Important questions- Poetry

(FIRST FLIGHT)
• Q. In the poem ‘Dust of Snow’, how does the poet’s mood get
changed?

• Ans. While sitting under a tree, dust of snow falls on the poet.
This seemingly upsetting incident changed the mood of the poet.
He realized that he had just wasted a part of his day repenting,
rather he could have utilized the same in doing some productive
activity.
• Q. What is the underlying message for us in our hectic life with
reference to the poem, ‘Dust of Snow’?

• Ans. With reference to the poem ‘Dust of Snow’, the underlying

message for us in our hectic life is that we should enjoy nature to
the utmost and we should have a positive outlook even towards
simple acts because they can lead to the learning of greater
lessons of enjoying life.
• Q. A simple moment proves to be very significant and saves the rest of the
day of the poet from being wasted. Explain on the basis of the poem ‘Dust of
Snow’.
• Ans. The poet, Robert Frost tries to convey that even simple and ordinary
incidents have great significance in our life. Nothing is good or bad. It is only
our thinking that makes it so. Best things in life are free of cost. Life is full of
problems and obstacles. We should try to solve them rather than sitting and
regretting. Some times even the unimportant things change the meaning of
life. A simple action of a crow, who shook off the dust of snow on the poet,
taught him a great lesson. The poet realized that he had wasted his day in
repenting rather than doing some useful activity. He understood how to take
adverse season in stride and work for a better life.
• Q. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:
• Some say the world will end in fire
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.
• The people of the world think that the world will end in ___________________.
fire and tsunami
earthquake and cyclone
melting of glaciers
fire or ice
• The poet’s opinion is that the world will end in ___________________.
fire
ice
earthquake
• Find the word from the passage which means same as ‘endless greed’.
favour
desire
perish
destruction
• Who is the poet of this poem?
R.L. Stevenson
Sarojini Naidu
William Wordsworth
Robert Frost
• Greed, passion and desire are signified by ___________________.
water
wind
fire
ice
• The indifference, hatred and rigidity are signified by
___________________.
wind
ice
water
fire
• What is the rhyming scheme of the lines?
abaa
aabb
abba
abab
• The poet favours the opinion of the people who think the world will end in
___________________.
fire
ice
earthquake
cyclone
• Q. What does ‘fire’ and ‘ice’ stand for and what is the general opinion
regarding the world?

• Ans. Fire stands for fury, desire, lust, anger, avarice, cruelty and greed. Ice is
symbolic of hatred, coldness, rigidity, insensitivity and intolerance. The
general opinion regarding the world is that the world will end in fire and
some say ice. Both the two reasons contrast each other and one equally
opposite to each other. People who favour fire believe that it will be the heat
and passion which will end the world. On the other hand, some people think
that it will be the ice which will freeze the world.
• Q. Nothing is immortal in this universe. Fire and ice are very powerful things.
They will destroy it. But hatred is more powerful. Explain.

