Disaster

The minute hand stroke nine,

It was quarter to three.

Relaxing in the lawn, 

I felt a flurry breeze. 

Leaves rolling and thunderstorms,

Twirling winds with heavy rain. 

Objects flying none less than birds,

Everything just messed in the terrain.

Suddenly a tree fell upon a vehicle,

Thus making situations too bizarre. 

Further many trees were uprooted.

Hence destructing more street cars. 

Each blaming God for the disaster,

No wonder who is the actual culprit! 

Taking off from selfishness and greed, 

Humankind needs to admit it. 

If not taken care of at the moment, 

There may happen added disaster. 

We need to remember our accountability

Or else nature is the ultimate master!

The Art Of Writing (article)

THE ART OF WRITING

A good style of writing must have an air of novelty, at the same time concealing its art, says Aristotle. Newness is preferred in every field, including in writing. But, it should never appear glaring. A good style is also one which is clear and precise. There should be no ambiguity in your style. Always, a good style of writing is acquired and it is not an inborn quality. For a man to write well, three things are quite necessary. To read the best authors, observe the best speakers and exercise much of his own style. Anyway, imitation should stop at one stage and your own style should start to gain its grip over the course of events. A well-written piece is obviously clearly expressed. 

'Brevity is the soul of wit' is also one of the well-acclaimed styles of writing. To use more words to describe a particular thing prove to be wasting of words at the end of your writing. Touch and go' is yet another style of writing that the author leaves much for the readers to perceive and understand. 

Apt words in apt places go a long way to make writing lofty and reader-friendly, G.K. Chesterton clarifies about the style of writing, "A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author." A bad writing exposes the author and he is in a vulnerable position. In the matter of biography and autobiography this is a thumb rule that a well-written life is almost as rare as a well-spent one. Only a few life stories do not bore the readers. 

John Keats says about poetry, "If poetry comes not as naturally as the leaves to a tree, it had better not come at all.' As far as poems are concerned, the outflow of thoughts should be natural and easy going. Spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings is one of the well-known definitions of poetry. Style is the dress of thought. A good writer knows how to dress his thoughts in a presentable way. A French writer, Baron de Montesquieu, says about his writing, "I suffer from the disease of writing books and being ashamed of them when they are finished". Some writers remain unsatisfied with their own writing though their work is muchly acclaimed by the readers.

A good writer strikes a face-to-face conversation with his readers, as writing is a sort of conversation by which the writer holds the attention of his readers throughout. A good writer is convincing and also realistic in his views, ideas and thoughts. Alexander Pope, in his 'Essay on criticism', says about writing, 'True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, as those move easiest who have learned to dance". Writing is an art, an effortless art, that is at times god gifted and also by rigorous practice.

Shakespeare: Must read plays

William Shakespeare is considered the greatest playwright in the world & also believed to be the most excellent writer in the English language. He wrote a total of 37 plays in his lifetime. His plays are divided to be written in 4 periods according to the maturation and experiences in the poet's personal life. 

1. Period of Early Experimentation: Titus Andronicus, Henry VI(three parts), Love's Labour's Lost, The Comedy of Errors, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Richard III, Richard II, King John.

2. Period of Rapid Growth and Development: Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Henry V.

3. Period of Gloom and Depression: Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Troilus and Cressida, All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Timon of Athens.

4. Period of Restored Serenity/ Late Experimentation: Coriolanus, Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, Henry VIII.

Here's a list of significant plays that are sufficient to know about real life and the mind of Shakespeare. However, in the case of Shakespeare 'more is always less'!

1. The Comedy of Errors

2. Two Gentlemen of Verona

3. Romeo and Juliet

4. Much Ado About Nothing

5. Twelfth Night

6. Julius Caesar

7. Hamlet

8. Macbeth

9. The Tempest

References: English Literature - Its history & significance for the life of the English-speaking world by WJ Long.

Book Review: Riders to the Sea (Play)

Riders to the sea is a one-act tragedy penned down by the renowned Irish playwright, John Millington Synge which was published in 1903 and first performed in 1904. The play is set on the Aran Islands. It is acknowledged as Synge's one of the greatest achievement and a true tragedy.

The chief characters are Maurya, Bartley, Michael, Cathleen and Nora. The play revolves around Maurya who is a grief-stricken old woman. She has lost her husband, father-in-law and four sons to the sea in the past. A chain of circumstances leads to additional catastrophe for the old woman. Presently, her fifth son, Michael has drowned in the sea and she hopes for his body to be washed ashore. Later the day, her youngest son, Bartley enters preparing for a journey by the sea to the Galway fair. Despite the dissuades of his mother, he sets off. Then takes place the most heart-wrenching incident and the old woman loses her last son, Bartley.

Themes of nature, death, fate, power of the sea, the uncertainty of life etc can be noticed in the play. The sea, one of the central themes of the play, is the basis of life and at the very moment the desecrator of life along with being an agent of destiny. 

Synge has the proficiency to transform the regional and naturalistic into illustrated symbols of the universal and the intangible. He presents fate as wholly responsible for the tragedy. The tragic atmosphere is built up in the very beginning by the setting of the play in the foremost few conversations. The readers get the idea that Michael is dead and Bartley is ill-fated. 

The events move headlong towards the final catastrophe. The attention of the readers is drawn to the whiteboards which are kept against the wall which reveal that there has been a death in the family lately. Noora and Catherine the sisters, discuss the clothes of the man who drowned nine days ago to be their brother which builds up the anguished atmosphere of the play. The dreadful situations and the fright full sites seen by Maurya fill the readers with empathy and fear and the hearts of the readers are sorrowful. Maurya's family seems underneath the verdict of death. The play gives a strong message that human beings are mere puppets in the hands of the mighty strength of nature. Man battles constantly but is helpless against the supernatural forces of nature.

The actions have been organised in such a way that the climax emerges logically at the end of the play and does not shock or stun the audience. The tragic atmosphere in the play is constant and through different dialogues and hints, readers have a prepared intellect for another premature demise in the family. Thus, the play flourishes in awakening in us intense feelings of sympathy and fear that are intensified by the influential use of metaphysical and supernatural elements.

And one day she stopped writing!

On the sidewalk, she sat forlorn

No inkling of why the pen was withdrawn.

Ceasing seconds before being born

& to a standstill from dusk to dawn.

Striding on to conceal & heal

Is what poetry made her feel.

After all the arduous work, phrases do fail

In withstanding the test as times prevail

Accepting all the consideration

& assessing oneself for self-interpretation.

From all the battles she had ever won

Far away from where it had all begun.

The fire inside stopped igniting

& one day she stopped writing!