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प्रश्न
Based on your reading of the poem, answer the following question by ticking the correct option:
- In the line 'And as he slowly drew up, snake-easing his shoulders, and entered farther'
the phrase snake easing' his shoulders means
विकल्प
loosening its shoulders
slipping in with majestic grace
moving slowly
moving fast
उत्तर
moving slowly
APPEARS IN
संबंधित प्रश्न
Why did the poet try to harm the snake ?
Given below is the summary of the poem Snake in short paragraphs. However
they are jumbled. Work in pairs and put the summary into a logical sequence.
(a) After drinking water to satisfaction, the snake raised his head dreamily and flickered his forked tongue and licked his lips. The snake looked around like a God and then slowly proceeded to curve round and move away from the water trough.
(b) The poet felt much like the ancient mariner who had killed the albatross for no reason. He wishes that the snake would come back. He thinks of the snake as a king in exile who has to be crowned again. He also regrets having missed his opportunity of knowing and understanding one of the lords of life.
(c) As the snake put his head into the hole to retreat into the earth, the poet was filled with a protest against the idea of the snake withdrawing into his hole. The poet put down his pitcher, picked up a log and hurled it at the snake. The snake twisted violently and with great alacrity vanished into the hole in the wall.
(d) A snake visited the poet’s water trough on a hot afternoon to quench his thirst. The poet who had also gone to the trough to fill water in a pitcher waited for the snake since he had come at the trough prior to the poet.
(e) The voices of education inside the poet tell him that it was the fear for the snake that made him refrain from killing him. However, the poet feels that though he was quite afraid of the snake, he did actually feel honoured that a snake had come to seek his hospitality from the deep recesses of the earth.
(f) He is guilt-ridden. He feels that he has to atone for the meanness of his action of throwing a log at the snake.
(g) The snake rested his throat upon the stone bottom and sipped the water into his slack long body. After drinking water, he raised his head just like cattle do and flashed his forked tongue, thought for a moment and then bent down to drink some more water.
(h) Education and social conventions make the poet think that the golden brown poisonous snake must be killed and that as a brave man he must undertake the task of killing the snake.
(i) The poet instantly felt sorry for his unrefined and contemptible act and cursed the voices of education and civilization that had shaped his thought processes and urged him to kill the snake.
(j) However, the poet instinctively likes the snake, treats him like a guest and feels honoured that it had come to drink at his water trough. The poet questions himself and wonders whether his not daring to kill the snake proved that he was a coward and whether his desire to talk to the snake reflected his perversity.
Answer the following question briefly:
Why does the poet decide to stand and wait till the snake has finished drinking? What
does this tell you about the poet? (Notice that he uses 'someone' instead of 'something'
for the snake.)
Answer the following question briefly:
In stanza 2 and 3, the poet gives a vivid description of the snake by using suggestive expressions. What picture of the snake do you form on the basis of this description?
Answer the following question briefly:
How does the poet describe the day and the atmosphere when he had seen the snake?
Answer the following question briefly:
Do you think the snake was conscious of the poet's presence? How do you know?
Answer the following question briefly:
The poet seems to be full of admiration and respect for the snake. He almost regards him like a majestic God. Pick out at least four expressions from the poem that reflect these emotions.
Answer the following question briefly:
The poet experiences feelings of self-derision, guilt and regret after hitting the snake. Pick out expressions that suggest this. Why does he feel like this?
Answer the following question briefly:
You have already read Coleridge's poem The Ancient Mariner in which an albatross is killed by the mariner. Why does the poet make an allusion to the albatross?
Read the given excerpt and answer the questions briefly.
| But must I confess how I liked him, How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet, to drink at my water-trough And depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless, Into the burning bowels of this earth? |
- What can be inferred about the speaker's attitude towards nature based on the excerpt? (1)
- List the meaning of the phrase "burning bowels of this earth”. (1)
- How is the snake's arrival and departure symbolic? (1)
- The speaker compares the snake to the guest. Which word in the extract displays the snake’s non-guest like behaviour? (1)
