Daybreak
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Give the substance of the poem, "Daybreak".
Ans: At dawn, a wind rises from the sea and asks the mists to make room for its movement. It greets the ships and urges the mariners to sail in the wake of the day. Then it rushes to a distant land and impels all to wake up. One by one, the wind visits the forest, the farms, the fields of corn, the belfry tower and the churchyard. It urges the forest to hang out its leaves. Then it touches the folded wings of the wood-bird and urges it to sing. After that, the wind rushes over to the farms and asks the chanticleer to crow and announce the beginning of a new day. Then it whispers to the fields of corn to bow down to greet the morning. It also urges the belfry tower to ring the morning bell. But it sighs for the dead at the churchyard and asks them to lie quietly.
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Write a note on the significance of the title of the poem,
"Daybreak".
Ans: In the concluding part of “The bells of Sans” Blas, Longfellow writes:
Out of the shadow of night
The world rolls into light;
It is daybreak everywhere.
This prophetic vision of daybreak is the main theme of the poem, "Daybreak". The night is dark. Out of the darkness of the night, emerges the day. The light of the morning sun brings new hope and refreshes all. The wind is the harbinger of new hope to the world. It wakes up the living world represented by the mariners, the wood-bird and the chanticleer. It urges the belfry tower to ring its bells to announce the beginning of the day. But the wind sighs for the dead and tells them to enjoy eternal sleep. The title of the poem highlights the hour when the wind urges all, except the dead, to wake up with new hope and action. So the title is appropriate.
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Give the central idea of the poem, "Daybreak".
Ans: In the poem "Daybreak", Longfellow wants to see a world throbbing with life and action. He gives the wind the human ability to speak and personifies it. The wind performs the function of an alarm clock here. It announces the beginning of a new day. The dark night is gone. So the wind brings new hope to the living world. It urges all to wake up in action to perform the duties of their earthly existence. It impels the living world to follow the natural course of day and night. But it asks the dead to lie quietly in eternal sleep as they have already completed their earthly duties. Thus, through this wind, Mother Nature touches all corners with the message of a new day.
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How does Longfellow personify the wind in the poem;
"Daybreak"?
Ans: In the poem "Daybreak", Longfellow images the wind to be a messenger of Nature. He personifies the wind and gives it the human ability to speak and communicate verbally. Emerging from the sea, it moves and speaks to all it meets. In the sea, it encounters the mists and the mariners. It asks the mists to make room for its movement. It urges the mariners to sail on. On distant land, it impels the forest to hang out its leaves, the birds to sing, the chanticleer to crow, the corn to bow and greet the morning, and the belfry tower to ring its bell to proclaim the hour. But when it blows across the churchyard, its sighs for the dead and asks them to lie quietly. As human beings, the wind uses different language and tone to wake up different objects of Nature. Thus, the poet personifies the wind.
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What role does the wind play in the poem, "Daybreak"?
Ans: In the poem "Daybreak", the wind is the messenger of nature. It can move freely. It can speak like a human being. At dawn, t6he wind rises from the sea and there it meets the mists and the mariners of the ship. It asks the mists to make room for its movement and urges the mariners to sail on at daybreak. Then it rushes to a distant land, crying to all living beings to be awake. There it impels the forest to hang out its leaves, the wood-bird to sing, the chanticleer to crow, the corn to bow and greet the morning, and the belfry tower to ring its bell and proclaim the hour. Actually, the wind performs the function of an alarm clock. It announces the beginning of a new day. The dark night is gone. So it brings new hope to the living world. It urges all to wake up in action to perform the duties of their earthly existence. It impels the living world to follow the natural course of day and night.
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“It crossed the churchyard with a sigh…”
Who crossed the churchyard? What did the wind say while crossing the
churchyard? Why did it say so?
Ans: The wind crossed the churchyard in the poem, "Daybreak".
The wind sighed for the dead buried in the cemetery.
In the poem, "Daybreak", the wind, while crossing the churchyard, sighed for the dead and asked them to lie in eternal sleep.
It was not yet time for the dead to wake up. They should lie in eternal sleep in the calmness of grave. It also refers to the belief that the dead buried in the churchyard will rise at the end of time.
