Kendriya Vidyalaya No.2 Bhopal

English Project Work

Session 2016-17

The Frog And The Nightingale

- Vikram Seth

The Frog The Nightingale

Introduction

The poem ‘The Frog and the Nightingale’ by Vikram Seth is an apologue. The poem uses a

knavish frog and a gullible nightingale to aesthetically present a parody on the modern

society. The story revolves around the nightingale, immensely gifted and equally

insecure, shamelessly exploited by the devious frog. It ultimately resulted in the

demise of the bird with the frog regaining his earlier stature as the bog’s sole singer.

Once upon a time a frogCroaked away in Bingle Bog

Every night from dusk to dawnHe croaked awn and awn and awnOther creatures loathed his voice,

But, alas, they had no choice,And the crass cacophony

Blared out from the sumac treeAt whose foot the frog each nightMinstrelled on till morning night

Poem

Neither stones nor prayers nor sticks.Insults or complaints or bricksStilled the frogs determinationTo display his heart's elation.But one night a nightingale

In the moonlight cold and palePerched upon the sumac tree

Casting forth her melodyDumbstruck sat the gaping frog

And the whole admiring bogStared towards the sumac, rapt,

And, when she had ended, clapped,Ducks had swum and herons waded

To her as she serenadedAnd a solitary loon

Wept, beneath the summer moon.Toads and teals and tiddlers, capturedBy her voice, cheered on, enraptured:

"Bravo! " "Too divine! " "Encore! "So the nightingale once more,

Quite unused to such applause,Sang till dawn without a pause.

Next night when the NightingaleShook her head and twitched her tail,

Closed an eye and fluffed a wingAnd had cleared her throat to sing

She was startled by a croak."Sorry - was that you who spoke? "

She enquired when the frogHopped towards her from the bog."Yes," the frog replied. "You see,I'm the frog who owns this tree

In this bog I've long been knownFor my splendid baritone

And, of course, I wield my penFor Bog Trumpet now and then"

"Did you… did you like my song? ""Not too bad - but far too long.

The technique was fine of course,But it lacked a certain force".

"Oh! " the nightingale confessed.Greatly flattered and impressed

That a critic of such noteHad discussed her art and throat:"I don't think the song's divine.

But - oh, well - at least it's mine".

"Did you… did you like my song? ""Not too bad - but far too long.

The technique was fine of course,But it lacked a certain force".

"Oh! " the nightingale confessed.Greatly flattered and impressed

That a critic of such noteHad discussed her art and throat:"I don't think the song's divine.

But - oh, well - at least it's mine".

"That's not much to boast about".Said the heartless frog. "Without

Proper training such as I- And few others can supply.

You'll remain a mere beginner.But with me you'll be a winner""Dearest frog", the nightingaleBreathed: "This is a fairy tale -And you are Mozart in disguiseCome to earth before my eyes".

"Well I charge a modest fee.""Oh! " "But it won't hurt, you'll see"

Now the nightingale inspired,Flushed with confidence, and fired

With both art and adoration,Sang - and was a huge sensation.

Animals for miles aroundFlocked towards the magic sound,And the frog with great precision

Counted heads and charged admission.

Though next morning it was raining,He began her vocal training.

"But I can't sing in this weather""Come my dear - we'll sing together.

Just put on your scarf and sash,Koo-oh-ah! ko-ash! ko-ash! "So the frog and nightingale

Journeyed up and down the scaleFor six hours, till she was shivering

and her voice was hoarse and quivering.

Though subdued and sleep deprived,In the night her throat revived,And the sumac tree was bowed,With a breathless, titled crowd:Owl of Sandwich, Duck of Kent,

Mallard and Milady Trent,Martin Cardinal Mephisto,

And the Coot of Monte Cristo,Ladies with tiaras glittering

In the interval sat twittering -And the frog observed them glitterWith a joy both sweet and bitter.

Every day the frog who'd sold herSongs for silver tried to scold her:"You must practice even longer

Till your voice, like mine grows stronger.In the second song last nightYou got nervous in mid-flight.

