A Photograph About the Author

ST.MARY’S SR.SEC.SCHOOL

BAHUAKBARPUR,ROHTAK

TEACHER’S NAME: PRATIBHA SUB:ENGLISH CLASS: XI

Revision for Mid- term Exam

Poems (1-3)

(Short answer type Questions (30-40) Words)

A Photograph By Shirley Toulson

About the Author Shirley Toulson was born on 20th May 1924 in Henley-on-Thames, England. She had a

great passion for writing and was greatly influenced by her father who was a writer too.

She secured a B.A. on Literature from Brockenhurst College in London in the year 1953.

Shortly, she took writing as a career but also served as the editor for many magazines in

meantime. She married Alan Brownjohn on 6th February 1960. They had three children –

Janet Sayers, Ian Toulson and Steven brownjohn. But after nine years they divorced on

March 1969.

Poem: A Photograph

The cardboard shows me how it was

When the two girl cousins went paddling

Each one holding one of my mother‟s hands,

And she the big girl – some twelve years or so.

All three stood still to smile through their hair

At the uncle with the camera, A sweet face

My mother‟s, that was before I was born

And the sea, which appears to have changed less

Washed their terribly transient feet.

Some twenty- thirty- years later

She‟d laugh at the snapshot. “See Betty

And Dolly,” she‟d say, “and look how they

Dressed us for the beach.” The sea holiday

was her past, mine is her laughter. Both wry

With the laboured ease of loss

Now she‟s has been dead nearly as many years

As that girl lived. And of this circumstance

There is nothing to say at all,

Its silence silences.

Introduction The poet describes how deeply she feels the loss of her mother. Her mother has been dead

for more than twelve years. The poet recalls how her mother used to look at a photograph

and remember her own childhood.

Summary The poet looks at the photograph of her mother which was taken when her mother was 12

years old. She had gone for a sea holiday with her cousins Betty and Dolly. While they were

paddling on the beach, her uncle clicked a photograph. Each of the cousins was holding the

hands of the poet‟s mother who was the oldest among them. All the three of them stood

smiling through their hair while the photo was taken. Her mother had a sweet face, but it

was a time before she was born. Years fled past since then. Her mother grew up into an

adult. They all underwent changes while the sea stood still.

After about twenty or thirty years the poet‟s mother would look at the photograph laughing

nostalgically and remembering the past. She would appreciate the dress worn by her

cousins Betty and Dolly. The sea holiday belonged to the past of her mother and the poet

still remembers how her mother would laugh looking at the snapshot. For the poet both

these bring great sadness and an acute sense of loss.

Her mother died 12 years ago and now the poet has nothing to say about this circumstance

of the photograph. The silence of the whole situation silences the poet and leaves her quiet.

Main Points 1. The poet looks at a childhood photograph of her mother.

2. She had gone for a sea holiday with her two cousins Betty and Dolly

3. While they were paddling on the beach, their uncle photographed their sweet smile in a

camera.

4. Both the cousins were holding the hands of her mother who was the oldest among the

girls.

5. This was before the poet was born.

6. Time fled past since then and all those who are in the photograph underwent changes

while the sea remained the same.

7. Her mother would look a

t the photograph after about twenty or thirty years and laugh at this photo nostalgically.

8. Now for the poet her mother‟s laughter and her sea holiday is a thing of the past.

9. Her mother died about 12 years ago.

10. The silence of the photograph silences the poet.

11. She experiences great loss.

Detailed Explanation 1. Explain: „The cardboard shows me how it was‟.

Ans. The photograph shows the narrator who it was that day.

Poetic device: allusion as the cardboard‟s lack of durability hints at the lack of permanence

of human life

2. Explain: „All three stood still to smile through their hair‟.

Ans. All three of them stood smiling, their hair were flying over their faces (possibly tossed

by the beach wind or water)

Poetic device: alliteration… stood still to smile

3. Explain:

„And the sea, which appears to have changed less

Washed their terribly transient feet.‟

Ans. The sea in the picture is still the same today and has changed very less. It seems to

wash their feet which by nature, are transient because human life is short-lived as

compared to nature.

