A Tragic story is a poem written by William Makepeace Thackeray. He was one of the great novelists of the English Victorian age. His famous work ‘Vanity fair‘, is the best-known novel in English literature.
William Makepeace Thackeray’s works had lively style, simple vocabulary, and clearly structured sentences. Also, his work has an honest view of life that gave an important place in the history of realist literature.
There lived a sage in days of yore, And he a handsome pigtail wore; But wondered much and sorrowed more, Because it hung behind him.---------------------------4 He mused upon this curious case, And swore he'd change the pigtail's place, And have it hanging at his face, Not dangling there behind him.-----------------------8 Says he, "The mystery I've found – Says he, "The mystery I've found! I'll turn me round," he turned him round; But still it hung behind him.---------------------------12 Then round and round, and out and in, All day the puzzled sage did spin; In vain–it mattered not a pin – The pigtail hung behind him.-------------------------16 And right and left and round about, And up and down and in and out He turned; but still the pigtail stout Hung steadily behind him.----------------------------20 And though his efforts never slack, And though he twist and twirl, and tack, Alas! Still faithful to his back, The pigtail hangs behind him.------------------------24
Summary of Poem
There lived a sage, who has pigtails. He was amazed by the pigtail and worried about its position. It is because it hanging behind. The sage was curious about the position of the pigtails and decided to change its position.
He decided to make the pigtail hang in front of his face. The sage says to himself that I found the mystery about the position of the pigtail. He thought the answer to the mystery, is turn around so that the tail could come in front of him.
Then he turned around and around for the whole day, the pigtail never changed its position, it was still hanging behind him. The sage without giving upturned round and round and left to right, but still, the pigtail were in the same position.
The sage then says that the pigtail was faithful to his back.
Conclusion
The poet has written a poem that expresses the sorrow of sage, with his pigtail not obeying him, in a very humorous poem.
Meanings of keyword
sage – wise man
mused – thought over
yore – long ago
pigtail – a plaited lock of hair worn singly at the back
curious – eager to learn more
mystery – puzzle
stout – thick in structure
Figures of Speech
To know what is Figure of speech is, kindly check this article.
Alliteration
Line 5 – curious case – cc
Line 6 – pigtail’s place – pp
Line 8 – hung behind him – hh
Line 14 – All day the puzzled sage did spin – ss
Line 16 –The pigtail hung behind him. – hh
Line 17 – And right and left and round about, – rr
Line 19 –He turned; but still the pigtail stout – ss
Line 22 –And though he twist and twirl, and tack, – tttt
Allusion, Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Oxymoron, Onomatopoeia
I could not able find it. If you have found anything, Kindly mention it in the comment section.
Anaphora
- Line 9 and 10 mentioned below, start with same word ‘Says he, “The mystery I’ve found‘. Is an classic example of Anaphora and Repetition.
Says he, "The mystery I've found – Says he, "The mystery I've found!
- Line 6 and 7 mentioned below, starts with same letter ‘And’
And swore he'd change the pigtail's place, And have it hanging at his face,
- Line 17 and 18 – Both the lines starts with the word ‘And‘.
And right and left and round about, And up and down and in and out
- Line 21 and 22 – Both the lines starts with the word ‘And‘
And though his efforts never slack, And though he twist and twirl, and tack,
Ellipsis
Could not, able to find any Ellipsis, in the above poem.
Rhyming Words
- Yore-wore-more
- case-place-face
- found-found-round
- in-spin-pin
- about-out-stout
- slack-tack-back
Rhyming Scheme
The Rhyming scheme is AAA-BBB-CCC-DDD-EEE-FFF
There lived a sage in days of yore, --------------A And he a handsome pigtail wore;----------------A But wondered much and sorrowed more,------A Because it hung behind him. He mused upon this curious case,--------------B And swore he'd change the pigtail's place,---B And have it hanging at his face,---------------B Not dangling there behind him. Says he, "The mystery I've found –----------C Says he, "The mystery I've found!-----------C I'll turn me round," he turned him round;--C But still it hung behind him. Then round and round, and out and in,-------D All day the puzzled sage did spin;--------------D In vain–it mattered not a pin –-----------------D The pigtail hung behind him. And right and left and round about,---------E And up and down and in and out------------E He turned; but still the pigtail stout---------E Hung steadily behind him. And though his efforts never slack,---------F And though he twist and twirl, and tack,----F Alas! Still faithful to his back,----------------F The pigtail hangs behind him.
Question from Textbook
A. Answer the following.
1. What made the sage upset?
The sage was upset with the pigtail that was hanging back of his head.
2. Why did the sage spin all day?
The spun all day, in an attempt to bring the pigtail in front of his head.
3. What solution did he arrive at for the mystery that he found?
He did not get any solution for the mystery, although he said “The mystery I’ve found“. Even after several attempts, he did not get any solution.
4. Was he finally succeeded in changing his pigtail’s position? Support your answer with a line from the poem.
No, the sage was unsuccessful in all the attempts. The failed sage said that the pigtail was faithful to his back.
5. Did something dreadful happen? How would you describe the events in the poem– comedy or tragedy?
Dreadful did not happen. The events in the poem done by the sage are comedic.
B. Read the poem lines and answer the questions given below.
1.
But wondered much and sorrowed more
Because it hung behind him.
a) What was he wondering about?
The pigtail is present at, the back of the sage head.
b) What does the word ‘it’ refer to here?
‘it’ refers to Pigtail
2.
And though his efforts never slack
And though he twist, and twirl, and tack,
Alas! Still faithful to his back
The pigtail hangs behind him.
a) Pick out the rhyming words from the above lines and give the rhyme scheme for the same.
slack-tack-back. The rhyming scheme is AAA.
b) Did he quit his trying? How can you say?
He never quit trying to bring the pigtail front. We can get from this line ‘And though his efforts never slack‘. Never slack means, here the sage did not slow the process.
3. ‘He mused upon this curious case’ What is the figure of speech used in this line?
Might be Oxymoron or Hyperbole. Since he is exaggerating the simple thing into complex situations.
4. Irony is a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning. It may also be a situation that ends up in quite a different way than what is generally anticipated. In simple words, it is a difference between appearance and reality.
Can this poem be called an ironic poem? Justify your answer.
Usually, sages are known for their intelligence, knowledge etc. But in this poem, the sage behaves like a foolish, childish or ignorantly just to bring his pigtail in front of him. Although it is not possible to bring to pigtail in front of him, as the pigtail is fixed.
This is a classic example of Irony, where the so-called intelligent person like a sage doing a foolish action.
Also, sages are said to have no emotion, in whichever situation. But the sage here becomes excited and worried because of his pigtail.
