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Question
Fill in the blanks using the words given in the box to complete the summary of the poem:
King Richard the Second, had surrendered to his (a)______cousin, Bollingbroke. He experienced deep distress at the horror of his circumstances. In that desperate situation, he speaks of (b)______, (c)______, (d)______and other things connected with death. He spoke of how people leave nothing behind and can call nothing their own, except for the small patch of (e)______, where they will be buried. King Richard yielded to dejection and talked of all the different ways in which defeated kings suffer how some had been deposed, (f)______in war, (g)______by their wives and so forth. He attributed this loss of lives to (h)______, who he personified as the jester who watches over the shoulder of every ruler, who mocks kings by allowing them to think their human flesh, was like (i)______brass. However, Death penetrates through the castle walls, silently and unnoticed like a sharp (j)______, thus bidding (k)______to him and all his pride forever. Finally, Richard appealed to his soldiers not to mock his mere flesh and blood by showing (l) ______and respect to him. He added that he too needed bread to live, felt want, tasted (m)______and needed (n)______. He concluded thus, urging his men not to call him a (o)______as he was only human, just like the rest of them.
| barren-earth | friends | graves | slain |
| rebellious | poisoned | worms | grief |
| impregnable | epitaphs | death | farewell |
| reverence | king | pin |
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Solution
King Richard the Second, had surrendered to his (a) rebellious cousin, Bollingbroke. He experienced deep distress at the horror of his circumstances. In that desperate situation, he speaks of (b) graves, (c) epitaphs, (d) worms, and other things connected with death. He spoke of how people leave nothing behind and can call nothing their own, except for the small patch of (e) barren earth, where they will be buried. King Richard yielded to dejection and talked of all the different ways in which defeated kings suffer how some had been deposed, (f) slain in war, (g) poisoned by their wives and so forth. He attributed this loss of lives to (h) death, who he personified as the jester who watches over the shoulder of every ruler, who mocks kings by allowing them to think their human flesh, was like (i) impregnable brass. However, Death penetrates through the castle walls, silently and unnoticed like a sharp (j) Pin, thus bidding (k) farewell to him and all his pride forever. Finally, Richard appealed to his soldiers not to mock his mere flesh and blood by showing (l) reverence and respect to him. He added that he too needed bread to live, felt want, tasted (m) grief and needed (n) friends. He concluded thus, urging his men not to call him a (o) king as he was only human, just like the rest of them.
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Listening Activity
Some phrases have been left out in the poem below. First, read the poem. Then, fill in the missing words on listening to the reading or the recording of it in full. You may listen again, if required
To Autumn
O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stained
With the blood of the grape, pass not, but sit
Beneath my ______, there thou may’st rest,
And tune thy jolly voice to my ______;
And all the daughters of the year shall dance!
Sing now the ______of fruits and flowers.
“The ______opens her beauties to
The sun, and love runs in her ______;
Blossoms hang round the brows of morning and
Flourish down the ______of modest eve,
Till clust’ring Summer breaks forth into singing,
And ______strew flowers round her head.
The spirits of the air live on the smells
Of fruit; and joy, with ______, roves round
The gardens, or sits singing in the trees.”
Thus sang the ______as he sat,
Then rose, girded himself, and o’er the bleak
Hills fled from our sight; but left his ______.
William Blake
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Where can you encounter Macavity?
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For he’s a fiend in feline shape, a monster of depravity
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Pick out all the pairs of rhyming words used in the poem.
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To succeed in life, one must have a single-minded devotion to duty.
What do the three words, ‘graves, worms and epitaphs’, refer to?
What does the executor mentioned in the poem do?
Are all deposed kings slain by the deposer?
Explain the following line with reference to the context in about 5 to 8 line:
“Comes at the last, and with a little pin
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Make dust our paper, and with rainy eyes Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth’’.
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Death has been cited in many ways in this monologue. Identify the poetic devices used in those references.
