MADHU MALTI

We Real Cool : Gwendolyn Brooks : ( 1 ) : : Narrative Music Video / poetry foundation ( 2 ) : Drew Dir : Ayanna Wood & Jamila Wood Video : : School Poems : :

Pulitzer Prize winner Gwendolyn Brooks, ( 1917 – 2000 ) : born in Topeka on June 7, 1917, to David Anderson Brooks, the son of a runaway slave, and Keziah Corinne (née Wims). : Brooks began writing poetry in her teenage years and published her first poem in American Childhood magazine. : both Langston Hughes and James Weldon Johnson, and both elder poets responded with letters of encouragement. :She graduated from Woodrow Wilson Junior College in 1936. : Brooks wrote more than twenty books of poetry in her lifetime, was the first black woman appointed Poet Laureate of the United States : : including Children Coming Home (The David Co., 1991); Blacks (The David Co., 1987); To Disembark (Third World Press, 1981); The Near-Johannesburg Boy and Other Poems (The David Co., 1986); Family Pictures (Broadside Press, 1970); Riot (Broadside Press, 1969); In the Mecca (Harper & Row, 1968), a finalist for the National Book Award; The Bean Eaters (Harper, 1960); Annie Allen (Harper, 1949), for which she received the Pulitzer Prize; and A Street in Bronzeville (Harper & Brothers, 1945), a collection admired by fellow Chicagoan and writer Richard Wright. She also wrote the novel, Maud Martha (Harper, 1953) and Report from Part One: An Autobiography (Broadside Press, 1972). She edited Jump Bad: A New Chicago Anthology (Broadside Press, 1971). Her books for children include Bronzeville Boys and Girls (Harper, 1956), later rereleased in 2015 and illustrated by Faith Ringgold. : : Brooks became an activist in the Black Power movement. She also started a poetry workshop from her home. : : In 1968, Brooks was named poet laureate for the state of Illinois. In 1976, she became the first African American to join the National Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1985, she was the first Black woman appointed as consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress (now, poet laureate). She also received an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, the Frost Medal, a National Endowment for the Arts Award, the Shelley Memorial Award, and fellowships from the Academy of American Poets and the Guggenheim Foundation. : : Brooks spent her later years dedicated to public service. She conducted poetry readings at prisons and hospitals and attended annual poetry contests for school children, which she often funded.

**Brooks lived in Chicago until her death on December 3, 2000**

All They Feel About Alcohol – Drinking Experience : Survey of 1000 Americans : Further the survey reveals that : 51.7 % Americans have had Depressing Thoughts While Drinking Alcohol ; Whereas 48.7 % **Americans** said in Negative — saying that they had no such de- spirited Sentiments. Nearly half of men and more than a third of women said they felt disgusted while drinking, and more than 1 in 5 said drinking made them feel anxious. More than 1 in 10 men revealed drinking made them feel scared. : : See for 4 more Feelings Down in the Picture , HERE In BELOW

As of 2015, Approx 15 million Americans – including roughly 623,000 adolescents between ages 12 and 17 – have Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), a condition characterized by compulsive alcohol use and an ongoing negative emotional state. : : Feel happy in the moment, but it can also leave them grappling with negative emotions long after the bottle is empty. Don’t get indulged in Anyone’s Or with Close Companion , just because of Business Interest Or Happy – Go Sometime ( due to extra endorphins !? relaxing and euphoric , but it’s also classified as a depressant — Released by body under Alcohol. ) : Buddhu , and nothing else / atleast Not Heavenly / Or A Push To Your Creativity ) Or With naming it as Social / Community identity , Occasional Drinking / **Partying in a So called** **Rich Man’s High Society Feeling !!! ? What !?!? OMG ! Aren’t they worried about themselves or for their loved ones. No. Believe me , they aren’t good friends.**

**From the Survey of 1000 Americans ( 2015 ) Blue for Men, Red for Women**

From the Survey of 1000 Americans ( 2015 ) Experts on the subject have identified alcohol as a depressant drug that can create the effect of anxiety and depression as a result of drinking too much, or drinking too fast. For those who already have clinical anxiety or depression, alcohol can worsen the symptoms of both conditions. : : nearly 17 percent of young adults between the ages of 20 and 29 indicating that alcohol consumption made them feel sad. Just shy of 16 percent of respondents between the ages of 30 and 39 said the same. : : The ages of 20 and 29 were the most likely to experience negative feelings like anxiety, sadness, and a sense of being overwhelmed. More than half of everyone – regardless of age – told that drinking alcohol also made them feel depressed at one point or another.

We Real Cool
BY GWENDOLYN BROOKS
The Pool Players.
Seven at the Golden Shovel.

We real cool. We
Left school. We

Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We
Die soon.
— Gwendolyn Brooks, “We Real Cool” from Selected Poems. : :
Source: Poetry (1959) :. : Narrative Music Video : poetry foundation : Paper-Cut Puppetry showing The Poet : Gwendolyn Brooks & 7 Pool Players At Golden Shovel Hall : Her source & origin of the poem : “We Real Cool” : Film Directed by : Drew Dir : Music : Ayanna Wood & Jamila Wood : : CLICK HERE In BELOW to enjoy the Poem : : https://youtu.be/0USvSvhue70

“We Real Cool” , A School Poem By Gwendolyn Brooks is about Seven pool players who are hanging out “at the Golden Shovel pool” hall. The Speakers inform that : :

“We’re very cool” : “Real cool”: that is , we are calm and composed , of steady mind, even under stress ; can not be agitated. (We laugh at the ( school) Authority.) : We skipped school : “we Left school” : : “Lurk late” : we hang around one place doing very little; spending / wasting time. We stay out late, that is , no school , and after school hours, no going back to home in time. We draw our punches. ( Punch served in a ‘punch bowl’, is an ice mixed drinks of Alcohol type ) — here ” Thin gin”– ( prepared for multiple servings so that wet party lasts long ) : : We praise our bad behaviors as aforesaid. We drink cheap alcohol — here “gin”, We make June jazzy , that is ‘showy’ , pleasant , enjoyable with the additional fragrance of “thin-gin”: Off late , we have become aware that we’re going to die soon. : : : :

Informations about this poem as provided in Wikipedia are in Big brackets , as HERE In BELOW : :

[“We Real Cool” is a poem written in 1959 by poet Gwendolyn Brooks and published in her 1960 book The Bean Eaters, her third collection of poetry. The poem has been featured on broadsides, re-printed in literature textbooks and is widely studied in literature classes. It is cited as “one of the most celebrated examples of jazz poetry”.]

[ It consists of four Verses/ Stanzas of two rhyming lines each. The final word in most lines is “we”. The next line describes something that “we” do, such as play pool or drop out of school. Brooks has said that the “we”s are meant to be said softly, as though the protagonists in the poem are questioning the validity of their existence. The last lines of the poem, “We / Die soon,” indicate the climax, ] which comes as a surprise [ to the boasts ] : to the pride in self– praising their bad behaviour that have been made in Stanzas 1 To 3 in lines 1 To 6 : : [ It also suggests a moment of self-awareness about the choices that the players have made. The poem also contains references to the seven deadly sins. ] : : : :

[ In an interview Brooks stated that her inspiration for the poem came from her walking in her community and passing a pool hall full of boys. When considering this she thought to herself “I wonder how they feel about themselves?” Instead of wondering about why they were not in school, Brooks captured this scene and turned it into the seven pool players at the Golden Shovel. ] : : : :

