Tulips

Top of Form Othello                                       - William Shakespeare The play opens in the powerful city state of Venice where Othello secretly marries Desdemona. Brabantio, Othello, and Desdemona appear before the Duke of Venice. Brabantio accuses Othello of seducing his daughter by witchcraft but Othello explains that he won Desdemona by telling her his adventures, and Desdemona says that she has freely gone with Othello and married him for love. The Duke appoints Othello as general of the defense forces against the Turks, and he left for Cyprus immediately. Iago convinces Roderigo that Desdemona will soon tire of Othello. Iago decides to make use of Cassio, the man he deeply resents and who received the promotion he himself wanted, as the instrument to destroy Othello. In Cyprus, Iago plots against Othello, planting the seed of doubt about Desdemona’s fidelity and implicating ...

Ode to Autumn - John Keats In “Ode to Autumn” Keats describes the season of Autumn. Throughout the poem, the speaker addresses autumn as if it were a person. In the first stanza, he notes that autumn and the sun are like best friends plotting how to make fruit grow and how to ripen crops before the harvest. The ripening will lead to the dropping of seeds, which sets the stage for spring flowers and the whole process starting over again. He tells us about the bees that think summer can last forever as they buzz around the flowers. But the speaker knows better. The second stanza describes the period after the harvest, when autumn just hangs out around the granary where harvested grains are kept. Most of the hard work has already been done, and autumn can just take a nap in the fields, walk across brooks, or watch the making of cider. In the third stanza, the speaker notes that the music of spring is a distant memory, but that autumn’s music is pretty cool, too. This music includes ima...

Ode to Autumn - John Keats In “Ode to Autumn” Keats describes the season of Autumn. Throughout the poem, the speaker addresses autumn as if it were a person. In the first stanza, he notes that autumn and the sun are like best friends plotting how to make fruit grow and how to ripen crops before the harvest. The ripening will lead to the dropping of seeds, which sets the stage for spring flowers and the whole process starting over again. He tells us about the bees that think summer can last forever as they buzz around the flowers. But the speaker knows better. The second stanza describes the period after the harvest, when autumn just hangs out around the granary where harvested grains are kept. Most of the hard work has already been done, and autumn can just take a nap in the fields, walk across brooks, or watch the making of cider. In the third stanza, the speaker notes that the music of spring is a distant memory, but that autumn’s music is pretty cool, too. This music includes ima...

Merchant of Venice William Shakespeare   The Merchant of Venice opens with Antonio, a Christian merchant, in a depressed state. His friend Bassanio, an aristocrat who has lost all of his money, comes and asks Antonio to loan him some money. Antonio, who has tied up all of his money is seafaring ventures, is unable to give Bassanio a direct loan. Bassanio finds Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, and convinces him to give a loan of three thousand ducats as long as Antonio will sign the contract. Shylock agrees to waive it as long as Antonio promises him a pound of his flesh as collateral. Bassanio takes the money and prepares to go visit Portia, a wealthy heiress living in Belmont. Portia’s father has decreed that all suitors must first select one of three caskets in order to marry her. The caskets, one made of gold, one of silver, and one of base lead, all contain different messages. Bassanio selects the lead one and Portia is overjoyed when he finds her portrait inside. Antonio infor...

On Umbrella Morals A. G. Gardiner is a typical modern essayist. He can treat with ease both serious and light subjects. In the essay, “On Umbrella Morals” he deals with moral lapses in human beings in a humourous manner. He gives examples from his own experiences to substantiate his argument.  Once Gardiner’s silk umbrella was taken away by someone and that person has left behind his cotton umbrella. Gardiner says that these types of men will not rob or pick a man’s pocket or forge a cheque, but he does not feel guilty about having carried another man’s umbrella. Such people will calm down their conscience. Gardiner describes such evasion of the pricking conscience as ‘Umbrella Morals’. The author says that there are some persons who will swap umbrellas, or forget to return a book, or will take the umbrella at random from the barber's stand. Then that person will say that he took the umbrella in mistake.  Hats are also exchanged just like the umbrellas and books. Once the ...

Where the Mind is without Fear Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore reshaped Bengali literature and music and was the first Asian to be awarded with the Nobel Prize for Gitanjali in 1913. He has written multiple novels, poems, short stories, travelogues, dramas and thousands of songs. His writings are influenced by both Indian and Western traditions. “Where the Mind is without Fear” is one of his famous poems, published in his collection of poetry entitled Gitanjali. It was originally composed in Bengali, under the title “Prarthana”, meaning prayer. Tagore wrote this poem when India was under the clutches of British rule. He wrote this poem to encourage the countrymen and to instill courage in their hearts and minds.  The poet prays to God that his countrymen should not cower in fear. They should be free from oppression and compulsion. He wants his countrymen to be fearless and have a sense of pride and self-dignity. They should not be frightened by any kind of oppression and...

On The Pleasures of No Longer Being Very Young                                                                      -  G.K. Chesterton G.K. Chesterton’s essay, “On the Pleasures of No Longer Being Very Young” analyses the advantage of old age. With the help of humour, paradox and frequent allusions, getting old is a universal experience. This experience can tell us the relevance of traditions in the ever changing modern world. This essay was written after the great economic depression in the 1930s when the new industrial economies have completely collapsed and modern man had learnt a lesson of being too proud of his knowledge. People look at the advantages of old age in a sentiment way. All old men are supposed to be happy and kind like Santa Clause and wise like the classical Greek figure, Nestor. Young men...