- Humour and absurdity: the joy of nonsense, exaggeration and comic images.
- Irony of "power": music meant to please becomes a destructive force.
- Consideration for others: enthusiasm that ignores others' comfort becomes a nuisance.
- Comic justice: the inconsiderate singer meets a stronger, cruder force.
- The value of silence: after noise, quiet seems precious.
7.1 Tone and mood
| Aspect | Description |
|---|
| tone | playful, mocking, mock-heroic |
| mood | hilarious, chaotic, then relieved |
| humour sources | exaggeration, absurd images, sound effects, the wise goat |
7.2 Significance of the title
"The Power of Music" sounds like praise — music that moves hearts and calms beasts. The poem turns this upside down: Bhishma Lochan's "music" has power to destroy — to overturn carts, fell trees and make the sky weep. The title is therefore ironic, and the joke is completed when the most "powerful" force of all turns out to be a goat.
7.3 Comparing poems in the syllabus
| Point | The Power of Music | The Glove and the Lions |
|---|
| tone | comic, nonsense | dramatic, moral |
| animals | animals suffer from the singing; a goat rescues all | lions fight for royal entertainment |
| human fault | inconsiderate self-absorption | vanity |
| ending | silence restored by a goat | vanity rebuked by de Lorge and the King |
| device in common | alliteration (both specimens test it) | |