The Frog AND The Nightingale

Project By – ARPIT KUMAR Class X E Roll No. 10 Submitted TO – ENGLISH TEACHER MRS NEEMAVATHI

INDEX Name And Title Submitted To and Project By Index About the poet Summary Critical analysis Charater Sketch – Frog Charater Sketch – Nightingale Important Words Values The End

THE POET Vikram Seth was born in Calcutta in 1952. He left India to study at Oxford His first novel, The Golden Gate, is written entirely in tetrameter sonnets, He won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize in 1986and the Sahitya Academy award in 1988.

Summary A Frog croaked all night in a bog, in an unpleasant voice One night a nightingale begin to sing in a melodious voice All the creatures in the bog cheered and clapped at her beautiful song Soon the nightingale become famous, and creatures from miles around came to hear her sing. The next night the frog introduced himself He offered to train the nightingale so she could sing even more beautifully The frog charge an admission fee, and earned a lot of money from this concerts. But the frog made the nightingale rehearse continuously in the rain As a result, her voice lost its beauty, and the other creatures stop coming to hear her sing. Finally, the nightingale burst away and died. So the frog could sing unrivalled in the bog once more. A Frog croaked all night in a bog, in an unpleasant voice One night a nightingale begin to sing in a melodious voice All the creatures in the bog cheered and clapped at her beautiful song Soon the nightingale become famous, and creatures from miles around came to hear her sing. The next night the frog introduced himself He offered to train the nightingale so she could sing even more beautifully The frog charge an admission fee, and earned a lot of money from this concerts. But the frog made the nightingale rehearse continuously in the rain As a result, her voice lost its beauty, and the other creatures stop coming to hear her sing. Finally, the nightingale burst away and died. So the frog could sing unrivalled in the bog once more.

Critical Analysis The poem is a fable in which subjects of human interest are projected through animal characters and in a wild setting. it is written in the ballad form and its ryming sceme is aa, bb, cc..............  The literary devices like metaphors are few but very effectively used.'Mozart' is an effective metaphor that shows higly the nightingale thought of frog.  The poem interweaves various messages for the readers. One of The important themes projected is the social criticism- the modern is so prone to get influenced by the public opinion that sometimes he is ready to lose his originality in the wake of social criticism.  The allegorically depicts the corrupt face of the industrialised, developed world where greed, fame and competiton reigns while values and ethics take a bach seat. 

The Frog Territorial and boastful – I’m the frog who owns the tree. Technique was fine, But it lacked certain force Patronising – Without proper training …You’ll remain a begnner. Possessive, greedy – “We must aim for better billings…..” Arrogant and condescending – “I tried to teach her… a stupid creature”

The Nightingale Polite, soft, timorous. – “sorry was that you who spoke” Nervous and shy- “Did you, did you like my song” Timid and polite – “This is a fairy tale. And you are Mozart in disguise..”

Important Words Cacophony Minstrelled Elation Horse Subdued Morse Panache A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds Sang Great pride or joy Rough and unclear Quiet Miserable Confident and elegant style

VALUE The Lesson of the poem is that being inspired and influenced by someone much unknown and strange is indeed a foolish work. The nightingale could have very well judged that how could the frog with such a harsh voice be music maestro and she had to suffer for her misjudgment.  Many people in the human society also try to take advantage of the innocence or ignorance of the people.