When I Have Fears – John Keats

Keats is reflecting on his imminent death in this poem. He talks about his fears of leaving the world before realizing his dreams and literary ambitions. The poet says he may die at any time so before dying he has to finish his work, but again he has a fear that he may die anytime and may be his work will be incomplete.
In the poem the poet says that before dying he has to put all his ideas and thoughts into book form. His ideas and thoughts are like grains which are kept in the store house for harvesting. The ideas are collected in the minds of the poet and it will be empty only when he is going to put those words in written form.
When the poet looks at the sky he sees many stars and clouds which is a symbol of romance, suddenly he thinks that he may not see the same stars because at that time he will be dead. Then he thinks of the beautiful woman whom he saw in a public park. The poet becomes sad because he won’t be able to see that woman nor express or enjoy the passion of love if he dies. He is also afraid that he won’t be able to see the woman again. He has a fear of death so he will not be able to feel the delight of magic of love though his love is irresponsible and unthinkable.
These thoughts of love and his ambition in poetry kindle the fear of death and so he feels that he is standing alone on the shore of the wide world. A sudden loneliness is felt by the poet. When he thinks of death love and fame becomes nothing and the fear of death becomes the most over powering feeling in him.

Written in Early Spring – William Wordsworth

In this poem the poet rejoices and laments at the same time, dwelling on the connection between man and nature. The poet says when he was sitting near a tree; he heard a thousand of mixed notes. According to the poet nature gives him all notes and knowledge rather than a text book. When he was in nature he was with full of sweet mood and pleasant thoughts about nature, suddenly he becomes sad because his mind starts thinking of something which changes his sweet mood into sad mood.
The nature is very beautiful and when the poet sits among the nature he is very happy and his soul is connected with the beautiful creation of nature, but it gave him pain when he starts thinking about mankind. He also wonders what man has made of himself? In the third stanza the poet talks about the beauty of nature through describing the happiness of primrose. There is a small arched enclosure made by overhanging trees and flowers where bunches of primrose are seen coiled by the leaves of periwinkle, an ever green plant. So the poet believes that every flower enjoys the fresh air it breathes.
Then the poet says that when he was sitting in the nature the birds around him jumped and played. The poet can guess that they are happy but he is not able to measure the level of their happiness. But it seems that even a small movement in their life gives them happiness. The next stanza talks about the branches of trees. The poet says that even the branches of a tree spread out their fresh leaves to catch the wind, through which one can guess that even they are happy with the early spring.
The last stanza sums up the poem with the poets complaint about man. The poet says that whatever I have described about the holy nature - if this thought has come from heaven, then I have every season to feel sad about the plight of man.

Mending Wall - Robert Frost

In this poem, the poet tries to bring out the acceptance of conventions of the previous generation i.e. “Good fences make Good neighbours”. He wants to show how people still believe in the old customs and live in dark. The poet says “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall”. The Two things which are not allowing the wall to stand there, it may the spring season and the hunters.
The author Frost damages the wall and there occurs gap between the walls that even two can pass through. The gap is more widened by the hunters when they try to chase the rabbits between these gaps. No one has seen or heard that who has done this. But, during spring we can find gaps between the walls. The poet one day met neighbour and they decided to set the wall once again. They decided to pick the stone of their side to fix the wall. Sometimes the stone look like a ball sometimes it becomes shapeless. The poet says that some magic is to be used to make the stone. Stand as it is and we should say ‘Stay where you are until our backs are turned”. Their hands have become rough because of the stone. Each time they pick stones from their side looks as if they are playing an outdoor game. Sometimes they try to fix the stone in the wall where it is not required also.
The poet had an apple orchard and his neighbour had pine tree. The poet is asking that his apple trees are not going to eat up his neighbour’s pine tree then why should he built up a wall between them. It is because the neighbor believes in his father saying that “Good fences make good neighbours”. The poet tries to advice his neighbour that he does not have cows that his cows will eat up the neighbour’s pine tree but his neighbour is not ready to change his mind. The poet wants to ask about walling out and says that it is the Elves which does not like a wall.
The neighbour too believes it though the poet knew that it is the nature not the Elves which does not love a wall. The poet sees him holding stones in each hand like an old Stone savage trying to mend the wall. He moves in darkness and in the shades of the tree. It is sure that he will not go behind his father’s saying that “Good fences make good neighbours”. Thus the poet says that his mind is so dark that he is not able to change his attitude.

