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Every Morning I Wake by Dylan Thomas
Summary | Exercise (Questions & Answers)
Compulsory English Class 12
Neb English Notes
Every Morning I Wake by Dylan Thomas
MAIN SUMMARY
Every Morning I Wake by Dylan Thomas
This religious poem "Every Morning I Wake" is a poem of prayer to God, composed by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.
This poem was extracted from a 1954 radio drama named "Under the Milk Wood." The speaker of the poem is the poet Dylan Thomas himself.
This poem is about the speaker's deep prayer to the magnificent God to have mercy on ordinary inhabitants who are living under the Milk Wood.
This poem has presented the glorification and magnificence of the almighty God. The speaker seems to be quite devoted to the magnificent God. He knows very well about God's grandeur.
This poem has been divided into four different stanzas. Each stanza has four rhyming lines (quatrains) with the AABB-CCDD rhyming scheme in it.
In four different stanzas, we find the speaker praying to God with his different four wishes.
In the very first stanza, the speaker prays for God's loving eyes (mercy) on all the poor creatures (humans who are born to die or live temporarily) here on this planet. He wishes for God's pity as well as compassion for all the people. (morning till evening). Every morning, when the speaker wakes up, he devotes his time to the name of the almighty God and makes a little prayer to God for the welfare of all the poor creatures under the Milk Wood, asking the almighty Lord to keep his loving eyes on all these poor temporary creatures who are born on this planet just for a limited time. He makes an appeal to God for his compassion for all creatures until their final day (death).
In the second stanza, the speaker again wishes and prays for God's protection for the entire town and its people. (whole night). The speaker expresses his demand for the blessings of God and asks God for the protection of all the town's residents. He seems quite unsure about life after sleeping at night. According to him, he is unsure whether the night is the final night for all or whether they will see the next sunrise. The speaker believes that God is omnipotent and protects all the creatures on this planet every time.
In the third stanza, he again prays for God's fair judgement. He has a belief that God is the one who has the first and finest judgement on all the people living under the Milk Wood. The speaker here puts forward the idea of the finest judgement of the almighty God. He believes that God is omniscient (knowing all) and knows perfectly about his children. God is the first wise power who sees the best as well as the positive aspects of all his children, ignoring the worst aspects. His judgement is full of positivity and the most favourable for all the people on this planet.
In the fourth stanza, the speaker prays for God's gift to all his children. He prays and asks God to give them a glorious chance to see the next day after sunset and night. Here, he has presented his deep prayer for the safety of the people during the night. According to him, people's saying goodbye to the setting sun in the west is a temporary greeting to the sun. This shows the optimism of the people to see the glorious sunrise that begins the next day, by the grace of God.
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POEMS IMPORTANT QUESTIONS' SOLUTION PACK
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Every Morning I Wake by Dylan Thomas
BEFORE READING
Answer the following questions:
a. Why do people offer prayers to God?
Answer:
People offer prayers to God to fulfil their variety of wishes. For them, God is magnificent.
b. What do you feel when you visit the mosque, temple, or church? Why do you feel so?
Answer:
I feel extremely happy when I visit the temple. I feel so because I love the religious environment of the temple, where I always get the peace that pleases my heart and mind.
MAIN POINTS TO REMEMBER
▪︎ "Every Morning I Wake" is a poem of prayer to God, composed by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.
▪︎ It was extracted from a 1954 radio drama named "Under the Milk Wood.".
▪︎ The poet is Dylan Thomas himself.
▪︎ About the poem: The speaker's deep prayer to the magnificent God to have mercy on ordinary inhabitants living under the Milk Wood.
The poem presents the glorification and magnificence of God. The speaker is quite devoted to the magnificent God. He knows about God's grandeur.
A poem has four different stanzas. Every stanza has four rhyming lines (quatrains) with the AABB-CCDD rhyming scheme.
▪︎ In four stanzas, we find the speaker praying to God with four different wishes.
▪︎ Stanza first: The speaker prays for God's loving eyes (mercy) on all the poor creatures (humans who are born to die temporarily) of this planet. He wishes for God's compassion for all the people. (morning till evening). Every morning when the speaker wakes up, he makes a little prayer to God for the welfare of all the poor creatures under the Milk Wood, asking the almighty lord to keep his loving eyes on all the poor temporary creatures who are born on this planet just for a certain time. He makes an appeal to God for his compassion for all creatures until their final day.
