Literary Criticism: Nature and function of poetry according to Coleridge

It is without a doubt that “Biographia Literaria” of S.T. Coleridge is one of the finest books on literary criticism in English literature. Coleridge’s personal life was very tragic, but he had great knowledge of literature and there are few critics equally talented in the history of English literature. There is a history behind the creation of “Biographia Literaria” which we should know if we are to discuss it. In fact, “Biographia Literaria” was written in answer to the famous essay “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads”. In 1798, Wordsworth and Coleridge jointly published Lyrical Ballads. This book started the Romantic era in the history of English literature. At that time, two friends shared different opinions on different matters of poetry. 

In his essay, Wordsworth said some important things about poetry. His first major statement was that there was not much difference between poetry and prose. We might think that they are same. Wordsworth emphasized that there is not much difference between the language of prose and the language of poetry and they are quite close. Coleridge did not agree with this statement and he clearly mentioned it in his essay “Biographia Literaria”. Hence, it is important when we will discuss about Coleridge’s view on nature and function of poetry.

Before Romantic era, there was neo-classical era in English literature. Poets, writers and critics of this era considered works of the Greek and Roman poets as standard and followed their rules. Many famous Greek and Roman poets and philosophers including Aristotle believed that the main function of poetry is to depict the truth but Coleridge did not support this view. He believed that the main function of poetry is to entertain the reader.  A reader should find pleasure or joy upon reading poetry. This matter is very important and while discussing about the function of poetry of Coleridge, we should keep it in mind as well about Neo-classical idea.

Coleridge said that poetry and prose are entirely different subjects. At first, the two may appear close for both of them actually work with words. We use words while writing prose and poetry. However, the sequence of words in poetry is different from that of prose. According to Coleridge, the function of poetry is different from that of prose. The main function of prose is to present the truth but that is not the same with poetry.

Coleridge believed that the main function of poetry is to provide pleasure to its reader not to present the truth. Poetry may represent the truth but that is not very important. Coleridge serious discussed on this issue in his essay “Biographia Literaria”. Coleridge said that if we look into scientific prose then we would see that they only present what happened but imagination has a major role in poetry. The main difference between poetry and prose lies in the use of imagination in these two forms. Except novel, there is not much use of imagination in prose. During the time of Coleridge, novel became very popular but many considered poetry equally important.

Coleridge emphasized on the presence of beauty and joy in poetry. Through he tried to say that poetry is an entirely different matter. Wordsworth’s definition of poetry is different from that of Coleridge. There difference in opinion surprises us for they were the pioneers of the Romantic Movement in England.

Literary Criticism: Do you also think that epics and novels can only represent the whole truth in literature?

‘Tragedy and the Whole Truth’ by Aldous Huxley is an important text in the literary criticism of English literature. The text discusses two very important issues: one is ‘tragedy’ and the other is ‘whole truth’. We all know more or less about tragedy and many tragic plays and tragic dramas have become world famous. We can take Oedipus as an example. Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Hamlet could also come to our mind. Whole truth, on the other hand, can be said to be a fairly new concept because before Huxley, very few people mentioned about this issue.

So, first of all, we need to know what Huxley tires to mean by introducing the term ‘whole truth’. By ‘whole truth’, he implies a kind of truth which is ‘super truth’. It is not ‘two and two makes four’ or ‘the earth travels around the sun’ type of truth or fact. Rather, in respect to literature, expressing every detail means whole truth. We may feel that giving every detail of everything in literature is a modern idea, but it has existed since ancient times. Besides portraying every detail, whole truth also brings forward the reality. Huxley finds such an example of whole truth in a description taken from Homer’s Odyssey. One day, Odysseus and his companions saw a monster swallowing six of their companions alive. Having seen that, other terrified companions moved to a safe place. After reaching ashore, they first looked for a safe place for themselves, instead of crying for their lost companions; and once they got a secured place, they first cooked food and filled their stomach and then started shedding tears for their friends before their exhausted bodies succumbed to sleep. This is a good example of whole truth. Many of us may think that what was the need of showing it and how could they eat food without crying when they saw that the demon chewed and devoured their companions. But Homer was realistic and knew that first they would need food and the question of crying would come later.

Over the ages, authors wrote about the concept of whole truth and Huxley tried to show that. However, whole truth cannot be manifested in tragedy because in tragedy, we shed all the lights on a fragmented part or sorrows and pains of life. So, there is a difference between tragedy and whole truth. Whole truth has been largely popular at present age. As a result, whole truth is perfect for novel.

Two types of literature could gain popularity in portraying whole truth. Epic should come first and here we can consider Homer as the best example. The advantage with epic is that it is, by nature, very long in size and so easier to depict whole truth. If it is a 200-page epic, the author can reveal every detail. Portraying whole truth does not only mean expressing all the details, but manifesting the reality as well. In respect to epic, an incident can be portrayed from each and every angle and all the related elements can be shown perfectly.

Another literary form can successfully show the whole truth and that is novel. Same thing can be said about novel. Novel is very long and most of the novels are around 100 pages. So, an author can beautifully present each and every detail in a novel. Another notable characteristic of novel is that the large span of life can be extensively illustrated in this form of literature. So, novel is ideal for whole truth.

Looking at other literary forms other than epic and novel, we can find drama. Even though drama, especially tragic drama, is long, whole truth can be successfully portrayed because tragedy is built on a serious setting and its sole objective is to direct it towards the end. So, the serious mood of tragedy can be diluted at the introduction of light-hearted materials. If that happens, then perhaps many audiences would not like tragedy that much. I do not see many instances of portraying whole truth in tragedy.

Poem is a very popular form of literature. Depicting whole truth in poem is fairly hard too. The problem in relation to poem is that in poetry, emotion is presented through a few lines or stanzas and there is little scope of portraying every detail in poem. Poets often try to present universal or timeless ideas. To do that or present something serious, it becomes tough to focus on whole truth in poetry. Long poems are often written in epic form and I already mentioned that epics are perfect for beautifully depicting whole truth. However, irrespective of literary forms, be it epic or tragedy or novel, the focus of the author is the most important thing. If he or she wants to put emphasis on whole truth, only then it will become possible to portray whole truth. On the other hand, if the whole truth is not given importance then whole truth cannot be shown even in novel.

