A Collection of ICSE Poems and Short Stories Volume I — Poems Teachers' Handbook ICSE

A Collection of ICSE Poems and Short Stories

Volume I — Poems

Teachers’ Handbook

ICSE

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A Collection of ICSE Poems and Short Stories

Volume I — Poems

1. Where the Mind is Without Fear 5 — 7

Rabindranath Tagore

2. The Inchcape Rock 7 — 11

Robert Southey

3. In the Bazaars of Hyderabad 11 — 14

Sarojini Naidu

4. Small Pain in My Chest 14 — 17

Michael Mack

5. The Professor 17 — 20

Nissim Ezekiel

6. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening 20 — 23

Robert Frost

7. A Doctor’s Journal Entry for August 6, 1945 23 — 26

Vikram Seth

8. If Thou Must Love Me 26 — 29

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

9. I Believe 29 — 30

Brucellish K Sangma

10. A Psalm of Life 31 — 34

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

5WHERE THE MIND IS WITHOUT FEAR

I. (i) The words ‘mind is without fear’ mean that one does not have any fear of oppression or compulsion. The poet is talking about the minds of the people of his country. He says so because his country was under the subjugation of the British, who perpetrated all sorts of oppression on his countrymen.

(ii) The words ‘the head is held high’ mean to have self respect. The head is bowed down because of exploitation and oppression of the Indians by the British. It needs to be held high with pride and dignity which characterised the Indians before India was reduced to the status of a subjugated nation.

(iii) By the words ‘Where knowledge is free’, the poet wants to say that in his country everyone should have the freedom to acquire knowledge without any restriction. The restrictions imposed on the spread of knowledge include the prejudices based on wealth, caste and religion. Further, the British imposed restrictions on the basis of the ruler (the British) and the ruled (the Indians). They curbed the freedom of speech and expression by putting restrictions on the Press.

(iv) Due to the restrictions imposed on the spread of knowledge, people remained glued to their outdated customs and traditions and could not think rationally.

(v) A sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines divided into an octave (the first eight lines) and a sestet (the last six lines). The octave presents an idea, raises an argument, makes a proposition or poses a problem, whereas the sestet gives a solution to the problem posed by the octave.

The poem ‘Where the Mind is Without Fear’ comprises an octave, in which the poet talks about the wonderful qualities his countrymen must achieve to make their country free and heaven-like. Since this poem is only a part of the complete song in his Nobel Prize winning work, Gitanjali, we can say that this poem is a part of the complete sonnet.

II. (i) According to the poet, the narrow domestic walls or divisions based on caste, class, colour, religion, creed, region and superstitions break up the world into fragments or mutually exclusive compartments.

(ii) The narrow domestic walls refer to narrow local divisions created

6 TEACHERS’ HANDBOOK (ICSE POEMS)

by prejudices like caste, colour, creed, region and religion. They are called ‘narrow’ by the poet because they are based on age-old customs and traditions and not on the basis of rational thinking.

(iii) The narrow domestic walls can harm the nation by creating divisions among people and thereby, undermining the unity and integrity of the nation.

(iv) The poet wants to say that his countrymen should be able to express themselves truthfully without any fear. He feels so because his countrymen at that time did not have freedom of expression as various restrictions were imposed on the freedom of speech and the Press by the British.

(v) Examples of alliteration are: (a) Where the world (b) Where words (vi) The poet shows that he has a religious outlook by praying to

God to let his country awake to a blissful heaven of freedom.

III. (i) ‘Tireless striving’ means to work hard without getting tired to achieve perfection. The poet wants his countrymen to achieve the highest goals, i.e., freedom at all levels — political, religious, spiritual, moral and intellectual.

(ii) Reasoning allows a person to have clarity of thoughts without being restricted by narrow domestic walls such as caste, colour, creed, religion, region and superstitions. That is why it has been compared to a clear stream which is free of all impurities.

(iii) ‘Dreary desert sand of dead habit’ is a metaphor. Through this metaphor the poet wants to say that his countrymen should work for perfection in everything and should not be led astray from their goal in the dry desert of dead habits, i.e., in a place where outdated customs and traditions are followed.

(iv) According to the poet, the hurdles in achieving perfection include the outdated customs and traditions based on irrational thinking rather than sound reasoning and scientific thought.

(v) The figure of speech in the third line of the given extract is a ‘metaphor’. For explanation refer to answer (iii) above.

(vi) This poem by Rabindranath Tagore is taken from his original volume called Naibedya, which bears the title ‘Prarthana’, i.e., prayer. In this poem, the poet prays to a universal father-figure, i.e., God to let his country awake to a blissful heaven of freedom. Thus, the poem is a song of prayer.

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IV. (i) ‘Thee’ refers to God. (ii) The mind of the poet’s countrymen is to be led forward to the

‘heaven of freedom’, i.e., to an ideal state where there is total freedom at all levels — political, religious, spiritual, moral and intellectual.

(iii) The phrase ‘Heaven of freedom’ means an ideal state, where the poet wants the Almighty to lead his countrymen to. The three qualities required to be able to attain the heaven of freedom include:

(a) there is no oppression and people can hold their heads high in self-respect.

(b) there are no prejudices based on caste, colour, creed, religion, region and superstitions.

(c) people should work tirelessly to attain perfection in everything by following scientific thought and rational thinking, without being led to follow obsolete traditions and customs.

(iv) ‘Father’ in the above extract is a reference for God. He will awake the country by leading the poet’s countrymen to a heavenly state where there are all kinds of freedom and where they can hold their heads high in self-respect, without any fear of oppression or compulsion.

(v) The poet prays for his country to attain all kinds of freedom — political, religious, spiritual, moral and intellectual. And only then it will attain the blissful heaven of freedom, an ideal state where his countrymen would be able to hold their heads high in self-respect, will not have a blurred vision based on prejudices and work tirelessly to attain perfection in every sphere of life.

I. (i) The Inchcape rock is referred to in the extract. The rock lay hidden in the sea off the east coast of Scotland. It sometimes remained hidden under sea water during the high tide.

(ii) The words ‘surge’s swell’ mean the sea-waves moved up and down and rose high due to the influence of tides. The warning bell refers to the bell placed on the Inchcape rock by the Abbot of Aberbrothok, to give a warning to the sailors about the danger from the rock. The warning bell was placed on a buoy and during high tides the movement of waves made the buoy to float and in turn rang the bell and warned the sailors.

THE INCHCAPE ROCK


(iii) The Rock was said to be perilous because many ships had been wrecked by it when it remained covered by sea water during a high tide. Sir Ralph’s ship struck against the Inchcape Rock and drowned in the sea.