• Ans. It is a universal truth that nothing is immortal in this universe. Every

thing has to destroy one day. Fire and ice will not leave anything. The poet
also supports those who favour fire. But the feeling of hatred is more
dangerous than fire and ice. Hatred will destroy it into pieces. This feeling
will spoil the humanity from this earth that is the human ornament.
• Q. Mention two contrasting views regarding the end of the world as forecasted in
the poem “Fire and Ice”.
• Ans. The theme of the poem is the destructive potential of hatred and desire. The
poet uses contrasting elements fire and ice to explain its power of destroying the
world.
• By fire he metaphorically means the destructive nature of human emotions like
desire and hatred while ice signifies the feelings which is bereft of love, affection
and sympathy. Hence both type of human nature has the potential for self
destruction. If fire leads to rapid destruction, ice would lead to silent damage.
• As such the two contrasting elements fire and ice both would be just as good to
destroy the world.
• He stalks in his vivid stripes
The few steps of his cage
On pads of velvet quiet,
In his quiet rage.
• Which animal has stripes and velvet pads?
Zebra
Tiger
Lion
Panther
• Why does he move only a few steps, it is because of
Zoo
Jungle
Cage
• Pick out the word from the stanza that means the same as ‘clear‘.
stripes
velvet
vivid
age
• Who has written the above lines?
Leslie Norris
Robert Frost
Robin Klein
Carolyn Wells
• He hears the last voice at night,
The patrolling cars,
And stares with his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars.
Who hears the last voice at night?
Tiger
Horse
Wolf
Rabbit
• The last voice that he hears is that of ______________.
trucks
aeroplanes
patrolling cars
trains
• At what does he stared with his brilliant eyes?
sky
sun
moon
stars
• Which word means the same as ‘sparkling’ in the passage?
patrolling
stares
brilliant
concrete
• Q. Why does the tiger express his anger quietly?
• Ans. The tiger expresses his anger quietly, because he is helpless. He can do
nothing from behind the bars. He is not free as he was in the forest. The
tiger’s strength is locked behind the bars. Thus it can only show anger.
• Q. How does the tiger feel locked in the concrete cell of the zoo? Why does
he ignore the visitors?
• Ans. The tiger is basically an animal of the wilds. He is a denizen of the
forest. Being locked in a concrete cell of the zoo, he fells quite helpless. His
immense strength is of no use to him as he is put behind the bars. He only
stalks the length of his cage. He ignores the visitors who came to see him
after buying their tickets. He doesn’t want to present himself as an object of
entertaining others.
• Q. What does the poet want to convey through the poem?
• Ans. The poet exhibits the miserable life led by the animals in the
zoo. He shows the two different lives i.e., in the zoo and the life at
a natural habitat. According to the poet, animals should not be
caged. They should be let free in the wild. Even they have a right
to remain free. They should not be caged for our personal
interests.
• What is the boy now, who has lost his ball,
What, what is he to do? I saw it go
Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then
Merrily over-there it is in the water!
• What has the boy lost?
toy
ball
toy car
bat
• Where did the ball fall into?
water
pond
river
• For the loss of which thing the boy felt grieved and helpless?
toy car
video game
bat
ball
• After losing the ball he:
is worried
doesn’t care
is not concerned
is in a fix what to do
• The poet saw the ball merrily bouncing down the _________.

• Finally the ball fell into __________.

• Who is the poet?

John Berryman

Robin Klein

Walt Whitman

Adreinne Rich
• An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy
As he stands rigid, trembling, staring down.
All his young days in to the harbour where
His ball bent I would not intrude on him,
A dime another ball, is worthless.
Now He senses first responsibility
In a words of possessions.
• The boy is in grief because his ball has been ______________.
stolen
misplaced
broken
lost
• The boy feels ______________ and stands rigid because he is thinking
about his days when he was young.
troubled
happy
sorry
helpless
• The poet does not offer to give him the new ball because he wants to
teach him the value of ______________.
duty
authority
responsibility
money
• Who senses his first responsibility in?
The girl
The boy
The poet
The reader
• This will help the child in understanding his ___________.
responsibility
sharing
duty
assets
• Giving another ball to the child is ____________.
senseless
worthless
useless
harmless
• Q. ‘He senses first responsibility? What responsibility is referred to here?

• Ans. The poet thinks that it is of no use to purchase another ball. The child
must feel his responsibility of taking care of his things and learn to cope up
with the loss.

• Q. What is the deep meaning hidden in the poem “The Ball Poem?

• Ans. The deep meaning of the poem is that our childhood quickly flies as
here a ball is lost. Also we grow up unsuspectedly and face hardships like
loss.
• Q. What is the boy’s state of mind at the loss of his ball?

• Ans. The boy is very disturbed at the loss of his ball. He keeps staring at the
ball with his desperate eyes.

• Q. Pick out the words that suggest that the boy has not lost anything earlier.

• Ans. The words that suggest that the boy has not lost anything earlier are
“He senses first responsibility in a world of possessions.”
• Q. In the poem ‘Dust of Snow’, how does the poet’s mood get
changed?

• Ans. While sitting under a tree, dust of snow falls on the poet.
This seemingly upsetting incident changed the mood of the poet.
He realized that he had just wasted a part of his day repenting,
rather he could have utilized the same in doing some productive
activity.
• Q. What is the underlying message for us in our hectic life with
reference to the poem, ‘Dust of Snow’?

