हिंदी

Why does the poet wish to 'turn' and live with animals?

Advertisements
Advertisements

प्रश्न

Why does the poet wish to 'turn' and live with animals?

संक्षेप में उत्तर
Advertisements

उत्तर

The poet Walt Whitman expresses his wish that he can identify himself better with the animals, of their qualities of serenity and calm composure. So he intends to turn towards them, away from his human companions, since they have better values than those of the humans.

shaalaa.com
Animals
  क्या इस प्रश्न या उत्तर में कोई त्रुटि है?
2021-2022 (March) Outside Delhi Set 1

संबंधित प्रश्न

I think I could turn and live with animals, they are
              so placid and self-contain’d
I stand and look at them long and long.
They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,
Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with
                  the mania of owning things.
Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that
                  lived thousands of years ago,
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.
So they show their relations to me and I accept them,
They bring me tokens of myself, they evince
                   them plainly in their possession
I wonder where they get those tokens,
Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?

(A1) Complete the following sentences with the help of the poem.
(a) The poet wishes he could.............................
(b) Animals do not complain about............................
(c) Animals do not merely discuss.............................
(d) Animals are not crazy about .............................

(A2) The qualities of animals that highlighted by the poet in the poem are

.............................................................................................................

............................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................

(A3) Name and explain the figures of speech.
“I stand and look at them long and long.’’


Notice the use of the word ‘turn’ in the first line, “I think I could turn and live with animals…”. What is the poet turning from?


Mention three things that humans do and animals don’t.


Do humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago? Discuss this in groups.


What are the ‘tokens’ that the poet says he may have dropped long ago, and which the animals have kept for him? Discuss this in class .
(Hint Whitman belongs to the Romantic tradition that includes Rousseau and Wordsworth,which holds that civilisation has made humans false to their own true nature.
What could be the basic aspects of our nature as living beings that humans choose to ignore or deny?)


Put the following attributes/abilities.

  1. self-control
  2. communicates
  3. love and care
  4. cooks
  5. good manners
  6. has 360° vision
  7. shows gratitude
  8. lives for more than 150 years
  9. swims
  10. learns computing
  11. worships god
  12. sleeps in standing position
  13. stands up immediately after birth
  14. brings up children
  15. belongs to various species


We come across many animals in our vicinity. We have also read about different animals in books. Make a list of all animals that fall under various categories. One is given for you.

Amphibians Mammals Wild Animals Aquatic Animals Pet Animals
frog cow lion octopus cat

Match the words given in table A with their meanings in table B.

No A
Words
  B
Meaning
(i) whine (a) an offence against religious or moral law
(ii) sin (b) complain in an annoying way
(iii) evince (c) craze
(iv) mania (d) failing to take proper care
(v) negligent (e) show

Find adjectives from the poem which refer to positive and negative thinking.

Positive Negative
1. ................... 1. ...................
2. ................... 2. ...................
3. ................... 3. ...................

The poet wishes he could ______.


Animals do not merely discuss ______.


Animals are not crazy about ______.


State whether the following statement is true or false.

Humans have given up many good qualities.


Read the following poem and write an appreciation of it with the help of the given points in a paragraph format:

Animals

I think I could turn and live with animals, they are
so placid and self-containe’d 
I stand and look at them long and long.
They do not sweat and whine about their condition, 
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,
Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with
the mania of owning things. 
Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that
lived thousands of years ago,
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.
So they show their relations to me and I accept them,
They bring me tokens of myself, they evince
them plainly in their possession
I wonder where they get those tokens,
Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop
them?
                                                             - Walt Whitman

You can use the following points while appreciating the given poem.

  1. The title and the poet of the poem     [1]
  2. Rhyme scheme     [1]
  3. Figures of speech     [1]
  4. Central Idea/Theme     [2]

Justify how ‘Animals’ by Walt Whitman is a criticism of mankind and its ways.


List any two things that animals do and humans don't.


What two attributes of the Animals please the poet?


Share
Notifications

Englishहिंदीमराठी


      Forgot password?
Use app×