Be the Best of Whatever You Are. Poem by Douglas Malloch summary and annotations

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Satavahana University Karimnagar- Degree I Year -Semester 2-English- 2020-21 onwards-Unit 6. 

englishlanguage-lit.blogspot.com


SRR Govt.Arts& Science College Karimnagar

Be The Best


It you can’t be a pine on the top of the hill,
Be a scrub in the valley – but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush, if you can’t be a tree.
If you can’t be a bush, be a bit of the grass,
And some highway happier make;
If you can’t be a muskie, then just be a bass-
But the liveliest bass in the lake!
We can’t all be captains, we’ve got to be crew,
There’s something for all of us here.
There’s big work to do and there’s lesser to do
And the task we must do is the near.
If you can’t be a highway, then just be a trail,
If you can’t be the sun, be a star;
It isn’t by size that you win or you fail-
Be the best of whatever you are!



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Questions

1) what is the central theme of the poem?

2) Comment on the imagery used in the poem?

3) Write a summary of the poem' Be the best of whatever You Are'?

Douglas Malloch was an American short story writer and a poet. He was known as a 'Lumberman's poet'.(lumberman(especially in North America) a person who fells trees, cuts them into logs, or transports them to a sawmill.)His famous poems are 'Echoes', 'Good Timber',  'It's Fine Today'

This is a 16 line  poem contains of four quatrain stanzas(four lines in each stanza)  the rhyme scheme is 'abab. 'The end word in the first line 'hill' rhymes with 'rill' in the third line.  be' in second line rhymes with 'tree' on fourth line.The same rhyme scheme repeats in all stanzas

Imagery used in the poem.

Vivid plant visual imagery is used.l

If you can't be a pine ....

Be a scrub...

Be a bush..

bit of the grass,

Fish imagery.

can't be a muskie.(a large freshwater gamefish of the pike family.)

But the loveliest bass in the lake.(bony fish)

The imagery is appealing to our senses. Pine is a tall tree that grows on hills whereas Scrub is small in size.The poet takes these big and small plants as subject of his poem  to convey that nothing on the planet is less important.Use of conditional 'if' in every stanza emphasize that we have choices in life to be the best.

The poem is didactic in nature.the poet's aim is to inspire us to lead optimistic life.The theme of the poem is that everyone has their own  importance whether small or big. whatever work we do,we need to do it in the best way. The Poet wants to say that every living being has its own role to play in this  world.So he suggests us not to worry and try to be in number one position in our field. We should respect and love our job irrespective of position . He gives an example of a ship's captain and crew to say No job is less important in the world."we can't all be captains but we've got to be crew" . The ship needs not only a captain it also needs an efficient crew to sail smoothly in the waters.Everyone has something lesser or bigger work to do in the world. Douglas draws his ideas from the nature to give a beautiful message to the world. The Poet gives examples of contrast things from nature such as pine - scrub, bush-grass,muskie-bass, highway- trail, captain-crew, sun- star.

The Poet motivates us to be the best whatever we do in our life.

englishlanguage-lit.blogspot.com

Annotations.

1)It isn't by size that you win or fail-Be the best of whatever you are!

Reference:- These lines are taken from the poem Be the Best of Whatever You are' written by Douglas Malloch. He was an American short story writer and a poet. He was known as a 'Lumberman's poet'.. His famous poems are 'Echoes', 'Good Timber',  'It's Fine Today'

This is a 16 line  poem contains of four quatrain stanzas(four lines in each stanza)  the rhyme scheme is 'abab. 'The end word in first line 'hill' rhymes with 'rill' in third line.  be' in second line rhymes with 'tree' on fourth line.The same rhyme scheme repeats in all stanzas

Context:-It is an inspirational poem. The poet advises us to be the best in life.If you are unable to be like the sun, you can be like a star. Every living being has its own value in the world whether small or big. the World is with full of opportunities. 

Meaning:-Your size does not decide your  success but attitude matters the most. The poet 's intention is that whatever you are Be the best.


S.Rajesh kumar

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