2.1 Song of the Open Road

       2.1 Song of the open Road

New words and their meanings

1.Afoot- going on foot, walking on a foot
2.Light hearted – joyful / glad / Cheerful
3. brown path- bare land
4. postpone- to stop for few days
5. suffice- enough, adequate, sufficient
6. delicious burdens(here)- sweet memories of the 
                                             past
7. whimper - low voice of cry or agony, unhappiness,
                     sadness
8. querulous - argumentative, complaining
9. Content - Satisfied
10. constellations - Here it means group of famous and
       influential people, collection, gathering of people
11. take to – begin
12. delicious – Pleasing

13. Swear – to take an oath   

🙋‍♂️🙋‍♂️🙋‍♂️🙋‍♂️🙋‍♂️🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️🙋‍♂️🙋‍♂️🙋‍♂️🙋‍♂️

          

          BRAINSTORMING 

(A1) (i)   Pick out the lines showing that the poet is prepared                                 
              to enjoy every moment of his journey.

-         Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,
-         The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.
-         Strong and content I travel the open road.
-    Henceforth I whimper no more, Postpone no more

 (ii)  By ‘old delicious burdens’ the poet means-
(a)         the luggage
(b)                   the food he carries
(c)         the stress he bears during the travels
(d)                   sweet memories of the past
-         (d) sweet memories of the past
(iii) The poet is a person who is free from all inhibition. Discuss how the concept of ‘freedom’ is expressed in the poem.
-         Whitman exalts the carefree pleasures of traveling, encouraging others to break free from their stifling domestic attachments to join him. He describes himself as being “free,” and he realizes he is the only person who is in complete control of his life; he chooses his own destiny. Because of this realization, he does not have to wish or hope or pray for good fortune. The journeyer is “free” for he is done with the routines, customs, and safe behaviors of his previous life



(A2)   (i) Following are the activities of the poet related to his   
               journey on the road.
              Divide them into two parts as ‘activities the poet will   
             practice’ and ‘activities he will not practice’.
           
(a) Walking along the road though he does not know   
 where it reaches
(b)         Complaining about the discomforts during the journey
(c)      Postponing the journey
(d)         Praying for good fortune
(e)    Carrying the fond memories of the good people
(f)       Creating contacts with famous and influential people
(g)     Striving to achieve high and bright success
(h)         Reflecting and developing his own ‘self’

Activities the Poet will Practice  Activities he will not Practice
a) Walking along the road though he does not know    where it reaches (b)        Complaining about the discomforts during the journey

e) Carrying fond memories of good people (c)  Postponing the journey

   (g)  Striving to achieve high
         and bright success
(d)     Praying for good fortune
  (h)   Reflecting and developing
       his own ‘self’
(f)    Creating contacts with famous and influential people


(ii)  Write down the traits the poet exhibit through following lines. One is done for you.
(a) Henceforth, I ask for no good fortune- I myself am good fortune:
-         Self-confident
(b)                 Henceforth, I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing-
-         Confidence /encouragement
(c)   I do not want the constellations any nearer-
-         Fearlessness/self-trust/satisfaction/self-respect
(d)                 I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them-
-         Optimistic/acceptance
(e) I am filled with them- I will fill them in return-
-         Will power/optimism


   (iii) ‘Healthy, free, the world before me.’
              Express your views regarding the above line.
-         The poet is on the journey of his life. He says that there is no tension for making his journey happy. Additionally, the poet recognizes that it is he who is in control of his journey. The world before him is democratic, healthy and liberal. He will choose where the path will take him on his journey for his self development.



(A3) The poet has used many describing words such as ‘healthy’ in this poem.
         Make a list and classify them as-
(a)  For the world   -          free, healthy, sufficient,
(b)    For himself   -  light-hearted, good-fortune, whimper, strong, content
(c)   For the road     -         free, long brown path

(A4)
i)
       The expression contains opposite ideas that make it seem absurd or unlikely, although it may be true. This called Paradox
Paradox is a statement that Seems impossible because it contains two opposite ideas or facts but it makes a good sense eg. I carry my old delicious burdens ( Burdens cannot be delicious. Poets heart is full of sweet memories of good people but he wants to be free from any attachment.



(ii) The road in the poem does not mean only the road to travel. The poet wants to suggest the road of life.
              Explain the metaphor with the help of the poem.
-         Open Road” symbolizes freedom and opportunity. The poet wants to suggest the road of life means the freedom and opportunity. There are so many opportunities in our life we have to take those opportunities and build our life. There are so many ways/ roads in front of you.  In this poem Whitman celebrates the out-of-doors, and the road in particular, as a space where men can come together in a meaningful way, where status and social markers matter less. A road is something everyone uses, whether they are rich or poor, and it forces all levels of people to associate with one another. The road, furthermore, signifies mobility: one can take the road to somewhere new. For Whitman, too, the road is a space for gathering the material for poetry. As he travels along it, he sees a variety of people and places, and hears a plethora of stories. He argues against staying in one place for too long, although the hospitality may be a lure, for only the tests of the open road will do.





 iii)  Free verse –verse means a poem. Free verse does not have rhyme scheme/ rhythm. It doos not have any set rules. This technique is commonly used in modern poetry
  e.g poem Song of the open road is an example of free verse


 
 (iv) There are certain words that are repeated in the poem.
          For example, ‘no more’ (line 7)
          Find out other similar expressions. Explain the effect         
          they have created in the poem.
-         Good-fortune
-     i carry them
   
 (v)  The use of personal pronoun ‘I’ is evident and Prominent in this poem.  Give reasons.                                                       
-         Basically the Pronoun I is evident and prominent in this poem. Word has sense of universe. It stands for every individual, who wants to grow in his life without any hindrances on his way. The word should be healthy for every person and every person is denoted by pronoun I



Notes – Shri. Abhijit patil
MSG Jr. College Malegaon Camp