Standardization by A. D. Hope
( Reference to Context + SAQ )
Stanza 1
When, darkly brooding on this Modern Age,
The journalist with his marketable woes
Fills up once more the inevitable page
Of fatuous, flatulent, Sunday-paper prose;
Explanation :
The poet criticises modern day journalism and journalists in the first stanza of his poem Standardization. He indicates that these journalists are contemplating deeply ( “brooding” ) about the modern age in a negative and despicable way ( “darkly” ). They don’t present the truth and facts anymore. Instead they sell interesting and controversial information in the name of authentic news. The journalist has become mercantile in nature : for him the woes ( miseries and sorrows ) of people are no better than “marketable” goods, which he can twist, spice up and serve as a profit generating article. Even if the journalist is himself or herself a good human being with genuine emotions and sympathy, still he/she has to do this unacceptable task of selling news in a spicy wrapper of untrue rumour only to save his job. Journalism in general has degraded into the rat race of TRP and impressive stats. So the journalist, whether he/she wants it genuinely or not, has to fill the “inevitable” ( the inevitable downfall of truth into slander ) page of Sunday papers with nonsensical prose. The writing is “fatuous” because it lacks truth and “flatulent” because it is inane – hollow and unsubstantial. It has no significant or impactful insight in it. Rather it is only a collection of meaningless, irrelevant, insignificant writing.
Stanza 2
Whenever the green aesthete starts to whoop
With horror at the house not made with hands
And when from vacuum cleaners and tinned soup
Another pure theosophist demands
Explanation :
The second stanza proceeds to showcase the ecocritical approach of A D Hope. Here, the poet refers to an environmental activist or any person concerned with environmental issues by using the term “green aesthete”. Green is the symbol of nature / environment and aesthete is a person who appreciates anything beautiful and artistic. An environmental activist definitely appreciates the beauty and importance of nature and seeks to protect it. He criticises all the houses “not made with hands” [not made with manual labour but with artificial machines and technologies]. He “starts to whoop / With horror”. Whoop here doesn’t mean to physically assault or whip but verbally assault or satirise. The horror is generated from the absolute frustration caused by the ill treatment and exploitation of nature by human beings. Except for the green aesthete, another theosophist also raises a demand. He ( the theosophist) is living in a world filled with “vacuum cleaners and tinned/ soup” [ the present world has transformed the very basic and natural things like food and cleaning into artificial and technical machinery ]. A theosophist is a practitioner of theosophy – a religious belief originating across the USA in 1875 that emphasises on reincarnation, pantheistic evolution, universal brotherhood and social improvement.
Stanza 3
Rebirth in other, less industrial stars
Where huge towns thrust up in synthetic stone
And films and sleek miraculous motor cars
And celluloid and rubber are unknown;
Explanation :
The theosophist (symbolic of all the persons concerned about the meaninglessness of material prosperity, mechanical quality of technological advancements and the importance of clinging closely to nature) desires to take birth again in a “less industrial star”, another place which is less mechanical and more natural. The mention of the word “star” interestingly denotes the theosophist’s desire to be reborn not only in a different place but also in a different star, altogether away from planet earth. It discloses the fact that the current situation of our planet is not worthy of living a healthy life because of corrupted nature and abundant artificial mechanisms. He wants to reappear in such a place where all tokens of modern technology are unknown – be it huge towns, synthetic stone, motor cars, celluloid or rubber. The ironical use of the term “miraculous” shows us that though modern technology can produce wonderful creations like sleek motor cars there can be no better miracle creator than nature itself – which is being continually exploited for the sake of technological advancements.
Stanza 4
When from his vegetable Sunday School
Emerges with the neatly maudlin phrase
Still one more Nature poet, to rant or drool
About the “Standardisation of the Race”;
Explanation :
Sunday school is a Christian practice of imparting religious teachings to youngsters ( and elders as well ). Since Sunday is a holiday for all – young people as well as grown ups – churches can organise such classes after its usual prayer hours. The adjective vegetable suggests the ineffective, raw and immature impact of these Sunday Schools ( and at large, of Christianity) to guide people in the right direction. The presence of religion has not been sufficient for the attendants of Sunday Schools to drive them away from mechanical lifestyle to nature. The “neatly maudlin phrase” or the clearly over-sentimental term which is used by “Still one more Nature poet” [ another person concerned with environment and nature ] to criticise the artificiality of the modern era is “Standardization of the Race”. The term suggests the horrible fact that modern day human beings are trained from their childhood to become a machine in a mechanical world. Standardization is the process of turning something into a standard pattern or mould – a pattern or formula which remains unchanged. The modern people have all become distant from nature, close to artificiality and bereft of individuality. Like a standard item has no variation of structure, similarly the modern human beings have no shred of creativity, individual thought, innovative impulse, imagination because all of them are constructed in the same mould of mechanical tendency. Technology has standardised the whole human race.
Stanza 5
I see, stooping among her orchard trees,
The old, sound Earth, gathering her windfalls in,
Broad in the hams and stiffening at the knees,
Pause and I see her grave malicious grin.
Explanation :
Now the poet proceeds to expose the diabolical wrongdoing wrecked upon planet earth and our mother nature. He criticises modern technologies and materialistic sense of growth and development because all these things and ideas have made us miles apart from nature as well as sustainable development. Here, earth is compared to an old lady [use of personification] because our planet is indeed millions and millions years old and still manages to keep itself “sound” [ properly functioning / able ]. The old earth ( also thought to be Mother Nature who is as old as Earth ) is stooping ( bending down) to gather her windfalls. The term “Windfalls” refers to fruits fallen from trees during storms or high wind. Like an innocent child, Mother Nature is also collecting those windfalls as if those are valuable treasure. However, the broad hams ( hamstring area / back of the thigh is fattened with old age ) and the stiff knees ( inflexible knee due to old age ) indicate that the beauty, purity and strength of nature has faded away because of the human torture inflicted on it. Pollution, limitless exploitation of natural resources, unsustainable development and destruction of nature to extend artificial growth are responsible for decreasing strength and glamour of nature. There is a “grave malicious grin” in her face. Grin is a form of twisted smile and the use of “malicious” indicates that old earth’s smile is full of pain and misery.
Stanza 6
For there is no manufacturer competes
With her in the mass production of shapes and things.
Over and over she gathers and repeats
The cast of a face, a million butterfly wings.
Explanation :
In this stanza the poet praises nature for her brilliant productivity and multifaceted creativity. According to him, nature is the best manufacturer in the whole universe because there can be no other thing or person who can be as prolific. Nature can not only produce different kinds of things but also can produce them in a massive amount. Ranging from invisible bacteria to humongous elephants and blue whales – nature has the never ending storage of all sorts of shapes and sizes that can be. She ( nature has been personified by the poet ) collects the same ingredients again and again to repeat the same formula of creating faces ( of animals as well as human beings ) and butterfly wings. The craftsmanship of nature is flawless to such an extent that the perfection of a face or a butterfly wing remains the same even after millions and millions of production of the same pattern. No machine in this world – however technologically upgraded it might be – can produce unlimited copies of the same pattern without compromising with the quality, quantity or efficiency of the product or the producer. Nature, on the other hand, needs no fuel, battery, technology, manpower or resource to continue her marvellous feat of creation since times immemorial.
Stanza 7
She does not tire of the pattern of a rose.
Her oldest tricks still catch us with surprise.
She cannot recall how long ago she chose
The streamlined hulls of fish, the snail’s long eyes,
Explanation :
Nature never gets tired of creating the same pattern over and over again. Unlike human beings ( who gets tired easily) or technology ( which needs to be charged up continuously), nature can tirelessly produce multiple copies of the same pattern of a rose [ nature creates millions of roses without even the slightest error ]. Technology surprises us with its innovative techniques and resourcefulness. However, with time it gets old and less usable, only to be replaced by a newer, better and more upgraded version. Nature can, nonetheless, amuse us with the same old pattern she has been creating for millions and millions of years [ like petals of rose or wings of butterflies]. Nature can’t even remember the first date when she chose the streamlined hulls of fish [ straight skeleton/ body structure of fish] or the long eyes of snails. These archetypal patterns have undergone not even a single change, editing or version upgrade through ages but still manages to catch us with surprise. Such is the power of nature’s creativity that it is beyond the test of time.
