Q.3. A. Read the following extract and complete the given activities: [05 Marks]
Al. From the following extract of the poem provide evidence that it set in a rural background: (2)
Evidence: i. ……………………..
ii. ……………………..
With candles and with lanterns
throwing giant scorpion shadows
on the mud-baked walls
they searched for him; he was not found.
they clicked their tongues.
With every movement that the scorpion made his poison
moved in Mother’s blood, they said.
May he sit still, they said
May the sins of your previous birth
be burned away tonight, they said.
May your suffering decrease
the misfortunes of your next birth, they said.
May the sum of all evil
balanced in this unreal world
against the sum of good
become diminished by your pain.
Al.
Ans.
Evidence :
i. With candles and with lanterns
ii. on the mud-baked walls
A2. How did the peasants console the poet’s mother? (2)
Ans. The peasants consoled the poet’s mother by telling her that the sins of her previous birth would be burnt away by the scorpion’s sting. They added that her present suffering will decrease the misfortunes in her next birth. They told her that her pain would diminish the evil in the world.
A3. Pick out an example of Antithesis from the extract: (1)
Ans. Antithesis – May the sum of all evil balanced in this unreal world against the sum of good become diminished by your pain Here, the opposites evil and good have been used to create a contrast.
Q.3. B. Read the following poem and write an appreciation of it with the help of the given points in a paragraph format: [05 Marks]
Where the Mind is Without Fear…
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by Thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
– Rabindranath Tagore
Points
i. The title and the poet of the poem (1)
ii. rhyme scheme (1)
iii. Figures of speech (1)
iv. Central Idea /Theme (2)
Ans.
The poem ‘Where the mind is without fear’ by Rabindranath Tagore is a prayer to God.
The poem is written in free verse without any rhyme scheme. There are many figures of speech e.g. Repetition, Metaphor, Alliteration, etc. An important figure of speech is Personification- ‘Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection’.
In the poem, Tagore addresses God as ‘my Father’ and asks Him to awaken his country into a heaven of freedom, where there is total freedom of good thoughts, good words and good actions. He wishes for a country where people are free from fear, where knowledge is free to all individuals and people from all castes and religions are united.