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Keeping Quiet Poem Summary in English by Pablo Neruda

Keeping Quiet Poem by Pablo Neruda About the Poet

Pablo Neruda, was a Nobel Prize-winning poet. He adopted this pen name in 1920, in the memory of Czechoslovak poet, Jan Neruda.

Neruda wrote in a variety of styles, such as love poems as in his collection, Twenty Poems of Love and , a Song of Despair, surrealist poems, historical epics, and overtly political manifestos. He travelled the ? world for many years, and returned to Chile in 1943. In 1945, he joined the Communist Party of Chile and became Senator of the Republic. In 1971, Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Pablo Neruda I remained active in the literary and political arena even before his death. His poetry bears an impact on his political activities and expresses his experiences in repression during his exile. He wrote over 140 poems. Colombian novelist Gabriel Garda Marquez once called him “the greatest poet of the 20th § century in any language”.

Poet Name	Pablo Neruda
Born	12 July 1904, Parral, Chile
Died	23 September 1973, Santiago, Chile
Full Name	Ricardo Eliecer Neftali Reyes Basoalto
Awards	Nobel Prize in Literature, Lenin Peace Prize
Spouse	Matilde Urrutia (m. 1966–1973)

Keeping Quiet Poem Introduction to the Poem

In this poem, the poet aims to appeal to the readers to take some time out of their busy life for a little introspection and retrospection. The title, “Keeping Quiet” is symbolic of stopping all the activities and keep the mind quiet by not doing anything, but to question and understand the purpose of the world that humans have created around themselves.

Keeping Quiet Poem Theme

In the poem, the poet advocates to keep quiet and still for a while to introspect and understand ourselves and our relationships, and to build a peaceful and harmonious world over. He asks all the human beings to stop all worldly activities for a while and spend few quiet moments in introspection.

Keeping Quiet Poem Summary in English

In this poem, the poet has emphasised the need to introspect and bring in the spirit of brotherhood among the people of the world. He wants people to stop talking and stop all movements symbolising agitation and restlessness till he counts twelve, that is, a short period of time. These moments of silence would be strange and exotic because in our mundane life, we are working towards achieving selfish goals, regardless of the others’ requirements and emotions. Hence, this sudden silence would give us an opportunity to introspect. Since we would not speak for a while, barriers between communities would break and a sense of brotherhood would prevail.

Man would get an opportunity to realise how he is destroying nature and how he is harming himself. Futile wars against man and nature would be arrested and a new feeling of unity would be experienced. The poet does not want his desire for inactivity to be misunderstood as a state of uselessness or in action. He wants man to learn a lesson from the earth. The earth appears to be inactive, yet it is selflessly productive. Man too could be productive and progressive without any aggression, selfishness and the urge for destruction.

Short Summary Of Keeping Quiet Reference-to-Context Questions

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

1. Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still.
For once on the face of the Earth
let’s not speak in any language,
let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.

a. What is the significance of the number ‘twelve’ ?
Answer:
The number ‘twelve’ signifies the twelve divisions of time. It is a measure of time.

b. Which two activities does the poet want us to stop?
Answer:
The poet wants us to keep quiet and not speak. He does not want us to move our arms.

c. What does the poet mean by ‘let’s not speak in any language’?
Answer:
The poet pleads us to be silent and introspect.

d. Describe the pun in the word, ‘arms’.
Answer:
‘Arms’ refers to weapons and the arms in the human body.

2. It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines,
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.

a. What does ‘It’ refer to?
Answer:
‘It’ refers to the moment when there is peace and quietness which the poet considers would be exotic.

b. Who is the poet addressing to?
Answer:
The poet is addressing his readers.

c. What would be the moment like?
Answer:
The absence of hustle and bustle of life would create a feeling of peace and quiet which would make us united.

d. What does ‘exotic’ mean?
Answer:
It means ‘unique’ as the moment would be mysteriously different from the usually prevailing situation.