(iv) The Head monk of a monastery or church is known as an Abbot. The mariners blessed the Abbot Aberbrothok because he placed a bell on the Inchcape Rock, which gave a warning to the mariners about the perilous rock and thus, saved them and their ships from drowning.

(v) A ballad is a long narrative poem that tells a story. It is a heightened narration that uses narrative technique like rhyme and figures of speech. The two elements of ballad in the given extract are the following:

(a) The rhyming pattern followed in this extract is aabb (Swell-Bell; Rock-Aberbrothok).

(b) There is a repetition of consonant sound at the beginning of words (alliteration) to facilitate narration:

1. ..... surge’s swell 2. ..... then they

II. (i) Sir Ralph was a rover or a sea pirate. He was a wicked and jealous man.

(ii) The pleasant day in the spring season made the Rover sing. But the real reason was that in a such calm atmosphere he would be able to carry out his wicked plan of defaming the Abbot of Aberbrothok by cutting off the bell from the Inchcape Rock and thereby, loot the wealth from the shipwrecks.

The given lines mean that the Rover’s heart was extremely joyful but his joy was due to his wicked plan.

(iii) The Rover saw the buoy of the Inchcape Rock like a dark speck on the green ocean. He asked his sailors to lower the boat and row him to the Inchcape Rock.

(iv) The Rover wanted to go near the Inchcape Rock to cut off the warning bell to spoil the fame and reputation of the Abbot of Aberbrothok, who has placed the bell there and to loot the wealth from the shipwrecks.

(v) The Rover was in a joyful mood in the extract. His joyful mood is reflected in the extract by his act of whistling and singing. At the end of the poem, the Rover was in a mood of despair and frustration.

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III. (i) The boatmen rowed the boat to the Inchcape Rock. (ii) The Rover cut off the bell from the Inchcape Rock. He did so

out of jealousy and self-interest. He wanted to spoil the fame and reputation of the Abbot of Aberbrothok, who has placed the bell there. It would also allow him to easily loot the wealth from the shipwrecks, caused by the Inchcape Rock.

(iii) The Rover’s act of cutting the bell from the Inchcape Rock led to the collision of his ship with the rock and finally, the drowning of the ship with the Rover.

(iv) After performing the wicked deed of cutting the bell from Inchcape Rock, the Rover said that from then onwards the mariners who used to thank the Abbot would no longer thank him.

(v) The Abbot of Aberbrothok had kept the bell there. The bell was placed on the float because the movement of the float during the high tide would make the bell ring and warn the sailors of the danger from the rock.

(vi) The sailors, passing by earlier, blessed the Abbot of Aberbrothok for placing the warning bell on the Inchcape Rock and thereby, saving them from the perilous rock.

IV. (i) The Rover sailed away from the Inchcape Rock. He became rich by looting the wealth from the ships that struck against the Inchcape Rock.

(ii) After amassing wealth, the Rover was sailing towards the shore of Scotland.

(iii) When the Rover was sailing, there was a thick haze over the atmosphere and no sun in the sky. There were strong winds and darkness all around. The weather conditions predicted that finally the Rover would meet his end in the sea.

(iv) The Rover was a wicked man who was jealous of the fame and reputation of the Abbot of Aberbrothok. That is why he carried out his wicked plan of cutting off the warning bell on the Inchcape Rock, placed there by the Abbot. He was a robber who became rich by looting the wealth from the shipwrecks.

(v) The Abbot was a kind and compassionate man, who placed a warning bell on the Inchcape Rock to forewarn the sailors about the danger to their ships from the perilous rock. The Rover, on the other hand, was a jealous and wicked man, who cut off the warning bell on the Inchcape Rock to defame the Abbot and to loot the wealth from the shipwrecks.

V. (i) When the Rover and his sailors were going towards the shore of Scotland, the weather was bad, with a thick haze over the atmosphere, no Sun in the sky and strong winds.

THE INCHCAPE ROCK


(ii) The words “the breakers roar” mean the roaring of the sea waves, i.e., the sound made when the sea waves break on the shore. The breakers roar normally signify a high tide when the sea waves surge up and down with a great force.

(iii) The sailors wished that they could hear the Inchcape Rock. The ringing of the bell would have indicated the presence of the perilous rock and thus saved the ship from colliding with it.

(iv) The sailors could not see any land on the way to Scotland’s shore because of bad weather. There was a thick haze in the atmosphere and total darkness in the absence of the Sun in the sky. Sir Ralph was optimistic that the weather would improve by night when the moon would rise in the sky.

(v) In the absence of the Inchcape Bell, no warning sound was heard by the sailors and the vessel struck against the Inchcape Rock.

VI. (i) They could not hear any sound due to the absence of the warning bell on the Inchcape Rock, which the Rover had cut off. If the sailors had heard the normal expected sound of the warning bell from the Inchcape Rock, they would have saved the ship from striking against the rock.

(ii) (a) the swell is strong: there are strong waves in the sea. (b) They drifted along: They moved slowly towards the shore. (iii) The vessel struck against the Inchcape Rock. It was a shivering

shock because the ship collided with the rock and the waves from all sides began to engulf it.

(iv) Sir Ralph was in a state of despair and shock when he realised that his ship had struck against the Inchcape Rock. In his frustration, he pulled his hair and cursed himself. Sir Ralph’s ship struck the very rock from which he had removed the warning bell and sank in the sea.

(v) Sir Ralph was a sea pirate. He was a wicked and jealous man. He used to loot wealth from the ships that fatally crashed against the Inchcape Rock. But when the Abbot of Aberbrothok placed a warning bell, he cut off the bell to defame the good Abbot and put the other helpless sailors into trouble. However, he got caught in his own trap of mischief when his ship struck against the Inchcape Rock and sank in the sea alongwith him.

(vi) The moral conveyed through this poem is—As you sow, so shall you reap. The Rover cut off the bell from the Inchcape Rock, but his own ship struck against the very Rock because of the absence of any warning sound and sank in the sea.

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VII. (i) The Rover could hear the sound of his sinking ship, which seemed to him like the sound made by the Inchcape Bell. The sound was dreadful because there was no chance of surviving the shipwreck.

(ii) The sound of the Inchcape Bell was a forewarning of the danger from the perilous rock to the sailors and was thus life-saving. The dreadful sound, on the other hand was that of the sinking ship that signalled the end of Sir Ralph. Therefore, it appeared to be like a funeral bell being run by the Devil himself.

(iii) The Devil below was ringing his knell mean that the sound which Sir Ralph was hearing appeared to him like the sound of the Inchcape bell. But actually the sound was that of the sinking ship.

