What’s Your Dream By Ruskin Bond
Summary
Through this short story Ruskin Bond teaches us a profound lesson about the very
business of living- to pursue our dream, to materialize it and at the same time to be ready
to lose everything.
One afternoon, the narrator was seated on the branch of a litchi tree and was brooding. A
very old beggar was passing that way. Seeing the narrator all alone on the litchi tree in
spite of the litchi season he asked him what his dream was. Such a question surprised the
narrator. Firstly, because he had not expected such a question from an old street beggar
and that too in English.
The narrator thawed and told promptly that he wanted to have room of his own. The old
man interpreted the dream of the boy and told what he wanted was freedom. When the
narrator enquired how he could find his dream, the beggar replied in a friendly manner
that there was no magic formula for finding one’s dream. One must work hard for his
dream and move towards it constantly discarding all other things that came in the way.
But he cautioned the narrator that normally the difficult times follow after the fulfillment
of one’s dream.
This surprised the narrator. The old man explained that it is very easy to lose everything
as after fulfillment of the dream one might become very greedy or careless and start
taking everything for granted.He, however, advised the narrator to pursue his dream
doggedly, but , not at the cost of other people’s dreams.
The narrator went back home and demanded a room of his own and got it. The narrator
realized that freedom is something that one must insist upon to get.
A Devoted Son By Anita Desai
A Summary
Rakesh scored the highest rank in the country for his Medical Examination. Instead of
getting lost in the most envied success; Rakesh bent down and touched his father’s
feet. This pleased the father for it was another reason for the vegetable vender to be
proud of being Rakesh’s father. For an uneducated family like Rakesh’s, this success
brought cheers. Getting Rakesh educated was Varmaji’s greatest dream. Neighbours
came to congratulate Rakesh, his father Varmaji and his mother. Presents flowed into
Varmaji’s house as garlands, halwa, party clothes and fountain pens to last years,
even a watch or two.To his neighbours Vermaji told about his son’s touching his feet
even after becoming a doctor with a first rank. Some of the good neighbours
appreciated this son and this father while others, envious as neighbours are, felt that
Varmaji was giving himself airs. Soon Rakesh cleared his MD course with flying
colours. Having won a scholarship, Rakesh went to the USA. Rakesh worked in some
most prestigious hospitals in the USA. Finally Rakesh returned to his native place.
Rakesh married a girl that his mother wanted him to marry. For some years Rakesh
worked in the city hospital, quickly rising to the top of the administrative
organization, and was made a director before he left to set up his own clinic. Rakesh
bought a new car and unfailingly drove his parents in it to his clinic. Varmaji and his
wife were the happiest in the world.For a while, Rakesh’s fame seemed to grow just a
little dimmer but soon he became the richest doctor in town. Varmaji grew very old
and number of ailments left him bed ridden. Rakesh’s mother passed away. (She was
quite fortunate that her famous doctor-son rubbed her feet during her last days)
Varmaji was quite helpless and his old age was going to be more miserable Varmaji
fell ill so frequently and with such mysterious diseases that even his son could not
cure him. Everyone ignored his strange illnesses but Rakesh (the pearl of his father)
was always with him. Rakesh took great care of his father, brought him morning tea,
read him newspaper and reminded him to take medicines.After a while Rakesh began
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to impose certain restriction upon his father. No sweets, not too much food, no fried
food, etc.When the old man resented or tried to bribe Rakesh’s son for his delicacies,
Rakesh scolded his father. Rakesh had by this time developed a doctor-patient
relation with his father. Rakesh was only concerned with his father’s health but the
old man thought his son was being miserly.One day Varmaji met his neighbour old
Bhatia, next door. He told old Bhatia how his son and daughter-in-law refused him
food. Varmaji realized that, even with a doctor at home he was not half as happy as
old Bhatia. He began to think that his son had crossed all limits.Determined, Varmaji
announced that he didn’t need his son’s medicines. All that he wished was death.
The Hum of Insects By Robert Lynd
Summary
The most common human response to insects is that of revulsion combined with fear. In
the given essay the author shows how these creatures that annoy us so much can also
delight us.
The author begins by saying that the place where one hears the hum of an insect makes
all the difference. What sounds like music in one place may strike a jarring note in
another. Thereafter he goes on to dwell upon the differences between bees and wasps on
one hand and mosquitoes on the other. Lynd feels that the mosquito is an unscrupulous
creature as it attacks without waiting to be attacked. On the other hand, the bees and the
wasps are noble creatures in comparison because they never injure human beings unless a
human being injures them. However they do not discriminate between one human being
and another or for that matter if a bee loses its head it does not even wait for a human
being in order to relieve its feelings. In spite of all this, Lynd feels that the bee is morally
far higher in the scale than the mosquito; the bee not only gives us honey but also helps in
pollination and above all unlike the mosquito it does not attack unless provoked.
Using his typical sense of humour, Lynd then goes on to expound how to avoid the sting
of a wasp. An infallible preventive is to lie still and hold one’s breath till it has finished
trying to sting. Gradually shifting on to a serious note, the author wonders whether the
delightfulness of the hum of insects depends on itself or its surroundings or the nostalgia
it arouses.
The author then says that the hum of insects, the noise of the sea and the noise of the
birds have an infinite capacity to give us pleasure probably because on hearing them we
become a part of some universal music and that their rhythm echoes in some way the
rhythm of our breath and blood. These sounds seem to echo the chorus of life and the
pleasure that man feels in being alive. The hum of insects also is a pleasant one as it
reminds one of the pleasant experiences of the past, especially the childhood memories
when one’s world did not exist beyond the garden gate and there were no worries,
everyone appeared to be happy, peace seemed to reign every where and there was the
illusion that things would last that way forever. To the innocent children the world
appeared to be full of people who laugh because they are happy and smile because they
are kind . a child’s favourite toy is the garden and the farm.
In conclusion, Lynd goes on to say that the it is probably the child in us that responds
most to pleasures such as the hum of insects, the infinite variety of nature and restores the
illusion that all is well in this world. However the illusion comes to an end when man is
reminded of the mundane realities of life and then the insects once again appear to be
little stabbing creatures that make an irritating noise.
Questions on Board Pattern
Short –Answer Type Questions
(50 Words & 3 Marks each)
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1. Why does the author say, “It makes all the difference whether you hear an insect
in the bedroom or in the garden”?
2. Why does the author say that ‘the bee is morally higher in the scale than the
mosquito’?
3. How does Lynd differentiate between mosquitoes and bees ?
4. What makes man feel that he has become part of some universal music?
5. What are the memories of childhood that Lynd talks of?
6. Why is the world a pleasant place for a child?
7. How is a child’s world different from an adult’s as discussed in the essay “The
Hum of Insects”?
8. ‘The essay “Hum of Insects” ends in an anti-climax’ Discuss.
Long –Answer Type Questions
(100 Words & 5 Marks each)
1. In “The Hum of Insects” the reader journeys through the magic of reminiscence to
the present day reality. Comment.
2. Discuss the memories that Lynd has of his childhood. Why does he call some of
them ‘illusions’?
3. How does Lynd change the common man’s perception of revulsion and fear
towards insects?
4. “There is a child in every one of us-the grown ups, but the fact that we don’t see
that child makes our life a burden, a problem, a perennial cause for all our
grumbles.’ Comment on Lynd’s essay in the light of the given statement.
5. Our pleasure in the hum of insects is also a pleasure of reminiscence. Comment.
Value-Based Questions
(100 Words & 5 Marks each)
1. What are the values imparted by Lynd through his views on childhood. How
relevant are these values for us today?
2. How does Lynd portray man’s unity with nature in the essay “The Hum of
Insects”? Comment on the importance of this realization for man in today’s
world.
THE JUDGEMENT OF PARIS by Leonard Merrick
Synopsis
Robichon, Quinquart and Mademoiselle Brouette were members of the Theatre Supreme.
Brouette was a captivating actress. Both Robichon and Quinquart were talented
comedians and loved the lady equally . She did not favour any of them in particular.
When the two troubled her to know whom she would marry, in a frivolous manner she
said she would marry the better actor of the two. This, she said, would be decided by the
audience of Paris. The two actors were now worried as to how this would take place
because while one’s facial expression exhibited comic, the other was fat and disposed to
bring laughter to others.
Worried they sat and discussed the possibilities of getting a different role to prove who
the better actor was. Just as they were brooding on the issue, they were approached by
Jacques Roux who had been an executioner for twenty years but had given it up as he
was against capital punishment and had to stand in front of the audience and lecture on
the horrors of the job that he had been doing . He was nervous and in spite of a good
number of rehearsals could not bring himself to deliver the same . He approached them to
know how to face the audience . The opportunity was taken by Robichon . He decided to
go in place of Jacques Roux and deliver the speech.
