POEM: COMPREHENSION/CBSE/ICSE/WBBSE/WBBHSE

1. STUPIDITY STREET: Ralph Hodgson

I saw with open eyes
Singing birds sweet
Sold in the shops
For people to eat,
Sold in the shops of
Stupidity Street.

I saw in vision
The worm in the wheat,
And in the shops nothing
For people to eat;
Nothing for sale in
Stupidity Street.

1.    Where were the birds sold?

2.    How did the poet want the people to be punished?

3.    Where would you find such an unusual street?

4.    Is the poet angry or amused at the end of the poem?

5.    What did the poet see in the Stupidity Street?

6.    What did the poet see in vision?

7.    Why could not people eat wheat?

8.    What is the contrast find in the two stanza?

2. Silver: Walter de La Mare

Slowly, silently, now the moon

Walks the night in her silver shoon;

This way, and that, she peers, and sees

Silver fruit upon silver trees;

One by one the casements catch

Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;

Couched in his kennel, like a log,

With paws of silver sleeps the dog;

From their shadowy cote the white breasts peep

Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep;

A harvest mouse goes scampering by,

With silver claws and a silver eye;

And moveless fish in the water gleam,

By silver reeds in a silver stream.

1. What makes everything silvery ?
2. Make a list of things that look silvery ?
3. Which words in the poem suggest that the moon is personified by the poet ?
4. Find out an example of comparison and another of contrast from the poem?
5. Find out opposite expressions --one suggesting the flurry of activity and other the
stillness of the night.
6. Who are awake while all the world are asleep ?
7. Make a list of the living creatures mentioned in the poem ?
8. The fish in the water gleamed because  _____________________________________________

3.  Silver: Walter de La Mare

Slowly, silently, now the moon

Walks the night in her silver shoon;

This way, and that, she peers, and sees

Silver fruit upon silver trees;

One by one the casements catch

Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;

Couched in his kennel, like a log,

With paws of silver sleeps the dog;

From their shadowy cote the white breasts peep

Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep;

A harvest mouse goes scampering by,

With silver claws and a silver eye;

And moveless fish in the water gleam,

By silver reeds in a silver stream.

1.The fish in the water gleamed because ...
2. The doves were sleeping .. ...
3. The word that tells us that even the fish are asleep.
4.The  only sound that can be heard. Is it loud a noise ?
5.Describe the activity of the mouse
6. How is the dog  sleeping ?
7. Describe the hut at moonlight
8. Who walks in her shoes and how ?
 

4. Silver: Walter de La Mare

Slowly, silently, now the moon

Walks the night in her silver shoon;

This way, and that, she peers, and sees

Silver fruit upon silver trees;

One by one the casements catch

Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;

Couched in his kennel, like a log,

With paws of silver sleeps the dog;

From their shadowy cote the white breasts peep

Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep;

A harvest mouse goes scampering by,

With silver claws and a silver eye;

And moveless fish in the water gleam,

By silver reeds in a silver stream.

1.What does the moon wear in her walk ?
2. What does she peer and sees ?
3.How does the dog look like while sleeping ?
4. Find three words in the poem that mean ncarly the same ?
5. Find two words which mean the house or shelter for animals or birds.
6. Find a word that gives the sound of an animal.
7. Find a word that stands for the old / poetic use of shoes.

5. Loveliest of Tree: A. E. Housman

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

1.Name of the poet.
2.What is meant by 'Woodland ride' ?
3.What is 'Easter tide' ?
4.What does 'White' symbolize ?
5.Localion of the tree.
6. Name the tree.
7.Name of the speaker.
8. What does the poet mean by the cherry tree wearing white ?

6. Loveliest of Tree: A. E. Housman

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

1.Describe after the poet, the beauty of the cherry tree.
2. How old was the poet when he wrote the poem ?
3. Explain the meaning of the phrase ' seventy spring
4. Why does the poet decide to go to the wood land ride ?
5. The word 'room' in the poem means
6. The poet writes about the season
7. Why are the tree wearing white ?
8. Why fifty springs are only left ?

7. Loveliest of Tree: A. E. Housman

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

1. What is the Biblical reference in the poem ?
2. What does the poet want to say through the poem ?
3. Give the theme of the poem.
4. Why is the poet anxious to see the cherry tree immediately
5. What kind of attitude / mood regarding beautiful thing in nature is
here ?
6. When does the poet intend to come back to the woodland ride an
7. The word ride here means
8. What is the important of Easter here ?

8. Loveliest of Tree: A. E. Housman 

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

1. Which words or expressions give the picture of a beautiful scene
2. Why are ' fifty spring little room for the poet ?
3. What will the poet do then ?
4. What do you mean by 'threescore years and ten ?
5.What does land covered with trees mean?
6. Why does the poet refer only to spring and not to spring ?
7. Where would the poet go to ?
8. Which is the loveliest of trees according to the poet ?

9. DAFFODILS:  WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude?

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

1.Why does the poet compare himself to a cloud ?
2. How did the daffodils look when the poet first saw them ?
3. Whom did the flower excel in their happy dance ?
4. In whot sort of company would a poet be hoppy ?
5. Why does the poet repeat the word gazed ?
6. When and how did 'the show' become a wealth to him ?
7. Name the poet.
8. They flashed upon inward eyes - who are they ?

10. DAFFODILS:  WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude?

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

1, The doffodils bring the 'bliss of solitude ' to the poet because _____________________
2.The flower ' flashing upon the inward eye ' means that ____________________________
3. Who is' I' here ?
4. What are the daffodils compared to in the first two lines ?
5. Where did the poet see the doffodils ?
6. What is the significance of the number ' ten thousand '?
7. Give the examples of personification.
8. What is suggested by the expression 'jocund company '?

11. DAFFODILS:  WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude?

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

1. What does the poet's heart do when it is filled with jay ?
2. When do "they flash upon the inward eyes "?
3. What do you mean by -- pensive, vacant  and couch.
4. The poet saw a large number of daffodils by _____________
5. What did the poet see during his journey ?
6. Why did the poet describe the flowers as golden ?
7. What did the poet see all at once ?
8. How far did the flowers stretch ?