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Question
Explain with reference to the context the following line.
I cannot rest from travel: I will drink Life to the lees:
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Solution
- Reference: These lines are from the poem ‘Ulysses” written by Alfred Tennyson.
- Context and Explanation: Ulysses, after spending many years in the seas returns to Ithaca and starts ruling his country. But his heart is not in the administration of his kingdom. He wants to sail again. In this context, he says these words. He wishes to enjoy life to the fullest and so he can’t afford to idle away his remaining life as a king.
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Introduction
The poem ‘Ulysses’ is a dramatic monologue that contains 70 lines of blank verse. Ulysses, the King of Ithaca, gathers his men together to prepare for the journey and exhorts them not to waste their time left on earth. Ulysses has grown old, having experienced many adventures at the battle of Troy and in the seas. After returning to Ithaca, he desires to embark upon his next voyage. His inquisitive spirit is always looking forward to more and more of such adventures.
Pick out the lines which convey that his quest for travel is unending.
What does Ulysses yearn for?
Read the set of line from the poem and answer the question that follow.
Yet all experience is an arch wherethrough
Gleams that untravelled world, whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move
- What is experience compared to?
- How do the lines convey that the experience is endless?
Read the set of line from the poem and answer the question that follow.
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
- Though made weak by time and fate, the hearts are heroic. Explain.
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Explain with reference to the context the following line.
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
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He works his work, I mine.
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It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
How would his being alone help the boy?
Read the line given below and answer the question that follow.
..........Free imaginations
Bringing changes into a world resenting change.
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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.
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| pride | admiration | softened |
| wounded | mound | victory |
| conquered | soared | valiant |
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What was Napoleon’s reaction on hearing the news of victory?
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What is the role of the young soldier in the victory of the French at Ratisbon?