Stanza second: He prays for God's protection for all of the town and its people. (whole night). The speaker expresses his demand for a blessing, and he asks God for the protection of all the town's residents. He seems unsure about life after sleeping at night. According to him, he is unsure whether the night is the final night or if they will see the next sunrise. For the speaker, God is omnipotent and protects all the creatures on this planet.
▪︎ Third stanza: He prays for God's judgement. He has a belief that God has the first and finest judgement on all the people living under the Milk Wood. The speaker here puts forward the concept of the finest judgement of the almighty God. For him, God is omniscient (knowing all) and knows perfectly about his children. God is the first to see the best as well as the positive aspects of all his children, ignoring the worst aspects. His judgement is full of positivity and favourable for all the people of this planet.
▪︎ Stanza 4: He prays for God's gift. He prays to God to give them a glorious chance to see the next day after sunset and night. Here, he has presented his deep prayer for the people's safety during the night. People's Goodbye to the Setting Sun in the stanza is a temporary greeting of the people to the sun. This has shown the optimism of the people to see the glorious beginning the next day, by the grace of God.
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
Answer the following questions:
a. When does the speaker pray to the Lord?
Answer:
The speaker prays to the Lord in both the morning and evening.
b. What does the speaker pray for?
Answer:
The speaker prays for various things, which are as follows:
▪︎ To have God's loving eyes on all poor creatures (born to die) living under Milk Wood.
▪︎ To have God's blessing on the town and its residents' nights and sleep.
▪︎ To have God's judgement on the best side of people under the Milk Wood, ignoring the worst aspects.
▪︎ To have God's blessing to spend the night and see the glorious next day.
Answer in short:
The speaker prays to God for the welfare of all the residents who are living under Milk Wood.
c. Who are the ‘poor creatures’? Why does the speaker call them ‘poor creatures’?
Answer:
The 'poor creatures' are all the living creatures, especially the inhabitants of the town living under Milk Wood. The speaker calls them 'poor creatures' because he knows that all these living creatures, including him under the Milk Wood, have temporary lives and are born to die.
d. What does Milk Wood sound like? A type of wood or a place? Why?
Answer:
Milk Wood sounds like the name of quite a lovely place, along with wood. The term 'Milk Wood' must be the name of the place because there is no use of an article (a, an, or the) before this noun. In the case of wood, there must be the use of an article either ‘a’, 'an', or ‘the’, according to grammatical rules. Thus, it's not the name of the wood.
e. Why do the inhabitants of Milk Wood bow to the setting sun ‘but just for now’?
Answer:
The inhabitants of Milk Wood bow to the setting sun 'but just for now' because they have deep faith in God's magnificence. They greet the setting sun temporarily to end their evening prayers, optimistic to see the glorious morning after their safe night.
REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT
a. Discuss “Every Morning When I Wake” as a prayer to God.
Answer:
The poem “Every Morning When I Wake” is a prayer to God. This poem was composed by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. This poem is full of prayers. Here, the main speaker, Dylan Thomas, has been seen making prayers to the magnificent God from beginning to end for the welfare of his town and its people.
This poem has presented the glorification and magnificence of God. Here, God has been presented with different qualities. For example: omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent.
Here, we find the speaker quite devoted to the magnificent God. He seems aware of God's grandeur.
There are altogether four different stanzas here in this poem where we can find prayers of the speaker for the welfare of all the temporarily living poor creatures under Milk Wood. Each stanza contains the prayers of the speaker to God, with different wishes for the inhabitants of Milk Wood.
1. He prays for God's loving eyes, i.e., mercy, on all the poor creatures of this planet. In other words, he prays for God's compassion for all the people. (morning until evening)
2. He prays for God's protection for all of the town and its people. (whole night)
3. He prays for God's judgement. He believes that God has the first and finest judgement. He prays to have God's judgement on the best sides of all the people living under the Milk Wood.
4. He prays for God's gift. He prays to God to give them a glorious chance to see the next day after sunset and night.
Answer in short:
This poem is a prayer to God. This poem is full of prayers that have been made by the speaker for all the inhabitants living under Milk Wood. We hear the speaker's prayers from the first stanza to the last. He keeps on praying to God for his people's welfare, their lives, sleep, positive aspects, opportunities to see the next day, etc.
b. Why does the speaker make a prayer to God, but not to a king, a billionaire or a scientist?