Now , let me try to explain each of The 4 Stanzas / Verses, each with a Couplet of 2 very brief lines. : : The name of the poem /Title was mentioned in several Rock / Pop Music Numbers / Song /a chant, a lyric rage / Albums . : : The Themes of “We Real Cool” include Rebellion & Youth . : : The seven pool players in the poem are contesting against the establishment with their rebellious actions. As Brooks said ( in Public domain ) , ” They might have considered themselves contemptuous of the establishment Or , atleast They wanted to feel that they were contemptuous of the establishment; might want to bum their noses at the establishment .. . “( Brooks ) : : Thus , They are becoming a free , but lazy ( caged in one place ) bird !?!? ‘Deadbeat’ ! Bumming around all day !! : : The poet states that the establishment is represented by the month of June. As Brooks said ( in public domain ) , ” I represented establishment with the month of June , which is a nice , gentle , non- controversial , enjoyable pleasant fragrance month that everybody loves. 7 Players At the Golden Shovel wait “real cool” ( saying ) we Left school; “we Lurk late, light-weight Strike straight “we Sing sins”, simply , then gently ( Hence jazz , merely music – soft , gentle , enjoyable ) , just June ; we diced food”‘ ( Brooks ) : : Thus the Rebels proudly defy convention and authority—and will likely pay for their behavior with their lives. She explained that the unhealthy lifestyle the kids are living, such as drinking and partying, is the reason they will die soon. : : Brooks interrupts the flow of the Verse / Stanza ending each one with “We”. Placing that word there gives the poem a rhythm that makes it flow almost like a song. : The poem takes rhyming to a new level: the couplets rhyme in the middle. Thus, “cool/school” in the first stanza, ( preferring pool to school ! ) , the alliterative “lurk late” in Stanza/Verse 2 , in lines 3& 4 , gives away sad feeling for them as they are throwing in to disorder what their School of studies would have created a normality throughout their precious time of Youth. And “late/straight” ( preferring wet street nights To dull nights of boring studies & prayers ! ) To “strike straight” in Stanza / Verse 2 , in line 4 , is to hit the pool ball hard. : : The use of the word “jazz”, Meaning ,’Music’ ( as per Brooks ) not offending , due to a perceived sexual nature which is ‘not an intension in the poem’ ( as per Brooks ) : : “Sing sins” in Stanza / Verse 3 , in line 5, has ‘rebellious going’, against the ‘Religious Teachings’. “we ( The players ) “thin gin” in Stanza / Verse 3 , in line 6, means that they must have to share perhaps one bottle of gin at a time, ( and dilute it down with ice and / or soda water, assuming to understand. ) so as to make the alcohol last a bit longer for their whole day through late night street life. ) No – one player, can afford to buy his own bottle; one can assume safely that they pool together their financial resources to purchase that bottle(s). Getting “gin drunk” is often associated with foolish or disturbed behavior. Some people believe to feel the spirit/alcohol makes them “sad” or “weepy.” In this troubling story , “gin” is cast in the role of emotional formenter / provoker — It’s a fashion , you know !? But , the fact is that there’s nothing worse than spiteful, bitter, cheap gin : : They are circumnavigators ( what else any alkie would do !? ) — trying to avoid fulfilling , answering or performing duties , questions, or issues. : : The Speaker mentions that the pool players “Seven at the Golden shovel” : Why Seven ? Because , Nnmber 7 is made known and famous as the luckiest Magical Number . That’s why they gang up in “Seven”: But they are “at The Golden Shovel” : Don’t they know , The Shovel is a Tool of Grave- Digger !? No matter if The Shovel is Golden ! Glittering / Showy !!! Are they trying to impress us /others !? !? !? Let us aim to hit them : Such display is pretentious and tasteless. Surely , death is going to leave them behind. And , that is the climax in last Stanza / Verse 4 in lines 7 & 8 , :” Jaaz June , we Die soon ” : The establishment is represented by the month of June : : SAD SHOW !!! Isn’t it !? The Tool is flashy , The Place Of their intended Fun sounds pleasantly euphonious , but is not going to prove propitious and will ultimately , bring them ‘UN-LUCK’. They have this newly found Self awareness in telling that ” we Die Soon “: : The Eight lines Poem Of Tragedy Of Untimely Death Of Seven Eccentric Young Boys ! Of America : : What about you !? , Man / Or Even Girl / Woman ! From Metro -Cities Or Small / Big Towns Of India : So Fond Of Alcohols ! ! : : : :

“We Real Cool”
“THE POOL PLAYERS.

SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL. ” A School. Poem , Information Appreciation and poem Analysis Presented by V Jayaraj Pune India December 16 , 2022 : : : : : : : :

Bihar state in India observe prohibition of alcohol since 2016 . Gujarat state in India has prohibited the sale and consumption of alcohol since its formation in 1960, ; previously banned for Gujarat by Bombay State from 1949 , 1950 , & again from 1958 and the state’s failure in combating alcohol consumption & hooch ( spurious alcohol consumption ) tragedies of death toll in hundreds of valued life after they complained about uneasiness, nausea, breathlessness, stomach pain and blurry vision, despite the prohibition is not **hidden from anyone. : :**

Ozymandias : Percy Bysshe Shelley : Sonnet : : School Poems : :

Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets. A radical in his poetry as well as in his political and social views, Shelley did not achieve fame during his lifetime, but recognition of his achievements in poetry grew steadily following his death and he became an important influence on subsequent generations of poets including Robert Browning, Algernon Charles Swinburne, Thomas Hardy, and W. B. Yeats. American literary critic Harold Bloom describes him as “a superb craftsman, a lyric poet without rival, and surely one of the most advanced sceptical intellects ever to write a poem.”he has achieved increasing critical acclaim for the sweeping momentum of his poetic imagery, his mastery of genres and verse forms, and the complex interplay of sceptical, idealist, and materialist ideas in his work. Among his best-known works are “Ozymandias” (1818), “Ode to the West Wind” (1819), “To a Skylark” (1820), the philosophical essay “The Necessity of Atheism” written alongside his friend T. J. Hogg (1811), and the political ballad “The Mask of Anarchy” (1819). His other major works include the verse drama The Cenci (1819) and long poems such as Alastor, or The Spirit of Solitude (1815), Julian and Maddalo (1819), Adonais (1821), Prometheus Unbound (1820)—widely considered his masterpiece—Hellas (1822), and his final, unfinished work, The Triumph of Life (1822).

Shelley also wrote prose fiction and a quantity of essays on political, social, and philosophical issues. Much of this poetry and prose was not published in his lifetime, or only published in expurgated form, due to the risk of prosecution for political and religious libel. From the 1820s, his poems and political and ethical writings became popular in Owenist, Chartist, and radical political circles, and later drew admirers as diverse as Karl Marx, Mahatma Gandhi, and George Bernard Shaw.

Shelley’s life was marked by family crises, ill health, and a backlash against his atheism, political views and defiance of social conventions. He went into permanent self-exile in Italy in 1818, and over the next four years produced what Leader and O’Neill call “some of the finest poetry of the Romantic period”. His second wife, Mary Shelley, was the author of Frankenstein. She died in a boating accident in 1822 at the age of 29.

**Percy Bysshe Shelley born 4 August 1792**
**Field Place, Warnham, West Sussex, England**
**Died**
**8 July 1822 (aged 29)**
**Gulf of La Spezia, Kingdom of Sardinia (now Italy)**
**Occupation**
**Poet dramatist essayist novelist**
**Alma mater**
**University College, Oxford**
**Literary movement**
**Romanticism**
**Spouse**
**Harriet Westbrook**

**(m. 1811; died 1816)**
**Mary Shelley (m. 1816)**
**Children**
**6 (including Percy Florence Shelley)**
**Parents**
**Timothy Shelley**
**Elizabeth Pilfold**

The statue fragment of Ramesses II, the Younger Memnon, in the British Museum. Antiquity, Ozymandias was a Greek name for the pharaoh Ramesses II (r. 1279–1213 BC), derived from a part of his throne name, Usermaatre. In 1817, Shelley began writing the poem “Ozymandias”, after the British Museum acquired the Younger Memnon, a head-and-torso fragment of a statue of Ramesses II, which dated from the 13th century BC. Earlier, in 1816, the Italian archeologist Giovanni Battista Belzoni had removed the 7.25-short-ton (6.58 t; 6,580 kg) statue fragment from the Ramesseum, the mortuary temple of Ramesses II at Thebes, Egypt. The reputation of the statue fragment preceded its arrival to Western Europe; after his Egyptian expedition in 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte had failed to acquire the Younger Memnon for France. Although the British Museum expected delivery of the antiquity in 1818, the Younger Memnon did not arrive in London until 1821. Shelley published his poems before the statue fragment of Ozymandias arrived in Britain, and the view of modern scholarship is that Shelley never saw the statue, although he might have learned about it from news reports, as it was well known even in its previous location near Luxor. : : The Ruins, or a Survey of the Revolutions of Empires empires (1791) by Constantin François de Chassebœuf, comte de Volney ( 1757–1820 ), published in ( London: Joseph Johnson, 1792 ) translated by James Marshall, was an influence on **Shelley.**

Ozymandias
BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY
I met a traveller from an antique land, 1
Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone 2
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, 3
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, 4
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, 5
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read 6
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, 7
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; 8
And on the pedestal, these words appear: 9
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; 10
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! 11
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay 12
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare 13
The lone and level sands stretch far away.” 14
— Percy Basshe Shelley : : : : : : : : : : : : : Source: Shelley’s Poetry and Prose (1977)