Brouettee with Quinquart went to the theatre to witness the same. Robichon delivered his
speech . The hall listened in silence and rapt attention.Then the actor received an
invitation from Marquis de Thevenin . Robichon, thrilled at the compliment went to meet
Marquis . He offered Robichon some wine which he later disclosed to have poisoned in
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order to take revenge as Roux was the executioner of his only son. This shocked
Robichon and while staring unbelievingly the Marquis removed his make up to show that
he was Quinquart. Quinquart proved to be a better actor and got the hand of Suzanne in
marriage.
Answer the following questions in about 50 words each : 3 marks
a) What were the drawbacks in the plan that the two comedians had devised to meet
the conditions of the challenge put forth by Suzanne?
b) How did Robichon put his powers to a tremendous test?
c) Robichon had to take certain precautions regarding his make up as Jacques Roux.
Why?
d) How did Robichon enthrall the audience at Appeville –Sous-Bois?
e) Describe Marquis de Thevenin.
f)
‘Fight, or faint, as you please – you are doomed.’ Who says this and to whom? How
has ‘you’ been doomed?
g) How did Robichon react to the news that he had been poisoned?
Answer the following Question in about 100 words each: 5 marks
a) Draw a pen-portrait of Suzanne Brouette.
b) Bring out the aptness of the title of the story ‘The Judgement of Paris’.
c) ‘Every thing is fair in love and war.’ Justify the statement in the light of the story.
On Education By Albert Einstein
Summary (Paragraph wise)
This is an excerpt from a famous address made by the great scientist Albert Einstein at
Albany, New York on October 15, 1936 on the three-hundredth anniversary of higher
education in America.
Para 1&2
Einstein begins by declaring that paying homage to our illustrious predecessors is the best
thing to do to inspire the youth of today. However being a wanderer all his life he is
probably not the right person to that in the USA. Thereafter he goes on to say that he is
not an authority on the study of teaching practices and hence whatever he is going to
speak will be on the basis of personal experience and convictions.
Para 3
He is of the opinion that scientific matters relate to the knowledge of truth but in matters
pertaining to education this knowledge of truth alone is not sufficient and besides this
knowledge must be continually renewed lest it should be lost. It is like a marble statue in
the desert that can be buried by the shifting sand dunes. We must work ceaselessly so that
the statue is not hidden and knowledge is continually renewed. Thereafter Einstein goes
on to stress upon the role of school in the modern era. With the passage of time and
increasing economic activity, the role of the family as a bearer of tradition and education
has weakened to a great extent. The same role has therefore been shifted to the school.
Thus in the present times, the health of the society is, to a large degree dependent upon
the school.
Para 4
The school is not merely an agent of transferring the maximum quantity of knowledge to
the growing generation. The school should develop those qualities in the individuals
which are essential for the welfare of the state. This does not mean that the individual is
reduced to a mere tool of the community. On the contrary the school should work
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towards attaining a harmonious balance wherein the individual should work for the
development of himself as well as the whole of the community.
Para 5
The best way to attain this ideal is by labour and activity.
Para 6
The best and the most effective method of education is to encourage the students to actual
performance: be it the firsts attempts to write or a doctor’s thesis on graduation from the
university etc.
Para 7
There is always some motivation behind every achievement. The motivation is always
strengthened by the achievement of the task. The motivating factor behind a work may
vary from child to child. For some it may be fear or compulsion, for others it may be an
ambitious desire for authority and distinction or a genuine interest in the activity coupled
with a desire to learn and understand the same. The desire for truth and understanding is
termed by Einstein as a divine curiosity which every child possesses but unfortunately is
not realised. The pupils’ respect for a teacher should come from within him/her for the
teacher’s human and intellectual qualities and not out of fear.
Para 8
Ambition or aiming for recognition is firmly rooted in human nature. It is an important
stimulus which cultivates human cooperation and binds society together. Ambition can be
both constructive and destructive. Desire for approval and be recognized is important but
the desire to be recognized as better or stronger than a fellow being is injurious for the
individual as well as the community and hence the school must guard against employing
easy methods of creating individual ambition in order to induce pupils to work diligently.
Para 9
Citing Darwin’s theory of the struggle for existence, Einstein says that some people try to
prove in a manner which is not true to the methods of science that destructive economic
struggle of competition between individuals is necessary. But he asserts that such
competitions will destroy the social fabric and make life difficult for man.
Para 10
A successful man according to the author is one who receives more than what he gives.
However, the value of a man should always be seen in terms of what he gives to society
not what he receives.
Para 11
Going back to the motive behind a work, be it in school or in life, the author states that it
should always be pleasure in the work, pleasure in its result and realizing the value of the
result to the community. The most important task of the school, according to him, is to
awaken and strengthen these values in the students so that they have the desire to acquire
the highest possessions of men-knowledge and an artist like workmanship.
Para 12
However it is easier to make children work by the use of force or by awakening
individual ambition than to make them work because they desire to possess knowledge
and an artist like workmanship. An ideal school, according to the author would be one
where the childlike inclination to play, the childlike inclination for recognition is
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developed in all students. If such a school succeeds, it will be “highly honoured” by the
new generation and then the work given by the school will no longer be a burden for the
students.
Para 13
Such an ideal school requires ideal teachers who are like artists- perfect in their jobs. To
have ideal teachers certain prerequisites should be met. They are- teachers should grow
up in such school and they should be given complete freedom to select the material to be
taught and the method of teaching. Many a times pressure from outside kills the pleasure
in one’s work.
Para 14
Till now Einstein has talked of the spirit in which the youth should be educated not the
method of teaching or the medium of instruction. He ten raises the question as whether
teaching of language should predominate or teaching of science.
Para 15
Einstein then says that such questions are of no consequences. Citing the example of a
young man who is well trained physically, he says that such a person will be well
equipped to take up any kind of physical activity. Similar is the case with the training of
the mind. In his own words “Education is that which remains, if one has forgotten
everything that he learned in school.”
Para 16
The author does not give a lot of importance to the choice of subjects at the school level.
He is of the opinion that if the basic education is proper a student can take any up any
specialized course as per his choice and interest later. The demands of life are many and
therefore specialised training in school is neither possible nor right. The aim of the school
is not to give special knowledge but to make the pupil a harmonious personality in order
to meet the needs of the community. The foremost aim of the school should be develop
the ability to think and judge independently and not impart special knowledge. This is
because if a person knows the fundamentals of his subjects and can. What helps a man to
flourish is his knowledge and practical experience which he has gathered as a student.
Para 17
In the last paragraph, Einstein again states categorically that what he has enunciated is
only his personal opinion founded upon nothing but his personal experience as a teacher
and as a student.
Questions on Board Pattern
Short –Answer Type Questions
(50 Words & 3 Marks each)
9. What are Einstein’s views on education based on? What according to him is the
difference between scientific matters and matters relating to education?
10. What role does the school play in modern times?
11. In imparting education, how should the school strike a balance between
development of the individual and development of the community?
12. What according to the author is best way to impart education? Why?
13. What are the motivating factors behind the accomplishment of an undertaking?
What role does the teacher have to play as a motivator?
14. What does the author have to say regarding ‘ambition’ in the essay ‘On
Education”?
15. Mention four characteristics of Einstein’s model of education.
16. What sort of environment should a school provide a student in order to make
him/her perform well?
17. Why does Einstein oppose the idea of specialised education in schools?
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Long –Answer Type Questions
(100 Words & 5 Marks each)
6. According to Einstein, what is the aim of school education? Mention two ways of
achieving this objective?
7. “I have known children who preferred school time to vacation.” What are the
suggestions made by Einstein to make the school an enjoyable place for children?
8. Comment on Einstein’s views on education briefly.
9. In what context does Einstein say that “Education is that which remains if one has
forgotten every thing he learned in school.”? What does he mean by saying this?
Value-Based Questions
(100 Words & 5 Marks each)
3. Discuss Einstein’s portrayal of an ideal school? What is the relevance of such a
school in the present context?
4. How far do you agree with Einstein’s comments on the constructive and destructive
forces involved in ambition?
5. “The most important motive for work in the school and in life is the pleasure in work,
pleasure in its result, and the knowledge of the value of the result to the community.”
Comment.
6. In the essay ‘On Education”, Einstein lays a lot of stress on man as a social animal.
According to him, in what way can we be useful to society?
I Can Play “Schools” by May C. Jenkins
Summary
"I Can Play 'Schools'" is a story which centres on the relationship between a young widow
and her little girl, Marian, who is not the sort of child she had wanted. Marian was born
deaf and dumb and in many respects does not fulfil her mother's expectations. The mother
loves her "after all", despite an "ever-recurring ache" at the sight of the little girl from next
door, Freda, who is fair-skinned, "golden voiced" and full of confidence. Marian, on the other
hand, is shy, hesitant and does not feel at ease with other children.
Though the mother does not want Freda to play with her daughter, Freda's stubborn
persistence makes it inevitable that in the end the two girls play "schools" together quite
happily. Marian's mother realises that her daughter's inadequacy and unhappiness are partly
her own fault because she has not been giving her the support which only unreserved love can
provide. Within a brief period of only one hour the mother’s attitude towards her handicapped
child changes. From now on she will be able to love her unconditionally, with no more
"foolish longings" for an unattainable ideal.
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Notes:
Marian:  She avoided friends, is a lonely bird (deaf and dumb)
 She is comfortable only with her mother and hence plays only with her and goes for
long walks with her.
 She is not at ease with her peers. She is hesitant, introvert and insecure.
 She is a keen observer and is delighted to watch all the beautiful things around her.
Freda: 7


A golden girl in all sense
Extrovert ,confident, sure of herself, serious, self confident and a little stubborn.
Anne:  She is sensitive, over protective, sympathetic and prejudiced.
 She is a good mother: brings up her child with a lot of care and affection single
handedly, doesn’t remarry for Marian’s sake after the death of her husband.
Extra Questions:
1. Write character sketches of the following characters:
a) Marian
b) Freda
c) Anne
2. How are Anne’s fears about Marian proved wrong at the end of the lesson?
3. Compare and contrast the characters of Marian and Freda.
THE LAST LETTER by Jawaharlal Nehru
Summary
After a succession of letters Nehru is writing his last letter to his daughter Indira from
Dehradun prison in 1933.He begins by quoting Benjamin Disraeli, the great statesman of
the nineteenth century: “Other men condemned to exile and captivity, if they survive,
despair; the men of letters may reckon those days as the sweetest of his life.” Nehru does
not go to the extent of comparing himself with Benjamin Disraeli but he admits that his
life in prisons was not very sweet though writing and reading helped him during his
imprisonment. He admits that he is neither a literary man nor a historian. In a lighter vein,
he considers himself to be a dabbler in many things who, after developing various
interests in life, finally adopted the popular and the most widely practiced profession of
jail going in India.
A prison with no libraries or reference books at hand is not the most suitable place in
which to write on historical subjects, yet Nehru reminds Indira of the great history of the
world, of India. He insists that one should have sympathy for the past when one learns
history. Nehru explains the fact that it is absurd for us to judge people from the past and
their ways of life by present standards. To understand a person who lived long ago, we
have to understand his environment, the conditions under which he lived and the ideas
that filled his mind. He feels that history is not a magic show but there is plenty of magic
in the people who have eyes to see it. He is of the opinion that if we look at the past with
eyes of sympathy we will find that it is a procession of people of every age and every
country, different from us yet very similar to us , with the same human virtues and
failings. Thereafter he goes on to give a gist of world history, the invention of machines,
the wonders of science in the modern world and so on.
Nehru goes on to say that great empires have risen and fallen and forgotten for thousands
of years, till their remains were excavated by explorers and archeologists but what has
survived and proved stronger and more persistent than empires are the ideas that they
brought forward.
Thereafter Nehru moves on to the gifts of the past; the benefits of learning history. He is
of the opinion that all that we have today of culture, civilization, science or knowledge of
some aspects of truth is a gift of the past. He feels that we have obligations to our past
and to our future. The obligation to our future is greater than those we owe to our past for
the past is gone and cannot be changed whereas the future is yet to come and we may be
able to shape it a little. The past gives us some part of the truth while the future hides
many aspects of the truth which requires exploration. However the past holds us in its
grip and we have to struggle to be free from it and advance towards the future.
The past has taught us that history never repeats itself. We cannot learn anything by
slavishly copying the past or by expecting it to repeat itself. Whatever we learn from the
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past is only by looking behind it and trying to discover the forces that move it. History
teaches us growth and progress and of the possibility of an infinite advance for man.
Nehru quotes Marx “History has no other way of answering old questions than by putting
new ones”.
The past was a time of faith, blind unquestioning faith. The wonderful temples, mosques
and churches of past centuries could never have been build but for the overpowering faith
of the architects, builders and the people in general. The present age however is the age
of reason; it is an age of disillusion, of doubt and uncertainty and questioning. We no
longer accept many of the ancient beliefs and customs.Today, all around the world people
search for new ways, new aspects of the truth more in harmony with our environment.
Like Socrates in ancient Athens, people today ask questions, debate, quarrel and evolve
new ideologies and philosophies.
Sometimes the injustice, the unhappiness and the brutality of the world oppress us and we
feel that there is no hope in this world. But history teaches us growth and progress. Life
sometimes appears to be meaningless but it is rich and varied; we have the great seas, the
mountains, the starlit nights, the snow and the glaciers, the love of family and friends,
comradeship of workers, music, books and the empire of ideas.
Nehru then goes on to say that escaping from the unhappiness of others and caring little
for the problems of others is no sign of courage. Thought must lead to action. People
avoid action often because they are afraid of the consequences, for it involves risk and
danger which seems terrible from a distance. Using the metaphor of climbing a mountain,
Nehru explains that taking risks actually helps us to appreciate the common things of life
that we often take for granted. When the danger is overcome we can better experience the
joys of life.
The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy
Summary
In “The Darkling Thrush” Thomas Hardy expresses his apprehensions regarding the
unknown.It is December 31, 1899.Everyone was afraid of what would happen when the
old century changed to another.
As the title suggests, the poem is about a bird, a bedraggled thrush that is singing a song
on a gloomy evening of the last day of the year. The poet was leaning on a coppice gate
and watching the spectre grey frost covering the leafless trees of December. The
spectacle he was watching was desolate and lonely. He was sad because he felt that the
New Year would bring nothing to be happy about. The sudden song of the thrush made
him feel hopeful, because he felt that the bird knew about something joyous that the New
Year would bring, about which the poet himself was unaware.
The first person narrator walks in the countryside on a very cold evening. He leans upon
a gate that is made by bushes. It is the end of the day, the year, and the century. The sun
is setting. No one else is about and the narrator feels this aloneness. As he walks in
nature, he stops and looks up at the sky and sees the bare branches of the trees
intertwined. The narrator compares these branches to the strings on a musical instrument.
[Foreshadowing of the bird to come]. He is alone because everyone else is at home before
the fire. The narrator looks out at the wintry landscape which appears to him to be the
corpse of the century’s end. The land’s sharp features seemed to be leaning out toward
the new century. The clouds provide a cover for the corpse with the wind crying out its
requiem. The winter land is barren, shrunken, and dry. Everything on earth appears
without energy or passion just as the speaker feels. The narrator finds a place with no
connection to anyone or anything.
The third stanza offers a new theme not only for the narrator but for the reader as well.
Life is nothing without the expectation that the future will provide more opportunities. In
the middle of the narrator’s emptiness, the speaker hears a sound. He looks up through
the barren branches and sees a singular bird, appearing thin and small with the wind
9
ruffling his feathers, singing joyfully as though he is baring his soul to the wintry night
and the gloomy end of an era.
That I could think there trembled through
His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
And I was unaware.
This seemingly lonely bird has chosen not to give in to the chill and miserable night. His
efforts bring a change to the narrator and the atmosphere. There appears to be little about
which to sing, yet this thrush’s song breaks the mood of unhappiness. Despite the
pessimistic attitude of the narrator, he is satisfied and appreciative to know that
something in the natural world can still find joy in life. To the narrator, it is a miracle
that he could share this moment of unheralded pleasure.
The themes of loneliness and isolation abound in the poem. The poet’s word choice
creates an atmosphere of separation from the rest of the world: desolate, weakening,
haunted, and dregs. However gradually there comes a change from acceptance of the
harder aspects and times in life to embrace of what joys exist; the narrator does not see
the reason for that joy but is inspired to continue searching for it. Seeing the thrush and
its ability to find and create beauty in a joyless landscape allows the narrator to embrace
what hope he can find in his own heart, and through example spread it to others both in
action and through the poem itself.
I.REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT
II. Short questions
1. Discuss the themes of loneliness and isolation as presented by Hardy in The
Darkling Thrush .
2. How is hope ushered in by the end of the poem.
3. What are the metaphors used by the poet to convey his desolation
Hope is the Thing With Feathers
Emily Dickinson
Summary
The speaker describes hope as a bird (“the thing with feathers”) that perches in the soul.
There, it sings wordlessly and without pause. The song of hope sounds sweetest “in the
Gale,” and it would require a terrifying storm to ever “abash the little Bird / That kept so
many warm.” The speaker says that she has heard the bird of hope “in the chillest land—
/ And on the strangest Sea—”, but never, no matter how extreme the conditions, did it
ever ask for a single crumb from her.
Emily Dickinson’s “Hope is the Thing With Feathers,” is the VI part of a much larger
poem called “Life.” The poem examines the abstract idea of hope in the free spirit of a
bird. Dickinson uses imagery and metaphor, to help describe why “Hope is the Thing
With Feathers.” In the first line, Dickinson uses the metaphorical image of a bird to
describe the abstract idea of hope. Hope, of course, is not an animate thing, it is
inanimate, but by giving hope feathers, she begins to create an image of hope in our
minds. The imagery of feathers conjures up hope in itself. Feathers represent hope
because feathers enable you to fly and offer the image of flying away to a new hope, a
new beginning. In the second line, “That perches in the soul,” Dickinson continues to use
the imagery of a bird to describe hope. Hope, she is implying, perches or roosts in our
soul. The soul is the home for hope. It can also be seen as a metaphor. Hope rests in our
soul the way a bird rests on its perch.In the third and fourth lines,Dickinson uses the
imagery of a bird’s continuous song to represent eternal hope. Birds never stop singing
their song of hope. The fifth line “And sweetest in the gale is heard” describes the bird’s
song of hope as sweetest in the wind. It conjures up images of a bird’s song of hope
whistling above the sound of gale force winds and offering the promise that soon the
10
storm will end.Dickinson uses the next three lines to metaphorically describe what a
person who destroys hope feels like.
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
A person who destroys hope with a storm of anger and negativity feels the pain they
cause in others. Dickinson uses a powerful image of a person abashing the bird of hope
that gives comfort and warmth for so many. The destroyer of hope causes pain and
soreness that hurts them the most. In the first line of the last set of stanzas “I’ve heard it
in the chillest lands,” Dickinson offers the reader another reason to have hope. It is heard
even in the coldest, saddest lands. Hope is eternal and everywhere. The bird’s song of
hope is even heard “on the strangest sea.” Hope exists for everyone.
In the last two lines, Dickinson informs us that the bird of hope asks for no favour or
price in return for its sweet song.
Yet never in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
Hope is a free gift. It exists for all of us. All we must do is not clip the wings of hope and
let it fly and sing freely. Its song can be heard over the strangest seas, coldest lands, and
in the worst storms. It is a song that never ends as long as we do not let it.
I.REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT
‘I’ve heard it in the chillest landAnd on the strangest SeaYet,never,in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me’
1.
2.
3.
4.
What does ‘it’ refer to? What is ‘it’ symbolic of?
1
What do the lines ‘Yet, never, in extremity,... me’ mean? 1
What do the above lines tell the readers about the poet?
1
Mention a figure of speech used in the above quotation and explain.1
II. Short questions
1. How does the poet use the metaphorical image of a bird to describe the abstract
idea of hope?
2. Discuss the poet’s use of images to drive home her optimism in the poem Hope.
Survivors by Siegfried Sasoon
Summary
Written in October 1917 at Craiglockhart hospital, during Sassoon’s forced
convalescence after his declaration against the war, the poem portrays the physical
and mental plight of the surviving soldiers who have returned from the war.They are
wounded and the shock and strain of the war have rendered them victims of
neurasthenia. The opening lines give the readers a sense of misleading hope. The
complacent attitude of the non-combatants is reflected in the phrase ‘No doubt’ and
‘longing to go out again’. Sassoon is deeply critical of the complacent attitude
perceived in the non-combatants at home, who are unfamiliar with the realities of
war. The poet contrasts the youth and the innocence of the soldiers with the ageing
process of the war. These men are not only made old before their time but also
reduced to children who have to re-learn basic processes as walking. They are
tormented by memories of their friends who died. They are also haunted by feelings
of being murderers. No wonder they go to the battle field ‘grim and glad’ but come
back ‘broken and mad’.
Reference to the context Questions (6 marks)
11
I. No doubt they’ll soon get well; the shock and strain
Have caused their stammering, disconnected talk
a. Who are they and from what will they get well soon?
b. Whose voice does the quoted line reflect?
c. What is the attitude reflected in the quoted line?
d. What shock and strain are being talked of here?
1
1
2
2
II. and they will be proud
Of glorious war that shatter’d all their pride…Men
Who went out to battle, grim and glad: Children,
With eyes that hate you, broken and mad.
a. Who does ‘they’ refer to?
b. Explain the paradox in the first two lines.
c. Why are the eyes full of hatred?
d. What impact does war have on them?
Short –Answer Type Questions
(80-100 Words & 4 Marks each)
2
2
1
1
1. What is the attitude of the non –combatants to the plight of the survivors?
2. In the poem ‘Survivors’ how does Sasoon bring out the brutality of war?
3. What effect does war have on the soldiers?
‘Men who went out to battle, grim and glad: Children,
With eyes that hate you, broken and mad.’
4. Bring out the contrast signified by the quoted lines.
At a Potato Digging
by Seamus Heaney
The poem deals with two different potato harvests. One is the harvest from the present
day (written in the ’60s) that goes successfully and which delivers a rich crop.The second
potato harvest looks back to the famine of 1845 when the crop failed and many people
starved.Whilst the famine is no longer a threat, its ongoing fear remains and this can be
seen in the use of religious language throughout the poem.
Potato Famine: The Irish Potato Famine occurred in Ireland in 1845-49 when the
potato crop failed in successive years. As a direct consequence of the famine, Ireland's
population of almost 8,400,000 in 1844 had fallen to 6,600,000 by 1851. About
1,100,000 people died from starvation or from typhus and other famine-related diseases.
The number of Irish who emigrated during the famine may have reached 1.5 million.
The poem begins with Heaney describing workers in a potato field in Ireland. They
follow a machine that turns up the crop and they put these into a basket and then store
them.The first section of the poem is written in alternately rhymed quatrains that
describe a rural scene of potato digging that is clearly in progress much later than a
similar scene around the time of the famine. Heaney describes a “mechanical digger”
that “wrecks the drill”. Already we ain the machine age and there is a sense that it is
destructive. Humans are presented as insects who “swarm in behind”, having to “stoop
to fill / Wicker creels”. People seem obeisant to the mechanical digger and their
baskets are the traditional containers for the crop, linking them with the potato diggers
of the past. An ominous atmosphere is established - inhospitable weather makes
“Fingers go dead in the cold”. Having likened the potato gatherers to insects, Heaney
goes on in stanza to say they are “Like crows attacking crow-black fields”. There is
also nothing exceedingly organised about the operation as the people are in a
“higgledy line”. Their activity is described as “Processional stooping” (line 12) which
conveys their numbers but also the idea that they are in a procession. The workers are
working hard with their heads bowed down, bending their backs and fumbling through
the earth to collect potatoes. They fill their creels and store the potatoes in pits. Since
the harvest is good the poet calls the earth ‘Black mother.’ This has both a religious
connotation and one that is purely mortal. The resonance of the famine past gives us a
12
sense that there is a queue for death being formed.Heaney concludes the first part of
the poem with overt references to the potato famine. The religious quality that was
hinted at previously is now explicit in “homage”, “famine god”, “humbled” and
“seasonal altar”. The ground becomes the locus of worship each year as those
harvesting are only too aware that such largesse in nature cannot be take for granted.
The second section of the poem involves the description of healthy potatoes. It is
concentrated specifically on the potato itself rather than those who harvest it. They
seem to be “petrified hearts of drills” (line 22). In this fine image, the potatoes are
presented as having turned to stone, having been described previously as “inflated
pebbles”. The common use of the word “petrified” is associated with fear. We are
reminded of the trepidation with which each harvest is approached. Heaney goes on to
say that these potatoes are “Split / by the spade” communicating both a very
straightforward process but also suggesting that those digging in the time of the potato
blight would have their own hearts metaphorically split by the act of cutting into a
rotten crop. These, though “show white as cream”. Also, there is no rot in them, they
are “knots” with a “solid feel”. The potatoes are “piled in pits” and are described as
“live skulls” which reminds us of victims of atrocity as well as conveying the arresting
visual metaphor that convinces us that a potato can look like a skull. The fact that they
are “blind-eyed” suggests that they are utterly unaware of the way in which they have,
in the past, been intimately involved in a pivotal event in Irish history. The “live skulls
image” prepares for its repetition in Part III that modulates from a metaphorical
description of a potato to a shocking depiction of what human beings literally become
as they are reduced to skeletal beings by hunger. From a stanzaic point of view, Part II
closes with a sestet rather than a quatrain. This lends weight to the relief and
importance associated with the success of the potato crop, something that is to be
celebrated as a “clean birth”.
The third section writes about the famine of the past. Fungus destroyed the entire crop of
potatoes and this happened for three consecutive years.Part III is a much more direct and
graphic contemplation upon the reality and impact of the Irish potato famine. Heaney
opens with the image of starving people as “Live skulls, blind-eyed, balanced on / wild
higgledy skeletons…” (lines 31-2). We are transported back in time to the mid
nineteenth century where people could be “wild” with hunger. The word “higgledy”
reminds us of the “higgledy line” of diggers described in Part I. This links the
centuries and shows that the activity is the same and that, as humans, we are at the
mercy of unpredictability of nature. In our modern world we are all familiar with the
effects of famine around the world caused by crop failure. It is sobering to learn that so
many people died so close to our own country. Shockingly, people were so hungry that
they would eat rotten potatoes, and these poisoned them.
