Ode to Evening - William Collins

 

Ode to Evening   - William Collins

‘Ode to Evening’ is one of the famous odes written by the English poet William Collins. This transitional poem centers on the natural setting during the evening. William Collins paints a beautiful picture of an evening in his poem, ‘Ode to Evening’.

  It is a beautiful poem of fifty two lines, addressed to a goddess figure representing evening. The poem appeared in Odes on Several Descriptive and Allegorical Subjects in 1747. This poem has mainly three parts; the first one is the opening salutation to the evening, the second one is the center where the poet requests for the guidance in receiving peace, and the last one is his personal point of view to return to the general aspect.

When the poem commences, the speaker humbly requests to the spirit of Evening to grant him the skill of singing so that he could please her. She is an enchanting part of nature who sometimes looks like in a pensive mood. She is also fond of the speaker’s song. The fascinating nymphs in the evening that come from the buds of flowers bring fragrance in the peaceful evening environment. To make the environment more soothing, the speaker’s song should be very soft like that of the murmur of the streams.

The only sound that the speaker listens is that of the cry of the bat and the beetle. He aspires to go to the ruined building in some lonely valley to watch the beauty of the evening, but he is disturbed by the rain and the wind. So, he decides to visit the mountainside to see the descending evening. In the end, the speaker admits that the charm of the evening should continue to bring peace and harmony and to inspire friendship, poets, science and lovers of the peace.

The application of the femininity in describing the evening and characterizing her is one of the strengths of Collins. Words and phrases like ‘chaste Eve’, ‘fancy’, ‘rose-lipped’, ‘nymph reserved’, and ‘maid composed’ are some of the illustrations of the use of the femininity in the poem. These traits to the evening adds the concept of an eye-catching woman who is reserved and patient.

The poet has used the concept of the evening as a way to put his view on the woman as contradictory figure, something mysterious and also generous. The evening is merging point of the sunlight and the sunset, in a way, it is a transition from light to dark, day to night. Depicting the negative side of the evening, the poet says, it symbolically hides all the faces of the daytime whether good or bad. In its darkness, everything is same and mysterious. It is the eve that makes sure that the next day is certainly going to be bright and sunny. In that sense, evening is the seed of the hope and life of the next day.

Collins personifies evening in this poem as ‘chaste Eve’ which is a Biblical allusion to Eve. The comparison of the evening to the Biblical Eve is ambiguous. If the fallen and flawed state of Eve is associated to the evening, then the evening becomes something negative and cursed state of the day when the bright light of the sun is missed and set. But, if the poet is comparing evening with the innocence and purity of Eve, then the evening means a beautiful time of the day when everything comes to the resting point with peace and harmony all around. The intention of the poet is still ambiguous.

 

Plato

 

Plato

His Age and Works

Plato date of birth is generally put down at 427 B.C and died in 348 B.C. He was the most celebrated disciple of Socrates. Plato began his career as a poet and playwright. But after his association with Socrates, he destroyed his poems and plays and devoted himself entirely to philosophical cogitations. After the assassination of Socrates, he founded an Academy in 387 B.C and taught his pupils philosophy, natural sciences, mathematics, practical legislation and jurisprudence. His important works are The Dialogues, Ion, Lysis, Georgics and Republic.

His theory of art

Plato holds that ideas exist as archetypes or originals in heaven. In Republic, Plato gives the example of a carpenter making a table. The ideal table exists as an archetype only in heaven. The carpenter’s table is an imitation of the ideal, flawless, perfect table which exists only in heaven. The poet who describes a table is imitating the carpenter’s table which is itself an imitation of the heavenly table. The poet’s description is an imitation of an imitation and hence is twice removed from reality. The poet has certain other serious limitations. The third rate poet has no serious purpose. His aim is to popularizes himself or to make money.

His attack on poetry

Plato asserts that the poet speaks the divine myth. Poetry is not a craft, which can be practiced by all and sundry. It is the effect of inspiration and the divine speaks through the poet. It cannot be recalled in its original fervor. Such a tool is not dependable, according Plato, reason, which opposed to passion is reliable. Poetry makes the reader feel rather than think. It makes readers adore beauty. They become excessively aesthetic. They lose their capacity for action. Poets speak ‘lies’ about gods. Such a deflation of gods contributes to the spread of atheism and impiety, so Plato banishes poetry from his Academy

His attack on drama

Plato’s attack on drama is as well-known as his attack on poetry. Plato holds that the dramatist has to pander to the low tastes of the spectators. Towards this end, he introduces ribald jokes, low buffoonery etc., in comedies and wars and lamentations in tragedies. Plato’s comments on the effects of bad drama on actors and spectators are quite pertinent. Actors who impersonate wicked characters become wicked themselves. A villain in a drama is likely to become a villain in real life. Exposure to wicked characters may corrupt the audience also. The converse is also true. Portrayal of a noble character will ennoble the actor as well as the audience.

Plato’s contribution to the critical art, thus is considerable. Scattered in fragments though it might be, all together read like a systematic treatise on the art of writing.

 

Communication and its types

 

 

Communication

Communication is the articulation of sending a message through different media, whether it is verbal or nonverbal. Communication of information, messages, opinions, speech and thoughts can be done via different forms of modern communication media like, e-mail, telephone and mobile. Some of the basic ways of communication are by speaking, singing, sign language, body language, touch and eye contact. These basic ways of communication are used to transfer information from one entity to the other. There are many different types of communication. They can be classified into four types. Verbal Communication, Nonverbal Communication, Formal Communication, Informal Communication.

Verbal Communication

i) Oral Communication

ii) Written Communication

Oral communication is information spoken by mouth. Some of the examples of oral communication are face-to-face communication, telephonic communication, public address system, audio and visual media, lectures, conferences – interchange of views, meetings, cultural affairs. Oral communication is a unique and learned rhetorical skill that requires you to understand what you say and how you say it. The various forms of oral communication include monologue, soliloquy, short conversation and long conversation

Monologue

Monologue is a speech made by one person on his thoughts to an audience or character. The listener does not respond. There are two types of monologues. They are Exterior monologue and Interior monologue

Soliloquy

It is a form of monologue. The soliloquy reveals his inner thoughts and feelings in supposed self-communion or in a consciously direct address.

Dialogue

It is a formal exchange of ideas between two persons. It is a reciprocal conversation between two or more entities.

Short conversation

It is a short, informal spoken exchange between two persons. It is used when the interaction is with elders and respectable personalities.

Long conversation

It happens in both formal and informal situations. It is an exchange of facts and ideas at random.

Written Communication

Written communication is by means of written symbols. Some examples are orders, instructions, letters, memos, reports, policy manuals, information bulletin, complaint etc.

ii) Nonverbal Communication

it is the process of communicating through sending receiving wordless messages. Such messages can be communicated through gesture, body language or posture: facial expression and eye contact.

iii) Formal communication

Here, communication takes place through the formal channels of the organization structure along the lines of authority established by the management. Such communications are generally in writing and may take any of the forms; policy manuals, memoranda and official meetings.

iv) Informal communication

Communication arising out of all those channels of communication that fall outside the formal channels is known as informal communication

Communication is fruitful only if the messages sent by the receiver. If any kind of disturbance blocks any step of communication, the message will be destroyed.