MARTHA
— Walter Dala Mare
Summary In English: Walter Dala Mare is a modern English poet. There are other modern poet too who are quite famous like one T.S. Eliot. But there is a difference between the two. T. S. Eliot discuss modern problems of society which Dela mare creates an atmosphere of my stroy through his poems.
Some of the best poems of Dela Mare are ‘ The Listener’ , The ‘ Scarecrow ‘ and ‘ Arabia ‘.
Walter D. Mare was born in the 1873 and died in 1956.
Long , long ago Marta would narrate us her stories in the natural environment of the Valey in the mountain. The valley gave reflection of browen with greenistings (flavour ). Her eyes were of clear grey colour. It gave the felling of seeing something in dreams. While telling stories she used to sit with knees bent and her two Slim hands holding her knees round. We used to sit before her with our elbows rolled and used to stare at her knees round. We used to sit before her with our elbows rolled and used to stare at her face.
Her appearance and her grave small lovely head gave natural expression of words in her mouth.
In the second part of the poem the poet contact with the actual tale of the fairy. The poet says that like a dream in the night he saw Fairies and summer sun were gone and accordingly her beauty foaded away with her voice running.
The whole scence of the dream disappeared like clouds in the sky but our hearts stood still.
It was a faling of sudden quietness around and a sense that this has happened long long ago.
कविता का सारांश
बहुत दिनों की बात है कि मराठा ,पहाड़ के मनोरम वादियों के प्राकृतिक वातावरण में हमें अपनी कहानी कहती थी। वादियों के बीच से एक भूरा पर हरीतिमा लिये एक प्राकृतिक रंग चतुर्दिक उभरता था। मारठा की आँखें निर्मल थी और उसका रंग भूरा था ।जब हम ध्यानमग्न होकर उसके कथा सुनते थे तो उसकी सुंदरता में खो जाते थे। ऐसा लगता था कि हम कोई अपना सपना देख रहे हैं ।कहानी कहते समय वह अपने दोनों पैरों को मोड़कर बैठती थी और उसके दोनों हाथ उसके ठेहुने को घेरे रहते थे। हम उसके सामने अपने दोनों केहुनियों को मोड़ कर उस पर अपने सर को टिकाये उसकी और टकटक निहारते रहते थे। उसकी मुखाकृति से उसके शब्द टपकते थे। बिना कुछ कहे उसका गंभीर चेहरा बहुत सारी बातें का जाता था ।
इस कविता के दूसरे भाग में कवि परियों की एक कहानी कहता है। कवि कहता है कि रात को देखें एक स्वप्न की तरह उसने कुछ परियों को वादी की हरी लताओं के बीच अपना मुखड़ा छुपाये देखा ।उसका चेहरा तबतक दिखाई देता रहा जब तक सूरज की रोशनी भुरी- हरीतिमा लिए वादियों से लुक्त नहीं हो गई। इसके साथ ही उस परी का सौंदर्य धीरे-धीरे लुप्त हो गया और ऐसा लगा कि उसकी आवाज भी नहीं वादियो में खो गयी।
कवि को ऐसा लगा कि जो कुछ भी उसने देखा हुआ एक सपना था और वह सपना आकाश में उड़ते बादलों की तरह दूर कहीं दूर आसमान में चला गया और ऐसा लगा जैसे वह युग की गहराइयों में खो गया। उसके बाद निस्तब्धता ने दिशाओं को घेर लिया।
GLOSSARY AND NOTES
Glen (noun): संकरी घाटी का दर्रा। Tranquil (Adj.) : शांत , निस्तब्ध । Slim (Adj.) : दुबला , पतला। Clasped (verb): पकड़ना। Stared (verb): एकटक से देखना । Grave (Adj): गम्भीर। Fairies (noun): अप्सरा। Hash (noun): शांत स्थली ।
EXERCISE
A. Pre reading questions :
Answer the questions briefly :
Q.1. Do you have dreams ?
Ans. Yes, I do have.
Q.2. When you wake up from sleep, do you find your dreams as real as events of life ?
Ans. Sometimes the dreams do reflect the events and happenings of real life but sometimes those are fictitious too.
Q.3. Have you read any fairy tale ?
Ans. Yes, I have read few fairy tales also.
Q.4. Do you find its events real as in life ?
Ans. Most of the fairy tales are based on imagination and are away from real life.
Q.5. Does it have any logical sequence of events ?
Ans. Mostly it does not deside logical sequence of real life.
B. While reading Questions :
B.1. Write [ T ] for true and [F] for false for the following sentences :
1. Martha tells her stories over and over again. [T]
2. If one watches her eyes it seems story is told by her beautiful eyes. [T]
3. Her stories were turbulent. [F]
4. She would sit with clasped hands round her neck .,[F]
5. Martha would tell her stories in greenish brown valley.[T]
B.2. Answer the questions briefly :
Q.1. What does Martha do in the Hazel glen ?
Ans. Martha would tell us her stories in the Hazel glen.
Q.2. What is the colour of Martha eyes?
Ans. The eyes are clear grey in colour.
Q.3. Who are stering at ease ?
Ans. The poet says ” We on our elbows started at ease.”
Q.4. How do they sit to listen Martha’s story ?
Ans. They would sit with their elbows rolled .
Q.5. How half at the stories were told?
Ans. Half of the story has been told by describing the features of the personality of Martha. The description of fairies matched with that of Martha, the story teller herself. So it gave an impression that a fairy was herself narrating the story.