Poems: A Day

These lines come from Emily Dickinson's poem "A Day", in which the poet describes how the sun rises. They belong to the sunrise part of the poem, just before the speaker turns to the sunset.

"The hills untied their bonnets" - As the morning light spreads, the mist or shadow that covered the hilltops lifts, as if the hills were untying their bonnets. This personification shows the hills awakening and uncovering themselves to greet the day.

"The bobolinks begun" - The bobolinks, small songbirds, start to sing. Their song announces that the morning has arrived and fills the scene with joy.

"Then I said softly to myself, / That must have been the sun!" - Having watched the sky colour, the hills uncover and the birds sing, the speaker quietly realises that all this was the work of the sun. She says it "softly" because she is filled with wonder, and the remark shows her childlike surprise at an ordinary miracle.

Significance: The lines show Dickinson's simple language, personification and sense of wonder. Nature's daily sunrise is presented as a gentle, magical event, and the speaker understands it only through its effects, not by seeing the sun itself.

In Emily Dickinson's "A Day", the poet describes the sunrise as a lively, gradual and colourful event, much like the joyful beginning of life, childhood.

• The sun rises "a Ribbon at a time", slowly and gently, as a child grows step by step.
• The sky is full of colour as the steeples "swam in Amethyst", and the news runs "like Squirrels", showing playful energy like that of children.
• The hills "untied their Bonnets" and the bobolinks begin to sing, giving a sense of freshness, innocence and joy.
• At the end, the setting sun is pictured as "little Yellow boys and girls" climbing a purple stile, until a "Dominie in Gray" leads the flock away. Here the sun and the day are directly compared to children at play.

Thus the poet treats the beauty of sunrise as the beauty of childhood: bright, innocent, playful and full of wonder, and like childhood, it passes all too quickly.

In Dylan Thomas's poem "Every Morning I Wake", the poet calls all living beings "poor creatures" when he prays to God. He calls them "poor" because they are mortal, "born to die", and are weak and helpless. They suffer, face dangers and need protection. So every morning the poet asks the Lord to keep His "lovely eye" on them, showing his pity, humility and concern for all living things.

I agree with the poet's impression of God's magnificence. In Every Morning I Wake, Dylan Thomas addresses God as the powerful and loving protector who watches over all mortal creatures, and he prays humbly for that care. The poem presents God as great, caring and worthy of reverence.

As for the existence of God, I believe God exists. The order and beauty of nature and the wonder of life suggest a creator behind them. Moreover, people everywhere turn to prayer in joy and sorrow, and this gives them hope and moral strength. Even if it cannot be proved scientifically, this faith guides people to live kindly and honestly.

These lines come from Ben Okri's poem 'The Awakening Age', which celebrates the dawn of a new, hopeful era for humanity. The poem was written in the context of the new millennium, when people across the world looked forward to a future free from the divisions and suffering of the past. The lines express the poet's optimism that a change in the way people think and see one another can bring about genuine progress.

"When perceptions are changed there's much to gain" — The poet believes that the root of most human conflict lies in narrow, prejudiced ways of looking at others. If people begin to see each other with fresh eyes — beyond race, nation, religion and status — the result will be immense benefit for all. A changed perception is thus the first step towards a changed world.

"A flowering of truth instead of pain" — Once perception changes, truth will blossom and flourish like a flower, replacing the pain caused by ignorance, hatred and division. The image of "flowering" suggests something beautiful, natural and life-giving, in contrast to the "pain" of the old, divided world.

"There's more to a people than their poverty" — The poet argues that a person or a community should not be judged only by material wealth or poverty. Poor people are often seen merely as victims of deprivation, but this is a limited and unjust view. Their true worth lies elsewhere.

"There's their work, wisdom and creativity" — These lines explain what that worth is. Even the poorest people possess dignity, skill, knowledge and imagination. Their labour, their inherited wisdom and their creative power are treasures that the world must recognise and respect. Poverty of the pocket does not mean poverty of the spirit.

In short, the lines convey the central message of the poem: true awakening lies in changing our perception of others, valuing human dignity over material condition, and recognising the richness of every people's work, wisdom and creativity.

The reference to "homeless children crying with hunger under the bat-bearing trees in Thamel" is significant because it sets the misery of the poor beside the glitter of a famous tourist district. Thamel stands for comfort, trade and pleasure, while the hungry, shelterless children stand for the society that ignores them. The bats and trees add a dark, lonely image of neglect.

It does have a relation with the poem "Soft Storm". The poem treats a quiet but powerful disturbance in society and in the speaker's mind, and the crying children are the kind of silent suffering that such a storm brings to the surface. Both show that behind the calm outward life there is pain and injustice that needs attention.

In my view, the reference works as a social criticism. It reminds readers that progress and tourism mean little if the weakest members of society remain hungry and homeless, and it calls for compassion and change.

The people who travel the meridian line are ordinary human beings who move across the world and cross its borders. They are travellers who connect cultures and nations. The poem uses them to show that all people share one world and a common humanity.

