Corona Says by Vishnu S Rai

 English: Grade 11

Unit 2 Poems

1 Corona Says

Vishnu S. Rai

 Before Reading 

Answer these questions.

a. What is pandemic? Describe a pandemic that you have heard about in the history.

b. Is Corona Virus a pandemic? How?

c. Do you think that human behaviour is responsible for the pandemic?

Vishnu S Rai (1951-) was educated in India, Nepal, and the UK. He taught English at Tribhuvan University for three decades and retired as Professor of English Language Education. Rai writes both in English and Nepali. He has written stories Martyrs & Other Stories (English), play Realities (English), travelogues Nau Dandapari (Nepali), and a novel Paheli (Nepali).

But above all he is a poet and he has published Sudama (a semi epic in Nepali), Jeevan (a collection of poems in Nepali), Vagabond Verses (a collection of poems in English), and Tritiyaki joon (a collection of songs and gazals in Nepali, and his English poems are taught in Nepal and abroad. Rai is known as a poet of human emotions.

The poem, Corona Says, written on the theme of the present world crisis Corona and its devastating impact on human life, is a subtle satire on man's conduct and attitude. 

It views Covid 19 as the byproduct of man's treatment to nature.

Reading

 Stop crying,

 Oh man,

 Stop cursing me

 And listen.

 I didn’t come here

 of my own free will.

 I was invited.

 Believe me,

 I had no choice 

 but to visit you. 

 How many lives were lost 

 Because of me?

 You count.

 But have you ever counted 

 How many have died so far

 Because of you and your wars?

 You call yourself

 ‘the crown of creation’.

 What about the others,

 Those who fly in the sky,

 Those who live in the ocean,

 Those who crawl on the earth,

 And those, the sources of your oxygen? 

 You think they all are your slaves

 Who you can sell or kill

 At your will.

 Don’t blame me.

 I just wanted to show you

 How clean the blue sky looks

 Without dust and smoke.

 I wanted you to realise

 How caged animals feel 

 In a zoo.

 I came

 Not to give you a test.

 I came

 So that mother Earth

 Could have a little rest.

 You claim that you know everything.

 I just wanted you to know yourself

 The earth is not your property alone -

 It’s as much ours as yours.

 Sure, 

 I will depart one day.

 But remember

 There’re many others like me.

 They’ll come too.

 If you don’t get rid of your inflated ego,

 You’ll be back to your cave time

 That you endured 

 Long, l o n g, l o n g ago …

Glossary

cursing (v.): uttering offensive words in anger

crown (n.): authority

slaves (n.): people who are legal property of another and is forced to obey them

ego (n.): a person's sense of self importance

endured (v.): went through

 

About the Poem

The poem 'Corona Says' has been composed by Vishnu S. Rai. It has been written on the theme of the present world crisis Corona and its devastating impact on human life. It is a subtle satire on man's conduct and attitude. It views Covid 19 as the byproduct of man's treatment to nature.

Summary

The speaker of the Poem is Corona, who asks human beings not to cry and stop cursing it for damage. It asks to listen that it hasn’t come on the earth of its own will. It claims that irrational human behaviours have invited it and it has no choice except letting people suffer and die. For the speaker, the number of deaths caused by wars and their activities is higher than the pandemic has done. The so- called human superiority over other creatures is criticized in the poem.

Corona asks us for our indifferent behaviour or nature to the living organisms flying in the sky, living in the ocean and crawling on land, and trees which are the sources of oxygen. These creatures and plants are considered to be slaves. According to our will, we either kill or sell them.

The speaker in the poem asks not to blame as it has just wanted to show the positive impact of the disease. During the pandemic the sky has been clean without dust and smoke since no human activities took place. People have felt like caged animals do in a zoo. The pandemic has allowed the mother earth to have a little rest.

The speaker wishes to make human beings know themselves first though they claim that they have superiority over everything and realize the earth is common home for all the creatures. The speaker relieves us saying that the disease can be eradicated, and at the same time warns us that there are many other diseases from which we may suffer. It warns us that If we continue our immoral activities, we may encounter the irreparable loss and our civilization may be in danger.

Understanding the text

Answer the following questions.

a. Who is the speaker in the poem?

Ans:-  The speaker in the poem is Corona that has brought great impacts in the lives of human beings.

b. Who claim that they are superior to all?

Ans:- Human beings themselves claim that they are superior to all the creatures on the earth.

c. Why has the speaker come to the Earth?

Ans:- The speaker has come to the Earth because of humans' ill-treatment of nature. The speaker hasn't come to the earth on his own free will. He was invited. The Speaker "Corona" has come to give her a little rest and to make human realize that they are not the almighty and the earth is the common habitat for all living creatures.

d. What positive changes have occurred on Earth after the speaker's visit?

Ans:- During the pandemic the sky has been clean without dust and smoke. People have felt like caged animals do in a zoo. The Corona has allowed the earth to have a little rest.

Or, 

After the speaker's visit, some positive changes have occurred on the earth. They are as follows:

•     Environment pollution has minimised. 
•     Nature has become dust-free and the air has become fresh.
•     Human learnt to use natural resources properly.
•     Their egos have been transformed into fear.

Reference to the context

a. What does the speaker mean when he says:

        But have you ever counted

        How many have died so far

        Because of you and your wars?

Ans:- These lines have been taken from Vishnu S. Rai's poem "Corona Says". In the given lines, the speaker claims that human beings themselves are responsible for wars and loss of their lives. The devastation caused by wars is more terrible than the pandemic has done. He wants to make the men realise about the impacts of inhumane wars. Here, the speaker is blaming the human for killing many people through their wars. He is asking about the calculation of dead people that have been invited by humans' war. The number of death because of war is higher than the number of death caused by Corona.

b. Explain the following :

        I will depart one day.

        but remember

        There're many others like me.

        They’ll come too.

        If you don’t get rid of your inflated ego,

        You’ll be back to your cave time

        That you endured

        Long, l o n g, l o n g ago …

 Ans:- In the given extract of Corona Says by Vishnu S. Rai, the speaker gives warning to humans about future circumstances. Corona says that the pandemic of Covid-19 can be controlled by discovering different medicines or vaccines but there are other fatal diseases like it. Corona says that one day it will depart from the planet but if humans don't get rid of their inflated egos, they will suffer very much. Their own bad behaviours, their selfishness or the way they treat the nature can be the cause of the decline of human civilization leading them to the primitive age full of difficulties that their ancestors have already faced. In that critical situation, humans will be back to the caves as before the stone age. It will be the very difficult situation for human beings.

c. What does the speaker mean in the following lines? Explain.

        The earth is not your property alone-

        It’s as much ours as yours.

Ans:- In the given lines of the poem Corona Says, the speaker claims that the earth is the common habitat of all the living creatures. They also have the right to utilize all the resources available on earth equally to sustain their lives. The speaker says that human beings think of being superior to all the living creatures. They have controlled all the natural resources for their own benefits thinking the earth to be their own property. In the name of development and progress, humans are destroying the sources of food and habitats of other creatures. To fulfill the demands of growing population, human beings are disturbing the entire ecosystem. The loss of ecosystem causes the extinction of other living creatures.  But the earth is the common home for all the living organisms. The speaker is making the human realise that the mother Earth belongs to all the creatures. The mother Earth isn't the property of humans alone.

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