“Ozymandias” (/ˌɒziˈmændiəs/ , o-zee-MAN-dee-əs) is , As Wikipedia informs : :: ” A sonnet written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822). It was first published in the 11 January 1818 issue of The Examiner of London. The poem was included the following year in Shelley’s collection Rosalind and Helen, A Modern Eclogue; with Other Poems, and in a posthumous compilation of his poems published in 1826. Shelley wrote the poem in friendly competition with his friend and fellow poet Horace Smith (1779–1849), who also wrote a sonnet on the same topic with the same title. The poem explores the worldly fate of history and the ravages of time: even the greatest men and the empires they forge are impermanent, their legacies fated to decay into oblivion. Shelley wrote the poem quickly around Christmas in 1817 either in December that year or early January 1818. under the pen name “Glirastes”: : Graeco-Latin name created by combining the Latin glīs (“dormouse”) with the Greek suffix ἐραστής (erastēs, “lover”); The name meant “lover of dormice”, dormouse being his pet name for his spouse Mary Shelley, whom he nicknamed “dormouse”. It appeared again in Shelley’s 1819 collection Rosalind and Helen, A Modern Eclogue; with Other Poems, which was republished in 1876 under the title “Sonnet. Ozymandias” by Charles and James Ollier and in the 1826 Miscellaneous and Posthumous Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley by William Benbow, both in London. The poem has been cited as Shelley’s “best-known poem” and has been included in many poetry anthologies, particularly school textbooks and is generally considered one of his best works, Stephens ( 2009 ) considered that the Ozymandias , Shelley created dramatically, altered the opinion of Europeans on the king. Donald P. Ryan ( In “The Pharaoh and the Poet”, 2005 ). wrote that “Ozymandias” “stands above” numerous other poems written about ancient Egypt, particularly its fall and described the sonnet as “a short, insightful commentary on the fall of power”: The poem has impacted numerous other works, including Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. It has been translated into several languages, notably Russian, where Shelley was an influential figure. :

Scholars such as professors Nora Crook and Newman White,( 1986 ) have viewed with the statue’s legs a coded reference to the then Prince Regent’s gout and possible sexually-transmitted diseases, and Napoleon Bonaparte. That the poem is connected to Napoleon is indeed the 21st century accepted reading. Byron scholar Peter Cochran asserted the poem to be “a lesson to tyrants”, listing Napeoleon, George IV, Metternich, Tsar Alexander, Emperor Francis, and Castlereagh. : : Also, Jalal Uddin Khan wrote ( In , ‘Readings in Oriental Literature’: Arabian, Indian, and Islamic. Cambridge ) ‘Scholars connects it, in addition, to Muammar Gaddafi’s statement that he was Africa’s “king of kings” ‘ ; That it connects in people’s minds to rulers who post-date Shelley is illustrated by incidents such as the one CNN journalist who reported the aerial bombing of Iraq in 1991 signing off the report with the final three lines of the poem . : : Jalal Uddin Khan quoted Ashurbanipal , who had written, “I am a hero; I am gigantic; I am colossal; I am magnificent.” carved in stone, and Menli I Giray who styled himself “Sovereign of Two Continents and Khan of Khans of the Two Seas”. : : The tragic fall of powerful men is a theme common in literature, from Giovanni Boccaccio’s De Casibus Virorum Illustrium through John Lydgate’s The Fall of Princes to Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Monk’s Tale. Modern scholarship is that Byron’s Childe Harold Canto 3, which was about the fall of Napoleon ,was also a prompt for the poem. : : Like Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Kubla Khan and Shelley’s own Alastor, the poem can be viewed in the context of a wave of Orientalism prevalent in Western Europe, helped along by such events as Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798 and the accompanying Description of Egypt. : : All in all , as it is said , the imagery of the statue’s harsh but commanding bearing is evocative of the Byronic hero. : : : :

Shelley’s “Ozymandias” is a sonnet, written in loose iambic pentameter, but with an atypical rhyme scheme (ABABACDC EDEFEF) which violates the rule that there should be no connection in rhyme between the octave and the sestet.

Two themes of the “Ozymandias” poems are the inevitable decline of rulers and their pretensions to greatness.

The title “Ozymandias” refers to an alternate name of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II. In the poem, Shelley describes a crumbling statue of Ozymandias as a way to portray the transience of political power and to praise art’s ability to preserve the past. Themes of the poem are
Power of nature, of humans , of Art And It’s Futility. : : The irony of “Ozymandias” cuts much deeper as the reader realises that the forces of mortality and flexibility, described brilliantly in the concluding lines, will wear down and destroy all our lives. There is a special justice in the way tyrants are subject to time, but all humans face death and decay. : : The poem’s central idea is the subject of the poem, or ‘what it’s about’ if you like. While many shy away from poetry being ‘about’ something, at the end of the day, as it was written, the poet had something in mind, and that something, whatever it was or may have been, is the central idea. : : “Of that colossal wreck,boundless and bare. The lone and level sands stretch far away.” …..in the poem Ozymandias , the idea conveyed is that nothing is permanent. Everything will come to an end with the passage of time. The last two lines in the Sonnet implies that the statue was broken apart, but you can still make out the face of the person whose statue it was. The face looks powerful, like a ruler. The sculptor, maker of the statue did a good job at expressing the ruler’s personality and his hate for others. : : Should the mankind and People & Rulers of the Nations always remember the ideas contended by Shelley’s Sonnet. : : : :

Notes for each of the 14 lines pending visit this post again later on to enjoy the appreciation of the poem V Jayaraj Pune India December 15 , 2022 : : : : : : : :

Television : Ronald Dahl : :

Roald Dahl
Television

The most important thing we’ve learned,
So far as children are concerned, 2
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set – 4
Or better still, just don’t install
The idiotic thing at all. 6
In almost every house we’ve been,
We’ve watched them gaping at the screen. 8
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out. 10
(Last week in someone’s place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.) 12
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they’re hypnotised by it, 14
Until they’re absolutely drunk
With all that shocking ghastly junk. 16
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don’t climb out the window sill, 18
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch 20
And wash the dishes in the sink –
But did you ever stop to think, 22
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot? 24
IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD! 26
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND 28
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND! 30
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE! 32
HE CANNOT THINK – HE ONLY SEES! 33
‘All right! ‘ you’ll cry. ‘All right! ‘ you’ll say,
‘But if we take the set away, 34
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain! ‘ 36
We’ll answer this by asking you,
‘What used the darling ones to do? 38
‘How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented? ‘ 40
Have you forgotten? Don’t you know?
We’ll say it very loud and slow: 42
THEY… USED… TO… READ! They’d READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed 44
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books! 46
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor! 48
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read! 50
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales 52
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,54
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants, 56
And cannibals crouching ’round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot. 58
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it’s Penelope.) 60
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter, 62
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and- 64
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How the Monkey Lost His Rump, 68
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There’s Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole- 70
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago! 72
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away, 74
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall. 76
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks, 78
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks- 80
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two 82
Of having nothing else to do,
They’ll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read. 84
And once they start – oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy 86
That fills their hearts. They’ll grow so keen
They’ll wonder what they’d ever seen 88
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean, 90
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid 92
Will love you more for what you did. 93

“Television”By Ronald Dahl is about the Perils of Television and pinpointing to salvage the children from being ruined lost or harmed. The hideous risks include a child’s brain- melting and loss of h(is)er desire to understand the world. Parents are appealed earnestly to do whatever they can to get their kids away from the Television. Parents are suggested to install a lovely bookshelf on the wall in place of the Television and fill the shelves with lots of books. The Speaker promises that in about a week or two , they will begin to feel the need of having something to read and that will slowly but surely fill their hearts with growing joy. And , later , each and every kid will love you more for what you did in their real good interest.

Notes for each of the 47 Couplets in 93+ 1 =94 lines Pending visit this post again later on to enjoy the appreciation of the poem V Jayaraj Pune India December 14 , 2022 : : : : : : : :

You May Turn Over and Begin : Simone Armitage : : School Poems : :

**Born: May 26, 1963 (age 59) Huddersfield England**
**Title / Office: poet laureate (2019)**
**Notable Works: “Book of Matches” “Kid” “Killing Time” “Tyrannosaurus Rex Versus the Corduroy Kid”**
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**Simon Armitage**
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**Simon Armitage**
**British poet, playwright, and novelist**
**Alternate titles: Simon Robert Armitage**
**By Pat Bauer Edit History**
Simon Armitage, in full Simon Robert Armitage, (born May 26, 1963, Huddersfield, Yorkshire [now in Kirklees], England), British poet, playwright, and novelist whose poetry is attuned to modern life and vernacular language and has been regarded as both accessible and revelatory. His works were widely anthologized and have been broadly popular. In 2019 Armitage became poet laureate of Great Britain.

