Beauty | Poem 3 | English 9th | Tulip Series | JKANSWERS |

Poem 3 – Beauty [Tulip Series] Free NCERT Solutions | JKANSWERS |

(John Edward Masefield)

John Edward Masefield, (1878 –1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate from 1930 until his death in 1967. He is remembered as the author of the classic children’s novels The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, 19 other novels (including Captain Margaret, Multitude and Solitude and Sad Harker), and many memorable poems, including “The Everlasting Mercy” and “Sea-Fever”, from his anthology Saltwater Ballads.

Beauty

I have seen dawn and sunset on moors and windy hills.

Coming in solemn beauty like slow old tunes of Spain.

I have seen the lady April bringing the daffodils.

Bringing the springing grass and the soft warm April rain.

I have heard the song of the blossoms and chant of the sea.

And seen strange lands from under arched white sails of ships.

But the loveliest things of beauty God ever has showed to me.

Are her voice, and her hair, and eyes, and the dear red curve of her lips.

Central Idea of the Poem

             The poem is about the beauty of a girl whom the poet loves so much that he compares her beauty to all the bounties of nature and finds her lover the most beautiful in the natural world. It is a romantic poem in which the poet expresses his love in a poetic manner to his beloved.

Summary of the Poem

           The poem “Beauty” has been written by John Edward Masefield. It is a romantic poem. John Edward was a lover of Nature. He travelled to the world by sea to enjoy the beauty of Nature. In this poem, he compares his experience of natural beauty that he has seen while travelling to the beauty of his beloved. In comparison to the beauty of bounties of Nature, he finds his beloved most beautiful in the world. He praises and admires his beloved in this poem. He says that he has seen the beauty of nature throughout the world. He has seen dawn and sunset on the barren lands and windy hills. As the Earth comes in life when April Month brings the beautiful daffodils and soft rain, he comes in life when he sees his beautiful beloved. He says that he has heard the song of the blossoms and the sound of the flowing sea but the voice of his beloved is most attractive and soft.

            He has travelled alongside the world and has seen the beauty of nature through the curved anchors by the sea but the real beauty lies under the curve of his beloved’s lips. Whatever he has seen, he compares to the beauty of his beloved. He says that the most beautiful things that God has shown to him, lies in his beloved’s hair, eyes, and the red curve of her lips. He says that his beloved is more beautiful than the things created by God on the earth.

Understanding the Poem

 Q1. What are the various things of beauty the speaker has seen?

Ans. The speaker has seen the beauty of dawn and sunset, the beauty of daffodils, springing grass and April rain, beautiful sound of blossoms and the sea, and the beauty of lands along the seashores.

Q2. What are the loveliest of all these things God has shown to the poet?

Ans. The loveliest of all these things that God has shown to the poet is the beauty of his beloved that lies in her sweet voice, her hair, eyes, and the dear red curve of her lips.

Q3. To whom do the words in the last line refer to?

Ans. The words in the last line of the poem refer to the beauty of the poet’s beloved.

Q4. Why does the poet compare dawn and sunset to slow old tunes?

Ans. In the olden times, the tunes were played slowly in a classical way from low tune to high tune. The poet compares dawn (the rising of the sun) and the sunset to these tunes because the sun rises and sets slowly like these old tunes. This is a kind of poetic device used by the poet in the poem. Slow tunes are soothing and soft. They make people happy.

Q5. How does God’s creation appear to the poet?

Ans. To the poet, God’s creations appear as loveliest things of beauty in his beloved, as he finds this creation in her voice, hair, eyes, and the red curve of her lips.

Learning about the literary device

 Q6. What does the poet mean by the song of the blossoms?

Ans. Song of the blossoms is the fluttering of the leaves of flowers when the air blows through them. The sound may also be caused by the buzzing of bees when they collect nectar. It symbolizes the beauty of sound.

Q7. What is the contrast between the last line and the rest of the poem? What does it suggest?

Ans. There is a comparison between the last line and other lines of the poem. First six lines describe the creation of the natural beauty of God in the world experienced by the poet while the last lines describe the beauty of his beloved as the loveliest creation of God. The entire poem praises the beauty of nature except for the last line that praises the beauty of the poet’s beloved that lies in her voice, hair, eyes, and red curve of lips.

It suggests that nothing is more beautiful than love. Although the Creator is one, but the person or the thing you love seems more beautiful than the things you have seen in your life. It is well said, “The beauty lies in the eyes of a beholder.”

Structure of the Poem

 This poem is a romantic sonnet of eight lines. Although the length of the lines differs, but there is a rhyming scheme in the form of ‘abab’ and so on in the poem. Figurative and rhetorical devices have been used in the poem like ‘slow old tunes. Enjambment (couplet) has been used.

Discussion

Q1. How does the poet describe beautiful things?

Ans. The poet describes beauty in three ways. The beauty of Nature, the beauty of sound, and the beauty of a woman. As nature, he describes the beauty of dawn and sunset on moors and windy hills and compares it with the slow old tunes of Spain. Similarly, daffodils of April and soft rain shows the happiness felt as same when a lover meets his beloved after separation. The beauty of a woman is described as the loveliest creation by God, which lies in the voice of a woman, her hairs, eyes, and in her red curved lips.

Q2. What is your idea of beauty? Share your thoughts with your group mates.

Ans. It is true that beauty lies in the eyes of a beholder. Whatever Almighty has created in the universe is just like a mirror. It is up to a viewer how he sees himself in the mirror. A good chartered viewer views goodness which lies in his character. This means the beauty lies in the character of a person. Readhere more about the beauty.

Suggested Reading

Ode on a Grecian Urn by Keats

Life and Death by John Masefield