A PowerPoint Presentation of the poem "The Frog and the Nightingale by Vikram Seth. The presentation contains a brief introduction to the poet, bibliography, theme of the poem, a detailed summary, characteristics of the frog and the nightingale, poetic devices used, MCQs and a crossword.
2. Vikram Seth was born on 20 June 1952. He is
an Indian novelist and poet. He received primary
education at Welham Boys' School and then moved
to The Doon School. While at Doon, Seth was the
Editor-in-chief of The Doon School Weekly.
While studying at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, he
developed an interest in poetry and learned Chinese.
After leaving Oxford, Seth moved to California to work
on a graduate degree in economics at Stanford
University. He then went on to study creative writing
at Stanford and classical Chinese poetry at Nanjing
University in China.
A polyglot, he has studied several languages
including Welsh, German, French, Mandarin, English, Urdu and Hindi. He has
received several awards including Padma Shri, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, WH
Smith Literary Award and Crossword Book Award.
Vikram Seth - Life
3. Vikram Seth – Bibliography
Novels
The Golden Gate (1986)
A Suitable Boy (1993)
An Equal Music (1999)
A Suitable Girl (2013)
Poetry
• Mappings (1980)
• The Humble Administrator's Garden (1985)
• AllYouWho SleepTonight (1990)
• BeastlyTales (1991)
• Three Chinese Poets (1992)
• The Frog and the Nightingale (1994)
4. Theme of the Poem
The poem highlights the plight of those gullible
people whose simplicity and credulous nature
makes them complete misfits in the world of
manipulation.The go-getters elbow their way to
the forefront pushing the deserving to the
background.The shy and the timid fail to put their
foot down and the dominating and the
domineering go about exploiting them without any
sense of remorse or guilt.
5. The Frog and the Nightingale
- Vikram Seth
Other creatures loathed his voice,
But, alas, they had no choice,
And the crass cacophony
Blared out from the sumac tree
At whose foot the frog each night
Minstrelled on till morning night.
Once upon a time a frog
Croaked away in Bingle Bog
Every night from dusk to dawn
He croaked awn and awn and awn.
6. And the whole admiring bog
Stared towards the sumac, rapt,
And, when she had ended, clapped,
Ducks had swum and herons waded
To her as she serenaded
And a solitary loon
Wept, beneath the summer moon.
Toads and teals and tiddlers, captured
By her voice, cheered on, enraptured:
"Bravo! " "Too divine! " "Encore! "
So the nightingale once more,
Quite unused to such applause,
Sang till dawn without a pause.
Neither stones nor prayers nor
sticks.
Insults or complaints or bricks
Stilled the frog’s determination
To display his heart's elation.
But one night a nightingale
In the moonlight cold and pale
Perched upon the sumac tree
Casting forth her melody
Dumbstruck sat the gaping frog.
7. “Did you… did you like my song?”
“Not too bad - but far too long.
The technique was fine of course,
But it lacked a certain force.”
“Oh!” the nightingale confessed.
Greatly flattered and impressed
That a critic of such note
Had discussed her art and throat:
“I don't think the song's divine.
But - oh, well - at least it's mine.”
Next night when the Nightingale
Shook her head and twitched her
tail,
Closed an eye and fluffed a wing
And had cleared her throat to sing
She was startled by a croak.
"Sorry - was that you who spoke? "
She enquired when the frog
Hopped towards her from the bog.
"Yes," the frog replied. "You see,
I'm the frog who owns this tree
In this bog I've long been known
For my splendid baritone
And, of course, I wield my pen
For BogTrumpet now and then."
8. "Well I charge a modest fee."
"Oh!" "But it won't hurt, you'll see"
Now the nightingale inspired,
Flushed with confidence, and fired
With both art and adoration,
Sang - and was a huge sensation.
Animals for miles around
Flocked towards the magic sound,
And the frog with great precision
Counted heads and charged admission.
"That's not much to boast about".
Said the heartless frog. "Without
Proper training such as I
- And few others can supply.
You'll remain a mere beginner.
But with me you'll be a winner"
"Dearest frog", the nightingale
Breathed: "This is a fairy tale -
And you are Mozart in disguise
Come to earth before my eyes".
9. Though subdued and sleep
deprived,
In the night her throat revived,
And the sumac tree was bowed,
With a breathless, titled crowd:
Owl of Sandwich, Duck of Kent,
Mallard and MiladyTrent,
Martin Cardinal Mephisto,
And the Coot of Monte Cristo,
Ladies with tiaras glittering
In the interval sat twittering -
And the frog observed them glitter
With a joy both sweet and bitter.
Though next morning it was raining,
He began her vocal training.
"But I can't sing in this weather"
"Come my dear - we'll sing together.
Just put on your scarf and sash,
Koo-oh-ah! Ko-ash! Ko-ash! "
So the frog and nightingale
Journeyed up and down the scale
For six hours, till she was shivering
and her voice was hoarse and
quivering.
