Dear Students (BA Semester I)
Today we discussed three poems from three different ages
1. "La Bella Dame Sans Merci" by John Keats
2. "An Extract from Paradise Lost" by John Milton
3. "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Lee Frost.
The reason that I took these three poems was that they were simple, pleasing to read and were diverse in their subject matter.
I will be glad if you could post your comments about these poems on this blog.
Looking forward to your comments.
Shramona and Swastika: You had asked for a curtain raiser i.e. one act play for your communication skills class. I suggest you check out the following link:
http://freedrama.net/one.html
It has got various plays on a wide variety of themes. The introduction also tells you how many characters are needed. If you intend to do a play with two characters then I suggest that perform the play John and Magi http://freedrama.net/johnmag.html. You could also adapt the story "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry in the form of a play.
If you have about 5 characters in mind then I think this should help: http://freedrama.net/honeymoon.htm
This link is also very promising http://www.kaneprod.com/.
You can adapt the plays to the Indian settings.
All the best and share your feedback with me.
Ashish Pande.
Today we discussed three poems from three different ages
1. "La Bella Dame Sans Merci" by John Keats
2. "An Extract from Paradise Lost" by John Milton
3. "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Lee Frost.
The reason that I took these three poems was that they were simple, pleasing to read and were diverse in their subject matter.
I will be glad if you could post your comments about these poems on this blog.
Looking forward to your comments.
Shramona and Swastika: You had asked for a curtain raiser i.e. one act play for your communication skills class. I suggest you check out the following link:
http://freedrama.net/one.html
It has got various plays on a wide variety of themes. The introduction also tells you how many characters are needed. If you intend to do a play with two characters then I suggest that perform the play John and Magi http://freedrama.net/johnmag.html. You could also adapt the story "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry in the form of a play.
If you have about 5 characters in mind then I think this should help: http://freedrama.net/honeymoon.htm
This link is also very promising http://www.kaneprod.com/.
You can adapt the plays to the Indian settings.
All the best and share your feedback with me.
Ashish Pande.
The poems were interesting giving no chance of boredom.Each rhyme saying a different fable and helping us to improve our prowess to find and understand the use of different literary terms.
ReplyDeleteThanks Neha for appreciating the poems. This is a very nice start. I look forward to some detailed comments about a particular poem.
DeleteI do not expect you to answer what the poet is trying to say because s/he has already said that in the poem.
You could discuss here what feelings were aroused in your heart/mind while reading the poem. What are the thoughts that came to your mind while going through the poem. If you liked the poem, what made it so special? If not, what did you not like.
Another aspect that you could comment upon is that what sort of images were formed in the mind--whether they were auditory images, visual, olfactory, gustatory or tactile.
The idea here is to talk about subjectivity in a very objective way.
Best wishes
Ashish Pande
AN EXTRACT FROM PARADISE LOST:BY JOHN MILTON
ReplyDeleteParadise Lost is about Adam and Eve—how they came to be created and how they came to lose their place in the Garden of Eden, also called Paradise. It's the same story you find in the first pages of Genesis, expanded by Milton into a very long, detailed, narrative poem. It also includes the story of the origin of Satan. Originally, he was called Lucifer, an angel in heaven who led his followers in a war against God, and was ultimately sent with them to hell. Thirst for revenge led him to cause man's downfall by turning into a serpent and tempting Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.
Vijay
DeleteSee me on Friday about a detailed feedback about it.
''La Belle Dame Sans Merci'' is one of the best poems of Keats. It's considered to be a classic work.
ReplyDeleteIt is subjective to several interpretations. What made me like the poem was the succubus angle of the poem - that's how i interpret it. It could also be, as was said in class, John Keat's talking about his lady love.
For the various links, thank you sir. We're still, for that matter, looking for a suitable play so as to suit all the participating members.
The Poem- Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening has inspired me a lot never to lose hope what so ever comes in your path.
ReplyDeleteRespected Sir,
ReplyDeleteIt was a pleasant moment for me to read one of the extracts of the epic which I have always greatly admired always. What I had longed for was the presence of a guide to make me understand the poem,(not specifically 'On his blindness' but the whole epic) which I was blessed enough to get in the form of you. Milton has always been a treat to read. And this poem has a streak of revolt in it for which though many people criticize him,I find it commendable.
Next,the poem,"Stopping by woods..." had an irrevocable presence in my life since infancy and was often quoted to me by my teachers or written all over on the school banners. I am grateful to you for providing an insight into that simple yet deceiving poem. It offered an interesting example of how a plain poem could be illusory. This poem always fill me to the brim with the thoughts of my 'obligations'.
And the third poem,"La belle dame sans mercy" was the one I probably looked forward to the most as it had a gothic theme to it. To study the view of the poet who was born in an era which had no defined word for 'vampires', I was keen to see as to how the description would be led to the fore.Also, I liked the idea of coming back to from where it all started.The ambiguity at the end served its purpose(I was wondering the whole day as to what the girl might have actually done to the poet).In a nutshell,all these poems were nice ones to begin the effort of making us au courant.
I really liked the poem 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci'. It has beautiful visual images and an underlying supernatural element.After reading this poem I felt that John Keats had a very pessimistic view about love.I wonder if it was because of all the hardships he had to face in his life.Thank you sir for the links you sent us,we are yet to decide a play.
ReplyDelete