And, my dear, lay on more trills:Audiences enjoy such frills.

You must make your public happier:Give them something sharper snappier.

We must aim for better billings.You still owe me sixty shillings."

Day by day the nightingaleGrew more sorrowful and pale.Night on night her tired song

Zipped and trilled and bounced along,Till the birds and beasts grew tired

At a voice so uninspiredAnd the ticket office gross

Crashed, and she grew more morose -For her ears were now addictedTo applause quite unrestricted,

And to sing into the nightAll alone gave no delight.

Now the frog puffed up with rage."Brainless bird - you're on the stage -

Use your wits and follow fashion.Puff your lungs out with your passion."

Trembling, terrified to fail,Blind with tears, the nightingaleHeard him out in silence, tried,

Puffed up, burst a vein, and died.

Said the frog: "I tried to teach her,But she was a stupid creature -Far too nervous, far too tense.

Far too prone to influence.Well, poor bird - she should have known

That your song must be your own.That's why I sing with panache:"Koo-oh-ah! ko-ash! ko-ash! "And the foghorn of the frog

Blared unrivalled through the bog.------------X------------ 

About the PoetVikram Seth is an Indian poet, novelist, travel writer, librettist, children's writer, biographer and memoirist. 

Vikram Seth was born to Leila and Prem Seth in Calcutta (now Kolkata). His family lived in many cities including the Bata Shoe Company town of Batanagar, Danapur near Patna, and in London.

He has received several awards including Padma Shri, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, WH Smith Literary Award and Crossword Book Award.  

SummaryOnce upon a time there lived a frog under a Sumac tree in a fictional place called the Bingle Bog. Under

the false pretense that he was a sensational and melodious singer, he “blessed” his fellow creatures

with his voice day after day. His crass cacophony was despised by others. They tried very hard to get rid of him, but all the sticks and the stones failed to shatter the presumptuous frog’s illusion. He went on singing

to his heart’s content.

One fine moonlit night, a beautiful nightingale came and perched on the sumac, casting forth her melody. Every single life form in the Bog, including the frog,

sat flabbergasted, amazed by the sheer excellence of the bird’s talent.

Absolutely entranced by the song, all the creatures gazed at her. Captivated and enthralled by the

utterly divine melody, they urged her to keep going on. They moved closer and applauded and the

flattered bird went on until dawn. The following night, she perched on the sumac tree once more and

was setting up when right out of nowhere the cunning frog croaked.

He presented himself to be a fairly eminent personality. He

rolled his glib-tongue on and on. He claimed to own the sumac tree, to be far-famed for his “splendid

baritone” and a music critic who wrote for the Bog Trumpet.

Blandished to be conversing with such a superior personality, the nightingale asked him how he had liked her song. To answer this, the frog put all his role-playing into effect and started nitpicking. The

simple-minded bird contended with just the fact that a critic of such a note had discussed her singing, became flustered and remarked that at least the song was her own. But the harsh and envious frog

ruthlessly discarded her. He offered to train her and convinced that without his guidance, she wouldn’t

ever be anything more than a novice.

Hearing this, the nightingale became ecstatic and referred to the frog as “Mozart in disguise”. But in

reality, the crafty frog couldn’t have cared less about her hopes and dreams. He charged her a high fee for

the training too .

The gullible nightingale, now flushed with confidence, sang with all her heart and grew to be a

sensation. Many creatures from the vicinity of the bog constellated towards the charming sound. The wily frog exploited her talent and minted money for

himself by charging admission.The next morning, although the weather was

unfavorable, the wicked frog slyly convinced the bird to come out of her house and made her practice

vigorously up and down the musical scale for six long hours.

Though the nightingale was incredibly fatigued, in the night, her voice revived. A titled crowd flocked the sumac tree. The frog watched them, joyously

charging them money, but also with a nagging feeling of envy, wishing that it was him they appreciated.

