Poetry
Alexander Pope
ALEXANDER POPE (1688-1744), was one of the greatest satirists of the early 18th century. He was also a critic. But he is remembered chiefly as a satirist. This vein of his poetry is best expressed in ‘The Episttes’. Two of his other famous works are ‘Essay on Criticism’ and ‘Essay on Man.’
Ode is a poem addressed to a person or an object. The Greek word ‘ode’ meant a choric song generally accompanied by dance. The term is presently used to refer to long, meditative lyric poems that in a dignified manner address a noble subject. In the present poem ‘Ode on Solitude,’ the poet draws a beautiful picture of a happy man.
Ode On Solitude
Happy the man whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air
In his own ground.
Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread, 5
Whose flocks supply him with attire;
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
In winter fire.
Blest, who can unconcernedly find
Hours, days, and years, slide soft away 10
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day.
Sound sleep by night; study and ease
Together mixt, sweet recreation,
And innocence, which most does please 15
With meditation
Thus let me live unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die.
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.
Glossary & Notes:
- Paternal:
- Content:
- Native air:
- Herds:
- Attire:
- Recreation:
- Meditation:
- Unconcernedly:
- Lie:
Summary in English
The poet throws light on the real happiness of life in the poem, “Ode on Solitude”.
A man can be truly happy if he leads a life of contentment and simplicity. He should not be greedy. He should be satisfied with the few acres of land inherited from his ancestors. His field will give hirn food and his cow will give him milk.
His trees will give him shade and firewood and his sheep will give him the wool for clothing. He will have a healthy body and peace of mind, spending his time in study, rest and recreation. He will lead an innocent life and a life of meditation and prayer.
In the end, the poet says that he would like to live such a life and die in peace without being lamented by people. In fact, he would not like to be biased a tombstone to be placed on his grave, to tell others about him.
Really he wants to lie unseen and unknown or a life of solitude, away from the din and bustle of life. He also does not want people to express sorrow over his passing away.
Summary in Hindi
प्रस्तुत कविता “ओड ऑन सालोट्यूड” में कवि ने जीवन की वास्तविक प्रसन्नता एवं आनन्द पर प्रकाश डाला है।
वह व्यक्ति वास्तविक रूप से सुखी जीवन व्यतीत करता है जो संतोष एवं सादगी में रहता है। उसे लोभ का परित्याग करना चाहिए । अपने पूर्वजों द्वारा उपार्जित एवं प्रदत्त कुछ एकड़ भूमि से ही उसे संतुष्ट रहना चाहिए। उसका खेत उसे भोजन उपलब्ध कराएगा तथा गाय दूध की आपूर्ति करेगी। उसके वृक्ष उसे छाया तथा जलावन की लकड़ी प्रदान करेंगे।
उसकी भेड़ें उसके परिधान के लिए ऊन की व्यवस्था करेंगी। उसका शरीर पूर्ण स्वस्थ रहेगा तथा उसे मानसिक शान्ति प्राप्त होगी। वह अपना समय अध्ययन, विश्राम तथा मनोरंजन में व्यतीत करेगा। वह एक निष्कपट जीवन ध्यान, चिन्तन तथा प्रार्थना करते हुए व्यतीत करेगा।
अन्त में कवि का कथन है कि वह इसी प्रकार का जीवन व्यतीत करना चाहता है तथा शोकरहित एवं शांतिपूर्ण मृत्यु की कामना करता है । वस्तुतः वह अपनी समाधि पर कोई शिलालेख लगवाना नहीं चाहता है, क्योंकि अन्य लोग उसके विषय में नहीं जान सकें। वास्तविकता यह है कि वह लोगों की दृष्टि से दूर रहना चाहता है जिससे कोई भी व्यक्ति न उसे देख सके एवं न उसे जान सके।
अर्थात् वह शोरगुल तथा उतावलेपन से दूर रहकर एकान्त जीवन व्यतीत करना चाहता है। उसकी यह भी आकांक्षा है कि उसकी मृत्यु के पश्चात् लोग उसके प्रति शोक प्रकट नहीं करें।
Questions & Answer:
A. Answer the following questions very briefly:
1. How many of you want to be happy? What leads to happiness?
Ans: Everybody wants to be happy. I think content leads to happiness.
2. What makes our life happy – money or contentment or both? Discuss.
Ans: I think both make our life happy.
3. Have you ever visited a remote village adorned with natural beauty and a capital town full of skyscrapers? Which one would you like and why?
Ans: I like natural beauty because it is real beauty of nature.
B.1. Answer the following questions very briefly:
1. Who is a happy man?
Ans: The man who happy whole wish and care and few paternal acres bound.
2. Who (m) does the pronoun ‘his’ in the 3rd line of the 1st stanza refer to?
Ans: ‘His in the 3rd line of the 1st stanza refer to happy man.
3. Who give him milk?
Ans: The cattle give him milk.
4. What gives him milk?
Ans: The field that we have gives us bread.
5. What gives him bread?
Ans: He gets his clothes from flocks which supply.
6. How do trees help him?
B.2. Answer the following questions very briefly:
1. Name the poem and the poet?
Ans: ‘Ode on Solitude’ is the name of the poem and Alexander Pop is the name of the poet.
2. Who is a blessed man?
Ans: According to a poem that is a closed man whose life spends without worry.
3. How does a happy man spend his time?
Ans: A happy man spends his time with sound sleep, recreation, and meditation.
4. Who (m) does ‘me refer to in the last stanza?
Ans: ‘Me’ refers to the last stanza for the poet himself.
5. What do you mean by ‘slide soft away’?
Ans: ‘Slide soft away’ means the man who has everything according to the poet, that life will spend slide soft away, it means pleasure life.
6. What does the poet wish for after death?
Ans: The pet wishes that nobody will weep for me and won’t use a stone where I lie.
7. How does the poet want to live?
Ans: The poet wants to live unseen and unknown.
8. How does the poet want to die?
Ans: The poet wants to die unlamented.
9. What are the features of a happy life?
Ans: The feather of a happy life is-
- A few paternal acres bound.
- He has his own ground.
- He has trees who help in summer and flocks who provide him attire.
- The man has herbs that provide him milk.
C. 1 Long Answer Questions:
1. The poet thinks that those who are content with what they have are happy men. Do you agree? Give reasons.
Ans: Yes, I agree the poet thinks because nothing can full fill the content of human beings wishes never dies. So, I think we should content what we have.
2. What does the speaker mean by together mist, sweet recreation? Can these things be mixed? Have you ever tried to do so?
Ans: I think these things can’t be mired because these things which the poet describes in this poem don’t get all people like this.
No, I haven’t ever tried to do so.
3. Why does the poet want to live and die stealthily from the world? How many of you would like to do so? And why?
Ans: The poet wants to live, unseen and unknown and die stealthily from the world because he doesn’t want to weep anyone. He doesn’t want to see the sanded of others after his death. I would like to do so because I also don’t want to lament anyone.
4. Is the title of the poem justified? Can you suggest any other title? Give reasons for your choice.
Ans: Yes, The title of the poem is justified. Yes, I can suggest any title; I think the name of the poem should be ‘Pleasure Life’. Because when we read out this poem, we find out the happy life of a man.