MEANING BY
STANZA
Stanza
1 opens with how the persona was angry
with his friend. He told his friend about his anger and the anger then
disappeared. The persona then goes on to describe a scenario when he was angry
with his enemy. He did not tell his enemy that he was angry, thus, his anger
kept on growing!
In
stanza 2, the persona talks more
on how his anger grows. He compares his growing anger to a growing plant where
he waters the plant with his fears and his tears. However, he did not give it
real sunshine. He merely gives smiles and deceitful wiles. A wile is a cunning
trick. Here, it suggests that he may be planning some sort of a devious scheme
for his enemy- and this deceitful scheme is just like the sunshine for the
growing plant.
Stanza
3 describes how the persona’s efforts
eventually bore fruit. The fruit is the apple
bright. The enemy clearly recognises that the fruit belongs to the
persona.
Stanza
4 reveals that the enemy had seen the
apple and stole it. The enemy had stolen the apple during the night when it was
dark as the “pole” – the North Star was all covered up. Thus, the star was not
visible-to guide the enemy out of the danger. The enemy eats the apple and most
probably – he dies.
...............................................................................................................
THEMES
Managing
Anger
It is not totally wrong to be angry. However, it is rather important for
us to know how to deal with anger. If we nurture our anger, it might grow and
be harmful to us. In this poem, two ways of handling anger were shown with
different outcomes. In the first scenario, the anger disappeared but in the
second the anger grew into something aggressive and negative.
Importance
of Communication
As shown in the poem, if the persona had communicated with his enemy,
his anger would have been controlled. However, his refusal to communicate has
allowed anger to become something that is very destructive. Therefore it is
often better if we can communicate with people on the issues that is bugging
us. The poet indirectly is trying to persuade his readers to talk about their
anger. We can talk about it not only with our friends but with our enemies too.
If we talk, the anger might just reduce and it might just ease our troubles. In
turn, it will prevent us from causing hurt unto others.
Moral
Values
1.
The importance of communicating when there is a misunderstanding- When
there is a misunderstanding, we should talk about it to resolve our
differences.
2.
Harbouring ill feelings against someone- We
shouldn't harbour ill feelings against anyone.
3.
Forgiving and forgetting- When there is a
misunderstanding, we must forgive and forget.
4.
Bottling up ill feelings- Bottling up ill
feelings is bad for us and those around us. Keep you emotion in check.
.
