Questions and Answers

The Homecoming Story Questions and Answers & MCQs

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The Homecoming Story Questions and Answers & MCQs

The Homecoming Story Questions and Answers & MCQs

A. Read the following extract and answer the questions:

Phatik Chakravorti was the ring leader among the boys of the village. A new mischief got into his head. There was a heavy log lying on the mud flat of the river waiting to be shaped into a mast for a boat. He decided that they should all work together to shift the log by main force from its place and roll it away. The owner of the log would be angry and surprised, and they would all enjoy the fun.

Every one seconded the proposal, and it was carried unanimously. But just as the fun was about to begin, Makhan, Phatik’s younger brother, sauntered up, and sat down on the log in front of them all without a word. The boys were puzzled for a moment.

He was pushed, rather timidly, by one of the boys and told to get up but he remained quite unconcerned. He appeared like a young philosopher meditating on the futility of games. Phatik was furious. “Makhan,” he cried, “if you don’t get down this minute I’ll thrash you!” Makhan only moved to a more comfortable position.

Question 1.
Who was Phatik Chakravorti?
Answer:
Phatik Chakravorti was a 14-year-old teenage boy who was Makhan’s elder brother and also the ringleader among the boys of the village.

Question 2.
Why did Phatik’s friends obey Phatik’s words?
Answer:
Phatik was the ringleader among the boys of the village. He was wild, turbulent and also dominant. That is why his words had an influence on his friends and they obeyed his words.

Question 3.
What did Phatik decided to do?
Answer:
There was a heavy log lying on the mud-flat of the river, waiting to be shaped into a mast for a boat. Phatik decided that he and his friends should shift the log by main force from its place and roll it away. At this, he owner of the log would be angry and surprised but it would be fun for them.

Question 4.
Who was Makan?
Answer:
Makhan was the younger brother of Phatik. He was just the opposite natured but he did not get along with Phatik well. Rather, he was always busy in troubling Phatik. While playing with the log, Makhan bumped into Phatik and his friends and troubled them.

B. Read the following extract and answer the questions:

All the other boys shouted themselves hoarse with delight. But Phatik was a little frightened. He knew what was coming. And, sure enough, Makhan rose from Mother Earth blind as Fate and screaming like the Furies. He rushed at Phatik and scratched his face and beat him and kicked him, and then went crying home. The first act of the drama was over. Phatik wiped his face, and sat down on the edge of a sunken barge on the river bank, and began to chew a piece of grass.

A boat came up to the landing, and a middle-aged man, with grey hair and dark moustache, stepped on shore. He saw the boy sitting there doing nothing, and asked him where the Chakravortis lived. Phatik went on chewing the grass, and said: “Over there,” but it was quite impossible to tell where he pointed. The stranger asked him again.

He swung his legs to and fro on the side of the barge, and said; “Go and find out,” and continued to chew the grass as before. But now a servant came down from the house, and told Phatik his mother wanted him. Phatik refused to move. But the servant was the master on this occasion. He took Phatik up roughly, and carried him, kicking and struggling in impotent rage.

Question 1.
Why was Phatik frightened?
Answer:
After following Phatik’s order, when his friends messed with Makhan, Phatik knew that Makhan would report this to his mother and his mother would take his brother’s side and beat him. That is why he got frightened.

Question 2.
What did Makhan do after Phatik’s friends took a toll on him?
Answer:
After Phatik’s friends took a toll on him, Makhan rose from the ground angrily and screamed like the Furies. Then he rushed at Phatik, scratched his face, beat and kicked him and then went crying home.

Question 3.
What did Phatik do after Makhan left?
Answer:
After Makhan left, Phatik wiped his face, sat down the edge of a sunken barge at the bank of the river and started chewing a piece of grass. Then he had a vague conversation with a stranger who asked him the address of the Chakravortis. He was busy in his own thoughts and did not want any interruptions.

Question 4.
What did Phatik do when a servant came down from their house?
Answer:
While Phatik was busy in his own thoughts, reluctant to go home, a servant from their came
down looking for him. When he told him that his mother wanted to see him, he refused to move. So the servant had to take him by force. So he took him up roughly and carried him kicking and struggling in rage.

C. Read the following extract and answer the questions:

His mother took Makhan’s side in a moment, and pulled Phatik away, beating him with her hands. When Phatik pushed her aside, she shouted out: “What I you little villain! Would you hit your own mother?” It was just at this critical juncture that the grey-haired stranger arrived. He asked what the matter was. Phatik looked sheepish and ashamed.

But when his mother stepped back and looked at the stranger, her anger was changed to surprise. For she recognised her brother, and cried: “Why, Dada! Where have you come from?” As she said these words, she bowed to the ground and touched his feet. Her brother had gone away soon after she had married, and he had started business in Bombay. His sister had lost her husband while he was in Bombay. Bishamber had now come back to Calcutta, and had at once made enquiries about his sister.

He had then hastened to see her as soon as he found out where she was. The next few days were full of rejoicing. The brother asked after the education of the two boys. He was told by his sister that Phatik was a perpetual nuisance. He was lazy, disobedient, and wild.

But Makhan was as good as gold, as quiet as a lamb, and very fond of reading, Bishamber kindly offered to take Phatik off his sister’s hands, and educate him with his own children in Calcutta. The widowed mother readily agreed. When his uncle asked Phatik if he would like to go to Calcutta with him, his joy knew no bounds, and he said; “Oh, yes, uncle!”

Question 1.
What happened when Phatik went home?
Answer:
When Phatik went home, he had to face false accusations that Makhan made, to draw his mother’s attention. His mother took Makhan’s side and beat him with her hands. She rebuked him badly knowing only the half-truth.

Question 2.
Who was Bishamber?
Answer:
Bishamber was Phatik’s uncle who had started his own business in Bombay. Phatik’s mother lost her husband when Bishamber was in Bombay and so after a long time he came to back to Calcutta to meet his sister.

Question 3.
How did Phatik’s mother describe her children to Bishamber?
Answer:
To Bishamber, she described Phatik as a perpetual nuisance, a lazy, disobedient and wild natured boy who cared for none. As for Makhan, she described him as good as gold, as quiet as a lamb and very fond of reading. To her, Makhan was her ideal son.

Question 4.
What did Bishamher offer? Why?
Answer:
Bishamber offered to take Phatik off his sister’s hands and educated him with his own children in Calcutta. As Phatik was nothing but a troublemaker for his family, he thought of taking him so that he could learn some proper manners.

D. Read the following extract and answer the questions:

When they reached Calcutta, Phatik made the acquaintance of his aunt for the first time. She was by no means pleased with this unnecessary addition to her family. She found her own three boys quite enough to manage without taking any one else. And to bring a village lad of fourteen into their midst was terribly upsetting. Bishamber should really have thought twice before committing such an indiscretion.

In this world of human affairs there is no worse nuisance than a boy at the age of fourteen. He is neither ornamental, nor useful. It is impossible to shower affection on him as on a little boy; and he is always getting in the way. If he talks with a childish lisp he is called a baby, and if he answers in a grown-up way he is called impertinent. In fact any talk at all from him is resented.

Then he is at the unattractive, growing age. He grows out of his clothes with indecent haste; his voice grows hoarse and breaks and quavers; his face grows suddenly angular and unsightly. It is easy to excuse the shortcomings of early childhood, but it is hard to tolerate even unavoidable lapses in a boy of fourteen. The lad himself becomes painfully selfconscious. When he talks with elderly people he is either unduly forward, or else so unduly shy that he appears ashamed of his very existence.

Question 1.
What did Phatik realize when he reached his uncle’s home?
Answer:
After reaching his uncle’s house at Calcutta, Phatik made his first acquaintance with his aunt and realized that she was not at all pleased with this unnecessary addition to her family. His cousins also disliked him. He suddenly became a total misfit.

Question 2.
Why did no one liked Phatik at Bishamber’s place?
Answer:
Phatik was a rural boy who was not familiar with city life. Moreover he was a burden to him aunt because he was an unwelcoming guest. So, no one liked him.

Question 3.
Why “there is no worse nuisance than a boy at the age of fourteen”?
Answer:
A boy at the age of fourteen is a teenage boy who is neither ornamental, nor useful. He is neither a baby nor an adult. He is not well-adjusted to the society and thus he always feels lonely and neglected. Therefore, handling the emotions of a teenage boy is tough.

Question 4.
What idea do you get from the above mentioned passage?
Answer:
The above mentioned passage talks about how Phatik became an unwelcoming guest at his uncle’s place. As he was a teenager, he was very tender at heart and so his surroundings made him feel troubled and lonely. He felt neglected, rejected and a total misfit.

E. Read the following extract and answer the questions:

The cramped atmosphere of neglect in his aunt’s house oppressed Phatik so much that he felt that he could hardly breathe. He wanted to go out into the open country and fill his lungs and breathe freely. But there was no open country to go to. Surrounded on all sides by Calcutta houses and walls, be would dream night after night of his village home, and long to be back there.

He remembered the glorious meadow where he used to fly his kite all day long; the broad river-banks where he would wander about the live long day singing and shouting for joy; the narrow brook where he could go and dive and swim at any time he liked. He thought of his band of boy companions over whom he was despot; and, above all, the memory of that tyrant mother of his, who had such a prejudice against him, occupied him day and night.

A kind of physical love like that of animals; a longing to be in the presence of the one who is loved; an inexpressible wistfulness during absence; a silent cry of the inmost heart for the mother, like the lowing of a calf in the twilight;-this love, which was almost an animal instinct, agitated the shy, nervous, lean, uncouth and ugly boy. No one could understand it, but it preyed upon his mind continually.

Question 1.
What is the above passage about?
Answer:
The above passage is about the troubles that Phatik faced while staying at Kolkata. His miserable condition and mental pain are very well reflected in the mentioned passage.

Question 2.
Do you feel sympathy towards Phatik? Why?
Answer:
Yes, I feel sympathy for Phatik because he faced serious issues at the city and there was no one who could stand by him. He got rejected, neglected and unloved by his aunt and the others and his mother also did not care to hear from her son. his son.

Question 3.
What did Phatik dream and remember?
Answer:
Surrounded on all sides by the large brick houses of Calcutta, Phatik dreamt about his nights at his village home and longed to go back there. He remembered the glorious meadows where he used to fly his kites all day long, the playful activities at the riversides and the brook where he could dive and swim at any time. He also missed his friends and even remembered his tyrant mother.

Question 4.
How did Phatik feel when he was at Kolkata?
Answer:
He was not at all pleased when he was at Kolkata. He was a wild and free boy at his village but when he came to the city, the cramped atmosphere of neglect at his aunt’s house saddened Phatik so much that he felt that he could hardly breathe.

Not only at house but also at school and other places, he got humiliated as he was a village boy. He could not stand the stuffy city life of Kolkata and wished to go back.

F. Read the following extract and answer the questions:

The fever rose very high, and all that night the boy was delirious. Bishamber brought in a doctor. Phatik opened his eyes flushed with fever, and looked up to the ceiling, and said vacantly: “Uncle, have the holidays come yet?

May I go home?” Bishamber wiped the tears from his own eyes, and took Phatik’s lean and burning hands in his own, and sat by him through the night. The boy began again to mutter. At last his voice became excited: “Mother,” he cried, “don’t beat me like that! Mother! I am telling the truth!’

Question 1.
Who got high fever?
Why was he in a delirious state?
Answer:
Phatik got high fever.
Phatik got very sick with fever that rose high with time. But he did not got the love and care that he needed. So, he was in a delirious state.

Question 2.
Why was Bishamber crying?
Answer:
Phatik was found by the police, highly sick with fever, and they brought him home. Bishamber brought in a doctor. Phatik’s eyes were flushed with fever and he was kind of hallucinating. His miserable condition made him feel sorry and guilty as well. That is why he was crying.

Question 3.
Why did Phatik say, “Mother, don’t beat me like that!”
Answer:
Phatik had got high fever and so he was hallucinating of going home. He was remembering his memories of his happy days when he was at his village. As his mother used to beat him and never took side of him and never even listened to him, he was in his hallucination was requesting his mother not to beat him.

Question 4.
Who do you think was responsible about Phatik’s condition? Why?
Answer:
Phatik’s aunt and his mother were responsible about his condition. When he was at his village, his mother was never kind to him and never even listened to him or cared much about him. To her, Phatik was a complete nuisance. When Phatik reached the city, his aunt too disliked him, did not cared for him and abandoned him. These acts made Phatik feel left out.

The Homecoming Story MCQs

Choose the correct alternative to complete the following sentences:

Question 1.
What was the name of Phatik’s brother?
a. Makhan
b. Bishamber
c. Mohon
Answer:
a. Makhan

Question 2.
Where did Phatik’s uncle live?
a. Bombay
b. Delhi
c. Calcutta
Answer:
c. Calcutta

Question 3.
Who didn’t like Phatik’s way of living?
a. Neighbours
b. Mother
c. Sister
Answer:
b. Mother

Question 4.
What was the new mischief Phatik thought of?
a. To cut a coconut tree
b. To beat Makhan
c. To push a long into the river
Answer:
c. To push a long into the river

Question 5.
Phatik’s last words were Mother have come
a. The holidays
b. Aunt and Uncle
c. Brother
Answer:
a. The holidays

Question 6.
Who took Phatik home roughly?
a. Makhan
b. Mother
c. Servant
Answer:
c. Servant

Question 7.
How old was Phatik?
a. 13
b. 14
c. 15
Answer:
b. 14

Question 8.
Where had Bishambar gone after his sister had married?
a. Bombay
b. Delhi
c. Calcutta
Answer:
a. Bombay

Question 9.
What does Bishambar offer to his sister?
a. To take Makhan with him to Calcutta
b. To take Phatik with him to Calcutta
c. To take Makhan and Phatik with him to Calcutta
Answer:
b. To take Phatik with him to Calcutta

Question 10.
When was Rabindranath Tagore born?
a. 1 June 1858
b. 3 May 1859
c. 7 May 1861
Answer:
c. 7 May 1861

Question 11.
In which year Rabindranath Tagore was awarded Noble prize?
a. 1914
b. 1913
c. 1925
Answer:
b. 1913

Question 12.
Who gave a terrible ander to his friends to roll the log?
a. Phatik
b. Nikhil
c. Mohan
Answer:
a. Phatik

Question 13.
What is the current condition of Phatik’s father?
a. He is working person
b. He is retired person
c. He is dead
Answer:
c. He is dead

Question 14.
What is the reaction of Phatik’s aunt on his arrival in Calcutta?
a. She becomes very happy on his arrival
b. She is not happy with his arrival
c. None of these
Answer:
b. She is not happy with his arrival

Question 15.
“You great clumsy, country fool!” Who said to whom?
a. Phatik’s aunt to Phatik
b. Phatik’s brother to Phatik
c. Phatik’s mother to Phatik
Answer:
a. Phatik’s aunt to Phatik

Question 16.
Where was Phatik going when the police drag him back?
a. It was going to see his friend
b. He was going home
c. He was going to Bombay
Answer:
b. He was going home

Question 17.
How does Phatik’s aunt react to Phatik’s arrival at her home?
a. She is. not pleased with his arrival
b. She welcomes Phatik very warmly
c. She thinks Phatik will help her in her household chores
Answer:
a. She is. not pleased with his arrival

Question 18.
Which statement is not correct about the boy of fourteen according to Rabindranath Tagore?
a. He is neither ornamental nor useful
b. It is an attractive and growing age
c. He is very clever and obedient
Answer:
c. He is very clever and obedient

Question 19.
Who send the message to Phatik’s mother to come to Calcutta?
a. Phatik’s uncle
b. Phatik’s aunt
c. Phatik’s Cousins
Answer:
a. Phatik’s uncle

Question 20.
In which month the holiday will come?
a. October
b. November
c. May
Answer:
b. November

Question 21.
Where was Phatik going when the police drag him back?
a. He was going to Bombay
b. He was going to see his friend
c. He was going home
Answer:
c. He was going home

Question 22.
What did Phatik loss?
a. Notebook
b. Lesson book
c. Tiffin
Answer:
b. Lesson book

Question 23.
Which statement describes Phatik’s mental condition?
a. His felt he was going to have an attack of malarial fever
b. His face and eyes were flushed red with fever
c. He would dream night after night his village home and long to be back there
Answer:
c. He would dream night after night his village home and long to be back there

Question 24.
What was painful for Phatik?
a. welcoming
b. he was unwelcome
c. none of these
Answer:
b. he was unwelcome

Question 25.
Who wrote the story “Homecoming”?
a. Rabindranath Tagor
b. Satyajit Ray
c. None of these
Answer:
a. Rabindranath Tagor

Treasure Chest A Collection of ICSE Short Stories Workbook Answers

The Glove and the Lions Poem Questions and Answers & MCQs

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The Glove and the Lions Poem Questions and Answers & MCQs

Question 1.
And one day as the lions fought, sat looking at the court
a. Name the poem and the poet.
b. Who is ‘his’ referred to in the above extract? Who else were present in the court?
c. What was he looking at?
d. How did the lions fight?
Answers:
a. The name of the poem is “The Glove And The Lions.”
The poem was written by James Henry Leigh Hunt.

b. “His” is referred to King Francis. There were the King,the nobles and the ladies in the court.

c. King Francis was in his court who was a very hearty king and he was also fond of a royal sport lions fighting. All the nobles and their ladies were seated above an arena which was full of fighting lions. King Francis was looking at these lions fighting among themselves.

d. The lions in the court of King Francis were very loud and ferocious. They were quite savage and vicious and they roared with horrid laughing jaws. They began to fight and tear into one another. As they moved the wind seemed to move alongside their paws. Their blows were strong like beams. (The roar of the lions is actually a demonstration of power. They were making a huge commotion while they rolled upon the floor. The scene was bloody as bloody froth came whisking through the air.