3. Fishermen in the cold sea,
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.

a. What are ‘fishermen’ symbolic of?
Answer:
‘Fishermen’ symbolise proficient hunters of all kinds. These people have been indiscriminately exploiting nature and Mother Earth for their own vested interests.

b. What message does the poet seem to give in these lines?
Answer:
The message that Neruda wishes to convey is that the desire of man for more and more progress and advancement has done more destruction than development. Man seems to have no concern and care for his brethren.

c. What image does Neruda portray in the last lines?
Answer:
The image that Neruda seems to create in the last lines is one of the incessant sufferings. In order to make life more comfortable, he pays no heed to the sufferings he has to undergo. The men, who gather salt do not look at their hurt palms because they are more busy making life more comfortable for themselves and for their family.

d. What basic idea does the poet empahsise upon?
Answer:
It is the environmental protection through man’s introspection and action.

4. Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victory with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and-walk about with their
brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.

a. Who are ‘those’ here?
Answer:
Here, ‘those’ are the politicians, scientists, statesmen and those overambitious powers to be, who in their zeal for dominance are involved in initiating and aggravating wars.

b. What are ‘green wars, wars with gas, wars with fire’?
Answer:
These are the nuclear and chemical weapons which have been created by man and used in waging wars against countries. In fact, these wars have brought mankind to its fatal end. These wars are also against the environment.

c. What does Neruda mean by ‘victory with no survivors’?
Answer:
The victory that may be gained with the help of nuclear and chemical warfare would actually leave no one alive in that area. There is no point of winning such a war which cannot be savoured as there would be no survivors.

d. Which poetic device is used in the third line of the extract?
Answer:
It is Paradox as opposite ideas are explained by this phrase.

5. What I want should not be
confused
with total inactivity.
Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.

a. What does Neruda imply by ‘total inactivity’?
Answer:
‘Total inactivity’ would imply that mankind should channelise his activities towards construction and he should put an end to his destructive activities. It certainly does not mean no action because life is an on-going process.

b. What is life about?
Answer:
Life cannot be brought to a standstill under any circumstances. It is an on-going process and it has to move on.

c. What does Neruda mean when he says, ‘I want no truck with death’?
Answer:
Neruda says that when he talks of counting upto twelve, meditating and introspecting, he is not advocating death-like silence. To bring all activities to a halt is only to facilitate introspection, and not to bring life to a standstill. Life is an on-going process and humanity should move on.

d. What is the underlying thought of the poet here?
Answer:
We should not act physically but we must introspect.

6. If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with
death.

a. What is man ‘single-minded’ about?
Answer:
Man is single-minded about his own progress and advancement. He is so focussed on his own development that he forgets to visualise the pros and cons of reckless development. The consequences and impact of materialistic progress should be taken into consideration.

b. Explain, ‘sadness of never understanding ourselves’.
Answer:
Mankind, in its race for materialistic success has sacrificed his emotional needs at some point of time. People are so engrossed in fulfilling their ambitions and successfully completing their duties that they tend to forego their inner mental satisfaction. Thus, they tend to become sad and isolated.

c. How has mankind threatened itself with death?
Answer:
The race for more arms and ammunitions and the desire to overpower and dominate over more and more areas and countries is what has threatened mankind with death. The mass destruction of nature is also one main reason for large-scale death of humanity.

d. What does ‘keeping our life moving’ mean?
Answer:
It means making progress without a second thought.

7. Perhaps the Earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.
Now I’ll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.

a. What does the earth teach us?
Answer:
The earth teaches us how new life springs from dead remains and how there is life under apparent stillness.

b. What does the poet mean to achieve by counting upto twelve?
Answer:
The poet wants to achieve peace by counting upto twelve. He wants us to introspect in a moment of silence.

c. What is the significance of ‘keeping quiet’?
Answer:
Keeping quiet doesn’t mean being idle. It means that we should avoid all such activities, which are hurting the nature, and in turn, us.

d. What is the poetic device used in the first line?
Answer:
Personification because earth is depicted like an instructor to us.

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A Thing of Beauty Summary in English by John Keats

A Thing of Beauty Poem by John Keats About the Poet

John Keats (31 October, 1795 – 23 February, 1821) was an English Romantic poet. He was one of the main figures of the second generation of Romantic poets along with Lord Byron and P. B. Shelley, ; despite his work having been in publication for only four years before his death.

Although his poems were not generally well received by critics during his lifetime, his reputation grew after his death. So by the end of the 19th century, he had become one of the most beloved of all English | poets. He had a significant influence on a diverse range of poets and writers.

