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| The Rival Summary of the Poem by James Stephens |
The Rival Poem Summary By James Stephen
The poem The Rival beautifully presents the morning scene where the speaker listens to a beautiful song by a bird however he pretends not to listen to the song over the poem. The speaker listens to the melodious sound of the bird. The bird is singing sweetly upon the tree in the morning. At that time the dewdrops are seen on the lawn and the wind is blowing upon the lea. But the speaker doesn’t listen to the bird as it doesn’t sing for him. The speaker feels jealousy since he can sing as beautifully as the bird. Both the speaker and the bird are singing sweetly as if they are competing to praise the beauty of nature. So, they are competitors or rivals.
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About the Poem The Rivals
The poem 'The Rivals’ is about the description of one of the ugliest states of the human mind i.e. rivalry. People are the victim of this wrong emotion when they feel the circumstances are not in their favour. They feel for or against hundreds of things, based on: do they make much of me, make me important? People see someone else as good or not good depending on whether that person favours and praises them. The bird in the poem is charming; it is welcoming the world—the dew, the wind. But the speaker senses the bird is worthless to listen to, because it didn’t admire him: “For he didn’t sing to me.”
The Rivals poem beautifully despites the morning scene. Both the speaker and the bird are singing sweetly, about that the dew was in the lawn and the wind was on the lea. The speaker doesn't listen to the bird's song as he thinks that the song wasn't sung upon him. Both are singing the song melodiously as they are praising the beauty of nature. So they are the competitors or rivals of the poem
Who is the Writer of The Rivals?
James Stephens (1880- 1950), the writer of the poem The Rival, an Irish novelist and poet was born in Dublin and died in London. He is popular for his style of retelling Irish myths and fairy tales. His style of retelling is often comical and lyrical. His novel ‘the Crock of Gold’ has gained much popularity and has been translated into many languages. His last book ‘Kings and the Moon’ was also a volume of verse that was published in 1983. He was interested in socialism and wrote poems on different human emotions.