Question 2.
“He surely would do wondrous things to show his love to me.”
a. Who are ‘he ‘and ‘me’ referred to in the above extract?
b. What wondrous things would he do?
c. Explain how he did this wondrous things?
d. What did he do after this wondrous thing?
Answers:
a. ‘He’ is referred to the Count de Lorge and ‘me’ is referred to the lover of the Count.

b. The lover of the Count threw her glove in the middle of the lions in order to prove the Count’s love towards her. And the Count bravely retrieved the glove. This was the wondrous thing that he did.

c. The Count was very brave and everyone would admit that he had done a heroic deed. The Count jumped down among the lions quickly and grabed the glove and safely got back to his place.

d. After recovering his lover’s glove from amongst the lions,we expected him to hand over the glove to his beloved in a smiling,gentle manner. But the Count was insulted with this attitude of his lover.So after retrieving the glove, he threw it at the woman’s face.

Question 3.
“No love”, quoth he,”but vanity sets love a task like that.”
a. Who is the speaker of the above extract? Whose vanity is spoken of here?
b. What vanity is spoken of here?
c. How did the speaker react to the task that was fulfilled by the Count?
d. In the beginning of the poem, what does the speaker think about the person of whose vanity is spoken of?
Answer:
a. The speaker of the above extract was King Francis. He was speaking of the vanity of the Count’s lover.

b. The Count’s lover who wants to gain admiration and glory dropped her glove among the lions to prove the Count’s love. This action or attitude shown by the woman is referred to as the vanity which made her drop the glove and not her love.

c. When the Count retrieved the glove from among the lions with valour and bravery and threw it at his lover’s face, King Francis praised the Count for his entire action.

d. In the beginning of the poem we find that when King Francis saw the couple-the Count and his lover to be seated among the other aristocrats and nobles, he had a special feeling about the woman. King Francis had a crush on her and he “sighed” for her.

Question 4.
Faith gentlemen, we’re better than there
a. Who is the speaker and who are the gentlemen?
b. “We’re better than there” – Which place did the speaker want to refer?
c. What was the reason for the speaker to say the above line? Explain the line.
d. Who overheard the speaker and what did she think after this?
Answers:
a. The speaker of the above extract is King Francis.The gentlemen are referred to the nobles and the aristocrats who gathered in King Francis’s court to watch a royal sport.

b. “There”means the place where the lions were fighting with each other. The king and others were all sitting above and the lions were below fighting among themselves.

c. The lions were savage. They were snarling and fighting with each other and tearing each other. The sight of bloodshed and violence among the lions caused King Francis to comment that they were safer seated above, than being among the beasts below.

d. The comment of King Francis was overheard by the beautiful woman or the Count’s lover. When she overheard this, she thought that the Count her lover who was “brave as brave can be” could surely do some wondrous things in order to show his love to her.

Question 5.
He bowed, and in a moment leaped among the lions wild
a. Who is ‘he’ referred to in the above extract? Give adjectives to describe him?
b. Why did he leap among the ‘lions wild?’
c. How was the leap and how did he do his task?
d. What character traits can we draw about the lover of the Count?
Answers:
a. “He” is refered to Count De Lorge. He can be described as brave and quick.

b. His ladylove in order to prove his love for her and to gain glory and admiration for herself dropped a glove among the lions expecting the Count to recover it.So the Count leaped among the wild lions.

c. The leap was quick and the return was also quick.
After recovering the glove, he came and took his place beside his lover.

d. The lady was beautiful with smiling lips and bright eyes. She was the crush of King Francis. But we also find her self-conceited. She herself was distracted by the comment of the king and decided to set a task for her lover. So we see how she in order to gain glory and admiration for herself did not even hesitate to play with her lover’s life by setting him a fatal task. So we can say that she was a self – engrossed and arrogant lady.

The Glove and the Lions Poem MCQs

Question 1.
…………… is the “royal sport” mentioned in the first line.
a. Horse riding
b. Lions fighting
c. A fight between the best swordsmen
d. Wrestling
Answer:
b. Lions fighting

Question 2.
Who came to see the royal sport?
a. The king, the nobles, the ladies
b. The king, the nobles, the countrymen
c. The king, the queen, the nobles
d. The king, the queen, the countrymen
Answer:
a. The king, the nobles, the ladies

Question 3.
‘The Count my lover is brave as brave can be’ Who thought so?
a. The king
b. The nobles
c. Count de Lorge’s dame
d. The ladies watching the lions fight
Answer:
c. Count de Lorge’s dame

Question 4.
In the poem “the royal beasts” is referred to
a. The brave nobles
b. The brave king
c. The royal pet animals
d. The fierce lions
Answer:
d. The fierce lions

Question 5.
The poet who wrote the poem “The Glove And The Lions” is …………….
a. RB. Shelley
b. James Henry Leigh Hunt
c. Rudyard Kipling
d. William Shakespeare
Answer:
b. James Henry Leigh Hunt

Question 6.
The lady dropped the glove in the arena because
a. She knew that the Count loved her and would bring it back to her.
b. She wanted to prove to the spectators that the Count was the bravest of all men.
c. She wanted to gain fame and glory by showing off the Count’s love for her.
d. She wanted to be the centre of attention.
Answer:
c. She wanted to gain fame and glory by showing off the Count’s love for her.

Question 7.
“Faith gentlemen, we’re better here than there.” Who is the speaker?
a. Count De Lorge
b. Count De Lorge’s lover
c. King Francis
d. The poet
Answer:
c. King Francis

Question 8.
King, lovers, all look on; Fill in the gap.
a. Lords
b. Nobles
c. Ladies
d. Gentlemen
Answer:
c. Ladies

Question 9.
“With horrid laughing jaws.” What figure of speech is this?
a. Simile
b. Metaphor
c. Alliteration
d. Personification
Answer:
d. Personification

Question 10.
“Ramped and roared the lions” What figure of speech is this?
a. Metaphor
b. Alliteration
c. Personification
d. Alliegory
Answer:
b. Alliteration

Question 11.
What did De Lorge do with the glove?
a. Gave the glove to his dame gently
b. Handed the glove to the king
c. Threw the glove at the dame’s face
d. Threw the glove towards the nobles, ladies
Answer:
c. Threw the glove at the dame’s face

Question 12.
King Frands was a king.
a. Sport loving
b. Jovial
c. Wicked
d. a and b both
Answer:
d. a and b both

Treasure Chest A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers

The Model Millionaire Summary, Theme by Oscar Wilde

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The Model Millionaire Summary by Oscar Wilde

The Model Millionaire Summary, Theme by Oscar Wilde

The Model Millionaire Summary

This is the story of a very good-looking young man, named Hughie Erskine. He was popular and kind. However, he was not very clever and had no money. He kept changing his job but always failed. Finally he stopped working and lived on money given to him by an old aunt.

He was in love with a girl named Laura Merton, the daughter of a retired Colonel. But the Colonel would only allow them to get married if Hughie had ten thousand pounds of his own, which was a sort of next to impossible target for Hughie to achieve.

One day, Hughie visited his friend, Alan Trevor, who was a painter. When Elughie reached his art gallery, he saw Alan, painting a model. The model was a beggar-man. Hughie felt sorry for the model because his appearance was very poor so he gave him a sovereign.

Later that night. Hughie met Alan at Palette Club. They had an enlightening conversation. Hughie found out from Alan that the model was actually not a beggar-man, but a millionaire, named Baron Hausberg. Hughie went home unhappily, somewhat ashamed for giving such a big man a sovereign whereas Alan laughed loudly.

The next morning, a messenger from Baron Hausberg came and brought him a letter. The letter contained a cheque for ten thousand pounds which was a wedding present to Hugh Erskine and Laura Merton from Baron Hausberg.

This was an expected event for Hughie and this is also the turning point of the story. On the day of the marriage, Alan Trevor was the best man and the Baron made a speech at the wedding breakfast. Alan said, “Millionaire models are rare enough, but model millionaires are rarer still!”

The Model Millionaire About the Author Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin on 16 October 1854 to Sir William Wilde and his wife Jane. Oscar’s mother, Lady Jane Francesca Wilde, was a successful poet and journalist. She wrote patriotic Irish verse under the pseudonym “Speranza”. Oscar’s father, Sir William Wilde, was a leading ear and eye surgeon, gifted writer, who wrote books on archaeology and folklore. Oscar had an elder brother, Willie, and a younger sister, Isola Francesca.

He was educated at Portora Royal School, Trinity College, Dublin, and Magdalen College, Oxford. After he was graduated, he moved to Chelsea in London to establish a literary career. In 1881, he published his first collection of poetry – Poems that received mixed reviews by critics. He worked as an art reviewer, lectured in the United States and Canada. He also lectured in Britain and Ireland.

On May 29, 1884, Oscar marred Constance Lloyd, daughter of a wealthy Queen’s Counsel Horace Lloyd. They had two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan. To support his family, Oscar accepted a job as the editor of Woman’s World magazine, where he worked from 1887-1889. Wilde’s greatest talent was for writing plays. His first successful play, Lady Windermere’s Fan, opened in February 1892.

He produced a string of extremely popular comedies including A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, and The Importance of Being Earnest. These plays were all highly acclaimed and firmly established Oscar as a playwright.

He wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol, revealing his concern for inhumane prison conditions. He spent the rest of his life wandering Europe, staying with friends and living in cheap hotels. He died of cerebral meningitis on November 30, 1900, penniless, in a cheap Paris hotel.

The Model Millionaire Theme

The story ‘The Model Millionaire’ is a short story by the Irish author Oscar Wilde. It centres round Hughie Erskine, a young man and a model who posed for a beggar to Hughie’s friend’s art gallery. Hughie was a very handsome man who was in love with Laura Merton but was unable to marry her because he was poor.

He had no fixed income to ran a family that is why her father didn’t want her to get married to Hughie until he earn 10000 pounds. One day, Hughie went to his friend Alan Trevor’s art gallery where he saw an old beggar as his model. His appearance made Hughie felt sorry for his condition. So when Alan left, he gave him a sovereign which was the highest denomination left in his pocket.

After a few days, from Alan Trevor, he came to know that he told the beggar Hughie’s life story. Hughie felt a little bad because he did not want to disclose his personal matters to the beggar. Then Alan told him that he was not a beggar but a millionaire.

He was Baron Housberg, one of the richest man in Europe. Hughie felt ashamed for giving him a coin but later he was awarded by Baron Housberg for his generosity. MrHousberg gave a cheque for 10000 pounds as his wedding gift and even attended the wedding of Hughie and Laura.

The Model Millionaire Characters

Hughie Erskine:

An extremely handsome young yellow who was kind and good-natured but he had back luck in the field of making money. Though he tried very hard, he could not get success in framing a suitable career. He was in love with Laura Merton but as he was poor, her father was not willing to get his daughter married to Hughie.

R Laura Merton:

A young woman who was in love with Hughic irrespective of his status of being poor or rich. Though her father put a condition of earning 10000 pounds to Hughie, she was willing to marry him without it.

R Laura’s father:

Laura’s father was a colonel who was a strict and concerned father as a father should be. He wanted to secure his daughter’s future so did not want his daughter getting wasted with Hughie. He did not support to his daughter’s whims and put a condition to Hughie. He asked Hughie to earn 10000 pounds in order to get married to his daughter so that his daughter could spent her life comfortably.

R Alan Trevor:

Alan Trevor was an artist and also Hughie’s friend. He was a good and generous friend who told the life story and problems of Hughie to Mr Housberg. He played an important role in uplifting Hughie’s life-graph and also became the best man of Hughie at his wedding.

Baron Housberg :

Mr Housberg was one of the richest man in Europe. He became a model of Alan Trevor and posed as a beggar. He was so realistic that Hughie actually thought him to be a real beggar and gave him a sovereign out of sympathy. This act of kindness softened Mr Housberg and when he came to know the life story of Hughie, he presented him a cheque of 10000 pounds as his wedding gift. He also attended Hughie’s wedding.

The Model Millionaire Title of the Story

‘The Model Millionaire’ is a short story written by Oscar Wilde. It was first printed in the newspaper The World’ in June 1887. This story talks about a young man named Hughie Erskine and a millionaire named Baron Housberg. Hughie was a poor man who was in love with Laura Merton but due to the lack of money and a fixed income, he could not be able to do that.

His life went on as usual until one day he met an old beggar at his friend’s art gallery. That man was posing as his model. His tattered clothes and poor appearance made Hughie feel sorry for that man. Hughie, though himself was poor, gave him a sovereign and left. The next time, when Alan met with Hughie he told him that the old beggar was actually one of the richest man in Europe.

His name was Baron Housberg. Hughie, though felt ashamed of giving such a big man a coin, Mr Housberg thought otherwise. He was so much impressed by such a benevolent act that he awarded him 10000 pounds as his wedding gift and himself attended the wedding.

So the story shows how a millionaire who became a model changed a man’s life for good and thus became the model-millionaire not only because of his wealth but also for his big heart. Thus the title ‘The Model Millionaire’ is apt.

The Model Millionaire About the Story

In the story ‘The Model Millionaire’ by Oscar Wilde we see Hughie Erskine who was an extremely good-looking fellow, popular among men and women, had every accomplishment in his life except making money. He was in love with Laura Merton but as he had a poor financial prospect, her father did not want him to get married to his daughter.

He even told him to get engaged with Laura only when he would earn ten thousand pounds. Though his luck was not favourable in monetary matters, yet we see him moved to pity when he saw an elderly beggar, posing as a model for his friend who was an artist named Alan Trevor. He felt so sympathetic to that man that he gave the beggar the highest denomination that he had m his pocket and left.

Soon when he again met Trevor, he came to know that the beggar was actually one of the wealthiest man in Europe named Baron Housberg and he himself asked Trevor to paint a picture of him as a beggar. Hughie felt ashamed for giving such a big man a coin but Trevor told him not to worry. Soon he got rewarded ten thousand pounds by Baron Housberg for his benevolent conduct and got to marry Laura. Baron Housberg attended the wedding and gave blessings to this newly wed.

The Model Millionaire Setting of the Story

The story “The Model Millionaire” shows how a certain event can change a person’s whole life. In this story, we say Hughie’s certain meeting with Baron Hausberg who posed as a beggar for Alan Trevor as Alan was a painter and Baron went to him to become a model for him.

Baron Housberg was one of the richest men in Europe but his poor appearance made Hughie sorry for him. Though he himself had no money to marry the love of his life Laura Merton, yet he gave him a sovereign out of sympathy and concern.

He later came to know the real identity of the beggar which made him feel ashamed of himself but his benevolence impressed Mr Housberg. He rewarded him with 10000 pounds as his wedding gift and himself attended the wedding. So, the story which took motion at Alan Trevor’s art gallery, ended on a happy note at a wedding ceremony. Thus we can say that the setting of the story is well-built with a perfect plot containing a nice beginning, suitable climax and happy ending.

The Model Millionaire Main Points to Remember

  • Hughie Erskine was a young man who was extremely handsome but his financial career was at a toss. He had every accomplishment except making money.
  • He was in love with Laura Merton but he had no money, her father was not willing to get his daughter married to him.
  • His only source of income was two hundred pounds a year’s which was given to him by his elderly aunt but Laura’s father demanded his earning to be 1000 pounds to get engaged with his daughter.
  • Once Hughie went to meet artist friend named Alan Trevor. There he found him making a portrait of a beggar. The appearance of the beggar made him pity on him.
  • Hughie decided to give him some money. Though Alan used to pay his models, Hughie thought it was not at all enough. So, when Alan left, he gave the beggar a sovereign.
  • Later, from Alan, he came to know that the model was not a beggar but was one of the richest men in Europe named Baron Housberg.
  • Hughie felt ashamed about giving a sovereign to a millionaire but Alan assumed him not a worry.
  • Later, a representative of Baron Housberg came to Hughie’s house with an envelope that contained a cheque for 10000 pounds as his wedding present. Hughie and Laura got married and Mr. Housberg attended the wedding.

