"Which Are You?" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

 

Which Are You?

There are two kinds of people on earth to-day;

Just two kinds of people, no more, I say.

 

Not the sinner and saint, for it's well understood,

The good are half bad, and the bad are half good.

 

Not the rich and the poor, for to rate a man's wealth,

You must first know the state of his conscience and health.

 

Not the humble and proud, for in life's little span,

Who puts on vain airs, is not counted a man.

 

Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years

Bring each man his laughter and each man his tears.

 

No; the two kinds of people on earth I mean,

Are the people who lift, and the people who lean.

 

Wherever you go, you will find the earth's masses,

Are always divided in just these two classes.

 

And oddly enough, you will find too, I ween,

There's only one lifter to twenty who lean.

 

In which class are you? Are you easing the load,

Of overtaxed lifters, who toil down the road?

 

Or are you a leaner, who lets others share

Your portion of labor, and worry and care?

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/mYpN-eKMuxU

Who wrote the poem "Which Are You?"

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (November 5, 1850 – October 30, 1919)

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet who wrote “Solitude,” which contains the famous lines “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone.” Popular among people rather than among literary critics, she often displayed in her poems cheerful and optimistic sentiments in plain and rhyming words. After she married Robert Wilcox in 1884, the couple became interested in spiritualism and promised each other that whoever died first would return and communicate with the other. After her husband died in 1916 after over 30 years of marriage, she was overwhelmed by grief and waited long to hear from her deceased husband in vain. She also believed in reincarnation. She died of cancer in 1919.

"Which Are You?" explanation

Some people always make things worse, dragging people around them down. Only a few will make noble sacrifices to make other people’s lives better. Ordinary people sometimes try to help others and other times become a burden to others. Which are you?

"October" by Robert Frost

 

October

O hushed October morning mild,

Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;

Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,

Should waste them all.

The crows above the forest call;

Tomorrow they may form and go.

O hushed October morning mild,

Begin the hours of this day slow.

Make the day seem to us less brief.

Hearts not averse to being beguiled,

Beguile us in the way you know.

Release one leaf at break of day;

At noon release another leaf;

One from our trees, one far away.

Retard the sun with gentle mist;

Enchant the land with amethyst.

Slow, slow!

For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,

Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,

Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—

For the grapes’ sake along the wall.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/s1D2iiaHseQ

Who wrote the poem "October"?

Robert Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963)

Robert Frost was an American poet who was born in San Francisco, California. Frost’s life was marked by grief and loss. When he was 11, his father died of tuberculosis, leaving just eight dollars. Frost’s mother died of cancer when he was 26. Mental illness ran in his family. He and his mother suffered from depression, and his sister and his daughter were committed to mental hospitals. Using realistic depictions of rural life, his poems often examined complex social and philosophical themes. Frost’s first book was published at the age of 40, but he ended up winning four Pulitzer Prizes for poetry and becoming the most famous poet of his time.

"October" explanation

In the poem, the speaker asks the nature to slow down before the leaves fall and the winter comes in a time of transition, October. The poem perhaps reflects the poet’s lamentation of the inevitable death of the living or the trend of industrialization and/or his wish to seize the fleeing moment.

"Fall, Leaves, Fall" by Emily Brontë

 

Fall, Leaves, Fall

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;

Lengthen night and shorten day;

Every leaf speaks bliss to me

Fluttering from the autumn tree.

I shall smile when wreaths of snow

Blossom where the rose should grow;

I shall sing when night’s decay

Ushers in a drearier day.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/XHQOaqAXghs

Who wrote the poem "Fall, Leaves, Fall"?

Emily Brontë (July 30, 1818 – December 19, 1848)

Emily Jane Brontë was an English poet and novelist. She published poems under the pseudonym Ellis Bell with her sisters Emily and Charlotte, and by herself. She also wrote her only novel, Wuthering Heights, which is widely considered a classic of English literature. She died of tuberculosis at the age of 30.

"Fall, Leaves, Fall" explanation

In the poem, the speaker describes the change of season from autumn in a calm and peaceful manner with her yearning for winter. Some believe that the poem gives some hints about a deeper emotional aspect of the poet, who is known as a shy person.

"Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore" by William Shakespeare

 

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore,

So do our minutes hasten to their end,

Each changing place with that which goes before

In sequent toil all forwards do contend.

Nativity, once in the main of light,

Crawls to maturity, wherewith being crowned,

Crooked eclipses 'gainst his glory fight

And Time that gave, doth now his gift confound.

Time doth transfix the flourish set on youth,

And delves the parallels in beauty's brow,

Feeds on the rarities of nature's truth,

And nothing stands but for his scythe to mow.

And yet to times in hope my verse shall stand,

Praising thy worth, despite his cruel hand.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video 👇

https://youtu.be/veCmP06rZNk

Who wrote the poem "Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore"?

William Shakespeare (April 26, 1564 – April 23, 1616)

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor of the Renaissance era. He is regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon." Few public records remain about his private life, causing speculations about his physical appearances, sexuality, religious beliefs and the authorship of some of his works. His works demonstrate a wide range of human emotions and conflicts, touching so many people's minds throughout the world for over 400 years.

"Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore" explanation

In the poem, the speaker discusses the power of time to create and destroy everything, including the beauty of youth. Yet, he declares the power of his writing will withstand the test of time. This poem is number 60 of 126 Fair Youth sequence of sonnets by Shakespeare, devoted to a young, beautiful man.

