English Literature & Theology

"The Tyger" by William Blake     Tyger Tyger, burning bright,  In the forests of the night;  What immortal hand or eye,  Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies.  Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare seize the fire? And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat. What dread hand? & what dread feet? What the hammer? what the chain, In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp. Dare its deadly terrors clasp? When the stars threw down their spears  And water'd heaven with their tears: Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee? Tyger Tyger burning bright, In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?  Summary, "The Tyger" is one of William Blake's most famous poems, published in his collection Songs of Experience . The poem is a profound...

"Song to Celia" by Ben Jonson Drink to me only with thine eyes,          And I will pledge with mine; Or leave a kiss but in the cup,          And I’ll not look for wine. The thirst that from the soul doth rise          Doth ask a drink divine; But might I of Jove’s nectar sup,          I would not change for thine. I sent thee late a rosy wreath,          Not so much honouring thee As giving it a hope, that there          It could not withered be. But thou thereon didst only breathe,          And sent’st it back to me; Since when it grows, and smells, I swear,          Not of itself, but thee.   Summary,     Ben Jons...

  The English Teacher (1945) is a deeply autobiographical novel by R.K. Narayan. It is the third part of the trilogy that begins with *Swami and Friends* and *Bachelor of Arts*, set in the fictional town of Malgudi. The novel is divided into two distinct parts: Krishna’s domestic life and his emotional/spiritual transformation following a tragic loss. Here is the chapter-wise summary of the novel. Chapter 1: The Monotony of Malgudi Krishna is a 30-year-old English lecturer at Albert Mission College in Malgudi. Despite earning a decent salary, he feels his life is empty, mechanical, and predictable. He spends his days grading essays, reciting Shakespeare, and living in the college hostel. His routine is disrupted when his father writes to him, insisting that Krishna leave the hostel and set up a proper home because his wife, Susila, and their infant daughter, Leela, are coming to live with him. Krishna takes a house on Sarayu Street and anxiously awaits their arrival. Chapter 2: Dom...

 "Action Will Be Taken" ("Es wird etwas geschehen") is a brilliant satirical short story by the Nobel Prize-winning German author Heinrich Böll, published in 1954. It is a sharp, ironic critique of modern industrial society, corporate culture, and the post-WWII German economic miracle (Wirtschaftswunder), where busyness was often equated with worth. Summary The story is told in the first person by an  unnamed narrator. The narrator introduces himself as someone constitutionally unsuited for hard work. He has an innate inclination toward "inaction" and contemplation. However, due to severe financial distress, he is forced to look for a job. He applies for a position at a large, bustling factory owned by a man also named Wunsiedel. The factory’s core philosophy is encapsulated in its aggressive slogans: "Action will be taken!" and "Let’s have action!" During the job interview, the narrator realizes that the environment rewards the appeara...

  Ecology By AK Ramanujan The day after the first rain, for years, I would home in a rage, for I could see from a mile away our three Red Champak Trees had done it again, had burst into flower and given Mother her first blinding migraine of the season with their street-long heavy-hung yellow pollen fog of a fragrance no wind could sift no door could shut out from our black – pillared house whose walls had ears and eyes, scales, smells ,bone-creaks , nightly visiting voices, and were porous like us, but Mother, flashing her temper like her mother's twisted silver, grandchildren's knickers wet as the cold pack on her head, would not let us cut down a flowering tree almost as old as her, seeded, she said, by a passing bird's providential droppings to give her gods and her daughters and daughters' daughters basketsful of annual flower and for one line of cousins a dower of migraines in season. Summary  The poem begins with a sense of annual dread as the speaker returns home...