Animals

Walt Whitman

Introduction

Walt Whitman tells that he feels more at home with animals than human beings since they are selfish, false, complicated, dissatisfied, and go on bewailing over there lots while the animals are more respectable. they show their love for us. it is pure and serene. we should make our lives worth living like animals.

Animals NCERT Textbook PDF

Poetic Devices/Literary Devices

Summary 

Desire to live among animals: the poet desires to live among the animals because they are serene and self-contented. they are to use to bewail over their condition. they weep for their sins and do their duty to God.

Quality of satisfaction: the animals are always satisfied. they do not possess the mania of possessing things. they do not show respect for the others. they even do not respect their thousand old ancestors. they are equal in sorrow and happiness. 

Poet’s Desire to learn from them: the poet has a deep desire to learn from the animals since they show their deep concern with them. they give him respect in the shape of a token and show their plane feelings. they do not have any kind of false food. The poet is much surprised at their quality. He wanted to earn them though he had dropped them carelessly.

हिंदी सारांश

कवि की पशुओं के मध्य रहने की इच्छा:- कवि पशुओं के मध्य रहना चाहता है क्योंकि वह स्वच्छ और संतुष्ट है वह इतने बुद्धिमान हैं कि अपनी अवस्था पर विलाप नहीं करते हैं। अपने पापों पर रोते हैं और भगवान के प्रति अपना कर्तव्य करते हैं।

पशुओं में संतुष्टि का गुण:-- पशु सदा संतुष्ट होते हैं| पश में संपत्ति संपत्ति आदि एकत्रित करने का कभी भी उन्माद नहीं होता है। वह दूसरे पशुओं के प्रति अपना सम्मान प्रदर्शित नहीं करते हैं और वह हजारों वर्षों पुराने अपने पूर्वजों के प्रति सम्मान भी नहीं दिखाते हैं उनके लिए दुख और सुख एक समान है।

कवि की पशुओं से सीखने की इच्छा:- कवि की पशुओं से सीखने की एक तीव्र इच्छा है क्योंकि वह मनुष्य के प्रति काफी गहरा लगाव प्रकट करते हैं। वह उसे संकेत के रूप में सम्मान देते हैं और अपनी स्पष्ट भावनाओं को प्रदर्शित करते हैं उनमें कभी किसी प्रकार की कृतिमता नहीं है। कभी उनके इस गुण पर अत्यंत ही हैरान है। वह स्वयं भी इन्हें पाने की इच्छा में है यद्यपि उसने इन गुणों को लापरवाही से छोड़ दिया था। 

कभी हमें यह बताता है कि वह मनुष्यों की अपेक्षा पशुओं के साथ रहना सुखदायक अनुभव करता है क्योंकि मानव तो पेचीदा और झूठा है।

Word Meaning

Complicated - Complex जटिल | Placid - calm, peaceful, serene शांत, प्रसन्न चित्त | Self-contained - complete in self स्वयं परिपूर्ण | Sweat - feel troubled परेशान होना | Whine - grown, murmur शोर करना, बोलना | Lie awake - जागते हुए लेटे रहना | Sin - offense पाप | Sick - troubled परेशान | Dissatisfied - not contented असंतुष्ट | Demented - make mad पागल होना | Mania - mental derangement पागलपन | Owning - possessing स्वामित्व रखना | Tokens - signs चिन्ह, संकेत | Evince - Prove, show सिद्ध करना, दिखाना | Plainly - clearly स्पष्ट रूप से | Possession - India right अधिकार में होना | Negligently - carelessly लापरवाही से | Drop - give up छोड़ देना | Major - big बड़ी | Revolutionary - of revolution क्रांतिकारी | nonconformist - one who does not accept the rule of the church ईसाई धर्म को न मानने वाला | Kneel - bend on knee घुटने टेकना | Turn - adopting a new direction नई दिशा अपनाना |

Poetic Devices

1. Personification: - In the poem, the poet says that animal’s patient, well-satisfied, ascetic, impartial. All these qualities are possessed by humans.
2. Repetition: -The poet repeats the word long in the 3rd line, “long and long” to tell that he keeps watching animals for a long time.
3. Alliteration: - Example “look at them long and long”, “they do not make me sick”, “plainly in their possession”, “I wonder where they…”.

Stanza 1

I think I could turn and live with animals, 

they are so placid and self-contain’d, 

I stand and look at them long and long.

Questions :

1. Name the poet and the poem.

2. Why does the poet want to live with animals?

3. Why does the poet look at them for a long time?

4. Write one quality of animals?

5. Trace a word that means ‘serene’.

Answers:

1. This stanza has been taken from the poem ‘animals’ written by Walt Whitman. 

2. The poet wants to live with animals because of their serene nature.

3. The poet looks at them for a long time as he gets happiness, love, and satisfaction for them.

4. The animals are Serene and complete.

5. Serene = placid

Stanza 2

They do not sweat and whine about their condition, 

They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, 

They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,

Questions:

1. What do animals not do about their condition?

2. What do the animals not weep for?

3. How do the animals save the poet from being sick?

Answers:

1. Animals do not complain or sweat about their condition.

2. They do not weep for their sins.

3. This is him from being sick by not discussing their duty to God.

Stanza 3

Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with 

the mania of owning things, 

Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that 

lived thousands of years ago,

Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.

Questions:

1. How do animals behave about owning things?

2. Who is not dissatisfied?

3. How does one animal treat the other animals?

Answers:

1. Animals are free from the mania of owning things.

2. Animals are not dissatisfied.

3. One animal treats the other animal equally.

Stanza 4

So they show their relations to me and I accept them, 

They bring me tokens of myself, they evince 

them plainly in their possession 

I wonder where they get those tokens, 

Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?

Questions:

1. To whom do the animals so their relation?

2. What does the poet wonder?

3. What do the animals show?

Answers:

1. The animals show their relation to the poet.

2. The poet wonders where the animals got human qualities.

3. The animals show the tokens of humanity.

Thinking about the text

Q1. Notice the use of the word ‘ turn ‘ in the first line ’I think I could turn and I live with animals….’ What is the poet turning from?

Ans. The poet, Walt Whitman has got a clear understanding of this universe. He has understood that the animals are contained in order specs and are fully satisfied with their Lord but we human beings are completely dissatisfied with our own selves. 

Q2. Mention three things that humans do an animal don't.

Ans. The following three things are done by human beings but not by animals.

1. We always Murmur at our set condition but not the animals.

2. We weep for our sins but the animals do not weep.

3. We feel disturbed for doing our duties to god but the animals do.

Q3. Do humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago? discuss this in groups.

Ans. India is a very religious country and has a rich cultural heritage and old civilization. Her people also follow their rituals, customs, and religious texts. We have so many examples in this respect. We have over several deities like Lord Krishna, Ram, Shiva, and Nanak, etc. we show our deep regard for them.

Q4. What are the tokens, that the poet says he may have dropped long ago, and which the animals have kept for him?

Ans. In this poem, the poet has hinted towards certain tokens that we have dropped long ago. These are tokens of love, fellow feelings, sympathy, respect, Corporation, friendship, and honoring the old age Indian tradition. A feeling of ill will, hatred, despise, cruelty, bloodshed, and Indifference are irritating are pureblood but the animals are far from these vices and evil designs. they are not and Happy over their position and Faith. so we must learn these values from the animals.