Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
What leads Mathew Arnold to tell his beloved, “Ah, love, let us be true’, in the last stanza of the poem, The Dover Beach? Write your answer in a short paragraph of 100-150 words.
Advertisements
Solution
In Matthew Arnold's poem "Dover Beach," the urging of "Ah, love, let us be true" in the final stanza arises from a profound sense of uncertainty and disillusionment with the modern world. The poem describes a night by the Dover coast, where the tranquil and beautiful seascape sharply contrasts with the poet's internal turmoil and melancholy.
This sorrow is due to his realization of the retreating "Sea of Faith," a metaphor for the waning of religious belief and the erosion of spiritual certainty in the Victorian era. As Arnold contemplates the ebbing tide, he reflects on the loss of this faith, which once encircled the world like a protective girdle. In response to this growing emptiness and the harsh reality of a world characterized by conflict and human misery ("where ignorant armies clash by night"), Arnold turns to his beloved.
He seeks solace in personal truth and steadfast love as the only remaining sources of comfort and fidelity in an otherwise bleak and uncertain existence. Thus, his plea to be true underscores a desire for enduring human connections amid the widespread desolation of faith and stability.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
Read the passage given below and answer the questions (a), (b) and (c) that follow :
(1) At the Literary Society’s meeting, Isola read out the letters written to her Granny Pheen, when she was but a little girl. They were from a very kind man – a complete stranger. Isola told us how these letters came to be written.
(2) When Granny Pheen was nine years old, her cat died. Heartbroken, sitting in the middle of the road, she was sobbing her heart out.
(3) A carriage, driving far too fast, came within a whisker of running her down. A very big man in a dark coat with a fur collar, jumped out, leaned over Pheen, and asked if he could help her. Granny Pheen said she was beyond help. Muffin, her cat, was dead.
(4) The man said, ‘Of course, Muffin’s not dead. You do know cats have nine lives, don’t you?’ When Pheen said yes, the man said, ‘Well, I happen to know your Muffin was only on her third life, so she has six lives left.’ Pheen asked how he knew. He said he always knew - cats would often appear in his mind and chat with him. Well, not in words, of course, but in pictures.
(5) He sat down on the road beside her and told her to keep still – very still. He would see if Muffin wanted to visit him. They sat in silence for several minutes, when suddenly the man grabbed Pheen’s hand.
(6) ‘Ah – yes! There she is! She’s being born this minute! In a mansion – in France. There’s a little boy petting her, he’s going to call her Solange. This Solange has great spirit, great verve – I can tell already! She is going to have a long, venturesome life.’
(7) Granny Pheen was so rapt by Muffin’s new fate that she stopped crying. The man said he would visit Solange every so often and find out how she was faring.
(8) He asked for Granny Pheen’s name and the name of the farm where she lived, got back into the carriage, and left.
(9) Absurd as all this sounds, Granny Pheen did receive eight long letters. Isola then read them out. They were all about Muffin’s life as the French cat − Solange. She was, apparently, something of a feline musketeer. She was no idle cat, lolling about on cushions, lapping up cream – she lived through one wild adventure after another – the only cat ever to be awarded the red rosette of the Legion of Honour.
(10) What a story this man had made up for Pheen – lively, witty, full of drama and suspense. We were enchanted, speechless at the reading. When it was over (and much applauded), I asked Isola if I could see the letters, and she handed them to me.
(11) The writer had signed his letters with a grand flourish :
VERY TRULY YOURS,
O.F. O’F. W.W.
It was highly possible that Isola had inherited eight letters written by Oscar Wilde, for who else could have had such a preposterous name as Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Willis Wilde.
Adapted from : The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society – By Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
(a) (i) Given below are four words and phrases. Find the words which have a similar meaning in the passage :[4]
(1) adventurous
(2) cat-like
(3) appreciated
(4) received something on someone’s death
(ii) For each of the words given below, write a sentence of at least ten words using the same word unchanged in form, but with a different meaning from that which it carries in the passage :[4]
(1) kind (line 2)
(2) mind (line 13)
(3) still (line 15)
(4) sounds (line 26)
(b) Answer the following questions in your own words as briefly as possible:
(i) Where did Isola get the letters from to read at the Literary Society’s meeting?[2]
(ii) Who consoled Granny Pheen when she was heart-broken? What did he say about Muffin’s lives?[2]
(iii) What did the man say when Granny Pheen asked him how he knew about cats’ lives?[2]
(iv) According to the man, what was Muffin’s new fate?[3]
(c) In not more than 100 words, summarise why the eight letters were a treasure to Granny Pheen. (Paragraphs 2 to 10). Failure to keep within the word limit will be penalised. You will be required to write the summary in the form of a connected passage in about 100 words.[8]
What are the five words used in the poem to describe the role of a middle-aged woman?
The Little Match Girl can be viewed as a work of opposites. Justify.
