The Cop and the Anthem

Summary

Soapy who is a tramp, is the protagonist in the story. He has no job to earn his food and no place to sleep. He was very restless because winter was fast approaching. The signs in the environment warned Soapy of the coming winter. Leaves were withering due to the onset of winter. He had to find a place to protect himself from the winter because the newspapers couldn’t keep him warm in the park. He could not have spent the winter sleeping on the bench which was his home.

Soapy’s plans for the winter were not very high. He wished to spend three months on the Island which was a place where prisoners were kept. To go on the Island one had to be arrested by police on some charge. Unless one committed a crime one could not be taken to the Island. Therefore Soapy decided to commit a petty crime so that he would be arrested by the police and sent to the Island. Since he did not like to live on charity he did not seek food and shelter in any other place where he would have been expected to do some work in return. This was the reason that made him to decide to go the Island where he didn’t have to work hard. Moreover he could enjoy privacy in the Islands which was not possible in any other place. This determination of going to the Islands made Soapy to think of committing a petty crime which would attract the attention of the police and would eventually help him go to the Island.

There were many ways for achieving his goal. Soapy planned to go into a restaurant, eat lavishly and not refuse to pay the bills. The restaurant people would immediately call the cops and that would mean the accomplishment of Soapy’s desire. Therefore he started walking out of Madison Square, to the place where the streets called Broadway and Fifth Avenue meet. There he stopped in front of a large and brightly lit restaurant. His coat was good enough to go inside the restaurant and he started thinking about the meal which he would order. But unfortunately as soon as Soapy stepped inside the restaurant than the waiter stopped him because Soapy’s shoes were worn out and so were unfit for such a place. Disappointed Soapy, now saw a shop with wide glass window, bright with electric lights, at the corner of the Sixth Avenue road. Soapy picked up a stone and hit the glass. The cop along with other people came to the corner. On enquiry, when Soapy admitted the fact that he was the one who had broken the glass, the cop refused to believe him because he thought that the person who broke the glass, would not stand there to admit the crime. Therefore Soapy’s second attempt to get caught in the hands of cop failed.

Finding it very difficult to fulfill his desire, Soapy saw another restaurant across the street. The restaurant did not seem to be of great pretentions. He thought that there he would be allowed with his shoes. He went inside and had food for which he refused to pay the bill. Instead of calling the cop Soapy was thrown outside the restaurant by two waiters who beat him up. After the third failure, going to the Island seemed only a dream for Soapy. Soapy sick at heart, walked half a mile and tried again. This time he wanted to go and talk to a woman who was standing in front of a shop window. He also saw a cop standing nearby. This time he was sure that he would be able to achieve his dream. He went near her and tried to perform the role of a ‘masher,’ but in return the woman herself stretched out her hand and held him. At this he seemed doomed to liberty.

 In the next corner, in front of a theatre he made an attempt of disorderly conduct. He danced, sang, shouted. But the cop mistook him to be a Yale lad celebrating goose egg they gave to Hartford College for which they (cop) were instructed to leave them (lad) free. Soapy’s desire was turning into an impossible dream when he came across a man in a cigar store with an umbrella. Soapy in a very casual manner took the silk umbrella and walked away hoping this time to be caught in the hands of police. The man walked hastily for Soapy only to confirm whether that umbrella belonged to Soapy or not, which he (man) had picked that morning in a restaurant.

Soapy by then was completely disheartened. He cursed the cops. He thought that just because he wanted to fall into their clutches that they were treating him like a king. But in an unusually quiet corner Soapy came to a standstill. There was an old church, quaint and rambling and gabled. Through one violet-stained window a soft light glowed, where, no doubt, the organist loitered over the keys, making sure of his mastery of the coming Sabbath anthem. Soapy was transfixed listening to the anthem. It was serene atmosphere with very few people walking on the streets along with the moon being lustrous. One was reminded of a country churchyard.