His work combines wry colloquialism and humour with frequent poignancy, treating such perennial subjects as death, violence, and lost love with directness and wit.But he believes that a poet’s life is more than just words – Armitage insists that his life is fulfilled through teaching and taking poetry around the world. often darkly comic poetry is influenced by the work of Ted Hughes, W.H. Auden, and Philip Larkin.
Armitage grew up in the West Yorkshire village of Marsden, where his father was active in amateur theatre. Armitage wrote his first poem as a school assignment. He studied geography at Portsmouth Polytechnic (now the University of Portsmouth), from which he graduated in 1984. Four years later he earned a master’s degree in social work from the Victoria University of Manchester (now the University of Manchester), and he subsequently found work as a probation officer. At the same time, he wrote poetry, and his first collection, Zoom!, appeared in 1989. It garnered immediate notice and was followed by the 1992 poem-film Xanadu. By 1994 Armitage was able to resign his job and focus on a writing career. : : : : : 10 Best Poems By Simone Armitage Can be recommended for reading Are listed as HERE In BELOW: : : : : : : : : 1) Poem 2) A Vision 3) I say I say I say 4) You May Turn Over And Begin 5) The Shout 6) Chainsaw Versus The Pampas Grass 7) To his lost lover 8) About His Person 9) The Catch 10) Give : : To discover more of Simon Armitage’s poetry, the readers are recommend to see , excellent “Paper Aeroplane: Selected Poems” **1989-2014**

.

You May Turn Over and Begin : Simone Armitage : :
“Which of these films was Dirk Bogarde
not in? One hundredweight of bauxite 2

makes how much aluminium?
how many tales in ‘The Decameron’?” 4

General Studies, the upper sixth, a doddle, a cinch
for anyone with an ounce of common sense 6

or a calculator
with a memory feature.8

Having galloped through but not caring enough
to check or double-check, I was dreaming of 10

milk-white breasts and nakedness, or more specifically
virginity. 12

That term – everybody felt the heat
but the girls were having none of it: 14

long and cool like cocktails,
out of reach, their buns and pigtails 16

only let out for older guys with studded jackets
and motor-bikes and spare helmets. 18

One jot of consolation
was the tall spindly girl riding pillion 20

on her man’s new Honda
who, with the lights at amber, 22

put down both feet and stood to stretch her limbs,
to lift the visor and push back her fringe 24

and to smooth her tight jeans.
As he pulled off down the street 26

she stood there like a wishbone,
high and dry, her legs wide open, 28

and rumour has it he didn’t notice
til he came round in the ambulance 30

having underbalanced on a tight 31 left-hander. 32
‘A Taste of Honey’. Now I remember.Source: “Words and Music: Memory”, BBC Radio 3. Originally Aired: Sun 22 Feb 2015 : : For Educational purposes only. : :

“You May Turn Over And Begin”, the most read “School Poem” By Simone Armitage , is about Teenagers , Adolescence, Sexual desires ,and Sitting the General Studies. : : A person is sitting an exam on the subject of General Studies and we come to know about his utterance that reveals his inner self. We in India know how an examination hall Supervisor tells the candidates with his vigilant eyeing look , ” You May Turn Over And Begin” : That’s the Title of this everything else said are the thoughts of the Speaker. The Speaker sits the exam hall and thinks deeply on the questions asked in the paper.His other thoughts are also conveyed as he completes with the answers. : : : : : : : :

The Poet has not clarified a gender/ sexuality of the Speaker referable in the 1 ST Person only, within / through anyone of the 16 Couplets written as the speech or as monologues of the Speaker as well as in his thoughts expressed.

“One jot of consolation
was the tall spindly girl riding pillion 20

on her man’s new Honda
who, with the lights at amber, 22

put down both feet and stood to stretch her limbs,
to lift the visor and push back her fringe 24

and to smooth her tight jeans.
As he pulled off down the street 26

she stood there like a wishbone,
high and dry, her legs wide open,” 28

In the Couplets 10 Through 14 ( lines 19 To 28 ) the tall spindly , that is long and lean girl riding pillion on her man’s new Honda motor -bike, has been described by her feet , stretched limbs ,fringe , tight jeans, high & dry wide open legs. : Which conveys her sexuality significantly ; she must be a teenager girl as evident in lines 24 To 27 ( also because of the structure of poem is in 16 Couplets ), and would spread story like a rumour , referable in lines 29/30 of 15 Th Couplet. We learn that she dresses with elaborate care. : Some of the thoughts of the Speaker are very personalized as expressed in lines 10 To 14 of the 5 Th , 6 TH & 7 TH Couplets which also convey his sexuality.

One may find that the spindly girl in tight jeans is very anxious and comic in her elaborate care of dressing as a pillion rider on her man’s Honda motor – bike. Having expressed thoughts and monologues conveying man’s and teenager girl’s Sexuality while taking the General Studies Exam Paper which is merely memory calling and may run off as seemingly wasteful and thriftless; unproductive and unappreciative. : : : : : : : :

“You May Turn Over And Begin “, A School Poem By Simone Armitage , Information Appreciation and poem Analysis Presented by V Jayaraj Pune India December 13, 2022 : : : : : : : :

The School in August : Philip Larkin : : School Poems : :

**Philip Larkin (August 9 , 1922 , Coventry , England- December 2 , 1985 , died 63 years ,** **At Kingston Upper Hul England** , **Cottingham municipal Cemetery ) Photograph By** **Fay Godwin (1970) : :**

**“The cloakroom pegs are empty” now**,
**And “locked the classroom door” : “The hollow desks are lined with dust,**
**And slow across the floor”. ..**

**“A sunbeam creeps between the chairs**
**Till the sun shines no more.”**

**“Doors locked , classroom desk is empty now , the hollow , lined with dust”**

**Ah ! No ink in Inkpot , empty now !! : : Remembering the Students in the past. ..**

**Tina’s Fountain pen is empty , Making INK** **With Magi**c **letters** .. .

**Tina wants to fill up the Inkpot & her empty Fountain pen** **with fresh INK : : Who is 67 now , who has used a Fountain pen in his School years !?**

**And Dipping into the Fresh INK Blue to write a letter to me. .. !?**

**A Young Girl Practising Piano with Notes of Music: A Painting.**

**“Who practiced this 🎹 Piano , Whose notes are now so still ?” : Old Vintage Piano & Notes of Music , lying on its Keys.**

**A Piano 🎹 With it’s Player’s bench lying unattended in the Piano Room for Music in the School , now observing a Summer holidays/ Vacation: As seen by A Music Teacher** **: lonely & sad , without any sound of music!**

**“And even swimming groups can fade,**
**Games mistresses turn grey” : A lonely Ageing Teacher before the empty classroo**m **during the August / Summer Holidays / Vacation**

**And seniors grow tomorrow**
**From the juniors today, : The Youth attaining maturity looking high up in the Sky with more learnings and an Advancement**

“The School In August” Written in 1943 , A School Poem , By Philip Larkin is about a School.

The School In August : : By Philip Larkin : :
The cloakroom pegs are empty now,
And locked the classroom door,
The hollow desks are lined with dust,
And slow across the floor
A sunbeam creeps between the chairs
Till the sun shines no more.

Who did their hair before this glass?
Who scratched ‘Elaine loves Jill’
One drowsy summer sewing-class
With scissors on the sill?
Who practised this piano
Whose notes are now so still?