Stanza 8
Love, which still pours into its ancient mould
The lashing seed that grows to a man again,
From whom by the same processes unfold
Unending generations of living men.
Explanation :
Now the poet shifts his attention from the concrete nature of our surroundings to the abstract nature of the human psyche. And needless to say, he chose love for this purpose because no other emotion is as universal and essential to human nature as love. Love here refers to both the pure feelings of love and the physical action of love making. The ancient mould into which “Love…still pours into” refers to the age-old formula of reproduction. Reproduction is very basic, natural yet complex “technology” which can generate exact copies of every creature from tiniest cell structure without any mistake. Till date there is no such technology which can even come close to natural reproduction. A formula that the most advanced technology of the modern scientific word is struggling to achieve, is maintained effortlessly by nature. This shows the unchallenged supremacy of nature as a creator and manufacturer – both in the quality, quantity and efficiency of the product.
Stanza 9
She has standardised his ultimate needs and pains.
Lost tribes in a lost language mutter in
His dreams: his science is tethered to their brains,
His guilt merely repeats Original Sin.
Explanation :
In this stanza, the poet makes a comparison between nature ( personified as she ) and modern age human beings ( referred to as he ). Nature has standardized the mind of the whole human race in such a way that there is no room left for individualism, imagination, creativity, innovation, uniqueness, different thinking and so on and so forth. Because of the prevalent use of technology and scientific machinery, mankind has lost the basic capacity to brainstorm and troubleshoot – the basic technique which helped it to invent fire, wheel, agriculture, civilization and all other vital things for development. Human beings are overly dependent on technology and science for each and every need – be it trivial or significant. This abnormal obsession with ready-made tools and technologies has made them all alike – a living breathing creature who uses machines – instead of his brain – to solve every problem of his life. The entire human race has become nothing but unlimited copies of the same pattern – the same standard. All the technologies and scientific inventions of this modern era are indebted to the knowledge and hard work of previous generations of scientists and thinkers – his science is tethered to their brains. Lost tribes ( earlier generations who are dead now) whisper their knowledge in lost language ( the findings of earlier generations) to the dreams of the current generation [ previous knowledge and hard work acts as an unconscious influence in the minds of the modern generation]. However, the present tech savvy generation doesn’t even have the courtesy to acknowledge this contribution and they defy any kind of help taken from anybody else. Their arrogance represents and repeats the Original Sin – the defiance of God by Adam and Eve through eating the golden Apple from the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden ( Paradise ). This again brings into mind the utter contrast between nature ( a flawless manufacturer ) and human beings ( flawed and arrogant imitator ).
Stanza 10
And beauty standing motionless before
Her mirror sees behind her, mile on mile,
A long queue in an unknown corridor,
Anonymous faces plastered with her smile.
Explanation :
Beauty, here, is personified as a woman standing still in front of her mirror. Beauty refers not only to physical beauty but the beauty of nature, beauty of human mind and the everlasting beauty of natural love. In this sense, beauty can be seen as another epitomisation of Mother Nature herself. In her mirror [ a metaphorical mirror symbolising farsightedness], she can see upcoming generations of human beings who are yet to come. In the future, a long queue of mankind is waiting for their turn to arrive in a world of modern technology and scientific marvels. However, they are not recognisable as separate individuals because all of them possess “Anonymous faces” that are “plastered with…smile” of Beauty. The faces are unidentified because the human race has lost its identity, individuality and uniqueness. There is no difference in them because all of them are just numerous copies of the same standard – the standard set by mindless imitation of technology. Thus, the standardization of the human race which was feared by a Nature Poet earlier in this poem, has finally come to be true. This appalling vision shakes us from inside – we are stunned by the image of a post-human generation in a post-nature world. The poet successfully proves the difference between the creativity of science and technology ( standardized human race with anonymous faces ) and nature ( all the beautiful living breathing life in our surroundings). Her smile in the last line reminds us of the “grave malicious grin” of the old earth earlier in the poem, suggesting that nature has finally taken her revenge of the age old torture inflicted on her in the name of science and development.
