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प्रश्न
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?
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उत्तर
- The soldier is ready to lay down his life.
- Reputation is a transitory thing. It doesn’t even last a minute like the life of a bubble.
- In this stage, the youthful soldier attaches great value to honour. He is quick to temper and challenges people to fight for the sake of honour. He often swears to assert his valour.
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संबंधित प्रश्न
Have you ever visited a fort or a castle?
How long had the soldiers been in the castle?
Who had let the enemies in?
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.
We could do nothing, being sold.
- Why couldn’t they do anything?
- Why did they feel helpless?
How can this shameful tale be told?
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.
A little wicked wicket gate.
Can you call ‘The Castle’ an allegorical poem? Discuss.
Fill in the blanks choosing the words from the box given and complete the summary of the poem.
The casuarina tree is tall and strong, with a creeper winding around it like a (1) ______. The tree stands like a (2) ______with a colourful scarf of flowers. Birds surround the garden and the sweet song of the birds is heard. The poet is delighted to see the casuarina tree through her (3) ______. She sees a grey monkey sitting like a (4) ______on top of the tree, the cows grazing, and the water lilies (5) ______in the pond. The poet feels that the tree is dear to her not for its (6) ______appearance but for the (7) ______memories of her happy childhood that it brings to her. She strongly believes that (8) ______communicates with human beings. The poet could communicate with the tree even when she was in a far-off land as she could hear the tree (9) ______her absence. The poet (10) ______the tree’s memory to her loved ones, who are not alive. She immortalizes the tree through her poem like the poet Wordsworth who (11) ______the yew tree of Borrowdale in verse. She expresses her wish that the tree should be remembered out of love and not just because it cannot be (12) ______.
| python | statue | nature | casement |
| nostalgic | lamenting | impressive | forgotten |
| giant | consecrates | springing | sanctified |
Describe the garden during the night.
The casuarina tree will be remembered forever. Why?
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
Unto thy honor, Tree, beloved of those
Who now in blessed sleep for aye repose,
How does a man play a lover’s role?
Why is the last stage called second childhood?
Complete the summary of the poem, choosing words from the list given below. Lines 33 to 42
Ulysses desires to hand over his (1) ______to his son Telemachus, who would fulfil his duties towards his subjects with care and (2) ______. Telemachus possesses patience and has the will to civilise the citizens of Ithaca in a (3) ______way. Ulysses is happy that his son would do his work blamelessly and he would pursue his (4) ______for travel and knowledge.
| prudence, kingdom, quest, tender |
Complete the summary of the poem, choosing words from the list given below. Lines 44 to 70
Ulysses beckons his sailors to (1) ______at the port where the ship is ready to sail. His companions who have faced both (2) ______and sunshine with a smile, are united by their undying spirit of adventure. Though death would end everything, Ulysses urges his companions to join him and sail beyond the sunset and seek a newer (3) ______, regardless of consequences. These brave hearts who had once moved (4) ______ and earth, may have grown old and weak physically but their spirit is young and (5) ______. His call is an inspiration for all those who seek true knowledge and strive to lead (6) ______ lives.
| world, thunder, meaningful, gather, undaunted, heaven |
‘Ulysses is not happy to perform his duties as a king.’ Why?
Pick out the lines which convey that his quest for travel is unending.
‘He works his work, I mine’ – How is the work distinguished?
Identify the figure of speech employed in the following line.
Thro’ scudding drifts the rainy Hyades Vext the dim sea...
Identify the figure of speech employed in the following line.
.....the deep Moans round with many voices.
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’.
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
He will be lonely enough
to have time for the work
Describe the posture of Napoleon.
Who came galloping on a horse to Napoleon?
What does the phrase ‘full galloping’ suggest?
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 |
Read the line given below and answer the question that follow.
‘You’re wounded!’ ‘Nay’, his soldier’s pride Touched to the quick, he said:
- Why did the boy contradict Napoleon’s words?
- Why was his pride touched?
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
Then off there flung in smiling joy, And held himself erect
