Hello Friends...

Sure, we all are doing well... Be careful, we must stay fit and shouldn't fall ill getting our studies affected. We shall eat and drink healthy, exercise regularly, and won't avoid our domestic and social responsibilities. And whatever time we get for ourselves at the end of the day, we must study hard for most of the time, so that we learn to think... and learn. We simply cannot afford to stop thinking, for we are learners, and we are the chosen ones who got the scope to learn...

Let's learn to think first...

Here we meet together to read a poem by Emily Bronte. It's quite a short poem as you can see for yourself below. I am quite sure that most of us have already heard of Emily Bronte being the great novelists who wrote Wuthering Heights. Yes, that's how common readers know Emily. However, it's not that many, who are not particularly students of literature, know about her poetic skills. Let's get introduced to Emily as a poet here now, if we haven't got the chance yet...

Learning Objectives:

To practise and improve our global reading comprehension skill, that is, our ability to understand the broad meaning of a text
To practise and improve our intensive reading skill, that is, our ability to understand the intricate meanings of a text
To be able to identify noun phrases in general, even if they are not following the usual pattern
To be able use describing words and phrases that we learn here when we speak or write on our own
To be able to identify the rhyme scheme of the poem that we get to read next
To be able to consolidate our understanding of poetic devices like personification, alliteration, anaphora etc.
To be able to appreciate personal poems overall

How about listening to the poem for a quick start? We all know that poems are not just meant to be read but to be listened to as well...

Mild the Mist upon the Hill

Emily Bronte

Mild the mist upon the hill,

Telling not of storms tomorrow;

No; the day has wept its fill,

Spent its store of silent sorrow.

0h, I'm gone back to the days of youth,

I am a child once more;

And 'neath my father's sheltering roof,

And near the old hall door.

I watch this cloudy evening fall,

After a day of rain:

Blue mists, sweet mist of summer pall

The horizon's mountain-chain.

The damp stands in the long, green grass

As thick as morning's tears;

And dreamy scents of fragrance pass

That breathe of other years.

Now that you have already listened to and have read the poem on your own, it's time for us to read it together and share our own thoughts about the poem -

The Title

The Meaning

Mild the Mist upon the Hill - What is your interpretation of the title of the poem? Is the poem all about some particular hill covered with mist? Is it just a poem contemplating the beauty of nature? Or do you feel that the title might refer to some associated meaning as well?

Alliteration

Would you care to read the title once again, this time being loud? How do you find the effect of the alliteration in the title, the way we have the sound of the word initial 'm' followed by vowel sounds being repeated? Would you like to agree with me if I say that it creates the effect of a mellow note?

Do you find any other significant alliteration in the title? How do they add to the mood and the meaning of the poem?

The Inverted Structure

By the way, don't you feel that the inverted structure of the phrase Mild the Mist also adds to the soft mellow tone? In a noun phrase, if we follow the convention, we begin with the determiners (here we have the article the) followed by the adjective (Mild), which is again followed by the head noun (Mist). But here we have the inverted Mild the Mist instead of the conventional 'the mild mist'. Why don't you read out the two phrases aloud to yourself to find out the difference the inversion makes? Which one sounds mellower to you?

Shall we begin reading the poem now to see how the title actually leads us to the meaning of the poem?

The First Stanza

Mild the mist upon the hill,

Telling not of storms tomorrow;

No; the day has wept its fill,

Spent its store of silent sorrow.

The First Two Lines

The first two lines of the stanza describes the mist in various ways. The word 'Mild' refers to the intensity of the mist, the phrase 'upon the hill' refers to its location, and the whole of the second line (structurally a present participle adjective phrase) refers to the significance of the mist,- that it does not indicate a future storm.

The Last Two Lines

The explanation follows in the last two lines. It has rained plenty today, dissolving all the cloud in the sky that could have made another rain possible the next day. Right? So, all that is left in the sky is some 'mild' mist upon the distant hill. That is not sufficient to make a downpour possible. Simple, right?

The Personification

But, isn't the way 'the day' has been personified quite elaborate? It's not only that we have the action of weeping being referred to in here, but also its intensity. The day has wept its fill- it has wept its heart out. Is it not worthy to note how the words fill and store refers to some internal storage like heart where we believe our emotions are stored?