• Ans. With reference to the poem ‘Dust of Snow’, the underlying

message for us in our hectic life is that we should enjoy nature to
the utmost and we should have a positive outlook even towards
simple acts because they can lead to the learning of greater
lessons of enjoying life.
• Q. A simple moment proves to be very significant and saves the rest of the
day of the poet from being wasted. Explain on the basis of the poem ‘Dust of
Snow’.
• Ans. The poet, Robert Frost tries to convey that even simple and ordinary
incidents have great significance in our life. Nothing is good or bad. It is only
our thinking that makes it so. Best things in life are free of cost. Life is full of
problems and obstacles. We should try to solve them rather than sitting and
regretting. Some times even the unimportant things change the meaning of
life. A simple action of a crow, who shook off the dust of snow on the poet,
taught him a great lesson. The poet realized that he had wasted his day in
repenting rather than doing some useful activity. He understood how to take
adverse season in stride and work for a better life.
• Q. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:
• Some say the world will end in fire
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.
• The people of the world think that the world will end in ___________________.
fire and tsunami
earthquake and cyclone
melting of glaciers
fire or ice
• The poet’s opinion is that the world will end in ___________________.
fire
ice
earthquake
• Find the word from the passage which means same as ‘endless greed’.
favour
desire
perish
destruction
• Who is the poet of this poem?
R.L. Stevenson
Sarojini Naidu
William Wordsworth
Robert Frost
• Greed, passion and desire are signified by ___________________.
water
wind
fire
ice
• The indifference, hatred and rigidity are signified by
___________________.
wind
ice
water
fire
• What is the rhyming scheme of the lines?
abaa
aabb
abba
abab
• The poet favours the opinion of the people who think the world will end in
___________________.
fire
ice
earthquake
cyclone
• Q. What does ‘fire’ and ‘ice’ stand for and what is the general opinion
regarding the world?

• Ans. Fire stands for fury, desire, lust, anger, avarice, cruelty and greed. Ice is
symbolic of hatred, coldness, rigidity, insensitivity and intolerance. The
general opinion regarding the world is that the world will end in fire and
some say ice. Both the two reasons contrast each other and one equally
opposite to each other. People who favour fire believe that it will be the heat
and passion which will end the world. On the other hand, some people think
that it will be the ice which will freeze the world.
• Q. Nothing is immortal in this universe. Fire and ice are very powerful things.
They will destroy it. But hatred is more powerful. Explain.

• Ans. It is a universal truth that nothing is immortal in this universe. Every

thing has to destroy one day. Fire and ice will not leave anything. The poet
also supports those who favour fire. But the feeling of hatred is more
dangerous than fire and ice. Hatred will destroy it into pieces. This feeling
will spoil the humanity from this earth that is the human ornament.
• Q. Mention two contrasting views regarding the end of the world as forecasted in
the poem “Fire and Ice”.
• Ans. The theme of the poem is the destructive potential of hatred and desire. The
poet uses contrasting elements fire and ice to explain its power of destroying the
world.
• By fire he metaphorically means the destructive nature of human emotions like
desire and hatred while ice signifies the feelings which is bereft of love, affection
and sympathy. Hence both type of human nature has the potential for self
destruction. If fire leads to rapid destruction, ice would lead to silent damage.
• As such the two contrasting elements fire and ice both would be just as good to
destroy the world.
• He stalks in his vivid stripes
The few steps of his cage
On pads of velvet quiet,
In his quiet rage.
• Which animal has stripes and velvet pads?
Zebra
Tiger
Lion
Panther
• Why does he move only a few steps, it is because of
Zoo
Jungle
Cage
• Pick out the word from the stanza that means the same as ‘clear‘.
stripes
velvet
vivid
age
• Who has written the above lines?
Leslie Norris
Robert Frost
Robin Klein
Carolyn Wells
• He hears the last voice at night,
The patrolling cars,
And stares with his brilliant eyes
At the brilliant stars.
Who hears the last voice at night?
Tiger
Horse
Wolf
Rabbit
• The last voice that he hears is that of ______________.
trucks
aeroplanes
patrolling cars
trains
• At what does he stared with his brilliant eyes?
sky
sun
moon
stars
• Which word means the same as ‘sparkling’ in the passage?
patrolling
stares
brilliant
concrete
• Q. Why does the tiger express his anger quietly?
• Ans. The tiger expresses his anger quietly, because he is helpless. He can do
nothing from behind the bars. He is not free as he was in the forest. The
tiger’s strength is locked behind the bars. Thus it can only show anger.
• Q. How does the tiger feel locked in the concrete cell of the zoo? Why does
he ignore the visitors?
• Ans. The tiger is basically an animal of the wilds. He is a denizen of the
forest. Being locked in a concrete cell of the zoo, he fells quite helpless. His
immense strength is of no use to him as he is put behind the bars. He only
stalks the length of his cage. He ignores the visitors who came to see him
after buying their tickets. He doesn’t want to present himself as an object of
entertaining others.
• Q. What does the poet want to convey through the poem?
• Ans. The poet exhibits the miserable life led by the animals in the
zoo. He shows the two different lives i.e., in the zoo and the life at
a natural habitat. According to the poet, animals should not be
caged. They should be let free in the wild. Even they have a right
to remain free. They should not be caged for our personal
interests.
• What is the boy now, who has lost his ball,
What, what is he to do? I saw it go
Merrily bouncing, down the street, and then
Merrily over-there it is in the water!
• What has the boy lost?
toy
ball
toy car
bat
• Where did the ball fall into?
water
pond
river
• For the loss of which thing the boy felt grieved and helpless?
toy car
video game
bat
ball
• After losing the ball he:
is worried
doesn’t care
is not concerned
is in a fix what to do
• The poet saw the ball merrily bouncing down the _________.