Soapy was familiar with the anthem. It reminded him of his earlier days when had family, friends, collars, etc. The conjunction of Soapy’s receptive mind and the influence of the old church stirred Soapy’s heart and brought about a sudden change in him. It was at that moment that he realized the pit in which he has forced himself to fall- the degraded days, unworthy desires, dead hopes, wrecked faculties and base motives that made up his existence. With this, he came to the conclusion that he would work hard and make his living, instead of depending on anyone or anything. He was determined that he would come out of this mire and make a better existence in the world.  Suddenly Soapy felt an arm on his shoulder and when he turned he saw a police man. On asking what he was doing there, Soapy didn’t have anything to say. On not finding any reason for standing in front of the church, the cops announced three months of stay for Soapy in the Islands.

The Zebras by Roy Campbell

In ‘The Zebras,’ Roy Campbell describes the beauty of nature and celebration of life. He re-creates the magic of nature and creation through this poem. He uses imagery in abundance to enhance this theme. The poem is a visual treat of scenic beauty to the readers and also appeals to the auditory senses. He presents a portrait of luxuriant foliage of the woods in which a herd of zebras are running joyously. The whole atmosphere is shaded by the canopy or the foliage of the trees and so the sun’s rays are seen creeping in wherever there is a gap in the foliage. The whole forest atmosphere smells of moistened soil, the forest having received some showers on the previous night. When the golden rays of the sun fall on the flanks of the zebras, the golden rays are reflected on the white stripes of the zebras and one happens to believe as if they are passing through electric tremors. Then the poet says the movement of the zebras across this plain looks as if these zebras are drawing the dawn along with them.

The Zebras are seen wading through knee deep grass and scarlet red flowers. It also appears as though the sun’s rays are fusing with the land and as the zebra passes by it looks as though it alternates through the shadows of these rays. “Barred with electric tremors through the grass” refers to the light and shade effect and also the enthusiasm and vibrancy of the movement of the Zebras. The poet uses a simile and describes this as “wind along the golden strings of a lyre.” Thus Zebras are running their feet kicks up a lot of dust and their warm breath and the sun rays create a vision of flames of fire lifting above the ground. A stallion in the herd with dove-like voices calls the fillies. The herd of zebras looks like an engine of beauty charged with joy and delight. The stallion then runs along with the mares to roll on trampled lilies. The whole poem appeals to all the senses and presents a vibrant picture of nature.

The Leveller by Robert Graves

Right at the beginning, Robert Graves introduces the place of war (Martinpuich) to the readers and claims that on that horrible night two soldiers faced death. Both of them were fired at by the same projectile (missile), they together fell down in one pile without any sensation and limped like slaughtered sheep. “Slaughtered sheep” suggests that they were killed mercilessly and very effortlessly.

The second stanza describes one of these soldiers that he was eighteen year old and was weak and not very strong. “Blue eyed” suggests that he was still amateurish and not experienced enough to participate in a war; he was thin and not very bold which means he was not capable or not an able candidate to fight in one such war. He had been forced into it and he was as inexperienced as less than ten years in service. The speaker says it is a shame and pity that military authorities of his unit had sent inefficient and uninterested people for the war.

The third stanza gives an account of the other soldier: that he was from a far off land, his face looked rough and unshaven and his hands hairy; this line suggests that he was older and more experienced, as he had already fought wars in Mexico and Ecuador. Hence, he had encountered death and hell before. The second and third stanzas put together bring out the contrast and differences between the soldiers and their background.

In the next stanza, the speaker continues and asserts that this well experienced, elderly and seasoned soldier was a valorous and gallant man. This section of the poem is referring to the war veteran, a man who has seen battle many times before, and so it would have been as though that he would have become accustomed to facing situations where he could die. The poet describes him as a ‘cut – throat wild’ and this suggests that as a soldier the man was very brutal in his fighting technique and essentially “took no prisoners” when he battled enemies. Ironically such a war veteran while dying had come down to the state of a child and groaned for his mother. This also means that he feared death and felt insecure at that time. Whereas the young man who was innocent had metaphorically worn a man’s clothes which means he bravely died cursing God with brutal oaths; as he had not yet prepared himself to die that young and he desired as well as deserved to live longer.

