Ode on solitude:
Poem:
Happy the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air,
In his own ground.
Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,
Whose flocks supply him with attire,
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
In winter fire.
Blest! who can unconcern'dly find
Hours, days, and years slide soft away,
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day,
Sound sleep by night; study and ease
Together mix'd; sweet recreation,
And innocence, which most does please,
With meditation.
Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.
Analysis:
Poem, analysis & critical summary in this video
Ode
on solitude is written by Alexander Pope when he was twelve years old, and
widely included in anthologies. Initially in this poem poet talks
about a lonely life of farmer. We thing that the life of the farmer is
unfortunate because of he has to live in the farm and away from the society but
the poet consider the life of the farmer a fortunate one because a farmer get
the chance to breath his ‘native air’ and he also get the opportunity to leave
in motherland.
The poet again emphasis on haw
lucky the farmer are. In the second stanza the poet say that the farmer get to
eat bread from his own field and says that “flocks supplies the farmer his
attire” and during the summer time if the son light thrown on the farmer with
its heat then tree in the farm provides him ‘shade’.
Especially in the society people
consider solitude as a ‘curse’ but Pope things that solitude is ‘bliss’, he
explain this thing in the third stanza
of this poem. A farmer can take pleasure of pure air and food and he can stay
close to nature which provides him the peace of mind. While we the people have
to struggle a lot to earn over bread and to survive in the modern life. People
of city struggle a lot and at they do not get to eat and drink healthy food and
water they do not even get to breath in fresh air.
While people who are live close to
nature especially farmers can get ‘sound sleep’ at night and most important
thing they do not lose their innocence. On the contrary people who live in
society away from the nature become very practical without emotion and innocence
there for the poet consider solitude life is bliss. As people who live in solitude do not have to
care much about what the society would think about him. Such people do not need
to follow the traditions or rituals set by the society they just have to care
about themselves only. Such people live happy satisfied and carefree fortunate
life close to nature.
There for in the last stanza the poet urges to let him live “unseen, unknown”.
“Thus unlamented
let me die
Steal from the would and not a stone
Tell where I lie”.
In the above lines the poet then say the
way a man lives solitude life. At the end of his life he wants such death also
unknown from the world.
