Chapter 4.1 - Please Listen!
The poet says that when he asks someone to listen to him and they start giving him advice, they have not done what he has asked. When he asks someone to listen to him and they tell him why he shouldn’t feel that way, they are trampling on his feelings. When he asks someone to listen to him and they feel that they have to do something to solve his problem, they have failed him, even though this may appear strange. He says that all he asks is that the person listen— not talk or do anything, just listen.
He says that advice is cheap. For 20 cents, he can get advice from the newspaper columnists of a paper, like ‘Dear Abby’ and ‘Billy Graham’. He can look after himself; he is not helpless. He may be discouraged or he may be uncertain, but he is not helpless. When someone does something for him that he can do by himself, then that helper is contributing to the poet’s feelings of fear and inferiority.
But if someone accepts as a simple fact that the poet feels what he feels, however irrational, only then can the poet stop trying to convince that person and get on with the work of finding out what the reason for that irrational feeling is.
When the reasons for his irrational feelings become clear to him, the answers to his questions become obvious, and he then needs no advice. He says that irrational feelings make sense only when one understands the reason behind them.
He guesses that that is perhaps why prayer works sometimes for some people. God is silent. He doesn’t give advice or try to fix things. God just listens silently and lets the person find his own answers.
The poet finally requests that people just listen to him and hear him out. He says that if the listener wants to talk, he should wait a minute for his turn, and then the poet will listen to him.
Title: Please Listen!
Rhyme Scheme:
The poem is in free verse. Hence there is no rhyme scheme.
Favourite line:
God just listens and lets you work it out for yourself.
Theme/Central idea:
The poet tells us how he just wishes that people would listen to a person’s problems silently, instead of giving advice or telling him/her why he/she shouldn’t feel that way, or trying to solve the problems. The poet is confident that he will find out the reasons behind his irrational feelings and then he will be able to solve his problems. He feels that prayers probably work because God just listens to us silently when we pray and then lets us work things out ourselves.
Figure of Speech:
Repetition: ‘When I ask you to listen to me’. This line has been repeated in the poem for emphasis.
Special Feature/Implied meaning, etc.:
The poet tells us that we should work things out ourselves when we are faced with some difficulties or get some irrational feelings. In fact, we should try to understand what is behind these irrational feelings. The poet uses a free, conversational style in his poem.
Why I like/don’t like the poem:
I like the poem because it is easy to read and understand. It also advises us on how to behave when people discuss their problems with us.
Warming up!
Twenty Questions
Form groups of 6-8. One person (leader) chooses one item – a picture, a paragraph or a lesson from any one of the 9th standard textbooks and writes the reference on a slip of paper and folds it. Others ask him/her questions and try to guess what it is, from his/her answers. Follow the rules given below.
The maximum number of questions the rest of the group can ask is 20.
You cannot ask a direct question like ‘What do you have in mind?’
You can ask ‘Wh-’ questions or ‘Yes/no’ questions.
The leader has to give truthful answers.
Ans: Students must do this on their own.
Agreements and Disagreements
Form pairs. List the things on which you have the same opinion and also the ones
on which you have different opinions. Prepare a list of ten things in all and see how far you agree or disagree with your friend. Some useful phrases are given alongside.
You could talk about:
- Clothes, latest fashion
- Performance of sportsmen and women
- Traffic/Transport in your area
- Cleanliness and hygiene in your area
- Future occupations/Careers
- Latest news items
- TV programmes
- Mobile Apps
- Any subject of your choice
Ans:
Invictus
(1) Rhyming lines – Yes
(2) Steady rhythm – Yes
(3) Uniformity in length of lines – Yes
(4) Uniformity of number of lines in each stanza – Yes
(5) Figurative language – Yes
Please Listen
(1) Rhyming lines – No
(2) Steady rhythm – No
(3) Uniformity in length of lines – No
(4) Uniformity of number of lines in each stanza – No
(5) Figurative language – No