Transcript The Brook - Study Hall Educational Foundation

Alfred Lord Tennyson
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Born – 6 August 1809, England
Died – 6 October 1892, England.
He was known as the poet laureate of Great
Britain and Ireland and was one of the most
popular poets of that time
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The poem highlights the permanency of nature
and states that men are transient. They come
and go over time. But nature outlives men and
continues forever.
A parallel has been drawn by the poet as he
describes various stages of human life with the
different stages of a brook.
I come from haunts of coot and hern,
I make a sudden sally
And sparkle out among the fern,
To bicker down a valley.
Here Tennyson, a keen observer of Nature,
personifies a rocky stream when he describes its
cross country journey. This is why, the stream
describes itself as a human being that observes the
myriad manifestations of nature along its path.
This is why, the word ‘I’ appears as the narrator.
The stream originates from a place which is the
habitat of aquatic birds like the coot and the heron.
Then it takes a quick sharp turn to enter a field
where the flowerless wild fern grows. Then, it
makes the ‘bickering’ sound (akin to humans
quarrelling) as it moves down the valley.
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‘I” - Personification
“Sudden sally” - Alliteration
“Bicker” – Onomatopoeia
By thirty hills I hurry down,
Or slip between the ridges,
By twenty thorpes, a little town,
And half a hundred bridges.
The stream races past a land full of hills. The
number ‘thirty’ is used as a metaphor to denote the
vast number of hills the stream passes by. It makes
it way through ridges that are common in hilly
terrains. As it continues its journey, it leaves
behind many villages and a town and so many
bridges. Like the earlier word ‘thirty’, the words
‘twenty’ and ‘half a hundred’ have been used to
express a great number.
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By thirty hills I hurry down - Inversion
Twenty thorpes - Alliteration
Till last by Philip’s farm I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.
The stream has assumed the garb of a human
being. It knows a man called Phillip whose farm it
flows by before it plunges in to a river full of
water. Then, the stream gloats over its ability to
defy the ravages of time. It says that it has outlived
even the mightiest men born on earth. The author
has perhaps been overwhelmed by the timeless
existence of the stream and man’s helplessness
before the cycle of birth and death.
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Till last by Philip’s farm I flow - Inversion
Men may - Alliteration
I chatter over stony ways,
In little sharps and trebles,
I bubble into eddying bays,
I babble on the pebbles.
The terrain the stream travels through is vast and
varied. It negotiates turns, makes a lot of high
pitched noise – sharps and trebles and blows up
bubbles when the going gets rough. When it
dashes against the innumerable stones and
pebbles, it makes a continuous drone.
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‘Chatter`, ‘trebles`, ‘babble` - onomatopoeia.
With many a curve my banks I fret
By many a field and fallow,
And many a fairy foreland set
With willow-weed and mallow.
The stream appears to rejoice at its gorgeous flow
through the undulating countryside that passes
farm, fields and uncultivated lands. It flows past
some pieces of land that have rich vegetation. They
look exquisitely beautiful. There are willow-weeds
and mallows. Colorful birds chirp in the company
of humming insects and butterflies that look like
fairies from the sky.
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“With many a curve my banks I fret” –
Inversion.
“fairly foreland”,” with willow seed” –
Alliteration.
I chatter, chatter, as I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.
The stream, agog with exuberance and joy,
continues with its ‘chatter’. It flows relentlessly to
meet its final destination – the brimming river. The
stream appears to have an uncanny ability to
weather the vagaries of nature and defy the
onslaught of time. It is indestructible, unlike the
boastful humans who, despite their best efforts,
can not escape the jaws of death.
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Chatter chatter- Repetition
Chatter – Onomatopoeia
men may –Alliteration
I wind about, and in and out,
With here a blossom sailing,
And here and there a lusty trout,
And here and there a grayling,
As the stream continues its journey amid the flora
and fauna of the countryside, it gets a flower as its
companion. It carries the flower along. It happily
offers sanctuary to small fish like the trout and the
grayling.
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.........about and – Alliteration
here and there – Repetition
And here and there a foamy flake
Upon me, as I travel
With many a silvery waterbreak
Above the golden gravel,
The stream encounters turbulence along its way as
it hits various obstacles like stones, rock pieces and
gold-colored gravels. The splash creates foams and
bubbles. These foams shine brilliantly in sunshine
assuming a silvery glow.
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foamy flake ,golden gravel –Alliteration
And draw them all along, and flow
To join the brimming river
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.
The force of the flowing water of the stream
pushes all that comes its way – from the light
flowers to sand particles to gravel and stones. The
destination remains the same – the brimming river
where the stream will empty its contents. This
relentless flow of the stream continues unmindful
of time’s devouring potential. It is not a mortal like
the humans who have to surrender to death and
destruction one day or the other.
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All along, men may – Alliteration
Men may – Repetition
I steal by lawns and grassy plots,
I slide by hazel covers;
I move the sweet forget-me-nots
That grow for happy lovers.
The stream passes by lawns and patches of
meadows. It leaves behind shrubs like the hazel.
Some blue-colored ornamental flowers like the
‘forget-me-not’ associated with romance fall on the
waters of the stream. It carries them gladly. Thus,
the stream becomes nature’s messenger of love, life
and longevity.
I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance,
Among my skimming swallows;
I make the netted sunbeam dance
Against my sandy shallows.
The stream has to manoeuvre its way past the
many obstacles that tend to stop it. But, the
exuberant stream is unstoppable. It flows as the
swallows looking for insects skim over the surface
of its water. The stream dances majestically in the
sunlight as it flows past its shallow sandy banks.
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Skimming swallows – sandy shallows –
Alliteration
I murmur under moon and stars
In brambly wildernesses;
I linger by my shingly bars;
I loiter round my cresses;
The stream has no break in its journey. During its
journey at night, it sees the moon and the stars.
The wilderness of the surroundings, full of the
thorny bramble shrubs does not unnerve it. It
mingles with the sand pebbles and the cabbage
like plants. This stretch of the journey appears to
be slower in pace.
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Murmur – Onomatopoeia.
And out again I curve and flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.
Then the flow resumes in its relentless pace
negotiating turns and curves. Finally it joins the
river, its final destiny. The stream again mocks the
humans as ordinary mortals who get consumed by
time. On the other hand, the stream is perennial
and undying.
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And out again I curve and flow – Inversion,
Men…may – Alliteration
Men… may – Repetition
• Haunts - places frequently visited by
• Coot - a type of water bird with a white spot on the
forehead
• Hern – heron (another kind of water bird)
• Sally - emerge suddenly
• Bicker - flow down with a lot of noise
• Thorpes – villages
• Trebles - high pitched tune
• Eddying - spiral movement of water.
• Babble - sound made when one talks gaily
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• Fallow - land left uncultivated to regain fertility
• Foreland - piece of land that extends into the sea
• Mallow - plant with hairy stems and leaves and pink,
white or purple flowers.
• Lusty trout - a big freshwater fish
• Grayling – another type of fish
• Hazel - a small tree or bush with edible nuts
• Forget-me-nots - a type of flower
• Shingly - covered with small rounded pebbles
• Cresses - pungent leaved plant like a cabbage.