Question

The poet has used the word REST thrice in the poem. Write what the word implies in each of the three lines it occurs.

Answer 1

The meaning of the word ‘Rest’ in the 10th line is twofold: it means ‘remaining’, and it also means the gift of ‘rest’. The line is an example of Pun in which the poet wishes to say that the remaining gifts lay at the bottom of the glass along with the gift of ‘rest’.

In the 14th line, the word ‘rest’ means to ‘credit’. The line conveys the idea that if God were to bestow ‘rest’ on man, man would extend this credit to nature rather than to God.

The word ‘rest’ in the 16^th line of the poem means ‘the remaining’. Here, the poet, on behalf of God, asks man to keep all the remaining gifts except the gift of ‘rest’.