Literary Criticism: Definition of poem and poetry and the explanation of the poetic process by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

‘Biographia Literaria’ is a book where Samuel Taylor Coleridge illustrates his ideas about poetry. Mainly, it was Coleridge’s response to William Wordsworth’s ‘Preface to the Lyrical Ballads’. Coleridge and Wordsworth had differences in their poetic principles, even though they were close friends. They laid the foundation of the Romantic age of English literature together, but their ideas about poetry were not quite similar. We can see more of these differences in the book ‘Biographia Literaria’.

In his book ‘Preface to the Lyrical Ballads’, William Wordsworth puts forth a number of new ideas which provoked thoughts among the contemporary litterateurs. Wordsworth wanted to say that poetry should be written in such a language that would be comprehensible to the general people and its subject matters should represent the daily life of common men. He also states that nature should be considered with sheer importance while writing poem and a poet should describe nature in his or her poetry. Besides, Wordsworth also provides his own theory on how a poet should write poetry or poetic process.

Coleridge reflected on some of the issues quite differently and it is perhaps down to the fact that Coleridge was one of the best philosophers of that age. So, not only was he a renowned poet, but at the same time, he was a philosopher and his philosophical ideologies influenced in different European countries. In Biographia Literaria, we can see that Coleridge mixes philosophy with literature. That is the reason he puts so much emphasis on ‘imagination’ and tries to signify imagination in everything.

Coleridge sees poem and poetry differently and the primary difference between the two is not apparent in Biographia Literaria. By poem, we can understand a particular poem, while poetry, in general, means collection of all poems. Coleridge also defines these two terms somewhat similarly. However, he associates a poet’s thoughts, feelings and imagination with poetry. That means, poetry represents the overall identity of a poet, while poem is just an individual poem.

To Coleridge, poetic genius is the most important thing when it comes to poetic process. A poet must utilize his poetic genius and imagination. Coleridge comes up with two different imaginations- primary and secondary imaginations. With the use of imagination, poets can come up with different new ideas and poetry gets elevated as well.

Both Wordsworth and Coleridge had immense contribution to the popularity of Romantic age or Romantic Movement. Coleridge delicately introduced the influence of imagination. Looking at his poetry and the subject matter of his poetry, we can understand the importance of imagination. Coleridge was a poet of great caliber and his Biographia Literaria not only did establish him as a poet, but also introduced his identity as a great literary critic of English literature.

Literary Criticism: What are “chemically pure” and “chemically impure” in literature?

Aldous Huxley’s Tragedy and the Whole Truth is a very important text in literary criticism as he has created a new window for the readers with this piece of writing. An idea has existed from the ancient time that tragedy or tragic drama is the best form of literature. So, we always consider Sophocles' Oedipus or Shakespeare’s Hamlet or Macbeth as some of the best pieces of literature and it is also thought that people’s emotions can be best revealed through tragedy. Huxley refers to this kind of idea or thought as chemically pure. That means, many people consider non-tragedies as of low quality. However, Huxley, through his essays, tries to imply that what is chemically impure can represent whole truth.

First of all, we need to know what chemically pure means. By introducing this term, Huxley does not intend to relate it with chemistry. Rather, he stresses on portraying the best thoughts, best feelings of human minds in literature. We can see that tragedy dramas are of very serious mood and incorporate serious dialogues or interactions among the characters, thoughts and feelings of very serious nature. We can also feel the seriousness in the presentation of the drama and as a result, small, irrelevant matters are not given much importance. This seriousness in presentation and the high standard is what Huxley calls chemically pure.

On the other hand, by saying chemically impure, Huxley denotes the representation of every detail of a story or set of stories, though not of so serious mood as of tragedy. In his regard, Huxley takes an example from the novel Tom Jones by Henry Fielding where the female protagonist, Sophia Western, falls on the ground while attempting to ride on a Western horse. The incident creates some humors and the way Fielding describes the incident is also very humorous. In tragic dramas, we cannot see a scene like this because it is chemically impure.

A lot of debates and arguments were going on about truth. Truth is obviously portrayed in tragedy and to establish the truth is one of the objectives of tragedy. In Macbeth, we can see that greed brings destruction and in Oedipus, we can see that arrogance causes downfall. Establishing this kind of higher truth is the objective of most of the tragedies. So, chemically pure literature is viewed by many with sheer importance and there are many who do not want to see chemically impure literature as of high standard. However, Huxley is against this idea and he thinks that higher truth is undoubtedly established in tragedy, but literature being chemically pure could also represent whole truth and it definitely has some importance. Huxley has taken the idea of whole truth with great importance and talked about the term in a recurring manner throughout the essay. Huxley wants to say that whole truth, by no means, diminish the standard of literature. Rather, whole truth could help increase the standard of literature.

Huxley attempts to answer whether chemically impure literature represents whole truth by introducing the example of heroine’s falling down from horseback, an incident taken from Tom Jones by Fielding, which sets up a humorous scene. We may find this humorous incident in our everyday lives and portraying every detail of this kind of incidents from our daily lives is actually whole truth. Huxley thinks that in literature, chemically pure is not a problem in establishing whole truth. So, Huxley opines that chemically impure literature can and must represent the whole truth.

Huxley also says that we have reached an age where the importance and popularity of whole truth is increasing and to establish whole truth, we need chemically impure elements. If we look at our daily lives, we can realize that our lives are full of all kinds of incidents.  Here, as we find sorrow, pain, despair, we also find delight, joy and happiness. We also find comic elements in life as well. So, in the current-day literature, we can see more emphasis given on illustrating the whole truth and it has a connection with the growing importance of novel. Novel is long in size and it is easier to represent whole truth in novel. So, this is the age of chemically impure literature. At last, I would like to say that there is no alternative of chemically impure elements for displaying whole truth in literature.