 

"Happiness" by Hermann Hesse

Happiness

As long as you chase happiness,

you are not ready to be happy,

even if you owned everything.

 

As long as you lament a loss,

run after prizes in restless races,

you have not yet known peace.

 

But when you have moved beyond desire,

become a stranger to your goals and longings

and call no longer on happiness by name,

 

then your heart rises calmly

above the ebb and flow of action

and peace has reached your soul.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇 

https://youtu.be/jt2kgFZ2re4

Who wrote the poem "Happiness"?

Hermann Hesse (July 2, 1877 – August 9, 1962)

Hermann Hesse was a German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946. His works were deeply influenced by Eastern mysticism and explored such themes as individuals’ search for authenticity, identity, and spirituality.

"Happiness" explanation

Happiness is a fleeting state of mind and not a destination nor goal in itself. You will have happiness and inner peace only when you pursue a meaningful goal in your life and be grateful for what you already have instead of complaining of what you don’t have.

"Autumn" by John Clare

 

Autumn

I love the fitfull gusts that shakes

 The casement all the day

And from the mossy elm tree takes

 The faded leaf away

Twirling it by the window-pane

With thousand others down the lane

 

I love to see the shaking twig

 Dance till the shut of eve

The sparrow on the cottage rig

 Whose chirp would make believe

That spring was just now flirting by

In summers lap with flowers to lie

 

I love to see the cottage smoke

 Curl upwards through the naked trees

The pigeons nestled round the coat

 On dull November days like these

The cock upon the dung-hill crowing

The mill sails on the heath a-going

 

The feather from the ravens breast

 Falls on the stubble lea

The acorns near the old crows nest

 Fall pattering down the tree

The grunting pigs that wait for all

Scramble and hurry where they fall

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/z5IaawAePFE

Who wrote the poem "Autumn"?

John Clare (July 13, 1793 – May 20, 1864)

John Clare was an English poet. As the son of a poor farm labourer, he received little formal education, and malnutrition from childhood may have contributed to his five-foot stature and poor physical health in later life. His works often celebrate the natural world and rural life and his love for his wife Patty and his childhood lover, Mary Joyce. Although his first book, Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery (1820), published in an attempt to stop his parents’ eviction from their home, became popular to readers and critics, Clare struggled as a writer for most of his life. His works were reevaluated in the late 20^th century, and he is now considered as a major 19^th century poet.

"Autumn" explanation

In the poem, the poet describes the sights and sounds of nature in autumn using unique metaphors. 

"Autumn Rain" by D. H. Lawrence

 

Autumn Rain

The plane leaves

fall black and wet

on the lawn;

 

the cloud sheaves

in heaven’s fields set

droop and are drawn

 

in falling seeds of rain;

the seed of heaven

on my face

 

falling — I hear again

like echoes even

that softly pace

 

heaven’s muffled floor,

the winds that tread

out all the grain

 

of tears, the store

harvested

in the sheaves of pain

 

caught up aloft:

the sheaves of dead

men that are slain

 

now winnowed soft

on the floor of heaven;

manna invisible

 

of all the pain

here to us given;

finely divisible

falling as rain.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/v8Y76CeJwxo

Who wrote the poem "Autumn Rain"?

David Herbert Lawrence (September 11, 1885 – March 2, 1930)

D. H. Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, essayist, and playwright. His works dealt with modernity, industrialization, sexuality, and instinct. His novels Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow, and Lady Chatterley’s Lover concerned such controversial topics as gay and lesbian relationships. Although, due to his peculiar artistic style, he had to experience persecution and often was disgraced as a mere pornographer, some critics praise him for his artistic talents, integrity, and moral seriousness.

"Autumn Rain" explanation

The speaker depicts falling autumn rain vividly and somberly, using various imagery and metaphors. The poem was written in Autumn 1916 and published in February, 1917. The dark shadows of World War I may be looming behind the reference to ‘dead/ men that are slain’ and ‘heaven’s fields’ (perhaps referring to the Elysian Fields, the place reserved for heroes fallen nobly in battle in Greek mythology).

"A Minor Bird" by Robert Frost

 

A Minor Bird

 

I have wished a bird would fly away,

And not sing by my house all day;

 

Have clapped my hands at him from the door

When it seemed as if I could bear no more.

 

The fault must partly have been in me.

The bird was not to blame for his key.

 

And of course there must be something wrong

In wanting to silence any song.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/AVMZrPENims

Who wrote the poem "A Minor Bird"?

Robert Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963)

Robert Frost was an American poet who was born in San Francisco, California. Frost’s life was marked by grief and loss. When he was 11, his father died of tuberculosis, leaving just eight dollars. Frost’s mother died of cancer when he was 26. Mental illness ran in his family. He and his mother suffered from depression, and his sister and his daughter were committed to mental hospitals. Using realistic depictions of rural life, his poems often examined complex social and philosophical themes. Frost’s first book was published at the age of 40, but he ended up winning four Pulitzer Prizes for poetry and becoming the most famous poet of his time.

"A Minor Bird" explanation

In the poem, the speaker is irritated by a “minor” bird’s song and tries to drive it away by clapping at it. Soon, he realizes that the bird is not to blame for its singing and it’s wrong to silence any song. The poet perhaps is suggesting that it’s wrong to suppress the voices of the weak and less important.