About the Poet Roald Dahl Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short - story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter pilot. Roald Dahl is one of the most prolific modern writers in English and is well known as a children's author. He has been referred to as "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century". His awards for his contribution to literature include the 1983 World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement and the British Book Awards' Children's Author of the Year in 1990.
His works for children include James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The Witches, Fantastic Mr Fox, The BFG, The Twits, and George's Marvellous Medicine. In his poetry, Dahl gives a humorous re-interpretation of well - know nursery rhymes and fairy tales, providing surprise endings in place of the traditional happily-ever-after. Today also, children continue to leave toys and flowers by his grave.
Television poem by Roald Dahl summary
The poem 'Television is a famous poem of Dahl that advises and inspires to read books instead of watching television. This is one of the most relevant poems of our time.The poem takes a comic look at a serious problem among young children today. It warns us about the dangers of watching television excessively. The telvision robs our minds of the power of imagination and creativity. He advises us to read books as it will enable us to discover deeper levels of joy find fulfillment in life and open a whole new and exciting world for us. Dahl advises from his experience that people should never ever allow their children to go near the television set. It is even better not to install 'the idiotic thing' called television. In almost every house he has visited, he has watched children gaping at the screen. Sometimes they sit or lie in a lazy and casual manner (loll and slop and lounge about) and get sloppy. They are almost hypnotizedd by this idiotic box.
When they are in front of a television set, they no more do mischievous things but that can't be an excuse to let them sit before a television, because the poet thinks that the idiotic device does more harm than good. The children slowly lose their own creative thinking, their own imagination. The poet feels that due to imposed limitation on thoughts, the children can no longer understand a fantasy or a fairy tale. Dahl now opines that by watching television, the brain becomes soft like cheese. Now the question is how parents shall entertain their affectionate children if they take the television set away from them. He wants people to remember what they used to do in the absence of such a device. The poet himself reminds us that children in earlier times used to read lots of books.
The poet now requests the parents for their own good to throw away their television set and install a bookshelf in its place. When those children would find nothing to do without a television set around, they will finally feel the need to read books. At one stage they will grow so keen on reading books that they will wonder what they had found in that silly machine called television. Even when they would grow up, they would thank their parents for taking that television set away and installing the book shelf there.