Nature is perennial while human life is temporary or transient. The poet uses a transferred

epithet (terribly transient feet) in order to make this comparison and highlight the terribly

short-lived life of her mother.

Poetic device: Transferred Epithet. Human life itself is temporary not the feet. When the

adjective for one noun like life is transferred to another noun like feet, it is called

transferred epithet. It is also alliteration due to the repetition of the „t‟ sound (their terribly

transient feet) but writing only alliteration as the poetic device will lead to a loss of marks)

4. Explain:

„The sea holiday


With the laboured ease of loss‟

Ans. The sea holiday was remembered by her mother with a fondness as well as a sense of

loss because that time would never return. Similarly, her laughter would never return to the

narrator. The sea holiday was the narrator‟s mother‟s past and her mother‟s laughter is the

narrator‟s past. Both these pasts are remembered with a difficult and yet easy sense of loss.

Poetic device: oxymoron

The coming together of two opposite ideas to describe the same entity. „Laboured‟ and

„ease‟ are opposite words describing the same entity „losses‟. The loss of the holiday and the

laughter was easy because these things have to be accepted as a part of life. They are merely

a part of the past and cannot be brought back or relived. However, precisely because they

cannot be relived, there will always be a tinge of difficulty letting them go completely. They

will always be seen as loss.

The camera thus managed to capture a moment in time. It kept the memory of the mother

and for the mother alive. The sea holiday brought a sad smile (wry) to the mother‟s face

because she couldn‟t relive it but was glad that she once had. Similarly, thinking of her

mother‟s laughter brought a sad smile to the poet‟s face because although that laughter was

now gone she was glad to have once had it in her life.

5. Explain: „that girl lived‟.

Ans. Now, it has been twelve years since her mother passed away. The girl in the

photograph seems like a different person altogether. That‟s why the poet has used the

words, „that girl‟.

6. Explain:

„And of this circumstance


Its silence silences.‟

Ans. Her mother has passed away leaving behind nothing but memories and photographs

like this one. There is nothing to be said. It is a part of life and on thinking of it, one really

has no words to express how one feels.The silence of the whole situation silences the poet

and leaves her quiet.

Poetic device: alliteration and personification. The situation has been given the human

quality of silence and the sound of „s‟ has been repeated)

1. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:

The cardboard shows me how it was

When the two girl cousins went paddling

Each one holding one of my mother‟s hands,

And she the big girl- some twelve years or so.

Q. What does the cardboard refer to?

Ans. The cardboard refers to the childhood photograph of her mother.

Q. Who was the big girl and how old was she?

Ans. The big girl was the poet‟s mother. She was then twelve years old.

Q. How did the cousins go paddling with mother?

Ans. The girl cousins went paddling with mother holding her hand.


All three stood still to smile through their hair

At the uncle with the camera, A sweet face


Q. Who does „all three‟ refer to here?

Ans. „all three‟ refers to the poet‟s mother and her two cousins.

Q. Where are they now?

Ans. They have gone to the seashore. They are paddling in the water.

Q. Why did they smile through their hair?

Ans. They smiled through their hair because they were posing for a photograph.


……………………….A sweet face,


And the sea, which appears to have changed less

Washed their terribly transient feet.

Q. Where was her mother?

Ans. Her mother was on the sea shore with her cousins and posing for a photograph.

Q. When did this incident take place?

Ans. This incident took place when she was twelve years old.

Q. How is the poet able to remember her mother‟s childhood?

Ans. The poet is able to remember her mother‟s childhood when she looks into the

photograph of her mother.

Q. What has stood the onslaught of time and what has not?

Ans. The sea has stood the onslaught of time. It is still the same. However, her mother and

her cousins underwent changes. Her mother grew up to be an adult and now she is no more.