(iv) Sir Ralph, the Rover cut off the warning bell, which the Abbot of Aberbrothok had planted on the Inchcape Rock as a forewarning to the sailors. But Sir Ralph’s own ship struck against the very rock due to the absence of any forewarning sound and drowned in the sea with Sir Ralph. Thus, the evil that Sir Ralph plotted for the Abbot and the other sailors, recoiled on him.

(v) The Inchcape Rock is a ballad comprising adventure, valour and jealousy. Sir Ralph, the pirate, went on an adventure trip on the sea with his sailors. He had the valour to take the risk of cutting off the bell from the Inchcape Rock, which the Abbot of Aberbrothok had placed there to warn the sailors. He did this wicked act out of jealousy as he could not accept the popularity of the good Abbot and wanted to defame him. He also did so because of selfish motive as he used to make wealth by looting money from the ships that crashed after striking against the Inchcape Rock.

I. (i) The merchants are in the bazaars of Hyderabad. They are selling their goods in the market. The words ‘Richly displayed’ mean that the goods to be sold in the market have been beautifully displayed by the merchants to attract the buyers.

(ii) The goods on sale in this market included crimson and silver turbans, purple brocade tunics, mirrors framed in brownish yellow colour and daggers with handles of jade.

(iii) The poet begins the stanza with a question to elicit an answer from the vendors about the goods they are selling. This pattern

IN THE BAZAARS OF HYDERABAD


of question-answer is used to bring out the splendour of the traditional bazaars of Hyderabad. The poet has used repetition as well as lyrics full of vibrant and colourful images to describe the scene.

(iv) (a) Mirrors with panels of amber mean the mirrors having frames of brownish and yellow colour.

(b) Scabbards of gold for the king mean sheaths of gold for the King to keep his swords in.

(v) The King and his nobles are the likely customers of tunics of purple brocade and daggers with handles of jade.

(vi) The visual imagery is stimulated by mentioning the various hues of colours in this stanza like silver, crimson, purple, amber and jade.

II. (i) Chessmen are the pieces deployed on a chessboard for playing the game of chess. Ivory dice refers to small cubes made of ivory, having six sides numbered by dots from one to six. These are used to play games.

(ii) Saffron, lentil, rice, sandalwood, henna and spices are sold by weight, whereas chessmen and ivory dice are sold by numbers.

(iii) The sellers of various goods in the bazaars of Hyderabad are referred to as vendors and merchants. The sellers, who go about from place to place with their goods for sale are called the pedlars.

(iv) Food items included saffron, lentil and rice. Cosmetic items included sandalwood and henna and the recreational items included chessmen and ivory dice.

(v) The senses of sight are stimulated in this extract by the various colours of the items like saffron, lentil, rice, sandalwood, henna and various spices. The sense of taste is produced by the mention of staple Indian food like lentil and rice and spices.

III. (i) The jeweller’s shop is referred to in the extract. ‘Girdles of gold’ mean ornamental belt made of gold worn round the waist by the dancers. ‘Scabbards of gold’ refer to the sheaths of gold for the king to keep his swords in.

(ii) The items of gold on sale included ornaments like wristlets, anklets, rings, belts of gold worn by the dancers and sheaths for swords used by the kings. The gold jewellery reveals that both the owners and the buyers belonged to the wealthy sections of the society.

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(iii) Bells were tied to the feet of blue pigeons as ornaments as well as identity marks. Sheaths of gold were used by the kings, girdles (belts) were used by dancers and wristlets, anklets and rings were used by other people.

(iv) “Frail as a dragon-fly’s wing” means as delicate as the wings of a dragon-fly. Frail is an apt description for describing the delicateness of the bells tied to the feet of blue pigeons.

(v) The poet has described the Indian goods at the Indian bazaars for two reasons:

(a) to depict the splendour of Indian bazaars which beckon the customers with their sounds, scents and goods.

(b) to extoll the Indians to buy Swadeshi goods and boycott foreign goods.

IV. (i) The fruits included lemons, pomegranates and plums, whereas the musical instruments included sitar, sarangi and drum.

(ii) The poet asks the musicians what musical instruments they are playing and asks the magicians what they are chanting.

(iii) Spells for aeons to come mean the magical spells used by the magicians to charm everyone till eternity with their chanting.

(iv) The whole poem is Indian in context and presentation as it depicts the beauty and vibrance of a traditional Indian bazaar. The landscape, the characters, the images and the background is typically Indian — such as:

(a) the mention of dresses worn by Indians such as turbans and tunics.

(b) the gold ornaments worn by Indians like wristlets, anklets, rings and girdles.

(c) the musical instruments played by Indians like sitar, sarangi and drums.

(d) the food items like lentil and rice and spices and fruits like lemons, pomegranates and plums.

(e) the use of fresh flowers on both happy and sad occasions. (v) The magicians are present in the bazaar for chanting magical

spells to charm the customers. (vi) The panoramic view of the Indian bazaars presented in the poem

with its hues of colour, sounds, smells and sights has appealed to me the most because it gives a glimpse of the Indian culture, society and prosperity.

IN THE BAZAARS OF HYDERABAD


V. (i) The poet has highlighted the occupation of simple folks in India like the merchants, pedlars, vendors, fruit sellers, goldsmiths, musicians, magicians and flower girls.

(ii) The flowers are used on happy occasions like wedding for making garlands for the bridegroom and to decorate his nuptial bed. The flowers are used on sad occasions such as death to pay the last respects by placing flowers on the dead bodies or the graves.

(iii) Crowns, chaplets and garlands were used for making garlands for the bridegroom and for decorating his nuptial bed.

(iv) ‘Tassels of azure and red’ mean ornamental threads of sky-blue and red colour tied at one end to make garlands and nuptial beds for the bridegroom.

(v) “To perfume the sleep of the dead” mean to place sheets of freshly gathered flowers on the dead bodies or on the graves, which give pleasant smell.

I. (i) The soldier boy was sitting underneath a tree during the war because he was fatally wounded and could not get up.

(ii) The soldier was sitting calmly because he was fatally injured during the war, was thirsty and could not get any help from anybody around.

(iii) The soldier asked the narrator to come near him because he was thirsty and needed a sip of water.

(iv) The battle had been long and hard can be discerned from the deep craters in the earth and the number of dead bodies of the soldiers, which the narrator could see lying all around.

(v) In the above extract, the poet wants to convey the horrors of war and the agony of the soldiers, who fight it out on the battlefield.

II. (i) The narrator has been referred to by the soldier as ‘Sir’. He was on the battlefield at that time.

(ii) The soldier, according to the narrator, ‘smiled as best he could’ to hide his pain and suffering from him. It shows the spirit of a soldier, who gives up his life for his country, with a smile on his face.

