Question: Substance of the poem ‘Daybreak’.
Ans: In the poem ‘Daybreak’ Longfellow describes a dawn in pastoral surrounding. The wind rises from the sleepy sea and it tells the mists to make a room for it. It greets the ships and calls the mariners to set sail as the darkness of the night is gone. Then it blows over the lands to make all awake. It requests the forests to unfurl all leaves. It softly touches the ‘wood bird’s folded wing’ and encourages it to herald the dawn through its songs. While crossing the farms, it then cock to blow it’s clarion. Next it urges the cornfield to bow down and welcome the coming morning. It asks the church-bell to proclaim the hour of the day. Finally the wind reaches the churchyard and it deeply feels for the dead and tells them to enjoy the peace and bliss of after life.
Question: What role does the wind play in announcing the beginning of the day? How is the final couplet different from the rest of the poem?
Ans: The wind is an element of nature. It has no life of its own. The poet invests it with life and vitality and it is given the duty of conveying the massage of ‘Daybreak’ to the sleeping world.
The wind comes out of the sea and tells the mists to move to make room for it. It then encourages the mariners to start a new voyage. Then the wind blows over the land. It tells everyone to get up from the sleep. Passing through the forest it asks the trees to hang out their leafy branches. It urges the wood-birds to sing. While crossing the farms, it implores the chanticleer to crow loudly to welcome the day. It then imples the corns to bow down to greet the morning. Then the wind asks the church bells to proclaim the hour of the daybreak. Thus the wind breaks the sleep of all.
In the final couplet of the poem is different from the rest of the poem because here we find the tone of the wind shifts into a sigh. The energetic, restless, ever-busy wind now looks clam and quite, while the wind passes by the churchyard. It does not disturb the dead souls and feels sorry for them. It tells the departed soul lying in graves to sleep in peace till the Judgement Day comes.
Question: The poet personifies the wind here. How does he do this.
Ans: Personification is an effective poetic device. Sometimes a poet employs this device to express his own thoughts and ideas. Personification implies the art of attributing life to an inanimate object or any phenomenon of nature. The present poem Daybreak is a brilliant example of personification. Latest go through the poem to see the masterly execution of his fine figure of speech.
The wind is humanised here. Though the wind has no life of its own but the poet invests it with life and vitality and it is given the duty of sending the message of daybreak to the sleeping world. In fact the wind is the messenger the harbinger of new life and new age. So it whispers, shouts, sighs and speaks like a normal human being. Thus, the wind pleads the wind not to obstruct his flow, asks the mariners to commence their voyage as the night is gone, whispers to the fields of corn to bow down to greets the morning. Moreover, the wind shows its discretion at it gently awaken the wood-birds. It then shouts through the belfry tower to proclaim the hour. That it also has a sensitive side to his character is evidence from the way it sighs at the churchyard for the dead. Therefore just human being acts depending upon the situation, the wind plays that part perfectly making the personification come alive.
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