• Finally the ball fell into __________.

• Who is the poet?

John Berryman

Robin Klein

Walt Whitman

Adreinne Rich
• An ultimate shaking grief fixes the boy
As he stands rigid, trembling, staring down.
All his young days in to the harbour where
His ball bent I would not intrude on him,
A dime another ball, is worthless.
Now He senses first responsibility
In a words of possessions.
• The boy is in grief because his ball has been ______________.
stolen
misplaced
broken
lost
• The boy feels ______________ and stands rigid because he is thinking
about his days when he was young.
troubled
happy
sorry
helpless
• The poet does not offer to give him the new ball because he wants to
teach him the value of ______________.
duty
authority
responsibility
money
• Who senses his first responsibility in?
The girl
The boy
The poet
The reader
• This will help the child in understanding his ___________.
responsibility
sharing
duty
assets
• Giving another ball to the child is ____________.
senseless
worthless
useless
harmless
• Q. ‘He senses first responsibility? What responsibility is referred to here?

• Ans. The poet thinks that it is of no use to purchase another ball. The child
must feel his responsibility of taking care of his things and learn to cope up
with the loss.

• Q. What is the deep meaning hidden in the poem “The Ball Poem?

• Ans. The deep meaning of the poem is that our childhood quickly flies as
here a ball is lost. Also we grow up unsuspectedly and face hardships like
loss.
• Q. What is the boy’s state of mind at the loss of his ball?

• Ans. The boy is very disturbed at the loss of his ball. He keeps staring at the
ball with his desperate eyes.

• Q. Pick out the words that suggest that the boy has not lost anything earlier.

• Ans. The words that suggest that the boy has not lost anything earlier are
“He senses first responsibility in a world of possessions.”
52
53
54
55
Amanda!
Question 1.
Don’t bite your nails, Amanda!
Don’t hunch your shoulders, Amanda!
Stop that slouching and sit up straight,
Amanda!
(a) Amanda is getting instructions for what purpose?
(b) Give a synonym of ‘hunch’.
(c) What does the speaker of above lines instruct Amanda in the first
stanza?
(d) What is the literary device used in the third line?
Previous Year Questions 56
Amanda!
Previous Year Questions

Answer:
(a) Amanda is getting instructions as a part of her upbringing.
Her conduct and manners are getting refined for future
purposes.
(b) Bend.
(c) Amanda is getting instructed for biting her nails and sitting
lazily with her shoulders bent.
(d) Literary device used in third line is Alliteration. ‘Stop that
slouching and sit up straight’.
57
Amanda!
Previous Year Questions

Question 2.
(There is a languid, emerald sea,
where the sole inhabitant is me
– a mermaid, drifting blissfully.)
(a) Why are these lines given within brackets?
(b) Give the word from the passage which means free flowing act
of going with the motion and force?
(c) What is the role of mermaid here?
(d) Which word in the extract means opposite of ‘sorrowful’?