Silent Sorrow

The day has wept intensively, spending all of its pent up feelings. By the way, have you noted the phrase silent sorrow? Have you ever associated any auditory feeling with sorrow? Normally we don't, right? What adjective comes to your mind first when you think of describing sorrow? For me, it is 'deep'. See if the adjectives you think of are actually adjectives indicating intensity or not. Usually we don't associate auditory perceptions when it comes to sorrow just as we don't think of adjectives of colour when we think of sorrow, right? We neither tend to realise sorrow as yellow or blue, nor loud or feeble normally. Then why do you think we have the adjective silent here?

Would you agree if I say that it might indicate the loneliness of the person who is sad and weeping his/her heart out, that s/he has nobody to console him/her? [We also need to note that the day is weeping, which is itself a silent action in comparison to crying.] Literally, the meaning is simple. It has been raining throughout the day without lighting or thunder striking. But, do you feel that it might also indicate the feelings of loneliness and sorrow? Do you sense some sort of subjective feeling trying to find its voice in the poem?

Shall we move on to the next stanza now to find out the answers to our question?

The Second Stanza

Oh, I'm gone back to the days of youth,

I am a child once more;

And 'neath my father's sheltering roof,

And near the old hall door.

Personal Elements

So, certainly it was some sort of personal, or subjective feeling trying to find its voice in the first stanza. Doesn't the use of the personal pronouns like I and my in the second stanza make it evident enough?

Choice of Expressions

Have you noticed how the use of the interjection Oh at the very beginning of the stanza heightens the intensity of nostalgia here? Why don't you make a list of all the words and phrases used in this stanza that actually help to build up the mood?

The Speaker

Let's read the stanza once again on our own. Do you realise that the speaker is very likely to be a matured adult at the moment? Note how how s/he cherishes the feelings to be back to her youthful days at her father's where she used to be a little child.

Anaphora

Have you noticed how the last two lines of the stanza begin? Yes, both the lines begin with the conjunct And. Do you find how the speaker just goes on remembering the old memories one after the other, adding on and on, thus emphasising the whole process of reminiscence? That's the effect created through the device anaphora, where consecutive phrases or clauses begin with the same word or phrase.

Sheltering Roof

Now, if our dreams are nothing but the reflections of our desires, can we safely say that the speaker here longs for a sense of security and safety that s/he was provided with when s/he used to be a child? Let us take care so that we do not overlook the use of the phrase sheltering roof in the stanza.

Noun Phrases

Would you mind a little grammatical exercise here? Earlier, I've reminded you that usually we structure noun phrases with determiners (do not forget, like the articles, possessive markers are also determiners) at the beginning, followed by adjectives which are again followed by the head noun itself. Why don't you find out if we have any noun phrase here in this stanza structured as discussed above? You are always free to consult me if you have a confusion down in the comment box below.

Use of Shortened Form

'neath is just the shortened version of 'beneath', I'm sure I don't need to explain. But do you know why here the poet has chosen to use the shortened form instead of the entire word itself? It's simple. The word beneath is disyllabic whereas it's shortened form is monosyllabic. The disyllabic pronunciation of the word here would have turned the reading of the line out of rhythm whereas the monosyllabic pronunciation follows the rhythm of the poem. So actually this is a poetic manipulation of the word done for metrical reasons. You need to read the stanza with both the variations to find out the difference it creates.

However, I wonder what might have triggered the poet persona to feel so intensely nostalgic here. Do you have any explanation?

The Third Stanza

I watch this cloudy evening fall,

After a day of rain:

Blue mists, sweet mist of summer pall

The horizon's mountain-chain.

Real Time

Do you notice the return of the speaker to the real time again from the time travel referred to in the second stanza? Here s/he is watching and contemplating the beauty of nature. It is turning to evening now after a whole day of rain. Still, the evening seems to be cloudy. [Do you remember that earlier in the first stanza, we had the impression that the sky has perhaps turned out to be more clear after the rain? Well, I am afraid that we need to reconsider our impression now.] The speaker is looking at the mountain chain in the horizon. S/he is watching the mist upon the mountains. The mist at the distance seems to be blue upon the mountains in the dusk of the summer evening. The setting creates a perfect mood for contemplation, right?