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(iii) The soldier wanted “A sip of water” because he was thirsty and fatigued for he had fought a long and tough battle throughout the night and was fatally wounded.

(iv) The soldier could not take any rest because he had been fighting continuously day and night against the enemy. It tells us about the horrors of war and pain and suffering the soldiers had to endure on the battlefield.

(v) The soldier was having a pain in his chest because of the wound he had sustained during the fight on the battlefield. Being a true soldier, who considers everything smaller than his duty for his country, the soldier called it as ‘small pain’. Further, in comparison to the soldiers, who had received larger wounds and had succumbed to their injuries on the battlefield, his was a small pain.

III. (i) The large stain on the soldier’s shirt was caused by a wound he received while fighting on the battlefield.

(ii) ‘warm blood mixed in with Asian dirt’ refers to the blood oozing out from the wounds of the soldier and mixing with the dirt of the Asian soil as the war was being fought in Asia.

(iii) By saying “Not much”, the soldier wanted to say that his wound was nothing in comparison to the wounds suffered by his fellow soldiers, who succumbed to their injuries. He said so because he was still alive.

(iv) The soldier considered himself more lucky than his fellow soldiers because they died of the injuries sustained during the war, while he was still alive.

IV. (i) The soldier was feeling weak and said that his weakness must be due to fatigue. His fatigue was caused by fighting day and night on the battlefield.

(ii) The soldier smiled weakly because he had sustained fatal wounds and was in pain. It shows that though the soldier was in pain, he was trying to hide his suffering in the true spirit of a soldier.

(iii) The soldier felt that he was getting old because he found himself weak and fatigued after battling it out on the warfront.

(iv) The soldier felt cold despite the shining sun because the light of his life was fading, i.e., he was about to die due to the fatal wounds that he had received on the battlefield.

(v) ‘The night exploded’ means that an explosion took place at night. As a result of the explosion the soldier got fatal wounds on his

SMALL PAIN IN MY CHEST


body, whereas a number of his fellow soldiers died because of the injuries sustained during the explosion.

V. (i) The narrator described the soldier’s smile as the brightest that he has ever seen because the soldier wanted to express his gratitude to the narrator for providing water to him as well as to hide the pain he was enduring.

(ii) The soldier was suffering from fatal physical injuries sustained during the explosion at night on the battle field. Due to these injuries he was feeling physically weak and fatigued.

(iii) The soldier considered it silly to be defeated by a small pain in his chest because he was a young, healthy man, full of energy and enthusiasm, who could have defeated even death.

(iv) The soldier felt ashamed of himself to think about his wife’s reaction when she would see her husband, a strong and grown up man, sitting there defeated. He felt that his mother would never have imagined during his childhood that one day his son would be sitting on the battlefield, defeated by a small pain in his chest.

(v) ‘HERE’ refers to the battlefield. The soldier was undergoing a mental pain at the thought of the reaction his wife and mother would have on seeing him sitting defeated on the battlefield.

VI. (i) The soldier felt that it was getting dark earlier than it used to be because the light of his life was fading, as he was slowly losing consciousness because of the fatal injuries sustained on the battlefield and seeing the darkness all around him.

(ii) ‘He’ refers to the soldier. He winced up at the sun with an expression of pain on his face to find out why was it getting dark so early despite the shining sun.

(iii) (a) In the given line, the soldier told the narrator that before he would start his journey further, he would like to take a little rest. It signifies the soldier’s spirit to continue his duty after taking little rest. It is also symbolic of the final journey, i.e., death, towards which the soldier was heading.

(b) The narrator said “I think I must have cried”. He said so because he could not recall what was his reaction when the wounded soldier died in front of his eyes. It signifies that the narrator was petrified on seeing the horrifying death of the soldier.

(iv) When the narrator pulled the soldier towards himself he felt the wound in his chest and the gravity of the pain the soldier was enduring.

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(v) The narrator said that he had a large wound in his heart compared to the small one in the soldier’s heart because he was hurt by the suffering of the dead soldier, and felt the guilt on the part of humanity at not being able to give up war and thereby, end the suffering of the soldiers.

VII. (i) The expression ‘Asian dirt’ means Asian soil and this indicates that the war was fought in Asia. The two hardships experienced by the soldier included:

(a) The physical pain caused by the fatal wounds sustained on the battlefield.

(b) The emotional agony at being lonely and surrounded by dead bodies and the thought of his family’s reaction on seeing him defeated.

(ii) Despite sustaining fatal injuries during the war, the soldier did not leave the battlefield because he considered it at his duty to continue the fight till the end and die smiling while performing his duty in the true spirit of a soldier.

(iii) The phrase “a small pain in my chest” is a refrain which is repeated throughout the poem to emphasise the pain and suffering a soldier undergoes on the battlefield.

(iv) Yes, indeed the poem has a poignant ending. It makes the readers—(i ) feel the agony a soldier endures on the battlefield; and (ii ) realise the horrors of war and the need to give up wars for the sake of humanity.

(v) Small Pain in My Chest is an anti-war poem that describes the horrors of war and conveys the message to shun hatred and warfare.

I. (i) The speaker wants to say that all his children, i.e., his sons are economically well off and his two daughters are happily married.

(ii) By saying, “Both have cars”, the speaker wants to convey that both his sons are well off and have a status in society. It conveys that in Indian society the worth of an individual is measured more by his financial status than anything else.

(iii) The “other” is a reference for the speaker’s third son. The speaker says that he is not doing “so well” because in comparison to his

THE PROFESSOR


other two sons, who have managerial jobs and are economically well off, he is not as successful as they are.

(iv) By saying, “Every family must have black sheep”, the speaker intends to say that in every family there is a person, who is different from the rest of the family and is an embarrassment to the family. The speaker considered his third son as the black sheep in his family because he was not as well off as his other two sons.

(v) The extract shows that Indians value economic success more than academic success through the speaker’s attitude, who measures the success of his two sons by their managerial jobs and the cars they owned.

II. (i) Sarala and Tarala are the speaker’s daughters. The practice of giving rhyming names to the siblings like ‘Sarala and Tarala’ is shown in this extract.

(ii) The speaker says that his two daughters ‘Sarala and Tarala’ are happily married to nice boys. The speaker’s comment about the marriage of Sarala and Tarala hints at the gender bias prevalent in Indian society, which considers the success of a man by his economic status and a woman’s by getting married to a nice boy.

(iii) By saying, “How many issues you have”, the speaker wants to enquire from his student about the number of children he has. He is directing this question to his former student.

(iv) In reply to his former student’s remark that he has three children, the speaker says “That is good”. The speaker considers his student having three children as “good”.

