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Question
Bring out the contrasting picture of the castle as depicted in stanzas 3 and 5.
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Solution
The gates of the castle were very strong. The walls were high and smooth. No enemy could ever enter it by trick. The soldiers were quite alert to the movement of the enemies. They were proud that only a bird could venture to scale over the castle. But the enemies entered through the wicket gate. The tunneled stone walls became thin and treacherous. The famous citadel ‘ was overthrown without a fight. The cunning enemies, having bribed the aged warder, looted the treasures in the secret galleries. The citadel was lost without a fight and a groan of protest.
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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
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And we had no arms to fight it with.
| lay | hay |
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