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BIS3013 INTRODUCTION TO

ENGLISH LITERATURE

ANALYSIS OF POEM

LECTURER: DR. AINON BINTI OMAR

GROUP: B

GROUP MEMBERS:

1) JASMEET KAUR A/P UTUMBER SINGH(D20111047735)

2) NOORFAIZAH BINTI MD. NAYAN(D20111047715)

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La iman Janoory

LIFE

Life is but a passing glimpse of existence

a small frame of time out of many

too short for pleasure

too long for suffering

its a sand of uncertainties

of happiness, sadness- apprehension.

its the eternal cycle of fate

sometimes motherly, sometimes a tyranny

its but a shadow play

and we the insignificant puppets

playing the short scripts of destiny

directing our little histories

applauded by Death.

Proton City, Tanjong Malim

Nov, 2010

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ANALYSIS OF POEM (LIFE)

Interpretation:

Both of us have picked a meaningful poem simply entitled Life by La Iman Janoory in our

effort to complete this assignment together. Truthfully, this was the first poem we saw the

day we decided to peruse the book Ecstasies and Anxieties and it didnt take us long to

know that we just had to pick this poem. As the title suggests, this poem speaks about life and

how life is a fleeting journey that is filled with both joy and unhappiness.

The first line Life is but a passing glimpse of existencetells us that everyones life does not

last very long. Even though life actually does not last long, life seems very long and endless

when we are facing so many unending difficulties when living. Life can also can seem short

when we are having fun doing things we like. All these are clearly stated in the two lines,

too short for pleasure and too long for suffering. It can be concluded that life can seem

short or long, depending on the situation you are in.

This poem also tells us that life is full of countless uncertainties. Both of us decided to

conclude the line its a sand of uncertainties this way right after seeing the word sand .

There is no way in which one can accurately count grains of sand, because these grains are, if

not, seem incalculable. This line made us come up with the idea that everybodys life is

filled with countless uncertainties.

Besides that, ones life is an eternal cycle of fate, according to the poet. No matter what we

do, or how we try to shape our lives, fate is an unstoppable thing. We are all controlled by

fate. We are unable to change fate unless permitted by God. We concluded this after reading

the line its the eternal cycle of fate. There are times when things go the way we want them

to, and this is when we feel like life is being kind to us. However, life can also get really hard,

especially when we have so many predicaments to deal with at the same time.

This poem tells us that, life is not that different when compared to a play. Life is a lot like a

play. But the only thing controlling us puppets in life is destiny. Meanwhile, death is

portrayed as an audience viewing the play. Just as a play needs audience, life needs death.

Everyone who lives will die as death is unavoidable.

Point of view:

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Obviously, the poem is written from the poets own point of view. This can be seen from the

usage of the word we that refers to the poet and others.

Setting:

The setting of the poem is so vague, so maybe, there is no setting at all in the poem.

Conflicts:

The poem presents conflicts such as sadness and apprehension that must be faced by those

who live, before they undergo death.

Characters:

The characters in the poem are all of us humans and the poet.

Style and Language:

The overall mood of the poem is one of sadness. The poet uses many simple modern words

that are easy to understand. However, we must be able to understand what the words really

mean.

Theme:

The main theme of the poem is life, feelings people get to experience in life and how life can

be ended by death.