Advertisements
Advertisements
प्रश्न
Our only enemy was gold
Advertisements
उत्तर
- Reference:
This line is taken from the Poem – “The Castle”, Poet – “Edwin Muir”. - Context:
Here the poet talks about the ‘success of the enemy’. - Explanation:
The narrator wondered about the tricks played by enemies. At last, the enemy won them by giving them gold as a bribe. So the narrator called the enemy gold.
APPEARS IN
संबंधित प्रश्न
Who was the real enemy?
Read the given line and answer the question that follow in a line or two.
| Oh then our maze of tunneled stone Grew thin and treacherous as air. The castle was lost without a groan, The famous citadel overthrown, |
- Bring out the contrast in the first two lines.
- What is the rhyme scheme of the given stanza?
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?
I will maintain until my death
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.
Oh then our maze of tunneled stone
Identify the figure of speech used in the following line.
Grew thin and treacherous as air.
What is the creeper compared to?
How does the creeper appear on the tree?
Name the bird that sings in the poet’s garden.
What has Wordsworth sanctified in his poem?
The casuarina tree will be remembered forever. Why?
Identify the figure of speech used in each of the extract given below and write down the answer in the space given below.
“The water-lilies spring, like snow enmassed.”
What is the first stage of a human’s life?
Describe the second stage of life as depicted by Shakespeare.
Explain the following line briefly with reference to the context.
“Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation”.“They have their exits and their entrances;
Read the given line and answer the question that follow.
Then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school.
- Which stage of life is being referred to here by the poet?
- What are the characteristics of this stage?
- How does the boy go to school?
- Which figure of speech has been employed in the second line?
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?
Identify the figure of speech employed in the following line.
And drunk delight of battle with my peers;
Read the set of line from the poem and answer the question that follow.
… I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and
know not me.
- What does Ulysses do?
- Did he enjoy what he was doing? Give reasons.
‘A tough will counts.’ Explain.
How would his being alone help the boy?
Here are a few poetic device used in the poem.
Repetition- It is a figure of speech.
Read the line given below and answer the question that follow.
Tell him to be a fool ever so often
and to have no shame over having been a fool
yet learning something out of every folly
hoping to repeat none of the cheap follies
- Is it a shame to be a fool at times?
- What does one learn from every folly?
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
Yet learning something out of every folly
hoping to repeat none of the cheap follies
Fill in the blanks choosing the words from the box given and complete the summary of the poem.
The poet Robert Browning narrates an incident at the French Camp in the war of 1809 between France and Austria, in a (a)______version. He describes the brave action of a (b)______soldier, whose heroic devotion to duty and his (c) ______ in it is inspiring and worthy of (d) ______. During the attack of the French army on Ratisbon, Napoleon was anxious about the (e) ______. Austrians were defending Ratisbon with great (f) ______and courage. Napoleon was watching the war standing on a (g) ______near the battlefield.
All of a sudden a rider appeared from the closed smoke and dust. Riding at great speed, jumping and leaping, he approached the mound where Napoleon stood. As he came closer, the narrator noticed that the rider, a young boy, was severely wounded. But the rider showed no sign of pain and smiling in joy, jumped off the horse and gave the happy news of (h) ______to the emperor.
He exclaimed with pride that the French had (i) ______Ratisbon and he himself had hoisted the flag of France. When Napoleon heard the news, his plans (j) ______up like fire. His eyes (k) ______when he saw that the soldier was severely wounded. Like a caring mother eagle, the emperor asked if he was wounded. The (l) ______soldier replied proudly that he was killed and died heroically.
| determination | result | dramatic |
| pride | admiration | softened |
| wounded | mound | victory |
| conquered | soared | valiant |
Who do you think is the narrator of the poem?
The young soldier matched his emperor in courage and patriotism. Elucidate your answer.
