Rhapsody Workbook Answers Poem 9 Small Towns and the River
Small Towns and the River Poem Long Answer Questions
Question 1.
Critically appreciate “Small Towns and the River.”
Answer:
Mamang Dai’s works are illustrative. She received the Padma Shri award in 2011 from the Government of India. Her one of the famous works “Small towns and the River” is a poem of life and mortality. In this poem, the eternal flow of the river is being contrasted with the limited span of human life. In this poem, the existence of human life, the eternal truth about death and the concept of the after-life is discussed. The poem opens up by mentioning the life in small towns which is stagnant, irrespective of the season.
The scenario does not change there as the life there is dull and monotonous. The environment there, reminds the poet “of death”. Whenever the news on someone’s death comes, all the people of the town stick together and mourn which shows how close the people are with each other. They share their grief, loss and pain. Life and death comes on goes but “the rituals are permanent.” In this poem, the river is personified by giving it a soul. Irrespective of seasons, the river flows endlessly.
The river, in this poem, acts as a symbol of peace. This poem also talks about the childhood of human life which is a carefree period of innocence. In this period, humans remain free from every tension and troubles. But when they grow up, everything changes.
The grown-ups represent the town and the “dead are placed pointing west.” After death, when the soul rises, “it will walk into the golden east”. There is also a mention of the rebirth of a soul which indicates immortality. According to the poet, life, though non-permanent, is beautiful.
The cool bamboo gets the warmth of sunlight and “life matters, like this.” As sunlight plays a major role for the growth of plants so is life important to keep the soul thriving. This poem contains rich, visual imageries that describe mainly Mother Nature. These images can be called as visual treat which are very much original and pleasing. This poem has lucid language and simple fervour.
Question 2.
What is the theme of the poem “Small Towns and the River?”
Answer:
The theme of the poem “Small Towns and the River” is quiet simple. Through this poem, the poet expresses her idea of life and death. The poet writes, “life and death, life and death,/only the rituals are permanent” which expresses the very fact that life follows death and after death, new life begins and this is an endless circle. Human life is non-permanent but the nature and its rituals are ceaseless.
The river, which is also ceaseless, is personified by giving it a soul. The life of the small towns by the river is expressed as dull and monotonous whereas the flow of the river water is pulsating with life. In this poem, we also can witness the mention of a soul’s rebirth.
The closeness and fellowship among the town dwellers is also highlighted in this poem as they share their happiness and grief side by side. T’ ey have a bonding among them which is fascinating.
Question 3.
In what way does the poet use the river as a metaphor in the poem?
Answer:
In this poem, the river is personified as it is said of having a soul. The river flows ceaselessly; it does not remain same or stagnant. Thus it is full of life and its flow is peaceful. The soul of the river is said to be immortal and as it flows through various lands, towns and other places, it is aware of the first drops of rain that touch the soil, the drought that occurs and the mists on mountaintops.
The poet says that the river knows the immortality of water as its presence is eternal. In this poem, actually, the poet contrasts the constancy of her town with the vibrant flow of the river water. Through the movement of the river water, the poet actually tries to describe the constancy of life.
Small Towns and the River Poem Short Answer Questions
Question 1.
How does the speaker compare her hometown with small towns?
Answer:
By the phrase ‘small towns’ the speaker refers to those places which are devoid of the attachment of Nature. Naturally life here is suffocating. The speaker does not enjoy her existence here. Not only that, the place creates in her the impression of death. However, death here does not imply the absence of life; rather it stands for the absence of the joy of living.
Question 2.
What according to the poetess marks the days of childhood?
Answer:
According to the poetess happy incidents mark the days of childhood. It is at this time that the child creates a world of his own and does not allow the interference of any incident belonging to the outer world. Naturally a thing like political unrest though it exists in the society hardly affects the child.
Question 3.
Comment on the use of imagery in the poem.
Answer:
In this poem, the poet has used multiple rich, visual imageries that describe mainly Mother Nature. These images can be called as visual treat which are very much original and pleasing. The river is personified in this poem because it never stops flowing.