Some twenty- thirty- years later

she‟d laugh at the snapshot. “See Betty

And Dolly,” she‟d say, “and look how they

dressed us for the beach.”

Q. Who would laugh at the snapshot after twenty – thirty years later?

Ans. The poet‟s mother would laugh at the snapshot after twenty – thirty years later.

Q. How did mother remember her past?

Ans. Mother remembered her past with nostalgia.

Q. Who were Betty and Dolly?

Ans. Betty and Dolly were her cousins who had gone with her to the beach for paddling.


………………………The sea holiday


With the laboured ease of loss

Q. Who went for the sea holiday in the past?

Ans. The poet‟s mother had gone for the sea holiday in the past when she was a young girl.

Q. What does „both‟ refer to?

Ans. Both‟ refers to the poet‟s mother remembering her past sea holiday as well as the poet

remembering her mother‟s laughter.

Q. How does the poet feel when she remembers her mother?

Ans. The poet experiences great sorrow when she remembers her mother who left for

heavenly abode twelve years ago.

Q. What does the poet compare her laughter to and why?

Ans. The mother‟s laughter that used to echo in the house when she was alive has now

become the poet‟s past. The comparison is given in order to remember the mother with

fondness while looking at her photograph.


Now she‟s has been dead nearly as many years

As that girl lived. And of this circumstance


Its silence silences.

Q. When did the poet‟s mother die?

Ans. The poet‟s mother died about twelve years ago.

Q. What does the poet remember of that girl?

Ans. She remembers how much her mother had changed from a young girl. She also

remembers the sweet laughter of her mother.

Q. Explain: „Its silence silences.‟

Ans. The loss of her mother is too deep for the poet. Now she has nothing to say at all. The

silence of the whole situation silences the poet and leaves her quiet.

Q. What is „this circumstance‟?

Ans.This circumstance means the death of her mother.

Short Answer Type Questions Q1. What does the word „cardboard‟ denote in the poem? Why has this word been used?

Ans. „Cardboard‟ refers to the photograph only. In the past photographs used to be fixed

on a cardboard and hung from the wall for everyone to see it.

Q2. What has not changed over the years? Does this suggest something to you?

Ans. The sea has not changed over the years. It suggests the immortality of sea as compared

to the mortal human beings whose life comes to an end finally.

Q3. The poet‟s mother laughed at the snapshot. What does this laugh indicate?

Ans. The poet‟s mother laughed at the snapshot. This is an indication of the fun and joy she

had experienced during the beach holiday and she had fond memories of that particular

incident. It brought joy to her when she looked at the snapshot.

Q4. What does „this circumstance‟ refer to?

Ans. „This circumstance‟ refers to the loneliness and the sense of loss that the poet suffers as

she remembers her mother who is no more.

Q5. What do you learn about the poet‟s mother from the photograph?

Ans. The poet‟s mother had been a fun loving girl who had taken great delight with her

cousins at the beach and had the fond memories of the holiday that she cherished even when

she was a grown up.

Q6. What has the camera captured?

Ans. The camera has captured some happy moments from the childhood of the poet‟s

mother. It was a scene taken from a beach where she had gone with her cousins and her

uncle for a sea holiday. The girls were paddling in the water.

Q. The poet‟s mother laughed at the snapshot. What did this laugh indicate?

Ans. This laugh indicates her remembering her past. She looked back to her childhood with

nostalgia and remembered the innocent joys of her childhood days.

Q. What is the meaning of the line “Both wry with the laboured ease or loss”

Ans. „Both‟ refers to the sea holiday as remembered by her mother and the poet

remembering her mother‟s laughing face. Both these now belong to the past. Her mother is

no more now.

Q. What scene from mother‟s childhood has been captured in the photograph? Who had

taken the photograph?

Ans. The scene that has been captured in the photograph is from mother‟s childhood when

she went for paddling with her two cousins. Mother‟s uncle had taken the photograph.

Q. How did the cousins accompany mother for paddling?

Ans. Her cousins accompanied mother by holding her hands when they went for paddling.

Q. Explain the contrast given in the last two lines of the first stanza.

Ans. The contrast is between the sea and the humans. The sea had remained the same for

all these years, but the humans have undergone changes. Her mother grew up and now she

had been dead for the past twelve years.

Q. How does the poet feel when she remembers the sea holiday of her mother?

Ans. The poet feels sad when she remembers the sea holiday of her mother. Her mother

died twelve years ago.

Q. Why doesn‟t she want to think about the photograph anymore?

Ans. She doesn‟t want think about the photograph anymore because it brings the pain of

loss to her mind.

Q. The three stanzas depict three different phases. What are they?

Ans. The three stanzas depict three different phases of life. The first stanza refers to the

childhood of the poet‟s mother. The second stanza refers to the adulthood of the poet‟s

mother. The last stanza refers to the last phase of life – the death of the poet‟s mother.

The Voice of Rain

by Walt Whitman

About the Poet Walt Whitman, one of America‟s most influential poets was born on May 31, 1819 in West

Hills, Long Island, New York. He was the second of nine children and was immediately

nicknamed “Walt” to distinguish him from his father. At 11, Walt Whitman was taken out

of school by his father to help out with household income. He started to work as an office

boy for a Brooklyn-based attorney team and eventually found employment in the printing

business. In 1836, at the age of seventeen, he began his career as teacher in the one-room

school houses of Long Island. He continued to teach until 1841, when he turned to

journalism as a full-time career.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Whitman vowed to live a “cleansed” life. He worked as a

freelance journalist and visited the wounded at New York City–area hospitals. He then

traveled to Washington, D. C. in December 1862 to care for his brother who had been

wounded in the war. Overcome by the suffering of the many wounded in Washington,

Whitman decided to stay and work in the hospitals and stayed in the city for eleven years.

Whitman struggled to support himself through most of his life. In Washington, he lived on a

clerk‟s salary and modest royalties.

But in 1873 his life took a dramatic turn for the worse. In January of that year he suffered a

stroke that left him partially paralyzed. In May he traveled to Camden, New Jersey, to see

his ailing mother, who died just three days after his arrival. Whitman found it impossible to

continue with his job in Washington and relocated to Camden to live with his brother

George and sister-in-law Lou.

On March 26, 1892, Walt Whitman passed away in Camden.

Poem: The Voice of the Rain

And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower,

Which, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here translated:

I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain,

Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea,

Upward to heaven, whence, vaguely form‟d, altogether changed, and

Yet the same,

I descend to lave the droughts, atomies, dust-layers of the globe,

And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn;

And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own origin,

And make pure and beautify it;

(For song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfilment, wandering,

Reck‟d or unreck‟d, duly with love returns.)

Introduction „The Voice of the Rain‟ is an imaginary dialogue between the poet and the rain. The poet

casually asks the rain who it is. To his surprise, the rain answers the question and tells

about its birth and end. The poet understands the tale of rain and translates it for the

readers.

Summary The poet once asked the soft falling rain who it is. Strangely, the raindrops replied and said

that it is the music of the Earth which is its birth place. It is born out of the land and sea in

the form of water vapours and rises up in the sky to form clouds. Yet, at its core, it remains

the same as it was at birth. It then returns to earth as little droplets which wash away the

layers of dust, waters the soil and helps the seeds sprout again. It gives back life to the

earth. It purifies and makes it beautiful over and over again. This cycle goes on eternally.

The poet compares the rain to a song. A song rises from the heart of a poet. Once it is

complete, it is passed on from one person to another. It doesn‟t matter to him whether

anyone listens to it or not. After the poet has sung his song, it settles back into his heart

which is its birth place. The song keeps rising again and again from there. Thus it purifies

the poet‟s heart and make it beautiful.

Main points 1. Poem – an imaginary dialogue between the poet and the rain.