One day a millionaire went to a hotel in New York and________(ask) for the cheapest room they________(have)."What________(be) the price of the room?" he________(ask). The manager________(tell) him."Is that that the cheapest room you________(have)? I________(stay) by myself and only________(need) a small room." The manager said, "Why do you choose a poor room like that? Your son always_______(stay) in our most expensive room.""Yes," said the millionaire, "but his father________(be) a wealthy man; mine is not."
The following common words are used in more than one sense.
-
panel
studio
brush
essence
material
Examine the following sets of sentences to find out what the words, ‘panel’ and ‘essence’ mean in different contexts.
1. (i) The masks from Bawa village in Mali look like long panels of decorated wood.
(ii) Judge H. Hobart Grooms told the jury panel he had heard the reports.
(iii)The panel is laying the groundwork for an international treaty.
(iv)The glass panels of the window were broken.
(v) Through the many round tables, workshops and panel discussions, a consensus was reached.
(vi)The sink in the hinged panel above the bunk drains into the head.
2. (i) Their repetitive structure must have taught the people around the great composer the essence of music.
(ii) Part of the answer is in the proposition; but the essence is in the meaning.
(iii)The implications of these schools of thought are of practical essence for the teacher.
(iv) They had added vanilla essence to the pudding.
Give reasons for the following.
Satyajit attending the village wedding.
Your teacher will speak the word given below. Write against two new words that rhyme with it.
wax ______ ______
What do you know about Kalpana Chawla’s education? How did she become an American citizen?
Find out from your grandparents or parents the names of vegetables and fruits they had eaten in their childhood and mention how the vegetables and fruits are different from the one's today.
| Name of the vegetable or fruit | Shape | Colour | Taste |
| 1. | |||
| 2. | |||
| 3. |
Discuss with your partner and choose the correct alternative.
‘Government of the people, by the people and for the people, shall not perish from the earth’. This famous statement is made by - ______________________.
State whether the following statement is true or false. Correct the false statement.
There is nothing wrong with being grateful to great men.
The poem describes the beauty of Nature. Make a list of careers that are related to Nature, the environment, and the forest. One is done for you.
- Forest Department - (Forest officer, Ranger, etc.)
- .....................................
- .....................................
- .....................................
- .....................................
Write your opinion, in your own words:-
Why did they appreciate and praise the stranger’s story?
Write your own interpretation of the story.
Look at the two trees. One is a green flourishing tree and the other, a brown withering tree.
The class will now be divided into two groups. Group A will list down the agents that support a tree’s growth. Group B will list down those that prevent it. Once the groups are ready with their lists, a few representatives from each group will write down the lists on the black board.
Create a pamphlet for the following:
Make an attractive pamphlet for your school’s Fair organised for raising funds for (any) relief (Specify the date, time, types of stalls, and the reasons for the fair).
“I will pay tomorrow.” He said that he would pay ______.
Here are some answers about the given picture.
- The colour of the ant is black.
- It lives on land.
- It has two long antennae.
- It crawls on the ground.
- It eats sugar.
Now frame questions for the above answers.
Correct the use of the describing word in the following sentence.
This is the simpler problem of them all.
Make opposites with the words –
| dis ______ in______ |
| respect | |
| able | |
| efficient | |
| own | |
| capable | |
| secure |
Find out stories about other great people’s lives and their childhood and write these in your notebook. Collect at least two such stories and share them with your friends.
You could think of famous
- scientists
- religious people
- freedom fighters
- brave children
- astronauts
- artists
How is school education in the village different from that in the city?
Debate is an essential skill and your classroom is the best place to practice this skill. Your teacher will now divide the class into two groups and organize a debate on the topic “Fast food tastes better than nutritious food.” The following points may help you to participate and speak in a debate. One group will speak FOR the motion and the other group will speak AGAINST the motion. Now prepare a speech for the debate.
Why was the photographer proud to receive Leacock on Saturday?
He left the studio saying ______.
On returning home, Tishani Doshi writes her thoughts reflecting on how her decision to enrol for the Students on Ice programme has been the single most important decision of her life that has completely transformed her.
Imagine yourself to be Tishani and express these thoughts.
You may begin like this:
I can’t thank my stars enough for having cashed in on the opportunity of........
Imagine someone has invited your family to a programme and you were the only person at home when the invitation was given orally.
Write a note (4-5 lines) to pass on the message to the other people in your family. Or, Write an imaginary conversation in which you pass on the message to your parents.
What might success mean to the following people? Think about it and write.
A businessman
Imagine someone has invited your family to a programme, and you were the only person at home when the invitation was given orally.
Write a note (4-5 lines) to pass on the message to the other people in your family. Or, Write an imaginary conversation in which you pass on the message to your parents.
Imagine someone has invited your family to a programme and you were the only person at home when the invitation was given orally.
Write a note (4-5 lines) to pass on the message to the other people in your family. Or, Write an imaginary conversation in which you pass on the message to your parents.
