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Question
I think I could turn and live with animals, they are
so placid and self-contain’d
I stand and look at them long and long.
They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,
Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with
the mania of owning things.
Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that
lived thousands of years ago,
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.
So they show their relations to me and I accept them,
They bring me tokens of myself, they evince
them plainly in their possession
I wonder where they get those tokens,
Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?
(A1) Complete the following sentences with the help of the poem.
(a) The poet wishes he could.............................
(b) Animals do not complain about............................
(c) Animals do not merely discuss.............................
(d) Animals are not crazy about .............................
(A2) The qualities of animals that highlighted by the poet in the poem are
.............................................................................................................
............................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................
(A3) Name and explain the figures of speech.
“I stand and look at them long and long.’’
Solution
(A1) (a) The poet wishes he could live with animals.
(b) Animals do not complain about their condition.
(c) Animals do not merely discuss duty to God.
(d) Animals are not crazy about the owning things.
(A2)
(i) Animals are calm and self-contained.
(ii) They are happy with the resources they have, and not crazy for owning things.
(iii) They do not criticize what they already have like humans.
(iv) They don’t idle away their time discussing their duties to
God like a human.
(A3)
Repetition – word ‘long’ is repeated to give more poetic effect.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
Notice the use of the word ‘turn’ in the first line, “I think I could turn and live with animals…”. What is the poet turning from?
Complete the following.
Animals do not complain about _________________.
Complete the following.
Animals are not crazy about ________________.
State whether the following statement is true or false.
Humans have given up many good qualities.
State whether the following statement is true or false.
Animals suffer humiliation.
Read the text again, and complete the web, highlighting the good values/habits which we can learn from animals.
Read the poem again and write an appreciation of the poem in a paragraph format with the help of given points.
Points
- Title
- Poet
- Rhyme scheme
- Favourite line
- Theme/Central idea
- Figures of speech
- Special features - Type of the poem, language, tone, implied meaning, etc.
- Why I like/ dislike the poem.
Read the following extract and do the given activities.
A1. State whether the following statements are true or false: (2)
- Animals show their relations to us.
- Humans have given up many good qualities.
- Animals sweat and whine about their condition.
- Animals are placid and self-contained.
| I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain'd, I stand and look at them long and long. They do not sweat and whine about their condition, They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things. Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago, Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth, So they show their relations to me and I accept them, They bring me tokens of myself, they evince them plainly in their possession. I wonder where they get those tokens, Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them? |
A2. Answer the following question with the help of the given extract: (2)
(i) What craze do animals never display? Why?
A3. Pick out one example of Rhetorical question from the extract. (1)
Why does the poet wish to 'turn' and live with animals?
'They do not sweat and whine about their condition.' What human traits does the poet condemn in these lines?
