Animals PPT Class X

Animals
by Walt Whitman
First Flight Poem

7
Class X
About the Poet
Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March
26, 1892) was an American poet,
essayist, and journalist. A humanist, he
was a part of the transition
between transcendentalism
and realism, incorporating both views
in his works. Whitman is among the
most influential poets in the American
canon, often called the father of free
verse. He broke the tradition of rhymed
and metrical poetry. He was famous for
writing a revolutionary new kind of
poetry which was in free verse. The
poem ‘animals’ is from his work ‘Song
Objectives
• To enable the students understand and
enjoy the theme and language by reading
the poem “The Animals’’.
• To enable the students be specific in
reflection, expression and individual
opinion and deeper understanding of the
Animals.
• To enable the students identify the
connection to words or phrases that
resonate with other things.
• To enable the students know more about the
poet or background of the poem.
• To enrich the students with vocabulary.
• To enable the students acquire a few
grammar items, stress patterns, punctuation,
Introduction
Walt Whitman has shown the comparison between

human beings and animals in his poem. He has
pointed out the evils present inside the human brain
which he thinks animals don’t have. That is why he
thinks that animals are much better than human
beings.
Explanation
I think I could turn and live with
animals, they are
so placid and self-contain’d,
I stand and look at them long and long.
The poet says that he wants to live in the world of animals. Here we
can say that the poet finds the world of animals better than that of
human beings. He further says that he finds animals more peaceful
than humans. He says so because animals are not running after
worldly things like human beings. They are calm and have no greed
for worldly things or any kind of achievements. They are self
contained means they are happy with life and never interfere in the
lives of others. Humans have the habit of interfering in the lives of
others. So, poet thinks that animals are better than humans for
being calm and not interfering in the matters of others. The poet
further says that these are the reasons why he stands still and looks
at the animals for a very long time.
Explanation
They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,
Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with
the mania of owning things,
The poet says that unlike humans, animals don’t complain of any
misery. They never cry out loud like humans do, to show what they
have lost. They never stay awake in the night, crying in repentance
for their wrongdoings. This means that animals are different from
human beings because they don’t show anger or grief if something
wrong happens with them. He further says that animals are very
truthful because they never boast of their good deeds done in the
name of god. He says so because most of the human beings do this.
They try to show their good deeds and religiousness to others. They
do so in order to gain popularity among their fellows. So, the poet
thinks that animals never irritate him by doing such things just to
gain some praise from their fellow people. He feels that the animals
are not dissatisfied like humans. They stay happy with whatever they
have. They never run behind worldly things. They never try to
Explanation
Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that
lived thousands of years ago,
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.
So they show their relations to me and I accept them,
They bring me tokens of myself, they evince
them plainly in their possession
Here the poet says that he has never seen any animal showing his devotion to
anyone by bowing down in front of the person. They never do so even for
their ancestors. They do not show devotion towards God like humans do. No
one among them is more respectable or important as we have in human
society. In human beings, rich people are generally given more importance
and are treated with more respect as compared to the poor. But in the society
of animals, they never do so. They never give more or less importance to any
other animal. Everyone in the animal world is happy. They are not like human
beings who find themselves the happiest or the saddest person on earth.
Further the poet says that animals are more honest in showing their relations
with other animals. Here he wants to say that animals use other animals as
their food and they never try to hide this. Whereas human beings show that
they have nice and friendly relations with others, though the reality is
opposite. The poet says that he accepts the fact that animals are true towards
Explanation
I wonder where they get those tokens,
Did I pass that way huge times ago and
negligently drop them?
So at last the poet introspects himself

and says that from where the animals
got those good qualities. He further
questions himself that where his own
good qualities are gone? Did he left
them or had carelessly lost them
somewhere. The qualities that were
found in human beings in the past, like
innocence, kindness, truthfulness are
now seen in animals. He wonders that
humans gave up these qualities and they
have been passed on to the animals.
Central Idea of the
Poem
In the poem ‘Animals’, the poet Walt
Whitman praises animals for being
better than human beings and for
possessing all such qualities that
humans lack or have forgotten. Those
qualities are calmness, the lack of greed
and the ability to stay happy and
contained among others. The poet wants
to live among animals and experience a
life where no one complains and where
they are free of sins and sorrow.
The most important theme of the poem
is not to praise how good animals are,
but to compare humans with them in
order to highlight the flaws of their
nature. The poet believes that probably
Poetic Devices
The poem has a uniform
personification. • Assonance: use of vowel
Stanza 1 sound ‘I’ (I, think, I, live,
Repetition with, animals)
stand and look at them long and long. • Repetition: use of the word
Stanza 2 ‘long’
Repetition • Anaphora: ‘I’ word used at
(i) They do not sweat………. the start of two consecutive
(ii) Not one is dissatisfied……….. lines
Alliteration • Metaphor: sweat and
They do not make me sick. whine refer to the cries
Stanza 3 and complaints of human
Alliteration beings
I wonder where they get those tokens
Rhyme Scheme
There is no rhyme. The poem is in free
verse.
Conclusion
In the poem ‘Animals’,

the poet Walt Whitman
admires the animals for
being better than human
beings. He praises them
also for possessing all
such qualities that
humans lack or have
forgotten.
Practice Questions
Q1- Mention three things that
humans do and animals
don’t?
Q2- What are the ‘tokens’ that

the poet says he may have
dropped long ago, and which
the animals have kept for
him?
Q3-Why animals do not have

to lie awake in the dark ?

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Animals

First Flight Poem

Walt Whitman has shown the comparison between

So at last the poet introspects himself

In the poem ‘Animals’,

Q2- What are the ‘tokens’ that

Q3-Why animals do not have

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