Critical Analysis and line by line explanations of The Twins BY HENRY SAMBROOKE LEIGH |Maharashtra Board Class 10 English| OUTPACE

About the poet

Henry Sambrooke Leigh was a writer, a playwright, singer, french scholar, brilliant, etc. He was born on 29th March in London. At a very early age, he engaged himself in writing. His verses were very fluent and straightforward. He has translated many French Verses. For the theatre Royal, his theatrical essay was in collaboration. His “The Prince Methusalem” was a complete failure at Folies Dramatiques.

Henry Sambrooke Leigh’s collection of lyrics were at ‘Carols of Cockayne’, ‘Gillott and Goosequill’, ‘A Town Garland. He was prayed for his fluent verse but was also described as being of slender merit. Huge collections were published between 1860- 1880.

Henry’s poem “The Twins” has famous among all the students; they liked it. It was the kind of poetry that a parent would readout for their twins.

About the poem

In the poem “The Twins,” the poet Henry Sambrooke Leigh talks about how he is suffering the entire life because of his twin. He exclaims how he gets unfairly treated because of his brother’s foolishness, once he got punished for his brother. The poem talks about the twins in a light-hearted manner and with comedy. He also shows his part of tension if his wife would marry his brother out of confusion or what would happen if any one dies, who will help the people burry. The people weren’t so foolish to bury the other one, and he created a comedy element.

Throughout the poem, he exclaims his sorrow. He shows how the twins face problems. He was so annoyed with that situation that he started asking his readers “What would you do if you were me,

To prove that you were you?”.

Structure of the poem

The poem

In the form and the feature, face, and limb,
I grew so like my brother,
That folk got taking me for him,
And each for one another.
It puzzled all our kith and kin,
It reached a fearful pitch;
For one of us was born a twin,
Yet not a soul knew which.
One day, to make the matter worse,
Before our names were fixed,
As the nurse was washing us,
We got utterly mixed;
And thus, you see by fate's decree,
Or rather a nurse's whim.
My brother John got christened me,
And I got christened him.
This Fatal likeness even dogged
My footsteps, when at school,
And I was always getting flogged,
For John turned out a fool.
I put this Question, fruitlessly,
To everyone I knew,
‘What would you do, if you were me,
To prove that you were you?'
Our close resemblance turned the tide
Of my domestic life,
For somehow, my intended bride
Became my brother's wife.
In fact, year after year the same
Absurd mistakes went on,
And when I died, the neighbours came
And buried John.

The poem consists of 4 stanzas, each with eight lines. The rhyme scheme, followed by the entire poem, is ababcdcd. The rhyming plan is used to make the stanza melodious. There is a perfect use of hyperbole, and humour are used to emphasize its main points.

Analysis Of The Poem

In the form and the feature, face, and limb,
I grew so like my brother,
That folk got taking me for him,
And each for one another.
It puzzled all our kith and kin,
It reached a fearful pitch;
For one of us was born a twin,
Yet not a soul knew which.

In the poem, the poet explains or says what sort of problems do twins face. The poet was one of the twins who faced many difficulties in the entire life due to similar features. He and his brother were identical in every aspect, like living style, look, etc. Others mind find it interesting, but it was tough for him to adjust. Every time others used to confuse them and this confusion lasted throughout life.

One day, to make the matter worse,
Before our names were fixed,
As a nurse was washing us,
We got utterly mixed;
And thus, you see by fate's decree,
Or rather the nurse's whim.
My brother John got christened me,
And I got christened him.

The poet says how worst they had to face. The worst part was during the naming ceremony. The nurse got confused as they both looked the same, and unfortunately, their names too got exchanged. He got the name of his brother, and his brother got the word which was for him.

This Fatal likeness even dogged
My footsteps, when at school,
And I was always getting flogged,
For John turned out a fool.
I put this Question, fruitlessly,
To everyone I knew,
'What would you do if you were me,
To prove that you were you?'

The poet says that the same problem chased them in school too. Once, he was punished for the mischief of his brother. From then, the speaker got so annoyed that he went on asking everyone how can he prove his identity.

Our close resemblance turned the tide
Of my domestic life,
For somehow, my intended bride
Became my brother's wife.
In fact, year after year the same
Absurd mistakes went on,
And when I died, the neighbours came
And buried John.

The poet says that a similar look may also cause an issue during marriage when his wife would marry his brother out of confusion. The entire life, he faced the same problem. Even after death, people would have disorder who died, whom to burry. They would like mistakenly burry the other one.

Literary Device

•Alliteration:– the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words.

Form and the feature
What would

•Hyperbole:- exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.

It reached a fearful preach.

•Pun: -a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.

I grew so like my brother.

•Irony:- The speaker or the port shows how the confusion is created with his twins for the entire life. The confusion between two identical twins.

The Theme of the Poem

The theme of the poem “The Twins” is the physical appearance shared by identical twins: the problem or issue or the confusion created amongst other people. The problem is faced by all to identify the one because of their similar look.

The poet says how he faced problems throughout his life. Once, he got punished because of his brother’s foolishness. He was tensed about what would happen if anyone is dead, who will the people burry. He was also drawn and said that if his wife would marry his brother out of confusion.

He emphasizes and asks everyone how can he prove his identity to others. He was annoyed.