Part II English (Poetry - Semester I)

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“Upagupta”

Choose and Fill Ups:

• 1.      The poem “Upagupta” presents two moments in the life of the dancing girl.
• 2.      Upagupta is the disciple of Buddha.
• 3.      In “Upagupta” the dancing girl meets the ascetic again after a long time.
• 4.      Upagupta, a great ascetic appears in the life of a dancing girl.
• 5.      The seasons described in the poem are Monsoon and Spring.
• 6.      In “Upagupta” the dancing girl’s life is being stricken with black pestilence.
• 7.      In “Upagupta” the dancing girl is seen lying down on the same rampart.
• 8.      In “Upagupta” the dancing girl was proud of her youth and beauty.
• 9.      The poem, “Upagupta” establishes the importance of humanity.
• 10.   According to  Upagupta, the dancing girl’s life is being stricken with black pestilence.

Short Question and Answer:

• 1.      Who is Upagupta?

Upagupta is a disciple of Buddha. He is also an ascetic.

• 2.      What is the dancing girl proud of in the poem “Upagupta”?
  The dancing girl considers her youth and beauty and also her dancing profession as her pride.

The dancing girl considers her youth and beauty and also her dancing profession as her pride.

• 3.      What is the dancing girl stricken with?

The dancing girl is stricken with black pestilence.

• 4.      What are described as two cardinal moments in the life of the dancing girl?

In the beginning, the dancing girl is beautiful and young. Later she is stricken with black pestilence and red sores found all over body. Her beauty is gone. These are the two cardinal moments in her life.

• 5.      How does Upagupta comfort the dancing girl when she is ill?

The ascetic applies the sandal balm on the sores found on the body of the dancing girl.

 

“Refugee Mother and Child”

Choose and Fill Ups:

• 1.      “Refugee Mother and Child” is written by Chinua Achebe.
• 2.      The poem, “Refugee Mother and Child” is about a mother and a child who have no home.
• 3.      The hair on the skull of the child is sparse.
• 4.      The mothers have lost all hope saving their children.
• 5.      Motherly love has been drained away from the mother.
• 6.      The refugee mother holding her child is compared to Mother Mary cuddling Infant Jesus.
• 7.      The mother puts flowers on the skull of the child.
• 8.      The act of putting flowers indicates the last display of maternal love.
• 9.      Madonna is Mother Mary.
• 10.   The child of the refugee mother gradually moves towards the grave.

Short Questions and Answers:

• 1.      Who does the mother demonstrate her tenderness for in the poem “Refugee Mother and Child”?

  The mother shows her tenderness for her dying son who suffers from diarrhoea.

  2.      Give two phrases from the poem, they convey the economic death refugees.

  ‘washed-out ribs and dried-up bottoms’    and     ‘blown empty bellies’

  3.      What does the reference to Madonna signify in the poem?

  Madonna refers to Mother Mary cuddling Infant Jesus. In this poem the refugee mother  holding her dying son like Mother Mary.

  4.      What have you understood of the condition of the child in the poem?

  The child is slowly dying since it suffers from diarrhoea since the hygienic condition is very            poor in the refuge camp.

  5.      What have you understood of the poet’s attitude reflected in the poem?

  The poet shows his sympathy for the poor condition of the refuge camp. He is also angry at             the government is lethargic while treating the refugees. 

 

“Don’ts”

Choose and Fill Ups:

• 1.      The poem, “Don’ts” is written by D.H. Lawrence.
• 2.      D.H. Lawrence is educating his young little boy to be real.
• 3.      Lawrence in “Don’ts” does not want his son to do all the same mistakes.
• 4.      In “Don’ts” the poet has done, many things to fall into the good habits of the people in the society.
• 5.      Lawrence wants his little boy to follow his heart.
• 6.      In “Don’ts” the poet wants his son to give the same lesson to his children.
• 7.      D.H. Lawrence advises his son not to live up to the standards.
• 8.      In the poem “Don’ts” the word ‘mater’ means informal use of Latin word for ‘mother’
• 9.      According to Lawrence the phrase ‘an enclosure for pigs’ is sty.
• 10.   According to Lawrence the message of the poem “Don’ts” could be to connect and find meaning in our experiences.

Short Questions and Answers:

• 1.      What is the major advice of the poet to his son in the poem “Don’ts”?

The poet does not want his son to do all the same mistakes that he had done to fall into the good books of the people in the society. Instead he wants him to follow his heart.

• 2.      What does the poet educate his son to be?

He educate his son to be real

• 3.      What does the poet want his not to do?

The poet wants his son not to 1. fall to much to the good books of the people in the society, 2. life for the dear little girl, 3. earn too much of wealth, 4. swallow too much of culture, and 5. drink too much of beer.

• 4.      What does the poet want his son to follow?

He wants his son to follow his heart and to be as good as he can be.

• 5.      What lesson does the poet want his son to pass to his wards in future?

The poet wants his son to give the same message to his children in future that he is giving to him through the poem “Don’ts”.

 

“Digging”

Choose and Fill Ups:

• 1.      Seamus Heaney is an Irish poet.
• 2.      Heaney reflects upon the rural history of his family in “Digging”.
• 3.      In “Digging” the speaker holds a pen like a spade.
• 4.      In the poem “Digging” the spade used by Heaney’s father is a thing of the past.
• 5.      Heaney  goes back to the memories of twenty years past.
• 6.      The poet used to involve in gathering of the potatoes in “Digging”.
• 7.      Heaney’s grandfather used to cut more turf in a day.
• 8.      The poet in “Digging” informs how he took a bottle of milk for his grandfather.
• 9.      The poet in “Digging” says that he has to follow the footsteps of his father and grandfather.
• 10.   The poets says the he too can dig with his squat pen in “Digging”.

Short Questions and Answers:

• 1.      How many generations are drawn to the picture in the poem “Digging”?

Three generations are drawn to the picture in the poem “Digging”

• 2.      What is the speaker originally engaged in?

The speaker of “Digging” originally engaged in ‘writing’.

• 3.      What has distracted the speaker from his work?

The digging of the ground with a spade by the speaker’s father has distracted him from his work.

• 4.      What does the act of digging signify metaphorically in the poem?

The act of digging metaphorically signifies the act of digging up of the past of the speaker’s life.

• 5.      What have you understood of the speaker’s grandfather in the poem “Digging”?

The speaker’s grandfather has possessed the skill of digging more turf than any other farmer in the village.