Oft, in The Stilly Night By Thomas Moore | Question Answer | Summary | The CHSE Student

 OFT, IN THE STILLY NIGHT

Thomas Moore

Oft, in the stilly night

Introducing the Poet

Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852) is an Irish poet, satirist, composer, and political propagandist.

 

Warm up

Memories, sweet or sad, always live with us. We cherish fond memories. Elderly people who have very little to look forward to often recall friendships and past incidents. Nostalgia haunts them. Thomas Moore canvasses the memories of past and present in this poem. It is one of the finest songs of Moore with complete adaptation of words to music and music to words along with a high quality of poetical merit in the verse. Read this poem and note how the poet longs for the days gone by, and the dear ones who have passed away.

 

The Text

 

Oft, in the stilly night,

Ere slumber's chain has bound me,

Fond memory brings the light

Of other days around me;             4

The smiles, the tears,

Of boyhood's years,

The words of love then spoken;

The eyes that shone,      8

 

Now dimm'd and gone,

The cheerful hearts now broken!

 

Thus, in the stilly night,

Ere slumber's chain hath bound me,        12

Sad memory brings the light

Of other days around me.

 

When I remember all

The friends, so link'd together,   16

I've seen around me fall,

Like leaves in wintry weather;

I feel like one

Who treads alone            20

Some banquet-hall deserted,

Whose lights are fled,

Whose garlands dead,

And all but he departed!              24

Thus, in the stilly night,

Ere slumber's chain has bound me,

Sad memory brings the light

Of other days around me.             28

 

Summary

Often in the calm and quiet night. When sleep is delayed, fond memories of past days appear in the mind. The poet remembers the smiles and tears of boyhood days; he remembers the love-making days of the youth. He remembers his sweet youth when he looked elegant, eyes were lustrous. Those happy days have gone now. The shining eyes have become dimmed. The tender heart has broken into pieces. Thus the still night brings unhappy memories of the pre-shave of my past.

 The poet, in the stilly nights, recalls his past friends. Once he had plenty of friends. His days were joyous among them. But they disappeared like leaves fall in winter. Now the poet is alone, friendless. He is treading lonely in a deserted banquet hall whose garlands are dead, whose lights are fled, all have departed except the old poet, Thomas Moore. 

The poet repeatedly says that often in the stilly night sad memories come to his mind and makes his whole entity sad. Such feelings always come in old days when you feel isolated, forlorn.

 

Oft in The Stilly Night Question Answer

 

1. When do the past memories occur to the poet ? 

Ans: Often in the still night, when a slumber's chain fails to bind the poet, past memories occur to him. 

 

2. What does 'other days' mean? 

Ans: 'Other days' means the past memories. 

 

3. Are the memories of boyhood sweet or sad ? Quote the line in support of your answer. How does the poet grieve for his dear ones who have passed away ? 

Ans: The memories of boyhood are both sweet and sad. The line which says it is - "The smiles, the tears of boyhood years." The poet grieves for his dear ones saying - "The shone now dimmed and gone."

 

4. How does he recall his friends? 

Ans: He recalls his friends saying-I remember all the friends, so linked together - The have fallen now. They have passed away. 

 

5. Does the poet feel lonely in the absence of his near and dear ones ? Quote the line in support of your answer.

Ans: Yes, the poet feels lonely in the absence of his near and dear ones, He says- All the friends so linked together, I have seen around me fall like leaves in wintry weather.

 

6. Simile is a figure of speech used to make comparison between two unlike things using 'as', 'like'. What figure of speech does the poet use to express his loneliness ? 

Ans: To express his loneliness, the poet uses a figure of speech. It is - The friends fall like leaves in wintry weather. 

 

7. The figure of speech used to express inanimate beings as animate is called personification. Give the example of personification used in the poem. 

Ans: The example of personification is - I feel like one who treads alone at some banquet - hall deserted, whose lights are fled, whose garlands are dead.