ‘grass’ add to the lyrical effect of the poem.

No time to see in broad daylight
Streams full of stars like skies at night

We do not spare some moments to see the streams full of glimmering drops of water which look like the skies full of stars at night. The metaphor ‘full of stars’ is added beautifully to the simile ‘…like skies at night’. The consonance of the diphthong /aI/, the alliteration of the /s/ sound and the consonance of the /t/ sound have added a beauty of the language to the poem.
No time to turn at beauty’s glance
And watch her feet how they can dance.

The beauty of nature calls us and smiles upon us. But we do not have time to look at her glance and watch her dancing. The personification of beauty and her dance is a beautiful touch because we feel the natural beauty dancing all around whenever we have a chance to look at it. The alliteration of /t/ sound adds further stress to the satirical mood of the poet.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

We do not have time to see her mouth enriching the smile her which begins from her eyes. The same personification continues here. The poet wants to tell us that the beauty smiles to see us and expects us to smile back. But owing to the monotonous hectic routine of life, we don’t pay attention to it. The world is full of beautiful natural sights. But we have no time for any such thing. The alliteration of /t/ sound keeps the assertive satire of the poet prevalent throughout these lines as it has been in the previous ones.
A poor life this, if full of care
We have no time to stand and stare.

At the end the poet says that a life which is full of care and in which we have no spare moments for leisure is the poorest life. The addition of a comma (,) shows that the poet clearly wants to say that life is meaningless if it is full of care. This means that it is not a poor one if not full of care and if we have a little to relax. The consonance of /f/ sound with the last line “we have… stare” as a declarative sentence instead of an interrogative one (as in the beginning of the poem) shows that the poet is now disappointed to see the busy life of man.
Reading this poem we seem to enjoy two types of beauty- the natural beauty and the one given to this poem by the artistic style of the poet.

Q1 What are some of the delights we commonly miss in our busy life?
A few of the common delights we miss in our busy life are as follows;
We are so busy in our monotonous life that we do not have time to stand for a while and stare at the natural beauty. We miss the pleasure of standing beneath the boughs and staring for a short while at the beauty of nature. We miss watching the squirrels hiding their nuts in grass when we pass through the woods. We miss the delight of watching the glimmering drops of water in the streams in broad daylight as the poet himself says
Streams full of stars like skies at night.
We do not enjoy the inspiring dance of natural beauty and the smiling scenes of nature. At the end of the poem the poet says that by missing these simple delights in our busy life, we make it meaningless and full of care.
149 words

Q2 Define a personification.
Giving a human effect to an inanimate object is called personification. In the poem ‘Leisure’ William Davies has personified the beauty of nature as a dancing object that glances at us. This human effect continues to give the human expression of a beauteous smile that begins from her eyes. Whatever expression the human face gives always starts from the eyes. The same has been personified in ‘Leisure’ by Davies.

Tartary
If žI were žLord of žTarta%ry
Myžself and žme ažlone.
My žbed should žbe of živo%ry
Of žbeaten žgold my žthrone.

Context
Unaccomplished desires are best fulfilled in imagination. The persona of the poem might have encountered a very tough, dull and drab life. That is why he seems to be over-desireous for the luxuries of life. And this is exactly what Walter De La Mare in his romantic imaginative narrative poem ‘Tartary’ does. He says that if he gets a chance to become the lord of ‘Tartary’- an imaginary romantic place, he would enjoy the most lavish lifestyle which can be dreamt only by a monarch.
Explanation
Through the conditional clause that starts with ‘if’ the poet shows a longing to lead a luxurious life as a Lord. He says that if he were the lord of Tartary, he would sleep in a bed of ivory and mount a throne made of sullen gold. In the beautiful style of iambic tri-metre the poet shows his possessive nature by the use of pronouns like ‘I’, ‘myself’, ‘me’, and ‘my’. Five times such pronouns occur in this tetrarimic stanza. The use of the word ‘Lord’ shows that his inclination is towards only an enjoyable life free of worries. Had he been interested in dealing with the state of affairs of Tartary such as defence, politics or administration of the country, he would have used the word ‘king’ for himself. His possessiveness channelises from an extensive to an intensive scope when in the opening line he calls himself the Lord of Tartary (extensity) and later, in the coming lines, discusses his bed and throne (intensity).

