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प्रश्न
Describe the reminiscences of the poet, when she sees the casuarina tree.
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उत्तर
The poet remembers how her days started with the sight of the Casuarina tree from her casement. She remembers how her loving companions played under the giant Casuarina tree. The memory of her beloved companions brings hot tears because they had succumbed to cruel tuberculosis. She remembers how well the tree accommodated birds to sing songs during days and nights. The tree had allowed the creeper to embrace it like a lady love. Though it sapped its vitality, like a gallant lover, allowed the creeper to stay around its neck like a scarf. She remembers how a baboon seated at the crest of the tree had watched beautiful sunrise while her young ones were leaping and playing in the lower branches of the giant tree.
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संबंधित प्रश्न
Did the soldiers fight with the enemies face to face?
What was the ‘shameful act’?
Why did the narrator feel helpless?
Who was the real enemy?
Read the poem again and complete the summary using the words given in box.
Stanzas 1–3
‘The Castle’ by Edwin Muir is a moving poem on the (1)______ of a well guarded (2)______ The soldiers of the castle were totally stress-free and relaxed. They were (3)______ of their castle’s physical strength. Through the turrets they were able to watch the mowers and no enemy was found up to the distance of (4)______ and so they seemed no threat to the castle. They had (5)______ of weapons to protect them and a large quantity of (6)______ in stock to take care of the well-being of the soldiers inside the castle. The soldiers stood one above the other on the towering battlements (7)______ to shoot the enemy at sight. They believed that the castle was absolutely safe because their captain was (8)______ and the soldiers were loyal.
| half-a-mile | watching |
| castle | brave |
| ration | capture |
| plenty | confident |
Stanzas 4–6
Even by a trick no one but the birds could enter. The enemy could not use a (9)______ for their entry inside the castle. But there was a wicket gate guarded by a (10) ______ He (11)______ in the enemies inside the famous citadel that had been known for its secret gallery and intricate path. The strong castle became(12)______ and thin because of the greedy disloyal warder. The (13)______ was captured by the enemies for (14)______ The narrator (15)______ over the (16)______ of the useless warder and also decided not to disclose this (17)______ story to anyone. He was (18)______ and wondered how he would keep this truth to himself. He regretted not finding any (19)______ to fight with the (20)______ called ‘gold’.
| lamented | shameful |
| wicked guard | bait |
| let | gold |
| weapon | citadel |
| weak | disloyalty |
| helpless | enemy |
Read the given line and answer the question that follow in a line or two.
| Oh then our maze of tunneled stone Grew thin and treacherous as air. The castle was lost without a groan, The famous citadel overthrown, |
- Bring out the contrast in the first two lines.
- What is the rhyme scheme of the given stanza?
I will maintain until my death
Read the poem and complete the table with suitable rhyming words.
All through that summer at ease we lay,
And daily from the turret wall
We watched the mowers in the hay
And the enemy half a mile away
They seemed no threat to us at all.
For what, we thought, had we to fear
With our arms and provender, load on load,
Our towering battlements, tier on tier,
And friendly allies drawing near
On every leafy summer road.
Our gates were strong, our walls were thick,
So smooth and high, no man could win
A foothold there, no clever trick
Could take us dead or quick,
Only a bird could have got in.
What could they offer us for bait?
Our captain was brave and we were true…
There was a little private gate,
A little wicked wicket gate.
The wizened warder let them through.
Oh then our maze of tunneled stone
Grew thin and treacherous as air.
The cause was lost without a groan,
The famous citadel overthrown,
And all its secret galleries bare.
How can this shameful tale be told?
I will maintain until my death
We could do nothing, being sold:
Our only enemy was gold,
And we had no arms to fight it with.
| lay | hay |
Underline the alliterated word in the following line.
The wizened warder let them through.
Identify the figure of speech used in the following line.
How can this shameful tale be told?
Name the bird that sings in the poet’s garden.
Does nature communicate with human beings?
Read the line given below and answer the question that follow.
“Fear, trembling Hope, and Death, the skeleton,
And Time the shadow”, and though weak the verse
That would thy beauty fain, oh, fain rehearse,
May Love defend thee from oblivion’s curse.
- What does the poet mean by the expression ‘May love defend thee from oblivion’s curse?’
- What does the expression ‘fain’ convey?
- What does the poet convey through the expression ‘Fear, trembling Hope’?
Discuss with your partner the different stages in the growth of man from a new born to an adult
“And they have their exits and their entrances” - What do the words ‘exits’ and ‘entrances’ mean?
What is the first stage of a human’s life?
Pick out the word in ‘alliteration’ in the following line.
“and all the men and women merely players”
What does he think of the people of his kingdom?
Who does the speaker address in the second part?
Identify the figure of speech employed in the following line.
Thro’ scudding drifts the rainy Hyades Vext the dim sea...
Explain with reference to the context the following line.
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
List the roles and responsibilities Ulysses assigns to his son Telemachus, while he is away.
Every parent is anxious about the welfare of his/her children. Parents express their anxiety by advising them almost all the time. What kind of advice do you frequently receive from your parents? Fill in the bubbles. Tick the ones you like to follow implicitly and give reasons for the ones you don’t like to follow.
How would his being alone help the boy?
Read the line given below and answer the question that follow.
..........Free imaginations
Bringing changes into a world resenting change.
- How does free imagination help the world?
- Identify the figure of speech.
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
Yet learning something out of every folly
hoping to repeat none of the cheap follies
Have you played chess or watched the game carefully?
Now identify the chess pieces and complete the table below. Discuss the role of each piece in the game.
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Who came galloping on a horse to Napoleon?
What does the phrase ‘full galloping’ suggest?
Where did the rider plant the French flag after Ratisbon was captured?