Yes, I agree that human beings are connected by hope.

People differ in language, place, wealth and belief, yet all of us wish for a better tomorrow. Hope is what makes a farmer sow seeds, a student work for an examination and a patient endure illness. It is a feeling that everyone shares, whatever their background.

The poem suggests that hope moves across borders and joins people who have never met. In troubled times it is also what brings communities together, because people unite to help one another and rebuild. When hope is shared, it grows stronger and gives courage to those who are weak.

Therefore I believe hope is a common thread of humanity. It joins us, inspires us to act together and keeps the world moving forward.

These lines come from Julia de Burgos's poem "I Was My Own Route", in which a woman speaker refuses to live as society expects and chooses her own path. In the stanza she looks back on her struggle to remain herself while others tried to shape her.

"And I was all in me as was life in me..." - The speaker says her whole self was contained in her, just as life itself was. She sees her identity as complete and her own, not something lent to her by others.

"I wanted to be like men wanted me to be: an attempt at life; a game of hide and seek with my being." - For a time she tried to fit the picture that men and society had drawn of a woman. But this was only an "attempt at life", a pretence. It was a game of hide and seek in which she hid her real being from the world and even from herself.

"But I was made of nows" - She belongs to the present moment and to honest feeling. She cannot live by fixed, inherited rules, and so she cannot keep playing a borrowed role.

"when the heralds announced me at the regal parade of the old guard" - The "old guard" stands for the traditional, male-dominated order. Its heralds announce her as one more obedient member of its grand parade, expecting her to march in line.

"the desire to follow men warped in me, and the homage was left waiting for me" - Her wish to follow and please men twisted and died inside her. The respect and obedience the old guard expected from her never came; the homage was "left waiting".

Taken together, the lines show the poet's rebellion against patriarchal expectations and her decision to make herself her own route, free and true to her own being.

During the sunset, the children, pictured as "little yellow boys and girls", were climbing a purple stile (a set of steps over a fence) all the while. When they reached the other side, a "dominie in gray" put up the evening bars and led the flock away. The poet thus uses playful children to describe the fading light of the setting sun.

The old guard grew desperate because the speaker would not follow the path they had laid out for women. As she refused to obey, and chose to be her own route, the traditional order saw its authority and control slipping away. Its expected homage and obedience were left waiting, and so it became anxious and desperate.

The poet prays to God alone because God is the almighty protector who watches over all living things. The creatures are "poor", mortal and born to die, so they cannot save themselves or one another. Only God has the power to keep His "lovely eye" on them and shield them from harm, which is why the poet addresses his prayer to Him.

In Dylan Thomas's poem, the poet presents God as great, powerful and loving. God's "lovely eye" is able to watch over every creature that is born to die, and His mercy and protection extend to all, so that everyone depends on Him. The poet's humble daily prayer shows his awe at God's greatness and his trust in His care.

The poet knows the sunrise better because she watched it closely and could describe it step by step, like a lively and colourful event. The sunset, however, is not so clear to her: "But how he set, I know not." Evening, like the end of life, is unknown and mysterious to the living, so she can only describe it through imagination and images, such as the children and the dominie in gray, and cannot speak from direct knowledge.

In "A Day", the signs of experience appear mainly in the sunset part of the poem.

• The sunset is seen with seriousness and restraint, in contrast to the playful sunrise.
• The "dominie in gray", a stern schoolmaster, puts up the evening bars and leads the flock away, which suggests order, authority and the end of play.
• The poet admits that she does not know how the sun set, showing awareness of the limits of knowledge and of the mystery of death.
• The change from bright colours (amethyst, yellow) to gray marks the passing from the innocence of childhood to the sober experience of ending.

The ironic tone of "Soft Storm" shows the harsh reality beneath a gentle surface. By calling something destructive "soft", the poet makes the reader notice that harm can come quietly, hidden behind calm or pleasant appearances. This sharpens the criticism, adds emotional force and makes the reader think about the real, damaging effects of what seems harmless.

Julia de Burgos feels crushed by a society that expects women to obey men and to follow a role fixed by tradition, and she wants to be free and to live as her own self. As the chief of a local government unit, I would work to remove these pressures in the following ways.

1. Equal opportunity in education and work: I would make sure every girl goes to school and that women get training, jobs and loans, so that they can stand on their own feet.
2. Awareness campaigns: I would run programmes in schools, wards and community groups that challenge old ideas such as "women must obey" and teach respect for women's choices.
3. Women's participation in decisions: I would place women in ward committees, user groups and planning bodies, so that their voices are heard and their ideas shape local policy.
4. Protection against violence and discrimination: I would set up a help desk and a complaint system for cases of domestic violence, child marriage, dowry and harassment, and see that offenders are punished.
5. Support and counselling: I would provide counselling and safe spaces where women can share their feelings and find help.

By doing these things, I would give women like Julia the freedom, respect and confidence to follow their own route.