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प्रश्न
Why does the speaker say ‘Everest is not the only peak’?
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उत्तर
Everyone is not made to be a mountain climber or a captain. Each one has an important role in this life however small it may appear to be. The poet respects every small achievement in every walk of life. So, he says, “Everest is not the only peak”.
APPEARS IN
संबंधित प्रश्न
Read the poem again and complete the summary using the words given in the box.
In the poem ‘Confessions of a Born Spectator,’ Ogden Nash talks about how people choose different sports in their lives or decide to become athletes. While admiring the talents of athletes and sportsmen, the poet (i)______he is glad that he is neither a sportsman nor an athlete. Children have different (ii)______and wish to play various games. Each child has in mind something in particular, but the narrator is (iii)______he is not one of the players. Though the narrator (iv) ______the talents of all athletes, he derives satisfaction from watching them, but does not wish to (v) ______places with them. He also sometimes regrets that (vi)______athletes play rough games without caring for the feelings of their sporting rivals. He feels that good sense and caution win over ego. The narrator wholeheartedly offers (vii) ______the modest (viii) ______of athletes. Ultimately the narrator is (ix)______that he himself is not an athlete.
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thanksgiving exchange glad confesses physiques zealous satisfied aims admires |
How does the poet establish the victory of common sense over ego?
Explain the following with reference to the context in about 50–60 word each.
Athletes, I’ll drink to you, Or eat with you, Or anything except compete with you…
Everybody is special and everybody is a hero. Each one has a story to tell. In the light of this observation, present your views.
Would you like to exchange your place with someone else? Why/why not?
Read the lines given below and answer the question that follow.
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there…
- What did the poet notice about the twigs?
- What was the poet’s thought about then?
Explain the following line with reference to the context in about four to five sentence each.
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.
Read the poem once again. Identify the rhyme scheme and pick out the rhyming pairs of words.
A French proverb goes thus: ‘The dog may be wonderful prose, but only the cat is poetry.’ You may have observed that all animals possess a number of unique qualities. Fill in the columns with words and phrases associated with each of the following animals.
| DOG | CAT | WOLF | ELEPHANT |
Why does the poet say Macavity is ‘outwardly’ respectable?
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
And his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland Yard’s
Give four instances where the poet has used alliteration in the poem.
Pick out all the pairs of rhyming words used in the poem.
Which line is repeated in the poem? What is the effect created by this repetition?
What does the ladder symbolize?
Read the given line and answer the question that follow.
Defeat we repel, courage our fort;
- How do we react to defeat?
- Which is considered as our stronghold?
Read the given line and answer the question that follow.
He, who does not stoop, is a king we adore. We bow before competence and merit;
- Who is adored as a king?
- What is the figure of speech used in the first line?
The poem does not focus on the destination but the journey towards it. Discuss
Creative Activity
- Write eight words you associate with success.
- Use the words to write eight lines that mean success to you or how success makes you feel.
- Arrange your lines into a poem.
- Share your poem with the class and post a copy on the notice board.
Discuss the following topic in groups of five and choose a representative to sum up the view and share them with the class.
‘Success is not final, failure is not fatal.’ It is the courage and perseverance that counts.
The historical background:
The poem is an extract from William Shakespeare’s play King Richard the Second. The play is based on true events that occurred towards the end of the 14th century.
Richard II was crowned the King of England in the year 1367. He continued to be the British Monarch until 1399, when he was deposed by his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, who crowned himself King Henry the Fourth in the same year. Shakespeare’s play is a dramatic rendition of the last two years of King Richard II’s life. In this brief span of time, he was ousted from his royal position and sent to prison, where he died in captivity.
The following extract is set in the Coast of Wales. King Richard and some of his followers awaited the arrival of the Welsh army [after facing defeat at the hands of his cousin, Bolingbroke], of about 10000 warriors. But to their shock and surprise, they received the message that the army was not coming to their rescue. His followers tried to boost their King’s courage against the news, only in vain. When Richard came face to face with the reality of his terrible fate, he spoke the following verse, famously known as the “Hollow Crown” speech in theatrical circles. In it, King Richard is reminded of the power of Death that overshadows everything else, including the power of rulers, and renders them as powerless as any commoner at a moment’s notice.
Who is Bolingbroke? Is he a friend or foe?
What does the crown of rulers stand for?
What hides within the crown and laughs at the king’s grandeur?
Read the poem once again carefully and identify the figure of speech that has been used in each of the following line from the poem:
“And yet not so – for what can we bequeath
Save our deposed bodies to the ground?”
Read the poem once again carefully and identify the figure of speech that has been used in each of the following line from the poem:
“How can you say to me, I am a king?”
Pick out the alliteration from the following lines:
“Our lands, our lives, and all, are Bolingbroke’s,…”