The cool bamboo symbolises human body and the sunlight symbolises human soul because just like a soul puts life into a body, so does the sunlight into a bamboo plant. These images are picturesque and worth-noticing.
Question 4.
Comment on the style of “Small Towns and the River.”
Answer:
In the poem, “Small Towns and the River”, has a lucid style of writing. Metaphorically, this poem talks about the issues of life, death and after-life. The poet has used several images which can be considered as very much original and appealing.
We can also witness an extensive use of personification which is a striking feature of this poem. The river, small towns, the cool bamboo and even the sun is personified in this poem. This poem also shows the consonant sounds like- “Just the other day some died.” (d- sound), “…dreadful silence we wept” (w- sound). This poem is deeply meaningful and carries an inner meaning.
Question 5.
“Just the other day someone died. In the dreadful silence we wept”- Elucidate.
Answer:
Here, the speaker then recalls the day when someone died in her hometown. She recalls how the town mourned the death in dreadful silence. She reflects on the transient nature of life. Only the mourning or weeping on death is constant, as the speaker says, “only the rituals are permanent”.
Small Towns and the River Poem Logic Base Questions
Complete the following sentences by providing a REASON for each:
Question 1.
The hometown of the poet “lies calmly amidst the trees because ………….
Answer:
She used to live in a small town.
Question 2.
Her hometown remains always the same “in summer or winter” because
Answer:
Life there is dull and monotonous.
Question 3.
“Only the rituals are permanent’’ because
Answer:
Life there has no change.
Question 4.
The poet says that the river “has a soul” because
Answer:
It flows ceaselessly and it “knows the immortality of water.”
Question 5.
Childhood is considered as the golden period of life because
Answer:
This is a happy period without any hint of sadness and worries.
Question 6.
In this poem, the river is presented as an immortal being because
Answer:
It never stops flowing.
Question 7.
When someone dies, dreadful silence occurs because
Answer:
Death stops everything.
Question 8.
The cool bamboo is placed under the sunlight because
Answer:
It symbolises life.
Question 9.
When the soul rises, “it will walk into the golden east” because
Answer:
It finds eternal peace.
Question 10.
The poet had used personification is his poem because
Answer:
He wanted to give richness to the poem.
Small Towns and the River Poem About the Poet Mamang dal
Mamang Dai is a celebrated Indian writer, journalist, and poet from Arunachal Pradesh, India. Born in 1959, in the village of Liromoba, in West Siang district of the state, Mamang has been writing since the 1980s. She has published several books in English, Hindi and her native language of Adi, including The Legends of Pensam (2008), The Black Hill (2013), and The Legends of Sela (2015). Mamang Dai’s works often focus on the traditional culture and folklore of her native Arunachal Pradesh.
Dai’s poetic world is one of river, forest and mountain, a limpid and lyrical reflection of the terrain of her home state. Nature here is mysterious, verdant with myth, dense with sacred memory. There is magic to be found everywhere: in the way lilies “navigating on a heartbeat… are shooting up like swordfish”, in the quiet equipoise of “cool bamboo,/ restored in sunlight”, in the “speechless ardour” of mountains. And there is no doubt whatsoever that “the river has a soul”.
She also often covers topics of social and political importance, such as women’s rights and environmental issues. She is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award (2015) and the Padma Shri (2019), the fourth highest civilian award in India.
Mamang Dai is known for her unique style of writing, which combines poetry, prose, and oral storytelling. She is also a noted speaker, having delivered lectures at several universities, including the University of Cambridge and Harvard University. Mamang Dai has been an active member of the Indian literary community for decades, and her works are studied in universities across the world.
For all its simplicity, Dai’s poetry does not arrive at easy conclusions. There is no dishonest sense of anchor here, no blissful pastoral idyll. The poet describes her people as “foragers for a destiny” and her work is pervaded by a deep unease about erased histories and an uncertain future. And yet, implicit in Dai’s poetics is the refusal to divorce protest from love.