Ah, notices are taken down,
And scorebooks stowed away,
And seniors grow tomorrow
From the juniors today,
And even swimming groups can fade,
Games mistresses turn grey. — Philip Larkin : :

” School In August” Written in 1943 , A School Poem , one of his best of his Poems of 20s. By Philip Larkin is about the School which is empty , unused , and closed during the quiet days of school holidays in the drowsy summer. : : : :

Stanza 1 : : “The School In August : : By Philip Larkin : :
The cloakroom pegs are empty now, 1
And locked the classroom door, 2
The hollow desks are lined with dust, 3
And slow across the floor 4
A sunbeam creeps between the chairs 5
Till the sun shines no more.”6 : : : : lines 1 To 6 : : : :

The closed School is described by the Speaker / Now, Ageing Teacher ( by One More Year ).: the Classroom doors are locked. ( As in line 2 )”The cloakroom pegs are empty”( line 1 ), Meaning , a room where outdoor clothings are placed” are empty ,as no students are in the school for their day-long stay. Pegs are such places for a temporary storage. “The hollow desks are lined with dust” , Meaning, the desks assigned to the students for writing and the drawers / shelf ( shelves alongside in lines) below the writing surface are hollow, that is the cavities are devoid of the satchels , hence look vacuous : “lined with dust” ( line 3 ) : ” A sunbeam creeps between the chairs , Till the sun shines no more ( lines 5 & 6 ) : Here , line 5 is the examples of ‘Personification’ : ( because A sunbeam is described by the Speaker / Ageing Teacher, with its crawling / dragging its body spreading between the chairs/ benches for study , “on slow across the floor” of the closed classroom : like some small animal on locomotion on hands & knees ) & line 6 is an example of ‘Pathetic Fallacy’: ( pathetic fallacy is the fallacy , i.e. false belief due to incorrect reasoning ,of attributing human feelings to inanimate objects ; here , “the sun shines no more”is an example of pathetic fallacy. : : All these observations & feelings of the Speaker / Ageing Teacher create lame , boring and dull time , as well as, give lonely and sad feeling and add to the atmosphere of the poem’s quietness. The word “empty” and ” slow across the floor” create the lonely, blank and unfilled feelings of less vibrancy. : : : :

Stanza 2 : : “Who did their hair before this glass? 7
Who scratched ‘Elaine loves Jill’ 8
One drowsy summer sewing-class 9
With scissors on the sill? 10
Who practised this piano 11
Whose notes are now so still?” 12: : : : lines 7 To 12 : : : :

There are some signs listed here in Stanza 2 : that have been still traceable in the scene of activities : For example , , someone’s hair are still there before the mirror. Someone scratched / cut the surface with scissors during one drowsy summer sewing,-class . And some 🎹 Piano notes are lying all the same without any change , but surely out of a piano – practice.: The aforesaid examples express non moving silence or calm ; inactivity and inattentive boredom and slow down. : : : :

Stanza 3 : : “Ah, notices are taken down, 13
And scorebooks stowed away, 14
And seniors grow tomorrow 15
From the juniors today, 16
And even swimming groups can fade, 17
Games mistresses turn grey.”18 : : : : lines 13 To 18 : : : :

The last remarks made in the last stanza are : “notices are taken down” ( line 13 ) & “And scorebooks stowed away.” ( line 14 ) : One more academic year has ended with a start of intervening Summer holidays / Vacation. Because the time is sleeping away to a new start of studies and teachings and learning activities , with the juniors becoming senior , by one more year, and also , some new entrants of students , will be joining, from the next session. Hence , the Noticeboards are no more required to retain the old notifications , news of activities, Etc. Similarly , scorebooks of the marks and grades earned by the students of the previous classes have become history and are “stowed away” , Meaning , packed in to a bundle tightly or filed as past records. : :

The youths are attaining maturity : “seniors grow from the juniors” , as if “Tomorrow is grown from Today”: ( lines 15 & 16 ) : that is very quickly. It’s a fleeting glance by The lonely Speaker / Teacher, who has to experience the sleeping away of the ‘Time’ to turn to Ageing. As in the last lines of the poem, ” even swimming groups can fade,” ( line 17 ) “Games mistresses turn grey” ( line 18 ) : : Meaning , life is always going forward, like some Sporty Games the participant Groups of which can fade , that is , they will become less visible , disappear gradually or seemingly. The Strict Schoolmistress ( yes , She is Strict Teacher ) , that is why She has noticed the things and atmosphere in the School , during the August Vacation of Holidays, Changes from the activities To Inactivity and Slow down as well as Stillness and Silence ; From Vibrancy To lifelessness and emergent loneliness & boredom which she senses in the School , as well as , within herself. As the juniors becoming seniors, likewise , she has also grown and has become older by One more year ( her hairs ) “turn grey” ( line 18 ) : : : : : : : :

“The School In August” , A School Poem , By Philip Larkin : Information Appreciation and poem Analysis Presented by V Jayaraj Pune India December 12 , 2022 : : : : : : : :

Ageing Schoolmaster : Vernon Scannell : ( 1 ) : : Narrative Video ( Poem Reading ) : Vernon Scannell : ( 2 ) : : School Poems : :

**Vernon Scannell ( born January 23 , 1922 , At Spilsby, Lincolnshire, – died November 16 , 2007 , Aged 85 , West Yorkshire , England : Studied University of** **Leeds ,Spouse : Joe Higson , Painter : :** He received the Heinemann Award for Literature in 1961 for an early poetry volume, The Masks of Love,[6] and the Cholmondeley Award for poetry in 1974. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1960 and granted a Civil List pension in recognition of his services to literature in 1981. : : Known for the sturdy metrical pace and structure with combination of mordancy and a sense of mortality”in his Poetry. John Carey, the critic commented: “Scannell nearly always works on two levels, one realistic and external, the other imaginative, metaphorical, haunted by memory and desire. A master of the dramatic monologue, his work is drenched in humanity. It resounds with memories.” Scannell also wrote the verse narration for BBC Television film A House that Died. : : He also received a special award from the Wilfred Owen Association “in recognition of his contribution to war poetry”.: : Scannell’s best-known book of war poetry is Walking Wounded (1965). The title poem recollects a column of men returning from battle: “No one was suffering from a lethal hurt, They were not magnified by noble wounds, There was no splendour in that company.” : : Scannell is also the author of a memoir, The Tiger and the Rose (1983) : : Historian Martin Johnes has used Scannell’s 1951 novel The Fight to explore racial attitudes in 1950s Britain. He argues that its depictions of reactions to a black boxer illustrate the diversity of racial attitudes, including outright racism, better than contemporary sociological studies where private assumptions and thoughts were hidden. : : Scannell spent the final years of his life living in Otley, West Yorkshire, where he died at his home at the age of 85 after a long illness.

https://youtu.be/egSzMzr66_w

Ageing Schoolmaster : : By Vernon Scannell :

And now another autumn morning finds me
With chalk dust on my sleeve and in my breath,
Preoccupied with vague, habitual speculation
On the huge inevitability of death.

Not wholly wretched, yet knowing absolutely
That I shall never reacquaint myself with joy,
I sniff the smell of ink and chalk and my mortality
And think of when I rolled, a gormless boy,

And rollicked round the playground of my hours,
And wonder when precisely tolled the bell
Which summoned me from summer liberties
And brought me to this chill autumnal cell

From which I gaze upon the april faces
That gleam before me, like apples ranged on shelves,
And yet I feel no pinch or prick of envy
Nor would I have them know their sentenced selves.

With careful effort I can separate the faces,
The dull, the clever, the various shapes and sizes,
But in the autumn shades I find I only
Brood upon death, who carries off all the prizes.

— Vernon Scannell

” Ageing School Master : : Written On November 23 , 2007 , A School Poem By Vernon Scannell ( 1922 – 2007 ) is , about the Poet’s unavoidable Own death. He was stricken with throat cancer, emphysema and much else, and had been bedridden for some months. : : In this Poem , The chalk and the board and the classroom with his own mortality, are consociated with each September bringing him closer to the grave . But he sees the ‘April faces’ of the young schoolchildren have their whole lives ahead of them. : : At the end of the poem, The Poet says , ” But in the Autumn shades I find I find only, Brood upon death , who carries off all the prizes ” : The Thoughts and Feelings of An Approaching Death , comes in to his viewing constantly and in a looming way; often habitually telling to himself “On the huge inevitability of death”: : : :

Notes for each of the 5 Stanzas Pending visit this post again later on to enjoy the appreciation of the poem V Jayaraj Pune India December 11 , 2022 : : : : : : : :

Among School Children : W B Yeats : : School Poems : :

**William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) is one of the greatest of all Irish poets. His first collection, Crossways, appeared in 1889 in his Mind 20s under the influence of Romanticism**.. : : His Creative Innovations came with modernism in the early decades of the 20 Th century. : He retained traditional Verses & Rhymes , but reflected relationships & indirect references, in more concise way and forcefully. His 1927 poem ‘Sailing to Byzantium’, about growing old, show a thoughtful and contemplative poet whose imagery and references resist easy exegesis ( with Biblical & critical interpretations. ) : However , he focussed on his Readers who would locate his poetry moving out from T. S. Eliot’s & Ezra Pound’s Works. : Throughout much of his life, a woman named Maud Gonne was his muse. Yeats asked her to marry him several times, but she always refused. She knew she could be of more use to him as a muse than as a wife or lover. Yeats was in favour of Irish independence but, in poems such as ‘Easter 1916’ which respond to the Easter Rising, he reveals himself to be uneasy with the violent and drastic political and military methods of many Irish Persons. : **He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923. : : Years died in 1939. : :**

Among School Children
BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS
I

I walk through the long schoolroom questioning;
A kind old nun in a white hood replies;
The children learn to cipher and to sing,
To study reading-books and history,
To cut and sew, be neat in everything
In the best modern way—the children’s eyes
In momentary wonder stare upon
A sixty-year-old smiling public man.

