Is This The End ?
Glossary
Unremembered
Forgotten
A
form undone End of the body
Little
hours Short lived lives
Mocked
Made fun of
Yearnings
Strong desires of the spirit
Godward
climb Attain Godhood
Harp
Human body
Shattered
Dead
Mute
Silent
Unseen
Player Spirit
Tree
Human body
Bird
Spirit
Hush
Stop
Remoulds
Gives different shapes
Objective Type Questions
Q1. What is the name of poet of the
poem ‘Is This The End?’
A1.
Sri Aurobindo Ghose
Q2. To what object the human is
compared in the poem?
A2.
The Human body is compared to the harp in the poem.
Q3. What view of life is presented in
the poem?
A3.
Spiritual view.
Q4. What is normally the end of life?
A4.
Death is known to be the end of life.
Q5. To what object the human soul is
compared in this poem?
A5.
The human soul is compared to ‘The unseen player’s in the poem’.
Q6. What is the thing which never dies?
A6.
The Soul of human body never dies.
Q7. What is to be sought by man’s soul?
A7.
Divine bliss or Param Ananda is to be sought by man’s soul.
Q8.What is beyond the reach of death?
A8.
Human longings and aspiration’s are beyond the reach of death.
Short Answer Type Questions
Q1. The poet presents a view of life in
the poem. What is it?
A1.
The poet presents a spiritual view of life in this poem. He emphatically says
that man’s spirit is immortal and divine. A man is generally forgotten soon
after his physical death, when his body is buried in a grave or turned to ashes
in fire. But, this is not the end of man, because his soul or spirit is divine
and lives forever.
Q2. Why is the poet not prepared to
accept that physical death is the end of life?
A2.
The poet is not prepared to accept that the physical death is the end of life.
Death can physically end the body only. It cannot destroy the soul, which is
immortal and divine. The poet firmly believes that human longings and
aspiration are beyond the reach of death.
Q3. What is normally the end of life?
A3.
Death is normally believed to be the end of life. After death one is either buried
or cremated and his physical form comes to an end. He is soon forgotten. This
is generally considered the end of life.
Q4. What do the ‘harp’ and the ‘tree’ symbolise?
Explain in about sixty words.
A4.
The harp is a musical instrument, which is played with fingers. But, harp symbolically
used for human body. The harp may be broken and may become silent, but its
unseen player or musician never dies. Like-wise human body may die, but its
soul or spirit is immortal. Similarly, the tree also represents the human body.
The tree may fall and die but the bird continue to sing and it never dies.
About the poet Aurobindo Ghose (1872-1950)
•
He was an Indian philosopher, yogi, guru, poet, and nationalist.
•
In 1910, he fled British India and shifted to Pondicherry, where he devoted
himself to spiritual pursuits.
•
There he wrote several plays, poems, books on philosophy. Life Divine, an
excellent philosophical work, is his magnum opus.
Summary of the poem
•
The poet presents a spiritual view of life in this poem. The poet has tried to
conclude whether physical death of a person is the end of life or not. The poet
thoughtfully says that physical death is not the end of life because the soul
or spirit is immortal and divine.
•
When a man dies, his body is buried in a grave or is cremated or soon
forgotten. But the poet says that divine spark in human soul never comes to an
end. It passes from one body to another. It is poet’s firm belief that the body
may die but the spirit is immortal. The divine spirit in human body appears in
different forms. The human spirit advances towards God and a process of
spiritual evolution is always in progress in the world. So the poet conveys the
message through this poem that physical death is not the end of life, as human
soul or spirit goes on living forever.
Poem – Is This The End?
Is
this the end of all that we have been,
And
all we did or dreamed,
A
name unremembered and a form undone,
Is
this the end? (4)
A
body rotting under a slab of stone
Or
turned to ash in fire,
A
mind dissolved, lost its forgotten thoughts,
Is
this the end? (8)
Our
little hours that were and are no more,
Our
passions once so high
Being
mocked by the still earth and calm sunshine,
Is
this the end? (12)
Our
yearnings for the human Godward climb
Passing
to other hearts
Deceived,
while smiles towards death and hell the world,
Is
this the end? (16)
Fallen
is the harp, shattered it lies and mute;
Is
the unseen player dead?
Because
the tree is felled where the bird sang,
Must
the song too hush? (20)
One
in the mind who planned and willed and thought.
Worked
to reshape earth’s fate,
One
in the heart who loved and yearned and hoped.
Does
he too end? (24)
The
immortal in the mortal is his Name;
An
artist Godhead here
Ever
remoulds in dimmer shapes,
Unwilling
to case (28)
Till
all is done for which the stars were made,
Till
the heart discovers God
And
the soul knows itself. And even then
There
is no end. (32)
Reference to context: These
lines have been taken from the poem – ‘Is This The End?’ written by the poet
Aurobindo Ghose. This poem is of philosophical nature. It conveys the idea that
human body is mortal where as human soul is immortal and divine.
Explanation Line (1 to 8)
In
these lines, the poet raises a question whether the death is the end of life.
After death a person is buried or cremated and soon he is forgotten. If the
dead body is buried, it gets rotten under a slab of stone and if it is cremated
it turns into ashes in fire. But the poet says that this is not the end of
life, it is only the end of body, where as human soul is immortal and goes on
living forever.
Explanation Line (9 to 16)
In
these lines, the poet laments that a man’s life in this world is short-lived.
There was a time when he had high desires and ambitions. But now, after his
death, he has become an object of fun. Even the still earth and calm sunshine
laugh at his fate. The poet is confused if it is the way the human life should
come to an end. The human spirit desire to attain Godhood and became one with
divinity, but the failure of our spiritual longings deceive us and kept us
trapped in the minor things of life. The poet suggests that death cannot crush
the spiritual longings. Man dies physically but his desires are immortal. They
live even after his death. Death becomes an object of laughter for them.
Explanation Line (17 to 24)
In
these lines the poet has made beautiful comparisons. The human body has been
compared to a musical instrument, which is played with fingers, whereas the
soul is compared to unseen player of the harp. The harp may die but the player
goes on living forever. Then the human is compared to a tree and the soul to
the bird that sings in the tree. The tree may fall and die, but the song does
not die. Similarly, when the body of a man dies his spirit goes on living in another
body, as man’s spirit is immortal and enlightened by divine light.
Explanation Line (25 to 32)
In
these lines the poet points out that there is immortal divine spirit in this
mortal human body. God works like a great artist and the divine spirit appears
in different shapes and forms. The divine spirit never ceases till it discovers
God and comes to know it’s own reality. Even, after this man’s spirit goes on
living and there is no end to it’s life.
Central idea of the poem
•
The poet raises a very important question in this poem whether physical death
is the end of life or not. Generally, death is considered the end of life,
which is not the reality. It is only the end of body, not soul or spirit. Human
soul is immortal and divine, which never comes to an end. So, death is not the
end of life. It means the process of evolution is not to stop at intellectual
level. It has to continue further till man reaches the stage of divine bliss –
param ananda