English Notes Latest Questions

In: ,
  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven
    This answer was edited.

    The poem “On His Blindness” by John Milton describes the poet’s sorrow and grief over the loss of his eyesight and ultimately, in the end, his submission to God’s Will. The poem begins with the poet memorising how he served humanity by writing poetry when he had eyesight. Now that he has lost his eyRead more

    The poem “On His Blindness” by John Milton describes the poet’s sorrow and grief over the loss of his eyesight and ultimately, in the end, his submission to God’s Will. The poem begins with the poet memorising how he served humanity by writing poetry when he had eyesight.

    Now that he has lost his eyesight, he is unable to write poetry and thus he can neither serve humanity nor God. He fears that God will ask him about his talent on the Day of Judgement. But he soon realises that God does not need anybody’s work. He will be serving God if he bears his blindness.

    He quotes the example of two types of angels who serve God. Some of them take His orders across the seas at the speed of light. However, there are some other angels as well who just stand and wait and still serving Him.

    Read detailed summary of this poem.

    See less
    • 19
In: ,
  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    The line has been taken from the famous poem “On His Blindness” written by John Milton. In this poem, the poet who is now blind mourns over the fact that he cannot use the talent given by God (of writing poetry) because of his blindness. It has been wasted. In the beginning lines, he fears that GodRead more

    The line has been taken from the famous poem “On His Blindness” written by John Milton. In this poem, the poet who is now blind mourns over the fact that he cannot use the talent given by God (of writing poetry) because of his blindness. It has been wasted. In the beginning lines, he fears that God will ask him how he used his talent and he will not be able to answer him.

    However, soon he relieves himself by thinking that God does not need anybody’s work and he will not ask about his talent after taking away his eyesight. In the end, he talks about the angels who serve God. According to the poet, there are some other angels as well who just stand and wait. Though they do nothing, yet they are serving Him.

    Similarly, he is also serving God just by bearing his blindness.

    See less
    • 15
In: ,
  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    This is the first line of the poem “On His Blindness” by John Milton. The poet who has lost his eyesight is mourning over the loss. In this line, he memorises his previous life (when he had eyesight). He thinks how he was serving humanity and thus God by writing poetry which is a talent given by GodRead more

    This is the first line of the poem “On His Blindness” by John Milton. The poet who has lost his eyesight is mourning over the loss. In this line, he memorises his previous life (when he had eyesight).

    He thinks how he was serving humanity and thus God by writing poetry which is a talent given by God to him. However, now he is blind and unable to use this talent.

    Read complete summary here.

    See less
    • 1
In: ,
  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Reflective poetry or reflective poem is a genre of poetry in which the poet expresses his state of mind using images and symbols and compares them with real life objects and scenes. Thus a reflective poem is normally quite long and also thoughtful unlike lyric poetry which is short and expresses feeRead more

    Reflective poetry or reflective poem is a genre of poetry in which the poet expresses his state of mind using images and symbols and compares them with real life objects and scenes.

    Thus a reflective poem is normally quite long and also thoughtful unlike lyric poetry which is short and expresses feelings. An example of reflective poem is “An Essay on Man” by Alexander Pope.

    See less
    • 7
In: ,
  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    When Mr Pirzada Came to Dine by Jhumpa Lahiri is a short story that revolves around the theme of assimilation of Indians into America, their issues in adopting Western Culture and the difference of love and affinity for motherland between the first generation migrants and the second generation migraRead more

    When Mr Pirzada Came to Dine by Jhumpa Lahiri is a short story that revolves around the theme of assimilation of Indians into America, their issues in adopting Western Culture and the difference of love and affinity for motherland between the first generation migrants and the second generation migrants.

    Assimilation of Indians into American Culture

    During the 1940s, freedom movement had spread all over the Erstwhile British Colonies including Asian Countries like India. Along with it were riots, mass murders, and the emergence of new countries.

    During this era, a number of Asians fled away to Europe and America. Settling in a new country meant adopting a new culture, food, habits, language etc. Hence it was difficult for most of the people to adopt this new and drastic change.

    The short story When Mr Pirzada Came to Dine reflects this theme. Lilia’s parents had migrated from India and Mr Pirzada belonged to Bangladesh. Lilia’s father wanted his daughter to learn about India, her history, geography etc while her mother didn’t like this. She desired her child to adopt the American Culture.

    For Mr Pirzada, Lilia’s going out with friends was shocking as in Indian subcontinent it was not allowed. Similarly, Halloween is a festival in the USA which was quite new for Mr Pirzada. Thus the first generation migrants suffered a lot in adopting the new culture and also had a great affinity towards their country of origin.

    Problems of 2nd Generation Migrants

    The second generation migrants to which Lilia belonged have not experienced the riots, partition and other problems which the 1st generation had suffered. This is why Lilia cannot understand the pain of her father and that why he forces her to learn about India and its history.

    Another important issue is that of the belief that has been reflected in this short story. Lilia does not seem to be believing in her parent’s Deity. Rather, when Mr Pirzada goes back to Bangladesh, she takes candies given by him every day into her mouth till morning and does the same until she comes to know that Mr Pirzada’s family is safe.

    This is her belief which does not match to that of her parents.

    Read the summary of When Mr Pirzada came to Dine here.

    See less
    • 1
In: ,
  1. Lucifer
    Best Answer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    The narrator of the poem, Patriot tells us how popular he was once because of his loyalty and bravery. He was respected by the people. They used to celebrate his grand success. However, after a year, he lost his glory and respect which he doesn’t mention in the poem. He is rather hated now and is abRead more

    The narrator of the poem, Patriot tells us how popular he was once because of his loyalty and bravery. He was respected by the people. They used to celebrate his grand success. However, after a year, he lost his glory and respect which he doesn’t mention in the poem.

    He is rather hated now and is about to be executed publicly because of some mistake he has done recently. However, he is not ashamed of it as he thinks that he is right and will be welcomed in Paradise by God as He knows his truthfulness.

    The poem throws light on the idea of patriotism in a country. e.g. a person respecting a cruel ruler is a patriot and the one who opposes him will also be a patriot. In the context of the poem, we can imagine that the patriot might be one of the loyal soldiers of a ruler who might have been overthrown by another one.

    And now once been a patriot is rather a traitor in the eyes of the new ruler. However, this is my general perception and not the truth and thus should not be believed.

    Read the detailed summary of the poem.

    See less
    • 10