2. Poet asks who it is.

3. Surprisingly, rain answers and tells how it originates.

4. It rises unseen from land and sea.

5. It forms clouds in the sky.

6. It returns to earth in the form of rains.

7. It gives back life to the earth and make it beautiful.

8. This cycle goes on forever.

1. Read the extract carefully and answer the questions that follow:

And who art thou? Said I to the soft falling shower,

Which, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here Translated:

I am the poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain,

Q1. Who does „I‟ refer to in the first and third line of this extract?

Ans. „I‟ in the first line is referred to the poet asking a question. „I‟ in the third line is the

rain drop.

Q2. What do you understand by the phrase „Strange to tell‟?

Ans. Strange to tell‟ means that it is an unusual and extraordinary answer given by the

raindrops to the poet who asked who „it‟ was.

Q3. How has the answer been conveyed to us and what is it?

Ans. The poet has personified the rain drop and it is answering the poet‟s question by

saying that it is the „poem of the Earth‟.


Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea,

Upwards to heaven, whence, vaguely form‟d, altogether Changed, and yet the

Same.

Q1. From where does the rain originate?

Ans. The rain originates from the land and the bottomless (deep sea) in the form of water

vapour.

Q2. How does it originate?

Ans. With the heat of the sun, the water evaporates from the sea or land and forms water-

vapour which rises up in the atmosphere.

Q3. What happens to the rain in the sky?

Ans. In the sky, the rain drops form the rain. Their form has changed but the essence has

remained the same.


I descend to lave the droughts, Atomies, dust- layers of the globe,

And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn;

Q1. With what purpose does the rain descend from the sky?

Ans. The rain drops fall from the sky in order to give life to the dry areas and wash the

famine-stricken lands.

Q2. How does the rain help the seeds?

Ans. The rain helps the seeds to germinate and grow into a new life.

Q3. What is latent and unborn and why?

Ans. The seeds are dormant and unborn because of lack of water which is needed for them

to germinate and form a new plant.


And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own origin,

And make pure and beautify it.

Q1. In what manner does the rain help its own origin?

Ans. The rain helps its own origin by watering the land and quenching the thirst of drought

stricken areas.

Q2. Why has the poet given the life cycle of the song?

Ans. The poet has compared the life cycle of the rain drops to that of the song saying that

they both return to their origin after fulfilling their tasks.

Q3. What does‟ I „do for its origin?

Ans. It makes the earth pure and beautify it.

Q4. Which words in the given lines mean: (a) forever (b) source.

Ans. (a) Forever = eternal, (b) source = origin


(For song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfillment, wandering

Reck‟d or unreck‟d, duly with love returns.)

Q1. Why are the last lines put within brackets?

Ans. The last lines are put in brackets because they do not form the voice of the rain or the

poet. They only certain a general observation by the poet about the course of a song.

Q2. „Reck‟d or unreck‟d‟, what does this phrase mean?

Ans. Reck‟d or unreck‟d means whether cared for or not cared for.

Q3. Where does the song return?

Ans. The song returns to the place of its origin i.e. comes back to the poet.

Short Answer Type Questions Q1. There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to? Which lines indicate this?

Ans. The two voices in the poem are the voice of the rain and the voice of the poet. The lines

are “And who art thou? Said I ……..” and „I am the poem of Earth‟.

Q2. What does the phrase „strange to tell‟ mean?

Ans. The phrase „strange to tell‟ means that it is an unusual and extraordinary answer

given by the rain drops to the poet who asked who „it was‟.

Q3. What is the similarity between rain and music?

Ans. They both return to the place of their origin after fulfilling their tasks.

Q4. How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem?

Ans. The poet explains that the rain drops in the form of water vapour rise up from land

and sea and then descend again on the earth and dry land in order to wash it down and

hence comes back to its origin. This is the cyclic movement explained by the poet.

Q5. Why are the last two lines put within brackets?