Answer:
The speaker makes a prayer to God, but not to a king, a billionaire, or a scientist because he knows the grandeur of almighty God. His devotion to God is so deep, and he has a good understanding of God and his creations. He has referred to all living beings as poor creatures on this planet. According to him, all these creatures have been living their temporary lives here on this planet. They are destined to die, and they will certainly leave this beautiful planet one day. As a devotee of God, the speaker keeps on praying for the welfare of all these creatures of God. All these individuals, such as a king, a billionaire, or a scientist, are also in the category of living creatures, whereas God is the creator of this entire universe. The speaker knows very well about these differences between the almighty God and the creatures of this planet. He believes more in God than in creatures. His faith in God is so deep and beyond that of any other natural being.
c. How does the poet highlight the magnificence of God?
Answer:
The poet highlights the magnificence of God in the following ways:
1. He has presented God as the source of love and compassion for all living creatures. All these creatures depend on God and survive due to God's grace.
2. He has presented God as the protector who has the power to protect all the creatures, no matter day or night. God is the only caretaker of all the living beings on this planet.
3. He has presented God as the first source of knowledge who has the finest ability to judge the positive aspects of all his children.
4. He has presented God as the source of tremendous changes on this planet. It is only God who brings tremendous changes all the time and allows his children to see and enjoy these changes.
d. How does the rhyme scheme of the poem reinforce its message?
Answer:
The rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other.
The poem "Every Morning I Wake" by Dylan Thomas is a prayer to God. This poem is quite lyrical due to its rhythmic tone. There are altogether four different stanzas here in this poem. Each line of the stanza rhymes with the second line. Here we find the rhyme scheme of AABB CCDD EEFF GGFF.
This rhyme scheme has made this poem so rhythmic. This poem sounds so good due to its rhyme schemes. This rhyme scheme of this poem reinforces its message regarding the almighty Lord and his magnificence.
The rhyme scheme in the poem stresses much on those words that have a connection to the speaker's prayers to God. The readers of this poem find it easy to grasp the main message regarding the speaker's prayers for all the poor creatures living under Milk Wood and God's grandeur. This poem's easy rhyming scheme has made it simple to grasp its meaning regarding the poet's prayers and God's magnificence.
REFERENCE BEYOND THE TEXT
a. Does God exist? Give your opinion.
Answer:
This is a quite controversial question and a matter of debate from ancient times. The term 'God' refers to a deity or supreme being-a supernatural, typically immortal, being with superior powers-to which personhood is attributed.
I believe in God, but I don't have any idea about God's existence. I think the above-mentioned definition of God is the worldwide accepted definition. Most people in this world believe in God and his existence. So do I. But no one has seen the real form of God in this world. People similarly believe in God, as per the above-mentioned definition. The concept of God is culturally connected with people. From childhood, people are orally taught as well as transmitted information regarding God and his magnificence, showing God's pictures as well as idols. From birth to death, people are connected with religious aspects as well as the concept of God. Most people have deep faith in God, though they don't see his real form. So, there is a question mark in God's existence. But the power through which the entire universe is regulating itself is an amazing aspect for all. The tremendous changes in nature every time make people believe in the existence of a superpower on this planet. People have deep faith in the goodness of this unknown power. They attribute this unknown power to God.
b. In his Epistle to the author of the book, The Three Impostors (1768), Voltaire says, “Even if the God didn’t exist, it would be necessary to invent him.” Write an essay highlighting the importance of God in the society.
Answer:
Importance of the God in the Society
The term 'God' is quite sacred and refers to a deity or Supreme Being, a supernatural, typically immortal, being with superior powers, to which personhood is attributed.
Humans have been debating the term 'God' and his existence for ages. Its main reason is that human beings have never seen God's real form in front of their eyes. They are connected with the almighty God through reading as well as understanding various religious books. They get connected with the concept of God through their deep faith. In this entire world, most people pray for their welfare in front of God's idols, pictures, religious books, etc. The concept of God, as well as religion, has diverted all the people towards deep faith. This faith has also brought upheavals among people.
The importance of God in society is so high. Today, most societies depend on the concept of God. People in societies have deep faith in religion and God. Every society and its people have built sacred places in their society to worship God. We find temples, churches, etc. in every society. People are religiously connected in the name of God. There is always God's first rank and his importance among people and societies.
The concept of God is quite essential for every society. This concept unites all human beings. The concept of religion, as well as God, always teaches humans about moral and righteous values. These concepts have been created for the welfare of humanity. In the present time, every society needs God for various reasons. God is important to people and societies. Following are some examples of the importance of God in society:
▪︎ The concept of God always makes humans choose righteous paths.
▪︎ God's concept teaches people various norms and values in their lives.
▪︎ God's concept always prevents humans from doing bad deeds in society.
▪ God, as well as religion, is always with humans from birth until death.
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