There is a macabre transformation described in stanza two of Part III. We left Part II
with a description of a permanently sound potato crop but this one only seemed to be
“sound as stone” (recalling the “inflated pebbles” in Part II). The “clay pit” suggests a
place of human burial as well as the trench where potatoes rot. The line, “Millions
rotted along with it” refers, on the surface, to potatoes but it also signals to us that the
effect of this was to result in the death of mind boggling numbers of people, so
dependant were they upon their staple crop.
The third stanza of Part III is uncompromising in its depiction of the effects of
starvation on a human body: “Mouths tightened in, eyes died hard”. The image of “a
plucked bird” suggests nakedness and death. The bird imagery is extended at the end
of a stanza as Heaney presents “beaks of famine” that “snipped at guts”. Here we are
given the horrific vision of people as carrion meat for vultures. Although this is
metaphorical, it is nonetheless extremely powerful in evoking the pain of starvation.
The people’s dwelling, “wicker huts” are places of privation, wheras the “wicker
creels” in Part I are containers of plenty.
The land of Ireland itself is, we are reminded, the object of resentment for those who
endured the terrible suffering of the Great Hunger. The cultural collective of “A people
hungering from birth” takes on a political dimension as well as purely descriptive one.
The land which was referred to as ‘the black mother’ is now referred to as “the bitch
earth”. The dismal “Hope rotted like a marrow” is only trumped by the description of
the closing stanza of this part of the poem. The lines are littered with images of decay,
rot and stench: “Stinking”, “fouled” “pus”, “filthy” and “running sore” remind us that
13
although the famine is over, it lives on in the memory of the people. In writing the
poem, of course, Heaney is keeping such memory alive.
(Although Part IV is not included in your textbook it is there in the original poem.
Hence its summary is included here for your reference.)
In the final section of the poem, Heaney returns to the first section of the poem –Ireland
in the 1960s at lunchtime. The workers sit happily, with food to eat. Each year the potato
harvest can be an anxious process, as the workers smell the potatoes and feel them for
firmness - making sure they are free of the blight.Part IV modulates from an atmosphere
of privation to one of plenty as we return to the diggers we met in Part I, or at least
another group who are not deprived of food. Although the workers in the field are
“Dead-beat” they are not dying, they are simply exhausted form their work. There is a
“gay flotilla of gulls” that gives the impression of a group of little boats around a great
ocean-going vessel. This is a far cry form the ominous crows, plucked bird and the
vulture-like spectre that we meet earlier in the poem. Although “The rhythm deadens”
inevitably links in the reader’s mind to the death we have already been confronted with
earlier in the poem, there is now a new mood of optimism. The workers eat “Brown
bread” and drink “tea in bright canfuls”. Rather than simply being servants of the
earth, they are “served for lunch”. In their tiredness they are able to “take their fill” in
the way that their ancestors could not. Their labour will be rewarded with the
satisfaction of garnering a sound potato crop, while their antecedents faced the despair
of having worked until they too were “Dead-beat” but with only the spectre of death
looming before them instead of the prospect of being served lunch as recompense for
their labour. The “timeless fasts” are broken here but in the past they were eternal. The
poem concludes with another complex set of ideas. As the workers stretch out in their
rest, they are described lying on “faithless ground”. This reminds us of the fact that
nature can set its face flint-like against humanity, we cannot predict how it will
behave. Although the ground is faithless, a pagan image of an offering to the “bitch
earth” of Part III is striking as the workers “spill / Libations of cold tea, scatter
crusts.” As well as seeming like an offering to the earth (a libation is a drink offering
to a god), there is also the clear sense that in times of plenty we tend to be profligate.
No famine victim could afford to throw away tea dregs or crusts. The words “spill”
and “scatter” capture this sense of ease most effectively. This is not to condemn those
doing it, of course. Heaney is drawing attention, by contrast, to the terrible
consequences of the failed potato crop in Irelannd .
Imagery
“To be piled in pits; live skulls” Repeated image of death linked to the potato
across generations by memories of the Heart of the land. Images of death abound
once more and these are echoed in the next stanza about the famine but this time it
is starving people who are ‘skulls’ and ‘blind-eyed.’45 needs no year date because
the event is such a part of Ireland’s social consciousness. ‘wicker’ emphasises the
simplicity of their lives but also links back to their ‘wicker creels’. Both are
devoid of potatoes due to the famine. Life-long hunger and misery is emphasised
here.The earth is not ‘mother’ but ‘bitch’ now. Cruel and forgiving (the famine
god?)
Themes
• Nature – this poem enables the reader to understand the power of the natural world
and we appreciate the extent to which it can have an impact on the lives of human
beings.
The poem deals with the natural world and the different aspects of nature can be seen
in the reference to the earth as the ‘black mother’ that gives life and also the ‘bitch
earth’ that is capable of inflicting great suffering.
•
Suffering – The suffering of the people of Ireland is described in detail in the poem
and we understand the extent of the misery that was caused by the famine.
•
The Past – Heaney’s desire to make connections between the past and present is very
important to the poem – a link is made between events more than a century apart.
Extra Questions
14
1. Once again digging is used symbolically by Heaney. Explain how.
2. How, in this poem, does Heaney connect past and present (think about language
and images used)?
3. What view does the poem give of man's relationship with the earth?
4. Does the poet really think of the earth as a “bitch” and “faithless”?
5. Modern readers in the west may no longer have a sense of where our food comes
from. How does this poem challenge us not to take things for granted?
6. How does this poem explore ideas of religion, ritual and ceremony?
Ode To Autumn by John Keats
Summary
In the first stanza of "To Autumn," Keats personifies autumn as one who is friends with
the sun. The personified autumn and sun "conspire" on how to bring fruit and vegetation
to their most ripe state. It is just before harvest time; the plants are ripe and full. Autumn
is in a vibrant state, so vibrant that the bees might "think the warm days will never
cease." The notion of mists and "mellow fruitfulness" indicate an early part of the day.
Autumn is directly addressed in the second stanza as "thee." The speaker considers
autumn during harvest time. Again personified, the speaker thinks of autumn sitting on a
granary floor as the grain is being harvested. Then the speaker considers autumn asleep,
made drowsy by the perfume ("fume") of the poppies. Finally, autumn is watching the
apples in a "cyder-press." Since the first stanza gives subtle indications of being early in
the day, the second stanza would be midday or afternoon as autumn has spent "hours by
hours" watching the harvest, a sense of some time gone by.
After the first stanza of ripeness and the second stanza of the harvest, the speaker tells
autumn not to worry about the upcoming winter or the sounds of spring. Even though the
end of autumn signals the death of some vegetation and shorter, colder days, autumn's
song (sounds) are just as natural as spring's and summers. Interestingly, the speaker
encourages autumn to appreciate her (autumn's) sounds in spite of the melancholy
symbols that accompany the colder seasons:
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
Words like "soft-dying", "wailful", and "mourn" indicate a mourning time: the end of
autumn. The end of any season indicates change; since this is the natural state of things,
the melancholia is joined with a sense of joy. Even though Keats (the speaker) mourned
the end of autumn, he celebrated its sights, smells, and sounds for what they were. As the
first stanza symbolized morning and the second stanza signalled midday, the final stanza
signifies evening or night with the phrase "soft-dying day." The completion of autumn is
analogous to the completion of a day; the natural progression of things.
"To Autumn" is one of the last poems written by Keats. His method of developing the
poem is to heap up imagery typical of autumn. His autumn is early autumn, when all the
products of nature have reached a state of perfect maturity. Autumn is personified and is
perceived in a state of activity. In the first stanza, autumn is a friendly conspirator
15
working with the sun to bring fruits to a state of perfect fullness and ripeness. In the
second stanza, autumn is a thresher sitting on a granary floor, a reaper asleep in a grain
field, a gleaner crossing a brook, and, lastly, a cider maker. In the final stanza, autumn is
seen as a musician, and the music which autumn produces is as pleasant as the music of
spring — the sounds of gnats, lambs, crickets, robins and swallows.
In the first stanza, Keats concentrates on the sights of autumn, ripening grapes and
apples, swelling gourds and hazel nuts, and blooming flowers. In the second stanza, the
emphasis is on the characteristic activities of autumn, threshing, reaping, gleaning, and
cider making. In the concluding stanza, the poet puts the emphasis on the sounds of
autumn, produced by insects, animals, and birds. To his ears, this music is just as sweet
as the music of spring.
The ending of the poem is artistically made to correspond with the ending of a day: "And
gathering swallows twitter in the skies." In the evening, swallows gather in flocks
preparatory to returning to their nests for the night.
"To Autumn" is sometimes called an ode, but Keats does not call it one. However, its
structure and rhyme scheme are similar to those of his odes of the spring of 1819, and,
like those odes, it is remarkable for its richness of imagery. It is a feast of sights and
sounds
Questions on Board Pattern
Reference to the context Questions (6 marks)
I. Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun:
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
a. Which season does the poet address as the “season of mists and mellow
fruitfulness”? Why?