The Model Millionaire Annotations and Vocabulary

Prosaic — average or ordinary
Accomplishment — Achievement
Wretched — Miserable or unhappy
Bequeath — bestow through a will
Sovereign — old British gold coin
Cavalry — An army on horseback
Extravagance — Spending money recklessly
Stroll — A slow and relaxed walk
Sherry — A type of sweet wine
Conquest — Victory
Consolation –Solace
Frock-coat — A long coat worn by men in old times
Forlorn — Dejected
Buoyant — Cheerful
Wizened — Age signs

Treasure Chest A Collection of ICSE Short Stories Workbook Answers

The Elevator Summary, Theme by William Sleator

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The Elevator Summary, Theme by William Sleator

The Elevator Summary, Theme by William Sleator

The Elevator Summary

The story “The Elevator” is about a 12 year old boy named Martin who recently moved into a new apartment complex and was scared to go on the elevator. So, he thought of taking the stairs instead. But the dull and stuffy atmosphere around the stairs made him gasp for breath when he reached his floor.

His father was confused as to why Martin was breathing so hard but when he came to know the reason behind, he called his boy a coward. So, to escape the taunt of his father and his classmates, he decided to overcome the fear of the elevator.

The elevator could only fit three people in it and it was claustrophobic too. Somehow, irrespective of all odds, he tried to get used to the elevator but meeting with a strange looking fat lady at the elevator stirred his mind to a great extent.

He started meeting the lady every day and the lady used to stare at him, doing nothing. To avoid this scary situation, he ran for the stairs but accidentally he fell and broke one of his legs. Witnessing Martin’s injury, his father got angry at his son’s cowardice. He took him to a hospital where the doctor told him to take plenty of rest.

While returning home, his father was accompanying him in the elevator and so he was relaxed as he was not alone anymore. But suddenly his father got out of the elevator at the ninth floor as he had to visit Mrs Ullman.

Martin tried to accompany his father but his father left him alone in the elevator. As soon as his father left, the elevator stopped at tenth floor from where the fat lady boarded. She greeted him and laughed at him and the story ended there suddenly, leaving the readers wonder about what would happen next.

The Elevator About the Author William Sleator

William Warner Sleator was born on February 13, 1945, in Havre de Grace, Maryland, but raised in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. An early age he played the piano and composed music. After graduating from Harvard University, he moved to England, where he played the piano at London’s Royal Ballet School. He then returned to the United States and worked at the Boston Ballet while simultaneously writing. His first book, The Angry Moon.

When Sleator began his writing career, he often included experiences he had gone through and people he knew. For example, the cottage in Blackbriar (1972), his first full-length young adult novel involving the supernatural, was modeled on a creepy old cottage that he had visited while in England. As Sleator’s career progressed, however, he began relying more fully on his imagination and turned more toward the creative pursuit of science-fiction themes blended with horror or suspense.

Sleator’s best-known book is House of Stairs. A science-fiction work about mind control and conformity, House of Stairs also broaches the larger subjects of the moral and ethical aspects of science, government interference in people’s lives, and the nature of violence.

Some of Sleator’s other books include The Duplicate, Rewind, about a boy who gets to go back in time over and over in order to prevent his death and The Boy Who Couldn’t Die, about a boy who sells his soul for immortality. His last book, The Phantom Limb, written with Ann Monticone, was published in 2011. Sleator died on August 3, 2011, in Bua Chet, Thailand.

The Elevator Theme

The story “Elevator” is a kind of horror story where a little boy whose name was Martin, had a fear of elevators. There was an elevator in his building in which Martin did not want to get in but he always had to because he did not want to be tagged as a coward. His father used to get angry at his son’s behaviour and thus instead of taking the stairs, which was dull and stuffy too, he took the elevator. One day, he met a strange, fat lady at the elevator whose eerie appearance left a deep impression in his life.

Martin did not want to be face to face with the lady but somehow he always had to. It seemed that the lady was obsessed with Martin. Her presence, used to make Martin terribly afraid. To escape her, Martin took the stairs but broke his leg. His father accompanied him to the doctor where he was advised to take plenty of rest.

When they reached home, his father was with him in the elevator so he was relaxed. But suddenly the scenario changed and at 9th floor, Martin’s father left the elevator to meet Mrs Ullman and once again Martin was alone in it. At 10th floor, the elevator stopped and the lady barged in. Her presence once again made Martin stir from inside and at that moment the story ended abruptly, giving a sense of utmost fear.

The Elevator Title of the Story

The story ‘The Elevator” is one of the masterpieces of William Sleator in which he portrayed how panic and fear can cause serious damages to one’s body and mind. Here we can see little boy whose name was Martin, had a fear of elevators. There was an elevator in his building in which Martin did not want to get in but he always had to because he did not want everybody calling him a coward.

He tried taking stairs once but it did not go well as the stairs were not well-maintained. So, he had no other alternative but to take the elevator. One day, while he was in the elevator, he met a strange, fat lady at the elevator whose frightening appearance left a deep impression in his life. Martin did not want to be face to face with the lady but somehow he always had to.

He wanted to escape her so he again thought of taking the stairs but this thought did not go well as he broke his leg. When he returned home from the hospital, he again met the strange lady in the elevator when he was alone there. Her horrifying appearance made him shiver in fear and the story ended just then, abruptly. Therefore, the whole story started, proceeded and ended in an elevator that gave life-changing experience to Martin. So, the title of the story is apt.

The Elevator About the Story

The short story “The Elevator” is a kind of a horror story of William Sleator. The story portrays a 12 year old boy named Martin, who had a morbid fear about elevators, especially the creaky, old elevator of his apartment building.

This story shows us the fear of this thin kid who though did not like taking elevators, eventually had to because the condition of the stairs were bad. When the story further goes on, we can see how Martin dealt with his fear and the consequences he had to face within.

The Elevator Main Points to Remember

  • This is a kind of horror story that deals with the fear of 12 year old boy named Martin.
  • Martin did not like taking the elevator of his building because it was kind of scary to him. Though he tried taking the stairs once, the stuffy environment around made him uncomfortable too.
  • His father’s rebuke made him take the elevator and tried to get used to it.
  • Once a strange thing happened to him. While he was in the elevator, he met with a fat lady. Her appearance made him afraid of her. She never took her eyes off him.
  • He told this to his father but his father did not pay any heed to him.
  • This same incident started to occur every day whenever Martin was in the elevator. Martin felt panicky and out of panic he once again took the stairs one day and fell.
  • One of his legs were broken and Martin’s father was very much disappointed with the cowardice of his son.
  • When Martin got release from the hospital, he again had to take the elevator alone and again had to meet the fat lady, who, it seemed was waiting for his arrival. The story ended on a scary note.

The Elevator Annotations and Vocabulary

Gasping — to breathe loudly and with difficulty
Waddled — a person or animal with short legs and a fat body
Squeak — to make a short, very high cry or sound
Crutches — a long stick with a crosspiece at the top, used as a support under the armpit
Slept — be in a state of sleep
Slammed — to shut forcibly and noisily
Disappointed — unhappy because someone or something was not as good as you hoped or expected
Coward — a person who is not brave and is too eager to avoid danger
Crazy — stupid or not reasonable
Ashamed — feeling guilty or embarrassed about something you have done
Nightmare — a very upsetting or frightening dream
Pudgy — slightly fat
Elevator — a platform or compartment housed in a shaft for raising and lowering people or things to different levels
Trembled — to shake slightly in a way that you cannot control
Squeeze — to press something firmly, especially from all sides in order to change its shape
Stairs — a set of steps that lead from one level to another, in a building
Pleaded — to make an urgent, emotional statement or request for something
Struggling — unsuccessful but trying hard to succeed

Treasure Chest A Collection of ICSE Short Stories Workbook Answers

The Night Mail Poem Summary, Theme, Critical Analysis by W.H. Auden

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The Night Mail Summary by W.H. Auden

The Night Mail Poem Summary, Theme, Critical Analysis by W.H. Auden

The Night Mail Summary

“Night Mail” is a beautiful poem by W.H. Auden who gives a description of a train that carries mails, cheque, postal orders, letters. In this poem the poet personifies the Night Mail train and so it is given human attributes by the poet when the train travels through a pastoral set -up. The poet has sketched the path of a coach night mail.

The train is not an ordinary one, it is a night mail that comes at night. When the poet had written this poem, it can be said that, during that time the system of communication was not so highly developed and so most of the people communicated with each other through letters.

We find the train crossing the border overnight with mail, bringing letters, cheques and postal orders for the rich as well as for the poor without any discrimination. We find her (the train) climbing the slope of Beattock (a hill in Dumfriesshire). Though the way is steep, and inspite of all the hurdles she is still on time.

Then she passes cottonfields, moors with boulders, grass fields and she can be seen with her white steam flowing behind her and thus she continues with her journey. She noisily passes through the “silent miles” of grassland where the grasses have bent. This noise makes the birds to peer from the bushes and the sheep dogs know that they cannot alter the course of the train so they sleep down with their heads on their paws. They show no reactions.

She passes through farms where the dwellers are sleeping. Although she makes a loud noise no one wakes up. These people have become habituated to this noise. But a jug only shakes in the vibration of her movement. At dawn she descends into Glasgow. There she approaches towards the dark furnaces which look like huge colossal chessmen. All the people of Scotland eagerly wait for her arrival. They crave for her to arrive with news. There are letters of all sorts and for all sorts of people.

There are receipts, invitations, applications, declarations of love, gossip from all around the world. She also brings news both ‘circumstantial’ as well as ‘financial’, then letters from family members, letters with doodles in the margins, letters of condolences, letters from all over Europe.

There are also letters written on papers of every colours imaginable. All these letters have tones and styles of their own. There are different types of letters-letters that are catty, friendly, cold, boring, clever, stupid, long, short. Some are also typed, some are printed and some which are mis-spelt.

Thousands of people sleep and dream and have nightmares. They also dream of good things. In Glasgow and Edinburgh, they are all asleep and they dream. When they are awake, they hope that the Night Mail will bring letters for them. Their hearts pound when they hear the knocking sound on the door.

They wait eagerly and expect the postman on their doors for” who can bear to feel himself forgotten?” this line says us how all the people expect to be remembered by their friends, relatives, family members. So everyone waits for some kind of news through different kinds of messages or mails. Everyone wants to be remembered and no one wants to be forgotten.

The Night Mail About the Author W.H. Auden

Wystan Hugh Auden known as W.H. Auden was a British American poet. Auden was born on February 21, 1907, York, Yorkshire and died on September 1973 in Austria. He had done M.A in English Language and Literature. Throughout his life he published approximately 400 poems and 400 essays and reviews, that were all extremely wide-ranging in topic and form. Auden became versed in all poetic techniques. He served as professor of poetry and Oxford University. He was one of the most influential poets of the twentieth century.

He was a poet of prodigious talent and output, living at a time of immense transition both in the world at large and in the poetic scene. Auden’s first volumes of poems titled, Poems, was printed in 1928 by a school friend. His next volume, also title; Poems, was published in a little over a year later in 1930 by Faber. In 1932, Auden published his large work, The Orators, which speaks on hero worship.

He also wrote a number of plays during his period, some of which included, The Dance of Death, The Dog Beneath and The Ascent of F6. During the early 1940s Auden was working on a large scale poems such as ‘The Sea and the Mirror’, “A Commentary on Shakespeare’s The Tempest” and “The Age of Anxiety”, “A Baroque Eclogue”.

Auden has been admired for his unsurpassed technical virtuosity and an ability to write poems in nearly every imaginable verse form. He received many prizes and awards. Some of his awards are Pulitzer Prize for poetry (The Age of Anxiety), Bollingen Prize, National Book Award for Poetry (The Shield Of Achilles).

The Night Mail Theme

The theme of this beautiful poem “Night Mail” is the beautiful journey of the night mail and how it delivers the mails to the people. It delivers letters, cheques, postal orders and other things to everyone without any distinction, discrimination and prejudices. And before it reaches its destination and deliver these, it passes through many barriers, obstacles and hurdles.

The Night Mail Critical Analysis

The charming poem “Night Mail” was commissioned for the documentary film of the same name on which W.H. Auden was working in the year 1930s. He was assisting in production and filming and it was determined that a spoken word poem, set to music, was needed for the end of the film. So he wrote this poem for the occasion. The poem speaks on themes of human relationships and connections. I the poem, the poet shows how the train brings a variety of letters to a variety of people.

It carries letters from every part of the world on every topic up a hill and through the grasses. It is heading up Beattock at a steady climb. The mails are for all, the rich and the poor. We find that the poet has personified the train to a calm, methodical and kind lady. She is always seen to be arriving on time despite the “steady climb.” We see here the warmth and fondness of the train who does not disturb anyone in the countryside when she travels.

Throughout the poem we also find how Auden uses a very steady meter. This was done to mimic the sound that rail cars make as they move along the tracks. When the train passes the birds turn their head to look at her. The “blank faced coaches” part of the locomotive is important and therefore it is all personified to an extent. The poet mentions the farms where people are sleeping and about the sheep-dogs that are aware that the course of the train cannot be altered, and so put down their heads on their paws. The train’s power is juxtaposed against the fact that no one wakes up as she passes.

The second section of the poem deals with the descent of the train in Scotland. Here the poet depicts a bit more industrial landscape with “fields of apparatus,” the furnaces/set on the dark plain like gigantic chessmen. Here we see the people of Scotland eagerly waiting for news with anticipation. The letters of “thanks” and banks are joyful notes, there are receipts and bills. These messages carry “applications for situations” to “timid lovers” declarations.

Auden shows the vast array of things sent by post, things that most people have received at one time or another: letters, bills, applications, statements of love, gossips etc. In a sense this is the written version of the entire spectrum of human interaction, starting from the most undistinguished to the most meaningful, everything that is worth communicating across the border.

This shows the bonding between people and how they are knit together by this correspondence, no matter how trivial the mail might seem. The diversity of people and communications in the poem is shown by the kinds of paper,” of every hue.The pink, the violet, the white and the blue.”

In the third section of the poem, one might imagine the excitement of a crowd receiving all the letters. But contrary to this, in reality we find that most of the people are still asleep. In the final section Auden depicts local people asleep in their warm bed, dreaming of local things. Soon they will be awake and eager for the mail.

The Scottish cities where the train was travelling through are mentioned once more in the final stanza of the poem. The people are sleeping, continuing their dreams while the train continues its hard work. In the end of the poem the poet asks after all” who can bear to feel himself forgotten? Thus it is sympathetic and compassionate for individual human beings.

It celebrates human connection which are hopeful, sweet, charming and memorable. Each recipient of the mails is gladdened by the feeling of remembrance, of not been forgotten. This is a message that like the train after facing many hardships reaches its destination so also humans should reach their destination after crossing the hurdles, barriers and obstacles in life.

The Night Mail Title of the Story

The poem “Night Mail” is about a train that carries mails, cheques, letters and postal orders. The poet personifies the night mail train giving it human attributes. The title of the poem “Night Mail” is very significant as the whole poem deals with a night mail which we see is not an ordinary train. He says that the nightmail crossing the border brings the cheque, postal orders, letters for the rich and poor.

The Night Mail travels from one country to another, from place to place crossing the border of England and Scotland. By crossing all boundaries, it hands over the mail to all sorts of people. It is unware of racial discrimination and other prejudices. It carries letters having different messages to various classes of people. It carries formal and informal ‘ letters. Thus we can say that the Mail Train is a source of satisfaction and comfort for the rich and the poor, for the businessman and the common people.

It satisfies the need of all sorts of people. Its journey is very challenging and onerous. Whatever the weather it is, the train has to go and do its job. Sometimes it is seen running up Beattock, a hilly place. It overcomes the sheer ascent and reaches its destination on time. It does not get late though it has to face so many hurdles. Then we see it passing the cotton fields and uncultivated rocky land. It covers long distances. The poet personifies the Night Mail here as a lady scooping and shovelling steam over her shoulders while trying to reach her destination.

The train rushes and it seems that the train is only concerned with conveyance and transportation of correspondence. Roaring and creating a loud sound, it proceeds and passes on from one point to another. It passes the grassy fields, and thus bending the grass. It makes noise that makes the bird look at it from the bushes. They look at it with surprise. The sheepdogs also do not wake up on the arrival of the train because it is no more a subject of curiosity for them.

