The Eclipse

(2)

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.