Chapter 2.1 - Animals
The poet expresses the possibility that he could change his lifestyle and live with animals. The reason is that animals are so calm and self-composed. The poet can stand and gaze at them for long hours.
He has observed that they do not suffer anxiety or distress and are trying to improve their condition. Neither do they complain mournfully about their living conditions. They do not spend sleepless hours expressing sorrow for their misdeeds. They do not disgust the poet by talking to him about their duty to God. Not a single animal seems discontented. They do not behave irrationally, madly pursuing the ownership of worldly goods. No animal kneels to another as a sign of worship, nor does any ancestor that lived centuries ago.
The animals are neither overjoyed nor unhappy about the state of affairs on the whole earth. Animals express their relationship with the poet in a simple way, and he, in turn, accepts them for what they are.
Animals offer the poet visible signs of qualities such as innocence and simplicity and reveal to him by their behaviour how these qualities quite clearly belong to them.
The poet wonders where the animals obtained those tokens.
The poet also wonders if mankind (represented by the poet himself) once possessed these qualities ages ago and then, over the years, gave them up unmindfully.
Title: Animals
Poet: Walt Whitman
Rhyme scheme:
The poem is free verse. It has not any rhyming words or rhyme scheme.
Favourite line:
My favourite line in the poem is “They do not awake in the dark and weep for their sins.” the line is very meaningful and it has great moral.
Theme/Central idea:
The theme/central idea of the poem is about how we should live our life. The poet wants to be an animal because animals live their life without being tense and upset. In life, animals do not work very hard for their possession and do not cry for their condition.
Figures of speech:
In the poem, there are figures of speech such as Alliteration, Repetition, Hyperbole, Metaphor, and Personification to make the poem more effective.
Special features:
The poem is highly effective, and the tone of the poem is optimistic about life. The language of the poem is simple and meaningful. Animals do not commit any sins in their lives so that they do not lie awake at night in fear of sin. Animals do not have any discussion about praying to God. Animals are self-content with what they belong to, and they do not follow madly or crazily after owning things. Animals do not bow in front of anyone; they have equality among themselves. In them, no one is superior to the other.
Why I like the poem:
I like the poem very much, and I am inspired by the poet’s thoughts. In this poem, the poet shows how we should live our lives as animals. In life, we should treat everyone equally and be respectful to each other. The poet wants to tell us that we should not regret or be upset about what we have; we should live happily and optimistically.
turn : (here) transform
placid : not easily upset
self-contain’d : self-sufficient
mania : craze
demented : mad
respectable : (here) too happy and satisfied
evince : show
tokens : (here) virtues like innocence simplicity, contentment, etc.
make me sick : disgust me
Warming up!
1. Get into pairs and attempt the following:
“The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog.”- Mark Twain.
– Discuss with your partner what Mark Twain means from the above quote. Write in your own words.
Ans: The writer Mark Twain expresses his view that the more he learns about people, he finds that they are dissatisfied, frustrated, trampling over others and still not happy. As a result, he likes his dog more, as animals are always happy and satisfied, thus better than human beings. So he likes his dog who is loyal, dutiful, playful and uncomplicated unlike humans beings.
2. Put the following attributes/ abilities given below in the proper circles.
(a) self-control
(b) communicates
(c) love and care
(d) cooks
(e) good manners
(f) has 3600 vision
(g) shows gratitude
(h) lives for more than 150 years
(i) swims
(j) learns computing
(k) worships god
(l) sleeps in standing position
(m) stands up immediately after birth
(n) brings up children
(o) belongs to various species
Ans:
3. At times, especially when you are frustrated, you wish you were an animal / a bird / a fish / a butterfly and not a human being. Say which of the above you would choose to transform to and give 3 or 4 reasons for your choice.
I wish I could be a ……..
Ans: I wish I could be a bird, so I could fly away from the cause of frustration. At such times, I would like to be far from the noise and crowd on earth and sail in silence across the sky. I would prefer to concentrate on my own thoughts and regain my peace, and the best place for that would be the vast open sky. Flapping my wings would keep me active and busy and help me forget about my worries.
4. We come across many animals in our vicinity. We have also read about different animals in books. Make a list of all animals that fall under various categories. One is given for you.
Ans:
In Between The Poetry
Q1. What craze do animals never display?
Ans: Animals never display the craze of owning things.
Q2. What could have happened to the tokens of the poet’s self?
Ans: The tokens of the poet’s self might have been lost from the time man resorted to manipulate nature and considered himself apart from it.
ENGLISH WORKSHOP
1. (A) Match the words given in table A with their meanings in table B.
| A Words | B Meaning |
|---|---|
(i) whine | (a) an offence against religious or moral law |
(ii) sin | (b) complain in an annoying way |
(iii) evince | (c) craze |
(iv) mania | (d) failing to take proper care |
(v) negligent | (e) show |
Ans:
| A Words | B Meaning |
|---|---|
(i) whine | (b) complain in an annoying way |
(ii) sin | (a) an offence against religious or moral law |
(iii) evince | (e) show |
(iv) mania | (c) craze |
(v) negligent | (d) failing to take proper care |
(B) Find adjectives from the poem which refer to positive and negative thinking.
| Positive | Negative |
|---|---|
1. ................... | 1. ................... |
2. ................... | 2. ................... |
3. ................... | 3. ................... |
Ans:
| Positive | Negative |
|---|---|
1. placid | 1. dissatisfied |
2. self contained | 2. demented |
3. unhappy | |
4. negligently |
2. Complete the following.
(a) The poet wishes he could __________
Ans: turn and live with animals.
