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Referring to the poem Tithonus, show how his immortality becomes a curse. Answer in 100-150 words incorporating the following details.

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प्रश्न

Referring to the poem Tithonus, show how his immortality becomes a curse. Answer in 100-150 words incorporating the following details.

  1. Circumstances leading to Tithonus receiving a boon
  2. Reasons for the boon becoming a curse
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उत्तर

In Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem "Tithonus," the protagonist’s immortality, granted as a boon, becomes a curse. Tithonus, beloved by the goddess Aurora, is granted eternal life at her request. However, while he gains immortality, he does not receive eternal youth. As a result, Tithonus continues to age, becoming increasingly frail and decrepit. This ageing process, devoid of the relief of death, turns his boon into a perpetual torment.

The immortality that once seemed desirable becomes a relentless burden as Tithonus witnesses the world around him change while he endures endless suffering. His eternal life, marred by unending decay, highlights the curse of living beyond natural human limits. Tithonus yearns for the release of death, realizing that immortality without youth is an unending punishment. This poignant narrative underscores the paradox of immortality and the inherent value of a natural life cycle.

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You can find more information about Robert Frost at the following websites.
http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prmID=1961.
Hear the poet (who died almost forty years ago!) reading the poem at
http://www.poets.org/poems/poems.cfm ?prmID= 1645
To view a beautiful New England scene with each poem on this web site: "Illustrated
Poetry of Robert Frost":
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/1487/index.html


Here's a glimpse of a naughty child whose life is full of fun and frolic . 

One of the reasons why Tom's mind had drifted away from ita secret troubles was that it bad found a new and weighty matter to interest itself about. Becky Thatcher had stopped coming to school. Tom bad struggled with his pride a few days and tried to "whistle her down the wind," but failed. He began to find himself hanging around her father's house all night and feeling very miserable. She was ill. What if she should die! There was distraction in the thought. Tom Sawyer no longer took an interest in war, nor even in piracy. The charm of life was gone; there was nothing but dreariness left. He put his hoop away, and his bat; there was no joy in them any more. His aunt was concerned. She began to try all manners of remedies on him. She was one of those people who are Infatuated with patent medicines and all new-fangled methods of producing health or mending it. She was an inveterate experimenter in these things. When something fresh in this line came out, she was in a fever, right away, to try it; not on herself, for she was never ailing, but on anybody else that came handy. 
2. She tried every remedy she could. Yet, not with standing all this, the boy grew more and more melancholy and pale and dejected. She added hot baths, sitz baths, shower baths, and plunges. The boy remained as dismal as a hearse. She began to assist the boy with a slim oatmeal diet and blister-plaster&. She calculated his capacity as she would judge and filled him up every day with quack cure-alls. 
3. Tom had become indifferent to persecution by this time. This phase filled the old lady's heart with consternation. This indifference must be broken up at any cost. Now she heard of Pain-killer for the first time. She ordered a lot at once. She tasted it and was filled with gratitude. It was simply fire in a liquid form. She dropped the water treatment and everything else, and pinned her faith on Pain-killer. She gave Tom a teaspoonful and watched with the deepest anxiety for the result. Her troubles were instantly at rest, her soul at peace again; for the 'indifference' was broken up. The boy could not have shown a wilder, heartier interest, if she had built a fire under him. 
4. Tom felt that it was time to wake up; this sort of life might be romantic enough, in his blighted condition, but it was getting to have too little sentiment and too much distracting variety about it. So he thought over various plans for relief and finally hit upon that of professing to be fond of Pain-killer. He asked for it so often that he became a nuisance and his aunt ended up by telling him to help himself and quit bothering her. If it had been Sid, she would have had no misgivings to alloy her delight; but since it was Tom, she watched the bottle clandestinely. She found that the medicine did really diminish, but it did not occur to her that the boy was mending the health of a crack in the sitting-room floor with it. 
5. One day Tom was in the act of dosing the crack when his aunt's yellow cat came along, purring, eyeing the teaspoon avariciously and begging for a taste. Tom said: "Peter, now you've asked for it, and I'll give it to you, because there ain't anything mean about me; but if you find you don't like it, you mustn't blame anybody but your own self." 
6. Tom pried his mouth open and poured down the Pain-killer. Peter sprang a couple of yards in the air, and then delivered a war-whoop and set off round and round the room, banging against furniture, upsetting flower-pots, and making general havoc. Next he rose on his hind feet and pranced around, in a frenzy of enjoyment, with his head over his shoulder and his voice proclaiming his unappeasable happiness. Then he went tearing around the house again spreading chaos and destruction in his path. Aunt Polly entered in time to see him throw a few double summersaults, deliver a final mighty hurrah, and sail through the open window, carrying the rest of the flower-pots with him. The old lady stood petrified with astonishment, peering over her glasses; Tom lay on the floor hysterical with laughter.
"Tom, what on earth ails that cat?" 
"I don't know, aunt," gasped the boy. 
7. The old lady was bending down, Tom watching, with interest emphasized by anxiety. Too late he divined her 'drift'. The handle of the telltale teaspoon was visible under the sofa. Aunt Polly took it, held it up. Tom winced, and dropped his eyes. Aunt Polly raised him by the usual handle - his ear - and cracked his head soundly with her thimble. 
"Now, sir, what did you want to treat that poor dumb beast so, for?" 
"I done it out of pity for him - because he hadn't any aunt." 
"Hadn't any aunt! -you numskull. What has that got to do with it?" 
"Heaps. Because if he'd had one, she'd a burnt him out herself! She'd a roasted his bowels out of him 'thout any more feeling than if he was a human!" 
Tom looked up in her face with just a perceptible twinkle peeping through his gravity. 
"I know you was meaning for the best, aunty, and so was I with Peter. It done him good, too. I never see him get around so-" 