They know ‘she’ is harmless and it is her habit or routine to go Eke this everyday. So they do not move. The people living along the railway track also have become habituated of the train’s arrival. They know that ‘she’ is always in service of human beings.

She does not cause any change while crossing the fields. Only petty things like a jug in the bedroom shakes and vibrates as ‘she’ passes by the farms and countryside. Next we find that people are all asleep, the Night Mail is on duty. ‘She’ is on her usual daily work.

Inspite of such obstacles and barriers, inspite of such ups and downs, she has reached her destination and the purpose for which she has been travelling that is coming with so many types of correspondence, is fulfilled by her at last.

When she arrives, thousands of people are still asleep, dreaming of monsters or of friendly tea. In all the important cities of Scotland like Edinburgh, Aberdeen, the people are asleep. But when they will wake up, they will be waiting for their letters with the expectation of getting knocks at the door from the postman. As the title suggests it is a train bringing mails at night it can be said an apt title.

From the starting till the end of the poem we see how the Night Mail does its duty and how people wait for it with eager hearts to get news of their loved ones. The Night Mail is the train that brings them the news, though it has to face many problems and troubles before fulfilling its duty. From this point of view we can say that the title given to this poem that is “Night Mail” is a suitable one.

The Night Mail About The Poem

‘Night Mail’ is a beautiful poem written by W.H. Auden which describes the charm of different kinds of letters that peopleof Glasgow a city in Scotland eagerly wait for. The Night Mail carries the letters from London to Glasgow and reaches at dawn in Glasgow. The train is not an ordinary train.The poet emphasizes on the commitment and punctuality of the train.

It faces many barriers but it is always on time. Through the image of the train, the poet teaches is to be punctual, constant and diligent whatever the circumstance come in life. The Night Mail brings various types of postal material for each kind of people. It passes through many obstacles, up and downs. Nobody can alter its course. Night Mail actually resembles life that passes through different courses to reach its destiny.

The Night Mail Main Point Of The Poem

The night mail travels the whole night to bring mails containing letters, postal orders, cheque for different people living in different parts fo the country. But the journey of the night mail is not always the same. It has to face many troubles, many obstacles, many hardships but still it continues to move. It sometimes has to climb upwards and sometimes it crosses the plain. But whatever the situation is.it reaches its destination always on time the poem is the depiction and admiration of Night Mail that brings luxury, ease and comfort.

The Night Mail Linewise Summary

1. This is the Night Mail crossing the border,
Bringing the cheque and the postal order,
Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
The shop at the comer and the girl next door.

The poet speaks of the Night Mail which travels from one country to another, from place to place, crossing the border of England and Scotland, and brings the cheques and the postal order. It hands over the rnaIs to all sorts of people.

The letters have different messages for different classes of people. It does not know any sort of discrimination. It brings letters for the shop at the corner as well as the girl next door. It is source of satisfaction and comfort for the poor and the rich, for the businessman and the common people.

2. Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb:
The gradient’s against her, but she’s on time.
Past cotton grass and moorland boulder,
Shovelling white stim over her shoulder,

The journey of the train is very arduous. Sometimes it runs up the hilly place-Beattock, the steep slope and overcomes the ascent and ultimately reaches its destination on time. Then the train goes and passes the cotton fields and the moorlands and boulders. Here the poet compares the train toa lady who is shovelling steam over her shoulders. Although it is difficult to move along a sharp rise, it does not get late. It crosses all the obstacles on its way and moves on and never stops.

3. Snorting noisily as she passes
Silent miles of wind-bent grasses.
Birds turn their heads as she approaches,
Stare from the bushes at her blank-faced coaches.

The train roaring and creating a loud snoring sound proceeds and passes on. She covers the long distances and passes by the grassy fields. After passing the grassy fields, the pressure of the air causes the grasses to bend and bow down.

Through the words “silent miles”, the poet wants to say that the grassy fields are silent. The miles are not silent. The poet has used a transferred epithet here. The noise of the coming train makes the birds look at it from the bushes. They look at it with surprise at her empty coaches.

4. Sheep-dogs cannot turn her course;
They slumber on with paws across.
In the farm she passes no one wakes,
But a jug in the bedroom gently shakes.

The sheepdogs are usually very sensitive and they react whenever some intruder tries to get nearer the herd. But when the train arrives they do not wake up as they know that the train is harmless. So they do not move and remain in the same relaxed position with cross-legged. They also know that they will not be able to alter its course. The people who live on the farms are also habituated with this train. They donot feel any disturbance when the train passes by.

They know that the train is always in service of human beings. The train does not cause any change while crossing the fields. It only creates a little vibration of its movement. Small, petty things like a jug in the bedroom only shakes and vibrates in its movement.

5. Dawn freshens, the climb is done.
Down towards Glasgow she descends
Towards the steam tugs yelping down the glade of cranes.
Towards the fields of apparatus, the furnaces
Set on the dark plain like gigantic chessmen.
All Scotland waits for her:
In the dark glens, beside the pale-green lochs
Men long for news.

As the morning nears, the journey of the train almost comes to an end. Now the train descends or comes down towards Glasgow. Here the landscape is just a bit industrial. There the train is heading towards the industrial city with dark furnaces set up like huge chessmen.

All of Scotland living in the narrow valleys and beside the lakes crave for ‘her’ arrival as all the men anticipate news. The train after the whole night journey, after facing so many barriers, is approaching her destination with hopes and expectations in the minds of the people.

6. Letters of thanks, letters from banks,
Letters of joy from the girl and the boy,
………………………………………….
………………………………………….
Clever, stupid, short ad long,
The typed and the printed and the spelt all wrong.

The train which is approaching carries letters of all sorts and for all people; receipts, invitations, applications, declarations of love, gossip from around the world, news both ‘circumstantial’ and ‘financial’, letters from the family members, letters from all over Europe, letters of condolences, all written on papers of every colours. The letters that she is carrying and bringing have all tones and styles including catty, friendly, cold, boring, clever, stupid,long and short.

Some of them are typed, some are printed while some are misspelled.There are letters written by every kind of writer, with different styles of writing and skill level. The train in other words is acting as a messenger. Her work is to bring messages and conveyance without distinguishing and discriminating rich from poor.

May be many hopes are linked with these messages, hopes of ordinary people, common people, businessmen, rich men, poor men etc. The papers of different colours mentioned in the poem by the poet also depicts the different sorts of people from different cities. There are letters with holiday photos and also letters from the family members like uncles, cousins and aunts.

7. Thousand are still asleep
Dreaming of terrifying monsters,
……………………………………….
Without a quickening of the heart,
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?

In the last stanza, we expect the people to be awake for we know that the train is coming with the messages. But in this stanza we find thousands of people all asleep in their warm beds, dreaming of local things or monsters. All are sleeping in Glasgow and Edinburgh. They still dream in their sleep but they know that when the will wake up in the morning, they will have letters. With throbbing and pounding hearts all the people will wait eagerly for the knock on their doors.

They expect postman who will come with letters for them in his hand. “Who can bear to feel himself forgotten?” By this line the poet means that everyone who hears the postman’s knock at the door will feel their heart ‘quicken’ with anticipation and expectation. No one is to be forgotten.

The Night Mail Linewise Explanation

1. This is the Night Mail crossing the border,
Bringing the cheque and the postal order,
Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
The shop at the comer and the girl next door.

the poet in the starting of the poem describes a Night Mail train which is crossing the Border. The border mentioned here is the border of England and Scotland. It is bringing cheques and postal orders, letters for rich as well as the poor people without the discrimination of their social and financial status. It brings letters for the owner of the shop at the comer and also for the next-door girl who is perhaps, waiting for the letters of her lover anxiously.

2. Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb:
The gradient’s against ber, but she’s on time.
Past cotton grass and moorland boulder,
Shovelling white stim over her shoulder,

In these lines, the train is personified as a lady. The poet says that she is running up Beattock a hilly place, along the steep slope. It is quite difficult for her to move along this sharp rise, but still she overcomes it and reaches her destination on time, crossing all the hurdles. The train passes the cotton fields and the moorland with rocks and boulders. She is scooping white steam over her shoulders while racing to reach her destination.

3. Snorting noisily as she passes
Silent miles of wind-bent grasses.
Birds turn their beads as she approaches,
Stare from the bushes at her blank-faced coaches.

The train passes on the grassy fields with roaring and snorting sound. She covers the long distances of grassy fields and while she passes nearby these fields, the pressure of the air causes the grass to bend and bow. The noise of the train also makes the birds look at it from the bushes. They look at it with keenness and surprise as they can see no human faces and find the carriages impressionless.

4. Sheep-dogs cannot turn her course;
They slumber on with paws across.
In the farm she passes no one wakes,
But a jug in the bedroom gently shakes.

The sheepdogs do not react on the arrival of the train. They know she is harmless so they remain in the same posture, cross legged. They also know that they cannot alter the course of the train. So they are not disturbed by her approaching. As the train passes the farm, the people living near the farms and railway tracks also do not wake up. They are also not disturbed by the train. Only the thing that vibrates due to her movement is a jug in the bedroom.

5. Dawn freshens, the climb is done.
Down towards Glasgow, she descends
Towards the steam tugs yelping down the glade of cranes
Towards the fields of apparatus, the furnaces
Set on the dark plain like gigantic chessmen.
All Scotland waits for her:
In the dark glens, beside the pale-green lochs
Men long for news.

When the morning approaches, the climbing up or the ascent of the train almost comes to an end. So she starts descending down towards Glasgow. The landscape of the Glasgow is industrial with “field of apparatus”, the furnaces which look like huge chessman standing against the dark pain. All the people of Scotland wait for her arrival. All over Scotland, people in the valleys, beside the lakes,wait for the Night Mail to come with their messages.

6. Letters of thanks, letters from banks,
Letters of joy from the girl and the boy,
……………………………………………
……………………………………………
Clever, stupid, short ad long,
The typed and the printed and the spelt all wrong.

In these lines, the poet has given description of the types of messages that the Night Mail train carries. She brings letters of thanks, Ietter from the banks, joyful letters from the girl and the boy, receipts, invitations, applications, declarations of love, gossip from all over the world, circumstantial and financial news, letters from the family members with holiday photos, letters with doodles in the margin, letters from uncles, aunts, cousins.

Then there are also letters sent from the South of France to Scotland, there are letters of condolences, news from overseas to the Hebrides. The letters have all tones and styles. They are written in papers of different colours ranging from pink, violet to white and blue. There are different tones and styles of the letters like catty, friendly, cold, boring, clever, stupid, long, short, etc. Some letters are typed, some are printed while some have spelling mistakes.

7. Thousand are still asleep
Dreaming of terrifying monsters,
…………………………………………….
…………………………………………….
Without a quickening of the heart,
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?

In the last stanza, the poet describes thousands of people to be still sleeping. And in their sleep they are dreaming of terrifying monster that is they are having nightmares or may be dreaming of having friendly tea, sitting beside the band at Cranston’s and Crowford’s. All the people are fast asleep at Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen and are dreaming continuously. But once they will wake up in the morning, they will be longing for letters. They will be waiting for the postman to come with their letters.

The postman will come and knock at their door. The people will be waiting with throbbing and pounding hearts as they are expecting letters. Everyone wants to be remembered so no one wants that she or he will be forgotten. So they will wait with eager hearts for the postman to come and deliver the letters on their hands.

The Night Mail Annotations and Vocabulary

Beattock — a hill in Dumfriesshire in Scotland.
gradient — slope.
moorland — hilly land covered with coarse grass.
slumber — to sleep.
boulder — stones.
glade — a small grass-covered area.
wind — bent-bent due to wind.
stare — gaze.
yelping — a sharp cry.
situations — here means job.
apparatus — tools, machines, structures, etc.
dawn — early morning.
gigantic — huge.
furnaces — a structure in which heat is generated.
chessman — 32 pieces of chess.
hue — colour.
glens — valleys.
snaps — photos.
loch — lakes.
scrawled — scribbled untidily.
well set — well laid.
condolence — consolation; pity; concern.
granite — a form of igneous rocks.
Outpouring — overflowing.
Circumstantial — personal.
timid — coward.
Overseas — across the seas.

Treasure Chest A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers

Treasure Chest Workbook Answers Chapter 10 The Last Lesson

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Treasure Chest Workbook Answers Chapter 10 The Last Lesson

Treasure Chest Workbook Answers Chapter 10 The Last Lesson

The Last Lesson Comprehension Questions Answers

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow :

Passage-1.

I started for school very late that morning and was in great dread of a scolding, especially because M. Hamel had said that he would question us on participles, and I did not know the first word about them. For a moment I thought of running away and spending the day out of doors.

It was so warm, so bright! The birds were chirping at the edge of the woods; and in the open field back of the saw-mill the Prussian soldiers were drilling. It was all much more tempting than the rule for participles, but I had the strength to resist, and hurried off to school.

1. Why did the narrator think of running away?
2. How was the narrator?
3. Where were the birds chirping?
4. Why was the narrator in fear?
5. The teacher would question of what?
Answer:
1. The narrator was thinking of running away because he was in great fear of scolding by the teacher M. Hamel.
2. The narrator was fearful, coward and not a good student.
3. The birds were chirping at the edge of the woods and in the open field back of the saw mill.
4. M. Hamel the teacher gave lessons on participles and the narrator was not prepared for that. So, the narrator was in fear.
5. The teacher would ask questions on participles.

Passage-2.

Through the window I saw my classmates, already in their places, and M. Hamel walking up and down with his terrible iron ruler under his arm. I had to open the door and go in before everybody. You can imagine how I blushed and how frightened I was. But nothing happened, M. Hamel saw me and said very kindly: “Go to your place quickly, little Franz. We were beginning without you.”

1. What was Hamel doing when Franz looked through the window?
2. Why was Franz frightened?
3. Did the teacher punish Franz.
4. What did happen when Franz enter the classroom.
5. What Hamel had under his arms?
Answer:
1. When Franz looked through the window M. Hamel was walking up and down.
2. Franz was frightened because he did not prepare his lesson and he was late.
3. No, M. Hamel did not punish Franz for his late arrival in the class.
4. Franz entered into the classroom. Hamel kindly told him to go to his place and sitdown.
5. Hamel had his terrible iron ruler under his arm.

Passage-3.

I jumped over the bench and sat down at my desk. Not till then, when I had got a little over my fright, did I see that our teacher had on his beautiful green coat, his frilled shirt, and the little black silk cap, all embroidered, that he never wore except on inspection and prize days. Besides, the whole school seemed so strange and solemn.

But the thing that surprised me most was to see, on the back benches that were always empty, the village people sitting quietly like ourselves; old Hauser, with his three cornered hat, the former mayor, the former postmaster, and several others besides. Everybody looked sad; and Hauser had brought an old primer, thumbed at the edges, and he held it open on his knees with his great spectacles lying across the pages.

1. What kind of dress M. Hamel was wearing?
2. How did the whole school seem?
3. Why was Franz surprised?
4. Who were present in the class besides the students?
5. Why was everybody sad?
Answer:
1. M. Hamel wore beautiful green coat, frilled shirt and the little black embroidered cap which he wore only on imspection and prize days.
2. The whole school seemed strange and solemn.
3. Franz was surprised because on the back benches of the class village people sat quietly like the students former postmaster, Mayor were among them.
4. Besides the students in the back benches sat Hausen with his three cornered hat, the former Mayor, the former postmaster and several others.
5. Everybody was sad because that was the last French class according to the order of the Prussian government.

Passage-4.

My last French lesson! Why, I hardly knew how to write ! I should never learn any more! I must stop there, then! Oh, how sorry I was for not learning my lessons, for seeking birds’ eggs, or going sliding on the Saar! My books, that had seemed such a nuisance a while ago, so heavy to carry, my grammar, and my history of the saints, were old friends now that I couldn’t give up. And M. Hamel, too; the idea that he was going away, that I should never see him again, made me forget all about his ruler and how cranky he was.

1. ‘My last French lesson’-Who was the speaker?
2. Why was the narrator sorry?
3. Who were the old friends of the speaker?
4. How did Franz forget Hamel’s ruler?
5. Why was Hamel going away?
Answer:
1. The speaker was M. Hamel who taught French in Franz’s school.
2. The narrator was sorry because he would not get chance to study French again as that was the last class.
3. The books, his grammar book, his history of the saints were the old friends of the speaker.
4. The idea that Hamel was going away from the school and the narrator would not see him again were the reasons of the speaker to forget Hamel’s ruler.
5. Hamel was going away because according to the Berlin’s order French would not be taught in Franz’s school.

Passage-5.

Poor man! It was in honor of this last lesson that he had put on his fine Sunday clothes, and now I understood* why the old men of the village were sitting there in the back of the room. It was because they were sorry, too, that they had not gone to school more.

