can anyone give me the summary of the poem 'round and round' by vikram seth???

Question

After a long and wretched flight
That stretched from daylight into night,
Where babies wept and tempers shattered
And the plane lurched and whiskey splattered
Over my plastic food, I came
To claim my bags from Baggage Claim

Around, the carousel went around
The anxious travelers sought and found
Their bags, intact or gently battered,
But to my foolish eyes what mattered
Was a brave suitcase, red and small,
That circled round, not mine at all.

I knew that bag. It must be hers.
We hadnt met in seven years!
And as the metal plates squealed and clattered
My happy memories chimed and chattered.
An old man pulled it off the Claim.
My bags appeared: I did the same.

Answer 1

A man alights from a very long flight, where the 'plane had been a chaos of crying babies, bad airline food combined with spilt drinks and air turbulence.

When he got to the carousel and waited for his bag to come round he spotted what he thought was a familiar bag.

He assumed it belonged to a woman he hadn't seen for seven years and while waiting for his own bag he had memories of their time together. Eventually, however, the bag was claimed by an old man ... so he had been mistaken. His bag appeared and he claimed it.

In my opinion, what you see is what you get with a lot of Seth's poetry. He doesn't try to be clever or use a lot of heavy symbolism. His poetry is all the better for the sheer simplicity of it.
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Answer 2

OK. One can add that the red and small bag not only made the traveler recall the lady but it is one instance when Seth uses symbolism with powerful effect. The fact that the bag goes round and round yet it is "not mine at all" and the fact he writes "But to my foolish eyes what mattered/Was a brave suitcase, red and small,/That circled round"
Conveys the build up of anxious moments and prepares us for the ironic twist. Like the persona, we also start expecting the owner to appear and we also find ourselves expecting the lady to appear and the surprise that will be realized. We start imagining how the hugs are going to be, how they will be surprised when they find out they were in the same flight but did not know it! We become equally anxious. Then the unexpected happens:"An old man pulled it off the Claim." Aren't you feeling devilish satisfaction of being let down yet satisfied with the ending! And then "My bags appeared: I did the same" Notice the tinge of disappointment achieved by only seven words! That is the mark of an accomplished poet. We also rush away feeling cheated by the appearance of the old man, our heads lowered as we scram outside to catch the first taxi or for me as reader I rush away to peruse other poems although something sticks in my mind from my encounter with that traveler!



good luck

Answer 3

can i get the central theme of the poem "round and round" by vikram seth?