(An interview with her in which she eloquently articulates this view, accompanies this edition.) This seems to translate into a commitment to poetry of quiet surges and eddies rather than gritty textures and edges. It also translates into a voice that is never raised in rage or indignation; a tone that is hushed, wondering, thoughtful, reflective. The strength of this poetry is its unforced clarity, its ability to steer clear of easy flamboyance.
Small Towns and the River About the Poem
“Small Towns and the River”, is a small poem written by Mamang Dai. This poem belongs to Mamang Dai’s collection of River Poems that talks about life and mortality. This poem talks about the usual beliefs about the transience of life that is an afterlife and the permanent existence of human soul. The poet uses different metaphors to contrast the impermanence of human life with the permanence of nature. I
n this poem, the poet uses the scenes of her hometown to reflect the very theme of the poem. This poem opens up by enfolding a shocking truth. Through the line “Small towns always remind me of death” the poet gives a particular reference of his hometown, situated among trees. It seems her town is lifeless, always the same both in summer and winter.
People weep when any death happens and amidst “life and death, life and death, only the rituals are permanent.” But unlike human life, nature remains eternal, of which the river plays an important role. The river is also personified in this poem.
When we go further with this poem, we could see how the immortality of the human soul and the immortality of nature are entwined. The eternal flow of the river is also contrasted with the limited span of the human life in this poem.
Small Towns and the River Poem in Detail
The poem begins by mentioning the life in small towns which is unchanging, irrespective of the season. The life there is dull and monotonous. The environment there, reminds the poet “of death”. Whenever the news on someone’s death comes, all the people of the town mourn that indicates how close the people are with each other.
Life and death comes on goes but “the rituals are permanent.” In this poem, the river is personified by giving it a soul. Irrespective of seasons, the river flows ceaselessly. The river, in this poem, acts as a symbol of peace. This poem also talks about the childhood of human life which is a carefree period of innocence. In this period, humans remain free from every tension and troubles. But when they grow up, everything changes. The grown-ups represent the town and the “dead are placed pointing west.”
After death, when the soul rises, “it will walk into the golden east”. There is a mention of the rebirth of a soul which indicates immortality. According to the poet, life, though transient, is beautiful. The cool bamboo gets the warmth of sunlight and “life matters, like this.” As sunlight plays a major role for the growth of plants so is life important to keep the soul thriving.
Small Towns and the River Poem Line Wise Explanation
Small towns always remind me of death.
My hometown lies calmly amidst the trees,
it is always the same,
in summer or winter,
with the dust flying,
or the wind howling down the gorge.
The speaker begins by describing her hometown that lies calmly amidst the trees. This calm town situated amidst trees is symbolic of the ominous silence of death. The image of this small town brings back memories of the dead ones. To the speaker, the town seems unchanged as she says, “it is always the same, in summer or winter”.
This monotony or never-changing nature of her town is also characteristic of death which is an unavoidable truth. The wind is personified as howling down the gorge, and becomes a symbol for the valley of death.
Just the other day someone died.
In the dreadful silence we wept
looking at the sad wreath of tuberoses.
Life and death, life and death,
only the rituals are permanent.
In this stanza, the speaker then recalls the day when someone died in her hometown. She recalls how the town mourned the death in dreadful silence. She reflects on the transient nature of life. Only the mourning or weeping on death is constant, as the speaker says, “only the rituals are permanent”.
The river has a soul.
In the summer it cuts through the land
like a torrent of grief. Sometimes,
sometimes, I think it holds its breath
seeking a land of fish and stars
After personifying the wind in the first stanza, the poet now personifies the river. She says that like a human, the river has a soul. However, while the soul of a human is transient, the river has an eternal soul. The river cuts through the land like a torrent of grief means that the river makes its way through the land just like grief pierces into the human heart. This again reiterates the ideas of grief and death.
The river has a soul.
It knows, stretching past the town, from the first drop of rain to dry earth and mist on the mountaintops, the river knows the immortality of water. The River’s soul is eternal and immortal because it contains water. This is why the poet says that the river knows the immortality of water. It means that the constant flow of water makes the river live forever.
