Lines composed in a wood on a windy day - Grade 8- PPT

LINES COMPOSED IN A WOOD ON A WINDY DAY BY – ANNE BRONTE INTRODUCTION : IN THE POEM “LINES COMPOSED IN A WOOD ON A WINDY DAY” , THE POET ANNE BRONTE BEAUTIFULLY COMPOSES THE LINES THAT BEAUTIFULLY DESCRIBE THE HAPPENINGS IN THE NATURE ON A WINDY DAY. IN THIS BEAUTIFUL POEM ANNE DESCRIBES THE TURBULENT ELEMENTS ON A WINDY DAY. BRONTE’S LOVE FOR THE SEA IS EXPRESSED IN THIS POEM. IN IT THE SEA IS PORTRAYED AS ‘THE GREAT LIBERATOR’

This composition Mind - Map is composed mostly of The attitude is metaphors, free in the personification and imageries beginning but sorrowful at the end. The shift occurs in This poem is about the last stanza. It is the strong bonding when the speaker between nature and speaks of his/herself human beings. by using “I”.

Lines composed in a wood on a windy day • My soul is awakened, my spirit is soaring      And carried aloft on the winds of the breeze; For above and around me the wild wind is roaring,      Arousing to rapture the earth and the seas. • The long-withered grass in the sunshine is glancing,      The bare trees are tossing their branches on high; The dead leaves beneath them are merrily dancing,      The white clouds are scudding across the blue sky. • I wish I could see how the ocean is lashing      The foam of its billows to whirlwinds of spray; I wish I could see how its proud waves are dashing,      And hear the wild roar of their thunder to-day!

Summary and history of the composition • In the first stanza the poet explains that her soul is awakened, and her spirit is flying high carried up on the strong wind; it appears to her the earth and the sea have also been aroused to rapture by the gale. • The long, dried blades of grass tossing madly in the fast blowing wind; the trees are swaying also, the dead leaves are dancing madly, and the white clouds are hurtling across the sky. • Finally, the poet wishes she could see the mighty waves lashing against one another causing colossal shower of spray. The poet also has the wish to see the mad waves strike against the shore and hear their rolling thunder. • History – This poem is based upon an actual experience of Brontes. A note stating “ Composed in the “Lon-Plantation on a bright wild windy day”, was written in Anne Bronte’s at the bottom of the manuscript and ‘the long plantation’ was identified by Edward Chithman. It was written during the Victorian crisis of faith a period which played a major role in poem and literature during it’s time.

Technical points of the poem • Theme – The theme of the poem is we all are connected to nature. The weather has effects on us and the way that we feel. • Attitude- The attitude of the speaker seems to be free, as if the speaker lives a carefree life. Yet, at the end of the poem, the speaker is sorrowful, like the speaker is missing the ocean. • The poem is full of figurative language. It is mostly composed of personification and metaphors. Bronte also has used imagery very well. a. The speaker is free like the breeze b. The wind is soaring enough to arouse the earth and the sea c. The grass is withered, trees are raising their branches, the dead leaves dancing and there are clouds in the sky d. The speaker wishes they could see the ocean and it’s foam e. They wish they could see the waves crashing onto the sand and the wild roar of their thunder

Vocab and take-away of the poem Aloft- high in the air When first glancing at the Arousing to- creating an title, the poem looks as ifit is going to be about her emotion words being ‘rooted’ into Rapture-feeling of extreme pleasure nature. But the title is Glancing-(here) shining merely about the Scudding- moving quickly connection to human life across the sky and nature. It’s as if Lashing- hitting Billows- waves nature was created for Withered- dried up the enjoyment of the people of the world.

Some solved questions 1. Read these lines and answer the questions that follow. My soul is awakened, my spirit is soaring .And carried aloft along the wings of the breeze a. What causes the poet feel joyful? Ans. The poet is feeling joyful because she is enjoying the wild weather and it has awakened her soul. b. What according to the poet, is carried with the breeze? Ans. According to the poet her high spirit is carried on the wings of the breeze. c. What does the poet mean by the soul is awakened? Ans. The poet means that the wild wind has filled her heart and soul with joy and happiness. She is overwhelmed by seeing this sight.

Solved Question and answers 2. The long - withered grass in the sunshine is glancing The bare trees are tossing their branches on high. a. Explain ‘the long-withered grass in the sunshine is glancing.’ Ans. This line means that the dried blades of grasses are tossing madly under sun due to the fast blowing breeze. b. Which season of the year is it? How do you know? Ans. It is the season of autumn because the grass is dry, trees are bare, and the leaves are all fallen on the ground. The wind is fast and wild, and the sky is without clouds. c. Why are trees tossing their branches? Ans. The trees are tossing their branches as they have lost their leaves and become bare. The fast and wild wind is making the bare branches toss.

Solved question and answers 3. Describe the rapture of the earth. Ans. The poet explains ‘rapture’ of the earth as the feeling of immense joy and happiness. She means that seeing the beauty of the nature, the land and the oceans it seems to her that these have also aroused to rapture to the gale (strong wind). 4. I wish I could see how its proud waves are dashing, And hear the wild roar of their thunder today? a. What does the poet want to see? Ans. The poet wishes to see the mighty waves lashing against one another causing colossal shower of spray. The poet also wishes to see the mad waves strike against the shore and hear their thunder. b. Why are the waves called proud? Ans. The waves are called proud because they are mighty, soaring high and have thunder in them. 5. List down all the Personifications, Imageries and Metaphors of “Lines composed

The wind and the leaves “Come, little leaves”, said the wind one day “Come over the meadows with me and play. Put on your dresses of red and gold; For the summer is gone, and the days grow cold.” Soon as the leaves heard the wind’s loud call, Down they came fluttering, one and all. Over the brown field then they danced and flew Singing the soft little song they knew. Dancing and whirling, the little leaves went, Winter had called them, and they were content. Soon, fast asleep on their earthy beds, The snow laid a coverlet over their heads. George Cooper

Read the above poem and answer the questions 1. What is the rhyming scheme of the poem? 2. Who is speaking in the first stanza? 3. Which literary device has been used by the poet? 4. What does the third line of the first stanza tell us about the season of the year? 5. What does the poet mean by “singing the soft little songs they knew”? 6. Why does the poet say the leaves are “fast asleep”? 7. What is the central idea of the poem? 8. What is the mood of the poem? 9. List all the pairs of rhyming words from the poem. 10. Justify another suitable title for the poem and justify it 11. Choose the synonyms from the poem. Pasture, flapping, fulfilled, comforter, spinning 12. Compare and contrast “Wind” by Ted Hughes and “Lines composed in a wood on a windy day” by Anne Bronte.

Poem “Wind” for comparative study • This house has been far out at sea all night, The woods crashing through darkness, the booming hills, Winds stampeding the fields under the window Floundering black astride and blinding wet Till day rose; then under an orange sky The hills had new places, and wind wielded Blade-light, luminous black and emerald, Flexing like the lens of a mad eye. At noon I scaled along the house-side as far as The coal-house door. Once I looked up - Through the brunt wind that dented the balls of my eyes The tent of the hills drummed and strained its guyrope, The fields quivering, the skyline a grimace, At any second to bang and vanish with a flap; The wind flung a magpie away and a black- Back gull bent like an iron bar slowly. The house Rang like some fine green goblet in the note That any second would shatter it. Now deep In chairs, in front of the great fire, we grip Our hearts and cannot entertain book, thought, Or each other. We watch the fire blazing, And feel the roots of the house move, but sit on, Seeing the window tremble to come in, Hearing the stones cry out under the horizons.