2
b. How is the season a ‘close bosom friend of the maturing sun’? What do the close
friends conspire?
2
c. Pick out any literary device in these lines and explain.
2
II. Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft lifted by the winnowing wind:
a. What is the poetic device employed here and what is its effect?
b. What are the different places and poses that Autumn can be found in?
2
2+2
III Where are the songs of Spring? Ay where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,While barred clouds bloom the soft dying day,
And touch the stubble plains’ with rosy hue
a. What do you think the poet means by ‘the songs of Spring’?
b. What image is conjured up with ‘stubble plains’?
c. What does the songs of Autumn consist of?
d. On what note does poet end the poem?
1
1
2
2
Short –Answer Type Questions
(80-100 Words & 4 Marks each)
5. In what arrested poses can one see Autumn?
6. Autumn is a season of abundance and joy with an underlying sense of sadness.
Discuss with reference to the poem ‘Ode to Autumn’.
16
7. Why does the poet describe Autumn as a season of ‘mist and mellow
fruitfulness’?
8. What makes the bees feel that the warm days will never cease?
9. What are the different kinds of imageries that the poet employs in the poem?
Discuss with illustrations from the text.
10. Why ‘Ode to Autumn’ is called a fine example of poetry pertaining to the senses?
HAMLET’S DILEMMA By Shakespeare
(Summary)
In the famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy, Hamlet wonders whether to live or die,
given the pain he feels at his father's death/murder, and his mother Gertrude's hasty
remarriage to the murderer. He wonders if it is nobler to bear his grief, or to take action.
Hamlet has two ways of taking arms against the sea of troubles he faces- commit suicide
or live through pain. The question is: is it better to be alive or dead? Is it nobler to put up
with all the nasty things that luck throws your way, or to fight against all those troubles
by simply putting an end to them once and for all? With death we put an end to the
innumerable natural shocks and torment that we have to endure in life. According to him,
death is but another form of sleep. To die would be to fall asleep, to dream. He is unsure
what death may bring (the dread of something after death). He can't be sure what death
has in store; it may be sleep but in ‘perchance to dream’ he is speculating that it is
perhaps an experience worse than life,the sleep of death might lead to worse nightmares.
Dying, sleeping—that’s all dying is—a sleep that ends all the heartache and shocks that
life on earth gives us—that’s an achievement to wish for. ‘To die, to sleep’—to sleep,
maybe to dream. But there’s the catch, the impediment: in death’s sleep who knows what
kind of dreams might come, after we’ve put the noise and commotion of life behind us.
There's the nightmare that troubles the eternal "sleep" of death. That’s certainly
something to worry about. That’s the consideration that makes us stretch out our
sufferings so long.
After all, who would put up with all life’s humiliations—the abuse from superiors, the
insults of arrogant men, the pangs of unrequited love, the inefficiency of the legal system,
the rudeness of people in office, and the mistreatment good people have to take from
bad—when you could simply take your life and end it quits? Who would choose to grunt
and sweat through an exhausting life, unless they were afraid of something dreadful after
death- the ‘undiscover'd country’ from which ‘no traveller returns’. Thoughts of what
could happen after death "give us pause". He wonders who would bear the injustice and
disappointments of life, knowing suicide would end these. It is the "dread of something
after death that puzzles the will and makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to
others that we know not of..."We wonder about death without getting any answers from
and which makes us stick to the evils we know rather than rush off to seek the ones we
don’t? Who would carry this load, sweating and grunting under the burden of a weary life
if it weren’t for the dread of the after life – that unexplored country from whose border no
traveler returns? That’s the thing that confounds us and makes us put up with those evils
that we know rather than hurry to others that we don’t know about. Thinking about it
makes cowards of us all, and it follows that the first impulse to end our life is obscured
by reflecting on it. And great and important plans are diluted to the point where we don’t
do anything. Fear of death makes us all cowards, and our natural boldness becomes weak
with too much thinking. Actions that should be carried out at once get misdirected, and
stop being actions at all.
Extra questions
I. Reference To The Context
‘To be or not to be-that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And, by opposing, end them. To die, to sleep’
17
5.
6.
7.
8.
What does Hamlet mean by ‘To be or not to be’?
1
What are the possibilities that his mental conflict is centered around? 2
What does sleep refer to?
1
Identify the figure of speech in the first line and explain.
1
‘………..Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country from whose bourn
No traveler returns, puzzles the will’
1. What does ‘Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life’ mean?
1
2. What is it that makes the people chose to bear the brunt of life rather than death?1
3. What ‘puzzles the will’?
1
4. Name a figure of speech used in the above quotation and explain.
2
II. Short questions
1. ‘Thus conscience does make cowards of us all” What is the philosophy that
Hamlet expresses through these lines?
2. Why is it that one would rather face the torments of life than take one’s life?
3. What are the torments that man has to face in life as stated in the poem?
"Curtain” By Helen Spalding
Summary
The poem deals with the theme of separation, especially between lovers. The background
for the poem is the tumultuous times that England and Europe were going through
leading to the Second World War.
The first stanza begins with the word ‘Goodbye’ used for parting. This word ends the first
stanza and begins the second. The lovers wish each other goodbye and their intertwined
(laced) fingers loosen symbolizing a gradual break in their relationship. The sense of
touch is evoked in this stanza. The warmth of their relationship symbolized by their hand
clasp, slowly breaks down and finally becomes cold and distant like the stiff, cold
(frosted) flowers of a garden in November. Their separation is felt sharply and piercingly
like bullets. For them even darkness, that unites without distinguishing, feels separate and
strange.
The second stanza states that their relationship has broken down fully. This is conveyed
by the words “There is no touch now” and by comparing their relationship to a wave that
has now broken down in the lonely sea of the world. Though there is a possibility of
words still to be spoken or for communication, the separation is too great a gulf for this to
happen. It is so great that it swiftly out measures time (time makes us gradually forget)
and engulfs one’s identity too.
The third stanza pictures the state of separation. It is like the dreamer startled from her
sleep, but the vivid image of the dream is lost in the process of waking. It is a state of
vagueness about a vivid moment of life. All the senses like taste and sight feel numb.
Even feelings have turned cold as denoted by the words ‘clinic heart’ (dead heart). So
there is no question of the heart breaking.
The final stanza asks questions about the separation like whether it easy and if there is
nothing besides this ‘quiet disaster’; quiet because it is known only to them. The final
question is whether there is cause for sorrow because in the final kiss of parting, which is
compared to a ‘white murder’ of love relationship, they have become two different
18
people, (two ghosts, two Hamlets, two soliloquies) living in a distant physical and mental
world of the future.
Questions:
1. Read the extract and answer the questions that follows:
Incredulously the laced fingers loosen,
-------------------is separate and strange.
b) Name the poem and the poet
c) Who is the poet speaking about in these lines?
d) What is incredulous about laced fingers loosening?
e) Explain: ‘one dark air is separate and strange.’
f) Pick out the poetic device in the above lines and explain it.
05
2. ‘Is it so easy then?--------------two worlds apart, tomorrow?
a) What is the ‘Quiet disaster’, being mentioned in the second line? What is
the poetic device used here?
02
b) Who are the two Hamlets mentioned here? Why have they been compared
to Hamlet?
02
c) Pick out two ironical facts mentioned here and explain why they are
ironical? 02
d) The poet uses ‘two’ four times in the last two lines. Which symbols are
being invoked and why?
02
3. “ And the vivid image lost even in waking---------------And this, the clinic
heart,the dreamer’s is not breaking.”
a) What is the narrator describing in the first line?
02
b) What is the poetic device used in the second line? Explain.
02
c) What is the mood of the narrator in these lines? Why does he/she feel like
this?02
4. How does the poet convey the emotionless state of the lovers in ‘Curtain?’
4
5. Justify the title of the poem ‘Curtain’
4
6. ‘Curtains’ is a symbol. Explain in the context of the poem.
4
A Walk By Moonlight by Henry Derozio
A Summary
Derozio's A Walk by Moonlight Poetry is the awakening of our conscience. In ‘A Walk
by Moonlight’ Derozio illustrates how, on a casual walk, he is “allied to all the bliss,
which other worlds we’re told afford”. The walk and observation makes him question life
and introspect as well.
The poem starts with pleasant memories of the previous night. Derozio feels blessed with
a gift. In the future, when his mind is in turmoil and anxiety, he can ponder and
contemplate upon this moment and find a “happy spot” in his memories to rest. He says
that there are some memories in our past which we keep looking to, “soft hours” which
are far away and “vague” but they never “burn out” and disappear. And when some of
these memories were thrown across his path the previous night his heart was so uplifted,
he thought “it could have flown”.
Derozio had been to meet a friend and saw other friends there too. All were people who
thought in the same manner; they shared a common bond.
“Like minds to like mind ever tend—
An universal law”.
