English Medium Class 9 - CBSE Question Bank Solutions for English (Moments)

Irony is when we say one thing but mean another, usually the opposite of what we say. When someone makes a mistake and you say, Oh! That was clever!” that is irony. You’re saying ‘clever’ to mean ‘not clever’.
Expressions we often use in an ironic fashion are:
• Oh, wasn’t that clever!/Oh that was clever!
• You have been a great help, I must say!
• You’ve got yourself into a lovely mess, haven’t you?
• Oh, very funny!/How funny!
We use a slightly different tone of voice when we use these words ironically.
Read the play carefully and find the words and expressions Gerrard uses in an ironic way.
Then say what these expressions really mean. Two examples have been given below.
Write down three such expressions along with what they really mean.

Thinking about the poem

Where does the traveller find himself? What problem does he face?

Thinking about the poem

Discuss what these phrases mean to you.
(i) a yellow wood
(ii) it was grassy and wanted wear
(iii) the passing there
(iv) leaves no step had trodden black
(v) how way leads on to way

Thinking about the poem

Is there any difference between the two roads as the poet describes them
(i) in stanzas two and three?
(ii) in the last two lines of the poem?

Thinking about the poem

What do you think the last two lines of the poem mean? (Looking back, does the poet regret his choice or accept it?)

Have you ever had to make a difficult choice (or do you think you will have difficult choices to make)? How will you make the choice (for what reasons)?

After you have made a choice do you always think about what might have been, or do you accept the reality?

Thinking about the Poem

What are the things the wind does in the first stanza?

Have you seen anybody winnow grain at home or in a paddy field? What is the word in your language for winnowing? What do people use for winnowing? (Give the words in your language, if you know them.)

Thinking about the Poem 

What does the poet say the wind god winnows?

Thinking about the Poem 

What should we do to make friends with the wind?

Thinking about the Poem 

What do the last four lines of the poem mean to you?

Thinking about the Poem 

How does the poet speak to the wind — in anger or with humour? You must also have
seen or heard of the wind “crumbling lives”. What is your response to this? Is it like the
poet’s?

The poem you have just read is originally in the Tamil. Do you know any such poems in your language?

Thinking about the Poem

What do the following phrases mean to you? Discuss in class.

(i) humid shadows
(ii) starry spheres
(iii) what a bliss
(iv) a thousand dreamy fancies into busy being start
(v) a thousand recollections weave their air-threads into woof

Thinking about the Poem

What does the poet like to do when it rains?

What is the single major memory that comes to the poet? Who are the “darling
dreamers” he refers to?

Thinking about the Poem

Is the poet now a child? Is his mother still alive?

When you were a young child, did your mother tuck you in, as the poet’s did?

Do you like rain? What do you do when it rains steadily or heavily as described in the poem?