The poetry of Keats is characterised by sensual imagery, most notably in the series of odes. Today, his poems and letters are some of the most popular and most analysed in English literature. His notable works are: To autumn; Ode to a nightingale; On first looking into Chapman’s Homer; Ode on a Grecian urn.

Poet Name	John Keats
Born	31 October 1795, Moorgate, City of London, United Kingdom
Died	23 February 1821, Rome, Italy
Poems	Ode to a Nightingale, Ode on a Grecian Urn, To Autumn
Movies	Arterial

A Thing of Beauty Introduction to the Poem

A British Romantic poet, John Keats (1795-1821), published his first epic poem, Endymion in 1818. It is a narrative about the relationship between a Goddess and her human lover. The poem is based on the Greek myth of Endymion, the shepherd who falls in love with the moon Goddess, Selene, whom the poet renames ‘Cynthia’. This extract, ‘A Thing of Beauty’ talks of how beautiful things give us pleasure and alleviate suffering and sorrow. The epic poem, ‘Endymion’ begins famously with the line, ‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever’ (first stanza).

A Thing of Beauty Theme

The very opening line of the poem, ‘A Thing of Beauty…. ‘ openly recites the very theme of the poem. Any beautiful object is always treasured in our mind because it provides us eternal and everlasting joy. The happiness that anything beautiful provides, never fades into nothingness but multiplies manifold whenever it returns to our mind.

A Thing of Beauty Summary in English

This poem presents the reader with the views of Keats on beauty and its value, and its ‘ importance to humans. Beauty, in whatever form it may be found, is an eternal joy to humans, because it offers humans the constant opportunity to reflect on that beauty, which stands in such stark contrast to the dejection, monotony and ugliness of our everyday lives.

In spite of all the difficulties and the sufferings that humans face, beauty has the ability to produce happiness and temporarily shift the burdens that humans bear.

Keats therefore, establishes that in his view of the world, life for humans consists of unremitting struggles and difficulties, and it is only beauty in its various guises that is able to shift those trials and at least temporarily produce happiness. The poem concludes with a list of things that constitute “beauty” for Keats, which include both physical objects which are examples of natural beauty such as daffodils, and also beauty that can be found in art, such as “the lovely tales we have heard or read”.

All of these forms of beauty act as “an endless fountain of immortal drink”, allowing humans to forget bleak reality and experience joy. This poem therefore, focuses on the theme of happiness and how it can be experienced. It inspires us and gives us the courage to fight against all odds.

Short Summary Of A Thing Of Beauty Reference-to-Context Questions

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

1. A thing of beauty is a joy forever
Its loveliness increases, it will never
Pass into nothingness; but will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

a. Describe the kind of joy a beautiful thing provides.
Answer:
Anything that is beautiful provides us an unending, everlasting and eternal joy. It leaves an indelible imprint on our heart and soul. We love to relive the memories of that joyous experience whenever it flashes back in our mind.

b. Explain, ‘its loveliness increases’.
Answer:
The joy that we experience on seeing a beautiful object, multiplies whenever we remember it. Similarly, the loveliness of anything beautiful multiplies each time we visualise it in our thoughts. Compared to this, things which do not give us happiness only remain for a short while, and then disappear forever.

c. Why does a thing of beauty not pass into ‘nothingness’?
Answer:
A thing, the memory of which provides us eternal joy, will never fade away. The loveliness of a beautiful object does not fade away or die out because it leaves an indelible imprint on our heart and soul.

d. How can we get refreshed amidst beauty?
Answer:
The beautiful things give us peace like a quiet bower, a pleasant shady place providing us peaceful sleep, sweet dreams and good health and therefore, refreshes us.

2. Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days
Of all the unhealthy and o’er-darkened ways
Made for our searching:

a. Explain, ‘wreathing a flowery band to bind us to the earth’.
Answer:
Keats feels that every morning we weave a beautiful string of flowers or memories which help us support ourselves and motivate us to live our life to the fullest, instead of burdening our lives with pain and suffering.

b. Why is there an ‘inhuman dearth of noble natures’?
Answer:
In these days, there are few people who are noble in character and who rise above petty differences by being magnanimous and generous. There is a dearth of such noble souls on our earth; as man is selfish and self-centred.

c. What are ‘unhealthy and o’er-darkened ways’?
Answer:
The unhealthy and o’er-darkened ways refer to the trials and tribulations of life, the selfish and jealous methods we adopt to achieve our goals.

d. Explain, ‘spite of despondence’.
Answer:
It means despite the existence of gloom and darkness around.

3. … yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old, and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
‘Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms;
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;

a. What images of beauty has the poet referred to?
Answer:
The poet appreciates the simplicity and serenity of beauty through the image of the sun, the moon, the trees, the sheep, the daffodils, the green pastures, the livid streams, and a fair bloom of musk-roses.

b. How is ‘tree’ a perfect example of a beautiful thing?
Answer:
The tree bears the heat of the sun to give shade and coolness to anyone who seeks shade and rest under its branches. Its greatness is a degree greater because it gives shade not only to the mighty ones, but also to the simplest of the animals, such as sheep.

c. What does ‘simple sheep’ symbolise?
Answer:
Sheep and lamb are envisioned as symbols of innocence and serene beauty. Jesus Christ was a shepherd and was surrounded by his flock of sheep, his followers. Keats has made special reference to the sheep as symbols of divine beauty.

d. Explain, ‘the green world they live in’.
Answer:
Beauty of nature is at its best in the lush green surroundings of meadows and pastures which provide support to all plants and animals. It is in this green world that all living creatures find true happiness and joy.

4. All lovely tales that we have heard or read;
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink.

a. What does Keats mean by ‘an endless fountain of immortal drink’?
Answer:
Beauty, according to Keats, is a perennial source of motivation and inspiration. He considers it an endless fountain from which mankind can drink the elixir of life.

b. Explain, ‘pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink’.
Answer:
Beauty, Keats says, has been showered upon us from the heaven by God as the greatest gift to man. This eternal and everlasting beauty is a perennial source of gaiety, which is eternal and everlasting.

c. Which poetic device is used in the 2nd line of the extract?
Answer:
hyperbole e.g., ‘endless fountain’

d. Which lovely tales does the poet speak of?
Answer:
The motivational stories of martyrs are the ‘lovely tales’ that the poet speaks of.

We have decided to create the most comprehensive English Summary that will help students with learning and understanding. In this article, we are Discussed the Summary Of An Elementary School Classroom In A Slum.

An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum Summary in English by Stephen Spender

An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum Poem by Stephen Spender About the Poet

Stephen Spender (1909-1995), an English poet and essayist, was one of the pioneers of poetic movement in the 1930s.. Spender took a keen interest in the social and political problems of his times. As a social reformer and pacifist of his time, he questions the value of education and the morals and ethics of individuals.

The trials and tribulations of the post-World War, Europe finds expression in Spender’s verse and prose. Books by Spender include ‘Poem of Dedication’, ‘The Edge of Being’, ‘The Creative Element’, etc.

Poet Name	Stephen Spender
Born	28 February 1909, Kensington
Died	16 July 1995, Westminster, London, United Kingdom
Spouse	Natasha Spender (m. 1941–1995), Inez Pearn (m. 1936–1939)
Education	Gresham’s, University College, University College School Junior Branch, University of Oxford
Nominations	Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction

An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum Introduction to the Poem

In this poem, Spender depicts the injustice which prevails in society. He talks of social injustice and class inequalities, denial of opportunities to slum dwellers, and also expresses his thoughts on the widening gap between the rich and the poor. He somewhere or the other seems to be hitting hard at the capitalist economy, which helps the rich to get richer and the poor poorer.

The Civil Rights Movement in America had gained pace and Spender’s poem supports it when he exposes the condition of the ‘haves’ and the ‘have notes’. The poem lucidly brings forth the miserable condition of the children of the slum and the inadequate educational facilities provided to them. The poem talks of racial discrimination and is a socialist proclamation that a country can prosper only if education reaches to the downtrodden in the society.

An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum Theme

• In ‘An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum’, Spender beautifully brings out the themes of social injustice and class inequalities.
• Poverty is also another theme of the poem. The poet creates an image of children in poverty. It is poverty that has caused the children to be weighed down, diseased and twisted. The poet believes that poverty is created through the oppressive power of capitalism.