What does he plant who plants a tree? a
He plants a friend of sun and sky;b
He plants the flag of breezes free;
The shaft of beauty, towering high;
He plants a home to heaven anigh;
For song and mother-croon of bird
In hushed and happy twilight heard____
The treble of heaven's harmony_____
These things he plants who plants a tree.

Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow:

Who is described as a ‘friend of sun and sky’ ?

"They say it was a shocking sight
After the field was won;
For many thousand bodies here
Lay rotting in the sun;
But things like that, you know, must be 
After a famous victory.
"Great praise the Duke of Marlbro'won,
And our good Prince Eugene."
"Why,'twas a very wicked thing!"
Said little Wilhelmine.

"Nay...nay...my little girl,"quoth he,
"It was a famous victory.
"And everybody praised the Duke
Who this great fight did win."
"But what good came of it at last?"
Quoth little Peterkin.
"Why that I cannot tell,"said he,
"But 'twas a famous victory."

Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow.

How does kasper justify the thousands of death in the war?


So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The Screams and yells,the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks-
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week ot two
Of having nothing else to do,
They'll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.
And once they start - oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They'll grow so keen 
They'll wonder what they'd ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.

Read the lines given above and answer the question given below.

Explain with reference to context.


So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The Screams and yells,the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks-
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week ot two
Of having nothing else to do,
They'll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.
And once they start - oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They'll grow so keen 
They'll wonder what they'd ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.

Read the lines given above and answer the question given below.

What does Dahl ask the parents to do?


So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The Screams and yells,the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks-
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week ot two
Of having nothing else to do,
They'll now begin to feel the need
Of having something to read.
And once they start - oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hearts. They'll grow so keen 
They'll wonder what they'd ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.

Read the lines given above and answer the question given below.

Will the children thank the parents? Why?


The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be  but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed-and gazed-but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow.

Explain with reference to context.


At Denver there was an influx of passengers into the coaches on the eastbound B. & M. express. In one coach there sat a very pretty young woman dressed in elegant taste and surrounded by all the luxurious comforts of an experienced traveler. Among the newcomers were two young men, one of handsome presence with a bold, frank countenance and manner; the other a ruffled, glum-faced person, heavily built and roughly dressed. The two were handcuffed together.

As they passed down the aisle of the coach the only vacant seat offered was a reversed one facing the attractive young woman. Here the linked couple seated themselves. The young woman’s glance fell upon them with a distant, swift disinterest; then with a lovely smile brightening her countenance and a tender pink tingeing her rounded cheeks, she held out a little gray-gloved hand. When she spoke her voice, full, sweet, and deliberate, proclaimed that its owner was accustomed to speak and be heard.

“Well, Mr. Easton, if you will make me speak first, 1 suppose 1 must. Don’t vou ever recognize old friends when you meet them in the West?”