Literary Criticism: Compare Tragedy and Whole Truth

How does Aldous Huxley compare tragedy and whole truth in literature?

Tragedy and the Whole Truth is a major work in the field of literary criticism of English literature. Aldous Huxley presented a beautiful analysis of tragedy and whole truth and showed us a new way of thinking. Prior to Huxley, many people believed that tragedy is the best form of literature and only tragedy will survive not whole truth for it is not a good thing. However, Huxley showed that great writers did not neglect whole truth and even while writing tragedy, they presented whole truth.

First we need to know what tragedy and whole truth actually means. By tragedy we mean something sad. In literature, tragedy means tragedy play. Many famous drama of world literature is tragic drama. There are many famous Greek tragedy plays. William Shakespeare, the famous English dramatist, also wrote tragic dramas such as Macbeth and Hamlet, which became very popular. These tragedy plays survived for centuries and provided food for thought to people.

By “whole truth” Aldous Huxley referred to the ordinary matters of our daily lives and presenting them properly. As the instance of whole truth, he mentioned Homer’s Odyssey. Odyssey tells the story of the journey of Odysseus to Ithaca, his homeland. During this journey, he and his companions faced great dangers. Once, a monster ate six of his companions. After reaching to a shelter in the island, Odysseus’ companions, instead of crying, first searched for food and then mourned for them and fell asleep crying.

Tragedy is higher and chemically pure. Because the author presents only one idea meaning, we only see sufferings, losses, pain in tragedy and all these are present in human nature. Hence, any good tragedy has great effect on us and it has a power called “Catharsis” which lightens up the sorrow of human heart. The better the tragedy, the powerful the Catharsis becomes. Catharsis helps us to overcome sorrows. Hence, tragedy is given great importance in all the countries.

On the other hand, whole truth is chemically impure because it contains many more ingredients than tragedy, but Aldous Huxley does not think less of it than tragedy. In his regard, Huxley takes an example from the novel Tom Jones by Henry Fielding where the female protagonist, Sophia Western, falls on the ground while attempting to ride on a Western horse. The incident creates some humors and the way Fielding describes the incident is also very humorous. In tragic dramas, we cannot see a scene like this because it is chemically impure. At the same time, we also understand that whole truth suits novel very well; the main genre of current-day literature. Hence, we cannot neglect whole truth and it is no less inferior to tragedy. What Huxley tried to say is that if whole truth is used properly then it would become richer than tragedy. At the same time, the author can also utilize the artistic features of tragedy.

Huxley wrote this essay at a time when novel became a very popular genre and drama and poem were losing their charm. Cinema has become very popular and by “reading books” people started referring to reading novels.  If we look at our lives we would see that we do not read or watch drama that much and very few people these days read poetry or enjoy reading it. Most of the time, we study novels. From time to time, we watch tragic plays in theatres or on television but they are not so popular. But Aldous Huxley thinks that both tragic play and novel have great importance and very much necessary for human beings.

The absence of these two elements will destroy the balance of the world and a major damage will happen to human through process. Hence, the writers of tragic plays should pay attention to whole truth and writers of novels should learn from tragic plays. 

Literary Criticism: Evaluation of English poetry from Chaucer to Burns

In his famous essay “The Study of Poetry”, Matthew Arnold said that good time is coming for literature and poem and they will exercise greater influence on human beings. According to him, literature is very important in human life and a time will come when literature will take over philosophy and religion. However, it is not applicable to literature as a whole. Good literary pieces will have great influence on human beings. In this regard, Arnold discussed about major poets starting from Chaucer to Burns.

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First comes Chaucer who is considered to be the father of English literature. There were few literary works before Chaucer but Chaucer was the first major poet in English literature. Arnold spoke highly of Chaucer and said that his writing was better compared to his contemporary French poets and one cannot deny Chaucer’s contribution in English literature. At the same time, Arnold criticized Chaucer. He said that Chaucer’s works cannot be considered as classics. Compared to poets like Homer or Sophocles, Chaucer is not that great. We can say that Homer and Sophocles were far better poets than Chaucer. Arnold said that Chaucer’s poem lacked high seriousness.

Arnold also spoke highly of Shakespeare for he is one of the most popular and celebrated poet and dramatist in English literature. It is not possible to neglect or entirely forget Shakespeare. Arnold talked highly of Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s writing is very good and he provided some examples. His only criticism against Shakespeare was that not all his writings are of high quality. Some writings were poor quality.

Arnold praised John Milton, another major poet of English literature. His “Paradise Lost” is the best epic poem in English literature. Milton was an immensely talented writer. He wrote poems and prose.

Arnold said many things about Dryden and Pope. However, they were more successful in prose than composing high class literary pieces. Arnold praised Dryden and said that English prose started with Dryden. There was also no doubt that Pope was a scholar and he wrote great prose. The problem with Dryden and Pope was that they could not produce great sentence like those of Shakespeare and Milton.

Arnold said that Thomas Gray was the best poet of the 19th century. Though Dryden composed few poems but Arnold thought that they were of high quality. We can consider Gray’s “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” as one of his great works. It is a very good poem and without a doubt can be considered to be a classic of English literature.

Burns is another poet whom Arnold analyzed very closely. He believes that Burns was talented but his poems were not such high quality. His Scottish poems were better. Arnold believes that one should study the Scottish poems of Burns to better understand his talent as a poet.

Arnold analyzed works of poets starting from Chaucer to Burns. His analysis was also influenced by his thoughts and ideals to certain extent. The interesting thing is that he did not say much about major Romantic poets like Coleridge, Shelley and Byron. The Romantic age is considered to be the best age for English poetry and Arnold came after the Romantic age. So it is a bit frustrating. 

Literary Criticism: Glorification of poetry by Matthew Arnold

The Study of Poetry by Matthew Arnold is the best writing of literary criticism. It can also be referred as the best literary criticism of the Victorian era. There are some reasons behind writing this essay but the most important of them all is the glorification of poetry. We all know that novels were more popular than poetry in Victorian era which led many people to think that poetry was losing its prominence. Moreover, poetry was increasingly being attacked by the critics. 

