Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
Why were the soldiers in the castle fearless?
Advertisements
Solution
They were fearless because they were behind a well-guarded castle headed by a brave captain. Allies were close at hand and they had adequate arms to fight and foodgrains to sustain them under a siege.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
What thoughts come to your mind when you think about a castle? Add your ideas to the list
moat, huge buildings, soldiers, weapons ______,______.
Who had let the enemies in?
Why did the narrator feel helpless?
Bring out the contrasting picture of the castle as depicted in stanzas 3 and 5.
Read the given line and answer the question that follow in a line or two.
Our gates were strong, our walls were thick,
So smooth and high, no man could win.
- How safe was the castle?
- What was the firm belief of the soldiers?
Read the poem and complete the table with suitable rhyming words.
All through that summer at ease we lay,
And daily from the turret wall
We watched the mowers in the hay
And the enemy half a mile away
They seemed no threat to us at all.
For what, we thought, had we to fear
With our arms and provender, load on load,
Our towering battlements, tier on tier,
And friendly allies drawing near
On every leafy summer road.
Our gates were strong, our walls were thick,
So smooth and high, no man could win
A foothold there, no clever trick
Could take us dead or quick,
Only a bird could have got in.
What could they offer us for bait?
Our captain was brave and we were true…
There was a little private gate,
A little wicked wicket gate.
The wizened warder let them through.
Oh then our maze of tunneled stone
Grew thin and treacherous as air.
The cause was lost without a groan,
The famous citadel overthrown,
And all its secret galleries bare.
How can this shameful tale be told?
I will maintain until my death
We could do nothing, being sold:
Our only enemy was gold,
And we had no arms to fight it with.
| lay | hay |
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.

Name the bird that sings in the poet’s garden.
Identify the figure of speech used in each of the extract given below and write down the answer in the space given below.
“ LIKE a huge Python, winding round and round
The rugged trunk indented deep with scars”,
Discuss with your partner the different stages in the growth of man from a new born to an adult

What is the first stage of a human’s life?
Why is the last stage called second childhood?
Pick out the word in ‘alliteration’ in the following line.
“And one man in his time plays many parts”
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 |
What has Ulysses gained from his travel experiences?
‘As tho’ to breathe were life!’ – From the given line what do you understand of Ulysses’ attitude to life?
How would Telemachus transform the subjects?
What could be the possible outcomes of their travel?
Identify the figure of speech employed in the following line.
.....the deep Moans round with many voices.
Read the set of line from the poem and answer the question that follow.
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
- What do ‘thunder’ and ‘sunshine’ refer to?
- What do we infer about the attitude of the sailors?
Read the set of line from the poem and answer the question that follow.
……for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
- What was Ulysses’ purpose in life?
- How long would his venture last?
Explain with reference to the context the following line.
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
Here are a few poetic device used in the poem.
Transferred Epithet- It is a figure of speech in which an epithet grammatically qualifies a noun other than the person or a thing, it is actually meant to describe.
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
He will be lonely enough
to have time for the work
Where was the narrator when the incident happened?
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 |
Read the line given below and answer the question that follow.
‘You’re wounded!’ ‘Nay’, his soldier’s pride Touched to the quick, he said:
- Why did the boy contradict Napoleon’s words?
- Why was his pride touched?
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
Then off there flung in smiling joy, And held himself erect
Napoleon was a great source of inspiration to his army. Justify.