Even after all this, the frog did not stop depreciating the helpless bird. He incessantly scolded her harshly and insisted on making her song fancier, jauntier. He

provided all sorts of destructive criticism and rendered her helpless by pointing out how he was

obliging her by his exclusive training. The nightingale followed his words like quotes from the Bible and

turned her song and her singing into something so banal that it could no longer involve the audience.

This led to her meltdown as she was now addicted to applause.

The frog went berserk with rage now. He lashed out at the poor bird. He asked her to renew her song. Terrified to fail, the nightingale tried her best, but the training taking a toll on her, burst a vein and

died.

The evil frog turns out to be more vicious than we had once thought. Even after the nightingale’s tragic

death, just to throw off the suspicion that had naturally landed on him, he dismissed her as “Far too

nervous, far too tense, far too prone to influence”. He sarcastically remarks that she should have not

listened to him and should have known the power of originality and goes on to blare his own pain of a

voice unrivalled through the bog.

Character Sketch - The Nightingale

The nightingale is shown as an extremely simple-minded, gullible and docile creature. She had a beautiful voice that enchanted all the creatures of the Bingle Bog. Her talent

was mesmerizing but she severely lacked self-confidence. She did not believe in herself and failed to realize, despite the various accolades she received, the enormity of her talent. She was easily convinced by the glib talks of the

frog and stupidly let him exploit her singing for money. She couldn’t see through the sweet exterior that the frog had put up and was unable to see the pernicious effect he had on her. Owing to her this very idiocy and the failure to take a stand for herself, she lost the melodious and charming

quality of her voice, and eventually, her life.

Character Sketch- The Frog

The frog is shown as a knavish and obdurate creature. He was under a false impression that he was a splendid soloist and that every living soul in the bog raved about his singing. He was an

impervious creature for when the animals hurled a volley of obscenities at him, he was entirely unresponsive. He brimmed

with confidence.

He was envious of the nightingale, because the creatures of the bog appreciated her singing. He wanted to eliminate the bird as he saw her as his rival. He lured her in with persuasive talks and

pretended to her mentor equivalent of Mozart, only to turn around and stab her in her back. He was patronizing, abrasive

and constantly belittled the bird. Even after her demise, he dismissed her as a brainless creature, who was “far too prone to

influence.”The frog was crafty and shrewd, who shamelessly capitalized both on the nightingale’s life and death.

Theme/MessageIn the poem, the nightingale was a very melodious singer She was immensely gifted but severely lacked self- confidence. She was easily convinced by the crafty, manipulative frog. He duped and exploited her. He was envious and wanted to eliminate her. The gullible bird walked right into the trap and lost her life.

This poem elegantly presents the bitter reality that in the modern society, there are more number of snakes in the grass and less well-wishers. We should not get influenced and take a stand for ourselves and what we do.

The Poem As a SatireVikram Seth has presented the poem as a satire on the modern society. He has mocked the so-called civilized people of the society revealing how simple-minded people always end up caught in the traps of silver-tongued people. Satire is a strong vein of irony, which through plain humor, points out the follies of a corrupt human behavior .The nightingale is personified as a naïve, innocent person who is easily taken in by the seemingly charismatic personality of the frog, who represents the devious people in society that stop at nothing to get what they desire. The poem, like a fable, leaves us with the message that in order to succeed in the harsh and uncaring world, one must always have self- confidence in their abilities and talents.

Poetic Device UsedALLITERATION :  “Crass cacophony”,

“Art and adoration”, “Songs for silver”, “Brainless bird”, “Follow fashion”

IRONY : “You are Mozart in disguise”, “Your song must be your own”

REPETITION :  “Not too bad - but far too long”, “Far too nervous, far too tense. far too prone to influence”

METAPHOR :  “Night on night her tired song”,“You are Mozart in disguise ”

PERSONIFICATION : “With a breathless, titled crowd”, “Owl of Sandwich”,

“Duck of Kent”, “Mallard and Milady Trent”, “Martin Cardinal Mephisto”,

“And the Coot of Monte Cristo”, “Ladies with tiaras glittering In the interval sat twittering”

Thank You

Adarsh KaushikXth D10202