The following stanza establishes old Sergeant Smith’s attitude towards both the deaths. The speaker sarcastically calls the Sergeant “kindest of men” as the Sergeant is actually being very derogatory and superficially appreciative of both the soldiers. He wrote out two copies of the funeral speech in a habitual fashion/manner only to cheer up the woman folk of each soldier.

The last stanza presents the funeral speech in which the Sergeant impersonally proclaims that the soldier had died a martyr’s death (by fighting hard) and they, that is his peers of the same unit deeply felt sorry for his death. He also stated that everyone would deeply miss a true friend. It looks like the Sergeant did not really mean anything but had just said it as a ritual or usual practice.

Sonnet 73

The poet indicates his feeling that he has not long to live through the imagery of the wintry bough, twilight's afterglow, and a fire's dying embers. All the images in this sonnet suggest impending death. In the first quatrain, the poet compares himself to autumn leaves, but he is unable to pinpoint their exact number, just as he cannot determine how close he is to death: "When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang / Upon those boughs which shake against the cold." In the second quatrain, he talks of "twilight" as "after the sun fadeth in the west," — a traditional metaphor for death. Death is close to the poet in this second quatrain, for he imagines death twice more, first as "black night" and then as sleep, "Death's second self." The third quatrain recalls Sonnet 45, in which the poet likened his desire for the young man to "purging fire." Now, however, his fire is but dying embers, a "deathbed" fueled by his love for the youth, "Consumed with that which it was nourished by."

Note the pause indicated by the period after each quatrain in the sonnet, the longest pause coming appropriately after the third quatrain, before the concluding couplet. The pauses after the first two quatrains are due to their beginning "In me thou seest. . . ." This phrase indicates that the poet is drawing an allusion between an external image and an internal state of mind, an association that in turn forces a slower reading of the lines, enabling some reflection on the emotional tone that each image evokes.

Now follows the couplet addressed to the youth that makes clear the conclusion to be drawn from the preceding lines: "This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong, / To love that well, which thou must leave ere long." Believing that he will soon die and never see the young man again, the poet's love for the youth intensifies.

III SEM GE

An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum

Stanza 1

The opening stanza of "An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum" provides a clear, dreary depiction of the students in the classroom. The first child is a "tall girl with [a] weighed-down head." This girl is physically and emotionally exhausted, as if all life has been dredged from her body and sapped from her mind. Her classmates are in no better condition. "The paper- / seeming boy, with rat's eyes" is paper-thin and weak. His eyes are defensive and scared, like a scavenger, a rat. His prospect for survival, let alone success, is bleak. Another student, "the stunted, unlucky heir / Of twisted bones," is the victim of a genetic disorder. Spender writes that the boy has inherited his "father's gnarled disease"; he has been left disfigured, trapped in a physically challenged body.

Spender then describes the boy "at back of the dim class," stating, "His eyes live in a dream." This last student represents both a glimmer of wary hope and a shiver of mental damnation. It is unclear whether he is dreaming of a life he may achieve or has lost his mind to the "squirrel's game." This vague distinction between these two conflicting interpretations exposes all the students' futures: there is little or no expectation that they will succeed, and the best they can hope for is to keep their sanity and not fall victim to a faux reality. Beneath it all, the boy's dreaming eyes may harbor an honest desire for true success. This last boy, "unnoted, sweet and young," may understand his position in society and see the sadness of his fellow students. With this understanding, he may represent hope for social change, instead of merely being an individual who has lost his mind.

Stanza 2

In the second stanza, Spender describes the classroom and its contents. The classroom is full of "donations." The children are from the lowest class; they are the children of proletarians. The classroom is constructed through donations of others' capital. All that the students possess comes from their oppressors, the bourgeoisie. The upper class, which holds these children in their place, also offers them their only tools to escape. The maps, books, and "Shakespeare's head" that give the students hope of something outside their dreary existences are gifts from the very hands that clamp them down in their economic and social position.