žAnd in žmy courts should žpeacocks fžlaunt
žAnd in žmy forests žtigers žhaunt
žAnd in žmy pools žgreat fishes sžlant
Their žfins athžwart the žsun.
Explanation
In these lines the poet wishes to rule over even the birds and beasts in his land. He wishes to see peacocks flaunt in his court. He feels the thrill of being the lord of the tigers haunting in his forests. He desires to see great fishes swimming in his pools.
A court is no place for entertainment, but watching the peacocks flaunt is again a desire for entertainment and enjoyment. The poet’s sense of monarchy is highlighted by stressing the word ‘my’ in these four lines and by giving us an impression of being the lord of the tigers. A tiger is the lord of the jungle. Thus the poet wants to become the lord of the lords. First the birds (peacocks) then the wild beasts (tigers) and finally the great fishes (marine animals) testify the poet’s classification of the animal kingdom into three main types that he wishes to rule.
The metre in these lines changes from iambic to trochaic (žAnd in) then dactyl (žmy courts should) in every line showing the changing mood of the poet.

If žI were žLord of žTarta%ry,
Trumžpeters ževeryžday
To ževery žmeal would žsummon žme,
And žin my žcourtyard žbray;
And žin the ževening žlamps would žshine,
Yelžlow as žhoney žred as žwine,
While žharp and žflute and žmando%line,
Made žmusic sžweet and žgay.

Explanation
An escape from the realities of the world takes the poet into the imaginative land ofTartary where his servants call him to every meal by blowing trumpets and announcing his arrival in his courtyard.
The poet imagines that if he were the lord of Tartary his trumpeters would daily call him for every meal and stand in his attendance. The exhibition of authoritativeness now shifts from non-human creatures to humans. The poet’s trumpeters would satiate his two appetites – one for daily meals and the other for ruling over the people. They would bray in his courtyard. In the evening yellow and red lamps would shine. The imagery shifts from places in the previous stanza (court, forests and pools) to colours (yellow as honey read as wine). Music is a great source of entertainment. The poet wishes to enjoy the music made by the eastern instruments (harp, flute and mandoline). His imagination seems to resemble that of Coleridge as shown in ‘Kubla Khan’ in which the poet alludes to a magical environment often found in the Eastern empires. The alliteration of /m/ sound intensifies the musical effect. The intensive use of colour words may refer to the Psychological freedom from the real world into that of imagination due to the fact that the poet’s own life was a colourless one.


If žI were žLord of žTarta%ry.
I’d žwear a žrobe of žbeads,
žWhite and žgold and žgreen they’d žbe-
And cžlustered žthick as žseeds,

Explanation
The poet expresses his desire as a monarch and says that if he were the lord of Tartary he would wear a robe of white, gold and green beads that were clustered together like seeds. In the previously used iambic tetrameter and using the simile ‘clustered thick as seeds’ the poet expresses what distinction would he choose to make in his array. The imagery of colours in this stanza adds to the colourful and romantic mood of the poem. This stanza has two distinctions regarding the choice of the poet- one is for his robe that is made of beads instead of an expansive cloth; and the second one is that of the choice of seven zebras (in the seventh line of this stanza) to draw his car. Normally these two choices are not made by aristocrats. May be these two unique features testify the height of the luxurious lifestyle he wants to enjoy.

And žere should žwane the žmorning- sžtar,
I’d ždon my žrobe and žscimitar,
And žzebras žseven should ždraw my žcar
Through žTartary’s dark žglades.