(v) The speaker is not against family planning. The irony in this statement is the fact that though the speaker says that he is not against family planning, yet he feels proud at having eleven grandchildren.

(vi) The poem The Professor is a satire on the urban Indian way of life as it satirises:

(a) the urban Indian society, which measures the success of a man by his economic success rather than his academic excellence.

(b) gender bias present in Indian society which believes that woman should be happily married and confined within the four walls of their domestic life.

(c) the pretence of the urban Indians, who consider it as a prestige to speak in a foreign language rather than their mother tongue.

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III. (i) The speaker says that “we have to change with times” because he feels that since the whole world is changing, so we should also change with the changing times. It shows the pretence of the speaker, who feels that we should change with the changing times, but in reality, he himself clings to the old traditions and does not want to change.

(ii) India is “keeping up” with the changes and development going on in the world.

(iii) According to the speaker, new values are replacing the old ones. He feels so because of the rapid changes taking place in society.

(iv) According to the speaker, “Everything is happening with leaps and bounds” because of the rapid changes and development that is taking place in Indian society and the world at large.

(v) Examples of the use of Indian English in the extract are: (a) We are keeping up. Our progress is progressing. (b) Old values are going, new values are coming

IV. (i) The speaker says that he rarely goes out because of his old age. The “price of old age” which the speaker has to pay is that he rarely goes out.

(ii) The speaker says that apart from usual aches and pains associated with old age, he is hale and hearty without any major disease like diabetes, blood pressure or heart attack.

(iii) The speaker ascribes his good health to sound habits practised by him in his youth.

(iv) The sound habits followed by the speaker in his youth might have been — eating balanced diet, regular exercise and abstaining from smoking and drinking.

(v) The main theme of the poem is the hypocrisy and pretence of the urban Indian middle class, which measures the success of an individual in terms of wealth and status rather than academic excellence.

V. (i) By saying “hope to score a century”, the speaker wants to say that he hopes to live upto the age of hundred.

(ii) “Man of weight and consequence” means a man, who is physically healthy, economically sound and has a status in society. The speaker says these words to his former student because he finds him physically healthier than what he was earlier and also because of his status in society.

THE PROFESSOR


(iii) The “good joke” referred to by the speaker is that his former student, who is now healthier, once used to be thin like a stick.

(iv) Example of Indian English used by the speaker in the given lines is:

(a) You were so thin, like stick. (Stock usage of Indian English) (b) If you were coming this side by chance. (Use of Present

Continuous Tense instead of Simple Present Tense) (c) I am living just on opposite house’s backside. (Direct translation

of the local language) (v) The title of the poem is quite apt because: (a) the entire poem revolves around the character of a retired

Professor, his life, his thoughts and actions. (b) through the character of the Professor, the poet has ridiculed

the urban, educated, middle class of India, its hypocrisy and pretence.

I. (i) The woods belonged to a man, who lived in the village. The speaker has stopped by the woods to watch the snow filling up the woods.

(ii) The owner of the woods will not see the speaker stopping by the woods because he lives in the village.

The owner of the woods lives in the village, away from nature. Though he owns the woods, he cannot appreciate and enjoy the beauty of nature. Thus, there are man-made barriers which separate man from nature.

(iii) Woods, being “lovely, dark and deep”, symbolise sensuous enjoyment, the darkness of ignorance, as well as the dark inner self of man.

The village symbolises society and civilisation, beyond whose borders lie the woods.

(iv) The poet is standing just by the woods and looking at them. He is enchanted by the beauty of the woods.

(v) Yes, the poet is happy with his lonely state in the woods because: (a) he finds solace in the thoughts that nobody is watching him;

and (b) he is enchanted with the natural beauty of the woods, snow

and the frozen lake.

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(vi) Robert Frost is regarded as a poet of nature. Unlike, William Wordsworth, another nature poet, who considers nature as a benevolent mother, Frost considers nature as hostile and alien. In this poem, the poet stops by the woodst and find them ‘lovely, dark and deep’. He finds himself being seduced by the natural beauty of the woods. But, he finds this seduction momentary and the charm is soon broken. He remembers that he has to move away from nature to fulfill his worldly obligations.

II. (i) The horse has stopped between the woods and the frozen lake. The horse has stopped there because the rider (speaker) wants to see the beauty of the woods.

(ii) The horse considers it strange to stop between the woods and the frozen lake because there is no farmhouse, i.e., civilisation, nearby and that too on the darkest evening of the year.

(iii) ‘The darkest evening of the year’ refers to December 22, the longest night of the year, when there is biting cold. The word ‘darkness’ in the poem is suggestive of the mystery of nature — the source of nature’s beauty lies in its mystery, not in its familiarity.

(iv) Symbolically, the horse represents the domesticated part of the society and acts as its agent to remind the speaker of his responsibilities (by shaking of harness bells) and to wean him from indulging in pleasures of nature.

(v) The main theme of the poem is the basic conflict between an attraction towards nature and the pull of responsibilities. In this poem, the speaker stands by the woods and is enchanted by the beauty of nature. The shaking of the harness bells of his horse (symbolising society) and the sound of the wind (symbolising his inner voice) remind him that he cannot give in to irresponsible indulgence by enjoying the sensual pleasures of nature. He has certain worldly responsibilities which he must fulfill before he goes to sleep or before his life ends.

III. (i) ‘He’ refers to the speaker’s horse. He shakes his harness bells to ask the speaker if he has made a mistake in stopping by the woods.

(ii) ‘He’, i.e., the speaker’s horse considers it a mistake to stop by the woods because it is away from human society and the speaker is indulging in sensual pleasures of nature forgetting his worldly responsibilities.

(iii) The given lines mean that besides the sound made by the shaking of the harness bells of his horse, the only other sound

STOPPING BY WOODS ON A SNOWY EVENING


heard was that of the moving wind and flakes of snow falling softly like feathers.

(iv) The shaking of the “harness bells” and the sweeping sound of wind break the speaker’s reverie and enchantment with nature and jolt him back into the world of reality. He is reminded of his responsibilities, which he must fulfill before he takes rest.

(v) The poet has created an atmosphere of isolation and mystery in the poem by making the speaker stop by the woods, away from men or human habitation. Further, the depiction of nature like freezing cold, frozen lake, falling snow, darkness and complete silence with the only sounds such as those of the shaking of the harness bells and the sweeping wind has been used to create an atmosphere of isolation and mystery.

IV. (i) The speaker considers the woods as “lovely, dark and deep” because he finds them beautiful, mysterious and seductive. He cannot enjoy the natural scenery in the woods because he is reminded of his responsibilities, which he must fulfill and move on in life.

(ii) The ‘promises’ referred to by the speaker in the poem include the duties he has to perform and the responsibilities, he has to fulfill.

