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Virginia Woolf
The Eclipse
Q No. 1: Describe
the scene of people's journey towards the North?
: Virginia Woolf was a distinguished
essayist who possessed a brilliant imagination and a creative
intelligence. She was a sensitive artist
who went deep down into the nature and origin of the things and recorded her
observations in a keen and subtle way.
She described her experience about a
June night when everybody in England was curious to witness the solar
eclipse. It was to take place very early
in the morning and could be clearly seen in the North of England. So, a very large number of people traveled to
the North for this purpose. All were on the roads. There was no sleep or fixity in England that
night. Everyone was thinking about the
dawn. Some people were travelling in their
cars and some in trains. Everyone was
pointing to the north. The atmosphere
was full of excitement and anticipation.
The sky gained too much importance
that night. As the time was advancing,
the consciousness about the sun and the sky was increasing. At that day people
were thinking only about the sun and their relation with every thing was
completely changed. They were related to
the whole world. Their experience was universal
and cosmic. They had gone there for a
disembodied intercourse with the sky.
The activity and fervour of these
people was only due to their concern for the world and its future. That’s why
they travelled in a large number to witness this natural phenomenon.
Q No. 2: Describe
the atmosphere before the eclipse?
On a June night, a large number of
people travelled to the north of England to view the solar eclipse. People were full of excitement and
curiosity. Their motive was same, as was
their destination. Every thing looked
pale before the eclipse. The river and
fields were colourless. The flowers
waved palely. Nothing was clearly
visible.
People had gathered from far and
wide of England and this congregation presented a strange scene. The farmers of that area also joined the
procession of the eclipse-watchers. They
had a sense of keeping an appointment with an actor of such vast proportion who
would come silently and be everywhere.
The ignorant ladies of that area were unable to understand the motives
and activities of this procession.
People were standing on a high hill,
above a brown valley. Everyone was over
dressed due to cold but still it was too cold because they were standing on a
wet spongy ground almost in a swamp.
Some people were sitting on their nylon coats and were eating among cups
and plates. No one was an individual
there; they had lost all the signs of individuality. They had become the emblems of a collective
human mind and sensibility. They looked
very dignified. It seemed, as they were
the statues of humanity on the vast ridge of the earth.
They thought themselves to be very
old. They looked like the members of the
sun-worshipper of primeval age who used to gather on a certain place in
Stonehenge to worship the early morning sun.
At the time of solar eclipse, they thought that their “sun god” was
annoyed so they made different sacrifices and tried to please their god. Virginia thought that they also looked like
those worshippers because they had also religiously undertaken this journey to
salute the dawn.
Meanwhile, the sun was rising. Its rays fell on the earth but soon the
clouds held it and its face was completely covered with a thick blanket of
clouds. The sun was trying to get free
before the sacred seconds of the eclipse were up.
So, it was the scene that led to the
actual scene of the solar eclipse.
Q Na. 3: Describe
the scene of eclipse?
At the moment of sunrise the clouds gathered
round the sun and covered it fully. The
sun violently tried to get itself free.
For some moments, the clouds subsided and the sun shone with its full
splendor. The valley and trees regained
their colours but soon the clouds started a race again. They tried to muffle its face completely. The sacred time of twenty-four seconds
began. The sun was racing frantically to
come out of this darkness. Clouds
spread, they thickened and it seemed as if the sun would never be able to show
itself. People got disappointed and
thought that they would not be able to witness the eclipse. All realized that the sun was being defeated.
The colours went away from the valley. Out of twenty-four, only five seconds of
eclipse remained.
Still the sun was obscure. People were extremely dejected and they
turned away from the dull cloud blanket in front to the moor behind. All were pale, all were livid but they felt
that something more was yet to come. Shadows became darker and darker. The
flesh and the blood of the world were dead; only the skeleton was left. Suddenly, there was a slight movement and the
sun was able to rescue itself. It slowly
and gradually came ahead. All the humiliation and disgrace of the sun was
over. The light returned. It seemed that the life on the earth had been
reshaped. The sun regained its grandeur and splendor.
This gave a new vision to people
that the earth is made up of colours and the colours are due to the sun. If there is no sun, there is no life. So, the
importance of sun should be realized.
This was a thrilling experience about the earth and its sun.
Q No. 4: What
is the conclusion of this essay?
This is a descriptive essay by Virginia
Woolf, who has forcefully portrayed the atmosphere of a specific June night,
with its minute details.
She presented the hustle and bustle
at the Euston railway station with its body and soul. The outward activity was blended with mental
excitement of people. Their purpose was
to view the eclipse at dawn. All went to
the north to witness it. The world seemed
as a different place to them. Their relation with everything was new and
unique. They experienced the early morning eclipse and understood the reality
of earth as a planet and our life on this planet.
The cloud-covered sun was racing to
get itself free. The absence of the sun
made everyone realize its importance and its re-emergence seemed to be a new
life for the earth and its inhabitants.
The life on the earth was reshaped and remoulded. The importance of the sun was affirmed and
verified. This experience revealed that
the earth is made of colours and colours are due to the sun. Today atomic and industrial wastes are badly
damaging the sun and sunlight. The chloro-floro carbons are piercing the ozone
layer. The atomic experiments are
heating this planet up and are causing a disturbance in the whole solar system. The world authorities should carefully check
these things to rectify the situation.
The thesis of the writer is to
stress on the importance of the sun.
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