The younger man roused himself sharply at the sound of her voice, seemed to struggle with a slight embarrassment which he threw off instantly, and then clasped her fingers with his left hand.

“It’s Miss Fairchild,” he said, with a smile. “I’ll ask you to excuse the other hand; “it’s otherwise engaged just at present.”

He slightly raised his right hand, bound at the wrist by the shining “bracelet” to the left one of his companion.

Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.

What is strange about the way the two men are travelling? Why do you suppose they are like this?


The women came out on the shore, and made for the stepping—?stones. They had plenty to laugh and bicker about, as they approached the river in a noisy crowd. They girded up their skirts, so as to jump from stone to stone, and they clanked their sickles and forks together over their shoulders to have ease of movement. They shouted their quarrels above the gush of the river. Noise frightens crocodiles. The big mugger did not move, and all the women crossed in safety to the other bank. Here they had to climb a steep hillside to get at the grass, but all fell to with a will, and sliced away at it wherever there was foothold to be had. Down below them ran the broad river, pouring powerfully out from its deep narrow pools among the cold cliffs and shadows, spreading into warm shallows, lit by kingfishers. Great turtles lived there, and mahseer weighing more than a hundred pounds. Crocodiles too. Sometimes you could see them lying out on those slabs of clay over there, but there were none to be seen at the moment.

Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.

What did the women carry?


Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Duke: What, is Antonio here?
Antonio: Ready, so please your grace.
Duke: I am sorry for thee: thou art come to answer
A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch
Incapable of pity, void and empty
From any dram of mercy. 

(i) What are the terms of the bond that Antonio has signed? 
(ii) Why does the Duke call Shylock ‘inhuman’? What does the Duke expect Shylock to do? 
(iii) What reason does Shylock give for choosing rotten flesh over money? What are the things hated by some people? 
(iv) State three examples Antonio gives to illustrate Shylock’s stubborn attitude. 
(v) How is Shylock’s property distributed at the end by Antonio? Do you think Shylock deserves the punishment given to him? Give a reason to justify your answer. 


How do the smaller desert animals fulfill their need for water?


Mridu had noticed in front of Meena’s house a pair of chappals. Whom did they belong to?


Why do the ants train the greenfly?


How did the customer feel after freeing the doves?


Why did Abbu Khan feel sad?


How did the jealous courtiers of Akbar plan to ruin Tansen?


What do you know about Tansen and his family? What quality was he gifted with?


What did the specialist prescribe in addition to medicine?


Find pictures of the kinds of birds, insects and scenes mentioned in the poem.


Describe the various sights that one comes across in the meadows.


What was Patrick’s chief interest?


How did the villagers react after tasting the water of the magic waterfall?


Who says this to whom and why?
“But is it right, my son, to keep mum and not say what you consider just and fair?”


Answer the following question.
When Jumman’s aunt realised that she was not welcome in his house, what arrangement did she suggest?


What does the phrase “take to task in the above passage mean?


Why does the speaker’s brother lie to him?


Now let us look at the uses of the word break. Match the word with its meanings below. Try to find out at least three other ways in which to use the word.

  1. The storm broke – could not speak; was too sad to speak
  2. Daybreak – this kind of weather ended
  3. His voice is beginning to break – it began or burst into activity
  4. Her voice broke and she cried – the beginning of daylight
  5. The heat wave broke – changing as he grows up
  6. Broke the bad news – end it by making the workers submit
  7. Break a strike – gently told someone the bad news
  8. (Find your own expression. Give its meaning here)

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

Portia: The quality of mercy is not strained;
             It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
             Upon the place beneath : it is twice blessed :
            It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
            Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
            The throned monarch better than his crown:
  1. Where does this scene take place? Why Is Portia here?      [2]
  2. To what is mercy compared in these lines?      [2]
  3. Why does Portia call mercy ‘twice blessed’?
    Explain the lines:
    ‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
    the throned monarch better than his crown:      [3]
  4. Later in her speech Portia mentions a sceptre. What is a sceptre?
    How, according to Portia, is mercy above the ‘sceptred sway’?    [3]

Complete the following sentence by providing a reason.

In the short story, Atithi, Motilal Babu and Annapurna choose Tarapada as a prospective groom for their daughter because ______.


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