When he asked them for a walk, three at once joined him. They were his cherished
friends — two were people with intellectual minds and in age were his equals, the other
was young but “endeared” by all.
The beauty of the night transforms their thinking and revives their hearts, which had
become numb and feelingless. The poet is deeply touched by small movements of nature
and uses them metaphorically to bring out the joy and enlightenment that he receives.
The moon looked powerful and majestic in the sky, and benignly looked down upon the
earth. The clouds “divided” and broke apart “in homage to her worth” by not trying to
obscure her. The leaves swayed slightly due to the breeze but Derozio feels that they are
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actually dancing and “rejoicing” for the “influence of the moon”. The moon in turn seems
to throw light on the leaves and make them silver robes. For the one hour, when the moon
is on its zenith, the leaves look “mystic” and magical.
The winds too seem to be singing and “hymning” in praise of the strength of the moon.
The winds take on the role of minstrels, whose songs provoke Derozio’s soul. He feels
that there is something magical in the night that “bind” them together in its spell and
enchants them with its beauty. They are moved to such a great extent that they not only
saw but also “felt the moonlight” around them.
Amidst such a splendid scenario, the poet turns philosophical and becomes sensitive to
the objects of nature. He first speaks of the “mysterious” relationship between man and
nature, which though “vague”, “bind us to our earth”. The natural world fills our hearts
with their “tones of holly mirth” and divine joy.
Derozio then talks of the “lovely” old memories which help us in getting a better insight
of ourselves. Due to this awareness we are able to connect with our spiritual selves. And
when this happens, man stands “proud”; this is the uniqueness of man — to be touched
and be enriched by nature.
To understand the universe, we must first understand ourselves. In times we are living,
our senses have become numb. We have lost the opportunity to be stirred by beauty, but
Derozio feels immense joy and pleasure as his senses are awakened at once. All his
memories clear up and he is enthused by the beauty of Nature. All Nature is God’s
creation and He saw sadness in man. It is only when man is able to release his soul will
he survive and as Derozio glimpses the celestial hand of Nature, he too becomes divine.
Now enlightened, Derozio realizes that our bodies are mortal. He finds out that,
“This earthliness goes by,
And we behold the spiritualness
Of all that cannot die”.
The earth and all its beauty is given to us as a gift. When we understand this, we
understand our spirituality and we are better human beings.
This self-realization is sudden and rare. It is then that we recognize the voices that this
“night-wind sings”. The rustling of the trees, the winds, leaves...everything—it is then
that we apprehend that the “mystic melody” of Nature carries a message. These voices
make the forest look like a musical instrument. We too begin speaking the “silken
language of the stars”. Only then do we realize that it is sympathy that “pales the young
moon’s cheek”.
Our inner eye opens up and we can see the real possibilities that are within us. These
glorious things may appear to others on the “sleeper’s couch” but we no more see them as
dreams. They are not unreachable rainbows.
It is said that such “bliss” is received only in “other worlds” (death). Derozio thanks God
and Nature for receiving this illumination in this life itself. His heart fills with happiness
and is “bettered” when he feels that he is a part of Nature and Nature is a part of him.
They are “gently bound”.
However lifeless and separated the flowers the stars and the sky seem, which ordinary
minds may not understand, they too have their objectives. Nature has the purpose to “stir
our sympathy” and move our hearts. Derozio concludes by saying that he cannot even
stamp the grass as he walks.
“The grass has then a voice
Its heart — I hear it beat.”
In the poem, ‘A Walk by Moonlight’, Derozio not only recounts an experience but also
vividly describes the effect of such an experience on his mind and heart. The effect is
profound and mind blowing, and the experience radically changes his perception. He
relates about his walk back home on a moonlit night with his friends whom he ‘loved’
and esteemed and who were like-minded.
The poet was returning home one night with three of his friends after visiting another
friend. The night was a ‘lovely night’ for the ‘moon stood silent in the sky’ and the
‘clouds divided’ ‘in homage to her worth’. She robed the dancing leaves with ‘silver
weaves’. The poet feels that such a night was one of those ‘happy spots’ of memory of
his past which never burns or fades away but shines on gently.
The poet gradually moves from the physical description of night to what the scene does
to him. The ‘song among the winds’ made the poet focus his thoughts. The night created
magic around them. They not only ‘saw’ with their eyes but ‘felt’ with all their senses the
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beautiful moon lit night. In this mood, the mystery of life was heightened and it evoked in
their hearts awe and ‘holy mirth’. The scene brought about a mood which in turn made
the poet’s mind alert and awake. Such a mind, the poet thinks, is a ‘light’ to itself. It
perceives better and everything looks lovely. In such a state one apprehends the ‘
spiritualness’ or the permanence of ‘all that cannot die’ going beyond the ‘earthiness’ of
the world of impermanent matter.
The poet then views nature – night wind, stars, the moon – not as inanimate but as full of
life. Such a state has his ‘inward eye’ open to glories that seem to appear only in dreams.
The bliss of heaven is experienced here on earth by the poet. The peak of perception that
the poet arrives at is when he feels his human heart ‘gently bound’ to everything and
forming ‘of all a part’ which in other words is communion and interconnectedness with
the whole of nature. The flowers, the stars and the sky are then not ‘cold and lifeless as
they seem’.
The poet reaches a climax in his experience which is expressed in the last stanza. In that
moment of deep spiritual insight and heightened sensitivity, the poet feels that he cannot
‘crush’ the grass beneath his feet for he can ‘hear’ its heart ‘beat’.
The rhyme and the meter make the poem flow smoothly enhancing the theme of physical
beauty of a moonlit night and its soothing, and spiritual and psychological effect on the
poet’s soul.
Remember Caesar By Gordon Daviot
Summary
Lord Weston is a judge in England. One morning he finds a paper in his pocket with
this written – “Remember Caesar!” Absent minded and fear stricken, Weston takes it
for a warning for him. Someone was trying to tell him, “Weston, remember Julius
Caesar! You will meet your death as Caesar had!” In his panicky state of mind,
Weston orders to shut all the doors of the house and snap all communication with the
world outside. In that state, he finds a bundle of something, and, suspecting it was an
explosive, he dips it in a bucket to deactivate. In the meanwhile, he loads his old gun
and gets ready for an attack. At this moment he, his wife and their servant Roger hear
someone knocking the main door very loudly. The play ends in utter
humour. Opening the door, they find Mr. Caesar, a specialist in gardening. In fact on
Tuesday Lord Weston had asked Mr. Caesar to visit his house to see about the roses.
Lord Weston had left a piece of paper in his pocket with a “Remember Caesar”
message to stay reminded of Mr. Caesar’s visit but forgot. This morning, when he
saw the paper under another circumstance, the old man forgot all about the Gardener
Caesar and thought that it was a warning for him. And the havoc followed!
Theme
The play centres round the efforts made by a panic-stricken judge to secure himself
against what he considers an imminent catastrophe. The theme sustains its suspense
till the truth about the scrap of paper is revealed at the end of the play. The contrast
between the conceited, pompous Judge Weston who takes a morbidly serious view of
the matter and the light-hearted but sensible Lady Weston who is obviously used to
her husband’s explosive reaction to trivialities, provides the humour
MONKEY’S PAW by W.W. Jacobs
Summary
SCENE – I
The dramatized version of the story comprises three scenes that revolve round the White
family, the father Mr. White, the mother Mrs. White and their young son Herbert. The
summary is given in three parts, each before the exercises of a scene.
In the first scene, Sergeant- Major Morris Calls on the Whites and is persuaded to show
them the monkey’s paw that he had been talking about. Morries hesitates and finally
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hunting in his pocket, he produces the paw that is dried to a mummy. On being asked
about its specialty, he tells that the paw has a spell put on it by an old fakir who wanted to
show that fate ruled people and that everything was cut and dried from the beginning and
also there was no escape from fate. He also told them that the paw could be used by three
persons, each to get three wishes fulfilled . he then adds with a caution that the wishes are
granted in such a natural manner that the person wishing would wish that he/she had not
wished. Herbert is rather sceptical about the paw and goes on probing about the persons
who have had their wishes to procure it from Morris and expresses his desire. When in a
very pensive mood , Morris throws that paw into the fire, Mr. White rushes to the
SCENE – II
Summary
The next morning, the White couple are eagerly waiting for their son’s return from his
duty. As they do so, they discuss last night, with Mr. White complaining that he could not
sleep through out the night .Mrs. White ascribes the reason that blew noisily. The
postman comes whether it could be $200. After some fanfare, it reveals to be the receipt
for interest on the mortgages of $200 on their house. Here, Mrs. White sees some one
outside their house, as though hesitant to enter it. At least as if mustering enough guts, the
man in black enters the gate and knocks the door. It is Mr. Sampson who comes on behalf
of the company (Maw and Meggins). He seems to be under a lot of consternation to
deliver some message he has been asked to deliver. At last, he tells them that while
narrating a story about what happened last night at his house, Herbert was unmindful and
was caught by the machines and that he is no more. He has been asked to tell that the
company diclaims all responsibility. However, considering his services the company
wished to present the bereaved parents with a certain amount of money. The shock to the
old couple is to great that they find it difficult to talk. Suddenly, something occurs to Mr.
