A Window View
Feel the serenity.
Since you can see,
Gaze at the scenery,
Grasp the beauty.
Hold the grace, the comeliness,
The bliss in the heart.
Indeed, though you cannot seize nature,
Sense the imperceptible hush, the pleasure!
I thought it spring,
But, through the window,
Reality revealed
It was winter, and still, it is.
Life is not a painted canvas.
How can one capture spring forever?
Clasp the tranquility inside the fog blur,
Even dryness has a hidden pleasure.
Feel, still, the beauty of winter.
Illustration by Lutfun Naher Mahmud Oysharja
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Learning Activities
Vocabulary
High Frequency Words
- Words from the second 1000 General Service Word List: grace, hidden, inside, seize
- Word from the Academic Word List: revealed
Off-List words.
These words do not occur so often in English, so learn the words from numbers 1 and 2 above first, before you try to learn these words: bliss, blur, canvas, capture, clasp, comeliness, fog, forever, gaze, grasp, hush, imperceptible, serenity, tranquility.
Comprehension Questions
1. Understanding: What does the writer mean when she says that “Life is not a painted canvas?” Does she mean…
- Life is not always beautiful
- Life is too big to be contained in one picture
- Life is never still, but always brings change
- Life is not something that only a skilled artist can describe
- All of the above
- Something else (explain).
Give some reasons for your answer, using the ideas and information in the poem itself.
2. Remembering: Which words did the writer use to explain the idea of ‘calmness’ or ‘quietness’? Which words did she use to explain the idea of ‘holding’ something?
Critical Thinking Questions
- Evaluating: The writer explains her philosophy beneath this poem, in this way... Spring is not always present in nature, so along with enjoying the beauty of spring, we still need to fully appreciate the calmness of winter as well. Similarly, along with enjoying the good times in our life, we need to experience and learn from the bad times as well. Do you agree with this idea or not? Why?
- Applying: In English, there is a well-known proverb that expresses a similar idea to the ideas expressed in the writer’s philosophy above. The proverb tells us that “Every cloud has a silver lining”. Can you explain this idea in your own words, in English? Is there a similar expression in your own mother language? If so, can you translate it into English? Can you think of any examples of when this saying might be true in your own life?
- Analysing: In what ways is winter different from spring in Bangladesh? In what ways might the two seasons be similar? What is your favourite season, or time of year? Describe why you like it and what makes it special to you, in English.
- Analysing and Evaluating: All of us pass through different stages or ‘seasons’ in our life. In your community, which life ‘seasons’ are considered important? How are these different stages of life marked or celebrated? If you had to choose only one stage, or ‘season’, of life in which to remain, which would it be, and why?
- Creating: The famous English poet John Keats once wrote a poem called “Ode to Autumn” in which he describes all the qualities of this season, and speaks to the season as if it is a person.
Keats was describing his observations of autumn as it is experienced in England. However, seasons may vary from place to place. “In Bangladesh, the year is traditionally divided into six seasons: Grisma (summer), Barsa (rainy), Sarat (autumn), Hemanta (late autumn), Shhit (winter) and Basanta (spring)… (though people may think mostly of the following three seasons), the pre-monsoon hot season… the rainy monsoon season… and the cool dry winter season*.”
Write a few lines of poetry about your favourite season in Bangladesh. As you write, aim to do two things…
- Use some of the words in your poem from the vocabulary lists provided above.
- Try to explain something of your feelings about that time of the year, and why it is special to you.
Draw or find a picture to go with your poem. Put your poem and picture together on the same page. Share your work with a classmate, then ask each other questions and explain what you have done, in English. Display your work in your classroom.
* Information retrieved from http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Season