English Notes

Metaphysical Poetry is a style of poetry that has used complex figurative languages, paradoxes and philosophical approach. It has been originated in the 17th century in England having such features as intellectuality, sharp images, complications of spirit or religion. The poetry is rich in complexity or a combination of two dissimilar images. Imaginative figures had been taken from different fields of knowledge as History, Geography, Astronomy, Alchemy, Mathematics, etc. John Dryden was the first to use the term “Metaphysic” in his criticism. Samuel Johnson widely extended it to a group of poets. In “The Lives of The Poet”, Johnson stated that “about the beginning of the 17th century appeared a race of writers that may be termed the metaphysical poets”. Both John Dryden and Samuel Johnson had been used the term “Metaphysical” in a negative sense to criticize the poets. After that the term widely used by John Donne, Andrew Marvel, Henry Vaughan, George Herbert and Richard Crashaw. ...

Sweetest Love I Do Not Goe" is a metaphysical poem written by John Donne and published posthumously in 1633 in Songs and Sonnets. After boaring in life, It was written to comfort his wife Anne More, before leaving her on a journey. There are some important points to understand well in this love poem:-  Reason for Leaving his wife:- The speaker clarifies that he is not leaving because he is tired of her, nor is he looking for a better love anywhere. Instead, he views his temporary departure as a "feigned death" (a practice run) to prepare them for the ultimate or an unavoidable separation of actual death. Separation is also a type of spiritual death between wife and husband.  The Sun used as Metaphor in the stanzas:- He compares his journey to the daily cycle of the sun. Just as the sun sets every evening and rises again the next day, he promises to return. He adds that he would return even faster than the sun because he possesses human reason, desire, and the emotional ...

In Ancient time, less acceptable role of women in art and literature in the society. However, the exact attention of women towards addressing their issues throughout the words of literature gradually began. Around the world, womenism and feminism could have the immense influence in literature in the first half of 20th century. Although, in 1929 when author Virginia Woolf wrote A Room of One’s Own, stating, “Women and fiction remain, so far as I am concerned, unsolved problems”, the portrayal of women in literature remains a topic much discussed today. In order to evaluate how and why women are portrayed the way they are today, one must look at historical evidence of the roles of women in both society and literature, and how they have changed and modified over time. In Ancient Greece, women had a limited role in society, society could not had allowed them to walk freely, talk freely, work freely and this devaluation of women is reflected in the literature of the time.    ...

William Wordsworth was born in 1770 and died in 1850. He was an English poet and one of the best known figures of the Romantic period. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth wrote Lyrical Ballads, and the publication of this collection launched the Romantic Age in English literature in 1798. However, Wordsworth’s most important work is said to be The Prelude, a semi-autobiographical poem that he wrote in his youth. This poem was revised several times, and William Wordsworth worked on it during his whole life. The Prelude was published posthumously. As a central figure of the Romantic Movement, William Wordsworth focused his poetry on the personification of nature and its relationship with men. Moreover, his poems describe intense emotions; these are the main source of his aesthetic experience. Also, past and nature are meant to be glorified by the use of spontaneous language. ‘She Was a Phantom of Delight’ was written in 1803 and published in 1807. It is said that William Wordswor...

Train to Pakistan is a 1956 historical novel by Indian novelist Khushwant Singh.During  1947, partition of India that created the nations of Pakistan and India, it focuses on the way partition impacted the people on the ground. Focusing on the lives of ordinary citizens as they were torn from their homes, Train to Pakistan brings a human dimension to one of the bloodiest periods in the history of the two countries.  Before the 1947 partition, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs lived side by side, despite occasional conflict and violence. Partition set such religious and cultural differences in stone and families were forced to abandon their homes, moving to areas that were deemed safe for those of their religious belief. However, the resettlement process itself was filled with danger as extremist elements sought to take advantage of the chaos. These ad hoc evacuations took place on foot, via cart, and on crowded trains. As these refugees attempted to escape the violence, they would so...

  Karma, written by Khushwant Singh, an indian writer, politician and journalist. In his story, we have different perspectives like self-importance, heritage, control, insecurity, shame, identity and acceptance. Narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator the reader realises after reading the story that Singh may be exploring the theme of self-importance. Sir Mohan Lal considers himself to be better than others. Particularly other Indians. It is as though Lal has forgotten or abandoned his heritage and culture in favour of taking on the role of an Englishman. Though Lal has only spent five years in England he has adopted the ways of an Englishman and appears to be somewhat arrogant. Something that is noticeable by Lal’s desire to travel first class away from other Indians including his wife. Who does not appear to have adopted the same traits as her husband. If anything Lady Lal feels comfortable in her surroundings and does not seem to mind the position she finds herself i...

Death Be Not Proud " is included as a sonnet of 'Holy Sonnets: this sonnet the poet sings the glory and immortality of the soul, and the ultimate defeat of death. Demolishing the popular idea of death as a mighty and dreadful power, the poet says that it is not powerful as men think. It is rather a miserable slave, an agent of fate, chance, actions of wicked people, poison, wars, sickness and old age. It induces sleep but there are various other means like opium and drugs which give a better and gentler sleep. So death has no reason to be proud of its power. It can only make people sleep for a temporary period of time, and after sleep in the grave people shall wake up on the day of resurrection and live forever. Then death's jurisdiction comes to an end. Importantly, death does not kill human beings. It is actually death that dies, not the soul. Thus, the immortality of the soul is ensured.                 ...

As we all know that in the present era of transnational migration, the flow of the people among the different countries, convergence of the heterogeneous cultures, creolization of languages and hybridization of identities have broken the concept of fixity or absolute territoriality. Another thing that makes a difference in her work the intersection between the terriorialization and deterritorialization creates the 'third space' or liminality where the ‘cutting edge of translation and negotiation’ occurs. Therefore, the concepts of homeland and identity in this age of global migration form a complex framework. According to the critics like Homi K. Bhabha, Avtar Brah and Stuart Hall, the floating nature of home and fluid identity have replaced the age-old concepts of fixed ‘home’ and identity as well. The idea of ‘home’ evokes the spatial politics of home, the sense of self, its displacement, intimacy, exclusion and inclusion. The flow of the people across different countries bre...