Whistling of Birds – Modern Essays Notes

Q. No. 01: –

Discuss some images employed by the Lawrence of suggest a contrast between spring and winter?

Or

In “Whistling of birds” Lawrence brings troth the utter incompatibility of death and life. Discuss it?

Answer:-

 In this essay Lawrence presents a contrast between spring and winter. The writer says that winter is a sign of death while spring is a sign of life. The writer contrasts the pleasure of spring with the ravages of winter. If winter kills, spring revives. One destroys and the other reproduces and reshapes thing in nature. The writer presents two totally different pictures. These are two totally different pictures and they are quite different in their functions. They are also opposite in their action. One picture is that of winter, frost, snow, death and destructions the other picture is that of spring, pleasure and life.

 There is the snow lying everywhere and carcasses of the different birds lying under hedges. The flesh is eaten by the beast of prey. Every object is deeply effected by the sever cold and snow. At this horrible atmosphere the writer says “The world is dead! Long live the world”.

Then the spring comes. The voices of the birds are heard in the land. The frost melts and winter recedes. Then springs approaches and birds are filled with life again. Melodious songs of the birds are expressive of their joy at spring which enters in a new atmosphere of life.

Death and life are incompatible with each other. They are totally opposite to each other. When there is death, no life can be, when there is life, no death can be. Death cannot stop on rush of life as life cannot stop on rush of death. Neither can stay in the presence of each other because there is no compatibility of death with life. This is the rule of nature as learnt by the writer through his deep observation of nature.

Q No. 02: –

Whistling of birds shows its writer’s love for nature, elaborate?

Answer:-

The essay is an ample proof of writer’s love for nature. The depiction of nature is quite evident in the “Whistling of Birds”. The writer has great lot for birds, beasts and natural scenes of life.

The writer says that nature has two aspects. Nature has a sweet face and it also has a horrible face. He has described both the faces of nature with the help of powerful images. Firstly the writer describes a very horrible scene of nature. It is the winter season. Now the birds are dying rapidly. The bodies of the birds are lying everywhere. The writer is feeling sad for dead birds. He is in deep mourning.

Then suddenly a change comes. He is startled. Because, he loves nature, and he wants to continue mourning for the dead birds. So he becomes afraid. When he hears the birds sing. But the survived birds have started singing.

 There is another world now as the season changes. There is a new world of spring. The warm and soothing winds begin to blow. The living birds have started singing. The writer asks himself how the birds can sing. The he says that, “It is not of their own doing”. He believes the song bubbles through them. There is a new world of spring. The winter season was an old order, where as the spring is a new order

So we can say that the writer has great love nature. His way of describing the dying of birds and singing of birds is very impressive.