An Autumn Scene: Walt Whitman

Lo, 'tis autumn,

Lo, where the trees, deeper green, yellower

redder,

Cool and sweeten Ohio's villages with leaves flut-

tering in the moderate wind,

Where apples ripe in the orchards hang and grapes

on the trellis'd vines,

(Smell you the smell of the grapes on the vines?

Smell you the buckwheat where the bees were

lately buzzing?)

Above all, lo, the sky so calm, so transparent after

the rain, and with wondrous clouds,

Below too, all calm, all vital and beautiful, and

the farm prospers well.

Summary: In this poem, 'An Autumn Scene', the poet Walt Whitman describes the beauty of autumn. An autumn is a very comfortable season. It brings comfort to all people. In autumn, the trees in the orchards become deeper green, yellower and redder with different kinds of fruits. There are ripe apples in the orchards of the villages and grapes in the grapevines. The sky is fully covered with wondrous clouds. It brings prosperity to all villagers. The poet explained it as a vital and beautiful season.

The Lake Isle of Innisfree: William Butler Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, 
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made: 
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee, 
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.

Summary: 'The Lake of Innisfree' is a very beautiful poem written by William Butler Yeats. In this poem we see that the poet wants to go to his own village which is near the coast of Ireland. He is very much impatient and desperate to go near the nature and enjoy the beauty of it. Though he lives in a city, his heart always remains in the village. He doesn't like the noise, pollution and everyday life of the city. In the deep of his heart, he can hear the water lapping with low sounds. He wants to built a small cabin, a hive for the honey bee and he wants to live alone in the bee loud glade.

The Mower: Sylvia Lynd

The rooks travelled home,

The milch cows went lowing,

And down in the meadow

An old man was mowing.

His shirt rank with sweat,

His neck stained with grime;

But he moved like the cadence

And sweetness of rhyme.

He moved like the heavy-winged

Rooks, the slow cows,

He moved like the vane

On the roof of the house.

The foam of the daisies

Was spread like a sea,

The spikes of red sorrel

Came up past his knee.

The sorrel, the clover,

The buttercups gold-

A man that was dirty

And twisted and old-

But again and again

Like an eddy he was,

He moved like the wind

In his own tasseled grass.

Summary: ‘The Mower’ is a beautiful poem by Sylvia Lynd. In this poem, the poet says about a mower who is a hard-working person. He works from dawn to dusk without any break or rest. She compares the movement of a mower with the vane of a house. Every day the mower works on, his shirt ranks with sweat, his neck get stained with grime but still he works on. The foam of the daisies spread as a sea and the spikes of red sorrel come up to his knee, he still works on. He becomes dirty but still he works on like an eddy. And the poet thinks that mowing is a good job. We should respect the job of the mower.

The Kingdom of the Bees: William Shakespeare

So work the honey-bees :

Creatures that, by a rule in Nature, teach

The art of order to a peopled kingdom

They have a king, and officers of sorts;

Where some, like magistrates, correct at home;

Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad;

Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings,

Make boot upon the Summer’s velvet buds;

Which pillage they with merry march bring home

To the tent-royal of their emperor;

Who, busied in his majesty, surveys

The singing masons building roofs of gold;

The civil citizens kneading-up the honey;

The poor mechanic porters crowding-in

Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate;

The sad-eyed justice, with his surly hum,

Delivering o’er to executors pale

The lazy yawning drone.

Summary: ‘The Kingdom of the Bees,’ is a marvelous creation of the greatest English poet named William Shakespeare. Here the poet gives a vivid description of the bees' kingdom in a lyrical form through which we came to know that the life of insect is not that simple the way we think. If we notice their living standard, we can see that they have an organized life. They also have some rules and laws. They also have to maintain discipline in order to run their life. In this poem, the poet observed that in the bee hives, there are different classes of bees engaged in diverse works such as magistrates bees who do the corrective work, merchant bees collects honey, soldier bees protect their hives and the king who observes the work of everyday including masons bees who build the hives. There are other working groups who do their job within due diligence. The lives of bees are organized in an ordered way. They naturally learnt the art of order. Though they are insects, they have the capability to teach the human the art of order.

The Road Not Take: Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Summary: ‘The Road Not Taken’ written by Robert Frost is a nice poem depicting the minds of the modern men. A common feature of a modern man is dilemma which is nicely shown here. Through the traveler, the poet shows the indecisive aspects of the people. A common or an ordinary person normally takes or follows the much trodden path whereas the modern traveler takes the less trodden one. Finally, we also see that the traveler does not bother for undergoing the risk of his life.

Portia at Court: William Shakespeare

The quality of mercy is not strained;

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest;

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:

‘T is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes

The throned monarch better than his crown:

His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,

The attribute to awe and majesty,

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;

But mercy is above this sceptred sway;

It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings,

It is an attribute to God himself;

And earthly power doth then show likest God’s

When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,

Though justice be thy plea, consider this,

That, in the course of justice, none of us

Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;

And that same prayer doth teach us all to render

The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much

To mitigate the justice of thy plea;

Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice

Must needs give sentence ‘gainst the merchant there.

Summary: 'Portia at Court' is a poem written by William Shakespeare in 'The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene I'. Here the poet tries his level best to show the importance and greatness of mercy. Portia, the protagonist, tries to make the Jew understand the necessity or significance of mercy in human life. She told that mercy is a heavenly quality and the people who will show this to their fellow beings are also great and blessed by the God, the Creator of the Universe. Thus, we see that the magnanimity of mercy is shown by the poet in the poem very successfully through the earnest appeal of Portia.