Choice of Expression

However, here I would like to discuss the word pall a little bit before we move onto the last stanza. The word when used as a noun generally means the covering of a coffin. It might as well refer to cloud, or a layer of dust, or a state of melancholy and boredom. When used as a verb, it refers to the act of covering something with something dark and heavy. In this stanza, the word has been used as a noun and means cloud. But, can we just rule out the possibility of the word carrying some deep sense of loss and gloom that follows the happy nostalgia moments? Don't you find the word carrying multiple meanings in this context?

Noun Phrase

Before we move on to the final stanza would you like to analyse the structure of the noun phrase 'this cloudy evening'? Have I told you that the demonstrative pronouns are also determiners?

The Fourth Stanza

The damp stands in the long, green grass

As thick as morning's tears;

And dreamy scents of fragrance pass

That breathe of other years.

Reflection of Mind in the Nature

Can we really say that it is only the beauty of nature that the poet is trying to focus upon? Does the wetness, the moisture, the damp stand out thick in the long green grass only? Why do here we have the association of morning's tears then?

Have you ever experienced any of those mornings when you wake up after a sad dream? Even if your dreams are about some happy past moments, the moment you wake up, you realise that those happy moments are long gone and you start feeling sad, right? And you start feeling as if those happy past moments were perceived only through dreams and had never been a part of the reality. And that dream like sensation make us feel that the other past moments are breathing more memory into us. Do you agree?

Let us consider the phrase scents of fragrance. Have you ever come across such an expression anywhere earlier? The words 'scent' and 'fragrance' are quite synonymous. We all know it, right? But note how this uncommon repetitive sequence of synonymous words along with the preceding adjective dreamy indicates a vagueness which is the very essence of sweet memories that are long past.

The Structure

Well, it is quite a brief poem, right? Yes, it is a poem consisting of four stanzas which again consists of four lines each, rhyming alternately.

Let us attempt to get the rhyme scheme of this poem. We usually denote a particular pattern of pronunciation by a letter of the English alphabets. To get the rhyme scheme of a poem, we deal with the line end words, actually the syllable/s. We start with the pronunciation pattern of the first line end word as 'a', and move on. Whenever we find a repetition in the pattern of pronunciation, we make it sure that we denote it with the same letter as earlier. Thus, the rhyme scheme of this poem would be: abab cdcd efef ghgh. Don't hesitate to ask me if you have a doubt in this regard.

Together, these lines with the dominating soft nasals [m, n, ng], liquids [l], and sibilants [s] create the soft, sad note of the poem when read appropriately. You might very well get back to the link earlier to listen to the poem being read out once again, if you need it.

Concuding Note And Further Reading

What do you think might be the most appropriate theme of the poem now? Is this just a contemplation of the beauty of nature? Or is this more a contemplation of one's own life? How would you like to conclude?

I myself would certainly go for the second option. Here we have the description of a particular cloudy evening that ignites memory and nostalgia. And I feel that the effect of the evening is certainly more important than the evening itself here. Now if you choose to read more poems composed by Emily, you might very well agree that it was actually her style to refer to her own personal feelings taking a cue from the nature and natural images around. Don't we now feel that images like the mist upon the hills, the cloudy evening, or, the damp in the grass actually reflect the state of mind of the poet here in this poem? You may at least read Fall Leaves Fall, a very brief poem composed by her before you move on to get what I'm trying to say.

Now I hope you won't disagree that here in this poem, as the poet dives deep down her memory lane, she starts contemplating her own life within just as she contemplates the beauty of the distant misty hills without. I am also sure that you would agree to the fact that sometimes our environment triggers our subjective feelings and sentiments as well. Nowadays, scientist are of the opinion that cloudy evenings, due to the lack of light, effect our serotonin level, and cause us suffer from melancholia, or a mild depression, or a sad, lost feeling. Do you think Emily might have suffered from a temporary phase of depression on that particular evening?

Before we conclude for the time being, I would like you to appreciate a wonderful musical rendering of the poem that we have been reading together for so long. I would be happy if you let me know what you think about using the second stanza of the poem as the recurrent refrain in the song.

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