English Cosmos by Dr Mukesh Pareek

Book I: Book I of  Paradise Lost  begins with Milton describing what he intends to undertake with his epic: the story of Man's first disobedience and the "loss of Eden," subjects which have been "unattempted yet in prose or rhyme." His main objective, however, is to "justify the ways of  God  to men." The poem then shifts to focus on the character of  Satan  who has just fallen from heaven. The scene opens in a fiery, yet dark, lake of hell. Satan, dazed, seems to be coming to consciousness after his fall and finds himself chained to the l lifts his head to see his second in command,  Beelzebub , the  Lord of the Flies , who has been transformed from a beautiful archangel into a horrid fallen angel. Satan gets his bearings and, in a speech to Beelzebub, realizes what has just happened: Satan, presuming that he was equal to God, had declared war on the creator. Many angels had joined Satan, and the cosmic battle had shaken God's throne. Satan and h...

POETRY FOUNDATION POEMS POETS PROSE COLLECTIONS LISTEN LEARN VISIT POETRY  MAGAZINE ABOUT US Newsletter Subscribe Give Search Paradise Lost : Book  1 (1674 version) BY  JOHN MILTON OF Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast Brought Death into the World, and all our woe, With loss of  Eden , till one greater Man Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat, Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top Of  Oreb , or of  Sinai , didst inspire That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed, In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth Rose out of  Chaos : or if  Sion  Hill Delight thee more, and  Siloa' s brook that flow'd Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song, That with no middle flight intends to soar Above th'  Aonian  Mount, while it pursues Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime. And chiefly Thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer Before all Temples th' upright he...

Prayer (I) BY  GEORGE HERBERT Prayer the church's banquet, angel's age, God's breath in man returning to his birth, The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage, The Christian plummet sounding heav'n and earth Engine against th' Almighty, sinner's tow'r, Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear, The six-days world transposing in an hour, A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear; Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss, Exalted manna, gladness of the best, Heaven in ordinary, man well drest, The milky way, the bird of Paradise, Church-bells beyond the stars heard, the soul's blood, The land of spices; something understood. The Collar BY  GEORGE HERBERT I struck the board, and cried, "No more;                          I will abroad! What? shall I ever sigh and pine? My lines and life are free, free as the road, Loose as the wind, as large as ...

Holy Sonnet II As due by many titles I resign Myself to thee, O God. First I was made By Thee; and for Thee, and when I was decay'd Thy blood bought that, the which before was Thine. I am Thy son, made with Thyself to shine, Thy servant, whose pains Thou hast still repaid, Thy sheep, Thine image, and—till I betray'd Myself—a temple of Thy Spirit divine. Why doth the devil then usurp on me? Why doth he steal, nay ravish, that's Thy right? Except Thou rise and for Thine own work fight, O! I shall soon despair, when I shall see That Thou lovest mankind well, yet wilt not choose me, And Satan hates me, yet is loth to lose me.

The Retreat BY  HENRY VAUGHAN Happy those early days! when I Shined in my angel infancy. Before I understood this place Appointed for my second race, Or taught my soul to fancy aught But a white, celestial thought; When yet I had not walked above A mile or two from my first love, And looking back, at that short space, Could see a glimpse of His bright face; When on some gilded cloud or flower My gazing soul would dwell an hour, And in those weaker glories spy Some shadows of eternity; Before I taught my tongue to wound My conscience with a sinful sound, Or had the black art to dispense A several sin to every sense, But felt through all this fleshly dress Bright shoots of everlastingness.        O, how I long to travel back, And tread again that ancient track! That I might once more reach that plain Where first I left my glorious train, From whence th’ enlightened spirit sees That shady city of palm trees. But, ah! my soul with too much stay Is drunk, a...

Brander Matthews  (1852–1929).   The Short-Story.   1907. V.  Dream-Children A Revery By Charles Lamb   C HILDREN  love to listen to stories about their elders, when  they  were children; to stretch their imagination to the conception of a traditionary great-uncle or grandame, whom they never saw. It was in this spirit that my little ones crept about me the other evening to hear about their great-grandmother Field, who lived in a great house in Norfolk (a hundred times bigger than that in which they and papa lived) which had been the scene—so at least it was generally believed in that part of the country—of the tragic incidents which they had lately become familiar with from the ballad of the Children in the Wood. Certain it is that the whole story of the children and their cruel uncle was to be seen fairly carved out in wood upon the chimney-piece of the great hall, the whole story down to the Robin Redbreasts, till a foolish ...

