Rants, Art and Literature

What is Poetry? The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility. PREFACE TO THE LYRICAL BALLADS(2ND ED.), WORDSWORTH., WILLIAM This is the famous definition of poetry given by Wordsworth. In the same book he calls his poetry ‘experimental’. According to him, it is the poet’s business to embody in their poetry the general passions of men. Poetry should be full of emotion and passion to convey through it the feelings of the poet themselves. I have always been captivated by poetry. I used to think that all that rhymes is poetry. Soon, I found out that is very very far from the truth. Rhymes are not always poetry. Likewise, poetry doesn’t always have to rhyme. In fact, I understood very recently that rhymes, meter, caesura and so on are just the technical aspects of a poem. But what makes poetry what it is, is the emotion and passion carried through the words. The Giants of poetry Surrounded by books from epics to golden treasuries...

The Play Macbeth  was first performed on stage in the year 1606. It is a play in which Shakespeare wished to get inside the skin of a murderer showing us the psychological effects of committing such crimes as Macbeth and the other characters (specially Lady Macbeth). However, as interesting as the subject of the mind of a murderer is, I find the witches to be equally intriguing on their own. Supernatural in contemporary England Witchcraft was a ‘vogue’ issue in the early reign of James I. Even before he ascended the throne, King James I himself, believed he had been the subject of a plot by three Scottish witches to shipwreck him by stirring up storms. Learned books were also published on the subject such as  A Discourse of the Subtle Practices of Devils  (1587) and King James’ own  Demonology  (1597). Some of the learned works expressed scepticism as to the more far-fetched claims made about witches, like Reginald Scot’s  The Discoverie of Witchcraft ...

World Environment Day is observed annually on 5th June to raise awareness and action about the protection of the environment. It was first observed in 1974. In the present, 143 countries participate in the global platform for public outreach. Each year, a theme or forum is provided to engage governments, businesses and citizens to address the pressing issues that concern the environment. This year’s theme This year, the theme is  Ecosystem restoration . Ecosystem restoration means helping in the recovery of degraded or destroyed ecosystems. However, it also includes protecting the ecosystems that are still intact. Studies show that every three seconds, the world loses enough forest that can cover a football pitch. Over the last century, 50% of the World’s wetlands have been destroyed. Again, over 50% of the world’s coral reefs have been destroyed. By 2050, it is estimated that this number will be 90%. Ecosystem restoration means putting a pause to this damage and rewinding it to pr...