II

I dream of a Ledaean body, bent
Above a sinking fire, a tale that she
Told of a harsh reproof, or trivial event
That changed some childish day to tragedy—
Told, and it seemed that our two natures blent
Into a sphere from youthful sympathy,
Or else, to alter Plato’s parable,
Into the yolk and white of the one shell.

III

And thinking of that fit of grief or rage
I look upon one child or t’other there
And wonder if she stood so at that age—
For even daughters of the swan can share
Something of every paddler’s heritage—
And had that colour upon cheek or hair,
And thereupon my heart is driven wild:
She stands before me as a living child.

IV

Her present image floats into the mind—
Did Quattrocento finger fashion it
Hollow of cheek as though it drank the wind
And took a mess of shadows for its meat?
And I though never of Ledaean kind
Had pretty plumage once—enough of that,
Better to smile on all that smile, and show
There is a comfortable kind of old scarecrow.

V

What youthful mother, a shape upon her lap
Honey of generation had betrayed,
And that must sleep, shriek, struggle to escape
As recollection or the drug decide,
Would think her son, did she but see that shape
With sixty or more winters on its head,
A compensation for the pang of his birth,
Or the uncertainty of his setting forth?

VI

Plato thought nature but a spume that plays
Upon a ghostly paradigm of things;
Solider Aristotle played the taws
Upon the bottom of a king of kings;
World-famous golden-thighed Pythagoras
Fingered upon a fiddle-stick or strings
What a star sang and careless Muses heard:
Old clothes upon old sticks to scare a bird.

VII

Both nuns and mothers worship images,
But those the candles light are not as those
That animate a mother’s reveries,
But keep a marble or a bronze repose.
And yet they too break hearts—O Presences
That passion, piety or affection knows,
And that all heavenly glory symbolise—
O self-born mockers of man’s enterprise;

VIII

Labour is blossoming or dancing where
The body is not bruised to pleasure soul,
Nor beauty born out of its own despair,
Nor blear-eyed wisdom out of midnight oil.
O chestnut tree, great rooted blossomer,
Are you the leaf, the blossom or the bole?
O body swayed to music, O brightening glance,
How can we know the dancer from the dance?
W. B. Yeats, “Among School Children” from The Poems of W. B. Yeats: A New Edition, edited by Richard J. Finneran. : Source: The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats (1989) : : From poetryfoundation.org : : For Educational purposes only. : :

“Among School Children” A School Poem / Childhood Poem, is about a visit made by the ageing Yeats to a convent school in Waterford, Ireland in February 1926. As a Senator, & his private thoughts. : We learn from this poem that, although old age brings a decline from the beauty and freshness of youth, the speaker comes to see life as a harmonious whole—meaning that every moment has its own source of happiness and payoff & honour. : : : :

Notes for each of the I To VIII Stanzas Pending visit this post again later on to enjoy the appreciation of the poem V Jayaraj Pune India December 10 , 2022 : : : : : : : :

In Mrs Tilscher’s Class : Carol Ann Duffy : : Childhood : :

**Dame**
**Carol Ann Duffy**
**DBE FRSL**
**Carol Ann Duffy ( born December 23 , 1955 , 65 years : At Glasgow , U. K.**
**Duffy in June 2009**
**Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom**
**In office**
**1 May 2009 – 10 May 2019** : preceded by Andrew Motion : succeeded by Simon Armitage. : : Alma Mater University of Liverpool : B. A. (Honours ( Philosophy ) : Poet & Playwright: Dame Carol Ann Duffy DBE FRSL HonFBA HonFRSE , is a Scottish Poet and Playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2009, resigning in 2019. She was the first female poet, the first Scottish-born poet and the first openly gay poet to hold the Poet Laureate position. : : Her collections include Standing Female Nude (1985), winner of a Scottish Arts Council Award; Selling Manhattan (1987), which won a Somerset Maugham Award; Mean Time (1993), which won the Whitbread Poetry Award; and Rapture (2005), which won the T. S. Eliot Prize. Her poems address issues such as oppression, gender, and violence in accessible language. : : She was a passionate reader from an early age, and always wanted to be a writer, producing poems from the age of 11. When one of her English teachers died, she wrote: :

**You sat on your desk,**
**swinging your legs,**
**reading a poem by Yeats**
**to the bored girls,**
**except my heart stumbled and blushed**
**as it fell in love with the words and I saw the tree**
**in the scratched old desk under my hands,**
**heard the bird in the oak outside scribble itself on the air**

Some days, although we cannot pray, a prayer
utters itself. So, a woman will lift
her head from the sieve of her hands and stare
at the minims sung by a tree, a sudden gift.

Some nights, although we are faithless, the truth
enters our hearts, that small familiar pain;
then a man will stand stock-still, hearing his youth
in the distant Latin chanting of a train.
— Dame Carroll Ann Duffy :
From “Prayer”,
Mean Time, Anvil, 1994

In Mrs Tilscher’s Class
Carol Ann Duffy

You could travel up the Blue Nile
with your finger, tracing the route
while Mrs Tilscher chanted the scenery.
Tana. Ethiopia. Khartoum. Aswân.
That for an hour, then a skittle of milk
and the chalky Pyramids rubbed into dust.
A window opened with a long pole.
The laugh of a bell swung by a running child.

This was better than home. Enthralling books.
The classroom glowed like a sweet shop.
Sugar paper. Coloured shapes. Brady and Hindley
faded, like the faint, uneasy smudge of a mistake.
Mrs Tilscher loved you. Some mornings, you found
she’d left a good gold star by your name.
The scent of a pencil slowly, carefully, shaved.
A xylophone’s nonsense heard from another form.

Over the Easter term, the inky tadpoles changed
from commas into exclamation marks. Three frogs
hopped in the playground, freed by a dunce,
followed by a line of kids, jumping and croaking
away from the lunch queue. A rough boy
told you how you were born. You kicked him, but stared
at your parents, appalled, when you got back home.

That feverish July, the air tasted of electricity.
A tangible alarm made you always untidy, hot,
fractious under the heavy, sexy sky. You asked her
how you were born and Mrs Tilscher smiled,
then turned away. Reports were handed out.
You ran through the gates, impatient to be grown,
as the sky split open into a thunderstorm.

from The Other Country (Picador, 1990) : : From scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk

“In Mrs. Tilcher’s Class” , A Childhood Poem, drawn from Duffy’s own experience , is about a loving Teacher in real and a young child’s positive memories while growing up within a nurturing environment of primary environment. Duffy uses different times of year to represent the stages in the child’s journey towards adulthood. Mrs Tilscher seems to protect the children from the unwholesome ( detrimental to physical or moral wellbeing ) world outside but it does not live on continuously. The students , on verge of adulthood leave Mrs. Tilcher’s Class behind, and move forward to undergo modern awareness and sense datum. : : : :

Notes for each of the 4 Stanzas Pending visit this post again later on to enjoy the appreciation of the poem V Jayaraj Pune India December 9, 2022 : : : : : : : :

First Day at School : Roger McGough : : Childhood Poems : :

Roger Joseph McGough CBE FRSL (/məˈɡɒf/; born 9 November 1937 : : Age 85 ) ) is an English poet, performance poet, broadcaster, children’s author and playwright. He presents the BBC Radio 4 programme Poetry Please, as well as performing his own poetry. McGough was one of the leading members of the Liverpool poets, a group of young poets influenced by Beat poetry and the popular music and culture of 1960s Liverpool. He is an honorary fellow of Liverpool John Moores University, fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and President of the Poetry Society. : : B. A. French & Geography: Alma Mater: University of Hull : Notable awards
**OBE 1997; CBE 2004;Cholmondeley Award** 1998

Clockwise from top: Sperry Top-Sider, Le Chameau, Jeantex, Aigle, Gill, Helly-Hansen and Newport short and tall rubber sailing wellingtons. : : Refer to “Yellow Wellies” , Wellington Gum boots useful when there is puddles” The Speaker Child speaks in lines 23 To 25 : on his ” First Day At School ” A childhood Poem By Roger McGough.

