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प्रश्न
‘Face is the index of the mind.’ Does this adage concur with the views of the poet?
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उत्तर
Unlike the people of the past, people in modem times “laugh only with their teeth” while their ice-block cold eyes search for something. Now, people shake hands without hearts. There is no human warmth in social relations. While they shake hands, they look for. evidence to judge the financial status of a person. People say ‘feel at home and ‘come again’.
But if a person visits a third time he is not welcomed. They all have cocktail faces ready for all occasions. Their conforming smiles are like fixed portrait smiles. They wear a standard, deceitful, artificial smile for all occasions. They have faces like masks. The poet has learned from them how to use faces like dresses, home face, office face, street face, host face, etc. Their faces, like the teeth of the elephant, show only what is accepted. The ugly side of their personality is cleverly hidden behind their deceitful smiles and polite words. So, the poet’s views do not concur with the adage “Face is the index of the mind”.
APPEARS IN
संबंधित प्रश्न
What does the poet long for?
Mention the qualities the child in the poem symbolises.
Interpret each of the following expression used in the poem, in one or two line.
hands search my empty pockets
The poet does not wish to exchange places with the athletes. How does he justify his view?
Would you like to exchange your place with someone else? Why/why not?
Read the lines given below and answer the question that follow.
If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature’s holy plan.
- What does ‘heaven’ refer to?
- Why does the poet call it ‘holy’?
Answer in a paragraph of about 100−150 words.
Do you think the poet wants to say that man is unhappy because he has lost his link with nature and forgotten how to enjoy nature, or because man is cruel to other men?
Write a letter to the Councillor of your Ward, explaining why a park is necessary in your locality.
People admire some of these animal qualities. What are they? Have you noticed some of them in yourself or in others? Share your views with the class.
Describe the appearance and qualities of Macavity.
Read the given lines and answer the question that follow.
Macavity’s a Mystery Cat: he’s called the Hidden Paw…
- Does the poet talk about a real cat?
- Why is he called the Hidden Paw?
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
And when you think he’s half asleep, he’s always wide awake
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
And his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland Yard’s
Give four instances where the poet has used alliteration in the poem.
Who are the ‘deserving ones’?
Which quality does the speaker wish to nourish? What is his mission?
Read the given line and answer the question that follow.
We are proud of the position we hold; humble as we are
- What is the speaker proud of?
- How is the speaker both humble and proud?
- Pick out the alliteration in these lines.
The historical background:
The poem is an extract from William Shakespeare’s play King Richard the Second. The play is based on true events that occurred towards the end of the 14th century.
Richard II was crowned the King of England in the year 1367. He continued to be the British Monarch until 1399, when he was deposed by his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, who crowned himself King Henry the Fourth in the same year. Shakespeare’s play is a dramatic rendition of the last two years of King Richard II’s life. In this brief span of time, he was ousted from his royal position and sent to prison, where he died in captivity.
The following extract is set in the Coast of Wales. King Richard and some of his followers awaited the arrival of the Welsh army [after facing defeat at the hands of his cousin, Bolingbroke], of about 10000 warriors. But to their shock and surprise, they received the message that the army was not coming to their rescue. His followers tried to boost their King’s courage against the news, only in vain. When Richard came face to face with the reality of his terrible fate, he spoke the following verse, famously known as the “Hollow Crown” speech in theatrical circles. In it, King Richard is reminded of the power of Death that overshadows everything else, including the power of rulers, and renders them as powerless as any commoner at a moment’s notice.
Fill in the blanks using the words given in the box to complete the summary of the poem:
King Richard the Second, had surrendered to his (a)______cousin, Bollingbroke. He experienced deep distress at the horror of his circumstances. In that desperate situation, he speaks of (b)______, (c)______, (d)______and other things connected with death. He spoke of how people leave nothing behind and can call nothing their own, except for the small patch of (e)______, where they will be buried. King Richard yielded to dejection and talked of all the different ways in which defeated kings suffer how some had been deposed, (f)______in war, (g)______by their wives and so forth. He attributed this loss of lives to (h)______, who he personified as the jester who watches over the shoulder of every ruler, who mocks kings by allowing them to think their human flesh, was like (i)______brass. However, Death penetrates through the castle walls, silently and unnoticed like a sharp (j)______, thus bidding (k)______to him and all his pride forever. Finally, Richard appealed to his soldiers not to mock his mere flesh and blood by showing (l) ______and respect to him. He added that he too needed bread to live, felt want, tasted (m)______and needed (n)______. He concluded thus, urging his men not to call him a (o)______as he was only human, just like the rest of them.
| barren-earth | friends | graves | slain |
| rebellious | poisoned | worms | grief |
| impregnable | epitaphs | death | farewell |
| reverence | king | pin |
Fill in the blank with appropriate word from the box and complete the statement suitably:
The spectators died laughing at the ______of the clown.
Fill in the blank with appropriate word from the box and complete the statement suitably:
The business woman wished to ______all her riches to an orphanage, after her death.
Are all deposed kings slain by the deposer?
What hides within the crown and laughs at the king’s grandeur?
How does the king establish that he and his subjects are equal in the end?
Read the poem once again carefully and identify the figure of speech that has been used in each of the following line from the poem:
“Scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp,…”
Pick out the alliteration from the following lines:
“And tell sad stories of the death of kings:”