58
Amanda!
Previous Year Questions

Answer:
(a) These lines are given within brackets because they reveal the
inner thoughts of Amanda. Brackets are used for visual contrast
between what Amanda is saying and what her mother is
instructing.
(b) Drifting means free flowing act of going with the motion.
(c) Mermaid is a part of Amanda’s fantasy in her own created
world. As mermaid sails in a sea carelessly and effortlessly,
similarly Amanda longs to do so in a place where she is all by
herself.
(d) Blissfully is opposite of sorrowful. 59
Amanda!
Previous Year Questions

Question 3.
Don’t eat that chocolate, Amanda!
Remember your acne, Amanda!
Will you please look at me when I’m speaking to you,
Amanda!
(a) Why is Amanda not looking at the speaker?
(b) Find the word in the extract which means same as consume?
(c) The speaker is so worried about acne. What does it show?
(d) Which word in the extract means the same as ‘to gaze’?

60
Amanda!
Previous Year Questions

(a) Amanda is lost in her own thoughts and is paying

no attention to instructions being given to her. That is
why she is not looking at the speaker.
(b) Eat means same as consume.
(c) Speaker being worried about acne shows how much
importance is given to physical beauty in a household.
Amanda is prepared for the unforeseen future. Natural
experience such as acne is also taken care of at any cost.
(d) To look means the same as ‘to gaze’.
61
 Amanda
PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION
ANSWERS

Question.
How life on a tower would be different from life anywhere else for
Amanda?
Answer:
Life on tower for Amanda would be very different from her reality. Just
like Rapunzel, even she desires to live on top of a tower, away from
everyday chaos. Amanda suffers due to the constant nagging from her
parents. She seeks a place full of peace and serenity, where there is no
one to disturb her. Hence, she wishes to live on a tower.
 Amanda
PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION
ANSWERS

Question.
Why does Amanda seem moody most of the times? [CBSE 2016]
Answer:
Amanda seems moody most of the time because she is trying to make
an escape from her sorry reality where she is nagged most of the times.
It is indeed a sorry state for a small child like Amanda to bear. Here the
only defence against such reality is her imagination where she often
escapes to.
Hence, it makes her look moody and uninterested.
 Amanda
PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION
ANSWERS

Question.
Why does Amanda wish to be a mermaid, an orphan, or Rapunzel?
Answer:
Amanda wishes to be a mermaid so she could drift alone by blissfully
languid, emerald sea. She yearns to be an orphan so that she is able to
roam the sea and make pattern using her bare feet. Being Rapunzel
means she could live carefree on a high tower. Amanda wishes to be
these so that she could avoid her suffocating reality.
 Amanda
PREVIOUS YEARS QUESTION
ANSWERS

Question.
What is the central theme of the poem Amanda?
Answer:
The poem Amanda by Robin Klein highlights the importance of
upbringing of a child. It points out that upbringing doesn’t involve making
a child responsible and fit for the society only. It is important to note that
upbringing involves understanding from both the sides. One cannot just
force a child to be civilised and good mannered. “Love and proper care
is required in nurturing of a child.
Fog
Previous Year Question Answer –Comprehension Question

Question 1.
The fog comes on little cat feet.
It sits looking over harbour and city on silent
haunches and then moves on.
(a) What does the poet mean by little cat feet?
(b) What do haunches mean?
(c) How is the fog looking over the harbour and the
city?
(d) “It sits looking….” what is the poetic device
used here?
66
Fog

(a) Little cat feet here represents the silent and careful steps of a
cat. The way fog comes, resembles the steps of a cat.
(b) Haunches mean hips.
(c) The fog looks over the harbour and the city by sitting on its
haunches like a cat.
(d) Metaphor is used here.

Previous Year Question Answer 67

Fog
Previous Year Question Answer- Text based Questions

Question 1.
How does the poet compare fog to a living being?
Answer:
The poet compares the fog to a cat. The silent steps of a cat
and the way it sits on its haunches is very similar to the way
fog comes and surrounds the city and looks over it.

68
Fog
Previous Year Question Answer- Text based Questions

Question 2.
What image does the poet give to the fog? What are the
similarities between that image and fog?
Answer:
The poet looks at fog as a living creature (जीवित प्राणी) and
compares it to a cat. The fog moves like a cat on little cat feet and
sits on haunches like a cat.

69
Fog
Previous Year Question Answer- Text based Questions

Question 3.
Difficulties come but they are not to stay forever. They come and go.
Comment referring to the poem ‘Fog’.
Answer:
Difficulties, when faced by people, tend to leave them hopeless and
shattered. It takes a lot of courage to overcome any problem and to
solve it. If we take a clue from the poem and compare difficulties to
fog, we find that just like fog, difficulties also come and go.
One need not be hopeless and lose courage when problems come,
one should rather think of it as fog, meaning that it has not come to
stay but will always leave, like fog.

70
Fog
Extra question answer

Question 2.
How is the fog like a cat?
Answer:
The poet finds the fog like a cat. The fog comes stealthily
like a cat. It sits looking over the harbour and city as a cat
does. Later, it moves on just like a cat to settle
somewhere else. These things prove that the fog’s
comparison to a cat is appropriate.

71
Fog
Extra question answer

Question 3.
How does the fog spread over the harbour and the city?
Answer:
The fog-comes to a city stealthily just like a cat. It makes
no noise. It spreads over the harbour and the city and
settles over them for sometimes. There, it rises high and
moves away. In this way the fog arrives over a city,
observes it and then leaves it to move away.

72
Fog
Extra question answer

Question 4.
Write the central idea of the poem “Fog”.
Answer:
The poet Carl Sandburg in his poem ‘Fog’ describes fog as
a cat. Fog is treated to be a living creature. Fog comes
quietly and stealthily like a cat. Fog sits looking over the
harbour like a cat does. Then it moves to settle somewhere
else. Just as cat doesn’t settle at one place and in the same
way fog keeps on moving and finally vanishes.

73
For Anne Gregory
Previous Year Question Answer-Comprehension Questions

Question 1.
“Never shall a young man, Thrown into despair By those great honey-
coloured Ramparts at your ear, Love you for yourself alone And not
your yellow hair.”
(a) What does ‘ramparts’ mean?
(b) What is the colour of Anne’s hair?
(c) What does the poet mean by, “love you for yourself alone and not
your yellow hair”?
(d) What does ‘despair’ mean in the stanza?

74
For Anne Gregory
Previous Year Question Answer-Comprehension Questions

Answer:
(a) Ramparts refers to wall that protects a fort. Here, it has been
used metaphorically to mean the lock of hair around her ear.
(b) Anne’s hair are honey-coloured.
(c) The poet means that young men love Anne for her beautiful looks
and not for her real character.
(d) Despair means hopelessness.

75
For Anne Gregory
Previous Year Question Answer-Comprehension Questions

Question 2.
“But I can get a hair-dye And set such colour there, Brown, or black, or
carrot, That young men in despair May love me for myself alone And not
my yellow hair.”
(a) Who is the speaker of these lines?
(b) Why does Anne say that she can change her hair colour?
(c) Which word in the stanza means ‘colour’?
(d) What is the rhyming scheme adopted in this stanza?

76
For Anne Gregory
Previous Year Question Answer-Comprehension Questions

Answer:
(a) The speaker of these lines is Anne Gregory.
(b) Anne says that she can change her hair colour to show
that external beauty is not real and permanent.
(c) The word is Dye.
(d) The rhyming scheme adopted in this stanza is abcbdb.

77
For Anne Gregory
Previous Year Question Answer-Comprehension Questions

Question 3.
“I heard an old religious man But yesternight declare That he had
found a text to prove That only God, my dear, Could love you for
yourself alone And not your yellow hair.”
(a) Who had found a ‘text’?
(b) What does the text prove?
(c) What does ‘yesternight’ mean?
(d) Find a word from the passage which is an antonym of ‘concial or
hide’.

78
For Anne Gregory
Previous Year Question Answer-Comprehension Questions

Answer:
(a) An old religious man had found a text.
(b) The text proves that only God is capable of looking beyond
external beauty, into the soul of a person.
(c) Yesternight means last night.
(d) The antonym is ‘declare’

79
For Anne Gregory
Previous Year Question Answer-Text Based

Question 1.
Between whom does the conversation in the poem take place?
Answer:
The poem is a conversation between a speaker, who could be the poet himself,
or Anne’s lover or friend and Anne Gregory herself. The other speaker believes
that young men love Anne for her external beauty but Anne says that external
beauty is not real and young men should love her for herself.

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For Anne Gregory
Previous Year Question Answer-Text Based

Question 2.
What does the poet mean by, “those great honey-coloured ramparts at your
ear”?
Answer:
Ramparts here refer to locks of Anne’s beautiful yellow hair and external
beauty that hides her soul and true nature and lets other people see only
her outer self.

81
For Anne Gregory
Previous Year Question Answer-Text Based

Question 3.
Why do young men love Anne for her hair and not for herself alone?
Answer:
Anne Gregory is so beautiful that no man is capable of ignoring her external
beauty and looking inside her real nature. Her attractive external*features stop
men from knowing the real person. This is what that makes the speaker say that
young men love Anne for her hair and not for herself alone.

82
The Trees
Previous Year Question Answer

Question 1.
Why do the trees need to move out? Where have they been and why?
Answer:
The trees in the forest have been cut and man has planted trees in his courtyard for his
selfish decorative purposes. It makes the trees feel suffocated and out of place. So they
need to move out into the forest. They have been in the city houses as men have
imprisoned them there.

83
The Trees
Previous Year Question Answer
Question 2.
What makes the forest empty? What cannot happen in a-treeless forest?
Answer:
Man’s cutting the trees of the forest at an uncontrollable speed has resulted in
the empty forests. In a treeless forest, birds and insects cannot find shelter and
make their homes there. The sun cannot cool its rays in the shadow there.

84
The Trees
Previous Year Question Answer

Question 3.
Why is the poet writing long letters? Why does she not mention the departure of
the trees?
Answer:
The poet can feel the sorrow of the trees imprisoned in the cities. So, she is writing
long letters or poems voicing the trees’ right to be in their natural habitat i.e., the
forest. She does not mention the departure of the trees in her letters as she is too
embarrassed for imprisoning them ever.

85
The Trees
Previous Year Question Answer-Comprehension Questions

Question 1.
The trees inside are moving out into the forest, the forest that was empty all these days
where no bird could sit no insect hide no sun bury its feet in shadow the forest that was
empty all these nights will be full of trees by morning.
(i) Name of poem and poet.
(ii) From where do the trees move out into the forest?
(iii) Why has the forest been empty all these days?
(iv) How do you think will the forest be full of trees again?

86
The Trees
Previous Year Question Answer-Comprehension Questions

Answer:
(i) These lines have been taken from the poem ‘The Trees’ composed by ‘Adrienne Rich’.
(ii) The trees move out into the forest from the human houses.
(iii) The forest has been empty all these days because trees have been cut and transported to
the cities.
(iv) The forest would be again full of trees when men would understand his responsibility
towards the nature.

87
The Trees
Previous Year Question Answer-Comprehension Questions
Question 2.
All night the roots work
to disengage themselves from the cracks
in the veranda floor.
The leaves strain towards the glass
small twigs stiff with exertion
long-cramped boughs shuffling under the roof
like newly discharged patients
half-dazed, moving
to the clinic doors 88
The Trees
Previous Year Question Answer-Comprehension Questions

(i) What are the roots trying to do?

(ii) Why are the small twigs stiff?
(iii) What does the poet mean by ‘the clinic doors”?
(iv) Name the poem and poet.

89
The Trees
Previous Year Question Answer-Comprehension Questions

Answer:
(i) The roots are trying to break the veranda floor.
(ii) The small twigs are stiff as they were straining to break the glass.
(iii) The poetess means that the trees are sick because they are being suffocated and
choked in cramped spaces of the veranda.
They need to be cured and become healthy again and for them the clinic is the open
spaces of the forest.
(iv) The poem “Trees” composed by ‘Adrienne Rich’.

90
The Trees
Previous Year Question Answer-Comprehension Questions

Question 3.
I sit inside, doors open to the veranda
writing long letters
in which I scarcely mention the departure of the forest from the house.
The night is fresh, the whole moon shines
in a sky still open
the smell of leaves and lichen
still reaches like a voice into the rooms.

91
The Trees
Previous Year Question Answer-Comprehension Questions
(i) Where is the speaker?
(ii) Why does the poet not mention the departure of the forest?
(iii) How do the leaves and lichen talk to each other?
(iv) Name the poem and poet.
Answer:
(i) The speaker (poetess) is sitting inside her house
(ii) The poetess doesn’t mention the departure of the forest because she is embarrassed.
(iii) The leaves and lichen talk to each other through the smell.
(iv) The poem “Trees” composed by Adrienne Rich.
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The Trees
Previous Year Question Answer-Comprehension Questions

Question 4.
My head is full of whispers
which tomorrow will be silent.
Listen. The glass is breaking.
The trees are stumbling forward
into the night. Winds rush to meet them.
The moon is broken like a mirror,
its pieces flash now in the crown
of the tallest oak.
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The Trees
Previous Year Question Answer-Comprehension Questions

(i)What are ‘whispers’ that the poetess can hear?