It was their way of thanking our master for his forty years of faithful service and of showing their respect for the country that was theirs no more. While I was thinking of all this, I heard my name called. It was my turn to recite.

What would I not have given to be able to say that dreadful rule for the participle all through, very loud and clear, and without one mistake? But I got mixed up on the first words and stood there, holding on to my desk, my heart beating, and not daring to look up.

1. Who was the poor man?
2. What was the dress of the teacher?
3. How long did Hamel teach French?
4. What was the cause Franz’s name call?
5. What was the condition of the speaker?
Answer:
1. ‘The Poor man’ mentioned in the passage was M. Hamel.
Passage-6 Now those fellows out there will have the right to say to you: ‘How is it; you pretend to be Frenchmen, and yet you can neither speak nor write your own language?’ But you are not the worst, poor little Franz. We’ve all a great deal to reproach ourselves with.
2. The teacher had put on his fine Sunday clothes.
3. M. Hamel taught French for long forty years in the school of the speaker.
4. Franz’s name was called to recite poems.
5. The speaker got mixed up on the first words and stood there holding on to his desk. His heart was beating and he did not dare to look up.

Passage-6.

Now those fellows out there will have the right to say to you: ‘How is it; you pretend to be Frenchmen, and yet you can neither speak nor write your own language?’ But you are not the worst, poor little Franz. We’ve all a great deal to reproach ourselves with.

“Your parents were not anxious enough to have you learn. They preferred to put you to work on a farm or at the mills, so as to have a little more money. And I? I’ve been to blame also. Have I not often sent you to water my flowers instead of learning your lessons? And when I wanted to go fishing, did I not just give you a holiday?”

1. What did they pretend to be?
2. What was the lacking?
3. How was Franz?
4. How were the parents responsible for Franz’s ignorance.
5. How was the teacher responsible?
Answer:
1. They pretended to be Frenchmen although the could neither speak nor write French, their own language.
2. Their lacking was that they did not know French properly.
3. Franz was unable to read, write and speak French properly although he was a Frenchman.
4. The parents were also responsible for Franz’s ignorance of French because they preferred to put him to work on a farm or at mills to earn some money for the family.
5. The teacher Hamel was also responsible because he sent Franz to water his flower plants instead of learning lessons. When he went on fishing he just gave him a holiday.

Passage-7.

Then, from one thing to another, M. Hamel went on to talk of the French language, saying that it was the most beautiful language in the world-the clearest, the most logical; that we must guard it among us and never forget it, because when a people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language it is as if they had the key to their prison.

Then he opened a grammar and read us our lesson. I was amazed to see how well I understood it. All he said seemed so easy, so easy! I think, too, that I had never listened socarefully, and that he had never explained everything with so much patience. It seemed almost as if the poor man wanted to give us all he knew before going away, and to put it all into our heads at one stroke.

1. According to Hamel how was the French language?
2. What they should do for French?
3. What was the last lesson?
4. How did he neglect French?
5. What did it seem to Franz?
Answer:
1. According to Hamel French is the most beautiful language in the world, the clearest and logical.
2. They should guard the language among them and never foget it.
3. The last lesson was about grammar.
4. Franz neglected French by not listening the teacher attentively and the teacher had never explained the lesson so carefully.
5. It seemed to Franz that as if the poor man wanted to give them all he knew before going away and to put it all into their heads at one stroke.

Passage-8.

After the grammar, we had a lesson in writing. That day M. Hamel had new copies for us, written in a beautiful round hand: France, Alsace, France, Alsace. They looked like little flags floating everywhere in the school-room, hung from the rod at the top of our desks.

You ought to have seen how every one set to work, and how quiet it was! The only sound was the scratching of the pens over the paper. Once some beetles flew in; but nobody paid any attention to them, not even the littlest ones, who worked right on tracing their fish-hooks, as if that was French, too. On the roof the pigeons cooed very low, and I thought to myself:

1. What was the lesson after grammar?
2. What had Hamel for students?
3. What they look like?
4. What was the sound?
5. What did the pigeons do?
Answer:
1. After grammar there was a lesson in writing.
2. Hamel had new copies for students written in a beautiful round hand France, Alsace, France, Alsace.
3. The new copies looked like little flags floating everywhere in the school room hung from the rod at the top of the students desk.
4. The only sound was the scratching of pens over the paper.
5. On, the roof the pigeons cooed very low and the narrator thought if the pigeons would make them sing in German.

Passage-9.

Whenever I looked up from my writing I saw M. Hamel sitting motionless in his chair and gazing first at one thing, then at another, as if he wanted to fix in his mind just how everything looked in that little school-room. Fancy! For forty years he had been there in the same place, with his garden outside the window and his class in front of him, just like that.

Only the desks and benches had been worn smooth; the walnut-trees in the garden were taller, and the hop-vine, that he had planted himself twined about the windows to the roof. How it must have broken his heart to leave it all, poor man; to hear his sister moving about in the room above, packing their trunks! For they must leave the country next day.

1. What did the narrator see?
2. How long Hamel taught in the school?
3. How was his residence?
4. What was Hamel’s sister doing?
5. When would they leave the country?
Answer:
1. The narrator looked up from his writing and saw M. Hamel was sitting motionless on his chair and gared at one thing to another, as if he wanted to fix in his mind just how everything looked that in the little school room.
2. Hamel taught French in Franz’s school for long forty years.
3. His residence had a garden outside the window and his class was in front of him. The wallnut trees in the garden were taller and the hop vine twined about the windows to the roof.
4. Hamel’s sister was moving about in the room above. She was busy in packing their trunks.
5. They would leave the country the next day.

Passage-10.

But he had the courage to hear every lesson to wedge the very last. After the writing, we had a lesson in history, and then the babies chanted their ba, be, bi, bo, bu. Down there at the back of the room old Hauser had put on his spectacles and, holding his primer in both hands, spelled the letters with them.

You could see that he, too, was crying; his voice trembled with emotion, and it was so funny to hear him that we all wanted to laugh and cry. Ah, how well I remember it, that last lesson! All at once the church-clock struck twelve. Then the Angelus. At the same moment the trumpets of the Prussians, returning from drill, sounded under our windows. M. Hamel stood up, very pale, in his chair. I never saw him look so tall.

1. What Harnet had?
2. What was the next class?
3. What was old Houser doing?
4. How was the emotion of Hamel?
5. When did M. Hamel stand up?
Answer:
1. Hamel had the courage to hear every lesson to the very last.
2. The next class was a lesson on history.
3. Old Houser had put on his spectarles holding his primer in both hands. He spelled the letters with the students.
4. After his last class Hamel was crying. His voice trembled with emotion and it was funny to hear him though the students wanted to laugh and cry.
5. The church clock struck twelve. At the same moment the trumpets of the Prussians sounded under their windows. M. Hamel stood up from his chair looking ‘ery pale and tall.

The Last Lesson About the Story

The Franco Prussian War (1870-1871) was fought between France and Prussia. France was defeated in the war by Prussia led by Bismarck. Then Prussia was consisted of nations of Germany, Poland and parts of Austria. According to the order from Berlin French would, never be taught in the school and they would have to learn German.

The people of Alsace and Lorraine and the school teacher M Hamel admonished themselves for having taken their mother tongue their identity be granted. M Hamel leaves them with love and reverence for their mother land and parts hopefully that they would be able to bring France back to its former glory.

The Last Lesson About the Author

Alphonse Daudet was a French novelist, short story writer, a playwright and a poet. He is remembered mainly as an author of sentimental and humourous tales of provincial life in the south of France. Daudet had to toil hard to carry on his education.

So, he began his writing career. In his later life he established himself as a novelist, poet and short story writer. The short story ‘The Last Lesson’ set against the back drop of the Franco Prussian war deals with the occupation of Alsace Lorraine in the year 1870.

The Last Lesson Brief Summary

Franz started late for school as he feared that his teacher would rebuke him as he did not learn his lesson participles on the bright day with the chirping of birds in the edge of the Wood he thought of running away from school Prussian soldiers were doing drill in an open field. Although at last Franz hurried off to school.

Franz was passing by the town hail. There was a crowd in front of the bulletin board that conveyed all the bad news. Franz was worried to see the crowd. He thought of the usual bustle at the school. Franz was surprised to see that the usual bustle was running at the school.

It looked like a Sunday morning, still and quiet. Franz saw his classmates through the window. Mr. Hamel, their teacher was walking up and down with his iron ruler. Franz entered into the class being frightened. But Mr. Hamel with his green coat, frilled shirt and black silk cap asked him to take his seat kindly. Franz was surprised that the back benches were occupied by villagers.

Mr. Hamel declared that it was their last class in French. According to the Berlin order issued from Berlin only German would be taught in Alsace and Lorraine. Hamel also said that a new teacher would join the next day. For the first time Franz was sorry for not preparing his lessons. He was sad for Hamel’s leaving. He forgot about his teacher’s rules as the villagers. arrived to pay their respect to a dedicated teacher.

Franz was called to recite the rules of participles. He mixed up everything and felt sorry. Mr. Hamel did not scold him. Mr. Hamel remarked sadly that the French men could not speak or write French properly. According to him parents were not anxious about their children to learn.

He asked all that French is the most beautiful language in the world and they must guard it and not to forget it. Then Mr. Hamel gave his last lecture on grammar in an easy manner. He gave a lesson in writing. Everyone did his work silently. The only sound heard was that the scratching of the pens.

Mr. Hamel served the school for forty years. He had the courage to Learn every lesson to the last. In history he delivered his last lesson. Everyone in the class became emotional to shed tears. The church clock struck twelve. Mr. Hamel grew emotional as he taught. Taking a chalk he wrote. ‘Viva La France’ in the blackboard. Then he said, ‘School is dismissed you may go.’

Glossary:

1. Scolding — rubuke.
2. Chirping — birds call.
3. bulletin board — Notice board.
4. apprentice — a goung learner to work.
5. bustle — noise.
6. in unison — contemporary.
7. apping — hitting.
8. counsed on — depended upon.
9. commotion — noisy confusion.
10. blush — to become red in shame.
11. frilled — decorated with folds.
12. Solemn — serious.
13. mounted — sat.
14. Thunderclap — a loud crash of thunder.
15. Wretches — bad persons.
16. cranky — strange.
17. dreadful — terrible.
18. reproach — critical/blame.
19. amazed — surprised.
20. motionless — still.
21. gazing — staring.
22. twined — encircled.
23. choked — unable to speak.
24. Viva La France — Long live France.

Plot : The story ‘The Last Lesson’ starts in the back drop of French Prussian War (1870 – 71) in which France was defeated under the leadership of Bismark. Franz is a school going boy and he is afraid of his French teacher M. Hamel. So, the story deals with two characters. Franz and Mr. Hamel.

After the defeat of France the Prussians ordered that French would not be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The French people would be deprived in learning their own language. M. Hamel in formal clothes bade farewell to all who gathered in the last class. In his last lesson M. Hamel told his students and others to be patriotic and to love their own language which will surely be a key to their prison.

Theme : The people of Alsace in France do not pay heed to the study of French language in their schools. But when the Prussian rulers ordered that French would no longer be taught they understood of their fault. The Prussian rulers desired to rule of over the minds and hearts of the Frenchmen.

The story also deals with the cruelty of war that makes the winning people proud, arrogant and insensitive to human feelings. The victory changes their heads and they dictate things in an autocratic and proud manner. In the story M. Hamel emphasises the importance of one’s mother tongue. It is the duty of all of us to keep our mother tongue alive.

Title : The story revolves around the last lesson taught by M. Hamel as French would no longer be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. It is the first lesson of this Frenchmen who realised that they were losing their identity. The people of Alsace and Lorraine lost their chance to hold on to their identity as they had never bothered to learn their own language, and it was a matter of shame that being Frenchmen they were unable to read or write French.

Thus, the title ‘The Last Lesson’ is just as it teaches the people of Alsace and Lan-aine and the readers as well that lessons of life must be learnt well in time lest life should take away the opportunity.

The Last Lesson Characters

M. Hamel : M. Hamel is a devoted teacher a strict disciplinarian and a real patriot. He has a deep sorrow and regard as he tried to rouse patriotic feelings within the hearts of the people while leaving the class.

He highlighted the beauty of their mother tongue by saying that it was the key of their prison and uerged them to hold fast to it. His parting words – ’Viva La France revealed his remorseful and wounded heart as he dismissed the class. He proved himself an ideal teacher as he left his class with a lesson for life which would forever remain on their souls and would remind them endlessly for their duty to free their motherland and to restore its former glory.

Franz: Franz is a school going boy. He is carefree and easily distracted. He does not have much attention in learning. He is also a victim of procastination. On that particular day he fears as he does not prepare his lessons on participles. He is also late for the school. He is surprised to see that the usual hustle and buestle mining. He is very shocked to know that he has lost the chance to learn his mother tongue French.

He has an innocent mind which is filled with anger and regret. He has unlimited questions in his mind about man’s desire to control others. He discovers a new passion for his mother tongue and books. He learns his lesson with a fresh new passion. Even his teacher M. Hamel is elevated in his eyes and he shown a great regard for him.

Setting: The story ‘The Last Lesson’ is set in a French village. It was in the backdrop of the French Prussian war in 1870-71. In the war France was defeated. After the war the Prussian rulers ordered that the French would not be taught in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine.

The story fells us how M. Hamel the school teacher, his students and the town people react to the news. In the classroom there is and atomosphere of hopelessness and regret. The defeated French people in the village for the first time realized their mistake for not learning their own language.The story relates to a bygone ear of French defeat against the Prussians. Thus, the setting is appropriate.

Style: The story, The Last Lesson’ by Alphonse Daudet has a first person narrative. Franz, a little boy is the speaker. He is a resident of Alsace Lorraine district of France which has been occupied by the Prussians.

The author feels biased about the government and the war compelling everyone to speak German language. It is often seen that the oppressors and conquerors became unkind and heartless in enforcing their own views on the defeated. The author uses many literary devices of irony, similis, symbols and metaphors to make the story clear and effective.

Man keeps on postponing the lessons of life, as they, forget that life is subject to change. Learning of French has never been a serious affair with the Frenchmen. But the sudden order to stop the teaching of French comes as a sudden blow and sad realisation of the people.

The anthor has used metaphors, similes and symbols, The sudden order of Berlin is described as thunderclap is a metaphor Mother tongue as if a key to their frison is a simile, the key to regain freedom from their Prison.

The Last Lesson Critical Appreciation

The Prussian forces defeated France in the war and they tried to opppress the Franch people by inforcing their unjust laws. The order to ban teaching of French was meant to make people forget their customs and language. The cruelty of war is reflected in the story. The victorious people become arrogant and insensitive to the feelings of the defeated people.

They dictate things in an autocratic and proved manner. From the story we learn that, it is unwise to negect the ‘earning ones mother tongue. We can preserve our identity through our mother tongue This message is properly conveyed as Hamel writes ‘Viva La France’ on the black board. The story give emphasis on learning ones mother tongue as a key to freedom and dignity.

The Last Lesson Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

Read the questions given below and answer by choosing the correct options :

Question 1.
What was Franz’s fear as he was going to school?
a. fear of bullies
b. fear of M. Hamel
c. late punishment
d. none of the above
Answer:
b. fear of Mr. Hamel.

Question 2.
Who was Wachter?
a. Franz’s friend
b. Franz’s father
c. a blacksmith
d. none of the above
Answer:
c. a blacksmith.

Question 3.
Mr. Hamel was a coat of-
a. red
b. green
c. blue
d. white colours
Answer:
b. green.

Question 4.
The order has come from Berlin to teach-
a. German
b. French
c. English
d. None of the above
Answer:
a. German.

Question 5.
Which lesson Franz found hard-
a. History
b. Geography
c. English
d. Participles
Answer:
d. Participles.

Question 6.
The order has come from-
a. London
b. USA
c. Berlin
d. none of the above.
Answer:
c. Berlin.

Question 7.
Hamel served as a teacher for-
a. 30 years
b. 40 years
c. 50 years
d. 35 years
Answer:
b. 40 years

Question 8.
‘The poor man wated to give us all’-Here the poorman means-
a. Franz
b. Franz’s father
c. Hamel
d. none of the above
Answer:
c. Hamel.

Question 9.
The last lesson was of-
a. history
b. English
c. French
d. German
Answer:
a. History.

Question 10.
What came as a thunder of-
a. Scolding
b. Berlin order
c. Franz’s failure
d. defeat of the French
Answer:
b. Berlin order.

Question 11.
The bulletin board shows news.
a. cheerful
b. sad
c. horrible
d. routine
Answer:
b. sad.

Question 12.
Mr. Hamel stood up very in his chair.
a. Cheerful
b. sad
c. pale
d. none of the above
Answer:
c. pale.

