4. Explanation of stanza 2

Explanation:

 

Guest says that courage cannot be the last thing that a person executes when he has lost his hopes on everything. It cannot be the final weapon that one tries to use when one does not have anything else to apply. Courage is not one's last option or last resort in a time of crisis. He applies the same idea to both the work of life and a game of sport. For example when a cricketer loses hope in his chances of winning and chooses to take a chance in the final over and hits sixers, it is not courage that popped up at the last minute. The courage had always been there in him during the game. That is what forced him to perform well at the last minute.

 

 

Just like how a man cannot muster courage at the last minute, he also cannot gather up courage for a future event, anticipating what is to happen. It is not something that a man can call for when he feels that he is about to fall. He cannot summon courage at his own will, only when he needs it. It cannot come naturally to a person during an emergency unless he has always had it in him. If he does not possess it in him in the present, then there is no way he can muster it instantly when the strain is great or the pace is hot ie. during anxious and difficult times.

 

 

Guest says that one who strives to achieve great goals in the future, one who has dreams to attain, should belong to the category of people who have courage as an innate character and not look for it in the last minute, only in times of need. Since goals are distant and is mostly achieved in the future, the courage to attain them should be embedded within one's soul.

 

 

Meaning of difficult words: