Answer the questions

Lesson – 1 || Sweetest Love I do not Goe.   

1.  Why does the poet want to go away from his beloved ?

The poet wants to go away from his beloved because he thinks that death is certain. He wants to amuse himself.

2. What are the things that the sun does not have?

The sun has neither desire  nor sense. He has not shorter way to complete its journey.

3. What will make the speaker’s journey speedier?

More wings and motive make the speaker’s journey speedier?

4. What makes a man’s power feeble?

Man’s dependence on fortune makes his power feeble.

Lesson – 2 || Song of Myself.  

5. What is meant by “Nature without check with original energy?

Harbour and Hazard are meant by nature without check with original energy.

6. What does Walt Whitman observe in summer?

Walt Whitman observes a spear of grass in summer.

7. What has formed the speaker’s blood?

The soil and the air formed the speaker’s blood.

Lesson – 3 || Now the leaves are falling fast

1. What do “Trolls” do in the leafless wood?

Trolls run in search of their food in the leafless wood.

2. Who are the Travellers” and how will they be blesses?

Old persons are the travellers and they are blessed with their last distress and that is death.

3. Who are the “whispering neighbours?”

Messengers of death are the wishpering neighbours who come when a human body is dead.

Lesson – 4 || Ode to Autumn  

1. What happens in autumn?

All fruits get ripeness and flowers bloom in autumn. All birds start to sing to see the sweetness of the season.

2. In what sense does the sun conspire with autumn?

The sun conspires with the autumn by offering fruits and flowers. Its ray makes the fruit fleshy, fat and tasty. 

Lesson – 5 || An Epitaph   

13. Where does the lady lie?

The lady lies in an epitaph. She lies there in the memory of love.

14. What does the poet think about beauty?

The poet Walter De La Mare  thinks about the beauty that beauty is very rare but it is short lived and it will disappear one day.

15. What does the poet mean when he says, ” And when I will crumble?”

The poet means when he says “And when I will crumble that when he dies there will be nobody to remember that lady.

Lesson -6 || The Soldier

Answer the questions

1. Is the speaker afraid of death?

No, the speaker is not afraid of death. He would be given a comer of the foreign field.

2. How can ‘some corner of a foreign field be “forever England ?”

When the poet dies, his grave will be in some comer of a foreign land. In that way, it will be “forever England”.

3. “In that rich earth, a richer dust concealed”. What does ‘dost’ stand for?

In this sentence of the poem ‘In that rich earth a richer dust concealed’ for his death in the war-field. Dust also stands for those persons or soldiers who avoid war and wanted to live a peaceful life. They never quarreled for anything.

4. What is meant by the phrase ‘A pulse in the eternal mind’ ?

The phrase ‘A pulse in the eternal mind’ indicates a long-cherished desire. The poet wants to say that there must be a pulse in the eternal mind that works to avoid war.

Lesson -7 || Macavity : The Mystery Cat

Answer the questions

1. Why does the poet call Macavity, a mystery cat?

The poet calls Macavity a mystery cat because it is never found after ‘ committing crimes. It leaves the place immediately after committing the crime.

2. Why is Macavity termed a “Criminal”?

Macavity is termed as a criminal because it defies the law and indulges in activities of criminal nature.

3. What is suggested by the phrase ‘power of levitation’?

Phrase power of levitation has been used to denote a supernatural and extraordinary capacity to rise and float in the air, especially by magic.

Lesson -8 || Fire-Hymn

Answer the questions

1. How did the passer-by get frightened?

The passer-by got frightened to see the fire and the dreadful scenes at the ghat

2. Which event does the expression ‘the burning ghat’ refer to?

The expression “the burning ghat” refers to the place where dead- bodies are usually cremated.

3. Does the speaker see/observe in the morning at the ghat?

The speaker observes pieces of wood and coal, not burning but are still red in the morning at the ghat.

4. Why does he say that the redness of the fire is cruel ?

He says that the redness of the fire is so cruel that is swallows everything.

5. In what sense does the fire forget its dead ?

The fire forgets its dead when it leaves the body half-burnt. The speaker feels it as the fire’s immoral behavior.

6. Why did he consign his firstborn to the flame ?

He (speaker) consigned (delivered) his first-bom to the flames (fire) because the nearest “Tower of Silence”, where the Parsis dispose up their dead-bodies, was a thousand miles away. So, he could not dispose of the dead body of his first-bom-child on that place.

7. What did the firm hyam say to him?

The firm-hymn said to him (the speaker) that he had forgiven him and now it has taken oath to overlook and pardon him this time for the sin he committed.

Lesson -9 || The Snake

Answer the questions

1. Where did the speaker meet the snake ?

The speaker met the snake near water trough of his house. It had come there to drink water. The speaker had also went there to drink water.

2. Why had snake come out of its hole near the trough ?

The snake had come out of its hole near the trough to drink water because it was too hot and the snake was thirsty.

3. Why did the speaker decide to wait ?

The speaker decided to wait because the snake had come first near the water through and he (speaker) was a second-comer.

4. How did the snake drink water?

The snake went to the water-trough and put his mouth upon the depth (bottom) of that trough. He sipped (drank slowly) the water with its straight mouth.

5. What is the meaning of ‘Sicilian July’ with Etna smoking ?

‘Sicilian July’ with Etna smoking means extreme heat like the one caused when Etna erupted i.e. it was so hot as the volcano Etna in Sicily.

6. What is the belief prevailing in Sicily about a snake?

The belief prevailing in Sicily about a snake was that black snakes are innocent, the gold are venomous. So yellow-brown (golden) snake must be killed

7. Why did the speaker like the snake?

The speaker liked the snake because it looked most innocent and attractive. It drank the water peacefully for which it came there.

8. What was his reaction after hitting the snake?

He (the speaker) regretted after hitting it (snake). He felt that he had done wrong. How mean, how much uncivilized was his act. By doing so he had committed a sin..

9. Why did the speaker consider it “a king in exile”? 

The speaker considered it ‘a king in exile’ because it was peaceful and had done nothing wrong with him. He was his guest as well. Its look was like a king in exite. It did not misuse its power.

Lesson -10 || My Grandmother’s House

Answer the questions

1. Where did the speaker once receive love ?

The speaker once received the love in a house where she lived with her grandmother in the past.

2. Why did the house go into silence?

The house went into silence because the woman who used to live there was dead. 

3. Why was the speaker unable to read books ?

The speaker was unable to read the books because at that time she was too young to read.

4. Why did the speaker often wish to go to that house?

The speaker often wished to go to that house because in that house she felt her grandmother’s memory. Her grandmother lived there and died in the house. She also lived with her grandmother in her childhood days.

5. Why was the speaker proud of living in that house?

The speaker was proud of living in that house because in that house she received love for a long time. For love, she moved, but she got it in her old house

6. Why does the speaker say that she has lost her way?

The speaker said that she had lost her way to receive love at that time at stranger’s door, at least in small change.

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