Lesson 1, Topic 1
In Progress

Scribbler’s Dream

Scribbler’s Dream Lawrence Darmani

Scribbler,

The dream in your mind

fills the shelf

When upon the shelf you gaze

5 vacuum stares at you.

There is your quill and parchment,

but heavy are your hands

Why? Because disuse numbs the wrist.

10 Between dreams and fruition

yawning gaps close,

not by pacing carpets

but by mating quill and parchment.

Tell you the truth:

15 the gold adorning the neck

once was lost in rocky soils.

They dig deep who find it!

Here is your quill.

Here are the sheets.

20 When will this dream in your mind

fill the shelf,

Scribbler?

Meaning of words used in the poem (synonyms):

Scribbler: writer

Shell: bookshelf

Gaze: stare at, look keenly at

Vacuum: emptiness, void, space, nothingness, blank

Quill: old use for pen or instrument for writing

Disuse: neglect, not in use: failure to make use of

Numbs: deadens, dulls, stuns, (makes the wrist inactive)

Fruition: fulfilment, realization, achievement, final result

Yawning gaps: wide open, gaping, vast

Pacing carpets: going to and fro, wandering, patrolling,

Adorning: decorating, beautifying.

Parchment: scroll, paper, writing pad

Sheets: paper, pages, leaves.

Issues the poem raises

Scribbler, like many aspiring writers, procrastinates about writing great books. He dreams about filling bookshop shelves with his works. But simply wishing and doing nothing about it will not enable Scribbler, or any other person, achieve their goals. Rather than procrastinate about doing something worthwhile, just go ahead and do it.

Theme:

1. The central idea of the poem is a challenge for writers to work hard to actually write, instead of wishing that they were writers and yet they are not producing any piece of writing.

2. When you have a skill and you don’t use it, you will soon lose the skill. (Disuse numbs the wrist).

3. Anything meaningful that needs to be achieved requires hard work, determination, and commitment.

Literary Devices

Personification: vacuum stares at you (line 5). Vacuu is made to look at you, thus giving- it a human attribute. Likewise… mating quill and parchment (line 13) in which quill (pen) and parchment (paper) are said to be mating (intimacy).

Tone: the poet convevs passion for his message. He does not mince words challenging the Scribbler to practice his or her skill. The line, Why? (line 8) seems to demand an answer from the Scribbler, but the poet answers it: Because disuse numbs the wrist (line 9).

Symbolism: The gold adorning the neck (line 15) symbolizes wealth and prosperity that can become the Scribbler’s if he too would dig deep (line 17); thus the necessity for hard work.

Form/Structure:

“Scribbler” is a three-stanza poem that does not rhyme. The poet addresses “Scribbler”, that is, a writer, directly, using the second person narrative: eg. The dream in your mind/fills the shelf(lines 2 and 3). Also note: When upon the shelf you gaze; There is your quill…/ but heavy are your hands.

Commentary/analysis:

The poet challenges his fellow writers to rise up write! His attitude suggests that the Scribbler (representing many in the writing fraternity) may be dilly-dallying (or delaying) when writing is waiting to be done. and

All aspiring authors dream that they would write books and fill their bookshelves with them. But the poet, whose background includes the training of writers, reminds them that simply dreaming about something does not necessarily make things happen. Between dream and fruition / yawning so as to bridge the gap between vision and achievement. But success comes, not by pacing carpets (line 12), spi that is, not by relaxing in the comfort of your home doing nothing. Success comes… by mating quill

parchment (line 13); that is, by putting pen to paper, by The poet identifies one important principle about writing: actually writing. that is, the more you write, the more you learn how to write and the more successful you become. But disuse (line 9), that is, fail ure to practise the skill, numbs the wrist (line 9), which means lack of exercising the wrist and writing (or typing) will make it go numb, unable to produce anything. It is the same as saying. are your hands, which is the result of not using the hands often enough to write.

The mention of gold in line 15 introduces the subject of hard work. Gold mining is known to be tedious…. Lost in rocky soils (line 16), it requires blasting rock and soil with dynamite, edigging and extracting the precious mineral from the rubble in order to reach it, which is no easy work. They dig deep who find it! (line 17). Comparing that to writing, the poet challenges authors to work hard in order to achieve

their objectives. The writer who fails to write has no excuse, for Here are he sheets (line 19) to write on; likewise the parchments. No more excuses, the poet declares, for resources are available for the writer to work with.

The last three lines (20-23) are a big challenge to the Scribbler: When will this dream in your mind / fill the shelf./ Scribbler? In other words, when’ will the writer stop day dreaming and get to work in order to write? In order to answer the question, Scribbler should stop procrastinating and get to work. Just as gold is lost until it is found, so will a writers literature get lost in the mind until he or she writes.

The same principle applies to all kinds of skill development: work hard, put your dream to practical use to achieve your goals.

Discussion Questions

1. What is the poet passionately referring to as quill and parchment?

2. What does the poet mean by “disuse numbs the wrist”?

3. What is the dream of the Scribbler? 4. What is preventing the Scribbler from realizing his dream?

5. What image does the reference to “the gold adorning the neck” give? he do?

6. If Scribbler desires to fulfil his dream, what must

7. Identify the following literary devices in the poem: symbolism and personification.

8. What principle of writing does the poet identify?

9. What does “They dig deep who find it” have to do with hard work?

10. What should Scribbler do about procrastinating?