I am not rich, nay, nor the future heir
To sparkling gold or silver heaped on store;
There is no marble blushing on my floor
With thousand varied dies:—no gilded chair,
No cushions, carpets that by riches are
Brought from the Persian land, or Turkish shore;
There is no menial waiting at my door
Attentive to the knell: and all things rare,
Born in remotest regions, that shine in
And grace the rich-man's hall, are wanting here.
These are not things that by blind Fate have been
Allotted ever to the poor man's share:
These are not things, these eyes have ever seen,
Tho' their proud names have sounded in this ear!
Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824 - 1873) Bangladesh
Source: The Bengali Book of English Verse by Theodore Douglas Dunn and Rabindranath Tagore, Longmans, Green, and Co., 1918
thank you for this find
ReplyDeleteSummary plz.....
ReplyDeleteMeaning and analysis of the poem:
DeleteAt the outset of the sonnet the speaker claims that he is a person who is neither wealthy nor an heir of a rich ancestor. Obviously, his house is very ordinary and does not have any touch of luxurious fittings like colorful marble floor of great architectural design. In his living place, one cannot see any chair covered with fashionable clothes of golden rim which we find only in the houses of the aristocratic class of the community. No Persian carpet or cushion can the speaker afford. One will not get any servant in his house to respond to the call or attend the guests. Needless to say, the rare showpieces do not add the glory to the hall of the speaker. The speaker finally brings the issue from his personal perspective to all poor people. He clearly expresses his view that no luxury or comfort has been in the fate of the common people; those elite features are only allocated for the privileged class. Despite the fact that the unfortunate poor people are aware of these amenities, they do not have any chance to have a look at those things. Thus, the severe social and economic discrimination has been brought to light in the last part of the sonnet. Though the poem initially seems simple and burdened with the description of the luxuries, it reveals a subtle fact or picture of the society – the gulf between two surviving classes of the society and the social and economic discrimination.
Meaning and analysis of the poem:
DeleteAt the outset of the sonnet the speaker claims that he is a person who is neither wealthy nor an heir of a rich ancestor. Obviously, his house is very ordinary and does not have any touch of luxurious fittings like colorful marble floor of great architectural design. In his living place, one cannot see any chair covered with fashionable clothes of golden rim which we find only in the houses of the aristocratic class of the community. No Persian carpet or cushion can the speaker afford. One will not get any servant in his house to respond to the call or attend the guests. Needless to say, the rare showpieces do not add the glory to the hall of the speaker. The speaker finally brings the issue from his personal perspective to all poor people. He clearly expresses his view that no luxury or comfort has been in the fate of the common people; those elite features are only allocated for the privileged class. Despite the fact that the unfortunate poor people are aware of these amenities, they do not have any chance to have a look at those things. Thus, the severe social and economic discrimination has been brought to light in the last part of the sonnet. Though the poem initially seems simple and burdened with the description of the luxuries, it reveals a subtle fact or picture of the society – the gulf between two surviving classes of the society and the social and economic discrimination.
Can you provide a line by line analysis please
DeleteHi. This is not a very difficult sonnet really. The first 10 lines are an extended list of then riches that the poet does NOT possess and they embody all that the materialistic rich person might want, i.e. money "sparkling gold or silver heaped on store", palaces "There is no marble blushing on my floor..." and servants "There is no menial waiting at my door".
ReplyDeleteThe last four lines describe his lot - he is poor and has never seen such riches; only heard about them.
I hope this helps.
Can someone do a line by line analysis pls
ReplyDelete