Spender writes,

. . . for these

Children, these windows, not this map, their world,Where all their future's painted with a fog,

A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky

Far far from rivers, capes, and stars of words.

The "donations" may give a glimpse of some world to the students, but not of their world. The students do not perceive their world as like the one depicted in the classroom's "donations." It is not the "belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley" but instead a foggy, "narrow street sealed in with a lead sky." Their future is bleak, unknown, and dreary. The children in "An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum" are trapped by their social and economic status as children of proletarians.

Stanza 3

In the third stanza, Spender responds cynically to the reality of the students' futures. He calls Shakespeare "wicked" and the map a "bad example." He writes that the stories from the books of "ships and sun and love" are "tempting them [the students] to steal." The world presented by the bourgeoisie to the students in "An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum" is intended to lure them and drag them into a life of crime. Spender's cynicism is a commentary on the upper class and their circumventing tactics in the effort to hold a firm grip on lower-class citizens. By exposing the students to the beauties of the world, the bourgeoisie appear to be assisting the proletarians' children, instilling in them hope for something better. However, Spender sees the bourgeoisie's "donations" as something far more evil. His cynical view of the "donations" is that they were given not to infuse the students with hope but rather to force them to commit crime and thus be branded as thieves. As such, the bourgeoisie are readily empowered to oppress the lower class for no other reason than to protect their own families, assets, and futures from the lawbreaking hands of the proletariat.

Although Spender voices cynicism, he does not lose sight of the true victims of the injustice of the class struggle: the children. In this stanza, he continues to describe the children "on their slag heap." He returns to their thin, malnourished bodies, stating that they "wear skins peeped through by bones." They also wear "spectacles of steel / With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones." Spender is making a resounding humanist statement about the treatment of children in this poem. It appears that he is more sickened by humanity's disregard for the children than by the social and economic framework that has doomed these children to the slums.

Stanza 4

In the final stanza, Spender comes full circle. He replaces cynicism with hope, a plea for a new manifesto for the children. He is petitioning "governor, inspector, visitor" to transform the sour temptation of the bourgeoisie's donations into a reality. He begs for a change that will "break O break open" the "windows / That shut upon their lives like catacombs" and free the children from the constraints of their position in society. Spender asks that the children be shown — directly, not through "donations" — "green fields" and "gold sands."

Spender further hopes that the children will be able to "let their tongues / Run naked into books the white and green leaves open." The "white and green leaves" could be seen to represent money, bourgeoisie donations that supply the books the children use. However, with this statement, Spender is asking for a pragmatic alteration in the practical application of "donations." Given the current bourgeoisie scheme to oppress the proletariat through donations, the students either are locked in their social position or are led into a world of crime through temptation. Spender is claiming that if students are truly allowed free exploration — naked tongues running freely through donated books — then their education and their "language" will become the "sun" burning away the "fog" that has sealed their fates and doomed them to "An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum."

 

MOSCHUS MOSCHIFERUS

In modern times man abuses the power of music. The power of music in fact strengthens life in man, but today the power of music represents the degeneration of man. A.D. Hope deplores the abuse of music for killing animals. The poet says ironically that he dedicates “Moschus Moschiferus’ to St Cecelia who is a patron saint of music.

          Moschus Moschiferus is the Latin term given to musk deer. It is known as Kastura or Kabarga in the East. These deer were once found in great numbers in the thick forests of the mountainous regions of Assam and Tibet.  Once such deer were hunted in large numbers for their musk and consequently they dwindled in their number to such an alarming extent that they are facing extinction. In this poem the poet tries to make the reader away of the vulnerability of such a creature against man’s greed and invokes the blessings of St Cecelia to save them.