Ans. The last two lines are put within brackets because they do not form the voice of the

rain or the poet. They only contain a general observation made by the poet about the course

of a song.

Q6. What does the rain do to the things day and night?

Ans. The rain falls on the earth, and washes away the drought, it also helps the seeds to

germinate and bring forth new life on the earth. Without it, all life on earth would become

lifeless.

Q7. What answer did the rain give to the poet about its origin?

Ans. The rain answered that it was the poem of the earth. It rose eternally out of the land

and bottomless sea into the sky. There its form changed but essence remained the same.

Q8. On what does the „rain descend‟? What does it do to the things on which it falls?

Ans. The rain descends on droughts, atoms and dust particles on the surface of the earth. It

also falls on everything that is on the earth. It gives life to the things on which it falls. The

things that do not get rain remain like seeds latent and unborn.

Q9. „Behind the apparent simplicity, the poem hides a deep meaning‟. What exactly does

the poem convey to the reader?

Ans. The poem conveys that like a poem, the rain is also everlasting and has an unbreakable

chain of life cycle. It rises from the earth, comes back to it. The song also issues from its

birth place, wanders here and there, whether heeded to or not, returns with love to its own

origin.

The Laburnum Top

By Ted Hughes

The Laburnum Top Introduction of the Poem

The poem ‗The Laburnum Top‘ is written by Ted Hughes. It is about a repaying relationship

between the Laburnum tree and the Goldfinch bird. The tree is yellow, silent and death-like

and is made alive by the bird and her young ones. The yellow bird has her shelter on the tree

where she feeds her young ones. But as soon as the bird leaves to fly in the sky, the tree

becomes silent and death-like again.

The Laburnum Top Summary

The poem starts with a description of the Laburnum tree whose top was still and silent. Its

leaves had turned yellow and seeds had fallen down. It was a daytime in the month of

September when the tree was standing still and death-like.

The life-less tree becomes alive by the arrival of the Goldfinch bird. She came to feed her

younger ones who are on the thickness of the branch. The tree is her shelter. She arrives at the

end of the branch with the chirping sound. She further moves to the other side of the branch

with rapid and precautionary movement like a lizard. As soon as she arrives, her younger

ones start chirping like a machine and vibrating and flapping their wings. The death-like tree

becomes alive and it trembles and shakes.

After feeding them, she flies to the other side of the branch. Her dark coloured face with the

yellow body was barely visible as she vanished behind the yellow leaves. She flew away in

the sky, leaving the tree death-like again.

The Laburnum Top Poem and Explanation

The Laburnum top is silent, quite still

In the afternoon yellow September sunlight,

A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen.

Laburnum – a short tree with hanging branches, yellow flowers, and poisonous seeds

In the above lines, the poet says that he saw a Laburnum tree whose leaves were yellow. The

tree‟s top is still and silent in the day time of September month. It is autumn season and all

the seeds of the tree had fallen.

The poet has used the word „yellow‟ for leaves and sunlight. Yellow symbolizes silence,

death, and beauty. He describes the whole scene of the tree with this colour.

Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup

A suddenness, a startlement, at a branch end.

Then sleek as a lizard, and alert, and abrupt,

She enters the thickness, and a machine starts up

Of chitterlings, and a tremor of wings, and trillings —

The whole tree trembles and thrills.

Goldfinch – a small singing birds with yellow feathers on its wings

Twitching – sudden jerk movement

Chirrup – a bird making repeated high pitched sounds

Startlement – feeling or showing sudden shock

Abrupt – rapid

Chitterings – to make a chattering sound

Tremor of wings – involuntary vibration of the wings

Trillings – to produce a chirruping sound

Trembles – to shake

Thrills – a sudden feeling of excitement

A Goldfinch bird comes to end the death-like scene of the tree and makes a sudden chirrup

sound. The bird while being rapid, alert and precautiouns like a lizard, sits on the branches

of the tree. As she moved towards the thickness of the branch, her younger ones started

chirruping and doing vibrations with wings, making a sound like a machine. Because of the

movement of the bird and her young ones, the tree starts to shake and thrill.

