My Last Duchess ......

My Last Duchess written by Robert Browning is a dramatic monologue based during the time of Renaissance. It is an amalgamation lined with puns and several other artistic elements which reveal the mindset of the people living during the early 16th century.

Setting of the poem:- The era consisted of the Monarchial rule where the society was limited into the Royal Family and the common folk.
The Noble borns were status oriented and self dignified. The male personalities especially of the Royalty had a very autocratic way of thinking.
They were self-distinguished to such limits that a chauvistic attitude can be seen which is reflected in the personality of the Duke.

The speaker of the poem i.e. Duke of Ferrara is having a conversation with the Envoy of the Count of Tynol. He begins the poem by expressing his admiration regarding the portrait of his deceased wife. He refers to his wife as 'his and the painting as "My Last Duchess" hence revealing his possessive nature. This also reveals the self-dignified, egoistic side of his personality.
Describes the painting to be so beautiful, so craftfully created that it seems as though it were alive, that the duchess herself were real.(a simile used in this line)
It can be seen that he refers to the Duchess as an object of his control, a possession that belongs just to him.

It is believed that the painting was a creation of "Fra Pandolf" who infact is an imaginative character. It was merely in "one" day that he completed the painting.
From this again we see the possessive side of the Duke. He alloted just a day to the painter to study the Duchess.

He asks his visitor to sit down and look carefully at the painting. Many a times people would want to know the reason for that particular expression of the Duchess,
the passionate glaze and the blush of joy on her face. People wanted to know the reason for that look but only few dared to ask and if asked, only from "him"(this again reveals the possessive nature of the Duke, his like for controlling the duchess).

He tells the reason for the blush. According to him it wasn't just because of him that that 'spot of joy' would appear. He makes an assumption here and says that maybe Fra Pandolf made a comment like "Your coat covers your arms" or maybe he complimented the duchess by telling her that no artist could reproduce a replica of the real beauty which lay within her.

Thereafter he expresses the various "misconducts" of the duchess.
He is unable to understand how 'easily impressed and pleased' the duchess would get by trivial compliments.
He says she had a "roving eye", that she had become an infidel.
Anything gifted to her held equal amount of importance and brought equal amount of happiness.
From the expensive gift he gave her to the sunset in the west, both were equally valued by her.
If a worker from the palace broke a cherry branch and gifted that for her, she would become happy. Even riding the donkey brought joy to this woman.
Whenever she would express her gratitude to the men, this conduct seemed approving but only to certain limits. Here we can see the suspicious nature of the Duke.
He didnt trust his duchess and felt that she showed more than just gratitude to those men.

After that he says she never valued the gift he had given to her. His gift of "a nine hundred year old name", the royal title bestowed upon her after she became "his" wife again reveal the domineering,self obsessed, possessive, autocrative mindset of the Duke.
Although he reveals that he wasn't good at expressing his feelings, that conversation was absent in their relationship, he says he would never stoop so low to correct her mistake. He felt it beneath his dignity to point out the Duchess's indecent behavior.
And because his wife never listened or showed any signs of changing herself, "He commands" and all the smiles ceased.. This either means that the Duke gave commands for his wife's assasination or it was through something he said that his wife no longer lived.

At the end of the poem the Duke shows a bronze piece of art consisting of Neptune taming a sea horse.
This is a pun which implies that the Duke saw women as objects who could be controlled. He felt that women were like the sea-horse, possessions upon whom he could play his control upon.....

Capital Punishment....

Capital Punishment is a violation against justice

Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the killing of a person by judicial process for vengeance and incapacitation.
It is used today and was used in ancient times to punish a variety of offenses mainly murder of an innocent.

The procedure of capital punishment is such that the culpable is placed in jail while the result of his crime is deliberated by the judicial system over a long period of time.Although it is still carried on in many countries mostly Asian it has also been abolished and termed as “An inhuman act of punishment by the law”.
It has created great controversy over the past few years. One side may agree with the idea of convicts & murderers being sentenced to death while others tend to oppose such an idea which tarnishes human morality.

My opinion about capital punishment is this that it is indeed a wrong, bias and painless means of punishing the guilty.

It is the violation of human rights. Capital punishment might be quoted as the universal punishment for a criminal but then again we are not the one to take away life.We are given a life by God and only He has the power and the right to take that away from us.



