Postcolonial Literatures Unit 10 Revolving Days, College and University Answer Bank for BA, B.com, B.sc, and Post Graduate Notes and Guide Available here, Postcolonial Literatures Unit 10 Revolving Days Solutions to each Unit are provided in the list of UG-CBCS Central University & State University Syllabus so that you can easily browse through different College and University Guide and Notes here. Postcolonial Literatures Unit 10 Revolving Days Question Answer can be of great value to excel in the examination.
Postcolonial Literatures Unit 10 Revolving Days
Postcolonial Literatures Unit 10 Revolving Days Notes cover all the exercise questions in UGC Syllabus. Postcolonial Literatures Unit 10 Revolving Days provided here ensures a smooth and easy understanding of all the concepts. Understand the concepts behind every Unit and score well in the board exams.
Revolving Days
ENGLISH
POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURES
POETRY
VERY SHORT TYPE QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
1. When was the poem ‘Revolving Days’ first published?
Ans: The poem was first published in the volume Typewriter Music in 2007 and again as the title poem of the volume Revolving Days in 2008.
2. What is the main subject of the poem?
Ans: In ‘Revolving Days’ by David Malouf, the speaker takes a look at his past relationship and the evolution of his role as “lover”.
3. What is the theme of the poem “Revolving Days,” and what is the state of mind of the speaker?
Ans: The main theme of “Revolving Days” seems to be love. Love tugs at the speaker’s heart and leads him to buy different colored shirts. Love seems to have made the speaker unsure of who he is or what to do. He’s out of sorts, yet love has not ridden our speaker of all of his senses. He knows he shouldn’t do something to “discomfort” his ex love.
4. What is the main theme of the poem?
Ans: Within ‘Revolving Days’ Malouf explores themes of relationships, the past, and memory. His speaker addresses his ex-lover, expressing his lasting emotions and depicting the revolving days of his life and role as “lover”. The mood is resigned and contemplative as he considers who he was, who he is, and the person his ex-lover is now.
LONG TYPE QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
1. Write down the critical appreciation of the poem ‘Revolving Days’.
Ans: Within ‘Revolving Days’ Malouf explores themes of relationship, the past, and memory. His speaker addresses his ex-lover, expressing his lasting emotions and depicting the revolving days of his life and role as a “lover”. The mood is resigned and contemplative as he considers who was, who he is, and the person his ex-lover is now. In the first part of this poem, the speaker remembers when he fell in love, how it was a “mis take,” but that it’s also been long-lasting. As the poem progresses, it becomes clear that the speaker and this person he loves are no longer together. But, despite the things that have changed, he has remained the same. He still loves the person to whom he’s been speaking. In ‘Revolving Days’ Malouf engages with themes that include love, memory, and transformation (or lack thereof). The speaker spends the bulk of this poem describing a love he used to have and the way that that love changed him. But since, he hasn’t changed at all. He’s still the person he sued to be when he was with his ex-lover, for better or for worse.
But, he knows that she has changed. She’s somewhere else, (where exactly he doesn’t know) and he figures that she’s moved on to be with someone else. His memories of the past are quite strong, so much so that he’s able to depict moments from his love affair with clarity and poignant (if someone re served) emotion. Revolving Days’ by David Malouf is a three-stanza poem that’s divided into uneven sets of lines. The first stanza contains ten, the second: seven, and the third: six. Malouf did not give this poem a specific rhyme scheme or metrical pattern. Rather, the lines vary in the number of syllables and the number of words.
Although there is not a structured rhyme scheme there are moments of rhyme within the poem. These are seen through repetition such as with “lasted” and “lasted” in line two of the first stanza, as well as through half rhyme. Also known as slant or partial rhyme, half-rhyme is seen through the repetition of assonance or consonance. This means that either a vowel or consonant sound is reused within one line or multiple lines of verse. For example, “green” and “League” in lines eight and nine of the first stanza. Or, another example, “seeing” and “be” in six and seven of the same stanza. Malouf makes use of several poetic techniques in ‘Revolving Days’. These include alliteration, anaphora, enjambment, and caesura. The latter, caesura, occurs when a line is split in half, sometimes with punctuation, sometimes not. The use of punctuation in these moments creates a very intentional pause in the text. A reader should consider how. the pause influences the rhythm of one’s reading and how it might proceed an important turn or transition in the text.
For instance, line one of the third stanza. It reads: “Revolving days. My heart”. Or, as a mother example, a reader can look to line three of the second stanza which reads: “steps into the room. In the next room you”. Alliteration occurs when words are used in succession, or at least appear close together, and begin with the same letter. For example, “life as lover” in line eight of the first stanza and “writing” and “wherever” in line two of stanza three. Malouf also makes use of anaphora, or the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of multiple lines, usually in succession. This technique is often used to create emphasis.