Explanation
Normally a person belonging to a labour class has to leave for work at dawn or in some cases, before dawn. The poet here expresses his desires to leave his palace in Tartary at the time when the morning star is about to wane, and drive his car driven by seven zebras through Tartary’s dark glades. He imagines that if he were the lord of Tartary, he would not have to go to work at the time before dawn. Instead that would be the time for his morning ride. In the second stanza he discussed his enjoyment in the evening by saying:
And žin the ževening žlamps would žshine,
Yelžlow as žhoney žred as žwine,
While žharp and žflute and žmando%line,
Made žmusic sžweet and žgay.
Now he expresses his desire for entertainment he would like to enjoy in the morning. Thus he desires to spend twenty-four hours of his daily routine in rejoice. The creation of the imaginary land of Tartary resembles Eutopia of Thomas Moore, the Arcadia of Philip Sydney and the Repuclic of Plato.

žLord of the žfruits of žTarta%ry,
Her žrivers žsilver-žpale!
žLord of the žhills of žTarta%ry,
Glen, žthicket, žwood and ždale!

Explanation
In the dactyl tetrasyllabic metre in the odd lines (first, third, fifth) lines in the last stanza of the poem the poet shifts his lordship from the objects on land to the waters and oceans and says that he would be the lord of Tartary’s silver and pale rivers. In contrast to his monarchy over the forests (stanza 1) and dark glades (stanza 3) he now yearns to rule over the mountains, hills, groves of trees and glens in Tartary. This time we notice an element of certainty in his tone as the usual desirous tone, ‘If I were lord…’ now changes to a more assertive and confirming style ‘Lord of the fruits…pale!’ The exclamation marks at the end of second, fourth and last lines confirm that his daydreaming of ruling this Eutopean state has now intensified to the extent of something close to a hallucination. The mentioning of silver and pale waters of rivers again refers to the famous rivers found in the East having silver and pale water.

Her žflashing sžtars, her žscented žbreeze,
Her žtrembling žlakes, like žfoamless žseas,
Her žbird-dežlighting žcitron žtrees
In ževery žpurple žvale!

Explanation
The poet’s faith of ruling over the land of Tartary now inspires his imagination to rule every thing in his domain; even the forces of nature which of course, nobody can control. He drams to rule the stars flashing in the sky above Tartary. He wants to rule the scented breeze, the tress in purple vales of Tartary. Shifting back to the iambic tetrameter his desire to rule every object found in his land of imagination excels the limits of human power to that of a god. In these last lines he tries to imitate the gods of Greek and Indian myths in being able to rule over the heavenly bodies, the winds and other objects of nature the sight of which is a source of delight to man. The way the last line of the last stanza ends in a trisyllabic metre is similar to the metre he adopts at the end of the last line of the first stanza (Their žfins athžwart the žsun.)


Q1 What effect do the colour words chosen by the poet create?
The colour words help:
a) Add imagery to the text and make the visualise the glory and grandeur enjoyed by the poet as the Lord of Tartary,
b) Exaggerate the intensity of the luxurious life enjoyed by the poet in the imaginary land of Tartary by adding to the figurative assertiveness of the language, and
c) Make the poem more interesting for the readers as Chromatography is an important source of knowledge, entertainment and motivation for man in life. Man learns, enjoys life, identifies things and objects, and sometimes gets healed by different colours in life. These colours in a way lay a cathartic effect on the miserable life of the poet by making it more fanciful and romantic.

Q2 What in your opinion is the most fanciful image?
The most fanciful image appears in the 3rd and 4th line of the last stanza:
Her žflashing sžtars, her žscented žbreeze,
Her žtrembling žlakes, like žfoamless žseas,
It can be called the most fanciful image because;
a) It is the image in the whole poem that is widest in its scope- the poet imagines rule over even the heavenly bodies (stars) and the forces of nature (scented breeze and lakes) which is the height of a longing for monarchy.
b) These lines are as rich in colour words as any other line in any stanza of the poem, but richer than any other line in terms of the figurative language- in addition to a simile (like foamless seas) there are two metaphors in 3rd (flashing instead of shining stars; and scented instead of fragrant breeze) and two in the 4th line (trembling lakes and foamless seas).
Thus we can say that the image presented in these two lines is the widest in its scope and richest in its choice of words and language. Thus, it is the richest of all the images in the poem.