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Victorian era of English literature follows the Romantic era and five of the most prominent poets of the Romantic age are- Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats, and Byron. After these poets, there were no prominent poets during Victorian era. Moreover, the supporters of utilitarianism believed that poetry is not necessary for the society for it does not have any direct impact on human beings. Their idea was that Science is necessary for human beings and commerce enables people to earn money but poetry is just a waste of time. Arnold started writing for poetry at such a critical period and he strongly showed that the necessity of poetry will never end in human civilization. He also believed that ordinary poem is of no use. The poet must follow classical poets because their appeal will never perish.

During Victorian era, people started to lose faith in religion. Many became suspicious about the truth of the Bible after Charles Darwin’s “Theory of Evolution” came out. At the same time, philosophy started to lose its value. In such a condition, Arnold believed that poetry’s future was the brightest because poetry would take over the place of religion and philosophy.

Arnold did not entirely go against the supporters of science but he believed that without poetry science will remain incomplete. The reason is, science presents partial truth in front of human beings contrary to the higher truth presented by poetry. Poetry can influence human beings and give him new ideas or thoughts which other fields of science cannot do. Hence, Arnold thinks that poetry is not only important for human beings but more important.

According to Arnold, poetry is the reflection of human life and criticism of life at the same time. These two features of poetry allow it to represent the true condition of human life and provide them guidance regarding how to make their lives beautiful. This is why, there are very few things that are as important as poetry and those believe that poetry is unnecessary they are actually putting the society in jeopardy.

However, Arnold did not talk about ordinary poem to show the greatness of poetry. Rather, he referred to classical poems. He mentioned names of many famous poets, including Chaucer, Milton, Shakespeare, Dryden etc. Arnold suggested that people should read poems of those poets who wrote high standard classical poems for we would be able to learn many new things from them. We should follow their direction for it would enrich our lives. We should appreciate classical poems and poets. Arnold believed that by doing so we would nourish our lives.

In conclusion, we can say that Arnold believed that poetry is the best of literature and a very important field of science. No human being should neglect it rather they should read good poems whenever they get time. 

Account of the concluding stanzas of Adonais

“Adonais” by P.B. Shelley is a pastoral elegy. It is considered to be one of the best elegies in the English literature. Shelley wrote this elegy mourning the death of John Keats. The entire elegy can be divided into two parts. In the first 37 stanzas, Shelley mourns Keats’ death. He then talks about nature mourning Keats’ death, and how human emotions, thoughts, ideas and dead poets come to see the dead Keats. He attacks the critics whom he believed to have caused Keats’ early death. He says that this world is a cruel place for talented men like Keats and himself. However, in the last 17 stanzas, he gives readers hope and says that Keats did not die but joined the greatest poets. He will remain in this earth, in nature and among the people.

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In the last 17 stanzas, Shelley gives hope to his readers. He tells them not to mourn the death of Keats for he has gone to a place where savage critics will not be able to attack him. He has joined the great poets who joined the illustrious dead. Keats body will be consumed by earth but his pure spirit will be part of the divine spirit. The divine spirit is eternal and do not change with time. Keats spirit will join this eternal divine spirit and the critics who attacked him will die in shame.

Shelley further says that Keats’ life in this world was not a life but a sleep; a dream. After his death, Keats or Adonais has woken up from that dream. It is the ordinary people who lead a meaningless life on this earth by fighting meaningless illusions. Keats has gone to a place where there is no jealousy, slander, hate and pain.

Once again Shelley personifies the nature and tells it not to mourn Adonais or Keats’ death. He tells “Young Dawn” to turn all his dew into something glittering and glorious. A great spirit like that of Keats can never die. It is death who has died.

Finally, Shelley declares-

“He is made one with Nature. There is heard

 His voice in all her music, from the moan

 Of thunder to the song of night's sweet bird.

 He is a presence to be felt and known

 In darkness and in light, from herb and stone”

Shelley believes in Pantheism. He believes that Keats has now become one with the nature. He has not died. His voice can be heard in all the sounds of nature- thunder’s moan and birds’ music. He has become part of the Spirit of beauty to which he once contributed to during his life on earth.

Shelley says that great poets are like stars. Their lights may dim but never extinguishes. Many great poets, including Shelley himself, who did not find fame in their lifetime but eventually they became famous. Their thoughts and ideas always inspire the young minds and lift them from their earthly thoughts. All the great poets, who died young age, have risen up to greet Keats or Adonais. Shelley visualizes that Thomas Chatterton, Sir Philip Sydney, Lucan, the Roman poet, all rose up in Keats’ honor.

Keats again scolds readers for mourning Keats’ death. Shelley tells him to conceive the greatness of the vast space and then shrink back to his daily life. He tells the mourner not to be afraid of death but to lead a cheerful life by accepting death.

Shelley then tells the readers to go to Rome, which contains tombs of many great kings of the world who conquered and caused untold misery and death on earth. Keats is lying there in cemetery. People like Keats do not need glory but they lend glory to other people. In the same manner, Keats’ burial has given Rome a splendor. Kings and conquerors perish and sink in oblivion but great poets and intellectuals who stood up and fought against the decay of their time will never be forgotten.

Shelley then talks about the ruins of Rome which is lying bare for many years. As a result, grass and flowers have grown over them. The ruins are big and calm and quiet. Going there one would have strange feelings. Shelley refers this as the “Spirit of the spot”. The tomb of Caius Cestius is located nearby. It is a pyramid made of stone. Beating the decaying force of time, the pyramid is standing there in a majestic manner. The spirit will guide the readers through the place and would lead him to a cemetery filled with green grass. Along with the grasses there are flowers grown over the graves. These flowers would look like laughing infants. It is there Keats is being buried. The reader should stand there for a moment. The surrounding graves are the graves of people who died recently.