Hawk Roosting – Ted Hughes

Ted Hughes personifies the Hawk in this poem. The poem is a self-appreciation. The hawk is introspecting and is in a self-complacent mood. The Hawk says that he sits on the top of the tree with eyes closed. It never dreams and nor is ready for action between his hooked head and hooked feet. The hawk proudly says that it never does any rehearsal because his killing of prey is perfect.
The hawk then says that the height of the tree, air’s buoyancy and sun are advantage to him because it can see its prey from the height of the faces upward for his inspection. The hawk’s feet locked in the rough branch of a tree. The hawk proudly says that God took whole of creation to produce his foot and his each feather but now he is holding one of God’s creations under his leg.
The hawk kills where ever he likes because he says that everything belongs to him. His body is created in such a way that his manners of attacking the prey are direct tearing off the heads and the prey is allotted death. There is no escape for prey. No one is there to argue with the hawk.
The hawk proudly says that the sun is behind him and nothing has changed since he came to this world. It never wants any changed and he says that he wants to continue this forever. Thus the hawk in the poem praises himself proudly and compares himself as God and says that nobody is there to neither control nor argue with the hawk. The hawk is enjoying its life and it wants to continue the same.

The Stone – W.W.Gibson

The poem talks about a young woman whose lover died in a stone quarry. She was stunned by the shocking news of her lover’s death. She is a picture of deep sorrow. The poem has an abrupt opening. It starts when the conversation is going on between two people. The woman goes to the poet and asks him for cutting a stone in the opening line.
Three days before a huge rock had struck her lover in a stone quarry. In spite of giving warning and shot fired, he was loitering and full of spirit. Suddenly a rock fell and he was found under the rock. When he saw the rock his eyes saw his end. The poet saw this and he wanted to break this news to his lover. He was afraid and very careful in his words. But before he could utter a word he saw she was standing like a stone because some poor fellow had already told the news. The fellow wide opened the door and told the news of her lover’s death without knowing the consequence and left the woman lifeless.
The poet can guess what would have happened by looking at the woman’s face. The woman stood like a stone, her heart was dead. She didn’t cry nor moan. The boy’s mother was weeping but she didn’t for three days and three nights. She did not stir.
She never closed her eyes, from sunset to sunrise. She didn’t cry but her eyes saw everything. The fourth day, when the poet came from work he saw the woman waiting for him at his door and said “And will you cut a stone for him?” and spoke nothing but followed the poet. When the poet sat in the chair she was just staring at his face. She was waiting patiently. The poet saw her gray eyes which were staring at him and he felt as if the eyes are plucking his heart and sucking the breath from him.
The poet could not wait any more so he stood and started to cut the stone in a square. As the poet was working she sat beside him watching everything day & night. When he was cutting the name of her lover she was watching each stroke but didn’t utter a single word. The stroke broke her silence.
Her eyes didn’t move from my hands. She was watching me with bloodless lips. Every cut of the chisel gave a deeper cut to her heart. It looked as if death was killing her inside. When the poet has finished his work she breathed his name and with a sigh passed through the open door and never came again. The next night the poet was working late because he was cutting her name on the stone.
Thus the woman represents the picture of silent and sorrow, it also shows how she was in love with her lover that she could not bare the sorrow of his death and so died after cutting his stone.

Leave this Chanting – Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore was a freedom fighter, social reformer and the composer of national anthems for India and Bangladesh. He won noble prize for literature in 1913.
In this poem, Leave this chanting; Tagore wants the religious minded to go beyond the four walls of their shrines to where god really exists with the farm worker and the construction labourer. In the first paragraph the poet says one should leave this chanting, singing, and telling of beads. He questions the religious people that who do you worship in this dark corner of a temple? Open your eyes and see God is not there before you.
One can see God where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and the pathmaker is breaking stones. The poet says that one can see God in sun and shower where the tiller and the pathmaker is and come down to the dusty soil.
The poet then questions what is deliverance? And where can we find it? God is the creator and master of everything. God has created this world joyfully and is attached with us, then why people are meditating and chanting? They think that when one is doing chanting he is very real to God and he can achieve everything.
But according to the poet one can find God not in the temple but with the workers who are working whole day in the dirt and under the hot sun. He asks us what harm is there if you work under the sun and if your clothes become dirt. Even when your clothes are turn out or stained there is no harm because one is going to see the creator. Thus the poet says there is no harm in meeting God in such circumstances because the creator is there in these places.