Do You Know?

As you read the sonnet, certain features cannot but strike your eye and ear, and the curiosity of the reader is aroused. The first step to a successful English Language lesson!

Re-read the paragraph stating, “Even the dumbest reader who “could not learn” could not fail to see...” Note my contrast in the use of language! Every sentence is part of an English Language lesson.

Today I shall analyse Sonnet 2 for you to show that every single poem can be an English Language lesson.

From the study of Sonnet 1, the reader would have learned about Alliteration, the examples having hit you in the eye and sounded in your ears, without anyone having to point them out to you.

“Alliteration,” states the Oxford Dictionary, “is the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.”

In Sonnet 1, the first repetitive sound to hit you was “s.” Then followed other letters or sounds.

(a) “A mystic white mist floats...”

(b) “Meeting and merging as they onward go.”

In Sonnet 2, Line 2, we cannot help being struck by the repetition of “c.” “And neighb’ring cocks all chant the same refrain,”

Then see Line 4: “Pause, perch awhile, then poise for flight again.”

Let us put alliteration aside for a while. Read Line 5: “A sleepy hand a window open throws.” A sleepy hand? So you have never before heard the expression “transferred epithet?” Well, that is one English Language lesson you have learnt.

The sonnet is filled with examples of alliteration “...let in new light and air;” “...slowly by the scavenger’s cart goes,”

This last line will probably cause the present-day reader to open his eyes in wonder.

“And slowly by the scavenger’s cart goes, / The grey old mule by custom knowing where / To stop for refuse.”

What grey old mule? It is trucks that collect garbage, not mules. A different age! It is interesting to learn about the past.

Let us look back for a while to Line 3:

“Above the high red roofs white pigeons fly”.

Apart from the alliteration “red roofs” that we have grown accustomed to looking for, what a striking picture of contrast meets the eye — the “red roofs” and the “white pigeons.” English Language at its best — an inspiration to readers!

The study of poetry helps in the all-round mental development of children. Nothing can surpass the study of a poem as the basis for an English Language lesson.

Many years ago, I was teaching poetry to a Common Entrance class (as it was called then), and I was criticised for wasting the children’s time. I published their poems in a book entitled “The Children’s Hour.”

It is interesting to note that six of the children whose poems appear in the book eventually won national scholarships. More than that, the entire class went on to establish successful careers in life.