THE VILLAGE SCHOOL MASTER.
Oliver Goldsmith.
Outline
The village school master who ran his little school was a severe
disciplinarian. The students were afraid of him and were sufficiently clever to
assess from his face whether that day would bring any misfortune or not. In
spite of his strictness, the school master was jolly. The children laughed at
his jokes with pretended joy. If they noticed any sign of anger on his face they
would spread the news throughout the classroom.
The school master was, in reality, a kind hearted person. His
only fault was his excessive love for learning. He could write work out sums,
survey land, forecast the time and tide and measure the content of a vessel. He
was a master at argument, too. He used verbose words when he talked and the simple
village people would gaze at him. They were amazed that such a small head could
hold such an enormous hoard of knowledge.
Summary of the Poem
The village school master ran his little school in a small
village. It was situated next to the irregular fence that fringed the village
path with full blossomed, beautiful but ornamental furze. He was not only a
very strict disciplinarian but also a ferocious person to observe. He was
familiar to the poet and all other truants because they had endured the
master’s rage. His face was a thing of careful scrutiny. The trembling pupils
would gaze at his face to sense his present frame of mind. The day misfortunes
were written on his forehead or in between the eyebrows.
The school master was a contradiction. Although he was stern, he
was kind and good-humored. He had a store of jokes. When he told them, the
children burst out in fake laughter, under the pretext that the jokes were
awfully hilarious. If the children observed a frown on his fore head, they
circulated the gloomy news throughout the classroom in an undertone. But he was
in essence a kind man. If at all he had any fault, it was his intense love for
learning. He wanted his pupils to become genuine scholar and hence, he had to
be demanding with them.
The villagers were unanimous in their opinion that he really was
an erudite man. He without doubt could write and also work out sums in
arithmetic. He could also survey land, forecast weather and tides. Besides, he
was able to measure the content of a vessel .The parson approved of his skill
in debate. Even if defeated, the school master would keep on arguing. He would
become more fervent and would fling booming words at his adversary. The
uncomprehending villagers would be convinced that the school master was
establishing his standpoint very thoroughly. They stood round the two debaters
and witnessed the verbal duel. They were awestruck when they heard the
high-sounding and incomprehensible words used by the school master. They gazed
at him and wondered how his small head could keep that enormous hoard of
knowledge.
Appreciation
This poem is a simple vignette of a village school master. The
school was in a small village at Lissoy, an Irish village where the poet
himself had studied. Mr. Thomas Paddy Byrne was the village school master. This
poem has become one of the classics of literature because of the ring of
genuineness. As the poet himself was a pupil of this school master, he is able
to create an authentic aura to the poem. With a fleeting allusion to the site,
the poet starts to describe the man. The school master’s fluctuating moods, the
situation in the class room and reactions of learner are described in this
poem. It is amply obvious that Goldsmith looked upon the teacher with the mixed
feelings of fear, respect and humors.
The poet gives an amusing sketch of the teacher’s character with
a deep sympathy for him. He analyses of the nature and capability of the school
master. The teacher was a taskmaster who took his students to task if they
played truant. The poet, as a student, was very aware of this facet of the
school master but he valued his stand and came to love and respect him. The
harsh steps taken by the teacher had a soft and virtuous purpose behind them as
he wished to see his pupils turn in to learned people.
The school master’s is recognized as a great scholarly person by
the entire village and even the parson recognizes his skill in debate. The
oratory of the teacher leaves the rustics gazing in admiration. The poem ends
on a note of humors. The teacher is not to be taken as a sheer sardonic sketch.
Besides, his academic affectations, he was remarkably kind and compassionate. The
scowl on his face often masks a heart brimming with love and consideration. He
has smattering of useful information which he puts to good use with the
illiterate and ignorant villagers. Thus he creates a larger than life figure of
himself before them. He has a view on every subject and loves to engage in
debate above all with the village priest. He knows that in the eyes of the
villagers the conclusion of the debate depends more on noise than on wisdom.
Hence he keeps arguing even if he is defeated.
Goldsmith’s portrait of his former school master is a tour de
force of depiction. He manages to make fun of the schoolmaster’s idiosyncrasies
while maintaining reverence and admiration for him. The forte of the poem lies
in the way in which Goldsmith has neither idealized nor trivialized the school
master. On the other hand, the school master brush stroked to make him more
humane.
QUESTION AND ANSWERS FROM THE POEM.
Q (a) Describe the place where the schoolmaster taught his
little school.
Ans:The school is situated in a village where there is a
abundance of green bush .Bordered with an irregular fence stands a big building
where his village master taught the little school.
Q (b) Explain straggling fence and unprofitably gay.
Ans:Straggling fence means irregular fence bordering the village
school. It means uselessly bright this beauty served no purpose because there
was body to admire it.
Q (c) Reference to the extract describes the schoolmaster.
Ans:The poet portraits disciplinarian. He was a man of stern
appearance and every in disciplined student knew that they could not take
liberties with him. In spite of his strict exterior the school master was a
hind man and had a love for knowledge and his pupils.
Q (d) who laughed? Why did they laugh with counterfeited glee?
Ans:The indisciplined and idle student laughed with
counterfeited glee . The master could tell many joked and even if the students
did not feel like laughing at those jokes yet they pretended to be happy or
merry to impress their teacher.
Q (e) Explain the line “The days disaster in his morning face.”
Ans:Day’s disaster means the misfortunes that were going to
occur that day for the in disciplined students in the school .Morning face
means expression seen on schoolmaster’s face in the morning.
Q (f) How did the people who laugh reacted when he frowned?
Ans: When truants and his other student found that the
schoolmaster was not in the good mood,they would know beforehand that day would
bring disaster for them. The schoolmaster would punish them strictly for their
little faults. Q (a)The poet has earlier referred to the schoolmaster as stern
and strict. What reason doer he
attribute later for this?
Ans: Schoolmaster was a kind-hearted teacher. He used to
act though so that his students could develop a love for learning and become
responsible citizens.
Q (b) What opinion the villagers have of him?
Ans: The whole of the village was in awe of his knowledge
and his ability to solve problems effortlessly.
Q (c) What different qualities did the schoolmaster has?
Ans: The village schoolmaster could easily measure distance,
area and volume. He could deliver the accurate meanings of various expressions
and could also predict the seasons and the events of the future .Everyone
acknowledge that he was good at debating because he had the shill to continue
with his arguments when he had lost the debate.
Q (d) Elaborate on his argumentative skills.
Ans:The schoolmaster had a good argumentative skill and could
continue with his arguments even when has lost the debate. The village loved to
gather around him to listen his learned words that were uttered in a high
pitched voice.
Word meaning
Fence:
boundary, barrier
Aught: in any degree
Skirts: go
round
Fault: responsibility for something wrong
Blossomed:
mass of flowers Taws:
there was
Furzy: grass
certain: unfailing
Unprofitably:
being without profit Cipher:
code, secret message
Gay: merry
The day’s disasters: misfortune
Mansion:
large impressive house
Conveyed: suggest
Severe:
strict
Rustics: villagers
Truant: one
who stays away from school without permission
Boding:
predicting
Tremblers:
shake involuntarily
Trace: mark
out, finish out
Counterfeited
glee: pretending joy
Whisper: to
speak very softly
Dismal:
miserable, very bad
Frowned: as
in displeasure, sign of anger
Measure:
size
Presage:
foretell, before telling
Gauge:
measure
Vanquished:
defeat
Length: the
size
Thundering: producing extraordinary sound
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