GEOGRAPHY LESSON BY BRIAN PATTEN

           Geography Lesson 

The poem is about a teacher whose desires and wishes are depicted in a simple and realistic way. It also shows that the teacher is such a man who has a great passion for his subject, but in most of the cases his dreams remain unfulfilled. 

The poet says that his teacher used to say that one day he would sail across a warm blue sea to enjoy those places which he had only known from maps. It means he wanted to leave his dull, boring and unsatisfactory life and visit these beautiful exciting places all his life.

The house in which the teacher lived was narrow and simple. This also shows the social status of the teacher that his life was very low, but he could imagine a place where the houses had fragrant Jasmine flower clinging to the walls and green leaves that shining brightly on an orange tree due to the bright sunshine. He further says that he wanted to travel to warm and interesting places. 

Here the poet says that he could not understand why he was not able to come out of the strong hold of the school and spend some time in travelling to some exciting and interesting places. These two lines show that the life of school teacher remains so busy and complex that he/ she hardly gets time for his personal enjoyment.

The teacher then got ill in the middle of the final exam and never returned to the school. He probably died unexpectedly, and so he could never sail to his wished places with green leaves shining brightly on an orange tree.

After that a new teacher was appointed in his place; the maps were pulled down from the classroom wall, and his name was forgotten. The poet says that whatever he taught in the class is still with him.

Here the lines of the poem show strong attachment of the poet with his teacher and in view of this he is still present in his heart, mind  and soul.

The teacher’s unfulfilled desire affects the poet so strongly that he decides not to repeat the mistake done by his teacher. So he travels to those places that his teacher longed to visit. He visits the places where leaves shine brightly and the water of the ocean appears blue and as clear as glass.