Beaming Notes
Your Guide to Literature

  Written in the first-person narrative form, “Telephone Conversation” by Wole Soyinka grapples with the issue of racism, that being a completely obnoxious human attribute that can be seen lurking within the minds of countless individuals. The poet has placed a telephonic conversation between a white landlady and an African man before his audience, with… Continue reading Telephone Conversation: Summary: 2022

“After Blenheim” is an anti-war poem by Robert Southey. This poem describes the Battle of Blenheim that took place in 1704 through a conversation between an older man and his grandchildren. This poem depicts a commoner’s ignorance about the causalities of war and its pointless grandeur of it. About the Poet: After Blenheim Robert Southey… Continue reading After Blenheim Summary: Line by Line Explanation: 2022

Taking its cue from Homer’s epic Iliad, the analysis of The Shield of Achilles conjures an image of a meditative poem which seeks to draw a comment on how brutal and violent the world is. The poem begins with an unknown woman looking over the shoulder of another man whose identity is also unknown and is only… Continue reading The Shield of Achilles Analysis by W.H. Auden

“Prayer for My Daughter” is a beautiful personal poem by William Butler Yeats, reflecting his gloomy mood and a fear of a disturbing future. The poem was composed in 1919 and appeared in 1921. It was written during World War I; thus, it reflects the post-war agitation that was prevalent during that time. Though the… Continue reading Prayer For My Daughter: Summary

Small Pain in My Chest by Michael Mack was read over to 5000 people, at the funeral of the first Blackhawk helicopter pilot, who was shot down in Iraq. It is also read at the Vietnam Veterans meetings. The poem shows the pain suffered by the soldiers in a war. It also portrays the human… Continue reading Analysis of Small Pain in My Chest by Michael Mack

The title of A Psalm of Life is an appropriate one. A psalm is an invocation to mankind to follow the path of the righteousness. Here, the speaker advises people to be heroes in their lives. He asks them to lie in the present, without thinking about the past or the future. A poem teaching… Continue reading Analysis of A Psalm of Life by H.W Longfellow

Robert Southey’s The Inchcape Rock is based on the legendary story of a reef off the east coast of Scotland. STYLE: The Inchcape Rock is written in the form of a ballad interwoven with a number of poetical devices to convey a moral lesson- ‘As you sow, so shall you reap.’ A ballad is a… Continue reading Analysis of The Inchcape Rock by Robert Southey

I Believe is a poem by a Garo poet, Brucellish K Sangma. It is a translation from the original Garo poem, Anga Bebera’a into English by the same poet. She is one of the eminent poets among the Garo women poets. She often translates her own poems from one language to another. Suggested Reading: Detailed… Continue reading Analysis of I Believe by Brucellish K Sangma

Small Pain in My Chest by Michael Mack was read over to 5000 people, at the funeral of the first Blackhawk helicopter pilot, who was shot down in Iraq. It is also read at the Vietnam Veterans meetings. The poem shows the pain suffered by the soldiers in a war. It also portrays the human… Continue reading Summary of Small Pain in My Chest by Michael Mack

Inchcape Rock is a popular poem by Robert Southey about the Inchcape Rock Legend, a reef which is situated in the North Sea, close to the coastal region of Angus in Scotland. The Inchcape Rock is known for its infamy as causation for shipwreck. This poem by Robert Southey revolves around the famous folktale of… Continue reading Summary of The Inchcape Rock by Robert Southey