A walk by moonlight by Henry Derozio

Elective English CBSE Grade 12

1. A WALK BY MOONLIGHT- BY HENRY DEROZIO Henry Louis Vivian Derozio ,  (born April 18, 1809,  Calcutta;   died  Dec. 26, 1831, Calcutta), poet and assistant headmaster of Hindu College, Calcutta, a radical thinker and one of the first Indian educators to disseminate Western learning and science among the young men of Bengal. The son of an Indian father and an English mother, Derozio was influenced by the English Romantic poets. He began publishing patriotic verses when he was 17, which brought him to the attention of the intellectual elite of Calcutta. 

2. WHAT THOUGHTS COME TO YOUR MIND WHEN YOU THINK OF A MOONLIT NIGHT?

3. Last night — it was a lovely night, And I was very blest — Shall it not be for Memory A happy spot to rest? THE POET FEELS BLESSED BECAUSE WHEN HIS MIND IS ANXIOUS AND IS IN STATE OF TURMOIL, HE CAN PONDER ON HAPPY MOMENTS FROM HIS PAST

4. Yes; there are in the backward past   Soft hours to which we turn —  Hours which, at distance , mildly shine,  Shine on , but never burn .  memory Pleasant times Memories from distant past Like to ponder/contemplate about

5. And some of these but yesternight   Across my path were thrown,  Which made my heart so very light ,  I think it could have flown.  memories Previous night Flashed in his mind

6. I had been out to see a friend  With whom I others saw:  Like minds to like minds ever tend —  An universal law .  Drawn towards each other Like-minded people are bonded together

7. And when we were returning home,  "Come who will walk with me,  A little way", I said, and lo!  I straight was joined by three: 

8. Three whom I loved — two had high thoughts   And were, in age, my peers;  And one was young, but oh! endeared  As much as youth endears.  Cherished the most Profound/intellectual thoughts loved As young people are always lovable & are close to one’s heart

9. The moon stood silent in the sky,  And looked upon our earth:  The clouds divided, passing by,  In homage to her worth .  Looked powerful & majestic Peered through parted clouds Paid respect to the moon by not Obscuring her path

10. There was a dance among the leaves   Rejoicing at her power,  Who robes for them of silver weaves   Within one mystic hour.  Leaves swayed gently in the breeze celebrating colour WHEN THE MOON IS IN ITS ZENITH, IT SPREADS ITS DIVINE SILVERY LIGHT ON THE LEAVES & THEY LOOK MAGICAL

11. THE BEAUTY OF THE NIGHT TRANSFORMS THEIR THINKING & REVIVES THEIR HEARTS WHICH HAD BECOME NUMB & EMOTIONLESS. THE POET AND HIS FRIENDS WERE DEEPLY TOUCHED BY EVEN THE SMALLEST MOVEMENT OF NATURE & USES THEM METAPHORICALLY TO BRING OUT THE JOY & THE ENLIGHTENMENT THAT THEY RECEIVED IN THE LAP OF NATURE.

12. There was a song among the winds,  Hymning her influence —  That low-breathed minstrelsy which binds  The soul to thought intense . Singing in praise of strength of the moon Soft/gentle music musicians The music in the moonlight enables the soul to think intensely

13. And there was something in the night  That with its magic wound us;  For we — oh! we not only saw,  But felt the moonlight around us.  There is something magical in the night that binds them together in its spell And enchants them with its beauty. The poet turns philosophical.

14. How vague are all the mysteries  Which bind us to our earth;  How far they send into the heart  Their tones of holy mirth ;  unclear Divine joy Poet turns philosophical here. He believes that there is a mysterious relationship between man and nature. When we realize it nature fills our heart with divine joy

15. How lovely are the phantoms dim  Which bless that better sight,  That man enjoys when proud he stands  In his own spirit's light; Ghostly spirits ELEMENTS OF NATURE ASSUME THE FORM OF DIM SPIRITS. THESE BLESS MAN WHEN HE STANDS SPIRITUALLY CONNECTED WITH NATURE. HE FEELS PROUD OF THIS UNIQUENESS WHEN HE IS TOUCHED AND ENRICHED BY NATURE.

16. When, like a thing that is not ours.  This earthliness goes by,  And we behold the spiritualness   Of all that cannot die.  The scene brought about a mood which in turn made the poet’s mind alert and awake . Such a mind, the poet thinks, is a ‘light’ to itself. It perceives better and everything looks lovely . In such a state one apprehends the ‘ spiritualness ’ or the permanence of ‘all that cannot die ’ going beyond the ‘earthiness’ of the world of impermanent matter. 

17. 'Tis then we understand the voice  Which in the night-wind sings,  And feel the mystic melody  Played on the forest's strings. 

18. The silken language of the stars  Becomes the tongue we speak,  And then we read the sympathy  That pales the young moon's cheek.  WHEN WE ARE DIVINELY CONNECTED WITH THE UNIVERSAL SPIRIT OF NATURE, WE START SPEAKING THE SILKEN LANGUAGE OF THE STARS. WHEN WE FEEL THE DIVINE GLORY WITHIN US, WE BECOME HIGHLY SYMPATHETIC AND GLOW WITH DIVINITY. THIS MAKES THE YOUNG MOON’S LIGHT PALE INTO INSIGNIFICANCE.

19. The inward eye is open then  To glories, which in dreams  Visit the sleeper's couch, in robes  Woven of the rainbow's beams.  The poet then views nature – night wind, stars, the moon – not as inanimate but as full of life. When his ‘inward eye’ opens to glories that seem to appear only in dreams, he experiences heavenly bliss here on earth. It no more looks distant/ unreachable like the rainbow in the sky. Awakening of consciousness

20. I bless my nature that I am  Allied to all the bliss,  Which other worlds we're told afford,  But which I find in this.   It is said that such “bliss” (the happiness of getting connected to God through nature)is received only in “other worlds” (after Death/ world beyond this physical world). Derozio thanks Nature for receiving this illumination in this life itself.

21. My heart is bettered when I feel  That even this human heart  To all around is gently bound,  And forms of all a part;   His heart fills with happiness and is “bettered” when he feels that he is a part of Nature and Nature is a part of him. They are “gently bound”. 

22. That, cold and lifeless as they seem,  The flowers, the stars, the sky  Have more than common minds may deem  To stir our sympathy .  However lifeless and separated the flowers the stars and the sky seem , which ordinary minds may not understand, they too have their objectives . Nature has the purpose to “stir our sympathy ” and move our hearts.

23. Oh! in such moments can I crush  The grass beneath my feet?  Ah no; the grass has then a voice,  Its heart — I hear it beat. The poet reaches a climax in his experience which is expressed in the last stanza. In that moment of deep spiritual in sight and heightened sensitivity, the poet feels that he cannot ‘ crush’ the grass beneath his feet for he can ‘hear’ its heart ‘beat’.