Have a comparative study between ' the tale of melon city ' and ' the frog and the nightingale ' by Vikram Seth
The poem 'The Tale of Melon City' is a satirical take on an incompetent king, his clumsy ministers and the kingdom which has to suffer from their foolishness in matters of the state. 'The Tale of a Melon City' is a lyrical ballad which were quite popular during the time of the Romantic Revival in British literature, this one however is more of a verse tale. Ballads are written in ballad stanzas or quatrains, with alternating iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter, known as the ballad meter. These are heavily influenced by the common tales and legends of the place they come from, a verse narrative rooted in the culture which offers the content for it. The nomenclature of he poem as a tale is important in understanding the nature of the poem.
The Frog and the Nightingale
The theme as well as the allegorical significance of the poem is that one should not forsake their individuality and originality by playing to the gallery. Our individual talents are what make us unique in the world and there will always be people like the frog who want to pull down creatures like the nightingale. The nightingale did not have the necessary circumspection required to navigate the world and she was quite gullible. This is a comment on those writers who become famous due to their original craftsmanship but then become misguided by the people around them, especially critics who presume to know more about writing than writers themselves. Thus, the frog's non-stop criticism and training made the nightingale lose her voice and her singing became mechanical and uninspired, ultimately leading to her downfall.
The Frog and the Nightingale
The theme as well as the allegorical significance of the poem is that one should not forsake their individuality and originality by playing to the gallery. Our individual talents are what make us unique in the world and there will always be people like the frog who want to pull down creatures like the nightingale. The nightingale did not have the necessary circumspection required to navigate the world and she was quite gullible. This is a comment on those writers who become famous due to their original craftsmanship but then become misguided by the people around them, especially critics who presume to know more about writing than writers themselves. Thus, the frog's non-stop criticism and training made the nightingale lose her voice and her singing became mechanical and uninspired, ultimately leading to her downfall.