Also, by saying that “it knows”, the speaker means that the river flows through many areas and experiences different terrains of the plains and the mountains. It also witnesses everything from the first drop of rain to diy earth and mist on the mountaintops. It is as if the river gains wisdom and knowledge by flowing over such a long path. This makes the speaker reiterate that the river knows.
A shrine of happy pictures
marks the days of childhood.
Small towns grow with anxiety for the future
The dead are placed pointing west.
When the soul rises
it will walk into the golden east,
into the house of the sun.
The speaker then assumes a nostalgic tone remembering the happy pictures that mark the days of childhood. As the carefree phase of childhood passes, people become anxious about their futures. The worries of the future overwhelm their present lives.
According to the town’s ritual, the dead ones are placed in the direction pointing west. It is believed that the soul of the dead people rises from their bodies to ascend towards the Sun in the east. The Sun serves as a symbol of hope and afterlife.
In the cool bamboo,
restored in sunlight,
life matters, like this.
In small towns by the river
we all want to walk with the gods.
The poet ends by saying that though the dead ones leave, the life of the people in town is restored to normalcy after the mourning rituals end. After the gloomy picture of death presented in the previous stanzas, the final lines present hope in the thought of an afterlife as the poet concludes, “we all want to walk with the gods”.
The poem presents a contrast between the mortal humans and the immortal Nature. The human beings die but the river and the Sun continue to live. The permanent nature of the river’s flow is in contrast with the transient nature of human life. Death cannot be avoided and is destined to come to all humans. But there is still some hope for the human soul that can walk with the gods after the death.
Small Towns and the River Poem Theme
The theme of the poem “Small Towns and the River” is quiet simple. Through this poem, the poet expresses her idea of life and death. The poet writes, “life and death, life and death,only the rituals are permanent” which expresses the very fact that life follows death and after death, new life begins and this is an endless circle. Human life is non-permanent but the nature and its rituals are ceaseless.
The river, which is also ceaseless, is personified by giving it a soul. The life of the small towns by the river is expressed as dull and monotonous whereas the flow of the river water is pulsating with life. In this poem, we also can witness the mention of a soul’s rebirth.
The closeness and fellowship among the town dwellers is also highlighted in this poem as they share their happiness and grief side by side. They have a bonding among them which is fascinating.
Small Towns and the River Poem Word Meaning
Calmly — In a peaceful, .quiet way and without worry or extreme emotion
Amidst — In the middle of or surrounded by
Howling — Blowing hard and making a lot of noise
Dreadful — causing fear, shock, or suffering
Permanent — Lasting for a long time or forever
Torrent — A sudden large or too large amount, especially one that seems to be uncontrolled
Rituals — A way of doing something in which the same actions are done in the same way every time
Grief … Very great sadness, especially at the death of someone
Soul — The spiritual part of a person that some people believe continues to exist in some form after their body has died, or the part of a person that is not physical and experiences deep feelings and emotions
Seeking — To try to find or get something
Immortality — The quality of being able to Jive or last forever
Shrine — A place for worship that is holy because of a connection with a holy person or object
Anxiety — An uncomfortable feeling of nervousness or worry about something that is happening or might happen in the future
Bamboo — A tall tropical grass with hard, hollow stems
Gorge — A narrow valley between hills or mountains
Tuberose — A Mexican plant with heavily scented white waxy flowers and a tuberous base
Small Towns and the River Poem Critical Appreciation
Mamang Dai’s works are illustrative. She received the Padma Shri award in 2011 from the Government of India. Her one of the famous works “Small towns and the River” is a poem of life and mortality. In this poem, the eternal flow of the river is being contrasted with the limited span of human life.
In this poem, the existence of human life, the eternal truth about death and the concept of the after-life is discussed. The poem opens up by mentioning the life in small towns which is stagnant, irrespective of the season.