In the end, Shelley once again feels the presence of the Eternal spirit and accepts his death. He feels that he has no hope or desire to live in this world. He finds no attraction in this world. Even the people he loved gives him trouble. He feels like the sky is smiling upon him and airs are whispering in his ears. He felt like Keats is telling Shelley to join with him. Shelley is not afraid of death but thinking that life is keeping him away from Keats or Adonais. 

ICC World Cup 2019: India vs Pakistan Match Preview

The match between India and Pakistan is undoubtedly the much-awaited cricket match in the 2019 ICC World Cup. This high-voltage cricket match will kick off at 3:00 PM Indian Standard Time (IST) on Sunday (16 June 2019) at Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester, England. To see this match live, you will have to keep your eyes on sports TV channels, including Star Sports (India), Sky Sports (UK), Geo Super (Pakistan) etc.

Teams: India vs. Pakistan

Time: 03:00 PM IST

Date: 16 June 2019

Venue: Old Trafford Cricket Ground

Place: Manchester, England

TV Channels: Star Sports (India), Sky Sports (UK), Geo Super (Pakistan).

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This is going to be the seventh meeting between India and Pakistan in the World Cup stage. In their previous six meetings, India won all of them and is likely to maintain their unbeaten record against Pakistan and take the lead to 7-0. Increasing the lead will not be an easy task for India despite being a strong team compared to their opponent on pen and paper.

Due to political reasons, cricket crazy people cannot see both India and Pakistan playing any bilateral series. They are only seen taking on each other if there is any scheduled match in any international cricket tournament. For this reason, cricket fans passionately wait for the match between these two neighboring countries.

Batting is the main strength of the Indian cricket team. Their batting line-up is adorned with experienced and in-form batsmen, who are helping the team to set a tough chasing score or chase the opponents’ score with an ease. On the other hand, bowling is the main weapon of the Pakistan cricket team. They have a bunch of young but promising bowlers, who have the ability to destroy any batting line-up. So, this match will be between Indian batsmen and Pakistani bowlers. Who do you think will win in this contest?

Off three matches, India won two against South Africa and Australia by 6 wickets and 36 runs respectively while the match against New Zealand was washed away due to persistent rain. India is on the fourth position of the point table with 5 points.

On the other hand, Pakistan lost two of their four matches against West Indies and Australia by 7 wickets and 41 runs respectively while their match against Sri Lanka was abandoned due to heavy rain. However, their only victory came against England, in which they beat the host nation by 14 runs. With 3 points, they are sitting on the eighth position of the point table.

Will rain interrupt the match?

According to several weather forecasts, rain may interrupt the match. And if it happens then both teams will have to share one point each. Having positioned among the top four teams of the ten-team mega event, India will have nothing to lose, but one more abandoned match will put an end to Pakistan’s hope of progressing to the semi-final round. As these two arch-rival teams are facing each other after a long time, supporters of both nations will not expect to see any rained-off game.

Due to rain, four out of 18 matches of this year’s cricket World Cup have been abandoned so far. It is time to see if rain spoils any more match or cricket lovers will be able to enjoy the much-awaited cricket match on Sunday.

India cricket squad: Kedar Jadhav, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Vijay Shankar, Dinesh Karthik, K. L. Rahul, MS Dhoni, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Pakistan cricket squad: Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Hafeez, Shadab Khan, Shoaib Malik, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Muhammad Hasnain, Shaheen Afridi, Wahab Riaz.

What is Shelley's philosophy about life in “Adonais”?

"Adonais" written by Percy Bysshe Shelley is a pastoral elegy poem. The poet on this poem has mourned over the death of John Keats. In the first 37 stanzas of the poem, Shelley talks about the death of Keats and how the nature and human emotions, thoughts and ideas came to see Keats and cried. He also attacks the critics, whom he believed to have caused early death of Keats. In the last eighteen stanzas, he turns to philosophical consolation. In this part, Shelley represents his philosophy about life.

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Shelley was a romantic poet. Romanticists believed in Pantheism. Pantheism is the belief that everything is God, and God is everything. The universe, “Nature” and God are thus interchangeable terms.

Shelley talks about John Milton, the great English poet who composed the epic “Paradise Lost”. Milton suffered a lot in his life and died old, blind and lonely but Shelley believed that even after his death his spirit remains in earth.

Similarly, Shelley said that Keats did not die. He tells the readers not to cry over Keats’ death rather they should be happy that Keats has gone to a place where savage reviewers would not be able to touch him. He now wakes up and sleeps with great people. Keats or Adonais came from that great eternal spirit and would now become one with it.

Shelley further says that Keats’ life in this world was not a life but a sleep; a dream. After his death, Keats or Adonais has woken up from that dream. It is the ordinary people who lead a meaningless life on this earth by fighting meaningless illusions. Keats has gone to a place where there is no jealousy, slander, hate and pain.

Once again Shelley personifies the nature and tells it not to mourn Adonais or Keats’ death. He tells “Young Dawn” to turn all his dew into something glittering and glorious. A great spirit like that of Keats can never die. It is death who has died.

Finally, Shelley declares-

He is made one with Nature. There is heard

His voice in all her music, from the moan

Of thunder to the song of night's sweet bird.

He is a presence to be felt and known

In darkness and in light, from herb and stone,

These lines clearly express Shelley’s pantheistic views. He believes that Keats has now become one with the nature. He has not died. His voice can be heard in all the sounds of natures- thunder’s moan and birds’ music. He has become part of the Spirit of beauty to which he once contributed to during his life on earth.

Many believe that by switching to his philosophy on life and death, Shelley destroyed the unity in Adonais which is true considering structure of the poem but I believe that by giving his own philosophy he made this poem unique. No poet in this world is complete, every poet has their weaknesses and strengths but this weaknesses and strengths made their works more unique and enjoyable to the readers.

Evaluate Adonais as a pastoral elegy

“Adonais” by P B Shelley is a pastoral elegy and is considered to be one of the best elegies of English literature.

