Animals By Walt Whitman || Detail Notes

 

 Animals
By Walt Whitman

1-Introduction

2-Stanza Wise Explanation

3- Poetic Devices

4- Word-meaning

5- Textbook Exercises

6- Important Question/Answers

7- To Conclude

1-Introduction

The poem shows the love towards animals. The poem is written by Walt Whitman was an American poet, journalist and an essayist who was born in New York in the year 1819. He is often called the father of free verse.

According to the poet, animals are more better than human beings and possess all the qualities that human beings lack. The poet believes that human beings possess all the qualities of kindness, care, respect, etc but with the passage of time have lost all these qualities which anala still holds.

2-Stanza Wise Explanation

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.

Explanation

In above lines, the poet says that he wants to turn into an animal and wants to live with animals. According to him the animals look quiet and self controlled. They never complained for any problem that they face. And because of these qualities of animals, the poet wants to spend a long time with them.

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.

 Explanation

 In the above lines, the poet says that animals do not complain and cry about their condition like human beings do. Unlike humans, they do not stay awake in the night and they don’t weep for the sins done by them. The poet says that animals do not make me feel sick by discussing their duty to God. It means the animals do not pray to God for forgiveness like human beings do. 

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.

Explanation

 The poet says that he does not find even a single animal that is dissatisfied. They also don’t suffer from the obsession of owning more and more things. Animals do not show respect or bow their heads to other animals. All animals are equal and they do not need to respect one another. So for animals no one is respectable or unhappy on the earth.

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?

Explanation

In above lines, the poet says that the animals show the similarities that human beings possess, which he accepts happily. The poet feels that animals represent human beings, as this seems to have innate qualities that humans once had. These qualities include kindness, truthfulness, innocence, and selflessness. The poet wanders about how animals have got these qualities. The boy believes that the human beings dropped these virtues a very long time ago which animals still possess.

3- Poetic Devices

i-Rhyme Scheme- The poem is written in free verse. There is no rhyme scheme.

ii-Repetition- Repetition of word/phrases in the same line. 

•Long and long-( stanza1)

• They do not-( Stanza 2)

• Not one-( Stanza 3)

iii- Metaphor- Is comparing two unlike objects or things that have some common qualities in them.

‘tokens’ are innate qualities of human beings.

iv- Assonance- Is the repetition of vowel sounds. In this poem sound of I is used repeatedly like I think, I could, I stand.

v- Alliteration- It is the occurrence of the same sound at the beginning of the closely connected words. Make me (stanza2)

I wonder where they get those tokens (Stanza 4)

4- Word-Meaning

• placid- calm, quiet

• self-contain’d- in full self control

• sweat and whine- complain and cry

• mania- obsession

• kneels- bends

• tokens- innate qualities

• negligently- carelessly

• evince- quality, attitude

5- Textbook Exercises

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

Ans- The poet wants to turn from a human being into an animal. It represents the poet’s desire to get away from the selfishness and the false world of the human beings where everyone is busy in owning more and more without even thinking about others.

II- Mention three things that humans do and animals don’t.

Ans- The first thing is humans always complain and cry about the problems that they face in but animals don’t.

The second thing is that humans lie awake at night and ask for forgiveness for their sins whereas animals do not do that.

The third thing is they run towards wordily things and lost the qualities like truthfulness, compassion, selflessness but animals don’t.

III- Do humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago? Discuss this in groups.

Ans- Yes, human beings kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago. These persons could be their ancestors or preachers. Students can discuss this in groups and get to know about others rituals, culture and tradition.

IV- What are the tokens that the poet says he may have dropped long ago and which the animals have kept for him? Discuss this in class. (Hint: whitman belongs to the romantic tradition that includes Rousseau and Wordsworth, which holds that civilisation has made humans falls to their own true nature. What could be the basic aspects of our nature as living beings that humans choose to ignore or deny? )

Ans- The tokens mentioned in the poem refer to the virtues possessed by animals. These virtues represent the true nature of human beings that humans have lost. These are tokens of innocence, sharing, truthfulness and compassion.

The poet belongs to the romantic tradition of literature. He along with other poet’s believed that the above mentioned virtues represent how a man should be. But with the passage of time, man has denied them. Human beings have forgotten the true value of these virtues.

Class 10th English 

6- Important Question/Answers

I-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, (Cbse 2015)

Why do humans lie awake in the dark?

• Feel guilty

• Cry for their sins

• Happy

• Worried

What does the word ‘whine’ mean here?

• High complaining cry

• Angry

• Pleased

• Utter angrily

Who are ‘they’ referred to here?

• Animals

• Humans

• kids

• Infants

Why does the poet feel sick?

• Always criticising others

• Sermonising themselves

• Always complaining

• Running after money

What is the purpose of the given lines?

• To compare humans and animals

• To highlight the Importance of virtues

• To highlight the Importance of vice

• To highlight the virtues possessed by animals.

II- Explain the satisfaction that animals have and humans don’t.( Cbse 2014)

Ans- Animals don’t hold the desire to possess worldly things and they are satisfied with whatever they have. They live happily in their natural surroundings. Whereas human desire to own as many things as possible and are never satisfied.

III- What is the central idea of the poem, 'Animals’? (Cbse 2020)

Ans-The poet tells that he feels more comfortable with animals rather than human beings. According to him, humans have lost all the good values of kindness, compassion, truthfulness etc. whereas animals still hold all those positive values and thus are superior to human beings.

IV- Why do you think the poet has called the desire to own things, as a mania? Is the poet right in doing so? Write your own views.

Ans- In the poem 'Animals’, the poet uses the word ‘mania’ to refer to the desire of human beings that never ends. They desire to own as many things as possible. They have become greedy and lost the values like kindness, compassion, truthfulness etc. 

Yes the poet is right in doing so because unlike humans animals don’t desire for wordily things they are happy with whatever they have. Thus, we can say that the poet is right in calling the desire to own things as a mania.

7- To Conclude

I have tried my level best to explain everything in detail. If any doubts you can reach me through the comment section below and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Check my page for other chapter notes. Thank You

All The Very Best For Your Exams...