THE CLOUD by P B Shelley- Top Questions and Answers
Class Notes:
Question:
What is a myth? Describe the birth and
activities of the cloud to show that Shelley had made the Poem a nature myth.
Answer:
A myth is an imaginary story that deals
with gods and Goddesses or natural events as living entities.
“The
Cloud is a nature myth of flawless beauty”, says A.C. Rickett. And Shelley has
made it by personifying natural objects and phenomena. The Cloud is the
daughter of Earth and Water are the nursling of the Sky. As a kind girl she
gives showers to the thirsty flowers and cool shade to the leaves. She helps
the buds bloom. She lashes the earth with hailstorms the thunder. Other natural
elements are also personified. Mother-earth dances about the sun. Flowers feel
thirst; leaves dream and buds rest. Winds and sunbeams build blue dome.
This
art of personification has made The Cloud a nature myth. But Shelly here blends
scientific truth poetically. Hence, as a nature-myth The Cloud differs from
traditional myths.