A list of phrases, items, or actions may be created through its implementation. Another important technique commonly used in poetry is enjambment. It occurs when a line is cut off before its natural stopping point. Enjambment forces a reader down to the next line, and the next, quickly. One has to move forward in order to comfortably resolve a phrase or sentence.
2. Give a brief analysis of the poem ‘Revolving Days”.
Ans: In the first stanza of ‘Revolving Days,’ the speaker looks back on his life and remembers the year that he “fell in love”. He explains it simply, it happened because he had nowhere to go. This frivolous stan dissolves as he adds that it “lasted and has lasted”. The next lines use imagery as a way of painting a picture of the past, as well as evoking in the reader an emotional response to the speaker’s personal life. He recalls what it felt like to be falling in love. Specifically, the “boom under the using pocket of a shirt” urging him on and the “old tug at the heart”. In an original depiction of a lover’s mind, he describes buying shirts and them as a way to understand himself as “lover”. These ranged in colour and one was his “first button-down collar”.
As the poem progresses it becomes clear that the love the speaker experienced is a little more complicated than it seemed. It “lasted” but not in the way one might immediately expect. He looks to the past, while also considering the future, in this stanza. The past comes back to greet him while he’s in the bathroom looking in the mirror and he recalls the time they spent together and the promises they made. These have fallen to the wayside as has the relationship.
In the final stanza of ‘Revolving Days,’ the speaker makes use of the phrase “Revolving days” to depict the nature of his heart and memory. He is writing “this for” his ex-lover. They are no longer together. In fact, he doesn’t know where they are. They could be with someone new. Despite the changes that have happened he’s the same. Before the intended listener/ the speaker’s ex-lover starts to worry, he says he’s not going to pop up form the past “to discomfort” them.
They are at a distance and he knows there is very little chance he’ll be getting a reply to this letter in poem form. In this poem, the speaker reflects on a time in his past when he fell in love. He calls it a “mistake / of course,” but it seems as though the feeling has stayed with him nonetheless. He recalls the feelings he felt but also the colours of the shirts he purchased then, for his new life as a lover. He and his lover do not stay in touch. However, sometimes he feels like he tried to feel then, like one of the new selves in the new shirts, and he feels as though he is right back there in the relationship again. The time passes and days go by, but the speaker still feels that his “heart/[is] in [his] mouth again.” His feelings remain unchanged, then, and he considers who she might be involved with now. In the end, however, he assures her that he will not reappear in her life and doesn’t mean to cause her any discomfort; he expects nothing from her and does not expect to hear from her.
“Revolving Days” uses apostrophe and symbolism to convey the idea. that moving on from lost love can be incredibly difficult and even impossible. Apostrophe is when the speaker addresses someone absent or dead as though they were there and could respond. Here, the poet’s use of apostrophe helps to convey the speaker’s sense of longing, of yearning, for the lover who has left him. Further, the colour of the shirts he purchased during this relationship-“mint green, one/pink, the third, called Ivy League, tan / with darker stripes…”-seem to symbolise the new life he hoped he’d have as a lover. They are bright and clean and new, probably starched and crisp, one his “first button-down collar.” The colourful brightness of those shirts, as well as the “blue eyes” of his lost love, are the only colours in the poem. Life seems as though it is, perhaps, figuratively colourless now for him. Symbolically, then, life is duller, less exciting, in the wake of this love.
3. Discuss the summary of the poem ‘Revolving Days’
Ans: The poem ‘Revolving Days’ was first published in the anthology Typewriter Music in 2007, and it was republished as the title piece in the anthology Revolving Days in 2008. The speaker of this poem remembers a period in his past when he fell in love. He considers it a “mistake/of course,” but the feeling appears to have stuck with him. He recalls not only the emotions he had but also the colours of the shirts he bought for his new life as a lover at the time. He and his lover are no longer in contact. However, he occasionally feels like he sought to feel then, like one of the new selves in the new clothes, and he feels as if he is right back there in the relationship. Time passes and days pass, yet the speaker’s “heart / [is] in [his] mouth again.” His thoughts remain un changed, and he mulls over who she might be associated with now.
In the end, he promises her that he will not reemerge in her life and has no intention of causing her any difficulty; he asks nothing from her and does not expect to hear from her. The apostrophe and symbolism used in “Revolving Days” express the idea that moving on from a lost love can be extremely difficult, if not impossible. When the speaker addresses someone who is absent or dead as if they were present and could react, they use an apostrophe. The poet’s use of apostrophe here contributes to the speaker’s sense of desire, of yearning, for the lover who has abandoned him.
Furthermore, the colours of the shirts he bought during this relationship-“mint green, one / pink, the third, dubbed Ivy League, tan / with deeper stripes…”-appear to represent the new life he intended to live as a lover. They’re new and bright, perhaps starched and crisp, one of his “first button-down collars.” The only colours in the poem are the vivid colours of his clothing and the “blue eyes” of his departed love. For him. life appears to be figuratively colourless just now. Symbolically, life becomes duller and less thrilling in the aftermath of this love.
