To Posterity Question & Answers (Litmosphere)

 

1  1.Comment on the opening line of the poem “To Posterity”?

The opening line of the poem To posterity predicts the future existence of books and expresses anxieties and apprehensions of the poet. He visualizes a situation in which books have stopped working and it can no longer influence the readers. Books turned to be the lifeless objects and rests in the graveyard.

 

2    2.What are the apprehensions of the poet about the future?

Due to the rapid digital revolution happened in 1950s, the books turned to be insignificant but the reading and writing have been replaced by easily accessible new media. So, the poet is very much concerned about this situation and expresses his apprehensions and anxieties regarding the future existence of the books.

 

3    3.What does the poet mean by “framed in words”?

Words can certainly reflect the real beauty of the nature. Speaker talks about the fading away of the books due to the advent of new media and states that the fragrance and color of flowers and the delicious taste of fruits embedded in words, which are contained in books have disappeared.

 

4    4.What does the poet mean by “wingless birds”?

According to Louis MacNeice Books can remarkably ignite and enhance human imagination. Poet compares the situation of life without books to wingless birds. A wingless bird can’t fly similarly one can’t create visual senses without books.

Books can lift human soul to any places.

 

II. Answer the following questions in a paragraph

1 1.Comment on the language of the poem? 

  The modern British poet Louis MacNeice exhibits his craftsmanship through the short and concise poem “To Posterity”. It reminds the famous Shakespearean epigram ‘Brevity is the soul of wit’, as the shot lines convey big and serious reflections regarding the future of books. The poet selects comparatively normal and easily accessibly language because the central aim of the poet is shed light on the serious aspect. He talks about the new age in which the rapid digital revolution causes to the disappearance of books. Emerging new media badly affected the uses of books.

According to the poet books can only convey the real beauty of the nature it can also enhance imaginative sensibility.For the poet the serious truth value is more important than the rhetorical aspects. Thus, he expresses his verses in simple language.

      2.Comment on the use of images in the poem?

The poem is highly thought provoking as it seriously discusses the negative impact of the digital age. The emerging new media completely replaced the use of books hence, the poet expresses his worries. To convey his poetic thought effectively MacNeice uses images like graveyard, some scenes of nature and wingless birds.

 First of all he places the books in the graveyard because of the outbreak of new media books lacked its significance and turned to be completely out of use. Reading and even speaking are replaced by easily accessible and advanced modern media. So he brings the imagery of the graveyard primarily because books happened to be inactive and abandoned. Later, he beautifully brings some natural imageries of flowers, fruits, green grasses and skies then argues that the real natural beauty is conveyed only through words.  

            Finally there comes the most interesting image of wingless birds. He affirms the fact that wingless birds can never fly similarly books are highly essential for human kind. They can’t even think about a world without books.

 

3     3.Comment on the tone and the effect of the poem?

The Poet is very much concerned about the future of books at the same time he is well aware of the emerging new media. It rapidly damaged the intimacy between human beings and books. Thus, the tone of anxiety and apprehension are well expressed by the poet right from the beginning itself. The new media such as Television and Radio got immense popularity and accessibility and it leads to the gradual disappearance of books. Poet also marks his tone of lamentation.

Poet proposes that the true natural beauty can never be well exhibited through new media. The real sense of feeling always lies in the pages of books. Every words can easily draw pictures in the minds of the readers.

So the ultimate aim of the speaker is to create an awareness among the general public regarding their ignorant attitude due to the outbreak of the digital age.

To Posterity by Louis MacNeice line by line explanation and critical analysis

 "When books have all seized up like the books in graveyards"

At the outset of the poem speaker anticipates the future of the books and expresses his anxieties and concerns. He invites the readers’ attention into a situation where the books are completely out of work. It has stopped working in the sense; people no longer use it as they find pleasure in something else. Books lack its significance as the poet strikingly brings the imagery of graveyard. Being the land of the dead nothing remarkable happens in the graveyard. Similarly, the books are turned to be the lifeless objects hence it rests in the graveyard.

 

 "And reading and even speaking have been replaced
By other, less difficult, media"

The speaker talks about the contemporary situation (1957) when, the process of reading and even speaking have been replaced by easily accessible and highly sophisticated new media such as Radio and Television.  

 

" we wonder if you
Will find in flowers and fruit the same colour and taste
They held for us for whom they were framed in words"

The fragrance and colours of flowers and the delicious tastes of fruits framed in words which are contained in books have disappeared. There is no wonder in the fact that textual words can certainly evoke our senses and enlighten our visual sensibilities. The new media can never constitute such creative pursuits.

 

"And will your grass be green, your sky blue,"

Poet asks some rhetorical questions, as the main purpose of a rhetorical question is to create a dramatic effect rather than getting any answer. As far as Louise MacNeice is concerned books can effectively as well as creatively convey the real beauty and charm of the nature. Without books the vivid scenes of the nature can’t be properly exhibited.

 

"Or will your birds be always wingless birds?"

Books can provide lots of sparks which ignites the imagination of the readers. Birds without wings can’t fly or even unable to make a single movement similarly without books humans can’t be imaginative. Books should be the intimate companion for all as it can seriously damage the ignorance.

