OU Degree 4th Sem English – Flower Poem Questions and Answers & Summary
Comprehension I (Short Answer Questions)
Question 1.
What did the people call the flower at first?
Answer:
The poet says that when the narrator sows a ‘seed’ and it sprouts a ‘flower’. At first, the people called the flower a “weed”.
Question 2.
How did they react when they saw it in the garden?
Answer:
The poem explains how people react to the growth of a ‘flower’. The narrator sowed a ‘seed’ and it sprouted a ‘flower’. However, people started calling it a “weed.” They criticized and cursed the narrator as well as the flower with ‘muttering discontent’.
Question 3.
Did people’s curses have any effect on the growth of the flower?
Answer:
Number People’s curse had no effect on the growth of the flower. The flower grew tall and attractive irrespective of the opinions of the people. Similarly, we should have a strong belief in our convictions, irrespective of others’ views. Therefore, Alfred Tennyson urges us to be indifferent to praise and criticism. This is the unstated moral of the story.
Question 4.
What happened when the plant grew tall?
Answer:
When the plant grew tall, it wore “a crown of light”. Once, the poet planted a seed, it blossomed into a beautiful flowering some good time that over the years. The “crown of light” refers to the flowering of the plant and the flower kept on growing in beauty and brilliance.
Question 5.
What did the thieves do with the stolen seed?
Answer:
When the plant grew tall, it wore “a crown of light”. Once, the poet planted a seed, it blossomed into a beautiful flower in some good time that over the years. The “crown of light” refers to the flowering of the plant and the flower kept on growing in beauty and brilliance. Then thieves stole its seeds at night. The stolen seeds were sowed in far off cities and towns.
Question 6.
How did the people react when the flower grew everywhere?
Answer:
When the flower grows tall and attractive, thieves stole its seeds at night. The stolen seeds were sowed in far off cities and towns. The same people are also curious. The people appreciated the beauty of the flowers produced by the seeds. They started cried “Splendid is the flower.”
Question 7.
What happened to the quality and beauty of the flower when the seed was cast everywhere?
Answer:
When the seed was cast everywhere, there was no change in the quality and beauty of the flower. The flower grew tall and attractive irrespective of the opinions of the people. Similarly, we should have a strong belief in our convictions, irrespective of others’ views. Therefore, Alfred Tennyson urges us to be indifferent to praise and criticism. This is the unstated moral of the story.
Question 8.
How did the people view the flower when it became commonplace?
Answer:
When the flower grows tall and attractive, the same people are also curious. And they start appropriating it as a ‘splendid flower’. As the time progresses, the new is adopted widely and assimilated into the old. Gradually, it loses it novelty and becomes commonplace. Once again, people lose interest in it and abandon it as useless. Finally the same people call the flower ‘weed’.
Comprehension II (Essay Type Answer Questions)
Question 1.
Explain the central idea of the poem, ‘The Flower’,
Answer:
Alfred Lord Tennyson was a famous Victorian poet. He was the poet laureate of England from 1850 to 1892. Tennyson was influenced by the Industrial Revolution and Scientific Inventions at that time. His well-known poems include “In Memoriam”, “Ulysses”, and “The Lotus-Eater’. Tennyson called his present poem “The Flower” as “My Little Fable”.
The central idea of the poem is about the way people react to the new ideas and things. Here the poem explains how people react to the growth of a ‘flower’. The narrator sows a ‘seed’ and it sprouts a ‘flower’. But people call it a ‘weed.’ They criticise and curse the narrator as well as the flower with ‘muttering discontent’. When the flower grows tall and attractive, the same people are also curious. And they start appropriating it as a ‘splendid flower’.
As the time progresses, the new is adopted widely and assimilated into the old. Gradually, it loses it novelty and becomes commonplace. Once again, people lose interest in it and abandon it as useless. Finally the same people call the flower ‘weed’. Tennyson calls his poem ‘The Flower’ My little Fable’. It should be read as a “universal apologue and parable”. Etymologically, the word ‘fable’ means ‘a tale, parable or an allegory which tells a moral story. ’ Here the poem also tells some short moral story.
The flower grows tall and attractive irrespective of the opinions of the people. Initially, people call the flower a ‘weed’. Later they view it as ‘splendid flower. In the end, the same people again call the flower ‘a weed’. People change their opinions from time to time. We should have a strong belief in our convictions, irrespective of others’ views.
