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प्रश्न
How can this shameful tale be told?
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उत्तर
- Reference: This line is from Edwin Muir’s poem “The Castle”. Context and
- Explanation: The poet says these words while describing the treacherous betrayal of the aged warden. He had taken gold and let the enemy in. The soldiers who were ready to lay down their lives to protect their castle were shamefully overpowered by the trick of the enemy and the greed of the warder. The soldier is reluctant to relate this shameful tale.
APPEARS IN
संबंधित प्रश्न
Did the soldiers fight with the enemies face to face?
How did the enemies enter the castle?
Human greed led to the mighty fall of the citadel. Explain.
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?
I will maintain until my death
Our only enemy was gold
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 |
Identify the figure of speech used in the following line.
Oh then our maze of tunneled stone
Identify the figure of speech used in the following line.
Grew thin and treacherous as air.
The casuarina tree will be remembered forever. Why?
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’?
What is the first stage of a human’s life?
Describe the second stage of life as depicted by Shakespeare.
Explain the following line briefly with reference to the context.
“Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation”.“They have their exits and their entrances;
Pick out the word in ‘alliteration’ in the following line.
“and all the men and women merely players”
What does Ulysses yearn for?
Who does the speaker address in the second part?
Identify the figure of speech employed in the following line.
And drunk delight of battle with my peers;
Read the set of line from the poem and answer the question that follow.
… I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and
know not me.
- What does Ulysses do?
- Did he enjoy what he was doing? Give reasons.
Read the set of line from the poem and answer the question that follow.
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
- Though made weak by time and fate, the hearts are heroic. Explain.
- Pick out the words in alliteration in the above lines.
Explain with reference to the context the following line.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!
Explain with reference to the context the following line.
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs:
the deep Moans round with many voices.
What is Ulysses’ clarion call to his sailors? How does he inspire them?
Fill in the blanks choosing the words from the box given and complete the summary of the poem.
Lines 1-25
The poet Carl Sandburg gives a vivid description of a father’s worldly (1)______ in directing a son who is at the threshold of his (2) ______.
Here the father motivates his son to be like a hard(3) ______and withstand life’s (4)______ and sudden betrayals. (5)______is like a fertile soil. We can make our life fruitful if we are gentle, and take life as it comes. At times(6)______ overtakes harshness. The growth of a (7)______can split a rock. One should have a (8) ______and strong will to achieve. Greed for(9)______has left men dead before they really die. Good men also have fallen prey in quest for (10) ______money. Time for (11)______is not a waste. When you seek knowledge never feel ashamed to be called a(12)______for not knowing, at the same time learn from your (13) ______and never (14)______it.
| deep desire | manhood | gentleness | mistakes | easy |
| leisure | fool | life | money | repeat |
| tender-flower | rock | challenges | wisdom |
Lines 26-44
Do (15)______often, and do not hesitate to accept your shortcomings, avoid(16) ______to protect self against other people. Solitude helps to be (17)______and(18) ______ are taken in silent rooms. Instead of being one among many, be (19)______, if that is your nature. The son may need lazy days to find his (20)______abilities, to seek what he is born for. He will then know how free imaginations bring (21)______to the world, which (22)______ change. During such resentment, let him know that it is time for him to be on his own, and (23)______to achieve like Shakespeare, the Wright brothers, Pasteur, Pavlov, and Michael Faraday.
| changes | introspect | inherent | work | resents |
| white lies | creative | final decisions | different |
How would his being alone help the boy?
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
He will be lonely enough
to have time for the work
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
Brutes have been gentled where lashes failed.
Explain how the poet guides his son who is at the threshold of manhood, to face the challenges of life.
Napoleon was a great source of inspiration to his army. Justify.
