Summary of the Poem: Nicholas Nye by Walter de la Mare (For Grade VIII)

                         Summary:  Nicholas Nye by Walter de la Mare

Walter de La Mare

This poem is about a donkey, named Nicholas Nye, which lives in a meadow (grazing land) in an orchard (garden of fruit trees). It seems that the poet used to visit that place to relax himself and lie down on the wall of the orchard. He would watch the donkey from there.

Nicholas Rye

                                                         Meadow

One day, the poet is inspired to write a poem on the donkey. The poet had a very minute (including very small detail) study of the donkey and a lot of sympathy for the poor animal. The poet personifies the donkey in order to treat it in human terms and give equal status to it like that of a human being on this planet, Earth.

We come to know after going through the poem that the donkey was a victim of loneliness. He passed his days and nights in a pasture (meadow/grassland). He had no companion to break the boredom of his dull and monotonous (boring) life.

Nicholas Nye was old, lean (bent down) and thin, lame of a leg and grey coloured ownerless donkey.  He was there in the pasture since his birth and no one liked to be his owner because of his lame leg. So he was left to the circumstances only. He lived on by munching (eating) bushes, thistles, darnell and dock, etc.

             

Thistles

Darnell Plant and Flower

Dock Plant

Whenever he felt sleepy, he lay there in the blazing (bright and hot) heat of the sun and drowse. Sometimes, he seemed to stoop (bend down) and sigh (take a long breath) as if he wanted to release the tension by calling himself ‘Poor Nicholas Nye’. He did not get sufficient grass there, so his body was weak and without energy. When he brayed at the daybreak, he was unable to create a heavy and energetic sound.

Sometimes, the donkey seemed to smile at the poet. It meant that the poet had developed kinship with the donkey and felt sympathetic to his miserable condition. The poet came back home in the evening leaving the Nicholas alone in the moonlight standing there still (motionless) like a post.

Thus the poem sensitises the students’ empathy (ability to understand the difficulties of others/sympathy) particularly for the domestic animals who are left to their fate (chance/destiny). It also gives the message that we all human beings must have sympathy for the animals also.