New Year Resolutions
A resolution is a formal statement of an opinion agreed on by a committee or a council by means of a vote (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary). In this poem Elizabeth Sewell makes a resolution at the advent of the New Year.
In this mono-syntactic monometric monologue Elizabeth Sewell resolves to undergo the process of draining long droughts of quietness, purgation, self-recognition and realization of reality.
žI will ždrain
Long ždroughts of žquiet
As a žpurgation.
Explanation
The beginning of a new year is generally the time when we make new resolutions. It is the time for planning the future business. People make new plans for making their lives better. The poetess resolves to spend the whole year correcting herself. She will drain long draughts of quietness as purgation. Quietness means that she will sit in quietness and drain tears before God almighty as purgation for her previous misdeeds. Christians normally sit or stand in quiet either for condolence or for purgation after confession. Shedding tears for repentance is the best way to self-purification. This is the first step to improve one's inner self. This shows that unlike the other people who run after worldly business, the poetess wants to improve herself spiritually. This stream of consciousness resembles that of Emily Dickinson in ‘Because I could not stop for Death’. The poetess has decorated her words with Trochee, iambic and anapest showing the height of versatility in her poetic style as is said by John Donne;
THOU hast made me, and shall Thy work decay?Repair me now, for now mine end doth haste;
This poem comprises one sentence only. This is a multiple sentence comprising a principle clause and three subordinate clauses. This shows that now she has switched from words to actions. Previously she had spoken too much and acted too less. Now she uses minimum number of words to show the channnelisation towards the practicality she has undergone.
.
Režmember
Tžwice ždaily
žWho žI žam;
Explanation
Next she resolves to remember twice daily who she is (Who I am). Actually she wants to remember what her limitations are. She has been a mother, a sister and much more in terms of her social and professional relations. She might have used more words in her previous life than actions. Now she resolves to act otherwise. She thinks that self-recognition is the second step to purify oneself from sins. This helps refrain from wrong-doing and further deviations. ‘Remembering twice daily’ means to recall her mission in both the beginning and the end of a day. This is quite normal that we plan to do something when the day begins and evaluate ourselves at the end of the day as to what we have done and what not. Following John Donne’s famous lines;
And all my pleasures are like yesterday.I dare not move my dim eyes any way;
she resolves to recall her end that leads every human being to an ultimate reality – eternity. The stress on each word in the last line of this stanza shows the extreme commitment she shows towards doing what she plans.


Will žlie o’žnights
In the žbony arms
Of žreality žand be comžforted.
Explanation
In these lines the poetess moves towards the third and fourth processes of spiritual uplift. Her third objective is to lie on nights in the bony arms of reality. Here she is inclined to realize what after undergoing the above-mentioned spiritual exercises she has achieved. It is to check herself whether all the three methods prove fruitful or not. The personification ‘the bony arms of reality’ refers to the bitter taste of truth. This is an extremely careful attitude she has adopted for improving herself spiritually. It is necessary to check oneself after making an effort whether one is doing one's job perfectly or not. The same is the poetess planning to do.
Lastly, she resolves that she will be comforted after realizing all her merits and de-merits. It is a general attitude that after a toil of the whole day we like to assess ourselves as to what we have achieved or lost at the end of each day. The poetess intends to get satisfaction after knowing the reality about her success or failure in the process of self-purification, self-recognition, realization of reality and comfort which we mostly enjoy after knowing the progress of our efforts, no matter how sweet or bitter it is. Closeness to God too comforts us. As said by John Donne;By Thy leave I can look, I rise again;