The world “sleep” in the poem has two meanings: (a) a metaphor for final sleep or death; and (b) it is symbolic of the deserved reward which the poet can achieve after keeping his promise, in contrast to the unearned pleasure of looking at the woods.

(iii) The woods act as an obstacle for keeping the speaker’s promises because the beauty of the woods make the speaker forget about the civilisation, his responsibilities, which lie outside of the woods and his purpose in life.

(iv) The last two lines of the poem are symbolic of the brief span of human life and the duties, which a man has to perform before he goes to sleep or before his life ends.

(v) Robert Frost’s poetry is universally recognised as comprising rural themes and dealing with the life of the humble dwellers of the country side. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” describes the natural beauty of the woods, with the soft, silent whiteness of the frost, the frozen lake and the falling snow. It is away from human civilisation and enchants the speaker with its beauty and makes him forget his responsibilities.

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V. (i) The poet sees the “lovely, dark and deep” woods, the frozen lake and the soft, silent whiteness of the frost. The only sounds that he can hear are those made by the shaking of the harness bells of his horse and that of the sweeping wind.

(ii) The inner conflict in man expressed in the poem is that between an attraction towards nature and the pull of responsibilities, i.e., the conflict between desire and duty.

(iii) The natural beauty and mystery of the woods, with the soft, silent whiteness of the frost and the falling snow attract the poet.

(iv) The poet interprets the shaking of the harness bells of the horse as the horse questioning him if he has made a mistake in stopping by the woods, away from human habitation.

Symbolically, the shaking of the harness bells of the horse points to the society’s act of blaming the speaker for indulging in sensual pleasure, overlooking his responsibilities.

(v) The extract depicts the theme of isolation by portraying the speaker’s act of stopping by the woods, away from men or human habitation on a snowy and dark evening. There is complete silence and the only sounds the speaker can hear are from the shaking of the harness bells and the sweeping wind.

(vi) The contrasting images of the natural world and the man-made world in the poem are the following:

(a) the woods and the farm house. (b) pleasure and business. (c) solitude and society. (d) freedom and responsibility. (e) desire and duty.

I. (i) The morning was calm, beautiful and warm. The narrator was in a relaxed mood and preparing for his daily routine.

(ii) The narrator was startled on seeing two sudden flashes of light. He thought whether the flashes were magnesium flares seen during the war.

(iii) Due to the impact of the explosion, the roof and the wall of the building collapsed and the debris got scattered all over.

A DOCTOR’S JOURNAL ENTRY FOR AUGUST 6, 1945


The people suffered both physically and mentally. The explosion caused fatal injuries to the human beings, burnt their skin and made it drip off their bodies.

(iv) The narrator’s clothes got burnt, a splinter ripped through his thigh, his right side bled and his cheek was torn.

(v) (a) It means that as the day dawned, it was a peaceful morning, with the warmth of the shinning Sun.

(b) It means that the narrator was taken by a surprise on seeing a sudden flash of light followed by another.

II. (i) The blood gushed out from the wounds sustained by the narrator due to the splinters from the explosion, which ripped through parts of his body. The narrator was panic-stricken to see the blood gushing out from his body.

(ii) Yecko-san was badly injured because she was holding her elbow, was bloodstained and looked pale and frightened.

(iii) The narrator told his wife consoling her that they would be fine. (iv) When the narrator and his wife were walking on the street, they

stumbled against the head of a man, who was crushed to death under a gate. The narrator was scared and horrified.

(v) An atmosphere of fear was created by the explosion in the minds of the narrator and his wife on seeing the gruesome scenes caused by the explosion:

(a) Both the narrator and his wife were badly injured due to the explosion and blood was oozing out of their wounds.

(b) While walking on the street, they stumbled against the head of a man, who was crushed to death under a gate.

III. (i) The man against whose head the narrator had stumbled was dead. He was crushed to death under a gate.

(ii) The strange things that happened in the extract are: (a) The narrator saw a house standing before him suddenly tilt,

sway, topple and finally crash. (b) The fire sprang up in the dust and spread widely by the

wind. (iii) The two decisions made by the narrator included the following: (a) To rush immediately to the hospital. (b) When the narrator could not move forward due to stiff legs,

he asked his wife Yecko-san to go ahead alone to the hospital.

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(iv) The narrator could not take his injured staff to the hospital because he was himself badly injured and needed somebody’s help to go to the hospital.

(v) The physical inconvenience suffered by the narrator included the following:

(a) Shortness of breath. (b) Inability to move forward due to stiffness in his legs caused

by drying of blood, oozing out from his wounds.

IV. (i) The breath of the speaker was short because he was badly wounded due to the bomb explosion and was thirsty.

The given statement — “But bit by bit my strength/seemed to revive” — symbolises how the Japanese after the nuclear bomb attack, withstood the calamity and with their indomitable spirit and hard work rose up and gradually rebuilt their shattered city and their world.

(ii) The narrator was helped by a soldier. The soldier gave the narrator a towel to cover up his naked body and thus, gave him the self-confidence to rise up and move forward.

(iii) The narrator sent his wife, Yecko-san to go alone to the hospital because he was badly injured and could not move forward because of stiffness in his legs. He justified his action of sending his wife alone to the hospital by saying that he had no other choice as he could not walk any further.

(iv) The narrator felt lonely when his wife left for the hospital. (v) Some of the people the narrator saw were like mere shadows,

whereas others looked like ghosts or scarecrows. Still others were walking with arms stretched out with either a shoulder or a hand dangling loose from their body.

(vi) The people were marching to the hospital without any clothes on their body as if they had come out straight after a bath.

V. (i) ‘They’ referred to a woman and a child, both naked, who were marching towards the hospital. The narrator doubted whether they had come straight from the bath because they had no clothes on their bodies.

(ii) Besides the bomb explosion, the warring nation (the USA) by perpetrating such a brutal act on them was responsible for making them naked of clothes as well as of human dignity.

(iii) It means that all those who suffered the destruction caused by the bomb explosion, could not utter a word of anguish against those who perpetrated such a brutal act on them.

A DOCTOR’S JOURNAL ENTRY FOR AUGUST 6, 1945


(iv) The physical suffering shown in the extract is: (a) The people were walking naked as their clothes had got

burnt due to the explosion. (b) The face and the bodies of the people had become disfigured. The psychological agony shown in the extract is: (a) The people were dumb-founded because their sensibilities

had become numb due to the sudden horror unleashed on them by the bomb explosion.

(b) Although they were in great pain, they could not cry. (v) The pity and sympathy for the victims of the nuclear bomb

explosion that the poem induces, appeals to me. (a) The fear, panic, horror and great devastation suffered by

the victims caused by the collapse of the buildings, spread of the debris and fire.