King Lear  Plot Summary King Lear , a tragic play written by William Shakespeare, opens with King Lear, the elderly king of Britain, deciding to retire and divide his kingdom between his three daughters: Regan, Goneril, and Cordelia. Before splitting his kingdom, Lear asks his daughters to express the depth of their love for him. Regan and Goneril, Lear's oldest daughters, both offer over-the-top proclamations of love for their father, much to the egotistical Lear's delight. Lear's youngest and more beloved daughter Cordelia, however, takes a different approach. She explains that she could never put the true depth of her love for her father into words. Lear doesn't get what she's trying to say, and in a fit of rage, he banishes Cordelia. The King of France happens to be nearby, and he's won over by Cordelia's virtue. She accepts his marriage proposal and leaves Britain, leaving her father with his two conniving daughters. Lear also banishes his friend, the E...

Ye learned sisters which have oftentimes Beene to me ayding, others to adorne: Whom ye thought worthy of your gracefull rymes, That even the greatest did not greatly scorne To heare theyr names sung in your simple layes, But joyed in theyr prayse. And when ye list your owne mishaps to mourne, Which death, or love, or fortunes wreck did rayse, Your string could soone to sadder tenor turne, And teach the woods and waters to lament Your dolefull dreriment. Now lay those sorrowfull complaints aside, And having all your heads with girland crownd, Helpe me mine owne loves prayses to resound, Ne let the same of any be envide: So Orpheus did for his owne bride, So I unto my selfe alone will sing, The woods shall to me answer and my Eccho ring. Early before the worlds light giving lampe, His golden beame upon the hils doth spred, Having disperst the nights unchearefull dampe, Doe ye awake, and with fresh lusty hed, Go to the bowre of my beloved love, My truest turtle dove, Bid her awake; for Hy...

The Poplar-Field (1784) by  William Cowper   The poplars are fell’d, farewell to the shade And the whispering sound of the cool colonnade, The winds play no longer, and sing in the leaves, Nor Ouse on his bosom their image receives.   Twelve years have elaps’d since I last took a view Of my favourite field and the bank where they grew, And now in the grass behold they are laid, And the tree is my seat that once lent me a shade.   The blackbird has fled to another retreat Where the hazels afford him a screen from the heat, And the scene where his melody charm’d me before, Resounds with his sweet-flowing ditty no more.   My fugitive years are all hasting away, And I must ere long lie as lowly as they, With a turf on my breast, and a stone at my head, Ere another such grove shall arise in its stead.   Tis a sight to engage me, if any thing can, To muse on the perishing pleasures of man ; Though his life be a dream, his enjoyments, I see, Have a being less dura...

Right to Education The Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002 inserted Article 21-A in the Constitution of India to provide free and compulsory education of all children in the age group of six to fourteen years as a Fundamental Right in such a manner as the State may, by law, determine. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which represents the consequential legislation envisaged under Article 21-A, means that every child has a right to full time elementary education of satisfactory and equitable quality in a formal school which satisfies certain essential norms and standards. Article 21-A and the RTE Act came into effect on 1 April 2010. The title of the RTE Act incorporates the words ‘free and compulsory’. ‘Free education’ means that no child, other than a child who has been admitted by his or her parents to a school which is not supported by the appropriate Government, shall be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or expenses which may...

Notable Quotes in  King Lea                        my love's More ponderous than my tongue     —After hearing her older sisters deliver extravagant declarations of love for their father, King Lear, Cordelia tells herself that she is the one who loves him more than words can say.                        Now, our joy, Although our last and least     —King Lear, having given their portions of the kingdom to his two eldest daughters, turns to the one he loves best, Cordelia.                        Nothing will come of nothing, speak again.     —King Lear, having enticed Cordelia to speak (competitively) of her love for him in order t...