(ii) What does the poet ask us to listen to?
(iii) Which poetic device has been used?
(iv) Name the poem and poet
Answer:

94
The Trees
Previous Year Question Answer-Comprehension Questions

(i) The whispers that the poetess can hear are the sounds made by the
outgoing trees.
(ii) The poetess asks us to listen to the sounds of the breaking glass.
(iii) The poetic device is ‘Personification’. The trees are personified.
(iv) The poem “Trees” written by ‘Adrienne Rich’

95
Q1- Who is the poet of the poem “The
tale of Custard the Dragon”?
A) Carl Sandburg
B) Ogden Nash
C) Carolyn Wells
D) Walt Whitman

Q2- What was the name of the black

kitten?
A) Custard
B) ink
C) blink
D) mustard
Q3- What was the name of the grey
mouse?
A) Custard
B) ink
C) blink
D) mustard

Q4- Who is described as the most timid

of all?
A) kitten
B) mouse
C) dragon
D) dog
Q5- What all does the dragon possess?
A) big sharp teeth
B) spikes on top of him
C) sharp toes
D) All of the above

Q6- Name the poetic device used in the line “mouth

like a fireplace”
A) Oxymoron
B) metaphor
C) Assonance
D) Simile
The Tale of Custard the Dragon
Previous Year Question Answer

Question 1.
With a little black kitten and a little gray mouse,
And a little yellow dog and a little red wagon, And a
realio, trulio, little pet dragon.
(a) Where did Belinda live?
(b) How many pets did she have?
(c) Which word in the stanza means “carriage”?
(d) Whose young one known as a ‘kitten’?

99
The Tale of Custard the Dragon
Previous Year Question Answer

Answer:
(a) Belinda lived in a little white house.
(b) She had four pets, a kitten, a mouse, a dog and a
dragon.
(c) The word is ‘Wagon’.
(d) A cat’s young one is known as a kitten.

100
The Tale of Custard the Dragon
Previous Year Question Answer
Question 2.
Now the name of the litde black kitten was Ink, And the little gray
mouse, she called her Blink, And the little yellow dog was sharp
as Mustard,
But the dragon was a coward, and she called him Custard.
(a) What is the colour of Belinda’s dog?
(b) What were the kitten and the mouse called?
(c) Which word is the stanza means “fear easily”?
(d) ‘Blink’ here is the name of a mouse but what actually the
word means?

101
The Tale of Custard the Dragon
Previous Year Question Answer

Answer:
(a) Belinda’s dog is yellow as mustard.
(b) The Kitten was called Ink and the mouse was called
Blink by Belinda.
(c) The word is ‘Coward’.
(d) The word ‘blink’ means to shut and open eyes
frequendy in quick succession.

102
The Tale of Custard the Dragon
Previous Year Question Answer
Question 3.
Custard the dragon had big sharp teeth, And spikes on top
of him and scales underneath, Mouth like a fireplace,
chimney for a nose, And realio, trulio, daggers on his toes.
(a) What did the dragon look like?
(b) Why is the dragon’s mouth called a chimney?
(c) Which word in the stanza means the same as “a small
sword”?
(d) Find from the passage a word which means a structure
through which smoke or steam is carried up away from a
fire.
103
The Tale of Custard the Dragon
Previous Year Question Answer

Answer:
(a) The Dragon had spikes on top and scale underneath.
His mouth was like a fireplace and nose was like a
chimney. He looked dangerous as his toes looked like
daggers.
(b) Dragons can spit fire, therefore Custard’s mouth has
been called a fireplace.
(c) The word is ‘Dagger’.
(d) The word is ‘Chimney’.

104
The Tale of Custard the Dragon
Previous Year Question Answer

Question .
Where did Belinda live and with whom?

Answer:
Belinda lived in a little white house with her four pets and a
wagon. She had a black kitten named Ink, a grey mouse named
Blink, a yellow dog named Mustard and a coward dragon named
Custard.

105
The Tale of Custard the Dragon
Previous Year Question Answer

Question .
What did Custard look like?

Answer:
Custard looked dangerous with spikes on his top and scales
underneath. His mouth was like a fireplace and nose like a
chimney. His toes looked like daggers.

106