We forget one main thing though:-
Criminals are not born but made!

An act of crime may not always be intentional. We as human beings tend to act on our emotions. What if a person kills another due to provocation, in the spur of the moment, should such a person receive death sentence. What if he too has a family, is it right to allow revenge and hatred to take such control over us that we see justice as a means of satisfying one’s revenge. If that is so then it is not justice but plain malice.

Justice is based upon the principle of righting a wrong, of improving a person who has done wrong, of taking that 1% chance of making a criminal into a better person. If a man commits 15 murders that too intentional; he will be punished with death sentence. Killing him will definitely not get our loved ones back. This death penalty which we think is so effective will be redemption, means of escape for the crimes this killer has committed.



It is understandable that forgiveness is not easy but revenge won’t bring peace to one’s mind either.
“Love thy neighbor as u love yourself”. Don’t fill up your life with hatred and revenge. Be the better man, the better human being. Making the guilty suffer through years of imprisonment, making him realize his mistake, turning a criminal into a better human being is just.



In those countries where death penalty is legal, the crime level has not decreased. We think killing a man will lessen the no. of murderers out there in the world then we are wrong! It will only lead to more hatred towards humanity which will result in innocents being killed all the more.

As Gandhiji rightfully said “An eye for an eye makes the world blind”



He takes a life, you take his life and this cycle goes on forever until there is no one left. Intentional murderers, psychotic killers, such people cannot be treated through death, keeping them away from the rest of the population, making them work, giving them lessons which are not sugar coated but the plain truth along with real life stories can change the personality of criminals.

One criminal made good can change an entire generation of people. We might not know this but years in prison is torture not comfort for a prisoner.There are prisoners out there who beg for death. To make them suffer, repent over their actions is the best means of justice and not capital punishment.


Take for example freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Raj Guru (India’s true patriots). They were given capital punishment by the British. Their cause was meant for the freedom of their country yet they were punished. Fighting for your country can never be wrong, we achieved freedom that too through nonviolence but we lost 3 noble men. Was it justice? I think not. If capital punishment had not been given to him; he would have lived his life and embraced death at God’s call.

At the end I would like to conclude Life is not an object which you can give or take. Dieing must not be taken as a means of escape from one’s mistakes. Learning and improving is what is important. Like I quoted before “Criminals are not born but made”…. We can make them into better beings.
Only then can justice be served on the people…..

Every friend in life is the most beautiful gift of God

"Tell me what company thou keepst, and I'll tell thee what thou art."





I walked along the ocean,
my head bowed low in sorrow,
I hardly handled today,
how do I cope with tomorrow?

The day was like every other;
the pain, the grief inside.
My strength was running out,
I could no longer hide.

The pain was immense that day,
It had never been that bad!
But all of a sudden, out of the blue,
I didn't feel so sad.

Something happened that day,
The weight became like a feather,
It'll never be entirely gone though,
The memories are there forever.

Although I still look back and cry,
I had a friend to confide,
One who means the whole world to me,
One who helped me reach the stronger side.





........Naintara Gurung

CHEERS TO THE FUTURE:-For all the holy angels on earth
Playing games, without the thought of victory
Or failure, nothing affects your pride
Running about places, taking over field
Your feat of innocence, truth covering words
Often worried, just for basic stuff
Food, water, toys and mum
A few good old caring chums
That’s the most you care about
A life cheerful, mind of purity
Soul divine, playing awhile
Happiness to surround, awhile
Joyous, contended the world for you
Here I stand to hug and wish
A VERY HAPPY CHILDREN’S DAY TO ALL OF YOU

No Title....

The Last Memoir:-

It was the year of the Dragon according to the Chinese calendar. But I wasn’t a Chinese nor was I Japanese by birth. I had no porcelain white face with slanting tiny eyes.
I was just a 13 year old child who had no knowledge of the world’s hideous facade. I knew not of the shadowy clones who called themselves human beings but performed terrible crimes behind the wall of some piece of construction.

Embraced within the loving arms of my parents; everything to me, to this little girl of age 13 was a rainbow. During that particular year, that time when sins of mankind played their scenes over and over again in some part of the world, the city, disturbing the peace of the nation; even during such chaotic situations I remained immune to everything around me. I saw the world a fantasy land filled with my childhood imagination. It mattered not to me who was good or who was bad; all remained serious to me only for a few seconds and then I would drift to another thought that would suddenly hold my interests.