Hence Alfred Tennyson urges us to be indifferent to praise and criticism. This is the unstated moral of the story. The poem The Flower’ is a wry comment on the nature of human beings. People are unsure and apprehensive about the new or original ideas or things. So they tend to reject the unfamiliar as worthless and harmful. The people are happy with the familiar things.
Question 2.
Discuss the use of the opposites (light and night, sees and weed, cast and stole) in the poem, ‘The Flower’.
Answer:
Tennyson called his present poem “The Flower” as “My Little Fable”.The central idea of the poem is about the way people react to the new ideas and things. Here the poem explains how people react to the growth of a ‘flower’. The narrator sows a ‘seed’ and it sprouts a ‘flower’. But people call it a ‘weed.’ They criticise and curse the narrator as well as the flower with ‘muttering discontent’.
When the flower grows tall and attractive, the same people are also curious. And they start appropriating it as a ‘splendid flower’. As the time progresses, the new is adopted widely and assimilated into the old. Gradually, it loses it novelty and becomes commonplace. Once again, people lose interest in it and abandon it as useless. Finally the same people call the flower ‘weed’.
Tennyson’s poetry is full of rhyme and rhythm. The poem “The Flower’ represents his poetic genius for its use of the opposites: light and night, sees and weed, cast and stole. After the seed is cast (sown), it is stolen by some thieves. Here the two words ‘cast’ and ‘steal’ are opposite in meaning. The words ‘seed’ and ‘weed’ are opposite to each other. In the same way, the flower represents ‘light’ but the people, who are in dark, are in ‘night’. Therefore, Tennyson is a poetic genius and his poetry is full of rhythm and music.
Question 3.
Explain why the story of the flower is called a ‘fable’. What qualities of a fable does the poem have?
Answer:
Tennyson calls his poem ‘The Flower’ My little Fable’. It should be read as a “universal apologue and parable”. Etymologically, the word ‘fable’ means a tale, parable or an allegory which tells a moral story.’ Here the poem also tells some short moral story. The flower grows tall and attractive irrespective of the opinions of the people. Initially, people call the flower a ‘weed’. Later they view it as ‘splendid flower’.
In the end, the same people again call the flower ‘a weed’. People change their opinions from time to time. We should have a strong belief in our convictions, irrespective of others’ views. Hence Alfred Tennyson urges us to be indifferent to praise and criticism. This is the unstated moral of the story.The poem The Flower’ is a wry comment on the nature of human beings. People are unsure and apprehensive about the new or original ideas or things. So they tend to reject the unfamiliar as worthless and harmful. The people are happy with the familiar things.
Question 4.
The speaker of the poem says that the meaning of the poem is clear and uncomplicated. Do you agree? Justify your answer.
Answer:
Tennyson called his present poem “The Flower” as “My Little Fable”. The central idea of the poem is about the way people react to the new ideas and things. Here the poem explains how people react to the growth of a ‘flower’.
The narrator sows a ‘seed’ and it sprouts a ‘flower’. But people call it a ‘weed.’ They criticise and curse the narrator as well as the flower with ‘muttering discontent’. When the flower grows tall and attractive, the same people are also curious. And they start appropriating it as a ‘splendid flower’.
As the time progresses, the new is adopted widely and assimilated into the old. Gradually, it loses it novelty and becomes commonplace. Once again, people lose interest in it and abandon it as useless. Finally the same people call the flower ‘weed’. The speaker of the poem says that the meaning of clear and uncomplicated. He says:
Read my little fable.
He that runs may read.
However, the poem is not clear in its meaning and complicated one. It throws up multiple interpretations. The flower in the poem is interpreted in different ways: as the Industrial Revolution, Christianity or Tennyson’s own poetry.
In Tennyson’s days, it was the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. However, Tennyson suggested that the poem be read as a “universal apologue and parable”. The narrator reflects while everyone may see things differently, they should avoid jumping to conclusions on their opinions of things.
Question 5.
Explain the unstated moral of the story of the flower.
Answer:
The central idea of Tennyson’s poem “The Flower” is about the way people react to the new ideas and things. Here the poem explains how people react to the growth of a ‘flower’. The narrator sows a ‘seed’ and it sprouts a ‘flower’. But people call it a ‘weed.’ They criticise and curse the narrator as well as the flower with ‘muttering discontent’.
When the flower grows tall and attractive, the same people are also curious. And they start appropriating it as a ‘splendid flower’. As the time progresses, the new is adopted widely and assimilated into the old. Gradually, it loses it novelty and becomes commonplace. Once again, people lose interest in it and abandon it as useless. Finally the same people call the flower ‘weed’.