          The I stanza describes the natural habitat and beauty of the musk deer. The kastura deer are described as dainty creatures, symbolic of beauty. But this beauty doesn’t seem to appeal to man because he is blinded with materialism. These deer are one of the oldest species (archaic) found in the ‘thickets of rhododendron and birch’ of Himalayas. Earlier the hunters used to drive the deer in herds towards the net spread by them and trap them in large numbers. Then they would slaughter them. The speaker seems worried as these Kastura deer are endangered. Being small in number the deer are killed by the hunters in a novel manner- more exquisite and refined.

          In the II and III stanzas the poet describes the methods employed by the hunters to kill the Kastura deer. The hunter set out into the forest in groups of two or three, each carrying a bow and one a slender flute. They go deeper and deeper into the jungle where the place is calm and they hardly find any trace of mankind. The archers climb the trees and wait for the prey as if they were invisible. The piper (flutist) squats against the roots of the tree.  The archers scan the glade in the forest and the piper begins to play the music.

           The stanzas IV and V highlight the melancholic nature of music played by the archers.  In the stillness of the wood, the poet feels the forest is listening to the delicate and shrill music played by the piper.  The music can evoke ecstasy and intense feelings.  The note can make the listening hearts gay, pensive and contemplative.  The range of music is like drops of pure, bright drops of rain pattering sound.  Rain metaphorically signifies life and hope, but here it ironically signifies death.  The piper’s music moves in wounding fashion without a pause.  The quality of the music is excellent without any break.  The whole atmosphere appears to be in the trance of noon.  As the afternoon grows tense the deer comes out of its hiding place that is the juniper’s darker shade.  The deer comes out with bright eyes, quivering muzzle and pricked ear (i.e. the music has had a hypnotic effect on the deer).  The overjoyed and fearless musk deer fall into the metaphoric net of the hunters (music).

          In the VI stanza the poet describes the way the deer were enticed and killed.  It looks like music casts a magic spell on the deer.  Hunters use the power of music to ensnare the deer as the hunters draw bow string to hit the deer with the poisoned shafts, the leaves overhead stir. 

          The VII stanza talks about how the deer shudders, struggles, leaps and falls to death.  The music rises to a ‘delicious peak’ while the deer fall dead.

          In the VIII stanza the hunters climb down when it’s dusk and count the number of musk deer killed.  They cut the glands that hold the musk and leave the carcasses thousands of them to rot away. 

          The IX stanza further talks about how thousands of deer are killed every year.  Economic terms like ‘cause’ and ‘effect’ are linked to justify their killing of the innocent animals.  The demand for the rich scent is increasing and therefore the source of the scent must be slaughtered which would paradoxically result in the extinction of the animal. 

          In the final stanza we see that the poet is choked with the emotion of grief because of the destruction of nature and creative art (music).  All those who praised the power of music hardly knew about the abuse of music.  The poet still dedicates this song to St Cecelia.

 

The Ship That Found Herself

PARTS OF A SHIP

•      Capstan: a drum shaped machine used for winding i.e. a ship’s anchor cable

•      Deck: the platform extending from one side of a ship to the other(forming the floor)

•      Beam: the greatest width of a ship

•      Bow :the front of a ship

•      Stern : the back part of a ship

•      Port :the left side of a ship

•      Starboard :The right side a ship

•      Rivet :heavy pin

•      Garboard strake: the lowest plate in the bottom of the ship

•       Thrust block: is a specialized form of thrust bearing used in ships, to take the push of the screw

•       Stringers : long iron girders, that run lengthways from stern to bow. They keep the iron frames in place, and also help to hold the ends of the deck-beams, which go from side to side of the ship.

•      web-frames :the frames of a ship are the vertical side-members to which the shell-plating is fixed.

•      centrifugal bilge-pump a pump, usually situated in the engine-room and driven directly by the main engine, used for pumping out the lowermost compartments (the bilges) in the ship.
sea valve also called a 'sea cock'. It communicates with the sea, to admit or discharge water.

