This page features a video of the poem “An August Midnight”, prescribed under the Karnataka State Syllabus for 6th Standard English First Language. Along with its summary in three languages and transliterated songs. It serves as a valuable learning resource for students and parents, with each song accompanied by its respective lyrics for easy sing-along. The synchronized lyrics help learners follow and recite the song as it progresses, making memorization and learning by heart easier, more effective, and enjoyable.
Lyrics
English
A shaded lamp and a waving blind,
And the beat of a clock from a distant floor:
On this scene enter--winged, horned, and spined -
A longlegs, a moth, and a dumbledore;
While 'mid my page there idly stands
A sleepy fly, that rubs its hands . . .
Thus meet we five, in this still place,
At this point of time, at this point in space.
- My guests parade my new-penned ink,
Or bang at the lamp-glass, whirl, and sink.
“God's humblest, they!” I muse. Yet why?
They know Earth-secrets that know not I.
And the beat of a clock from a distant floor:
On this scene enter--winged, horned, and spined -
A longlegs, a moth, and a dumbledore;
While 'mid my page there idly stands
A sleepy fly, that rubs its hands . . .
Thus meet we five, in this still place,
At this point of time, at this point in space.
- My guests parade my new-penned ink,
Or bang at the lamp-glass, whirl, and sink.
“God's humblest, they!” I muse. Yet why?
They know Earth-secrets that know not I.
Summary
The poem describes a quiet room where the speaker is visited by five small creatures. A shaded lamp, a moving blind, and the distant ticking of a clock create a still and peaceful setting. A longlegs, a moth, a dumbledore, and a sleepy fly gather around the speaker and his newly written page. They move around the ink or strike against the lamp glass while the poet watches them. Though he calls them humble creatures, he realizes with humility that they know secrets of the Earth that he does not know.
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