Notes

 Critical appreciation of “The Scholar Gipsy” by Matthew Arnold “The Scholar Gipsy”, based on the legend of the Scholar Gipsy as found in Glanvil’s Vanity of Dogmatizing, is regarded as the best and the most characteristic poem of Matthew Arnold. It is expressive of his wistful melancholy, his disappointment at the loss of faith, his … Read more

Samson, the central figure in the play, Samson Agonistes may justly be described as a tragic hero as he fully corresponds to Aristotle’s conception of a tragic hero. He was a great man once illustrious and prosperous; and he has now fallen from his high estate is a consequence of one fatal flaw i.e, Lust … Read more

Autobiographical elements in Samson Agonistes One of the most conspicuous features of the play, Samson Agonistes, is that it shows the profound influence which Milton’s personal experiences in life exerted upon the writing of this play. But this does not mean that we should completely identify Samson with Milton. But it is obviously clear that … Read more

Discuss “The Scholar Gipsy” as a pastoral elegy Elegy may be defined as a poem or a song expressing sorrow or lament. It is primarily a lyric pervaded merely by a tone of pensive sadness and dealing with a theme of mournful nature. The ‘pastoral elegy’ is one of the types of elegy. In it, … Read more

Examine Christabel as an allegory. Discuss the problem of evil in Christabel An allegory is a prose or verse in which the objects, events, or people are presented symbolically so that the story conveys a meaning other than deeper than the actual incident or characters described. Christabel is a gossamer, dreamy story. It is “an … Read more

Consider “On the Castle of Chillon” as a poem on freedom Byron is a romantic poet with deep love and honour for freedom. His poem “On the Castle of Chillon” is a glorification of freedom. Here he presents freedom as an uncrushable spirit. The poem deals with liberty as a noble patriotic feeling which cannot … Read more

Discuss the use of imagery in the poem “To a skylark” An image is a literal and concrete representation of a sensory experience or of an object that can be known by one or more of the senses. The image is one of the distinctive elements of the “language of art”, the means by which … Read more

Give a short account of the 20th Century poetic drama The modern poetic drama evolved during the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th c. as a reaction to the Realistic prose drama of Henrik Ibsen and Bernard Shaw. Isben adopted prose as the medium of dramatic communication. As … Read more

 Discuss “The Blessed Damozel” as a Pre-Raphaelite poem  D. G. Rossetti was the leader of both the Pre-Raphaelite painters and poets. Art was his only passion, and he devoted himself to the pursuit of art exclusively. He was attracted by the decorative workmanship in medieval art and architecture. He had great artistic gifts; his poetry … Read more

Discuss Yeats’ treatment of the Byzantium myth in his Byzantium Byzantium explores the antithesis of time and eternity. Byzantium was the name of the capital of the Eastern wing of the Holy Roman Empire. It was famous for its mosaic work and gold enamelling. It was a reputed centre of art and culture, but in … Read more