White and he asks Mr. Sampson about the amount and Mr. Sampson tells that it is $200!
Mr. White falls senseless to the ground.
SCENE – III
The third scene is very fast and pathetic . The old and bereaved White couple has
forgotten every meaning of their life; they are least bothered about what is happening
around them. The shock of their greatest loss reduces them almost to vegetables. Mrs.
White becomes hysterical and asks of her husband for the paw and on finding it, asks
him to go for another wish. She compels his to wish for their son’s being alive . Over
come by the paroxysmal behavior of his wife, Mr. White wishes the same and tells Mrs.
White to retire to bed. A knock is heard on the main door and Mrs. White runs towards it
to open it as she believes her son has come back alive. Mr. White tries in vain to stop her.
Mr. White apprehends what kind of a situation would prevail if she opens the door and
starts groping for the monkey’s paw. The knock grows turbulent and persistent. Mrs.
White reaches the outer door, slips the chain, slips the lower bolt and unlocks the door.
The top bolt, however, does not open as it had developed some problem. She cries aloud
for help . The knocks in the mean time has become tempestuous . Mr. White at last finds
the paw and wishes his son dead and at peace. Mrs. White could finally fling the door
open , only to kind emptiness.
Answer the following question in about 80-100 Words each: 5 marks
a) What did Mr. White wish for while holding the monkey’s paw? Did his wish come
true? Comment on the uncanny coincidence
b) Sergeant Morris was very apprehensive about handing over the paw to anyone else.
That night he writes a diary entry, expressing his feeling and why he is apprehensive.
Write his diary entry.
c) Comment on the element of macabre in the play.
d) Does Herbert believe in the powers of the ‘monkey’s paw? Does it have any effect
on him? Give reasons for your answer.
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THE INVISIBLE MAN
Character Analysis
Marvel-Mr. Marvel is the local tramp. Marvel is like the Invisible Man's sidekick. He
abandons the Invisible Man and still, he gets pretty nicely rewarded. Marvel might not be
any less sketchy than the Invisible Man, but Marvel he doesn't get caught. He is harmless,
eccentric, fat, but not nearly as stupid as Griffin thinks he is. Marvel is something of a
stock character when we first meet him. He's the poor, homeless, jobless wanderer – in
other words, he's a tramp. He wears shabby, old-fashioned clothes, like his "obsolete hat"
(13.39), and he has buttons replaced by pieces of string. The narrator goes so far as to tell
us that he does everything in a leisurely manner (9.2). He doesn't seem to like work or
excitement. He definitely doesn't like working for the Invisible Man. He carries his stuff,
including the money the Invisible Man steals in Port Stowe.
Marvel ends up successful. Since the police can't prove whose money he has, he gets to
keep everything that was stolen by the Invisible Man (Epilogue.2). Then he gets even
more money for telling the story of the Invisible Man (Epilogue.2) – was Us Weekly
around then? That's how Marvel is able to rise up from being a poor tramp to being the
owner of his own bar (which is named after his old boss, the Invisible Man). He is smart
enough to know when a good thing has happened to him; the stories he tells to the press
bring him much attention and sympathy. In the end, he gets to keep all the money Griffin
stole, and he contrives on his own to keep the books of Griffin’s experiments. He
becomes the owner of an inn as well as the village bard, as it is to him that people come
when they want to know the stories of the Invisible Man. In spite of his earlier torment,
he is the only one who actually benefits from Griffin’s presence.
Mr. and Mrs. Hall-The Halls are a typical family who don't know that they're in a
science fiction story. Mr. Hall drinks and Mrs. Hall nags him about drinking. Mr. Hall
isn't so quick (he has a "heavy intelligence" [6.4]) and Mrs. Hall takes out her frustrations
on Millie, the serving girl (1.36). In other words, they are a stereotypical country couple
found in many a novel (and in real life, if you know where to look.)
This is why we like them in The Invisible Man: they're totally normal folk who are put
into a situation that is totally abnormal. We may not identify with (or even like) the Halls,
but the fact that we recognize them as "normal," helps us understand the shock of the
abnormal stranger. This is probably the role of every character in Iping, actually. They
are normal (though very countrified), which makes the book seem more realistic. Even if
we don't identify with them, the fact that they're realistic sets up a stark contrast to the
Invisible Man.
Griffin-Griffin is the model of science without humanity. He begins his road to decline
in college when he becomes so obsessed with his experiments that he hides his work lest
anyone else should receive credit. When he runs out of money, he kills his own father-a
crime that makes the rest of his crimes pale in comparison. He goes from scientist to
fanatic when he begins to focus all of his attention merely on the concept of invisibility
and neglects to think about the consequences of such a condition. He may not have had
any intention initially of trying the potion on himself, but the interference of his landlord
and prying neighbor lady motivate him to cover his work and remove himself from
further confrontation. The evil that he could commit does not occur to him until after he
has swallowed the potion and seen the reaction of the landlord and others. The irony is,
that his invisibility is good only for approaching unseen and for getting away. Any gains
from his crimes are useless to him. He cannot enjoy any of the normal comforts of lifesuch as food, clothes, and money. He cannot eat without hiding the action, as the food in
his system will render him visible. Clothes, when he is able to wear them, must be used to
cover him from head to foot in order to conceal his real “concealment”--hardly a
comfortable state in the heat of the summer. He can steal money, but cannot spend it on
his own accord. Thus the condition that would make him invulnerable also renders him
helpless.
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In spite of his predicament, Griffin at no time expresses any remorse for his behavior or
for the crimes, which he merely describes as “necessary.” His only regret is frustration
over not having thought about the drawbacks of invisibility. For nearly a year, he works
on trying to perfect an antidote; when time runs out for that activity, he first tries to leave
the country, and then, that plan failing, tries to find an accomplice for himself so he can
enjoy his invisibility and have all the comforts of life as well. He goes from obsession to
fanaticism to insanity.
KEMP-Kemp is referred to as “the doctor,” but his degree seems to be an academic one
rather than a medical one. He continues his own study in hopes of being admitted to “the
Royal Fellows.” His own experiments and fascination with science enable him to listen
sensibly to Griffin, but in spite of being rather contemptuous of his fellow citizens, his
common sense and decency prevent him from being a part of Griffin’s schemes. Kemp is
also the only “cool headed” person in the town once the final attack begins. He runs to
escape Griffin, but as soon as Griffin catches him, he has the presence of mind to turn the
capture around. He is also the first to realize that even though Griffin is invisible, he is
injured, and, ultimately, dead.
PLOT STRUCTURE ANALYSIS-The plot of the story is very straightforward. It
begins in third person as the narrator introduces the Invisible Man midway through his
experiences. Once the Man is revealed, Griffin himself takes over and tells how he began
his experiments and what happened to him after he had taken the potion. At the end, the
point of view once again changes to that of an objective narration.
As Griffin tells his story, one can see that his behavior becomes increasingly
reprehensible. In a very logical way, people first in Iping, and then in surrounding towns,
become aware of the strange being in their midst. The people are curious, frightened and
then determined in their attempts to bring him down and to find out who and what he
really is.The climax of the story occurs when Griffin returns to take revenge on Kemp for
betraying him. The plot is resolved with the Invisible Man’s death.
THEME ANALYSIS
Corruption of Morals in the Absence of Social Restriction-The narrator uses
the Invisible Man to experiment with the depth to which a person can sink when there are
no social restrictions to suppress his behavior. When Griffin first kills his father, he
excuses it away by saying that the man was a “sentimental fool.” When he takes the
potion himself, he endures such pain that he “understands” why the cat howled so much
in the process of becoming invisible. Nevertheless he has no compassion for the cat, for
his father or for any of the people he takes advantage of in the course of trying to survive
invisibility. On the contrary, he descends from committing atrocities because they are
necessary to his survival to committing them simply because he enjoys doing so.
This theme of corruption in the absence of social law has become a motif that is explored
in other literary works. H. G. Well created his story with very little psychological
elaboration or character development. Other writers, however, have taken the idea much
farther; we are thus blessed with novels such as Lord of the Flies, and Heart of Darkness,
along with short stories by Poe and Melville.
Science without Humanity-Although Wells does not have his characters elaborate
on this idea, the concept is represented in the character of Kemp as well as in Griffin
himself. Kemp wants to stop Griffin more out of fear for himself than out of concern for
the community, but he is nonetheless fascinated by the accomplishment of this misguided
college student. The problem with the entire experiment is that Griffin pursued the idea
of invisibility without regard to whether or not there would be any real benefit to society
because of it.
Acknowledgement: Internet
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