Question

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

We have no title-deeds to house or lands; Owners and occupants of earlier dates From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands, And hold in mortmain still their old estates.

1. Whose hands are dusty, and why? (Analysis)
2. Where can we ‘meet’ the departed spirits? (Understanding)
3. Who do not have title-deeds to their ‘house or lands’? (Understanding)
4. What do the departed spirits claim from their graves? (Understanding)
5. Explain the phrase ‘hold in mortmain’. (Analysis)

Answer 1

1. The “dusty hands” belong to the people who lived in the house long ago and are now dead. They are called “dusty” because they have been buried in their graves and have become part of the dust.
2. We can feel the presence of the spirits in the houses where they once lived. They seem to be at the doorway, on the stairs, in the passages, and even at the dining table. They cannot be seen or touched, but their presence can be felt.
3. The people living in the house now are not the only owners. The spirits of the people who lived there before still have a connection with the house and seem to consider it their home.
4. The departed spirits still feel that the houses where they once lived belong to them. Even after death, they remain connected to their old homes and think of them as their own.
5. The phrase ‘hold in mortmain’ means to keep something as permanent property. In the poem, it means that the spirits of the former owners still feel that their old houses belong to them, even after their death.