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Question
Old Kaspar took it from the boy,
Who stood expectant by;
And then the old man shook his head,
And,with a natural sigh,
"Tis some poor fellow's skull," said he,
"Who fell in the great victory.
"I find them in the garden,
For there's many here about;
And often when I go to plough,
The ploughshare turns them out!
For many thousand men,"said he,
"Were slain in that great victory."
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow.
Why does the poet use a skull?
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Solution
Southey uses a skull, as it is the most unique part of the human body. This makes you recognise that the skull was once part of a human body that was ruthlessly killed, and again emphasises the pointlessness of war.
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Thinking about the Poem
Is it a harmful snake? What is its colour?
What does he plant who plants a tree?
He plants cool shade and tender rain,
And seed and bud of days to be,
And years that fade and flush again;
He plants the glory of the plain;
He plants the forest's heritage;
The harvest of a coming age;
The joy that unborn eyes shall see___
These things he plants who plants a tree.
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow:
Explain the line, “And years that fade and flush again.”
Some are Purple and gold flecked grey
For she who has journeyed through life midway,
Whose hands have cherished , whose love has blest,
And cradled fair sons on her faithful breast,
And serves her household in fruitful pride,
And worship the gods at her husband's side.
Read the lines given above and answer the question that follow:
What fulfills the life of an Indian wife and mother?
There was a time when our people covered the land as the waves of a wind-ruffled sea cover its shell-paved floor, but that time long since passed away with the greatness of tribes that are now but a mournful memory. 1 will not dwell on, nor mourn over, our untimely decay, nor reproach my paleface brothers with hastening it, as we too may have been somewhat to blame.
Youth is impulsive. When our young men grow angry at some real or imaginary wrong, and disfigure their faces with black paint, it denotes that their hearts are black, and that they are often cruel and relentless, and our old men and old women are unable to restrain them. Thus it has ever been. Thus it was when the white man began to push our forefathers ever westward. But let us hope that the hostilities between us may never return. We would have everything to lose and nothing to gain. Revenge by young men is considered gain, even at the cost of their own lives, but old men who stay at home in times of war, and mothers who have sons to lose, know better.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
When did the hostilities between the Trials and the White men begin?
The village consisted of less than thirty houses, only one of them built with brick and cement. Painted a brilliant yellow and blue all over with gorgeous carvings of gods and gargoyles on its balustrade, it was known as the Big House. The other houses, distributed in four streets, were generally of bamboo thatch, straw, mud, and other unspecified material. Muni’s was the last house in the fourth street, beyond which stretched the fields. In his prosperous days Muni had owned a flock of forty sheep and goats and sallied forth every morning driving the flock to the highway a couple of miles away.
Read the extract given below and answer the question that follow.
What is the name of the village referred to here? Where is it situated?
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
"Now tell us what it was all about"
Young Peterkin, he cries.
And little Willhelmines looks up
With wonder - waiting eyes,
"Now tell us all about the war,
And what they fought each other for".
- After Blenheim, Robert Southey
(i) Who are Peterkin and Wilhelmine? How does the poet describe the scene at the beginning of the poem?
(ii) What did Young Peterkin find and where? Describe it?
(iii) Who is referred to as "each other"? What did they fight for?
(iv) To whom are the words in the extract addressed? How was this person's family affected by the war?
(v) What, according to the poet, are the consequences that are often associated with great and famous victories? What message does the poet want to convey to the readers?
Do we usually say that an animal ‘wears’ a tail? What do we say? (Think: Does an animal wear a coat? Consulta dictionary if you like, and find out how ‘wear’ is used in different ways
How did the wicked couple behave with the dogs passing by their house?
Why did the customer free the imprisoned doves?
Who went the other way?
