Question

Read the given poem and write an appreciation of the poem using the points given below of the poem.

The Twins In form and feature, face and limb, I grew so like my brother, That folks got taking me for him, And each for one another. It puzzled all our kith and kin, It reached a fearful pitch; For one of us was born a twin, Yet not a soul knew which. One day, to make the matter worse, Before our names were fixed, As we were being washed by a nurse, We got completely mixed; And thus, you see, by fate’s decree, Or rather nurse’s whim, My brother John got christened me, And I got christened him. This fatal likeness even dogged My footsteps, when at school, And I was always getting flogged, For John turned out a fool. I put this question, fruitlessly, To everyone I knew, ‘What would you do, if you were me, To prove that you were you?’ Our close resemblance turned the tide Of my domestic life, For somehow, my intended bride Became my brother’s wife.  In fact, year after year the same Absurd mistakes went on, And when I died, the neighbours came And buried brother John.                      - Henry Sambrooke Leigh

1. Title –     (½)
2. Name of the poet –     (½)
3. Rhyme Scheme –     (1)
4. Figures of Speech –     (1)
5. Theme/Central idea (in about 2 to 3 lines) –     (2)

Answer 1

1. Title: ‘The Twins’
2. Poet: Henry Sambrooke Leigh
3. Rhyme Scheme: ‘ababcdcd’
4. Figures of Speech: Alliteration, consonance, hyperbole, interrogation, inversion, pun, and repetition
5. Theme/Central Idea: This is a funny poem about identical twins. The poet expresses his sadness over the fact that he has always been mistaken for his brother. Yet, if John took the place of the poet, had his name, and lived his life, their identities had not really been exchanged. That’s the irony shown in this poem, that each one lived their part.