1. Appreciation of the poem - Where the Mind is Without Fear.

‘Where the Mind is Without Fear’ is a thought-provoking, reflective and patriotic poem
written by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, an Indian writer, poet and philosopher.

The poem is written in free verse without any rhyme scheme or metre. The poem is
sprinkled with a bouquet of figures of speech and the one that stands out is Personification.
“where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection’’ Here, we can actually
visualize ‘tireless striving’ stretching its arms to reach its goal.

It is a prayer to God in which Tagore addresses God as “My Father” and asks Him to awake
his country into a heaven of freedom, where there is a total freedom of good thoughts, good
words and good actions. He wishes for a country where people should be free from fears,
where knowledge would be free to all individuals and people from all castes and religions
should be united.

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2. Appreciation of the poem - All World’s A Stage.

The poem is written in blank verse i.e. there is no rhyme scheme but there is a steady
rhythm of five beats in each line. The poem is further sprinkled with beautiful figures of
speech and the one that stands out is Metaphor. In the lines ‘All world’s a Stage, And all
men and women are merely players’ there is an implied comparison between two different
things.

In this poem, Shakespeare compares life to a stage. He has divided this poem into seven
stages each having its own varied qualities and features. The theme of the poem is the cycle
of life. It tells us how one starts out as an infant, helpless without understanding and ends
the same way without being aware of what is happening around one. Shakespeare has the
seven stages of man’s life with a touch of satire and cynicism. In each stage, man imagines
himself to be great and important but there is something ridiculous in his behaviour all
through life.

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3. Appreciation of the poem - Animals.
‘Animals’ is an inspirational and reflective poem penned by the famous American poet
Walt Whitman.

The poet has broken away from the conventional use of a rhyme scheme and has written
the poem in a free verse. The poem is sprinkled with a bouquet of figures of speech and the
one that stands out is Repetition. Lines such as ‘They do not sweat…’, They do not lie
awake…’ ‘They do not make me sick’ make a strong impact, expressing the qualities that
humans should possess but do not. The words ‘they do not’ are repeated for poetic effect.

The central idea of the poem is that animals are better than humans. The poet indirectly
implies that we human beings too should possess these wonderful qualities. We should
observe and pick up qualities that animals possess and which we might have possessed but
have carelessly given up on the path of evolution.

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4. Appreciation of the poem - The Pulley.

The rhyme scheme of the poem is ababa and the rhyming words of the first verses are –
man, can, span, by and lie. The poem is metaphorical where ‘glass of blessings’ actually
refers to the sum of all human qualities given and blessed by God and ‘jewel’ refers to ‘rest’
and ‘contentment’. The poem is sprinkled with beautiful figures of speech and the one that
stands out for is Repetition. ‘And rest in nature, not the God of Nature’ The words
‘nature’ is repeated for poetic effect.

The central idea of the poem is man’s weariness and his anxiety. According to the poet,
God has withheld the quality of contentment from man and this has led to man being anxious
and restless. It is only when God showers His blessings on His creation that Man gets true
solace and tranquillity. The poem underlines the quality of peace, honour, pleasure,
contentment, etc. The poem is a monologue given by God. Each verse of the poem is made
up of five lines.

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5. Appreciation of the poem - Night of the Scorpion.
‘Night of the Scorpion’ is a narrative poem written by an Indian Jewish poet, actor
playwright and art-critic Nissim Ezekiel.

The poem is written in free verse without any rhyme scheme or metre throughout the
poem. The poem is sprinkled with beautiful figures of speech and the one that stands out is
Simile. ‘The peasants came like swarms of flies. The peasants are directly compared to
swarms of flies. Here, the poet personified ‘tireless striving’ stretching its arms to reach its
goal.

The poem depicts the selflessness and unconditional love of a mother who is stung by a
scorpion. It also explains the care and affection of the villagers and their efforts to comfort
the pain of their mother.

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6. Appreciation of the poem - The Will to Win.

The poem has no specific rhyme scheme but rhymes are used randomly all throughout. The
most common type of is lines ending with word ‘it’; e.g; ‘for it’, ‘of it’; ‘without it’, ‘about
it’; ‘fret for it’, etc. Other examples are ‘capacity’, ‘sagacity’, ‘tenacity’, ‘pain’, brain’. The
poem is sprinkled with beautiful figures of speech and the one that stands out is Tautology.
‘seems useless and worthless without it’. The words useless and worthless have similar
meanings.

This is an inspirational poem. The poet gives us a formula for sure success. He tells us what
we should do and what we should avoid doing in order to achieve success. It motivates one
to set targets and achieve goals. The poem is rich in ideas for personality traits and
circumstances that aid or hamper success.

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7. Appreciation of the poem - A Thing of Beauty is a Joy For Ever’.
‘A Thing of Beauty is a Joy For Ever’ is a beautiful poem with a beautiful message written
by John Keats.

The poet has used aa, bb, cc, dd, ee ……… rhyming scheme to give more poetic effect in
the poem. The poem is sprinkled with beautiful figures of speech and the one that stands
out is Epigram. ‘A Thing of Beauty is a Joy For Ever’. This line is a concise saying
expressing the idea of beauty in a clever way.

This poem is an excellent example of true poetry. The poet feels that the presence of
beautiful things in our life is a source of perennial joy for us. The joy they give us keeps
increasing. It always remains in our hearts and will never leave us. Beautiful things inspire
and motivate us to live through the sorrows, sadness, and loneliness of life. The best things
in life are not material things. They are moments, feelings, lessons, faith, emotions,
discoveries and truth.

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8. Appreciation of the poem - The Height of the Ridiculous.

‘The Height of the Ridiculous’ is a humorous poem written by Oliver Wendell Holmes.
for enjoyment with plenty of funny expressions.

The main purpose of the poem is simply to entertain his audience. The rhyme scheme of the
poem is abcb. The poem is sprinkled with beautiful figures of speech and the one that stands
out is Transferred Epithet. In the line ‘Ten days and nights, with sleepless eye’, the
adjective sleepless should be for the man and not for the eye.

The main purpose of the poem is simply to entertain his audience. It is written for enjoyment
with plenty of funny expressions. The sole purpose of the poet is to simply entertain the
reader.

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