THE FROG AND THE NIGHTINGALE

BY VIKRAM SETH

INTRODUCTIONThe poem ‘The Frog and the Nightingale’ by

Vikram Seth is an apologue. The poem uses a knavish frog and a gullible nightingale to aesthetically present a parody on the modern society. The story revolves around the nightingale, immensely gifted and equally insecure, shamelessly exploited by the devious frog. It ultimately resulted in the demise of the bird with the frog regaining his earlier stature as the bog’s sole singer.

SUMMARYOnce upon a time there lived a frog under a Sumac

tree in a fictional place called the Bingle Bog. Under the false pretense that he was a sensational and melodious singer, he “blessed” his fellow creatures with his voice day after day. His crass cacophony was despised by others. They tried very hard to get rid of him, but all the sticks and the stones failed to shatter the presumptuous frog’s illusion. He went on singing to his heart’s content.

One fine moonlit night, a beautiful nightingale came and perched on the sumac, casting forth her melody. Every single life form in the Bog, including the frog, sat flabbergasted, amazed by the sheer excellence of the bird’s talent.

Absolutely entranced by the song, all the creatures gazed at her. Captivated and enthralled by the utterly divine melody, they urged her to keep going on. They moved closer and applauded and the flattered bird went on until dawn. The following night, she perched on the sumac tree once more and was setting up when right out of nowhere the cunning frog croaked.

He presented himself to be a fairly eminent personality. He rolled his glib-tongue on and on. He claimed to own the sumac tree, to be far-famed for his “splendid baritone” and a music critic who wrote for the Bog Trumpet.

Blandished to be conversing with such a superior personality, the nightingale asked him how he had liked her song. To answer this, the frog put all his role-playing into effect and started nitpicking. The simple-minded bird contended with just the fact that a critic of such a note had discussed her singing, became flustered and remarked that at least the song was her own. But the harsh and envious frog ruthlessly discarded her. He offered to train her and convinced that without his guidance, she wouldn’t ever be anything more than a novice.

Hearing this, the nightingale became ecstatic and referred to the frog as “Mozart in disguise”. But in reality, the crafty frog couldn’t have cared less about her hopes and dreams. He charged her a high fee for the training too .

The gullible nightingale, now flushed with confidence, sang with all her heart and grew to be a sensation. Many creatures from the vicinity of the bog constellated towards the charming sound. The wily frog exploited her talent and minted money for himself by charging admission.

The next morning, although the weather was unfavourable, the wicked frog slyly convinced the bird to come out of her house and made her practice vigorously up and down the musical scale for six long hours. Though the nightingale was incredibly fatigued, in the night, her voice revived. A titled crowd flocked the sumac tree. The frog watched them, joyously charging them money, but also with a nagging feeling of envy, wishing that it was him they appreciated.

Even after all this, the frog did not stop depreciating the helpless bird. He incessantly scolded her harshly and insisted on making her song fancier, jauntier. He provided all sorts of destructive criticism and rendered her helpless by pointing out how he was obliging her by his exclusive training. The nightingale followed his words like quotes from the Bible and turned her song and her singing into something so banal that it could no longer involve the audience. This led to her meltdown as she was now addicted to applause.

The frog went berserk with rage now. He lashed out at the poor bird. He asked her to renew her song. Terrified to fail, the nightingale tried her best, but the training taking a toll on her, burst a vein and died.

The evil frog turns out to be more vicious than we had once thought. Even after the nightingale’s tragic death, just to throw off the suspicion that had naturally landed on him, he dismissed her as “Far too nervous, far too tense, far too prone to influence”. He sarcastically remarks that she should have not listened to him and should have known the power of originality and goes on to blare his own pain of a voice unrivalled through the bog.

The Frog The Nightingale

The Nightingale-

The nightingale is shown as an extremely simple-minded, gullible and docile creature. She had a beautiful voice that enchanted all the creatures of the Bingle Bog. Her talent was mesmerizing but she severely lacked self-confidence. She did not believe in herself and failed to realize, despite the various accolades she received, the enormity of her talent. She was easily convinced by the glib talks of the frog and stupidly let him exploit her singing for money. She couldn’t see through the sweet exterior that the frog had put up and was unable to see the pernicious effect he had on her. Owing to her this very idiocy and the failure to take a stand for herself, she lost the melodious and charming quality of her voice, and eventually, her life.

CHARACTER SKETCHES

The Frog-

The frog is shown as a knavish and obdurate creature. He was under a false impression that he was a splendid soloist and that every living soul in the bog raved about his singing. He was an impervious creature for when the animals hurled a volley of obscenities at him, he was entirely unresponsive. He brimmed with confidence.

He was envious of the nightingale, because the creatures of the bog appreciated her singing. He wanted to eliminate the bird as he saw her as his rival. He lured her in with persuasive talks and pretended to her mentor equivalent of Mozart, only to turn around and stab her in her back. He was patronizing, abrasive and constantly belittled the bird. Even after her demise, he dismissed her as a brainless creature, who was “far too prone to influence.”The frog was crafty and shrewd, who shamelessly capitalized both on the nightingale’s life and death.

THEME/ MESSAGEIn the poem, the nightingale was a

very melodious singer She was immensely gifted but severely lacked self- confidence. She was easily convinced by the crafty, manipulative frog. He duped and exploited her. He was envious and wanted to eliminate her. The gullible bird walked right into the trap and lost her life.

This poem elegantly presents the bitter reality that in the modern society, there are more number of snakes in the grass and less well-wishers. We should not get influenced and take a stand for ourselves and what we do.

THE POEM AS A SATIRE

Vikram Seth has presented the poem as a satire on the modern society. He has mocked the so-called civilized people of the society revealing how simple-minded people always end up caught in the traps of silver-tongued people. Satire is a strong vein of irony, which through plain humor, points out the follies of a corrupt human behavior .The nightingale is personified as a naïve, innocent person who is easily taken in by the seemingly charismatic personality of the frog, who represents the devious people in society that stop at nothing to get what they desire.

The poem, like a fable, leaves us with the message that in order to succeed in the harsh and uncaring world, one must always have self- confidence in their abilities and talents.

POETIC DEVICES USED IN THE POEM• ALLITERATION Crass cacophony

Art and adoration Songs for silver Brainless bird Follow fashion

• IRONY You are Mozart in disguise Your song must be your own

• PERSONIFICATION With a breathless, titled crowd:

Owl of Sandwich, Duck of Kent, Mallard and Milady Trent, Martin Cardinal Mephisto, And the Coot of Monte Cristo, Ladies with tiaras glittering In the interval sat twittering

• REPETITION Not too bad - but far too long

Far too nervous, far too tense.

far too prone to influence

• METAPHOR Night on night her tired songYou are Mozart in disguise

VIKRAM SETHVikram Seth is an Indian poet, novelist, travel

writer, librettist, children's writer, biographer and memoirist. 

Vikram Seth was born to Leila and Prem Seth in Calcutta (now Kolkata). His family lived in many cities including the Bata Shoe Company town of Batanagar, Danapur near Patna, and in London.

He has received several awards including Padma Shri, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, WH Smith Literary Award and Crossword Book Award.  

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WORKS IN POETRY

•Mappings (1980) •The Humble Administrator's Garden (1985) •All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990) •Beastly Tales (1991) •Three Chinese Poets (1992) •The Frog and the Nightingale (1994) 

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