William Butler YEATS (1865-1939) Although I shelter from the rain Under a broken tree My chair was nearest to the fire In every company That talked of love or politics Ere Time transfigured me. Though lads are making pikes again For some conspiracy, And crazy rascals rage their fill At human tyranny, My contemplations are of Time That has transfigured me. There's not a woman turns her face Upon a broken tree, And yet the beauties that I loved Are in my memory; I spit into the face of Time That has transfigured me. Notes & References ere: before (conj.) pike:  a weapon consisting of a pointed blade on the end of a long pole (n.) transfigure: completely transform into something else Summary on Youth and Age Life is a journey from womb to tomb. A person has to pass different phases of life throughout his life. A child of yesterday becomes a young man today, and will be called an old tomorrow. Eventually, s/he disapp...

Anton Chekhov, Russia (1860-1904) In this story, Alyohin, a narrator is the main character. He is a graduated person but he chose to work in his own field with his servants because his land was heavily mortgaged by his acparents for his study. One morning  Alyohin  was having breakfast with his friends (Burkin and Ivan). Alyohin told them about the different love affairs: first about his servants and then about his own.  In the story, the writer talks about expressed love of Nikanor and Palegeya and unexpressed love of Alyohin and Anna. Three friends Alyohin, Burkin and Ivan are having breakfast in Alyohin’s house. In the meantime, Nikanor, his servant came to ask what the guests would like to have for dinner in the evening. When Alyohin looked at Nikanor , he reminded of his love affair with Pelageya and started to tell the story. After his story over, Alyohin told about his own experience. Then t...

Ray Young Bear (1950- ) if i were to see  her shape from a mile away i 'd know so quickly  that it would be her. the purple scarf and the plastic shopping bag. हजुरआमा  if  i   felt hands on my head i 'd know that those were her hands  warm and damp with the smell of roots. if i heard a voice coming from  a rock i ' d know  and her words would flow inside me  like the light of someone stirring ashes from a sleeping fire at night. Notes and References: stirring (v): moving slightly   Grandmother, written by American- Indian poet Ray Young Bear, is a recollection of poet's profound love for his grandmother. The poet draws the unique picture of his grandmother - all loving and all inspiring- through the use of images. The poet figure out cultural identity of American Indian or Mesquaki people. Metaphorically, the poem ‘Grandmother’ has connection with Mesquaki tribe and the ident...

James Joyce (1882-1941) RELATED   QUESTIONS : How do you think Mrs. Mooney settled with Mr. Doran about Polly? Did Mr. Moran marry Polly or pay out compensation?  Sketch the character of Mrs. Mooney. Write an interpretation of 'The Boarding House'. Briefly narrate the story of "The Boarding House". Characters : Mrs. Mooney (butcher's daughter) Miss Polly Mooney (daughter) Jack (son) Doran (lover of miss Polly) Leonard (boss of Doran) Summary of the Text : James Joyce’s “The Boarding House” is the suspense story which ends with the strategic techniques of Mrs. Mooney, central character in the story. She plays the significant role to settle the love affair of her young daughter and Mr. Doren with whom she had an affair and special relationship. The story is all about the character sketch of a strong determined woman named Mrs. Mooney and her persuasive strategies to settle her daughter’s affa...

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm ‘The Little Brother and the Little Sister’ an English translation of ‘Hansel and Gretel’ by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, deals with the same story of Hansel and Gretel . This story all about the account of “Hansel and Gretel” in a different way. The children are not identified by their names but by their relation. So, the title is not “Hansel and Gretel” but “The Little Brother and The Little Sister”. In this fairy tale, a poor woodcutter lives by a great forest. He lives very difficult life with his second-wife and two children. The writer sincerely included all the essential points of the original story to make it complete and harmonious. The brother and sister flee their home because their stepmother is very cruel to them. The Stepmother though is a witch and has bewitched all the springs in the forest. There are a number of themes in this story that seem common among the Grimm's tales. One of them is the wicked stepmother. This is something that seem...

Garrison Keillor Gretel by Garrison Keillor is an interpretation of the story "Hansel and Gretel" from the perspective of a female (feminist point of view). The interpreter is Gretel who denies her cowardice (the trait of lacking courage) in the original story. She claims that the depiction is distorted (having an intended meaning altered or misrepresented) one. This adoption takes the form of a statement made by Gretel. Gretel says that there was an understanding between her and her brother to sell their story to Grimm brothers. They had signed in a contract paper with an agreement to share fifty-fifty of the profit. But unexpectedly, Gretel found the story published the other day totally in a different order. The story depicts her as coward and her brother as a brave person. She claims the brother was, in reality, a coward not vice-versa. It was her brother who wept time and again, and she had to carry him. The portrayal of he father and mother is also distorted....

Robert Coover Notes for a Teacher : The same fairy tale ‘Hansel and Gretel’ is adopted by Robert Coover with the title ‘The Gingerbread House’. The story consists of forty-two numbered paragraphs which shows the parts of the story and it is an adoption ( of Hansel and Gretel ). He used the device of exaggeration (making to seem more important than it really is) to parody (Humorous or satirical mimicry) the form of the original. In order to do so, he eliminated the first part of the story that is exposition of the crisis and the last part such as complication (complexity) and denouement (the outcome of a complex sequence of events) . In other words, the important events and the sequence between one and the other event are not included in the story. In place of the events, he furnished the story with such as the physical attributes (construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished) of the characters and the forest. Every detail was exaggerated to such an exte...

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (1785-1863) Wilhelm Grimm (1786-1859) Popularly known as Grimm Brothers. German philologists and collectors of fairy tales. Summary : This is a story about a poor woodcutter, his second wife and his two children from first wife named Hansel and Gretel. Their mother died when they were young. Hansel and Gretel were very sad. Soon their father remarried but their stepmother was very cruel. Once, when the country was in famine (shortage) father was really in trouble to maintain the family. His wife wasn't even worried a little about the children. She rather insisted her husband to desert them into the dense forest. The woodcutter didn't like the idea but he had to accept his wife’s proposal. The children overheard their parents and Hansel collected jacket full of shiny pebbles. The next morning, he dropped the pebbles on the way while going to the forest. When they reached the middle of the forest, th...