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  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    The poem Tale of Melon City is a ballad. Read summary of The Tale of Melon City Play Quiz on The Tale of Melon City

  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    The Tale of Melon City is written by Vikram Seth. Read summary of The Tale of Melon City Play Quiz on The Tale of Melon City

  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    The poem The Tale of Melon is about a kingdom of fools. In the poem, the poet explains how a petty matter leads to the death of king. And how fool the people of that kingdom are. The king is described as placid and just. However ironically, he becomes furious at just a small matter and orders the haRead more

    The poem The Tale of Melon is about a kingdom of fools. In the poem, the poet explains how a petty matter leads to the death of king. And how fool the people of that kingdom are. The king is described as placid and just. However ironically, he becomes furious at just a small matter and orders the hanging of the culprits. Even the wise men are fools. They choose melon because of their lack of wisdom. So, the whole poem is just for enjoyment. It does not seem to carry any message.

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  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Following figures of speech/poetic devices have been used in the poem The Tale of Melon City: Irony: It is a situation in which there is a contrast between expectation and reality. e.g. in the poem, the king is described as just and placid. But in real, he becomes angry at petty matter. There are maRead more

    Following figures of speech/poetic devices have been used in the poem The Tale of Melon City:

    1. Irony: It is a situation in which there is a contrast between expectation and reality. e.g. in the poem, the king is described as just and placid. But in real, he becomes angry at petty matter. There are many ironical situations in the poem. e.g. the king is hanged over a petty matter. The people choose a melon as their king etc.
    2. Alliteration: It is the use of the same sound at the beginning of words that are close together. e.g. “long live the king”, “the workmen went” etc.
    3. Repetition: It is the repetition of words and phrases of poetic effect. e.g. “Long live the king”.
    4. Inversion: It is the reversal of the normal order of the words and phrases in a sentence for poetic effect. e.g. “Truly, the arch it was that”.
    5. Onomatopoeia: It is the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named. e.g. “Muttering”, “Quivering” etc.

    Read summary of The Tale of Melon City

    Play Quiz on The Tale of Melon City

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  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    The phrase "laissez faire" means a government which has minimal interference in the day to day life of citizens. it means "leave alone". Read summary of The Tale of Melon City Play Quiz on The Tale of Melon City

    The phrase “laissez faire” means a government which has minimal interference in the day to day life of citizens. it means “leave alone”.

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  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    The poem The Tale of Melon City is quite ironical. In this poem, a king orders to make an arch. However it turns out to be a little bit shorter in height which makes the king's crown fall down. he orders the execution of the culprits. However ironically, he is hanged. Later on the citizens decide toRead more

    The poem The Tale of Melon City is quite ironical. In this poem, a king orders to make an arch. However it turns out to be a little bit shorter in height which makes the king’s crown fall down. he orders the execution of the culprits. However ironically, he is hanged. Later on the citizens decide to choose their new king and they end up choosing a melon. Hence the poem is ironic.

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  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    The poem The Tale of Melon City is a political satire. In the poem, the king is described as just and placid. But ironically he is neither just nor soft. He orders to build an arch and his subjects are supposed to follow the orders without questioning him. When the arch turns out to be a little smalRead more

    The poem The Tale of Melon City is a political satire. In the poem, the king is described as just and placid. But ironically he is neither just nor soft. He orders to build an arch and his subjects are supposed to follow the orders without questioning him. When the arch turns out to be a little small in size, the king orders the execution of those responsible. He forgets his just and placid nature.

    When they are unable to reach any conclusion, the king orders that one who fits the noose should be executed. Ironically only he fits in it and is hanged. The people seem to be fed up with the authoritative rule of king and prefer melon as it will have minimal interference in their daily life. Thus the poem is a satire on rule which interferes too much in the lives of normal citizens.

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  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Ironically the king does not seem to be just and placid. He orders to construct an arch. When it turns out to be a little bit small in height, he orders the execution of builders without thinking even once. When he is finally hanged because of his foolishness, the people choose a melon as their kingRead more

    Ironically the king does not seem to be just and placid. He orders to construct an arch. When it turns out to be a little bit small in height, he orders the execution of builders without thinking even once. When he is finally hanged because of his foolishness, the people choose a melon as their king which show that they don’t need any king. They need minimum interference of state in their lives.

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  1. Lucifer
    Lucifer better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven

    Peace and liberty can be maintained only if state exercises minimum power over its subjects. In the poem, the people seem to be eager to hang their king. It seems that the king was exerting too much control over its citizens. After king's death, they prefer melon as they want minimum interference ofRead more

    Peace and liberty can be maintained only if state exercises minimum power over its subjects. In the poem, the people seem to be eager to hang their king. It seems that the king was exerting too much control over its citizens. After king’s death, they prefer melon as they want minimum interference of state in their lives.

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