Real Essayist and an Eminent Writer: Robert Lynd was one of the most outstanding essayists of the 20th century. He began his career as a journalist and for nearly twenty years under the name of ‘YY’ appeared his weekly essay in The New Statesman and Nation. Like Chesterton, he had the Fleet Street for his … Read more
Introduction: The essay entitled The Darkness is one of the finest pieces of Robert Lynd. With the help of his grand imagination and musing, he depicts the beauty of darkness. He also depicts the atmosphere during the first year of war. He presents many thrilling and beautiful sights of London. The people derived great joy … Read more
Introduction: The essay entitled On Not Being A Philosopher is an extract from It’s Fine World written by Lynd. This essay is serious, instructive and full of humour. This is indeed a personal essay in which the essayist puts his own views on his not being a philosopher. He develops intimacy with the reader and … Read more
Introduction: The essay entitled The Pleasures of Ignorance is an extract from the same title. The essayist describes the ignorance of many people living in this world. Sometimes it is surprising that the people are completely ignorant about different phenomenon of nature. The essayist is of the view that this type of ignorance is not … Read more
The “Porphyria” persona’s romantic egotism leads him into all manner of monstrously selfish assumptions compatible with his own longings. He seems convinced that Porphyria wanted to be murdered, and claims “No pain felt she” while being strangled, adding, as if to convince himself “I am quite sure she felt no pain”. He may even believe … Read more
Porphyria’s Lover is a dramatic monologue, a poem in which a speaker talks to a silent listener about a dramatic event or experience. Browning is considered to be one of the earliest and greatest practitioners of this form, and Porphyria’s Lover is his first poem in this style. The dramatic monologue offers readers intimate insight … Read more
The poem was written just before the start of Queen Victoria’s rule, as societal standards were shifting towards repressiveness (and particularly towards repression with respect to female sexuality) but not in the heyday of Victorian principles, which didn’t occur until much later in the century. Porphyria is the disease which is believed to have caused … Read more
Tintern Abbey can be called a condensed spiritual autobiography of the poet. Like the Immortality Ode and Prelude, it deals with the subjective experience of the poet, and traces the growth of his mind through different periods of his life. Nature and its influence on the poet’s first visit, in 1793, to the valley of … Read more
The famous poem, “The Tintern Abbey” is called by Myres as “the consecrated formulary of Wordsworthian faith.” This poem is autobiographical in that it traces the development of the poet’s love of Nature from his boyhood to manhood. In the beginning, Nature was only secondary to the poet’s animal pursuits. In the second stage, his … Read more
The Lady of Shalott is not a simple romantic narrative. There is a hidden meaning behind this poem. For its subject – matter the poem has a lady who is doomed to live all alone. If she ever dared to leave her tower or to peep out of the window, she would meet her end. … Read more