The most prominent feature of pastoral elegy is the description of the nature of countryside; dark, gloom and quietness representing death, loss and sadness. For example, in “Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard”, poet Thomas Gray describes the nature at the time of sunset. Dark is approaching and everything is becoming quiet. Here dark symbolizes sorrow, loss or death. In “Adonais”, Shelley draws images of nature mourning over the death of Keats or Adonais.

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At the beginning of the poem, the speaker (Shelley) tells the readers that Adonais is dead and is calling Urania, his mother, who is now in paradise, to come and mourn his dead son. Shelley referred Uraina as the “most musical of mourners.” The dreams and thoughts of Adonais or Keats come to see him and mourn his death. Shelley says that these dreams and thoughts are like flocks of sheep and Keats is the shepherd. These sheep graze near the stream of Keats’ beautiful spirit and live on its water. If Keats had lived, he would have communicated these thoughts to other people but now he is dead and these thoughts are fading and lamenting their unhappy fate. This image of flocks of sheep and herdsman returning to their homes is very common in pastoral elegy for they focus on the beauty and simplicity of rural life.

Shelley has personified the emotions of human heart. They have come to see Adonais for one last time and mourn his death. Emotions such as desires, adorations, wingéd persuasions, destinies, splendors, glooms, hopes, fears, phantasies, sorrow with her family of sighs and pleasure blinded by tears walk slowly just like the way mist moves slowly over the streams during autumn.

The morning, the thunder, the ocean, and the wild winds mourned Keats’ death. The morning appeared in the east, her hair was loose and untied. Dew drops fell on the ground at dawn but upon knowing Keats’s death, the dew took the shape of clouds and darkened the sky. The ocean remained sad and calm and the thunder moaned.

Echo, nymph of the mountain, is so grief-stricken over the death of Keats that she lost her will to speak. Her silence makes the mountains voiceless. Echo will not reply to the birds chirping on the young tree branches, or herdsman's horn, or bell which can be heard while at the end of the day. Here Shelley talks about the end of the day and approach of night. Night symbolizes death and sadness.

Keats used to be a source of pleasure for the Spring season. His death made Spring wild in grief. It lost its spirit. During Spring, new leaves grow on trees but after Keats’ death leaves fall off from trees. Spring is so sad that it acted like Autumn.

In the end of a pastoral elegy, the poet represents his thoughts and ideas on life and death and provides consolation to the readers. Shelley also did the same thing in “Adonais”. He said that Adonais or Keats has not died but has become one with the nature. He is hopeful that Keats is not dead but will continue to live forever in the nature. 

Classical and Romantic elements in Adonais

“Adonais” is one of the best known poems written by Percy Bysshe Shelley. It is also considered to be one of the best elegies in English literature. The poem is written mourning the death of John Keats. This poem has many Romantic and Classical elements.

Shelley used many characters from Greek mythology in this poem. The title of this poem is “Adonais”, a character of Greek Mythology. The original spelling of the name is “Adonis”. Adonis was a beautiful young man and Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation, fell in love with him. Adonis was killed by a wild boar and Aphrodite mourned his death. Based on this story, Greek poet Bion composed a poem, “Lament of Aphrodite for Adonis”. Shelley’s “Adonais” was inspired from that poem but Shelley changed the name to Adonais and represented Aphrodite as Aphrodite Urania who was the goddess of heavenly or spiritual love and changed it to mother-son relationship.

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In the beginning of the poem, Shelley tells the reader that Adonais is dead and asks Urania, Adonais’ mother, who is in Paradise at the time of her son’s death, to come down from her comfort and see that her son has been killed by savage attack of the critics.

Shelley also used the mythology of “Echo”, a mountain nymph. According to Greek mythology, Echo loved her own voice. Shelley said that Echo loved Keats. When Keats was alive, she replied to his voice. Now, Keats is dead and she sits in the mountains and would not reply to the sound of winds or fountains or the “amorous birds” on the green branches or herdsman’s horn or bell. Other Greek mythological characters that had been mentioned in the poem are- Narcissus, Hyacinth, and Actaeon.

Shelley is a poet of Romantic era. So, we can find Romantic elements in this poem. The first noticeable Romantic element in “Adonais” is nature. We see a wide range of natural images in this poem. In the beginning of the poem, Shelley says, 
              "She sate, while one, with soft enamoured breath,
               Rekindled all the fading melodies 
               With which, like flowers that mock the corse beneath, 
               He had adorned and hid the coming bulk of death." 

Here Shelley said that Adonais or Keats sang in a beautiful voice while Urania remained in paradise and with these melodies, Keats embellished the heavy figure of death. After Adonais’ death, those songs, like flowers, covered his dead body and mocked it. Here Shelley is actually comparing Keats’ works with flowers.

From Stanza 15 to Stanza 20, Shelley draws natural images and shows that Nature is mourning Keats’ death. All Romantic poets including Shelley believed that God is present everywhere in nature. In the end of “Adonais”, Shelley says that Keats did not die but has become one with nature which means he went close to god.

Romantics hated the present day world. They fantasized about distant, exotic world; sometimes far away in past or future. Critics labeled the romanticist as escapist. Real world is too complex for them. In this poem, we see that Shelley scolds the critics who attacked Keats’ works. When Urania came to know about Adonais’ death, she came out of her “secret paradise” and rushed to Adonais’ grave. She went “Through camps and cities rough with stone, and steel.” This line is a reflection of Shelley’s thoughts about his contemporary society, people, and city. While going to Keats’ grave, hard human hearts resisted Urania and her feet blade from “barbed tongues, and thoughts more sharp than they”. The blood that came out of her tender feet was like the rains of May that causes flowers to spring up.

In Stanza 27, Shelley said that Keats did not follow the convention poetic style and wrote poetry in his own style at a very young age. Because of his young age, he could not defend himself from the attack of the critics. In Stanza 31, Shelley describes his own condition. Because of his revolutionary ideas, he suffered a lot.

