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Evelyn Glennie: a tribute from a student

 Yesterday I presented in this space one of Maggie's students whose project work deserved a wider visibility. Let me present one more student from the same grade who paid a poetic tribute to Evelyn Glennie after learning a lesson about the musician. 

Evelyn Glennie carried music in her body. She has been profoundly deaf since the age of 12. Now she is 56. She learnt to play musical instruments after she became deaf. She says that she taught herself to listen with parts of her body instead of ears. She gives over 100 concerts a year. She enthralls thousands of people with her breathtaking performance with various instruments. She teaches music. Recently she was also named as the Chancellor of Robert Gordon University in Scotland, her country. 

Irene Sara Sam
Irene Sara Sam, a grade 9 student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala chose to pay a poetic tribute to Evelyn for her project in English. It is her teacher who drew my attention to the work so well-composed and well-presented. The profundity of thoughts in the verse is striking too, considering the fact that it comes from a 14-year-old. 

The very opening of the poem reveals Irene's great potential as a writer. Observe the drama in the opening stanza: a 17-year-old girl from a Scottish farm standing on a railway platform feeling the vibrations of approaching trains in her body. Sounds entered into that girl's body, not her ears. And then the poem goes on to present her struggles and achievements before concluding with a look at "the beauty of her heart". The exquisite rhyme scheme that Irene has employed didn't escape my notice either. 

Evelyn Glennie

Allow me to present Irene's entire poem here just the way she presented it to her teacher. 







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Comments

  1. Jeriel Roy September 2, 2021 at 3:31 PM

    Beautiful work Irene! Your creative mind is so visible in the lines. The rhyming scheme is lovely..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yamini MacLeanSeptember 2, 2021 at 6:31 PM

    Hari OM
    Well, I didn't think Femi's offering could be topped, but my word... of course I am little bit biased, EG being a fellow Scot and that too, one I have had the great privilege of hearing in live concert on a couple of occasions. Irene has definitely caught the essence of Evelyn's character and determination. Please do again pass on my admiration... and thank YOU, Tomichan, for sharing these with us! YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 2, 2021 at 6:38 PM

      Yamini, you're doing to me what I'm trying to do to these young students:appreciate and support goodness in these bad days. I'll surely convey your admiration to Irene through her teacher.

      Delete
  3. Ravish ManiSeptember 3, 2021 at 1:10 AM

    Loved Irene's poem, sketch, as well as handwriting. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rajeev MoothedathSeptember 6, 2021 at 11:03 PM

    She has not only written a good poem but presented it so artistically!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Preeti ChauhanJune 9, 2023 at 7:21 PM

    Great work Irene and Matheikal !

    ReplyDelete
  6. DawnanddewJune 12, 2023 at 1:26 AM

    Surely a prodigy Irene, you are! Your work has landed in the right hands that uplift genuine souls ! Your work compells me to reach it to the hands of my creative young friends of class ix where I just completed teaching this lesson on Evelyn. It is a nicely crafted piece! Thanks to your English teacher who is a creative and caring mentor of all budding blossoms like you. Keep writing. Best wishes!

    ReplyDelete
  7. DawnanddewJune 12, 2023 at 1:30 AM

    To continue with my words, the miniature awards and sketches have been created by you so aptly for illustration. You will surely go places! My heartfelt best wishes!

    ReplyDelete

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