10. Every day the frog who'd sold her
Songs for silver tried to scold her:
"You must practice even longer
Till your voice, like mine grows
stronger.
In the second song last night
You got nervous in mid-flight.
And, my dear, lay on more trills:
Audiences enjoy such frills.
You must make your public happier:
Give them something sharper
snappier.
We must aim for better billings.
You still owe me sixty shillings."
Day by day the nightingale
Grew more sorrowful and pale.
Night on night her tired song
Zipped and trilled and bounced along,
Till the birds and beasts grew tired
At a voice so uninspired
And the ticket office gross
Crashed, and she grew more morose
-
For her ears were now addicted
To applause quite unrestricted,
And to sing into the night
All alone gave no delight.
11. Now the frog puffed up with rage.
"Brainless bird - you're on the
stage -
Use your wits and follow fashion.
Puff your lungs out with your
passion."
Trembling, terrified to fail,
Blind with tears, the nightingale
Heard him out in silence, tried,
Puffed up, burst a vein, and died. Said the frog: "I tried to teach her,
But she was a stupid creature -
Far too nervous, far too tense.
Far too prone to influence.
Well, poor bird - she should have
known
That your song must be your own.
That's why I sing with panache:
"Koo-oh-ah! Ko-ash! Ko-ash! "
And the foghorn of the frog
Blared unrivalled through the bog.
12. Summary
• Once upon a time, a Frog used to croak in Bingle Bog.
• He used to croak without concern from morning till evening light
and did not care about how other creatures felt about his singing.
• One night a Nightingale perched on the sumac tree and held the
attention of the whole bog with her melodious voice.
•The Frog introduced himself to her as a famous singer and critic,
and offered to train her to hone her singing.
•The Nightingale was flattered and accepted, hoping to become a
master musician like him.
•The Frog organised her concerts regularly and minted a lot of
money.
13. •He made her practice day and night, even in the rain, straining her
vocal cords.
•The Nightingale lost the natural charm of her music and the
audience started dwindling due to her uninspired performances.
•The Nightingale was now terrified of failure and trembled at the
thought of being told off by the Frog. She overexerted her vocal
cords, burst a vein and died.
•Though outwardly, the Frog did condole her death, inwardly he
was very happy that he had got rid of her. He called the Nightingale
stupid for being so gullible and simple-minded and accused her of
not singing her own original songs just as he did.
•Once again the crass cacophony of the Frog blared out from the
sumac tree. He had become the unrivalled singer of the bog again.
14. Characteristic Qualities of
the Frog
Some words that can be used
to describe the Frog are –
Boastful, Possessive, Patronizing,
Persuasive,Arrogant,
Authoritative, Heartless,
Dismissive, Critical, Imposing,
Commanding, Calculative,
Crafty, Ambitious, Overbearing,
Deceitful, Repulsive and
Dominating.
15. Characteristics of the
Nightingale
Polite, Shy,Timid, Honest,
Meek, Melodious, Gentle,
Benevolent, Humble,
Sweet, Beautiful, Foolish,
Innocent, Naïve, Scared,
Fawning, Servile,
Submissive, Simple and
Generous.
16. Poetic Devices
Bingle bog
Crass cacophony
Night a Nightingale
Toads and teals and tiddlers
Art and adoration
Songs for silver
Better billings
Birds and beasts
Awn and awn and awn
Ko-ash! Ko-ash!
Solitary loon
Mozart in disguise
- Animals and birds have been personified
and they have been given human like characteristics.
- The poet allegorizes the corrupt face of the modern
world where greed, fame and competition outweigh the ethics and values.
- The poet makes use of irony to enliven the craftiness of the Frog.
17. M.C.Q s
Q1) Where did the Frog croak?
a) In Bingle Bog b) Dingle Bog
c) From Dusk to Dawn d) On a toadstool
Q2) What kind of reaction did the animals display to the frog's song?
a) They hated it b) They loved it
c) They ignored it d) They tried to improve it
Q3) What did the frog claim to be?
a) A great teacher b) The owner of the sumac tree
c) A publisher d) The king of Bingle Bog
Q4) In which weather does the nightingale not prefer to sing?
a) Sunny weather b) Rainy weather
c) Winter d) Autumn
Q5) The birds and beasts stopped coming to the concert because the nightingale's song ___
a) Was always the same b) Was uninspired
c) Was too loud d) Had no trills
18. M.C.Qs’ Answers
Q1) Where did the Frog croak?
a) In Bingle Bog
Q2) What kind of reaction did the animals display to the frog's song?
a) They hated it
Q3) What did the frog claim to be?
b) The owner of the sumac tree
Q4) In which weather does the nightingale not prefer to sing?
b) Rainy weather
Q5)The birds and beasts stopped coming to the concert because the nightingale's
song ___
b) Was uninspired