An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum Stanza Wise Explanation Summary in English

The poem describes a primary school in a slum. Children studying in the slum classroom depict the social injustice and perpetual poverty, prevailing among the slum dwellers.

In the first stanza, Spender describes the miserable condition of the children. The faces of the children are unlike the usual children of schools. Instead of being exuberant and energetic, they are like rootless weeds, withered and worn out. They are unclean and untidy, as they are malnourished, sick and hungry. Just as weeds are not wanted in the garden, so are these children of the slum unwanted in the society. They have pale faces. Their hair is uncombed. A tall slim girl has her head bowed down as though she is exhausted physically because of malnutrition and emotionally because of poverty. The other students of the class are also in the same situation. There is a boy, who is as thin as paper, again because of malnutrition and lack of civic amenities.

He has eyes like that of a rat, searching for food and betterment. Another child in the class, who is a victim of genetic disorder, has gnarled bones and stunted growth. He has inherited this debilitating disease from his father and recites his lesson from his desk in a mellow and weak voice. In one corner of this poorly-lit and ill-equipped class, is a sweet, unnoticed young child lost in the world of his dreams. The dull and monotonous classroom does not interest him and hence, his mind deviates towards the squirrel in her tree room. He too, dreams of fun and frolic in an open space.

In the second stanza, the poet describes the dirty classroom. On the walls are displayed the names of people who have given donations. The bust of Shakespeare is displayed in the clear background of the sky. Walls have pictures of the beautiful Tylorese Valley as well as a map of the world. The children’s eyes can only view a narrow road enclosed with a dull sky. It is quite a dreary and depressing place for children.

In the third stanza, the pensive poet suddenly turns belligerent (aggressive) and feels that Shakespeare is ‘wicked’. This is because he misleads the children. He shows them a beautiful world of ships, sun and love which is not only unreal for them but has a corrupting influence on these children and instigates them to steal and try to escape from their cramped holes. Their existence is indeed very sad.

These emaciated children are so thin that it appears that they are ‘wearing’ only skins. The spectacles they are wearing have glass which has been broken and mended. Their entire appearance reeks of their deprivation. The poet shows his outrage by suggesting that the maps on their walls should show huge slums instead of beautiful scenic graphics.

Finally, in the last stanza, the poet reveals the appalling truth that there can be no change for the better unless a governor, a school inspector or an educationist or a visitor comes to the school. The map in their classroom is the only medium for the children to view the world outside their slums. The windows of their classroom shut them and confine them to their world of poverty and helplessness.

Next, poet appeals to those people who are in power to liberate these slum children from the horrendous life that they are leading. He also exhorts the people themselves, to break open these windows which appear to have sealed the fate of these children. He would like to see these children bask in the educational facilities in this world, and run carefree on the golden sands and enjoy a new lease of life and freedom. The poet earnestly desires that each and every child should be able to enjoy the fundamental right to freedom. They should have access to all kinds of books, new as well as old. They should also be able to learn from nature around them.

Spender ends the poem on a positive note as he expresses his belief that people who are ignited by the spirit of knowledge and learning are the ones who create history. It is the moral liability of everyone to break barriers between the haves and the have-nots, and give a meaningful education to all. For history remembers only those people who are educated and have enlightened themselves for a better world.

An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum Summary Reference-to-Context Questions

Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.

1. Far far from gusty waves these children’s faces.
Like rootless weeds, the hair torn round their pallor:
The tall girl with her weighed-down head. The paper-
seeming boy, with rat’s eyes.

a. What are the children compared to?
Answer:
The children have pale faces and torn and scattered hair all over their faces like rootless weeds. A thin boy is compared to a paper.

b. Why do you think the tall girl is sitting with a weighed-down head?
Answer:
The tall girl is sitting with a weighed-down head because she is depressed of being poor. She also feels humiliated and embarrassed because of the lack of education.

c. Give two phrases which tell us that the children are undernourished.
Answer:
(i) rootless weeds
(ii) rat’s eyes

d. Name the poetic device used in the second line.
Answer:
Simile

2. The stunted, unlucky heir
Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,
His lesson, from his desk. At back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young. His eyes live in a dream,
Of squirrel’s game, in tree room, other than this.