 

Critical analysis

A work of literature in general and poetry in particular reflects the truths of contemporary life or perhaps it can even predict the future course of action. As the title of the poem ‘To Posterity’ itself clears the idea that Louis MacNeice wants to communicate something serious to the future generation regarding the books.

The poem was composed in 1957, the time of digital revolution. Initially, the poet forecasts the agonizing reality associated to the future existence of books. He was more aware of the emerging new media as the digital revolution brought out some remarkable changes in the attitude of the general public. People consider books as an out dated object and eventually switched over to electronic media. The immense popularity of Televisions and Radios rapidly damaged the intimacy between human beings and books.

The speaker expresses his lamentation on this attitude of the generation and asserts the fact that the real beauty and splendour lie in the books not in electronic devices. Books can easily construct a visual sense and it ignites imagination. The vivid beauty of nature and strong feelings of humankind can only effectively communicated through books. Digital media can never be a substitute for this.

Finally, poet admits the fact that posterity will be quit far away from the books and compares them with wingless birds as they are highly mechanical and materials and they don’t have any sort of imaginative sensibility.

 

Question & Answers

The Rocking Horse Winner Question & Answers  

 

 

To Posterity by Louis MacNeice

When books have all seized up like the books in graveyards
And reading and even speaking have been replaced
By other, less difficult, media, we wonder if you
Will find in flowers and fruit the same colour and taste
They held for us for whom they were framed in words,
And will your grass be green, your sky blue,
Or will your birds be always wingless birds?

The Mark of Vishnu by Khushwant Singh summary

 

"This is for Kala Nag," said Gunga Ram, pouring the milk into the saucer. "Every night I leave it outside the hole near the wall and it’s gone by the morning." "Perhaps it is the cat,” we youngsters suggested.

"Cat!" said Gunga Ram with contempt. "No cat goes near that hole. Kala Nag lives there. As long as I give him milk, he will not bite anyone in this house. You can all go about with bare feet and play where you like."

 

The story begins with the old Brahmin Gunga Ram’s routine action of pouring milk into a saucer and placing it near the hole in which Kala Nag lives. Gunga Ram is convinced that the milk is drunk every night, a belief that is mocked by the young boys. The boys mocked at Gunga Ram’s superstitious belief by affirming a scientific fact that the snake does not drink milk.

"You’re a stupid old Brahmin," I said. "Don’t you know snakes don’t drink milk?

 

It was no use of arguing with Gunga Ram. He is like all good Hindus, believed in the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, the creator, preserver, and destroyer. Of these he was most devoted to Vishnu. Every morning he marks his forehead with a ‘V’ in sandalwood paste to honour the deity. Although a Brahmin, he was illiterate and full of superstition. To him, all

life was sacred, even if it was of a serpent or scorpion or even a  centipede.

 

Thus, he would never allow the young boys to beat such creatures. Many a time these creatures sting Gunga Ram but his faith remains resolute. This accounts for Gunga Ram’s deep regard for the snake, particularly the Cobra or the Kala Nag.

 

One day the boys threatened Gunga Ram to kill his Kala Nag, he resisted and stated that if they kill the Kala Nag it will not serve any purpose as the Nag had already laid a hundred of eggs that would soon become cobras. To tease Gunga Ram, the boys in return said that they would catch all the cobras alive and send to Bombay where they would be exploited for making antidote against the snake bite. In this manner Gunga Ram was often ridiculed by the boys for his blind and committed devotion towards snakes. Despite all these, he continued to feed and protect snakes.

 

It was monsoon time, when finally, the boys got to see the Kala Nag. Heavy rains had flooded Kala Nag’s hole forcing it to come out of it and sit in an open part of the lawn. The moment boys saw the Nag, they surrounded it with bamboo sticks in their hands, though the Nag tried its best to escape, but the boys managed to damage its back, leaving the head undamaged. The boys then kept it in a large biscuit tin securing it with string. All this while, Gunga Ram was away from home and had no clue as to what had happened to Kala Nag.

 

"Don’t damage the head," yelled one of us. "We’ll take Kala Nag to school."

 

The next morning as the school bus came and the students brought something in the tin to Gunga Ram shouting that the tin contained his Kala Nag.

 

"Here’s your Kala Nag. Safe in this box. We are going to put him in spirit."

 

Gunga Ram stood speechless and helpless. The boys presented the tin to the science teacher and their teacher appreciated them. As soon as the teacher untied the string around the tin, the lid flew into air and Kala Nag jumped at him. The teacher was frightened and the boys stood up on their desks and yelled hysterically. The Nag’s back had been broken by the boys, but it somehow dragged itself to the door of the classroom and sat at the threshold.

 

 

Outside the classroom stood Gunga Ram with a saucer and a jug of milk. As soon as he saw Kala Nag come up he went down on his knees. He poured the milk into the saucer and placed it near the threshold. With hands folded in prayer he bowed his head to the ground craving forgiveness. In desperate fury, the cobra hissed and spat and bit Gunga Ram all over the head—then with great effort dragged himself into a gutter.

 

 Gunga Ram groaned in agony, turned pale and blue and froth (foam) appeared on his mouth.

There were little drops of blood on his forehead which were wiped away by the teacher. Underneath was the V mark where the Kala Nag had dug its fangs.