**Portrait by Thomas Lawrence, c. 1815-16 : :**
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom : : Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of the United Kingdom. He is among the commanders who won and ended the Napoleonic Wars when the coalition defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

**Field Marshal His Grace**
**The Duke of Wellington**
**KG GCB GCH PC FRS**

The Duke of Wellington at Waterloo. By James Lonsdale, 1815. Here he is portrayed wearing tasselled Hessian boots : Originally a type of leather boot adapted from Hessian boots, a style of military riding boot. By 1813, and the victory at the Battle of Vittoria, Wellington’s fame led others to start wearing this new style of boot. The name was subsequently given to waterproof boots made of rubber.Now commonly used for a range of agricultural and outdoors pursuits : : Original Wellington Boots!? Useful in the leadway /Waterloo Battlefield which was flooded with rain & black coal – dust Mud. :

**Nursery teacher and new comers & older children having a fun at ease in K. G. Group.**

**Teacher At Montessori School helping Reading To Children**

**Allowing Friendship Or Fun !? In the school. The boy hods a girl by the pigtail and makes a face :**

**A school – boy wearing “Yellow Wellies” : The Gum boots “useful when there is puddles” !?**

Calm funny toddler baby girl 2 years old in yellow raincoat walking on the asphalt road in raining day. Stylish girl is wearing yellow waterproof jacket and yellow rubber ( gum ) boots to play outside.

First Day At School : : By Roger MC Gough : :

A millionbillionwillion miles from home
Waiting for the bell to go. (To go where?)
Why are they all so big, other children?
So noisy? So much at home they
Must have been born in uniform
Lived all their lives in playgrounds
Spent the years inventing games
That don’t let me in. Games
That are rough, that swallow you up.

And the railings.
All around, the railings.
Are they to keep out wolves and monsters?
Things that carry off and eat children?
Things you don’t take sweets from?
Perhaps they’re to stop us getting out
Running away from the lessins. Lessin.
What does a lessin look like?
Sounds small and slimy.
They keep them in the glassrooms.
Whole rooms made out of glass. Imagine.

I wish I could remember my name
Mummy said it would come in useful.
Like wellies. When there’s puddles.
Yellowwellies. I wish she was here.
I think my name is sewn on somewhere
Perhaps the teacher will read it for me.
Tea-cher. The one who makes the tea.

“First Day At School” , A light-hearted Childhood Poem By Roger McGough , is about a Child’s First Day At School , his new experience, baffling confusions, and misunderstanding dealt by him , presented with funny misspelt wordings due to a child’s wrong pronouncing. He doesn’t know how to fit in with older students. : : : :

Stanza 1 : : : : A millionbillionwillion miles from home 1
Waiting for the bell to go. (To go where?) 2
Why are they all so big, other children? 3
So noisy? So much at home they 4
Must have been born in uniform 5
Lived all their lives in playgrounds 6
Spent the years inventing games 7
That don’t let me in. Games 8
That are rough, that swallow you up.” 9 : : : : lines 1 To 9 : : : :

The poem begins with a nonsense word, “millionbillionwillion.” ( line 1 ) : A Kid has a difficulty in dealing with distances, time, uniforms , and what the other children are like , their roughness, Etc. : For example , he faces questions like : “To go where?”, “Why are the other children all so big ?”, ” So noisy?” , “Were they born in uniform ? “, “Did they spend the years inventing games ?”: ( lines 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , & 7 ) : : He has his own suppositions as answers to few questions, but remains confused about understanding many more. It is uneasy for his appraising eyes when he says, “so much at home they”: : He wants to be a part of the games the other children play , but is not sure how he could be let in by them and he supposes that the rough mannered children might “swallow up” him if he tries. : : : :

Stanza 2 : : “And the railings. 11
All around, the railings. 12
Are they to keep out wolves and monsters?13
Things that carry off and eat children? 14
Things you don’t take sweets from? 15
Perhaps they’re to stop us getting out 16
Running away from the lessins. Lessin. 17
What does a lessin look like? 18
Sounds small and slimy. 19
They keep them in the glassrooms. 20
Whole rooms made out of glass. Imagine.” 21

His love for raising questions has continued, likewise : : ” Are the all around railings to keep out wolves and monsters ?”, ” Things that carry off and eat children ?”, Or, “Things you don’t take sweets from ?”, “What does the lessins look like ?” ( lines 11 To 15 ), He supposes that the railings are kept in the school to stop the children getting out, and isn’t he right !? He supposes that the lessins sounds like “small” ( that is , little and not in many ) and “slimy” ( that is , slippery , ugli & worthless ) , and isn’t he partly right!? His fantasy about the railings to keep the wolves and monsters out so that they wouldn’t eat up children ( As in line 13 , 14 , & 15 ) is laughable but seriously required by them to ensure their safety & security. Obviously , the lessins are untouchables to them. So they value these as worthless ( As in lines 17 , 18 , & 19 ) and keep these untouchables in the “glassroom”( line 20 ) Atleast , he has perhaps heard that the lessins are given in glassroom, and he is right except for the misspellings. Afterall , he doesn’t understand what a ‘class’ is ( So, he isn’t classy ! ) ; but ofcourse he knows ‘glass’, and so calls it glassroom : An area made entirely with the glass !? How beautiful & innovative concept ! ( Hey, Any take ? dear School Owners !? ) : Don’t we hear from so called super intelligent , wise observers , here & there , who tell even publically that they find our present day Education, in the old traditions of the system of Schools, Etc. As useless or worthless, and are concerned with actual use or practice !? Our newcomer child is still inexperienced and so imaginative about the stay he is required , for his learnings & educations to become something important. : : : :

Stanza 3 : : “I wish I could remember my name 22
Mummy said it would come in useful. 23
Like wellies. When there’s puddles. 24
Yellowwellies. I wish she was here. 25
I think my name is sewn on somewhere 26
Perhaps the teacher will read it for me. 27
Tea-cher. The one who makes the tea.” 28 : : : : : : lines 22 To 28 : : : :

Our child has been told perhaps by his Mummy that there will be a Teacher in the classroom who would help him as his Mummy will not be with her. He calls his teacher , as Tea-cher, “The one who makes the tea.” ( line 28 ) Again, a misspelling , which is also with a word he calls as “Yellowwellies” ( line 25 ) : He believes that his “name is sewn on somewhere”: Many children doesn’t remember the real name calling for him / her/ them. No brawling with me / or with them please. Afterall , We all have started with a practice of byname & nickname by which the children have been called upon every now and then, by everybody , known & unknown ; that have dubbed and redubbed sounding recorded on the minds of our children; And you can’t undub the same. . . And then , they are instructed to tell us real name , a longer version which plainly , a small child would not remember. The same thing is happening with our hero Kid who says , ” I wish I could remember my name , Mummy said it would come in useful.. . I wish she was here”( line 22 , 23 & 25 ) : : What , why & how is this “useful” !? Our child answers : ” Like wellies. When there is puddles. YellowWellies,” ( lines 24 & 25 ) : “Wellies”are high boots/ gum boots , made of rubber , also called ‘Wellington Boot(s)’ : ( Even before his great victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, Wellington was on his way to becoming a fashion icon. They duly became known as ‘Wellingtons’. They were worn and popularised by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.The name was subsequently given to waterproof boots made of rubber.Now being useful , used especially in rain or mud. ) : : The too many images & confusions set up in the School , have deluged or flooded out the mind of Our child who has come for his studies On his ” First Day At School” and submerged with uncontrollable emotions filled with too much sensory inputs. : Having admitted to have forgotten his own real Name , perhaps long & rarely heard in his, Age hardly of 150 Weeks ( For some 1 St. Standard entrant in India, up to 250 Weeks. ) : May be he has seen or has liked it , he could remember a name “‘Yellow Wellies’ useful when there is puddles “ ( line 25 : Sure, He doesn’t like “puddles” ) calling playfully as “YellowWellies” again by misspelling. : : Overwhelmed , by his ‘First Day Experience’ At the School , he does not remember where his name is sewn on somewhere” , but he surely supposes in his words, ” Perhaps the Tea-cher will read it for me.” ( line 27 ) : Because , “Tea-cher, the one who makes the tea.” ( line 28 ) : Our Hero , a small little Kid does take it to mean someone who makes Tea. : ( like his Mummy makes. And like Mummy , the Tea-cher will help him / her / them , in much awaited long Studies , as long as the real long Names , and Learnings & Actual Education ) : This Hilarious , Seriocomic and pleasing misunderstanding touches us , and makes disguised reference to really go a longway to go in their Actual Education. : : : : As aforesaid Child / like millions of Children being on his / her / their “First Day At School” , let us know from you , my dear serious, learned & high- hearted reader, your Esteemed Views on the always timely Questions , ” What do you think, Our Protagonist Children are going to learn , from their ” First Day At School”Onwards Through ‘The Most Useful Years Of Development’ ? ” Or will they have to be what is called the ” Fantasisers !?” : : Would they turn out into a Victorious Person , say , like ‘Duke Of Wellington’ & PM of U. K. twice ( Yes, U. K. Since 1801 , didn’t you know!? ) Or ultimately a looser King Of France, like ‘Napolian’ !? Always in fantasy of winning the whole world as then known to him, Or of teaching a lesson ( not ‘lessins’) : : And most importantly , Dear Teacher / Tea-cher. , Are you there to help your Nation’s child / Children for /and On his / her / their “First Day At School” Or will make fun of them with buffoonish remark(s) like a Clown !? : : : : : : : :