a. Who is the ‘unlucky heir’ and what has he inherited?
Answer:
The stunted boy with twisted bones sitting in the slum classroom is the unlucky heir. He has inherited the deformity of gnarled disease.

b. What is the stunted boy reciting?
Answer:
The stunted boy has inherited the disease and despair of his parents and has become a carrier of his father’s disease and poverty. He is reciting his lesson in the class from his desk.

c. Who is sitting at the back of the dim class?
Answer:
One unnoted sweet and young dreamer, who dreams about a squirrel’s game, is sitting at the back of the dim class. He is dreaming of his future.

d. What is the ‘tree room’?
Answer:
It is the squirrel’s nest or hole from which the squirrel is moving in and out.

3. On sour cream walls, donations, Shakespeare’s head,
Cloudless at dawn, civilized dome riding all cities.
Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley. Open-handed map
Awarding the world its world.

a. Which walls have been referred to in these lines?
Answer:
They are the walls of a classroom in an elementary school in a slum.

b. What is meant by ‘sour cream walls’?
Answer:
The walls are damp, unpleasant and dirty. They have not been painted freshly and is pealing off the surface.

c. What donations are there on the walls?
Answer:
On this wall many donated items have been put up that represent different world. A bust of Shakespeare and domes of huge buildings in the cities. There is also a reflection of the early morning cloudless sky on the wall. There is the beautiful picture of the valley of Tyrolese and the world map.

d. Explain, ‘Awarding the world its world’.
Answer
The rich people who have drawn these maps have depicted these places that are unreachable for these children. They are giving the world its world which however, does not belong to them.

4. And yet, for these
Children, these windows, not this map, their world.
Where all their future’s painted with a fog,
A narrow street sealed in with a lead sky
Far far from rivers, capes, and stars of words.

a. Who are ‘these children’? What do ‘these windows’ refer to?
Answer:
‘These children’ are the poor children living in a slum. ‘These windows’ are the windows of the classroom where the children are now sitting.

b. What has been said to be the world for these children?
Answer:
The narrow street under the dull sky has been said to be their world. Their fate is sealed by the windows in the classroom, and does not go beyond as the map suggests.

c. What has been said about their future?
Answer:
Their future is painted with fog. It means that the poor children have no bright hopes about their future. There is no one to guide them, their future is not clear and is sealed by the darkness of the sky that is above the narrow street they live in.

d. Explain the importance of the last line.
Answer:
These children have no access to the beauties of nature, they cannot see the rivers or the capes, or the stars of words. The highly literate people of the world will never be known to them.

5. Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, the map a bad example,
With ships and sun and love tempting them to steal—
For lives that slyly turn in their cramped holes
From fog to endless night? On their slag heap, these children
Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel
With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones.

a. Why is Shakespeare described as wicked?
Answer:
Shakespeare is an epitome of high literary excellences, but in the slum schools, where hardly any learning takes place and the children are troubled by disease and despair, literary training is a far cry. That is why, Shakespeare has been described as wicked.

b. Explain: ‘from fog to endless night’.
Answer:
The expression describes the miserable and pathetic lives of the slum children. From foggy mornings till late nights, these children make desperate attempts to live their life, sustaining it despite all odds. Their life is full of misery, hopelessness and suffering.

c. What does the reference of ‘slag heap’ mean?
Answer:
The poet is comparing the extremely starved and malnourished bodies to the large pile of waste metal remains. When they sit within their classrooms, they appear to be the heaps of untidy piles of bones, or like a slag heap.

d. How do the slum children look like?
Answer:
Slum children look like skeletons wearing broken glasses as spectacles.

6. On their slag heap, these children
Wear skins peeped through by bones and spectacles of steel
With mended glass, like bottle bits on stones.
All of their time and space are foggy slum.
So blot their maps with slums as big as doom.

a. Which two images are used to describe these slums?
Answer:
The two images used to describe slums are:
(i) foggy slums
(ii) slums as big as doom

b. What sort of life do these children lead?
Answer:
These children lead miserable lives. They are physically weak.

c. Which figure of speech is used in the last line?
Answer:
In the last line, ‘Simile’ is used as the figure of speech.

d. What request does the poet make here?
Answer:
The poet wants the maps to mention clearly the slums that they live in.

