Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
Explain how the poet guides his son who is at the threshold of manhood, to face the challenges of life.
Solution
The poet shares his wisdom with his son who is at the threshold of manhood. He persuades his son to be hard as steel or rock to withstand challenges and unforeseen betrayals in life. A person with a soft heart will crumble before a breach of trust. Similarly, he wants his son to be discerning enough to be soft when needed to grow like a frail flower plant splitting a rock. Occasionally one has to go with the current because life is at times fertile with a lot of opportunities to grow even among the harshest circumstances. ‘Rich soft wanting’ can help a person to win against all odds. He reiterates this idea by explaining how gentleness can reform a hardened criminal when lashes would, in contrast, harden them further.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
Did the soldiers fight with the enemies face to face?
Who had let the enemies in?
Read the given line and answer the question that follow in a line or two.
Our gates were strong, our walls were thick,
So smooth and high, no man could win.
- How safe was the castle?
- What was the firm belief of the soldiers?
Read the given line and answer the question that follow in a line or two.
A foothold there, no clever trick
Could take us dead or quick,
Only a bird could have got in.
- What was challenging?
- Which aspect of the castle’s strength is conveyed by the above line?
Our captain was brave and we were true
Identify the figure of speech used in the following line.
A little wicked wicket gate.
Identify the figure of speech used in the following line.
Grew thin and treacherous as air.
Identify the figure of speech used in the following line.
How can this shameful tale be told?
Describe the garden during the night.
Read the line given below and answer the question that follow.
“Fear, trembling Hope, and Death, the skeleton,
And Time the shadow”, and though weak the verse
That would thy beauty fain, oh, fain rehearse,
May Love defend thee from oblivion’s curse.
- What does the poet mean by the expression ‘May love defend thee from oblivion’s curse?’
- What does the expression ‘fain’ convey?
- What does the poet convey through the expression ‘Fear, trembling Hope’?
Bring out the features of the fourth stage of a man as described by the poet.
‘He works his work, I mine’ – How is the work distinguished?
Identify the figure of speech employed in the following line.
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Identify the figure of speech employed in the following line.
To follow knowledge like a sinking star.
Read the set of line from the poem and answer the question that follow.
This is my son, mine own Telemachus,
To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle Well-loved of me,
- Who does Ulysses entrust his kingdom to, in his absence?
- Bring out the significance of the ‘sceptre’.
Explain with reference to the context the following line.
He works his work, I mine.
Explain with reference to the context the following line.
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs:
the deep Moans round with many voices.
Every parent is anxious about the welfare of his/her children. Parents express their anxiety by advising them almost all the time. What kind of advice do you frequently receive from your parents? Fill in the bubbles. Tick the ones you like to follow implicitly and give reasons for the ones you don’t like to follow.
Fill in the blanks choosing the words from the box given and complete the summary of the poem.
Lines 1-25
The poet Carl Sandburg gives a vivid description of a father’s worldly (1)______ in directing a son who is at the threshold of his (2) ______.
Here the father motivates his son to be like a hard(3) ______and withstand life’s (4)______ and sudden betrayals. (5)______is like a fertile soil. We can make our life fruitful if we are gentle, and take life as it comes. At times(6)______ overtakes harshness. The growth of a (7)______can split a rock. One should have a (8) ______and strong will to achieve. Greed for(9)______has left men dead before they really die. Good men also have fallen prey in quest for (10) ______money. Time for (11)______is not a waste. When you seek knowledge never feel ashamed to be called a(12)______for not knowing, at the same time learn from your (13) ______and never (14)______it.
| deep desire | manhood | gentleness | mistakes | easy |
| leisure | fool | life | money | repeat |
| tender-flower | rock | challenges | wisdom |
Lines 26-44
Do (15)______often, and do not hesitate to accept your shortcomings, avoid(16) ______to protect self against other people. Solitude helps to be (17)______and(18) ______ are taken in silent rooms. Instead of being one among many, be (19)______, if that is your nature. The son may need lazy days to find his (20)______abilities, to seek what he is born for. He will then know how free imaginations bring (21)______to the world, which (22)______ change. During such resentment, let him know that it is time for him to be on his own, and (23)______to achieve like Shakespeare, the Wright brothers, Pasteur, Pavlov, and Michael Faraday.
| changes | introspect | inherent | work | resents |
| white lies | creative | final decisions | different |
What happened to the people who wanted too much money?
What has twisted good men into thwarted worms?
Why does the poet advise his son to have lazy days?
Read the line given below and answer the question that follow.
Tell him to be a fool ever so often
and to have no shame over having been a fool
yet learning something out of every folly
hoping to repeat none of the cheap follies
- Is it a shame to be a fool at times?
- What does one learn from every folly?
Pick out the alliterated words from the poem and write.
And this might stand him for the storms
Explain the following line with reference to the context.
Brutes have been gentled where lashes failed.
Where was the narrator when the incident happened?
What is the role of the young soldier in the victory of the French at Ratisbon?