The scenario does not change there as the life there is dull and monotonous. The environment there, reminds the poet “of death”. Whenever the news on someone’s death comes, all the people of the town stick together and mourn which shows how close the people are with each other. They share their grief, loss and pain. Life and death comes on goes but “the rituals are permanent.” In this poem, the river is personified by giving it a soul.
Irrespective of seasons, the river flows endlessly. The river, in this poem, acts as a symbol of peace. This poem also talks about the childhood of human life which is a carefree period of innocence. In this period, humans remain free from every tension and troubles.
But when they grow up, everything changes. The grown-ups represent the town and the “dead are placed pointing west.” After death, when the soul rises, “it will walk into the golden east”. There is also a mention of the rebirth of a soul which indicates immortality.
According to the poet, life, though non¬permanent, is beautiful. The cool bamboo gets the warmth of sunlight and “life matters, like this.” As sunlight plays a major role for the growth of plants so is life important to keep the soul thriving. This poem contains rich, visual imageries that describe mainly Mother Nature. These images can be called as visual treat which are very much original and pleasing. This poem has lucid language and simple fervor.
Small Towns and the River Poem Style
In the poem, “Small Towns and the River”, has a lucid style of writing. Metaphorically, this poem talks about the issues of life, death and after-life. The poet has used several images which can be considered as very much original and appealing.
We can also witness an extensive use of personification which is a striking feature of this poem. The river, small towns, the cool bamboo and even the sun is personified in this poem. This poem also shows the consonant sounds like- “Just the other day some died.” (d- sound), “…dreadful silence we wept” (w-sound). This poem is deeply meaningful and carries an inner meaning.
Small Towns and the River Poem MCQs
Choose the correct alternative to complete the following sentences:
Question 1.
Who is the narrator of the poem?
a. The villagers
b. Some other people
c. Mamang Dai
d. None of them
Answer:
c. Mamang Dai
Question 2.
What is the reminder of death according to the poem?
a. Small town
b. Small village
c. The villagers
d. The cemetery
Answer:
a. Small town
Question 3.
According to the poem which place is always the same?
a. The river
b. Poet’s town
c. The city
d. Some other place
Answer:
b. Poet’s town
Question 4.
What is “Tuberose”?
a. A flower
b. A place
c. Some kind of food
d. Some kind of emotion
Answer:
a. A flower
Question 5.
According to the poet what is permanent?
a. The person
b. The body
c. The emotion
d. The rituals
Answer:
d. The rituals
Question 6.
According to the poet, which natural thing has soul in the poem “Small Towns and the River”?
a. The land
b. The river
c. The House
d. None of them
Answer:
b. The river
Question 7.
Who knows the “Stretching past the town”?
a. The tree
b. The people
c. The narrator
d. The river
Answer:
d. The river
Question 8.
What is immortal according to the poet?
a. The river
b. The land
c. The water
d. The tree
Answer:
c. The water
Question 9.
Which thing grows the anxiety?
a. Small town
b. New city
c. The river
d. The people
Answer:
a. Small town
Question 10.
What kind of anxiety the narrator has?
a. About the death
b. For the future
c. For the destiny
d. None of these
Answer:
c. For the destiny
Question 11.
According to the poem in which direction the soul walks “when the soul rises?”
a. Golden west
b. Golden north
c. Golden south
d. Golden east
Answer:
d. Golden east
Question 12.
Who wrote the poem “Small Towns and the River”?
a. Mamang Dai
b. Rabindranath Tagore
c. William Shakespeare
d. Seamus Heaney
Answer:
a. Mamang Dai
Question 13.
In which year the poet received the Padma Shri?
a. 2012
b. 2010
c. 2011
d. 2009
Answer:
c. 2011
Question 14.
In which year the poet received the Sahitya Akademi Award?
a. 2007
b. 2010
c. 2011
d. 2017
Answer:
d. 2017
Question 15.
What kind of a poem is “Small Towns and the River”?
a. Sonnet
b. Allegorical poem
c. Prose type poem
d. None of these
Answer:
b. Allegorical poem