English Literature

SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD, PAKISTAN �Eid� is a short but thought-provoking poem. Apparently it seems to be a poem of joy, as the title suggests, but actually in it Alamgir Hashmi has pointed out some of the darker aspects of our society.  The poem is based on the observations of an innocent but sensitive child who is around there on the Eid day and watching the various people doing various jobs. Eid is a festival that comes on the day after the days of Ramazan have been devoted to fasting. It is celebrated all over the Muslim world. This is the day when exchange of sweet dishes is made between the near and dear ones. At the very outset of the story it is made clear that Eid is more than the vermicelli thing. It must not be taken merely as a festival of joy and celebration. There is something more to do for the Muslims on this particular day. Firstly the child observes the devotees in the mosque who raises offertory for the prayer k...

SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD, PAKISTAN The poem Wedding in the Flood is certainly about wedding ceremony which is always associated with joy and mirth. But the segment of the wedding which the poem deals with is the departure of the bride. This segment is more about the bereft and parting than any mirthful activities. The poem is a chain of expressions of unknown risks and fears. The mother of the bride expresses her fears about the nature and the attitude of the bridegroom. How will she be able to be a part of that stranger house with stranger people and environment? The parting day for her is becoming tediously troublesome. When parents in a society like Pakistan choose a match for their daughter, they do it with a lot of fears and prayers. They feel worried because the women are not given their due rights in our society and they have very little authority in the daily affairs of life. So they have to be subordinate to their men. The tho...

SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD, PAKISTAN The period from 1798 to 1824 is termed as �The Romantic Age� of English Literature. In this period the writing was mostly poetry. A revolution was taking place in poetic language and its themes. Previously the head controlled the heart, now the heart controlled the head; for the previous poets feelings and imagination were dangerous, but for the Romantics reason and the intellect were dangerous. The romantic period is the most fruitful period in the history of English literature. The revolt against the classical school which had been started by writers like Chatterton, Collins, Gray, Burne, Cowper etc. reached its climax during this period and some of the greatest and most popular English poets like Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, and Keats belong to this period. To have knowledge of the trends and characteristics of this age we are to discuss some of its prominent and representative figures. T...

SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD, PAKISTAN The Romantic period is the most fruitful period in the history of English literature. The revolt against the Classical school which had been started writers like Chatterton, Collins, Gray, Burne, Cowper etc. reached its climax during this period and some of the greatest and most popular English poets like Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley and Keats belong to this period. This period starts from 1798 with the publication of Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, and the famous �Preface to Lyrical Ballads� which Wordsworth wrote as a manifesto of the new form of poetry which he and Coleridge introduced in opposition to the poetry of the Classical school. Wordsworth chose the language of the common people as the vehicle of his poetry, because it is the most sincere expression of the deepest and rarest passions and feelings. This was the first point of attack on the artificial and formal style ...

SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD, PAKISTAN Wordsworth�s passion for nature is well-known. As De Quincey puts it, �Wordsworth had his passion for nature fixed in his blood. It was a necessity of his being, like that of a mulberry leaf to the silk-worm, and through his commerce with nature did he live and breathe.� Wordsworth had a complete philosophy of nature. Following major points in his creed of nature may be noted: Nature, A Moral Teacher Wordsworth emphasized the moral influence of nature. A careful reading of �The Prelude� shows that he received the best part of his education from nature. He regarded her as a great moral teacher, as the best mother, guardian and nurse of man, as an elevating influence. Like the senior Duke in �As You Like it� , he too found                    Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks     ...

SHUAIB ASGHAR DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH GOVT. RAZVIA ISLAMIA COLLEGE HAROONABAD, PAKISTAN Undoubtedly, �The Waste Land� is a social document of our times, a poem which throws light on the problems, perplexities and disintegration of modern civilization. This integration is due to several reasons as mentioned below. Sexual Perversion Today, sex has been perverted from its proper function and is utilized for animal pleasure and monetary benefits. It has, therefore, become a source of degeneration and disease and a hurdle in man�s spiritual progress as well. Easy sexual relationships are found among all sections of society. Eliot cites the instances of German princess and the Lady of Situations. Further he mentions the story of Lil and the experiences of the three daughters of Thames. The typist girl has no emotional involvement in the sex act. She takes it as she would take as aspirin to get over a tension or a headache. Eliot sums up the story of the European lust through the words of St. ...