(b) The gruesome details of the physical and mental agony of the victims like the narrator stumbling against the head of a man crushed to death under a gate, people looking like shadows, ghosts and scarecrows and the parts of their bodies dangling loose.

I. (i) The words ‘let it be for nought’ mean let it be for nothing. The speakers wants to tell her lover not to love her for any particular reason. The speaker wants her lover to love her for love’s sake only.

(ii) She does not want to be loved for her smile, her looks or for her gentle voice.

(iii) She does not want her lover to love her for particular traits like her appearance and good looks because these traits will fade with the passage of time.

(iv) (a) a trick of thought means a particular way of thinking, which may mislead her lover.

(b) A sense of pleasant ease on such a day means the qualities which may give a sense of comfort to her lover on a particular day.

(v) Cumulative listing is a technique of listing similar ideas to

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explain or add examples to a particular statement. The example of cumulative listing in the given extract is:

The speaker enumerates her physical characteristics — her smile, her looks and her gentle way of speaking — for which she does not want to be loved, as these characteristics are changeable and not ever lasting.

II. (i) ‘these things’ refer to the traits like her smile, her looks and her gentle way of speaking, for which the speaker does not want her lover to love her.

(ii) By the statement, “may/Be changed, or change for thee”, the speaker wants to tell her lover not to love her for the traits like her smile, her looks or her way of speaking as these traits may change with the passage of time or his appreciation of these traits would fade in their appeal for him.

(iii) The speaker does not want to be affected by these changes because there is much more to love than these changeable traits. She wants to be loved for true love and not her superficial qualities that would change with the passage of time.

(iv) The theme of the poem is unconditional love. In the poem, the speaker asks her lover not to love her for the qualities like her beautiful smile, her looks or her gentle voice. She recognises that though these qualities may be endearing to him, but would fade away in their appeal to him with the passage of time. However, true love is unconditional and not dependent on such changeable physical traits. She wants his love for her should be eternal.

(v) The statement “love, so wrought/May be unwrought so” means that love that is based on changeable traits may change or diminish with the changes in these traits with the passage of time. Here, the speaker feels that if her lover loves her for only those traits, his love for her would diminish, when her physical traits would fade away.

III. (i) The words “dear pity” refer to the pity the speaker’s lover feels for her.

The words “wiping my cheeks dry” means the act of wiping off tears from my cheeks. Here, the speaker wants to tell her lover that she does not want to be loved out of pity. She says that she might not cry and since there would be no tears to be wiped off from her cheeks, she may not be able to produce pity for her in her lover.

IF THOU MUST LOVE ME


(ii) The word “creature” is used here for the speaker. It is so called to compare here position with something similar like a whimpering dog or a flopping bird, which instantly invokes pity in human beings.

(iii) If the creature forgets to weep, the lover would not feel any pity for her. This is because she won’t have any tears to be wiped off from her cheeks and so would not be able to induce any pity for herself in her lover.

(iv) The word “Thy” is used for the speaker’s lover. (v) The poet does not want to be loved out of pity because she

believes that pity on her tears will be lost once she is consoled.

IV. (i) The poet wants to be loved for love’s sake only because in that way she will always be loved no matter what qualities of her fade away with time.

(ii) The words “through love’s eternity” mean love that is eternal or ever lasting. The speaker wants that her lover’s love for her should be eternal.

(iii) Love has been personified in these lines by giving love, humanly traits such as possession (love’s sake) and a time frame (love’s eternity).

(iv) The speaker of the poem, a woman, demands equal status with a man by asking her lover not to love her for her physical attributes or out of pity but for what she is — a living, thinking human being.

(v) The things which I like in the poem are the following: (a) The speaker’s demand for unconditional love, the love which

is not based on any superficial qualities that fade away with the passage of time but the love which is eternal.

(b) The speaker’s demand for equal status with men. She does not want to be loved out of pity but for what she is — a living, thinking human being.

(vi) The poem, ‘If Thou Must Love Me’ is a sonnet because: (a) it comprises fourteen lines with a formal rhyming scheme

in iambic pentameter, i.e., abba/abba/cdc/dc [d/e]. (b) it is a hybrid of both Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnets.

In rhyming scheme, it is composed of a Petrarchan octet (eight lines) with the rhyming scheme abba abba and sestet (six lines) with the rhyming scheme cdcdcd or cdecde. However,

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in its content, it follows the Shakespearean structure of three quatrains (4 + 4 + 4 = 12 lines) and the final resolving couplets.

I. (i) ‘I’ in the first line of the extract refers to the poet. She wants to throw a pebble upwards to make a hole in the heavens to see the angels at play there.

(ii) By throwing the pebble upwards, the poet will be able to pierce the heavens and see the angels at play there. Symbolically, the act of ‘throwing the pebble upwards’ suggests the efforts made to rise in life to achieve unachievable goals.

(iii) (a) The phrase pierce the heavens means to make a small hole in the universe. It means to achieve unachievable goals with right efforts and conviction.

(b) The phrase See the angels at play means to see the spirits, who are believed to be the servants of God and who dwell in heavens.

(iv) The phrase ‘I believe’ signifies the poet’s dreams and aspirations whereas the phrase ‘I can’ signifies the determination and confidence of the speaker at what she believes she can achieve.

(v) The extract portrays the speaker as an optimistic, hard-working person who has the will and determination to achieve all her dreams and aspirations.

II. (i) The speaker wants to achieve the highest limit of achievement. For her, sky is the limit for achievements.

(ii) ‘Heights’ symbolise the sky, meaning ‘space without limit’ for achievement. The poet wishes to convey the message that the sky is the limit for human achievements.

(iii) By the phrase ‘touch the silky clouds’ the speaker means to reach the highest limits of achievement and the phrase ‘feel the stars’ means to be one among the list of achievers or stars.

(iv) ‘Dive right into the depths’ mean to dive into the deepest ocean. The deeper meaning of this phrase is that one can dive into the depths meaning the ‘ocean of life’ and cross all the hurdles on the way and achieve success.

I BELIEVE


(v) ‘Sharks’ in the last line of the stanza refer to the hurdles and difficulties which come in life. By ‘swimming with the sharks’ one is able to achieve success by overcoming all the difficulties (sharks) on the way.

III. (i) The phrase “clawing into the earth’s belly” means to dig deep into the earth to get the precious jewels that lie within.

(ii) The speaker wants to “claw into the earth’s belly” to get all the priceless gems that lie within.

(iii) The “priceless gems” refer to the resources that lie within the earth like metals, minerals and precious stones. These gems can be obtained by toiling hard and digging deep into the earth.