“First Day At School”, A Childhood Poem, By Roger McGough : :, Information Appreciation and poem Admiration V Jayaraj Pune India December 8 , 2022:: : : : : : :

Napoleon Bonaparte[a] (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 born on the island of Corsica – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I,: He was a French military commander and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led successful campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars. He was the de facto leader of the French Republic as First Consul from 1799 to 1804, then Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814 and again in 1815. : :A highly celebrated and controversial leader. : He initiated many liberal reforms that have persisted in society, and is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history, but between three and six million civilians and soldiers perished in what became known as the Napoleonic Wars : : The resurgent Napoleon’s strategy was to isolate the Anglo-allied and Prussian armies and annihilate each one separately. : : Napoleon breakfasted off silver plate at Le Caillou, the house where he had spent the night.Napoleon said, “Just because you have all been beaten by Wellington, you think he’s a good general. I tell you Wellington is a bad general, the English are bad troops, and this affair is nothing more than eating breakfast”. Napoleon’s seemingly dismissive remark may have been strategic, given his maxim “in war, morale is everything”.on the morning of the battle of Waterloo may have been responding to the pessimism and objections of his chief of staff and senior generals.

I Remember, I Remember : Thomas Hood : : Childhood Poems : :

Thomas Hood : Sitting in a Pin- Striped Chair. :An editor, publisher, poet, and humorist, Thomas Hood was born in London, the son of a bookseller. After his father died in 1811, Hood worked in a countinghouse until illness forced him to move to Dundee, Scotland, to recover with relatives. In 1818 he returned London to work as an engraver. : : In 1824 Hood married Jane Reynolds and collaborated on Odes and Addresses with his brother-in-law, J.H. Reynolds. Though he was known for his light verse and puns, Hood also depicted the working conditions of the poor in poems such as “Song of the Shirt,” about a seamstress, and “Song of the Labourer.” His publications include Whims and Oddities (1826 and 1827), National Tales (1827), a collection of stories, and The Plea of the Midsummer Fairies (1827). In the 1830s he traveled to continental Europe and lived with his family in Belgium, which provided inspiration for Up the Rhine (1840). Suffering from ill health and troubled finances, he received a grant from the Royal Literary Fund in 1841. : : Hood was associated with a number of magazines throughout his life: the London Magazine and New Monthly Magazine as an editor, and the Athenaeum as a contributor. He also published a magazine called Hood’s Own, or, Laughter from Year to Year and released the Comic Annual series. As a member of the London literary scene, he was familiar with Hartley Coleridge, Thomas De Quincy, William Hazlitt, Charles Lamb, and William Wordsworth. : : His poems include Friendly Address , Ruth , The sea of Death , Silence , Sonnet To Vauxhall , Etc. : :

I Remember, I Remember
BY THOMAS HOOD
I remember, I remember,
The house where I was born,
The little window where the sun
Came peeping in at morn;
He never came a wink too soon,
Nor brought too long a day,
But now, I often wish the night
Had borne my breath away!

I remember, I remember,
The roses, red and white,
The vi’lets, and the lily-cups,
Those flowers made of light!
The lilacs where the robin built,
And where my brother set
The laburnum on his birthday,—
The tree is living yet!

I remember, I remember,
Where I was used to swing,
And thought the air must rush as fresh
To swallows on the wing;
My spirit flew in feathers then,
That is so heavy now,
And summer pools could hardly cool
The fever on my brow!

I remember, I remember,
The fir trees dark and high;
I used to think their slender tops
Were close against the sky:
It was a childish ignorance,
But now ’tis little joy
To know I’m farther off from heav’n
Than when I was a boy.

Source: Poets of the English Language (Viking Press, 1950)

” I Remember , I Remember” , A Childhood Poem By Thomas Hood is about Nostalgia of the memory of childhood. Hood idolizes his ‘childish ignorance’, painting his memories with beautiful colors and images. Hood’s childhood was a time of great happiness, one which he is well aware that he cannot return to. : : It is just not only a reminiscence , but also as an escape from his painful Adult life. : : The poet describes his childhood memories. How the sun look out from his window , how . i.e in this poem he describes his memory . So the title I remember I remember is appropriate. : : : :

God forbade Adam and Eve to eat from in the Garden of Eden. Ignorance and innocence are held up as virtues. Socrates, was considered by the (divine) Delphic Oracle to be the wisest man in Athens because he knew how little he really knew.

Confucius also warned us not to get too overly self confident or self assertive. and start thinking we know it all, just because we know more. ‘I Remember, I Remember’ is a tenderly emotional expression of the same idea. : : : :

Stanza 1 : : “I remember, I remember, 1
The house where I was born, 2
The little window where the sun 3
Came peeping in at morn; 4
He never came a wink too soon, 5
Nor brought too long a day, 6
But now, I often wish the night 7
Had borne my breath away!” 8 : : : : lines 1 To 7 : : : :

About a gloomy change of the Poet’s Orientation. He recalled the little window of his bedroom in the childhood , where the Sun appear as though from hiding: ( “peeping in at morn;” : line 3 & 4 ) : : But , now sometimes wishes he had died before attaining adulthood ; Since then nothing in his life has matched his childhood joy. : ( ” But now , I often wish the night , Had borne my breath away ! ” : lines 7 & 8 ) : : : :

Stanza 2 : : “I remember, I remember, 9
The roses, red and white, 10
The vi’lets, and the lily-cups, 11
Those flowers made of light! 12
The lilacs where the robin built, 13
And where my brother set 14
The laburnum on his birthday,— 15
The tree is living yet!” 16: : : : lines 9 To 16 : : :

About many “flowers” ( violets, Lily -cups,lilacs , and those made of light ! ) the Poet remembers from his childhood days & laburnum tree set by his brother “on his birthday which is still “living yet ! ” : : : :

Stanza 3 “I remember, I remember, 17
Where I was used to swing, 18
And thought the air must rush as fresh 19
To swallows on the wing; 20
My spirit flew in feathers then, 21
That is so heavy now, 22
And summer pools could hardly cool 23
The fever on my brow!” 24 : : : :lines 17 To 24:

About playing on a “Swing” & the way he moved through the air in a light and carefree manner. ( ” thought the air must rush as fresh , To swallows on the wing” : lines 19 & 20 ) : : Fun and playing is a focus of the children. Since those days of childhood ,the Poet’s body and soul have become weighed down by various things (cares? worries? sins?) which did not trouble him as a boy. : : : :

Stanza 4 : : “I remember, I remember, 25
The fir trees dark and high; 26
I used to think their slender tops 27
Were close against the sky: 28
It was a childish ignorance, 29
But now ’tis little joy 30
To know I’m farther off from heav’n 31
Than when I was a boy.”32 : : : :lines 25 To 32:

About “dark and high” / tall “Fir” trees touching a Heaven / “slender tops close against the sky” ( lines 26 , 27 & 28 ) : : Although he , as an old and wise knows that the fir trees aren’t touching heaven in the sky, But , he misses his “childish ignorance” and feels “farther off from heav’n’ now than when I was a boy” : ( line 31 & 32 ) : : The knowledge and wisdom in older life come at the cost of the innocence which made him more godly and, thus, closer to heaven. : : : : Jubilance of Childhood ignorance And Sense of growing old and wise are thus romantically heralded by the 19 th Century Poet, Thomas Hood , remembered for this Childhood Poem , “I Remember, I Remember” : : Information Appreciation and poem Analysis Presented by V Jayaraj Pune India December 7 , 2022 : : : : : : : :