Individualism is another important aspect of Romantic poets. They believed in expressing their own ideas. Shelley was expelled from Oxford for publishing a pamphlet titled, “The Necessity of Atheism”. His revolutionary ideas were not well-accepted by the people. Shelley did not gain fame in his lifetime. His condition was, in many ways, similar to that of Keats.

Despite its shortcomings, “Adonais” is a beautiful poem. The revolutionary thoughts and ideas of Romantic poets are present here as well. In the beginning, Shelley started with Greek Mythology and then he shifted towards life and death which according to many critics destroyed the unity of the poem. However, it is a great elegy and anyone would enjoy reading it. 

Literary Criticism: The whole truth is peculiarly acceptable and coming

Tragedy and the Whole Truth is the best work of Aldous Huxley and a very important essay in the field of literary criticism of English literature. In this essay, he separately tried to show that both tragedy and whole truth are necessary for literature. All of us are more or less familiar with tragedy but we do not have much knowledge about whole truth. By whole truth, Huxley meant that truth which represents the small matters of literature and shows the real life condition. Ordinary literature is commonly referred as idealism but whole truth represents the reality instead of idealism.

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Huxley believed that whole truth remained in literature from ancient times. Supporting his view, he mentioned Homer’s epic Odysseus and Tom Jones of Henry Fielding. Whole truth has become popular in our time and it is only increasing. He showed various reasons why whole truth is becoming popular and people are enjoying it.

According to Huxley, tragedy is gradually losing its popularity. By tragedy, we mainly understand the Greek tragedy plays and plays of some Elizabethan dramatists including Shakespeare. Huxley thinks that tragedy is no more popular in the twentieth century. It has not ended entirely but writers are not writing tragedy plays that much. He sighted the acceptance of whole truth by human beings as the main reason. It is the time of whole truth.

Talking about why whole truth has become popular we have to keep it in mind that human thoughts have changed. Many changes have taken place in the world history in the last one hundred year. Novel is the main genre of literature. Theatre has lost its popularity and television and cinema have taken that place. When we talk about “Entertainment”, we mainly refer to television, cinema, radio and novel. People, in this new age, want to know more and only whole truth suits them very well. Tragedy cannot fulfill human curiosity for its goal is limited. Whole truth, on the contrary, is wide and open.

Tragedy creates Catharsis in people’s hearts and helps him to forget pain and sorrow. On the other hand, the goal of whole truth is acceptance and resignation inducing catharsis. In Odysseus, we see that the monster eats six companions of Odysseus but they did not mourn them instantly. First, they go to safe shelter, arrange for food and then mourn their friends. Crying for their friends, they fell asleep. Only whole truth can give us this power of accepting reality. Life has become tougher in the modern age and acceptance has higher value than lofty ideals.

Present day writers, instead of presenting an isolated picture, try to give whole picture to the readers. Hence, whole truth has become so popular. Huxley thinks that present day writers are more interested to present whole truth. They do not just narrate an isolated event but what preceded and what followed it and all the intimate details including food and other objects. They do it because the readers also want to know about it.

It has already been said that current age is the age of novel. When a novel becomes popular, TV drama or movies are made based on it. Novel can best represent whole truth for it has a huge canvas and has lots of space. The writer can mention many things and the readers are not only interested to know any particular event or one person but also other events and other persons related to that event as well.

The male and female protagonists are writing letters. The writer will talk about the papers, the time of writing, their emotions and thought processes and their problems as well in the novel in a very beautiful manner. That is why, novel is more suitable for whole truth.

The current age is the age of whole truth and we should keep in mind while reading literature as well. But Huxley does not think that tragedy is entirely unnecessary for people of current age. The lofty ideals and depth of emotions present in tragedy is very much necessary in human lives as well.

Literary Criticism: Touchstone method of Matthew Arnold

The Study of Poetry is one of the best works of Matthew Arnold and is considered one of the best in English literary criticism. He wrote this essay at a time when different critics were talking against literature. One of the major arguments against literature was that it has no direct contribution in the economy hence literature is unimportant and one should not take it seriously. Arnold also countered this argument by saying that very soon literature and poetry will take over philosophy and without literature science is incomplete. 

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Arnold also wrote in the essay that readers should differentiate between good literature and poor quality literature and he gave a lot of emphasis on this differentiation. This question can come to our mind that how do we differentiate between good and bad literary piece. To solve this problem, Arnold talked about his famous touchstone method in this essay which can help the readers between good and bad.

Touchstone method helps readers to understand the difference between good and poor literary piece. In this method, a reader, in order to understand the quality of literary piece, should take up works of great writers which are considered to be masterpieces. We should take few lines from those works and then compare them with other writers’ works. It would help us to understand which one is good and which one is bad.

According to Arnold, touchstone method is very important for it would rid the readers from two fallacies. One is historical estimate and the other is personal estimate. Historical estimate refers to the idea of historical poets who we think are famous. Personal estimate is related to our feelings. Touchstone method helps readers to get rid of these two fallacies. 

Arnold said that if we do not follow touchstone method then we would not be able to differentiate between good and bad literary piece which would eventually destroy the value of literature. Hence, touchstone method is very important and we all should take it seriously.

In his essay, Arnold provided few examples using quotations from famous poems and dramas. Homer and Sophocles were two of Arnold’s favorite poets of ancient Greece. He also considered John Milton to be a great poet. Dante of Medieval period was ideal poet to him. He also liked the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. He quoted poems of these poets for he held them at high esteem. He tried to show that Shakespeare was a good dramatist but not all his works were good.

Many things can be said against and for the touchstone method. In support of touchstone method, we can say that it contains major elements of thought. If we can read and appreciate the poems of Homer, Shakespeare or Milton then we would be able to understand the quality of other poets as well.

Against the touchstone method, it can be said that not all the lines of Homer’s poetry carried great weight. Shakespeare became popular through new literary style. The same thing can be said about William Wordsworth. He created an entirely new poetic style. It would be difficult to compare between an old and new poetic style. If we do so we would not be able to appreciate the new style and it would not be good for us as well.