Treasure Chest A Collection of ICSE Chapter Workbook Answers

With the Photographer Story Questions and Answers & MCQs

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With the Photographer Story Questions and Answers

With the Photographer Story Questions and Answers & MCQs

A. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

“I WANT my photograph taken,” I said. The photographer looked at me without enthusiasm. He was a drooping man in a gray suit, with the dim eye of a natural scientist. But there is no need to describe him. Everybody knows what a photographer is like.

“Sit there,” he said, “and wait.” I waited an hour. I read the Ladies Companion for 1912, the Girls Magazine for 1902 and the infants Journal for 1888. I began to see that I had done an unwarrantable thing in breaking in on the privacy of this man’s scientific pursuits with a face like mine. After an hour the photographer opened the inner door.
“Come in,” he said severely.
I went into the studio.

Question 1.
Who is ‘I’ referred to here ? Where from has this extract been taken ?
Answer:
Here ‘I’ referred to the author who wanted his photograph to be taken. This extract has been taken from Stephen Leacock’s short story ‘With the photographer.

Question 2.
Why did the photographer take so much time?
Answer:
The photographer was not satisfied with the face and posture of the writer. He was adjusting and re-adjusting his camera as well as the face and posture of the writer. That was the reason why he took so much time.

Question 3.
How was the appearance of the photographer?
Answer:
The photographer was a drooping man in a gray suit with the dim eye of a natural scientist. He seemed to be a disinterested person, lacking enthusiasm. He behaved harshly with the author and insulted the author while taking his photograph. His behaviour angered the author very much.

Question 4.
Why did the photographer made the author wait?
Answer:
The photographer showed no enthusiasm when the author came to his studio for clicking his picture. He was not at all interested in doing his job without complaining and as he was careless, he made the author wait for an hour and then finally called him in “severely”.

B. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

“The face is quite wrong,” he said. “I know,” I answered quietly; “I have always known it.” He sighed. “I think,” he said, “the face would be better three-quarters full.” “I’m sure it would,” I said enthusiastically, for I was glad to find that the man had such a human side to him.

“So would yours. In fact,” I continued, “how many faces one sees that are apparently hard, narrow, limited, but the minute you get them three-quarters full they get wide, large, almost boundless in” But the photographer had ceased to listen. He came over and took my head in his hands and twisted it sideways. I thought he meant to kiss me, and I closed my eyes. But I was wrong.

Question 1.
How did the photographer behave with the author?
Answer:
The photographer, during his brief meeting with the author showed his disinterest in clicking the author’s picture. At first he made him wait for an hour and when he called him to take his picture, he started annoying commentaries about his facial features that angered and saddened the author.

Question 2.
‘‘The face Is quite wrong,” he said. Who said this and to whom?
Answer:
This was said by the photographer to the author who went to studio to click his own picture.

Question 3.
How had the photographer arranged his studio?
Answer:
The photographer’s studio had poor lighting arrangements. The sunlight came through a sheet of factory cotton hung against a frosted window. The room had a big camera in the middle. A black cloth was attached to the camera. Thus, we can say that the studio was shabbily arranged.

Question 4.
“But I was wrong”— Who was wrong? Why?
Answer:
Here, the author was wrong. When the photographer started his commentaries about his face, the author thought that the photographer might praise his face or impressed by his face-cutting by any chance. So, when the photographer moved forward, the author thought that he was about to kiss him so closed his eyes. At this, he was wrong.

C. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

“I don’t like the head,” he said. Then he went back to the machine and took another look. “Open the mouth a little,” he said. I started to do so. “Close it,” he added quickly. Then he looked again. “The ears are bad,” he aid; “droop them a little more. Thank you. Now the eyes. Roll them in under the lids. Put the hands on the knees, please, and turn the face just a little upward.

Yes, that’s better. Now just expand the lungs! So! And hump the neck—that’s it – and just contract the waist -ha!-and twist the hip up towards the elbow-now! I still don’t quite like the face, it’s just a trifle too full, but ” I swung myself round on the stool. “Stop,” I said with emotion but, I think, with dignity. “This face is my face. It is not yours, it is mine.

I’ve lived with it for forty years and I know its faults. I know it’s out of drawing. I know it wasn’t made for me, but it’s my face, the only one I have I was conscious of a break in my voice but I went on “such as it is, I’ve learned to love it. And this is my mouth, not yours. These ears are mine, and if your machine is too narrow -” Here I started to rise from the seat.

Question 1.
According to the photographer, how was the author’s face?
Answer:
According to the photographer, the author’s face was faulty. He did not like his head, ears and not even the eyes. To him, his face was not at all photogenic.

Question 2.
Why did the author stop him?
Answer:
The photographer kept on making annoying commentaries about the author’s face before taking his photograph. This made the author angry and sad as well. So, he stopped him.

Question 3.
How did the author feel about his face?
Answer:
The author had no regret about his facial features. He was proud of it and he had no problem with it no matter how good or bad it was. He also told that his face was his own face and he had no complaint with it as he had learned to love it since his birth.

Question 4.
What idea do you get about the author from this extract?
Answer:
From this extract, we clearly get a hint about the annoying behaviour of the photographer which made the author a bit self-conscious but he tried to overcome it by boosting his self-confidence. But in heart, he kept on getting angry and sad as well.

D. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

The photographer had pulled a string. The photograph taken. I could see the machine still staggering from the shock “I think,” said the photographer, pursing his lips in a pleased smile, “that I caught the features just in a moment of animation.” “So!” I said bitingly, – “features, eh? You didn’t think I could animate them, I suppose ? But let me see the picture.”

“Oh, there’s nothing to see yet,” he said, “I have to develop the negative first. Come back on Saturday and I’ll let you see a proof of it.” On Saturday I went back. The photographer beckoned me in. I thought he seemed quieter and graver than before. I think, too, there was a certain pride in his manner. Heunfolded the proof of a large photograph, and we both looked at it in silence.

Question 1.
Was the photograph finally taken?
Answer:
Yes, after the annoying commentaries of the photographer followed by a brief argument, the photograph of the author was finally taken.

Question 2.
Why did the photographer not let the author see his photo?
Answer:
After his photo was clicked, the author asked the photographer to show him his photo. At this, he said that there ‘was nothing to see yet and so told him to get a proof of it on Saturday.

Question 3.
Why did the photographer look pleased after taking the picture?
Answer:
The photographer suggested many ways to get the perfect click while on the other side, the author felt humiliated and insulted. Hence, the author stood up from his seat and at this moment, the photographer clicked the photo. The photographer felt pleased as he had caught the features in a natural way and he could click the photo the way he wanted.

Question 4.
Do you think that the photographer appeared a bit suspicious?
Answer:
When the author asked him to show his photo, he did not let him see it and told him to come and get a proof of it on Saturday. This act, is kind of fishy as it is depicting that the photographer might have some hidden agenda behind this. So yes, the photographer appeared suspicious.

With the Photographer Story MCQs

Choose the correct alternative to complete the following sentences:

Question 1.
Who is the author of ‘With the photographer’?
a. C.E.M Joad
b. Stephen Leacock
c. A.G Gardener
Answer:
b. Stephen Leacock

Question 2.
Who was responsible for the mockery of Stephen Leacock’s face?
a. The dentist
b. The barber
c. The photographer
Answer:
c. The photographer

Question 3.
What part of the writer’s face remained unchanged in his photo?
a. Ears
b. Face
c. Eyes
Answer:
a. Ears

Question 4.
Who had no business to comment on the gift of God?
a. The teacher
b. The photographer
c. The Doctor
Answer:
b. The photographer

Question 5.
Who told the photographer to keep his photo with himself?
a. Stephen Leacock
b. J.C. Hill
c. C.E.M Joad
Answer:
a. Stephen Leacock

Question 6.
In which part of the room there is a big camera?
a. Left Side
b. Comer
c. Middle
Answer:
c. Middle

Question 7.
Who said, I think the face would be better three- quarters fall?
a. The Author
b. The Photographer
c. The Doctor
Answer:
b. The Photographer

Question 8.
Whose photo was worthless?
a. Stephen Leacock
b. The photographer
c. J.C. Hill
Answer:
a. Stephen Leacock

Question 9.
Who has said that ‘Is it me’?
a. The Author
b. The photographer
c. The stranger
Answer:
a. The Author

Question 10.
What does the photographer want to remove?
a. Author’s nose
b. Author’s eye
c. Author’s ear
Answer:
c. Author’s ear

Question 11.
How was the photographer?
a. Tall man
b. Thin man
c. Tiny man
Answer:
b. Thin man

Question 12.
“I think the face would be better these a quarter’s fall.” Who said it?
a. The author
b. The barber
c. The photographer
Answer:
c. The photographer

Question 13.
Where from was “With The Photographer” adapted?
a. Behind the beyond
b. The bet
c. Echo
Answer:
a. Behind the beyond

Question 14.
What coloured suit was the photographer wearing?
a. Red
b. Grey
c. Black
Answer:
b. Grey

Question 15.
What is the age of the author in the essay?
a. 40 Years
b. 35 Years
c. 30 Years
Answer:
a. 40 Years

Question 16.
What did the photographer say when the author wished to see his photography?
a. He denied
b. He’ll develop the negative first
c. He show only final print
Answer:
b. He’ll develop the negative first

Question 17.
What did the photographer do with the author’s eyebrow?
a. Removed
b. Corrected
c. Blurred
Answer:
a. Removed

Question 18.
How was the author’s reaction when he left the studio?
a. With no emotion
b. Angrily
c. With tears in eyes
Answer:
c. With tears in eyes

Question 19.
Who told photographer to keep his photo with himself?
a. J.C. Hill
b. Stephen Lecock
c. The Barber
Answer:
b. Stephen Lecock

Question 20.
For how many hours did the photographer make him wait?
a. 2 hours
b. 1 hours
c. 4 hours
Answer:
b. 1 hours

Question 21.
How was the studio of the photographer?
a. Bad
b. good
c. Broken
Answer:
a. Bad

Question 22.
What was the author expecting?
a. Fake face
b. True face
c. Faithful face
Answer:
c. Faithful face

Question 23.
In which year Stephen Lecock was born?
a. 1897
b. 1896
c. 1899
Answer:
b. 1896

Question 24.
What was the photographers comment about the author’s face?
a. Quite Wrong
b. Handsome
c. Not right
Answer:
a. Quite Wrong

Question 25.
Where Stephen Lecock was born?
a. France
b. Canada
c. Britain
Answer:
c. Britain

Treasure Chest A Collection of ICSE Short Stories Workbook Answers

Abhisara-The Tryst Poem Questions and Answers & Summary

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Poem 1 Abhisara-The Tryst Questions and Answers

Abhisara-The Tryst Poem Summary, Questions and Answers

Abhisara-The Tryst Poem Long Answer Questions

Question 1.
Write a critical appreciation of Tagore’s Abhisara – the Tryst.
Answer:
Abhisara – the Tryst is the translated version of his Sanyasi Upagupta, which Tagore himself translated in English in 1916. The poem is about Upagupta a Buddhist monk and a courtesan named Vasavadatta who stand as a sharp contrast to each other all because of their contrasting nature.

While Vasavadatta stands as a potential symbol of youth, glamour and elegance, Upagupta is the symbol of simplicity and selflessness. Tagore intends to establish that youth and pomp are ephemeral and all that is valued in the world is love and care advocated by Upagupta.

Abhisara – the Tryst begins when monsoon hits Mathura. A Buddhist monk, Upagupta is found sleeping on the dusty pavements near the city wall of Mathura. The street lamps are out. The doors are locked as people inside are in profound sleep.

The stars in the sky are capped in the clouds of August and silence reigns everywhere. Vasavadatta a courtesan, breaks the silence with her tinkling anklets and wakes Upagupta as she bumps on his breast.

Lowering her lamps, she discovers the saintly face of Upagupta which overwhelms her. She begs forgiveness for her unintentional bump with the sage and Courteously invites Upagupta in her house. The dusty pavement is after all not “a fit bed” for him.

Upagupta denies coming with her but vows come to her only “when the time is ripe”. The sky is instantly – blazed with furious thunderstorms, terrorizing the courtesan with some unknown threat. She hurries back home while lightening continues growing violent in the sky.

Spring arrives meanwhile. The world around looks colourful with flowers on the branches of the roadside trees. Sweet melodies of flute are audible from a far distance. Upagupta the young hermit-strolls alone through deserted streets before stopping at the base of the city wall. A woman is found lying in the shade of the mango grove.

Upagupta recognizes her. She is Vasavadatta, banished by the city folk because of contracting a deadly plague. Upagupta sits beside her, puts her forehead on his lap and gives her water to wet her lips. He then cleans her sores and smears her body with sandalwood balm.

Feeling better the woman asks who he is. Upagupta reminds her that the time has come at last to meet Vasavadatta and that he is here. The bounteous heart of Upagupta is established as he nurses Vasavadata when people banished her due to fear of contagion.

Question 2.
Abhisara – the Tryst is a poem which spreads the message of love and compassion. Discuss with close reference to the poem.
Answer:
Abhisara – the Tryst advocates the ‘idea that love and compassion are all that the world needs particularly when in trouble like Vasavadatta, the courtesan of Mathura. Vasavadatta however is the symbol of pomp and pride which are of ephemeral nature. The society which she entertains finally ostracizes her when plague hits her badly.

Upagupta, a Buddhist monk only stays beside her. His compassion shows the world that love and care have magical power to heal even a perilous disease like plague. While Upagupta stands as a symbol of humanity, the society of Vasavadatta is a potential symbol of inhumanity and selfishness. Here lies the difference between the world of an ascetic and the world driven by materialistic pleasure.

For the first time, Vasavadatta meets Upagupta on the dusty pavement where the hermit was sleeping. She wakes him up with her unintentional bump in his breast. Instead of being annoyed, Upagupta continues staring at her with compassion. The courtsan is at once moved by the polite gesture of the hermit and courteously invites him in her house.

She says that the dusty pavement is not a “fit bed” for Upagupta. But, Upagupta turns down her invitation saying that he will come to her when the time is ripe. Terror strikes in the heart of Vasavadatta who hurries back to home while lightening continues growing violent in the sky. The second meeting establishes the bounteous heart of Upagupta.

While wandering through the deserted streets, Upagupta discovers Vasavadatta lying in the shades of mango grove. Plague has almost ruined her youth. The townsfolk whom she once entertained with  her dance have thrown her out due to fear of contagion. Upagupta sits beside her, puts her forehead on his lap, gives her water to wet her lips, cleans her sores and smears her body with sandal wood balm.

Feeling better, Vasavadatta demands to know that who is the “merciful one” that nurses her when the world has ostracized her. Upagupta replies that the time has come at last to meet her again and that he is here. Tagore intends to show that the unkind human world badly needs the lesson of humanity which Upagupta tutors through his care for the sick and infirm Vasavadatta.

Abhisara-The Tryst Poem Short Answer Questions

Question 1.
With close reference to the text describe the character of Upagupta.
Answer:
Upagupta is a Buddhist monk, revered even by Emperor Ashoka. He is found sleeping on the dusty pavement near the city wall of Mathura. Upagupta’s benevolence is established towards the end of the poem when he rescues the courtesan named Vasavadatta.

Infected with deadly plague, Vasavadatta is found lying in the shade of the mango grove as she is banished by the townsfolk because of the fear of contagion. Upagupta sits beside her, puts her forehead on his lap and gives her water to wet her lips. He then cleans her sores and smears her body with sandalwood balm. Feeling better the woman asks who he is. Upagupta reminds her that the time has come at last to meet Vasavadatta again and that he is here.

The first meeting occurred in the month of August when Vasavadatta courteously invites the morrk to come to her house finding him resting on the dusty pavement. Upagupta is thus, endowed with divine power which aids him to foresee the danger in Vasavadatta’s life. He keeps his words and establishes his bounteous heart once he nurses Vasavadata with love and care.

Question 2.
With close reference to the poem describe the character of Vasavadatta.
Answer:
Vasavadatta is a beautiful young “dancing girl” who experiences a reversal of fortune towards the end of the poem. Dressed in blue shawl she looks elegant with jewels studded all over her body. Her courteous nature is established once she bumps on Upagupta’s breast and instantly begs forgiveness.

Even she invites Upagupta in her house as the dusty pavement is not “a fit bed” for him. Upagupta’s avowal that he will meet her only when the “time is ripe” strikes terror in her heart and she instantly disappears while lightening continues growing violent in the sky.

In the spring Vasavadatta is again found. She is now banished by the cityfolk whom she once entertained. Infected with deadly plague, Vasavadatta is left alone in the shade of the mango grove where Upagupta shows up before her. He puts her forehead on his lap, gives her water to wet her lipsy cleans her sores and smears her body with sandalwood balm.