Tennyson calls his poem ‘The Flower’ My little Fable’. It should be read as a “universal apologue and parable”. Etymologically, the word ‘fable’ means ‘a tale, parable or an allegory which tells a moral story.’ Here the poem also tells some short moral story. The flower grows tall and attractive irrespective of the opinions of the people. Initially, people call the flower a ‘weed’.
Later they view it as ‘splendid flower’. In the end, the same people again call the flower ‘a weed’. People change their opinions from time to time. We should have a strong belief in our convictions, irrespective of others’ views. Hence Alfred Tennyson urges us to be indifferent to praise and criticism. This is the unstated moral of the story.
Question 6.
Discuss the poem, ‘The Flower’ as a commentary on human nature.
Answer:
Alfred Lord Tennyson was a famous Victorian poet. He was the poet laureate of England from 1850 to 1892. Tennyson was influenced by the Industrial Revolution and Scientific Inventions at that time. His well-known poems include “In Memoriam’S “Ulysses”, and “The Lotus-Eater’.
Tennyson called his present poem “The Flower” as “My Little Fable”. The central idea of the poem is about the way people react to the new ideas and things. Here the poem explains how people react to the growth of a ‘flower’. The narrator sows a ‘seed’ and it sprouts a ‘flower’. But people call it a ‘weed.’ They criticise and curse the narrator as well as the flower with ‘muttering discontent’.
When the flower grows tall and attractive, the same people are also curious. And they start appropriating it as a ‘splendid flower’. As the time progresses, the new is adopted widely and assimilated into the old. Gradually, it loses it novelty and becomes commonplace. Once again, people lose interest in it and abandon it as useless. Finally the same people call the flower ‘weed’.The speaker of the poem says that the meaning of clear and uncomplicated. He says:
Read my little fable.
He that runs may read.
But the poem is not clear in its meaning and complicated one. It throws up multiple interpretations. The flower in the poem is interpreted in different ways: as the Industrial Revolution, Christianity or Tennyson’s own poetry.
In Tennyson’s days, it was the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. However, Tennyson suggested that the poem be read as a “universal apologue and parable”. The narrator reflects while everyone may see things differently, they should avoid jumping to conclusions on their opinions of things.
Tennyson cedis his poem ‘The Flower’ My little Fable’. It should be read as a “universal apologue and parable”. Etymologically, the word ‘fable’ means ‘a tale, parable or an allegory which tells a moral story.’ Here the poem also tells some short moral story. The flower grows tall and attractive irrespective of the opinions of the people. Initially, people call the flower a ‘weed’.
Later they view it as ‘splendid flower’. In the end, the same people again call the flower ‘a weed’. People change their opinions from time to time. We should have a strong belief in our convictions, irrespective of others’ views. Hence Alfred Tennyson urges us to be indifferent to praise and criticism. This is the unstated moral of the story.
The poem ‘The Flower’ is a wry comment on the nature of human beings. People are unsure and apprehensive about the new or original ideas or things. So they tend to reject the unfamiliar as worthless and harmful. The people are happy with the familiar things.
Flower Poem Summary in English
Alfred Lord Tennyson was a famous Victorian poet. He was the poet laureate of England from 1850 to 1892. Tennyson was influenced by the Industrial Revolution and Scientific Inventions at that time. His well-known poems include “In Memoriam”, “Ulysses”, and “The Lotus-Eater’.
Tennyson called his present poem “The Flower” as “My Little Fable”. The central idea of the poem is about the way people react to the new ideas and things. Here the poem explains how people react to the growth of a ‘flower’. The narrator sows a ‘seed’ and it sprouts a ‘flower’.
But people call it a ‘weed.’ They criticise and curse the narrator as well as the flower with ‘muttering discontent’. When the flower grows tall and attractive, the same people are also curious. And they start appropriating it as a ‘splendid flower’. As the time progresses, the new is adopted widely and assimilated into the old.
Gradually, it loses it novelty and becomes commonplace. Once again, people lose interest in it and abandon it as useless. Finally the same people call the flower ‘weed’. The speaker of the poem says that the meaning of clear and uncomplicated. He says:
Read my little fable.
He that runs may read.
But the poem is not clear in its meaning and complicated one. It throws up multiple interpretations. The flower in the poem is interpreted in different ways: as the Industrial Revolution, Christianity or Tennyson’s own poetry. In Tennyson’s days, it was the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
However, Tennyson suggested that the poem be read as a “universal apologue and parable”. The narrator reflects while everyone may see things differently, they should avoid jumping to conclusions on their opinions of things.