In fact, touchstone method started a new idea. However, it did not gain much popularity for we see that modern writers experiment with their works. 

Transformation of Eliza from a flower girl to a refined lady

Pygmalion is one of the best plays written by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. It is also one of the best plays in the history of English literature. The play is centered on Henry Higgins, a professor of Phonetics, who successfully turns a lower class Cockney girl Eliza Doolittle into a well-mannered girl with elevated speech.

Eliza Doolittle, a girl who earns her livelihood by selling flower, comes from a Cockney background and speaks a form of Cockney dialect which only native Londoners can understand. One day, while selling flowers at Covent Garden, she meets Henry Higgins and he makes a bet with Colonel Pickering, a fellow phonetician, that he can train this ignorant Cockney-speaking girl from the gutter to such an extent that she would pass for a duchess in an aristocratic party, something Eliza eventually achieved later in the play.

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Her transformation from a poor, illiterate girl to a fine society lady serves the base of the story in the play. By showing this transformation in Eliza, Shaw ridicules the contemporary higher class society in a subtle fashion and shows that a person coming from Eliza’s background can actually excel in higher society if he or she has some inborn talent and is given the opportunity.

The change in Eliza taking place over the course of the play is both external and internal. At the beginning of the play in ACT I, we can see a very poor, naive and ignorant girl who becomes afraid of Mr. Higgins, mistakenly assuming him a police officer by his taking notes of her speech. But this is more about ignorance, caused by her lack of education, rather than her foolishness.

Despite her lack of knowledge and proper education, we can also see a smart girl out of Eliza when she comes to Higgins’ house by a car to impress the phonetician with the ambition of learning proper English from him so that she can work in a flower shop.

Eliza’s outward transformation is first realized by the readers at a small family gathering at Mrs. Higgins’ house. Mrs. Higgins is the mother of Henry Higgins who, after some initial training of Eliza, requests his mother to allow Eliza to come and associate with the guests to see how she is responding to the speech training. Even though Eliza makes some silly mistakes regarding the substance of her speech, she shows a great deal of improvement in pronunciation.

However, we can see a completely transformed Eliza at the aristocratic gathering of an ambassador where she passes for a duchess tremendously. Her appearance, speech and mannerism are so impressive that the ambassador’s wife reckons she must be a princess, while another elderly lady says that Eliza talks like Queen Victoria.

However, the internal change in Eliza is most significant. While her transformation from a flower girl to a lady who is fit for the aristocratic world is surprising, the internal change in Eliza may be subtle, but no less important. Other characters in the play as well as the readers first come to realize this change when she reacted weirdly at the inquiry of Mr. Higgins about his sleepers. She actually felt unimportant and dejected when Mr. Higgins and Pickering enjoyed their triumph at the ambassador’s party with each other without even acknowledging Eliza’s part in the event, even though she was in the same room while they were talking, having arrived from the party.

That incident touched at the very core of her sentiment and she, perhaps for the first time, realized an identity crisis. She was no more a flower-selling girl from the gutter, but a lady with sheer beauty and manner with which she can easily earn honor and invoke respect in others for her. She became so aware of her self-esteem that she could dare to leave Mr. Higgins’ house and take shelter at his mother’s house.

Later in the play, we see Eliza’s argument with Mr. Higgins, which apparently shows that she does not want to go back to his house as a domestic help or someone who would remain content by managing his works. 

Evaluate Professor Higgins as a modern Pygmalion

Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw’s famous play Pygmalion is considered as one of the best plays of English literature. Through this play, Shaw tries to signify that anybody- even someone from a lower-class background- could flourish his or her talent if given the opportunity required.

The play is about a professor of Phonetics, Henry Higgins, and his journey of tutoring a very ordinary flower-selling girl with Cockney accent, Eliza Doolittle. She is wild in her behavior and devoid of manners required for aristocratic society. But Mr. Higgins could realize that the girl has some covert talent which if nurtured could do wonders.

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So, being a passionate phonetician, he takes up the challenge of making the girl a fit to the higher-class society, by giving her lessons on speaking proper English and teaching her manners, and he makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering who himself has keen interest in phonetics. Towards the end of the play, we can see how triumphantly Mr. Higgins along with Pickering passes off Eliza as a fine, beautiful lady with elevated posture at an ambassador’s party.

The title of the play has a reference to a Greek mythological character Pygmalion, a sculptor, who creates an ivory statue of a beautiful lady which he named ‘Galatea’ meaning sleeping beauty. Even though he previously had no interest in women, Pygmalion was enchanted by the beauty of the statue. So, he clothed the statue and furnished it with ornaments and sought the blessings of Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of love, beauty and pleasure, to get a wife as beautiful as the ivory statue. When he reached home, he saw the statue in living form as his wish was already granted by the Goddess.

Henry Higgins in the play Pygmalion could be considered as a modern Pygmalion, even though there are dissimilarities between the phonetician and the mythological character. We can see that while the sculptor Pygmalion is deeply in love with his creation and craves to get someone like the statue as his real-life partner, we do not see Mr. Higgins feeling the same way for Eliza who is by no means a less significant creation than Pygmalion’s statue.

Henry Higgins has both good and negative sides. On the one hand, he is extremely talented and highly educated. As a teacher, he is successful too. He could turn Eliza into a real lady. Under his influence, inspiration and teaching, Eliza became like a high class polished and educated woman. At the beginning of the play, she was no better than a street girl. It indicates that Higgins was indeed a very skilled teacher.

On the other hand, Higgins was not a very good man. He did not show true respect to Eliza. He considered her as a lower class girl and acted rude with her all the time. When Eliza turned out to be like a high class girl then Higgins felt attracted to her because on the one hand, she is attractive and on the other hand, she knew about doing all the works for him and making his life easier. She became like a wife and a secretary for him.

Higgins can easily be called as a gentleman. He had some qualities too. He taught Eliza with heart but he neglected her a lot. More or less, he is a good person but if he can come out of the negative aspects then he will become a very good man and an ideal husband for any good woman.