Now that I come to think of it very few memories rarely come across my mind but that day shall never be erased.
It was confined, trapped, stuck whatever u may call it… It was my only immovable infant reminiscence.

It had been a nice sunny morning, a Sunday ambience flowing along the household.
Everyone was busy being involved in their morning rituals. Mother singing her melodious bhajans, Father reading the newspaper a little too seriously, Cook bustling about the kitchen preparing breakfast, the house maids gossiping in a little corner and the grumpy old gardener scratching his head trying to figure out who ate his flowers.
I remember myself hidden amongst the bushes of our lovely old lawn playing with my little dog Skip.

So lost in my innocent act I failed to notice my parents surrounding me with the gardener tapping his foot impatiently as he looked upon Skip.
“…Was him mam!”
I’ll never forget that gruff voice. My parents looked not too happy…. So what if I let my dog play in the gardens meantime destroying the beautifully planted flowers.
But all was not forgiven. Even though I was allowed to tag along with my parents to the market I wasn’t allowed to marvel the city’s busy market area since according to my mother I had been a naughty girl.
I had to stay inside the car, my face not so very happy then while my parents carried out their errands.
It had just perhaps been to me a few seconds when I felt slow rumbles below me.
I won’t admit but I was fascinated since the quivery movements grew almost as though currents after currents flowed beneath me.

And then it stopped. I was disappointed for my curiosity had not been satisfied….
5 seconds and then came my answer. Like a thousand blasts a huge bomb erupted right in front of my eyes. It was not too very far from the car. People ran about, fear encompassing their forms as death lashed its cruel hand upon the innocent. Blasts after blasts, shockwaves traveling across and the grounds booming with heavy metal the city was in chaos. The cries and screams of loved ones being killed could be heard all over.
I had hidden myself behind the car seat not daring to look ahead. It was like a nightmare walking alive in front of my eyes. I cried inwardly for my mother’s soothing voice, my father’s strong comfort but it seemed in all that confusion nothing was detectable. Everything was shuddering and breaking to pieces…. Thankfully the ear splitting screams slowly as though one was falling asleep died down.

It was at the stillness of the environment that I had the pluck to slip out of the car.
My feet touched the grounds; my eyes had been shut tight. It was too scary to look at.
I had felt my instincts telling me what was ahead was bad, something worse than my mother’s scolding something so horrifically real that it probably had eaten away my parents too.
That thought struck me hard, my parents… I wailed deep inside as a pang of pain shot through me.
I opened my eyes to gasp loudly. The sight was blood curling. It was revoltingly downright monstrous for a child. But I walked for I wanted my mother and my father.
My feet stepped into crimson pools of blood, my tear driven eyes watered more upon seeing the people, people whom I’d seen laughing dead with the ghastly looks upon their faces.



I wanted to run but I just couldn’t. I carried my frightened body further across until I stopped. There in front lay an old man injured, battered beyond words almost as though he had come back from a long battle.
He had a light smile grazing his face. It puzzled me so much so that I ran towards him and sat beside him clutching hold of his bloody hands.
He looked at me with hope in his eyes.
“Thank God I’m leaving this wretched world of sorrows, Live well my child” He had said before his eyes closed shut.
His eyes… They had been the doorway, the opening to a sickening realization of the type of world I actually resided in.
I didn’t understand then for I was a child, but what angered me was what came next.
I waited for help to arrive and when it did it came in huge white vans with red signals bellowing loudly wide across.
I was taken care of by the nurses; my father and mother were merely bruised thank the heavens they were safe.

What I had seen had been nothing easy to watch.

Even today I can see it happening right before my eyes….It isn’t the river’s water which flows in front of me; it is blood which once flowed through the city’s streets.

Today as I write this essay I cannot speak nor feel the pain people might have had to suffer due to the terrorist attacks which recently occurred.
We are yet too young and inexperienced to actually understand the true meaning of life and death. It won’t come that easily. Even as I write this I probably myself am too immature to know what true pain really means. I hope that in this forsaken world people will try to cease the conflicts which arise not just within themselves but within the society. In time I pray that not just the youth but even the elders will see through the mistakes of the past and will try to rebuild a better and safer future for us… The younger generation…..

.....................Naintara Gurung