Tennyson’s poetry is full of rhyme and rhythm. The poem “The Flower’ represents his poetic genius for its use of the opposites: light and night, sees and weed, cast and stole. After the seed is cast (sown), it is stolen by some thieves. Here the two words ‘cast’ and ‘steal’ are opposite in meaning. The words ‘seed’ and ‘weed’ are opposite to each other. In the same way, the flower represents ‘light’ but the people, who are in dark, are in ‘night’.
Tennyson calls his poem ‘The Flower’ My little Fable’. It should be read as a “universal apologue and parable”. Etymologically, the word ‘fable’ means ‘a tale, parable or an allegory which tells a moral story.’ Here the poem also tells some short moral story. The flower grows tall and attractive irrespective of the opinions of the people. Initially, people call the flower a ‘weed’.
Later they view it as ‘splendid flower’. In the end, the same people again call the flower ‘a weed’. People change their opinions from time to time. We should have a strong belief in our convictions, irrespective of others’ views. Hence Alfred Tennyson urges us to be indifferent to praise and criticism. This is the unstated moral of the story.
The poem ‘The Flower’ is a wry comment on the nature of human beings. People are unsure and apprehensive about the new or original ideas or things. So they tend to reject the unfamiliar as worthless and harmful. The people are happy with the familiar things.
Flower Poem Summary in Telugu
ఆల్ఫైడ్ లార్డ్ టెన్నిసన్ ఒక ప్రసిద్ధ విక్టోరియన్ కవి. అతను 1850 నుండి 1892 వరకు ఇంగ్లాండ్ కవి గ్రహీత. టెన్నిసన్ ఆ సమయంలో పారిశ్రామిక విప్లవం మరియు శాస్తీయ ఆవిష్కరణలచే ప్రభావితమయ్యాడు. అతని ప్రసిద్ధ కవితలలో “ఇన్ మెమోరియం”, “యులిస్సెస్” మరియు “ది లోటస్ఈటర్” ఉన్నాయి.
టెన్నిసన్ తన ప్రస్తుత కవితను “ది ఫ్లవర్” ను “మై లిటిల్ ఫేబుల్” అని పిలిచాడు. పద్యం యొక్క ముఖ్యమైన ఆలోచన ప్రజులు కొత్త ఆలోచనలు మరియు విషయాలపై స్పందించే విధానం గురించి. ‘పువ్వు’ పెరుగుదలకు ప్రజలు ఎలా స్పందిస్తారో వివరిస్తుంది. కథకుడు ఒక ‘విత్తనం’ విత్తుతాడు మరియు అది ‘పువ్వు’ మొలకెత్తుతుంది. కానీ ప్రజలు దినిని ‘కలుపు’ అని పిలుస్తారు.
వారు కథకుడిని అలాగే పువ్వును ‘గొడవ పడుతున్న అసంతృప్తి’తో విమర్శిస్తారు మరియు శపిస్తారు. పువ్వు పొడవైన మరియు ఆకర్షణీయంగా పెరిగినప్పుడు, అదే వ్యక్తులు కూడా ఆసక్తిగా ఉంటారు. మరియు వారు దీనిని ‘అద్యుతమైన పువ్వుగా కేటాయిచడం ప్రారంథిస్తారం.
సమయం పెరుగుతున్న కాద్దీ, క్రాత్తది విస్తతంగా స్వీకరించలడుతుంది మరియు పాతదానికి అనుగుణంగా ఉంటుంది. క్రమంగా, ఇది కొత్తదనాన్ని కోల్పోతుంది మరియు సాధారణం అవుతుంది. మరోసారి, ప్రజలు దానిపై ఆసక్తిని కోల్పోతారు మరియు దానిని పనికిరానిదిగా వదిలివేస్తారు. చివరగా అదే గ్యక్తులు పువ్వును ‘కలుపు’ అని పిలుస్తారు. పద్యం మాట్లాడేవారు స్పష్టమైన మరీయు సంక్లష్టమైన అర్ధం అని చెప్పారు. అతను చెప్తన్నాడు:
నా చిన్న కథను చదవండి.
పరిగెత్తేవాడు చదవవచ్చు.
కానీ పద్యం దాని అర్ధంలో స్పష్టంగా లేదు మరియు సంక్లిష్టమైనది. ఇది బహుళ వివరణలను విసురుతుంది. పద్యంలోని పువ్వు వివిధ మార్గాల్లో వివరించబడింది: పార(శామిక విప్లవం, క్రస్తవ మతం లేదా టెన్నిసన్ సొంత కవిత్వం. టెన్నిసన్ రోజుల్లో, ఇది పారిశ్రామిక విఫ్లవానికి నాంది.