(iv) The speaker believes that she can do many things on the earth. She believes so because there are many valuable resources on the earth which she can utilise.

(v) The human angels are the speaker’s fellow human beings on the earth. The speaker has called them so because they are capable of attaining the status of angels by following the righteous path and doing their duty diligently.

IV. (i) The speaker says that she ‘firmly believe’ to emphasise the duties she has to perform in this world before she can indulge in persuing her dreams and aspirations.

(ii) Being a woman, the role assigned to the speaker is that of a daughter, a sister, a wife and a mother. The word ‘here’ refers to the planet earth where she lives and dreams to fulfill a number of aspirations.

(iii) The phrase “where I dream and breathe” means the place, i.e., the earth, where the speaker dreams and lives, to perform her duties and achieve her goals and aspirations.

(iv) Yes, the speaker seems to feel that the role assigned to her because of being a woman, acts as a hindrance in achieving her dreams. This is because of the social constraints due to the gender based denial and discrimination prevalent in Indian society.

(v) It tells us that the speaker, like all the other women, has to perform all the duties assigned to her, like that of a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother and so on, before she can fulfill her own dreams and aspirations. The women in general feel restricted in achieving their aspirations due to the social constraints imposed on them by traditions, customs and religion for being a ‘woman.’

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I. (i) The words ‘mournful numbers’ refer to the sorrowful verses, through which the speaker does not want to be told that life is a meaningless dream.

(ii) It means that life is a meaningless dream and an illusion. Life can be an empty dream if human beings spend their time meaninglessly without having a goal in life.

(iii) By saying, “the soul is dead that slumbers”, the poet intends to say that one, who spends his time aimlessly is really a dead man. Therefore, one must always be up and doing. The speaker, later in the poem, says that one should rely neither on the future nor on the past, but should live in the present moment with courage in oneself and trust in God.

(iv) Those who live an irresponsible life and while their away time aimlessly depict life as a meaningless dream. This does not reflect the true nature of human life.

(v) Yes, indeed a profound thinker can be a great poet because only a thinker can give vent to the feelings and aspirations of humanity at large and reflect the true nature of human life.

The moral principle hinted in the extract is that life is not an empty dream but has a serious mission.

(vi) The human attitude of irresponsible indulgence in useless pursuits and meaningless thinking is condemned in this extract.

II. (i) Earlier in the poem, it was said that life is a meaningless dream. This gloomy aspect of life is misleading and not a reality, for it does not reflect its true nature.

(ii) It means that death is not the end of life. The poet strongly belives in life after death because he says that death marks the end of the body and not the soul.

(iii) “Dust thou art, to dust returnest” means that the body comes from dust and returns to dust.

The allusion in the statement is that God formed man out of clay and breathed life into him. But, when Adam and Eve, the first human beings, disobeyed God, they were punished by pronouncing the Law of Death on them, which says, “Dust thou art and unto dust thou shall return.”

A PSALM OF LIFE


(iv) The human body, which is perishable, returns to the dust, from which it appeared. However, the soul is imperishable and does not return to the dust.

(v) Two examples of lyrical quality in the poem are:

(a) Each stanza of the poem follows the rhyming scheme abab, according to which, the first line rhymes with the third and the second line rhymes with the fourth.

(b) It is a musical lyric that invokes mankind to live in the present and follow the path of righteousness.

III. (i) The “world’s broad field of battle” refers to the whole world being a big battlefield. It is referred to as the battlefield because here, every human being has to work hard and struggle to live and fight the battle of life, within the alloted time.

(ii) ‘bivouac of life’ means that this world is a temporary camp for human beings, where they live and struggle for a fixed period of time and then leave it, when their bodies die. One should fight against all odds in this bivouac and emerge as a hero.

(iii) The expression, “dumb, driven cattle” means that human beings should not be like the dumb cattle, which is driven by others, because it lacks direction and determination. Human beings should fight against all odds and emerge as heroes.

(iv) One should not trust the future because one is not aware of what is going to happen in the future. Similarly, one should not trust the past because one cannot change the past. So, one should live in the present moment and make the best out of it.

(v) (a) Let the dead Past bury its dead! means that we should not be captivated by the past events and they should be put away because we cannot change them and therefore, we should live in the present moment.

(b) Heart within, and God o’erhead! means that one should not rely on the past or the future and live in the present moment with courage in oneself and trust in God.

(vi) The moral principle underlying the extract is that the whole world is a big battlefield and a temporary rest camp. So, we should not be dumb like cattle, who are driven by others, but should find our own way.

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IV. (i) The lives of great men teach us that we can also achieve great heights by emulating them.

(ii) (a) We can make our life sublime in the life’s battlefield by fighting against all odds, finding our own way and becoming a success.

(b) We can make our life sublime by living in the present moment without bothering for the future or the past and making the best use of available time and resources.

(iii) “Footprints on the sands of time” mean the noble work done by great men which act as milestones and show the way to others to make their lives successful. We can benefit from the footprints on the sands by following the path shown by great men and achieving new heights in life.

(iv) The lines which appeal to me the most include the following:

Let us, then, be up and doingWith a heart for any fate;Still achieving, still pursuingLearn to labour and to wait.

This is because the above lines provide the lesson on how to live a successful life. These lines teach us that, we should never give up, continue our work confidently, facing any situation in life, favourable or unfavourable and without being preoccupied with the outcome of our actions. We should continue our efforts persistently and learn to wait patiently for the rewards.

(v) The gloomy picture of life shown by the speaker in the poem includes the following:

(a) Life is a meaningless dream.

(b) The work assigned to us is too demanding and time-consuming. But time passes quickly leaving us bewildered.

V. (i) ‘Footprints’ of the noble deeds performed by us, which can encourage an unhappy and ruined man, sailing over the sea of life, are referred to in the extract.

(ii) (a) Sailing o’er life’s solemn main mean sailing over the sea of life.

(b) A forlorn and shipwrecked brother mean an unhappy and deserted man, who has gone astray from the right path.

A PSALM OF LIFE


(iii) The ‘footprints’ are referred to in the extract because they can motivate an unhappy and deserted man, who has gone astray from the right path, by following the path shown by these footprints.

(iv) The poet wants to convey that we should begin our work courageously facing any situation in life, favourable or unfavourable.

(v) Yes, indeed I enjoyed reading the poem for the following reasons:

(a) It instructs and guides us on how to lead an upright life. It inspires us to continue our work without being bogged down by the circumstances.

(b) It is a musical lyric that has a swift rhythm and rhyming pattern.

Documents

A Collection of ICSE Poems and Short Stories Volume I — Poems Teachers' Handbook ICSE