Feeling better, Vasavadatta demands to know that who is the “merciful one” that nurses her when the world has ostracized her. Upagupta replies that the time has come at last to meet Vasavadatta again and that he is here. Vasavadatta’s story counsels us that youth and pomp are ephemeral and all that is valued in the world is love and care, advocated by Upagupta.

Question 3.
Describe the first meeting between Upagupta and the young dancing girl, Vasavadatta.
Answer:
The first meeting between Upagupta and Vasavadatta occurs when the city of Mathura was hit by monsoon. It was a dark night. The stars in the sky were capped in the clouds of August. The street lights were off and the people were locked in their room. Upagupta was sleeping on the dusty pavements near the city wall of Mathura.

While heading towards home, a city dancer named Vasavadatta bumps on with the breast of Upagupta. Lowering her lamps, she discovers the saintly face of Upagupta which overwhelms her. She begs forgiveness for her unintentional bump with the sage and courteously invites Upagupta in her house. The dusty pavement is after all not “a fit bed” for him. Upagupta denies coming with her but vows come to her only “when the time is ripe”. The sky blazed with furious thunderstorm, and Vasavadatta hurries back home terrified with sage’s prophesy.

Question 4.
Describe the sencond meeting between Upagupta and the young dancing girl, Vasavadatta.
Answer:
The second meeting between Upagupta and Vasavadatta occurs when the city of Mathura was hit by the boisterous spring. Colourful flowers bloomed on the branches of the roadside trees and the melody of flute came floating by in the evening from a far distance. The moon overhead illumed the lonely streets where Upagupta was seen waking alone amidst the love-sick tunes of koels.

Suddenly he discovered Vasavadatta lying in the shade of the mango grove. Because of contracting a dangerous plague, the townsfolk had banished her due to fear of contagion. But Upagupta however keeps his words.

Sitting beside the ailing dancer, he puts her forehead on his lap and gives her water to wet her lips. He then cleans her sores and smears her body with sandalwood balm. Finally he reminds Vasavadatta that the time at last has come to meet her and that he is here.

Abhisara-The Tryst Poem Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

Question 1.
Upagupta is the disciple of ………….
a. Lord Shiva
b. Lord Vishnu
c. Lord Buddha
d. Lord Brahma
Answer:
c. Lord Buddha

Question 2.
In which city was Upagupta found sleeping?
a. Lucknow
b. Varanasi
c. Gaya
d. Mathura
Answer:
d. Mathura

Question 3.
It was the month of when Upagupta was found sleeping
a. September
b. August
c. April
d. Mayz
Answer:
b. August

Question 4.
Whose feet touched the breast of Upagupta?
a. A young man
b. A young boy
c. A girl named Vasavadatta
d. An old lady
Answer:
c. A girl named Vasavadatta

Question 5.
Who was Vasavadatta?
a. A priest
b. A singer
c. A dancer
d. A painter
Answer:
c. A dancer

Question 6.
How did Vasavadatta see the face of Upagupta?
a. In faint moonlight
b. In broad daylight
c. By thelight of stars
d. By lowering her lamp
Answer:
d. By lowering her lamp

Question 7.
What did Vasavadatta offer to Upagupta?
a. Food
b. Cloth
c. To come to her house and rest
d. Water
Answer:
c. To come to her house and rest.

Question 8.
When does Upagupta promise to come to Vasavadatta?
a. In autumn
b. The next year
c. When the time will ripe
d. In summer
Answer:
c. When the time will ripe

Question 9.
Why did Vasavadatta tremble hearing Upagupta’s promise?
a. Because it started raining suddenly
b. Because of sudden thunder and lightening
c. Because she anticipated some dreadful event in her life
d. Because she was in doubt whether Upagupta would keep his words
Answer:
c. Because she anticipated some dreadful event in her life

Question 10.
Name the two months mentioned in the poem
a. April and June
b. March and April
c. April and May
d. April and August
Answer:
d. April and August

Question 11.
What happens to Vasavadatta towards the end of the poem?
a. She dies
b. She was caught with plague
c. She was in debt
d. She disappeared from the town
Answer:
b. She was caught with plague

Question 12.
What does Upagupta do finding Vasavadatta lying.
a. He ran away
b. He nursed her
c. He called people around
d. He cried
Answer:
b. He nursed her

Abhisara-The Tryst Poem Summary

Abhisara-The Tryst Poem Introduction

Tagore’s Abhisara – the Tryst is the translated version of his Sanyasi Upagupta, which first appeared in a collection of verses named Fruit Gathering. The poem was translated in English by Tagore himself In 1916. Upagupta a Buddhist monk, revered even by Emperor Ashoka, accidentally meets a dancer named Vasavadatta and vows that he will meet her again when actually she needs him.

The monk reappears at the time of perilous plague and nurses the dancer with compassion, when she is ostracized from the society. Upagupta’s righteousness, his simplicity and selflessness is a sheer contrast to the pomp and elegance of Vasavadatta, the beautiful dancer.

Abhisara-The Tryst Poem Summary

Amidst pitch-black darkness Upagupta, a Buddhist monk is found sleeping on the dusty pavements near the city wall of Mathura. The street lamps are out. The doors are locked with people inside, enjoying profound sleep. The stars in the sky are capped in clouds of August and silence reigns all around. The tinkling of the anklets breaks the silence of the night as a courtesan tiptoes on the street. She is Vasavadatta a beautiful young girl who bumps on the breast of Upagupta and wakes him up.

Upagupta is at once shocked but, remains calm with his merciful eyes fixed on Vasavadatta. The young courtesan is dressed in blue shawl and studded with jewels. It seems as if she is drenched in youth as she looks remarkably beautiful.

Vasavadatta lowers her lamp and discovers the saintly face of Upagupta. She is overwhelmed and begs forgiveness for her unintentional bump with the sage. Courteously she invites the monk in her house as the dusty pavement is not worth for him to sleep. Upagupta turns down the offer but, vows to come to her only when the time comes. The sky is suddenly blazed with furious thunderstorm, terrorizing the courtesan with some unknown threat. She hurries back home while lightening continues growing violent in the sky.

Mean while, spring arrives and the world around becomes colourful with flowers grown on the branches of the roadside trees. The April nights are glorified by the sweet melodies of distant flutes. People are all gathered in the nearby forest to enjoy the flower festival. The moon overhead showers its rays upon the empty – streets where Upagupta, the young hermit walks alone amidst the love-sick tunes of koels from the mango grove. -Upagupta stops at the foot of the city wall.

He finds a woman lying in the shade of the mango grove. The woman contracted a dangerous plague that leaves scars all over her body. She is banished from the city for fear of contagion. Upagupta sits beside her, puts her forehead on his lap and gives her water to wet her lips. He then cleans her sores and smears her body with sandalwood balm. Feeling better the woman asks who he is. Upagupta reminds her that the time has come at last to meet her and that he is here.

Abhisara-The Tryst Poem Paraphrase

Lines 1 to 4:

Amidst pitch-black darkness Upagupta, a Buddhist monk is found sleeping on the dusty pavements near the city wall of Mathura. The street lamps are out. The doors are locked with people inside, enjoying profound sleep. The stars in the sky are capped in the * clouds of August and silence reigns all around.

Lines 5 to 10:

The tinkling of the anklets breaks the silence of the night as a courtesan tiptoes on the street. She is Vasavadatta a beautiful young girl who bumps on the breast of Upagupta and wakes him up. Upagupta is shocked at once but, remains calm with his merciful eyes fixed on Vasavadatta. The young courtesan is dressed in blue shawl and studded with jewels. It seems as if she is drenched in youth as she looks remarkably beautiful.

Lines 11 to 16:

Vasavadatta lowers her lamp and discovers the saintly face of Upagupta. She is s overwhelmed and begs forgiveness for her unintentional. bump with the sage. Courteously she invites the monk in her house as the dusty pavement is not worth for him to sleep.

Upagupta at once turns down the offer but, vows to come to her only when the time comes. The sky is suddenly blazed with a furious thunder storm terrorizing the courtesan with some unknown threat. She hurries back home while lightening continues growing violent in the sky.

Lines 17 to 21:

Spring arrives and the world around ‘ becomes colourful with flowers, grown on the branches of the roadside trees. The April nights are glorified by the sweet melody of the flute, audible from a far distance. People are all gathered in the nearby forest to enjoy the flower festival. The moon overhead showers its rays upon the empty streets where Upagupta, the young hermit walks alone amidst the love-sick tunes of koels; from the mango grove.

Lines 22 to 32:

Upagupta stops at the foot of the city wall. He finds a woman lying in the shade of the mango grove. The woman contracted a dangerous plague that leaves scars all over her body. She is banished from the, city for fear of contagion.

Upagupta sits beside her, puts her forehead on his lap and gives her water to wet her lips. He then cleans her sores and smears her body with „ sandalwood balm. Feeling better the woman asks who he is. Upagupta reminds her that the time has come at last to meet Vasavadatta and that he is here.

Abhisara-The Tryst Poem Annotations with Comments

Lines 1 to 8

disciple : follower
murky : gloomy
tinkling : soft sound made by tiny bells
anklets : Ghungroos, an ornament worn round an ankle
startles: surprised
forgiving: tender and loving

Lines 9 to 16

starred : decorated
clouded covered
mantle : shawl
wine of her youth : refers to her youthful beauty. This is an example of metaphoro
austerely : severely simple
ascetic : monk
graciously : kindly
dusty earth : the dusty pavement
time is ripe : time will come
showed its teeth : broke into lightning

Lines 17 to 35:

growled : to snarl (as if the terrible sound of storm validates the monk’s prediction
aching : bending over by the weight of fruits and flowers
gay : happy
afar : far
gazed : looked down
plaint : complain
rampart : structure
pestilence : plague
driven away : thrown away, ostracized
moistened : wetted
smeared : applied
merciful : kind at heart

Comment:

The time, at last, has come to visit you: The prediction of the ascetic finally comes true. As the time is ripe now, Upagupta shows up before Vasavadatta to save her from dying a horrible death. Patiently he sits beside her, puts her forehead on his lap, gives her water to wet her lips, cleans her sores and smears her body with sandalwood balm. Upagupta’s benevolence is established as he nurses a woman whom all have abandoned due to fear of contagion.

Rhapsody: A Collection of ISC Poems Workbook Answers

A Considerable Speck Poem Questions and Answers & MCQs

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A Considerable Speck Poem Questions and Answers

A Considerable Speck Poem Questions and Answers & MCQs

Read the given extracts and answer the following questions:

Question 1.
And I idly poised my pen in air
To stop it with a period of ink

a. Name the poem and the poet.
b. What is ‘it’ referred to in the above extract? What was
the speaker doing?
c. Explain the lines of the above extract.
d. What thoughts did the speaker have which stopped him from doing the action? (spoken about in the above line.
Answers:
a. The name of the poem is “A Considerable Speck” and the poet’s name is Robert Frost.

b. ‘It’is referred to the mite that came and fell on the manuscript of the poet. The speaker is the writer himself who was writing on a white sheet of paper.

c. The speaker says that while he was writing, he saw a speck on the white sheet of paper on which he was writing. He at that moment wished to stop it by a period of ink of his pen. So he poised his pen in the air.

d. Something strange about the speck made him think over and so he didn’t want to stop it. He thought that it was not a “dust speck” that could be blown by his breathing. It was also a living creature like him. It was unmistakably a mite. The speaker thought it to have a certain predisposition or inclination of its own.

Question 2.
With Ioathing, for again it turned to fly
a. What is ‘it’ referred to in the above line?
b. Why did ‘it’ turned to fly?
c. What ‘inclination’ did the speaker say ‘it’ had?
d. How was the speaker able to see ‘it’ on the sheet?
Answers:
a. “It” is referred to the microscopic creature that is the mite which fell on the poet’s manuscript on which he was writing.

b. When the mite went racing wildly on the paper, it came across the writing where the ink was still wet. It paused and either tasted or smelt the ink. So with hatred, it turned to fly.

c. The poet says that the mite had a propensity or inclination of its own. It lived in its own self-engrossed world. So it paused possibly with the thought that the writer or the poet would do something to it.

d. The poet says that ‘it’-the mite would have been invisible because of its minute size, if it would not have fallen on the white sheet. Inspite of its microscopic size, the speck was visible to the poet just because it was a contrast on its background on the white sheet of paper.

Question 3.
Yet must have had a set of them complete.
a. What is ‘them’ referred to in the lines of the above extract?
b. What does the speaker think of ‘them’ in the line just before the above line?
c. What makes the speaker say the above line?
d. How was ‘it’using the ‘set of them’ in the stanza from which the above line is taken?
Answers:
a. “Them” is referred to the feet of the mite in the above extract.

b. The speaker says that the mite was too tiny to have any feet.

c. First the speaker thought the mite to be too tiny to have feet. But then he says that since the mite did not want to die, it ran with terror and crept cunningly. So the speaker thought that since it was running and creeping, it must have had a complete set of legs.

d. The mite first showed its unwillingness to die. This can be explained from the way it moved and ran. In order to express its reluctancy, it ran in terror and crept in a cunning way. Then it hesitated and next when it reached the middle of the paper it bent down.

Question 4.
Cower down in desperation to accept
Whatever I accorded it of fate.

a. Who “cower down accept” and why?
b. What did the speaker do then?
c. What did the speaker say about the modem men?
d. Through the lines of the above extract what does the poet wants to say about the mite?
Answers:
a. The mite cowered down or bent down desperately to accept its fate which was in the poet’s hands. It waited for the judgement to be given by the poet, possibly accepting what the poet would do to it.

b. The speaker let it lie there on the paper till he hoped it slept. He knew that it was not harmful, so it let it lie on the paper.

c. The speaker said that the modern men were swept away by a sense of purpose and selfishness which the speaker was not. He was against the “collectivistic regimenting of love” with which the modern world was being swept.

The poet was fascinated and wonder-struck with the minute creature as he examined it in details. Through his poem he tried to emphasize the importance of the microscopic creature. Inspite of its small size or inspite of being a speck, it is considerable or considered to be important for the poet as it is shown to have intelligence which is the utmost necessity of all the living creatures especially the human beings.

The mite displays its mind with intelligence on the paper by its different reactions like-pausing with suspicion, racing wildly, turning to fly, reaction to the ink with hatred, running with terror, creeping cunningly and bending down desperately to accept its fate.

Question 5.
No one can know how glad I am to find
On any sheet the least display of mind.

a. Who displays the mind and where?
b. Who is the speaker in the poem?
c. How would you describe the speaker’s attitude towards the speck he sees on his manuscript sheet?
d. What does the poem finally suggest is the significance of the speck?
Answers:
a. The microscopic creature, the mite displayed its mind with intelligence on the sheet of paper on which the poet was writing.

b. The speaker in this poem appears to be a writer as the use of the words pen, paper, ink and writing are mentioned several times in the poem.

c. The speaker seems to appreciate the speck. He respects it and almost treats it as a human in his poem. Even though the speck was there he neither let it get in his way nor did he make it upset. He basically thought to stop it from trespassing on his page by a period o ink but he did not. Then again we find how he left it on the paper until it slept.

d. The speck was a mite which helped the speaker realize several things. The mite itself was not really significant but the way it displayed itself on the sheet of paper was important. It displayed its mind on the paper by showing its intelligence inspite of its microscopic size.

A Considerable Speck Poem MCQs

Question 1.
The poem speaks of human capabilities of …………….
a. mind and intelligence
b. mind and soul
c. spirit and mind
d. none of the above
Answer:
a. mind and intelligence

Question 2.
Find a word from the poem that means the same as abhorrence …………..
a. poised
b. suspicion
c. loathing
d. desperation
Answer:
c. loathing

Question 3.
It ran with terror and ______crept. Fill in the gap
a. loathing
b. cunning
c. regimenting
d. strange
Answer:
b. cunning

Question 4.
Yet must have had a set of them complete. “Them” means ……………..
a. the mite’s wings
b. the mite’s eyes
c. the mite’s feet
d. none of the above
Answer:
c. the mite’s feet

Question 5.
Then in of the open sheet …. Fill in the blank
a. bottom
b. side
c. centre
d. middle
Answer:
d. middle

Question 6.
The speck here in the poem is said to have
a. evilness
b. cunningness
c. intelligence
d. both (b) and (c)
Answer:
d. both (b) and (c)

Question 7.
The word from the poem that means the same as ‘balanced’ is ……….
a. idly
b. loathing
c. poised
d. hesitate
Answer:
c. poised

Question 8.
The poet tried to stop the mite with the help of
a. a drop of water
b. a period of ink
c. a drop of tea
d. none of the above
Answer:
b. a period of ink

Question 9.
It ……………. : I could see it hesitate. Fill in the gap
a. faltered
b. paused
c. turned
d. raced
Answer:
a. faltered

Question 10.
The second stanza of the poem deals with the description of ………..
a. the mite using imagery
b. the speaker’s attitude towards the speck
c. the poet’s justification for not killing it
d. both a and b
Answer:
b. the speaker’s attitude towards the speck

Question 11.
The tone of the poem is critical
a. critical
b. satirical
c. creeping
d. both a and b
Answer:
d. both a and b

Treasure Chest A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers

I Remember, I Remember Poem Summary, Theme, Critical Analysis by Thomas Hood

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I Remember, I Remember Summary by Thomas Hood

I Remember, I Remember Poem Summary, Theme, Critical Analysis by Thomas Hood

I Remember, I Remember Summary

In the poem I Remember, I Remember, Thomas Hood goes back down to the memory lane to bring back the treasured memories from his childhood. The poet reminisces about his joys of childhood often comparing them with his present state of adulthood. As he delves more and more into his childhood days, he remembers every ounce of joy that he had received beginning from his childhood’s morning when he could feel the sun’s warmth coming from the little window of his room.