ఏదేమైనా, టెన్నిసన్ ఈ కవితను “సార్వత్రిక క్షమాపణ మరియు నీతికథ” గా చదవమని సూచించారు. ప్రతి ఒక్కరూ విషయాలను భిన్నంగా చూసేటప్పుడు కథకుడు ప్రతిటింబిస్తాడు, వారు వారి విషయాలపై వారి అభిప్రాయాలపై నిర్ధారణకు వెళ్లడం మానుకోవాలి.
టెన్నినన్ కవిత్వం ప్రాస మరియు లయతో నిండి ఉంది. “ది ఫ్లవర్” అనే పద్యం అతని కవితా మేధావిని దాని వ్యతిరేకత కోసం ఉపయోగిస్తుంది: కాంతి మరియు రాత్రి, చూస్తుంది మరియు కలుపు, తారాగణం మరియు దొంగిలించణడింది. విత్తనం వేసిన తరువాత (విత్తుతారు), అది కొంతమంది దొంగలచే దొంగిలించబడుతుంది. ఇక్కడ ‘తారాగణం’ మరియు ‘దొంగిలించడం’ అనే రెండు పదాలు అర్థంలో వ్యతిరేకం. ‘విత్తనం’, ‘కలుపు’ అనే పదాలు ఒకదానికొకది వ్యతిరేకం. అదే విధంగా, పువ్వు ‘కాంతిని’ సూచిస్తుంది కాని చీకదీలో ఉన్న ప్రజలు ‘రాత్రి’ లో ఉన్నారు.
టెన్నిసన్ తన కవితను ‘ది ఫ్లవర్’ మై లిదిల్ ఫేబుల్ ‘అని పిలుస్తాడు. దీనిని “సార్వతిక క్షమాపణ మరియు నీతికథ” గా చదవాలి. శబ్దవ్యత్పత్తి ప్రకారం, ‘కల్పిత’ అనే పదానికి ‘ఒక కథ, నీతికథ లేదా నైతిక కథను .చెప్పే ఉపమానం’ అని అర్ధం. ఇక్కడ పద్యం కొన్ని చిన్న నైతిక కథను కూడా చెబుతుంది. ఈ పువ్వు ప్రజల అభిప్రాయాలతో సంబంధం లేకుండా పొడవైన మరియు ఆకర్షణీయంగా పెరుగుతుంది.
ప్రారంధంలో, ప్రజలు పువ్వును ‘కలుపు’ అని పిలుస్తారు. తరువాత వారు దీనిని ‘అద్భుతమైన పువ్వు’గా చూస్తారు. చివరికి, అదే వ్యక్తలు మళ్ళీ పవ్వును ‘ఒక కలుప’ అని పలుస్తారు. ప్రజలు తమ అభిప్రాయాలను ఎప్పదికప్పుడు మార్చుకుంటారు. ఇతరుల అభిప్రాయాలతో సంబంధం లేకుండా మన నమ్మకాలపై మనకు బలమైన నమ్మకం ఉండాలి. అందువల్ల ఆత్ఫైడ్ టెన్నిసన్ ప్రశంసలు మరియు విమర్శల పట్ల ఉదాసీనంగా ఉండాలని కోరారు. ఇది కథ యొక్క అస్థిరమైన నైతికత.
‘ది ఫ్లవర్’ అనే పద్యం మానవుల స్వభావంపై వంకర వ్యాఖ్య. (క్రాత్త లేదా అసలు ఆలోచనలు లేదా విషయాల గురించి ప్రజలకు ఖచ్చితంగా తెలియదు మరియు భయపడుతుంది. కాబట్టి వారు తెలియనివారిని పనికిరాని మరియు హానికరమైనదిగా తిరస్కరించారు. తెలిసిన విషయాలతో ప్రజలు సంతోషంగా ఉన్నారు.
Flower – Tennyson
Once in a golden hour
I cast to earth a seed.
Up there came a flower,
The people said, a weed.
To and fro they went
Thro’ my garden-bower,
And muttering discontent .
Cursed me and my flower.
Then it grew so tall
It wore a crown of light,
But thieves from oer the wafl
Stole the seed by night.
Sow’d it far and wide
By every town and tower,
Till all the people cried
‘Splendid is the flower.’
Read my little fable:
He that runs may read.
Most can raise the flowers now,
For all have got the seed.
And some are pretty enough,
And some are poor indeed;
And now again the people
Call it but a weed.
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