Ans. Q.3.B. of the HSC Board English Question Paper which comes for 04 marks.
Note :
1. There are total 8 poems given in the course book of std. XII ( Maharashtra State Board ) and students need to prepare for appreciation of all 8 poems.
2. This is just the SAMPLE. Students are encouraged to understand the poem well and then try writing their own appreciation.
3. Appreciation needs to be written POINT WISE and not in paragraph form.
“Song of the Open Road" - Appreciation
1) About the poem: “ The Song of the Open Road “ by American poet Walt Whitman which is included in his collection of poems “Leaves of grass" is an inspirational poem which talks about optimism , freedom , self love and having belief in oneself. The poet / speaker is starting a new journey on an open road and he feels healthy , free and confident as he can choose to go wherever he wishes to. He is done with his routine life and is willing to explore new things and gain new experiences.
2) The Theme : The theme of the poem is freedom , optimism, self love and above all joy of taking on the journey. Throughout the poem , the poet encourages his readers to break away from everything that stops them from being free and that they must believe in themselves. His aim is to make readers stress free from the wordly burdens as he believes those can be handled even while travelling.
3) Poetic Style : The poem is a dramatic monologue. The poet has used free verse so that he does not have to worry about rhyming or any metrical patterns and can pour out his heart without any restrictions. His style of writing is as free as his attitude towards life is and free verse has actually helped him to connect with his readers in a way that is familiar to them.
4) The Language/poetic devices used in the poem : The language used in the poem is very simple and lucid. The use of personal pronoun “ I” is very prominent in this poem to stress on importance of self belief , self motivation , freedom from stresses of life , etc. The poet has used repetition to make his readers understand how important it is to take up the journey and travel on the open road. He also uses metaphor to draw indirect comparison between road to travel and road of life and how it symbolizes equality , opportunity and progress.
5) Special feature : One special feature of the poem is the addition of last four lines as parentheses , that is putting them in brackets as if they have suddenly come to his mind and he is taking his readers aside and taking them in confidence and speaking.
6) Message, Values, Morals in the poem : The poem gives an important message to readers that they should be open to move on and enjoy the journey of life , how they should be bold and also be satisfied with whatever they have. It teaches the importance of being free , having faith on our wings and how it is possible to be happy in spite of having worries , as those worries can be handled anytime and anywhere.
7) Your opinion about the poem : It is a beautiful poem which inspires us to explore the world and our life by using our abilities. It also teaches that one should not stop making progress due to criticisms and complaints of the world.
Poetic Creativity - 02 marks ( Q.3.A.( A5)
The example given here is just a sample. It would be nice if you compose your own poem of 4 lines.
2.1 Compose four lines on " The road that leads to my college"
The road that leads to my college
Is my gateway to a bright future
A future that is full of hopes and happiness
A future that is full of knowledge and enlightenment
This road is my teacher as it teaches me to be kind and rooted.
It teaches me to be helpful and ever ready to learning new things.