The passing day from morning till night gave pleasure to the child. But at present the poet wishes for the night to take away his breath which indicates his desire to death due to his present painful life. The contrast between his past and his present is clear through the portrayal of the sun that is daytime which is brighter and that which symbolises the past and the mentioned of the night that is darkness which means his present situation which is full of pain and distress.

In the second stanza, the poet moves from his house to the garden where the child looks and Remembers the different flowers like roses, violets, lilies and lilacs that made the garden bright. He believed these flowers to be heavenly blessed flowers. He also talks about the laburnum which reminds him of his brother as he had planted it on his birthday. His brother is no more whereas the tree is living. “The tree is living yet” conveys the message that his brother is no more but the tree he had once planted has life in it.

Next we see him that he focuses on his playing on swing and the way he moved through the air, that is in a light and carefree manner shows how he spent his childhood days happily. He was like feathers which flied quickly. This stanza contrasts youthful feeling of vitality and heaviness of the present. He says that a wonderful summer also can not heal him.

Then the poet contrasts the child’s close relationship with heaven with the rational knowledge of the adult, who lost faith in spirituality. He thinks of the dark huge fir trees that he imagined to be close to the heaven. All those were ignorance but now though he thinks rationally but there is lack of joy in his mind. So the poem, apart from being filled with an idealization of childhood, it is also wrapped with the concrete realisation of adulthood.

I Remember, I Remember About the Author Thomas Hood

Thomas Hood was an editor, publisher, poet and humorist. He was born in London (23rd May 1799). He was the son of a London bookseller. His satirical style of writing almost seemed out of place for the time in which he lived. Hood had private education in Islington but left this at the age of 14 to enter into employment at a counting house. He was not at all healthy and moreover, his profession made it worse.

So he left and became an engraver, in the city of London. Again his health failed him and he was sent to relations in Scotland. It is here, that his interest in outdoors and poetry began. In 1821 he became the sub-editor of the London Magazine and quickly became part of a wide and varied social scene. Hood’s work is streaked with humour.

In his day, some of his poems were translated for sale in Europe. Many of his works are considered classics and he remains today as a highly regarded poet of the Victorianera. Though he was known for his light verse and puns, Hood also depicted the working conditions of the poor.

Some of his published works are Odes and Addresses to Great People, Whims and Oddities, Up the Rhine, The Comic Annual etc. His best known poems are The Bridge of Sighs and The Song of Shirt. Thomas Hood died at the young age of 45 on the 3rd of May, 1845.

I Remember, I Remember Theme

Throughout the poem, Thomas Hood speaks of his childhood memories and also talks about the fleeting nature of time. He talks of his childhood memories, his childhood innocence childish ignorance in the poem. He also speaks that with time as it is the nature of it how everything changes. So memories of childhood and the fleeting nature of time become the major theme of this poem.

I Remember, I Remember Critical Analysis

The first stanza of the poem begins with the line I Remember, I Remember that continues to ring throughout the poem. This line centralised the poem on the word “I”. By elevating the self, Hood exposes to the readers a childhood memory.

The use of the present tense “remember” also helps to create a divide, within the poem. Hood is stuck in the present, he “remembers” the past days of his childhood from which his mind is unable to come out. The more he delves in his past days, the more he compares them with his present days.

They have left an indelible impression in his mind. The sun is personified as a force for good. He is shown to be friendly peeping in through the window of his room. But things have changed and at present he wishes he never wakes up. There is an equilibrium maintained in the first stanza between day and night, with hours of the day being bright and better when Hood was a child and with the darkness of night when he is in adulthood. The complete idealization of childhood is evident right down from the balance of day and night.

Though it is exaggerated, but it shows how much Thomas Hood mourns for his lost childhood. This stanza comes to an end with an exclamation from the poet. He wishes he had died. We can also find a link between the word ‘night’ and the poet’s death. We can also find a link between the word ‘night’ and the poet’s death. The next stanza focusses on two images those are the colours and the flowers of the period. The words like ‘red’, ‘white’ describe the array of different flowers.

Though the flowers symbolises natural beauty in his childhood memory, they are presented as delicate and fragile which are likely to perish and fade. Thomas Hood imagines all these flowers but they are not real. He says of roses, violets, lilies, lilacs which used to brighten up the garden. “The tree is living yet!” exclamation compounds Hood’s sense of excitement. | He sees a living remnants of the past he has lost. The tree had been planted by his brother who is no more but the tree it self is still alive. Hood finds something palpable which triggers yet more memories by his idyllic period or his childhood days.

The perceived lightness of the character is presented by Thomas Hood in the next stanza where he gives examples of his flying. Hood, relates his childhood to a bird, flying freely as he used to swing on his favourite tree. The words ‘rush’ and ‘fresh’ present the freedom of his childhood days- which he used to spend in a jovial manner. There was a time when Hood used to fly through the air with no obligations.

But then again we find a subtle shift back to the depressive present adulthood days. He used the past tense ‘flew’. Although he still cherishes and relishes his memories of his idyllic period at the same time he is also aware of his present period of his life which has now come to an end. The sense of freedom which he once rejoiced has new ended.

Hood evokes a contrast between the lightness of childhood and heaviness of the present. ‘So heavy now’ means that since he has lost the sense of childhood and ignorance which was full of joy and freedom, ‘he is stuck’ now and his mind is not free but it is heavy. The tragedy in this poem. Therefore is subtle but continual. We find the poet mourning for the things that he no longer is.

After the depressive nature of the last three lines of stanza 3, the first line in stanza 4 takes on a haunting melancholy. We find Hood to be in a depressed Hood. He wishes he was closer to the heaven. If he cannot return to his childhood days or period, he feels like he would rather die. The bitter melancholy that can be felt under the surface of the poem finally breaks here.

This is how the poet feels, and there is nothing he can do about it. In this stanza we find Hood who used to think about the tall fir trees, who tops of nearly touched the sky. Now that he is older he knows that the fir trees are not touching the sky. It was the ignorance of his childish nature which made Hood think in that way.

Though he now is aware of the reality, yet he is not happy. He is farther from heaven now than ‘when he was a boy’. We can stay that according to Hood, his childhood days were heavenly full of freedom joy, ignorance which was far better than his present painful days.

I Remember, I Remember Title of the Story

In the poem, ‘I Remember, I Remember’, the poet Thomas Hood gives a description of his childhood memories which at his present moment he remembers, and so he craves to go back to his childhood days. He remembers his home, his bedroom window through which the sun used to peep in and filled his room with warmth and brightness. He also says that the sun was friendly and was never late to visit him each morning. He is personifying the sun in the first stanza.

But things at present have changed. In his adulthood, he wishes the night to take away his breath. In the first stanza we find how the poet vividly remembers the house where he was born and also the different moments which he had spent there.

Then again in the second stanza, the poet think and remembers of the surrounding of his house. He remembers the different flowers like red and white roses, violets, lily cups which used to brighten and lighten up surrounding of his house. He also remembers the lilacs where the robin built its nest.

Then he remembers the laburnum tree which his brother had planted. Through his brother is no more, the presence of the tree which is still alive, reminds him of his brother. The poet does not visualise all these things concretely but all the things mentioned, have been his remembrance and commemoration of his childhood days. He also tells about how he used to swing through the air very fast to feel the rush of the fresh air. He used to be very jovial, vivacious and high

spirited as he flew like a bird on its wings. But now he says he is heavy as he is now not free like his childhood days. Here in this stanza also we find how the poet first recollects and remembers his past days and then he compares them to his present depress life.

Lastly we see, how clearly the poet again remembers the fir trees which used to touch the sky. When he was a child his ignorance made him think that the tops of the fir trees touched the sky. Though now in reality at his adulthood, he is aware of the truth but still he says that the days of his ignorance were better than his present days.

Almost in the whole poem, we find how Thomas Hood has given a description of his childhood days. Then he has compared that phase his life to the present phase. So first he remembers all the days of his childhood and then he gives a comparison. We find every stanza starting with ‘I Remember, I Remember’. So it can be said that the title of the poem ‘I Remember, I Remember’ is a relevant and suitable one.

I Remember, I Remember About the Poem

I Remember, I Remember by Thomas Hood is a poem that gives a high contrast to the childhood days and experience, a world with beautiful thoughts and an adult world which is very practical and is filled with regrets and losses and pain and without any joy like that of his childhood days. It is dedicated by Thomas Hood to the nostalgic embrace of the memory of childhood. In this poem, he Remembers his “childish ignorance” cherishing his memories and painting them with different colours and images.

Through his poem, it is clear that his childhood was a time of great happiness so he recollects all the things that are associated with his childhood. Childhood is said to be the most beautiful phase of one’s life. The poet in this poem brings out the truth and makes us not only to realise that childhood is the best phase but also makes the readers nostalgic about that idyllic period of their lives.

I Remember, I Remember Main Point Of The Poem

I Remember, I Remember is a reflective and emotional poems. It recalls the nostalgic memories of the poet’s childhood. The poet Thomas Hood wishes to get back his childhood days and the energy and be free from all the pains and sufferings that he suffers now as a grown up. He wonders about the moments where he lost his innocence and realized that the world is not what it seemed to be.

So his thoughts in his adulthood change and he realises the hypocrisy of the people around the world. So we can find a comparison of his childhood pleasant days with the painful present one. His longing and desire to regain the childhood days are clearly seen from this poem “I Remember, I Remember”.

I Remember, I Remember Linewise Summary

Stanza – I:

In the first stanza, Thomas Hood, the poet of ‘I Remember, I Remember’ describes the house where he was born. He feels nostalgic and could remember his house, his bedroom and the little window of his bedroom from where the sun came peeping in, in the morning. Here the poet personifies the sun who was friendly and did not forget to shine in time. The sun shared its warmth and brightness to him. These childhood days were very pleasant to him.

By the very presence of the sun peeping in through his little window, Thomas Hood wants to describe the past of his life which was bright like the sun. In the next two lines of the first stanza, he speaks of the night which is in contrast with the day of sun. His present days are being described as dark as the night. It is full of pains, suffering and depression. So he wants his breath to be taken away by night or in simple word he wants to die since he cannot go back to his childhood days.

Stanza – II:

The second stanza also starts with the line ‘I Remember, I Remember’. In this stanza he describes the garden of house which he remembers to be bright and colourful with white and red roses, violets, lily cup lilacs etc. With these colours he has tried to show the colourful days which he used to have in his childhood phase.

He also remembers the lilacs when the robin bird built its nest. When he remembers, all these natural beauties, he feels nostalgic and then he the laburnum which his brother had planted on his birthday. He remembers it vividly and again his present situation makes him unhappy as the tree is alive but still his brother who had planted the tree was dead.

Stanza – III :

The poet then remembersand goes on to recollect his childhood days spent on the swing breathing the fresh pure air. He understands in his present adulthood phase that his spirit enjoyed these tiny moments and they are still fresh in his memory. Now he is grown up and he has seen the world and experienced both the good and bad from his life. He once had spirit which used to fly in feathers like birds. Then was the time when he was carefree and so he had a spirit that was light and joyful.

But now his present life is full of worries, pains and sufferings since his mind is repleted with all these his spirit now heavy. So he cannot fly now like a bird which he used to do when he was a child. Summer is cherished in the country where the poet was born. But even such wonderful summer pools are not able to heal his fever. The fever is actually the illness of his mind. He is now mentally unfit rather than physically.

Stanza – IV:

In the next stanza that is in last one, the poet Thomas Hood Remembers the fir trees which were thick and so high that their tops almost used to touch the sky. This imagination of the fir trees being touching almost the sky was just due to childish ignorance. Since he was a child then, he did not know that trees cannot touch sky.

But now that he is grown up, he knows the reality. Though he knows the reality, he has no joy. This means that in his adulthood he has come across many good and bad things. He has been introduced with the stark reality of the world. He can understand now that life is full of pains, worries and sufferings. There was a time in his childhood when his joy was boundless.

He was unaware of the harsh reality of the world and so he was always happy. This happiness of his childhood is like heaven to him. His childhood days were heavenly but now in his adulthood i.e at present he is far away from heaven as there is no joy in his mind.

So in the poem, we find Thomas Hood while delving into his childhood finds peace and happiness. He Remembers his days when he was a child and he cherised all the memories of that idyllic period. With these happy memories, we find Thomas Hood comparing his life and the days of his adulthood which he finds full of despair and gloom.

He is filled with worries, anguish and depression in his present life, so he wishes to die since he knows that it is only possible for him to recollect those happy memories but it is not possible for him to go back to those days.

I Remember, I Remember Linewise Explanation

1. I Remember, I Remember
The house where I was born,
The little window where the sun
Came peeping in at morn

The poet Thomas Hood describes the house where he was born. He Remembers it and also says about how the sun used to shine and peek through the little window of his bedroom.

2. He never came a wink too soon,
Nor brought too long a day,
But now, I often wish the night
Had borne my breath away!

In this line the sun has been personified. The poet says that the sun had been friendly with him and had always been in time. He had neither visited him late nor did he remain long a day. In the next two lines the poet speaks about the night. He wishes the night to take his breath away. The daytime with the sun, is his childhood and the night, his adulthood or present time which he does not want to live.

3. I Remember, I Remember
The roses, red and white,
The vi’lets, and the lily – cups,
Those flowers made of light!

The poet again remembers of the flowers growing in his garden. The variety of flowers like the red and white roses, the violets, the lilies looked bright and colourful in the garden. This is also a recollection from childhood memories which his recollection from childhood memories when his days were brought and colourful like the flowers

4. The lilacs where the robin built,
And where my brother set
The laburnum on his birthday, —
The tree is living yet!

The poet remembers and speaks of the lilac tree with the rest of robin. The laburnum tree which is still alive reminds him of his brother who had planted it on his birthday. Though his brother is no more but the tree which he had planted is alive.

5. I Remember, I Remember
Where I was used to swing,
And though the air must rush as fresh
To swallows on the wing.

In these lines of the third stanza, the poet remembers the days when he used to swing through the fresh air. He remembers how he used to fly like birds, when he used to swing, he felt light here he compare bird with wings.

6. My spirit flew in feathers then,
That is so heavy now,
And summer pools could hardly cool
The fever on my brow!

During his childhood days he used to swing and his spirit also flew in feathers, that is, he used to be in high spirits then. But now he is heavy hearted as his life is now full of sufferings. The summer pools which are usually comfortable in the country where the poet is born, also could hardly heal him or cool him because he is mentally and spiritually ill.

7. I Remember, I Remember
The fir trees dark and high;
I used to think their slender tops
Were close against the sky:

The poet remembers the thick high fir trees with slender tops. When he was a child he used to think that the tops of the fir trees almost touched the sky.

8. It was a childish ignorance,
But now ‘tis little joy
To know I’m farther off from heav’n
Than when I was a boy.

But now he can realize that it was his childish ignorance that made him believe this, because tops of trees can never touch the sky. This is the truth and reality. When he realizes the truth of life and since he has experienced many things (good and bad) in the world, his joys is no more. So he says that his childhood days with ignorance was heavenly and blissful to him but now he is far from heaven, that is, there is no heavenly joy in his adulthood life.

I Remember, I Remember Annotations and Vocabulary

Peeping — peering
Morn — morning
Borne — to contain ( past participate of bear)
Vi’lets — a kind of flower which is purple, blue or white Lilacs a shrub or small tree which has fragrant violets, pink or white blossom.
Laburnum — a small tree having hanging clusters yellow flowers
Slender — slim, lean
Ignorance — unconsciousness

Treasure Chest A Collection of ICSE Poems Workbook Answers