The village schoolmaster summary line by line explanation
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THE VILLAGE SCHOOLMASTER – OLIVER GOLDSMITH
CRITICAL APPRECIATION
The Village Schoolmaster
is an extract from Goldsmith’s famous long poem
The Deserted Village
(1770) in which he describes the decline of a village in Ireland in the nineteenth century. The extractdescribing the schoolmaster is said to have been inspired by one Thomas Byrne, an ex-soldier whotaught Goldsmith when he was a boy.The poem has a rural background. It depicts scenes, people, manners and objects of a village in 18thcentury Britain. It is a pastoral lyric which abounds in pictures of village life and contains nostalgicreflections from Goldsmith’s boyhood days. The speaker fondly remembers his childhood schooldays ata village school. The poem is remembered for the formal simplicity of its language and poetic style, andfor the sincerity of the emotions and sentiments that it expresses. The tone is sympathetic yet gently humorous.This poem is a simple word-picture of the tale of a village school master. It was a small village school atLissoy, the Irish village where the poet himself had studied. Mr. Thomas Paddy Byrne was the villageschool master. This poem has become one of the immortals of literature because of the ring of authenticity, for he was a pupil of this school master. With a passing reference to the location, the poetgets to work to describe the man.
The school master's moods, the situation in the classroom and the reactions of the learners have been described in this poem. It is sufficiently clear that Goldsmith lookedupon the teacher with the mixed feelings of fear, respect and humour.
TEACHER’S CHARACTER
His appearance was stern
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He was a strict disciplinarian – the pupils were terrified of him
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He was jovial by nature – joked with his pupils
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He was kind
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He loved learning and was intense about it
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He was extremely knowledgeable – the villagers were amazed at all that he knew
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He had very good debating skills – he could argue at length using long, difficult wordsThe poet gives a humorous study of the teacher's character but never loses his sympathy for him. Hemakes an analysis of the character and capabilities of the schoolmaster. He was a staunch disciplinarianwho took his students to task if they played truant. The poet, as a student, was very aware of this aspectof the school master but he appreciated his stand and came to love and respect him. The severe measurestaken by the teacher had a soft and pious motive behind them as he wanted to see his pupils 'turn intolearned people.The school master's character is portrayed with many paradoxes. He is an able and strict man yet hisschool is always noisy. He is severe in manner but at the same time is jovial with a stock of seasoned jokes. He is supposed to be a great scholar though he can only read, write and solve simple sums of arithmetic. He is stern and yet kind.The school master is acknowledged as a great erudite person by the entire village and even the parsonrecognizes his skill in debate. The rhetoric of the teacher leaves the rustics gazing in admiration. The poem ends on a note of humour. The teacher is not to be taken as a mere satirical sketch. Apart from hisscholarly pretensions, he has been a remarkably kind and benevolent gentleman. The frown on his faceoften hides a heart overflowing with love and sympathy. He has a smattering of useful informationwhich he puts to good use with the illiterate and ignorant villagers. Thus he projects a larger than lifeimage of himself before them. He has an opinion on every issue and loves to engage in debates particularly with the village priest He knows that in the eyes of the villagers the outcome of the debatedepends more on sound than on sense. Hence he continues arguing even after he has lost his point
The village schoolmaster
Explanation:
- The village school master story was written by Oliver Goldsmith. This poem is an extract from Goldsmith poem the deserted village.
- The poem is probably set in the rural area where the speaker was born.
- This is the poem that depicts the reality in which poet share his sentiments towards his teacher.
- Thomas Byrne may be the school master of poet.
- This is the story of a school master who has given so much respect from the side of villagers because of his knowledge and his keen interest in reading.
- In this poem, poet tells that how the things has been changed over the time in past.
Learn more: School master, villagers.