The poet has given two opposite scenarios of the tree. The tree first being death-like and still

and then giving life and shelter to bird and her young ones.

It is the engine of her family.

She stokes it full, then flirts out to a branch-end

Showing her barred face identity mask

Flirts out – lead on to

Stokes – to add fuel to the engine

Barred – stripy

The Laburnum tree and the goldfinch bird is the engine of her family. She provides food to

her young ones and moves to the other branch end. Her dark coloured striped face is visible

as her body is yellow coloured and hides behind the yellow leaves of the tree.

Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings

She launches away, towards the infinite

And the laburnum subsides to empty.

Eerie – weird and strange

Whistle-chirrup – gentle whisper like the chirping of the bird

Subsides – diminishes

After reaching the end of the branch, the bird makes a sweet chirping sound just like

whispering and flies away towards the infinite sky. It again makes the Laburnum tree silent

and death-like.

The Laburnum Top Literary Devices

1. Alliteration - repetition of a consonant sound at the beginning of two or more consecutive

words. The instances of alliteration in the poem are as follows-

September sunlight

tree trembles

2. Simile – comparison between two things using like or as.

Sleek as a lizard

3. Metaphor – an indirect comparison between two things. Generally, a quality is compared.

“She enters the thickness, and a machine starts up” - the noise created by the movement of

the birds is compared to the machine‟s noise

“It is the engine of her family.”

“Showing her barred face identity mask”

4. Personification – the attribution of personal nature characteristics to something non-human

The whole tree trembles and thrills.

5. Transferred Epithet – the figure of speech where the adverb is transferred to another noun

her barred face identity mask

The Laburnum Top Question and Answers

Find out

1. What laburnum is called in your language?

Ans: In the Hindi language, the laburnum tree is called ‗Amaltaas‘.

2. Which local bird is like the goldfinch?

Ans: Indian Lutino Ringneck is like the goldfinch.

Think it out

1. What do you notice about the beginning and the ending of the poem?

Ans: At the beginning and the ending of the poem, the laburnum tree was standing still and

silent just like death-like.

2. To what is the bird‘s movement compared? What is the basis for the comparison?

Ans: The goldfinch‘s movement is compared to that of the lizard because she was abrupt,

sleek and alert. The same movements were observed when she arrived at the tree and moved

to the thickness side of the branch to feed her young ones.

3. Why is the image of the engine evoked by the poet?

Ans: As the engine is the source to run the machine. The bird is compared to the engine as

she is the feeder of her family. As a machine cannot work without an engine, her family can‘t

last without her.

4. What do you like most about the poem?

Ans: I liked the comparison of the state of the tree before and after the goldfinch bird arrives

and it makes the death-like tree alive.

5. What does the phrase ―her barred face identity mask‖ mean?

Ans: The phrase ―her barred face identity mask‖ means that the bird‘s face became her

identity and symbol of recognition.

Note down

1. the sound words

2. the movement words

3. the dominant colour in the poem.

Ans:

1. Twitching, chirrup, chitterings, trillings, whispering 2. Comes, enters, starts up, flirts out, launches away, tremble, subside 3. Yellow

List the following

1. Words which describe ‗sleek‘, ‗alert‘ and ‗abrupt‘.

2. Words with the sound ‗ch‘ as in ‗chart‘ and ‗tr‘ as in ‗trembles‘ in

the poem.

3. Other sounds that occur frequently in the poem.

Ans:

1. Lizard, machine, and suddenness 2. Goldfinch, branch, chitterings, chirrup, trillings, twitching, tremors 3. ‘ing’ sound in words like twitching, chitterings, wings, trillings, whisperings

Home Work

Given Worsheet is for preparation only.

You can do questions in practice notebook.

Documents

A Photograph About the Author