English
Tamil Nadu Board of Secondary EducationHSC Science Class 12

Our gates were strong, our walls were thick,

Advertisements
Advertisements

Question

Our gates were strong, our walls were thick,

Short/Brief Note
Advertisements

Solution

  • Reference: This line is from Edwin Muir’s poem “The Castle”.
  • Context and Explanation: The poet says these words while flaunting the invincibility of their strong castle. They could watch the movement of enemies from the turret wall and shoot down the enemy at a distance of half a kilometer. They had a stockpile of arms. Their granary was full to sustain the people in the event of a siege. Only a bird could have got into the castle. So, the enemies did not seem to be a threat at all to the soldiers.
shaalaa.com
Poem (Class 12th)
  Is there an error in this question or solution?
Chapter 1.2: The Castle - Exercise [Page 22]

APPEARS IN

Samacheer Kalvi English Class 12 TN Board
Chapter 1.2 The Castle
Exercise | Q 5 a) | Page 22

RELATED QUESTIONS

How did the enemies enter the castle?


Human greed led to the mighty fall of the citadel. Explain.


Identify the figure of speech used in the following line.

Grew thin and treacherous as air.


You visit your school after several years. As you cross the banyan tree at the entrance, cheerful memories fi ll your mind. Fill the bubbles with your memories.


Describe the garden during the night.


Explain the following line with reference to the context.

It is the tree’s lament, an eerie speech,…


“And they have their exits and their entrances” - What do the words ‘exits’ and ‘entrances’ mean?


Describe the second stage of life as depicted by Shakespeare.


When does a man become a judge? How?


Complete the table based on your understanding of the poem.

Stage Characteristic
  crying
judge  
soldier  
  unhappy
second childhood  
  whining
old man  

Shakespeare has skilfully brought out the parallels between the life of man and actors on stage. Elaborate this statement with reference to the poem.


Complete the summary of the poem, choosing words from the list given below. Lines 44 to 70

Ulysses beckons his sailors to (1) ______at the port where the ship is ready to sail. His companions who have faced both (2) ______and sunshine with a smile, are united by their undying spirit of adventure. Though death would end everything, Ulysses urges his companions to join him and sail beyond the sunset and seek a newer (3) ______, regardless of consequences. These brave hearts who had once moved (4) ______ and earth, may have grown old and weak physically but their spirit is young and (5) ______. His call is an inspiration for all those who seek true knowledge and strive to lead (6) ______ lives.

world, thunder, meaningful, gather, undaunted, heaven

Read the set of line from the poem and answer the question that follow.

This is my son, mine own Telemachus,

To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle Well-loved of me,

  1. Who does Ulysses entrust his kingdom to, in his absence?
  2. Bring out the significance of the ‘sceptre’.

Read the set of line from the poem and answer the question that follow.

Death closes all: but something ere the end,

Some work of noble note, may yet be done,

Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.

  1. The above lines convey the undying spirit of Ulysses. Explain.
  2. Pick out the words in alliteration in the above lines.

Explain with reference to the context the following line.

How dull it is to pause, to make an end,

To rust unburnished, not to shine in use!


Explain with reference to the context the following line.

To follow knowledge like a sinking star,

Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.


Explain with reference to the context the following line.

....you and I are old;

Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;


Where are the final decisions taken?


The poet says

‘Without rich wanting nothing arrives’ but he condemns ‘the quest of lucre beyond a few easy needs.’ Analyse the difference and write.


Explain the following line with reference to the context.

and guide him among sudden betrayals

and tighten him for slack moments.


Explain the following line with reference to the context.

Yet learning something out of every folly

hoping to repeat none of the cheap follies


How according to the poet is it possible for his son to bring changes into a world that resents change?


Who took the city of Ratisbon by storm?


What does the phrase ‘full galloping’ suggest?


Where did the rider plant the French flag after Ratisbon was captured?


When did the narrator find that the boy was badly wounded?


Literary Devices

Mark the rhyme scheme of the poem. The rhyme scheme for the first stanza is as follows.

With neck out-thrust, you fancy how, a
Legs wide, arms locked behind, b
As if to balance the prone brow a
Oppressive with its mind. b

Explain the following line with reference to the context.

To see your flag-bird flap his vans Where I, to heart’s desire, Perched him!’


Share
Notifications

Englishहिंदीमराठी


      Forgot password?
Use app×