(b) Animals do not complain about __________
Ans: their condition.
(c) Animals do not merely discuss __________
Ans: their duty to God.
(d) Animals are not crazy about __________
Ans: owning things.
3. State whether the following statements are true or false.
(a) Animals are self-reliant.
Ans: True
(b) Animals quarrel for their possessions.
Ans: False
(c) Animals do not worship other animals.
Ans: True
(d) Humans have given up many good qualities.
Ans: True
(e) Animals suffer humiliation.
Ans: False
(f) The poet has retained all his natural virtues.
Ans: False
4. With the help of the poem find the differences between animals and human beings.
| Human beings | Animals |
|---|---|
Always complain about their
condition | Never complain about anything |
............. | ............. |
Ans:
| Human beings | Animals |
|---|---|
Always complain about their
condition | Never complain about anything |
Spend sleepless nights regretting their sins. | Don't regret their sins at all. |
Sicken others by discussing their duty to God. | Do not discuss their duty to God. |
Always dissatisfied. | Always contented. |
Crazy about acquiring possessions. | Never interested in owning things. |
Worship other human beings. | Never worship anyone of their kind. |
Always unhappy about earthly matters. | Unconcerned earthly matters. |
5. Read the text again, and complete the web, highlighting the good values/habits which we can learn from animals.
Ans:
6. Find out lines from the poem that are examples of following Figures of Speech.
| Figures of Speech | Lines |
|---|---|
Repetition | ............................... |
Alliteration | ............................... |
Hyperbole | ............................... |
Ans:
| Figures of Speech | Lines |
|---|---|
Repetition | I stand and look at them long and long They do not sweat and whine ... They do not lie awake ... They do not make ... Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented ... |
Alliteration | Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented ... ... they evince them plainly in their possession. |
Hyperbole | Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth. |
7. Identify the Figures of Speech in the following lines.
(a) I stand and look at them long and long.
Ans: Repetition
(b) They do not sweat and whine about their condition.
Ans: Tautology
(c) They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God.
Ans: Alliteration
(d) ______ not one is demented with the mania of owning things.
Ans: Hyperbole
(e) They bring me tokens of myself.
Ans: Paradox
(f) No one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.
Ans: Hyperbole
8. Read the poem again and write an appreciation of the poem in a paragraph format with the help of given points. (Refer to page no. 5)
Ans: The poem ‘Animals’ was penned by Walt Whitman. The poet has broken away from the conventional use of rhyme schemes and written the poem in free verse. A line in the poem that is my favourite is: They bring me tokens of myself. This is a very powerful line that shows us what good qualities human beings must have possessed when they were almost like animals in the early stages of evolution. Animals still possess these qualities even today, while we do not. The central idea of the poem is that animals today are better than humans. The main figure of speech used in the poem is Repetition. Lines such as ‘They do not sweat…’, ‘They do not lie awake…’, ‘They do not make me sick…’ make a strong impact, expressing the qualities that humans should possess but do not. This is a reflective poem. The language used is simple, but the tone is subtle. By describing the qualities that animals possess today, the poet indirectly implies that we human beings too should possess these qualities. The poet has used adjectives such as ‘placid’ and ‘self contain’d’ to bring out the good qualities possessed by animals. I like this poem very much because it tells us indirectly that if we want to improve human relationships, we should observe and pick up qualities that animals now possess and which we might have once possessed but have carelessly given up on the path of evolution.
9. Divide the class into two groups. One group should offer points in favour of (views) and the other against (counterviews) the topic ‘Life of an animal is better than that of a human being.’ Later, use the points to express your own views/ counterviews in paragraph format in your notebook.
Ans:
| View | Counterview |
|---|---|
Animals are placid and self-contained. | Animals cannot improve their lot in life. |
Animals do not try to set targets or achieve goals. Humans do. | By setting targets, goals are achieved. |
Animals do not complain about their condition. | It is only by complaining that one comes to know how things can be improved. |
Animals are self-satisfied with their condition, whatever it be. | Humans continuously try to improve their living conditions. |
Animals do not worship other things or animals or persons as gods. | Animals have no idea about God. Humans acknowledge a divine Creator. |
Animals do not worry about possessions or earthly matters. | Animals have no care about the future of this planet. Humans do. |
Paragraph Format:
View
Unlike humans, animals are placid and self-contained. They do not try to set targets or achieve goals as humans do. Animals do not complain about their condition. They are quite satisfied with their living conditions, whatever they be. Moreover, they do not worship things, other animals or people as gods. Neither are they too bothered about possessions or earthly matters.
Counter-view
Since animals are self-contained and self-satisfied, they do not feel the need to improve their living conditions. Humans are restless, they complain about their lives. The result is that they continuously try to improve their living conditions. By setting targets, humans are able to achieve goals. Animals have no idea about God. Humans acknowledge a divine Creator. Animals do not worry about possessions or earthly matters. As a result, they do not possess the will to care about the future of this planet, as humans do.