Can you name the creatures which we can see in the pictures below?
objectives
1) To extract the theme of the poem—that we should appreciate what we have.
2) Understand the poetic style of writing.
3) To enable the students to enjoy the recitation of the poem.
4) To realize the value of nature’s gift to mankind and help conserve it.
5) Develop creativity and imagination.
6)To enable the learners comprehend the poem locally and globally.
About the poet
ABOUT THE POEM
Faint-Pale and weary ,Hedge-a row of bushes ,new –mown mead-a field of grass which is recently cut ,weed-unwanted wild plants, at ease – comfort, lead-main role
OCTAVE
The poetry of the earth is never dead:
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,
And hide in cooling trees , a voice will run
From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead,
That is the grasshopper’s—he takes the lead
In summer luxury—he has never done
With his delights, for when tired out with fun
He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.
The first part of the poem the poet says that the beauty of nature is unceasing.
The songs of the birds and the sounds of the insects(the music of nature) continue to eulogize the glory of nature and provides us with immense pleasure.
During the hot summer day when the birds take shelter under the cooling trees a voice can be heard from fences of freshly cut grassland.
That is the grasshopper who takes the lead in keeping the nature alive. He continues to sing and his voice runs throughout the freshly mown meadows.
He is in a delightful mood and his joys never come to an end.
Even the hot sweltering summer is a time for joy. Finally when he is exhausted he goes beneath some cosy weed.
Tired bird taking rest under the shady tree
Cease –to stop ,drowsiness-a state when you are half awake and half asleep,wrought-brought about,stove-a metal fireplace
SESTET
The poetry of earth is ceasing never:
On a lone winter evening when the frost
Has wrought a silence ,from the stone there shrills
The cricket’s song,in warmth increasing ever,
And seems to one in drowsiness half lost;
The grasshopper’s among some grassy hills.
EXPLAINATION OF THE SESTET
The beauty and glory of the earth is same even in the winter.
On a loneIy deserted winter evening when the frost has brought complete silence, one can hear the shrills of the cricket emanating from the stone.
The music of the earth never stops as the song of the cricket breaks the silence.
The poet says that the winter season has its own beauty.
A person lost half in sleep will surely mistake the sound to be that of a grasshopper which is singing from some grassy hills.
The last two lines bring the summer and the winter together. The shrill of the cricket synchronizes with the memories of the grasshopper’s song inside the drowsy numb mind of a person and triggers a happy memory of summer’s natural beauty on a cold winter night.
RHYME SCHEME
The poetry of the earth is never dead: A
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun, B
And hide in cooling trees,a voice will run B
From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead, A
That is the grasshopper’s—he takes the lead A
In summary luxury—he has never done B
With his delights ,for when tired out with fun B
He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed. A
The poetry of earth is ceasing never: C
On a lone winter evening when the frost D
Has wrought a silence ,from the stone there shrills E
The cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever, C
And seems to one in drowsiness half lost; D
The grasshopper’s among some grassy hills. E
LITERARY DEVICE USED
METAPHOR-It makes an implicit comparison between two things that are unrelated but share some common characteristics.
Eg The poetry of the earth is compared to THE SONGS OF THE GRASSHOPPER
Oxymoron-Two contradictory or opposite words appearing side by side.eg Bitter sweet, Dark light
He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed. (Weeds are generally unwanted plants which we want to get rid of but the poet is saying that it is pleasant)
ALLITERATION– The repetition of the same consonant sound
.From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead;(sound-/h/ and /m/ )
.Has wrought a silence , from the stone there shrills (sound-/s/)
PERSONIFICATION- A literary device where we render human like qualities to non human elements.
Eg
.The POETRY of the earth is never DEAD:
.The FROST has wrought a silence,
.---he takes the lead
.He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.
A voice will run
IMAGERY
.birds hide in cooling trees.
.Grasshopper moving from hedge to hedge.
.A man half lost in drowsiness.
Quick recapitulation
THANK YOU