ABOUT THE SHIP

•      Name: Dimbula (named by owner's daughter, Miss Frazier)

•      Type: cargo-steamer of twenty-five hundred tons

•      Owner: well known Scotch firm

•      Compared with: Lucania

•      First journey: Liverpool to New York

•      Why one of her kind: It was the very best of her kind, the outcome of forty years of experiments and improvements in framework and machinery; It was two hundred and forty feet long and thirty-two feet wide, with arrangements that enabled her to carry cattle on her main and sheep on her upper deck if she wanted to; but her great glory was the amount of cargo that she could store away in her holds.

•      Why every piece had a separate voice?

•      The Dimbula was very strongly built, and every piece of her had a letter or a number, or both, to describe it; and every piece had been hammered, or forged, or rolled, or punched by man, and had lived in the roar and rattle of the shipyard for months. Therefore, every piece had its own separate voice, in exact proportion to the amount of trouble spent upon it.

SUMMARY

•      In this story Kipling tells us about a brand new ship Dimbula, on her first journey, that has not yet "found herself." To "find herself" means the various parts of the ship must learn what their individual role is within the structure of the ship. They must learn to work together. “Every part of her has to be livened up and made to work with its neighbour -sweetening her ” They can learn to work together only if they are able to sail through the rough weather and successfully face the turbulent water and strong wind(gale).

•      Kipling personifies the ship as well as the different parts of a ship by giving each part of the ship a voice , personality and thought.  As soon as the ship enters the open water, she begins to talk. If  one tries to listen to the side of the cabin, one can hear hundreds of little voices in every direction, thrilling and buzzing, and whispering and popping, and gurgling and sobbing and squeaking exactly like a telephone in a thunder-storm.

•      When the ship had cleared the Irish coast, the various parts of the ship start talking  and try to establish their supremacy over the other. To begin with capstan and the engine start arguing about being ducked. Capstan asked the engine not to move very fast and the wave laughed at it . Likewise the deck beams tell the capstan to remain still otherwise it would strain them. The stringers(stringers always consider themselves most important, because they are so long)  warn the deck beams. The rivets too join the chorus.

•       Then suddenly the ship started rising and that lifted the big throbbing screw nearly to the surface, so  the  cylinders admonished the screw  for flying off the handle. Thrust-block, whose business it is to take the push of the screw, demanded justice and the bearings too joined the chorus. The high-pressure cylinder joins the conversation claiming that  it was the noblest outcome of human ingenuity. Meanwhile the piston is  choked, for half the steam behind it was mixed with dirty water and it shouted for help.

•      The anchor windlass, the garboard strake, the rivets, and the other parts attempt to understand the new sensation of being out of the shipyard and out at sea.

As the various parts express their fear that they are inadequate to the task (individually), the steam comes on the scene with the comprehensive understanding of what is happening. The steam has been through this process many times before (as a drop of steam, as a raindrop, as an ocean wave). He is the wise, experienced advisor who teaches, coaches, and guides the ship parts through their maiden voyage. The cylinder is furious at the bad weather, the steam tries to reassure everyone that everything will be fine by morning.

•      The web-frames complained that they are being treated frivolously. The strake shouted that "The sea pushes me up in a way I should never have expected,", "and the cargo pushes me down, and, between the two, I don't know what I'm supposed to do." The steam advised it to hold on. The web frame claimed that it is the sole strength of this vessel.

•      The sea-valve proudly proclaims that it is a Prince-Hyde Valve, with best Para rubber facings. A big centrifugal bilge-pump declares it is alone capable of clearing all water that enters the ship.

•           Suddenly there was a dead westerly gale, blown from under a ragged opening of green sky, narrowed on all sides by fat, grey clouds. Then the foremast announces that there is an organised conspiracy against the ship, the whole sea is concerned in it - and so is the wind. The capstan too reiterates the same. As the ship faces the turbulent  water, all the parts of the ship that were arguing started to work together to  save the ship from drowning.

    Thus when the ship completes her first journey successfully then all the parts of the ship are now tuned to the different weather conditions and have  learned to work together. As the ship arrives in New York harbor, the ship is one, no longer just a collection of parts (individuals). The ship enters port confident and satisfied, all the individual voices are silent and the ship now speaks with one voice-which is the soul of the ship.