Advertisements
Advertisements
प्रश्न
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
Brutes have been gentled where lashes failed.
Advertisements
उत्तर
- Reference: These lines are from the poem “A Father to his Son” written by Carl August Sandburg.
- Context and Explanation: The poet highlights the importance of a soft but firm will to melt even hardened criminals. Love can transform even criminals. Harsh punishment may harden them but gentleness and love may bring about a change of heart.
APPEARS IN
संबंधित प्रश्न
Have you ever visited a fort or a castle?
How long had the soldiers been in the castle?
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 |
Bring out the contrasting picture of the castle as depicted in stanzas 3 and 5.
Read the given line and answer the question that follow in a line or two.
A foothold there, no clever trick
Could take us dead or quick,
Only a bird could have got in.
- What was challenging?
- Which aspect of the castle’s strength is conveyed by the above line?
Read the given line and answer the question that follow in a line or two.
We could do nothing, being sold.
- Why couldn’t they do anything?
- Why did they feel helpless?
Identify the figure of speech used in the following line.
How can this shameful tale be told?
Describe the garden during the night.
Does nature communicate with human beings?
Identify the figure of speech used in each of the extract given below and write down the answer in the space given below.
“ LIKE a huge Python, winding round and round
The rugged trunk indented deep with scars”,
What is the world compared to?
Read the given line and answer the question that follow.
Then a soldier,
full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth.
- What is the soldier ready to do?
- Explain ‘bubble reputation’.
- What are the distinguishing features of this stage?
Complete the summary of the poem, choosing words from the list given below. Lines 1 to 32
Ulysses is (1) ______to discharge his duties as a (2) ______, as he longs for (3) ______. He is filled with an (4) ______thirst for (5) ______and wishes to live life to the (6) ______. He has travelled far and wide gaining (7) _______ of various places, cultures, men and (8) ______. He recalls with delight his experience at the battle of Troy. Enriched by his (9) ______he longs for more and his quest seems endless. Like metal which would (10) ______if unused, life without adventure is meaningless. According to him living is not merely (11) ______to stay alive. Though old but zestful, Ulysses looks at every hour as a bringer of new things and yearns to follow knowledge even if it is (12)______.
| fullest, unquenchable, unattainable, experience, knowledge, king, matters, rust, adventure, unwilling, travel, breathing |
What does Ulysses yearn for?
In what ways were Ulysses and his mariners alike?
Identify the figure of speech employed in the following line.
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Identify the figure of speech employed in the following line.
.....the deep Moans round with many voices.
Identify the figure of speech employed in the following line.
There lies the port the vessel puffs her sail
Read the set of line from the poem and answer the question that follow.
Little remains: but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
- How is every hour important to Ulysses?
- What does the term ‘Little remains’ convey?
Read the set of line from the poem and answer the question that follow.
This is my son, mine own Telemachus,
To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle Well-loved of me,
- Who does Ulysses entrust his kingdom to, in his absence?
- Bring out the significance of the ‘sceptre’.
Read the set of line from the poem and answer the question that follow.
……for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
- What was Ulysses’ purpose in life?
- How long would his venture last?
Explain with reference to the context the following line.
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
What are the poet’s thoughts on ‘being different’?
Here are a few poetic device used in the poem.
Transferred Epithet- It is a figure of speech in which an epithet grammatically qualifies a noun other than the person or a thing, it is actually meant to describe.
Read the line given below and answer the question that follow.
Tell him to be a fool ever so often
and to have no shame over having been a fool
yet learning something out of every folly
hoping to repeat none of the cheap follies
- Is it a shame to be a fool at times?
- What does one learn from every folly?
Why did Napoleon’s eyes become soft as a mother eagle’s eyes?
Literary Devices
Mark the rhyme scheme of the poem. The rhyme scheme for the first stanza is as follows.
| With neck out-thrust, you fancy how, | a |
| Legs wide, arms locked behind, | b |
| As if to balance the prone brow | a |
| Oppressive with its mind. | b |
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
To see your flag-bird flap his vans Where I, to heart’s desire, Perched him!’
The young soldier matched his emperor in courage and patriotism. Elucidate your answer.