7. Unless, governor, inspector, visitor,
This map becomes their window and these windows
That shut upon their lives like catacombs,
Break O break open till they break the town

a. What is meant by ‘this map’?
Answer:
It is a map of the world which is hung on the wall in the classroom.

b. What are ‘these windows’ which the poet talks of?
Answer:
They are the classroom windows from where the children could see only a narrow street and a dull sky.

c. What has been referred to as ‘catacombs’?
Answer:
The little narrow homes of the slum-dwellers are referred to as ‘catacombs’. They lead a life that is shut inside the slum.

d. Why is there a mention of three categories of people?
Answer:
The three categories of people are the ones who can improve the conditions of the slum.

8. Break O break open till they break the town
And show the children to green fields, and make their world
Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues
Run naked into books the white and green leaves open
History theirs whose language is the sun.

a. To whom does ‘they’ refer?
Answer:
‘They’ refers to the children sitting in the classroom of an elementary school in a slum.

b. What would they break?
Answer:
The poet hopes that one day they would break free from the chains of the slum. They will rise above all deprivations and create a beautiful world for themselves.

c. What other freedom should they enjoy?
Answer:
They should enjoy equal rights as citizens and get education entitled to them. They should have a bright future like all others.

d. Explain the last line of the extract.
Answer:
The poet feels that history will be changed if the people are educated. And according to him, history is created by those who have the warmth and exposure to the sun and the brightness of the wide world.

9. The stunted, unlucky heir
Of twisted bones, reciting a father’s gnarled disease,
His lesson, from his desk. At the back of the dim class
One unnoted, sweet and young.

a. Who is the unlucky heir?
Answer:
The boy with stunted growth is the unlucky heir of his father’s gnarled disease of twisted bones.

b. What will he inherit?
Answer:
All that he will inherit is his father’s gnarled disease of twisted bones.

c. Who is sitting at the back of the dim class?
Answer:
A young unnoted, sweet boy is sitting unnoticed at the back of the dim class.

d. Why is the disease referred to as ‘gnarled’?
Answer:
The disease has been referred to as ‘gnarled’ because it has restricted his growth and gave him twisted bones.

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The Third Level Summary in English by Jack Finney

The Third Level by Jack Finney About the Author

Jack Finney (2 October 1911-16 November 1995) was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and given the name John Finney. His father died when he was three years old and he was renamed Walter Braden Finney in honour of his father. Yet the nickname Jack remained with him throughout his life. He attended Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. His best-known works are science fiction and thrillers. Two of his novels, ‘The Body Snatchers’ and ‘Good Neighbor Sam’ became the basis of popular films.

Poet Name	Jack Finney
Born	2 October 1911, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
Died	14 November 1995, Greenbrae, California, United States
Awards	World Fantasy Award—Life Achievement
Movies	Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Invasion

The Third Level Introduction to the Chapter

The Grand Central Station of New York has two levels. But Charley, the thirty-one year old protagonist of the story, a city dweller, declares that there are three and claims to have been there as well.

The Third Level Theme

The story, ‘The Third Level’ clearly explores the science fiction genre of ‘time travel’. Jack Finney, the recipient of the World Fantasy Award, interweaves fantasy with reality in his projection of time travel. Charley, the protagonist wishes to be transported to the third level, the world of Galesburg, Illinois, 1894, which is supposed to be a much happier and quieter place to be in.

The story also dwells on the theme of escapism as a psychological refuge from the grim realities of the present day world along with a desire to stay with the past—a desire that Charley’s wife Louisa does not contest. Sam has also happily escaped, with no desire to return to his old profession.

The story exposes the vulnerable side of the common man. Surrounded by myriad problems, we humans, sometimes experience a craving for peace and serenity, and look for possible escapes. This story is about time intersection, an illusion, a kind of long dream that we do not experience during our sleep.

The Third Level Summary in English

“The Third Level”, written by Jack Finney blends fiction with reality. It is also about a man’s wish to escape from the harsh realities of present life. Charley, though he does not admit it, wants to go into the past as he is unhappy. He is unhappy with his wife. In fact, he is as unhappy as he finds the world in which he lives full of hurry, tension and war. His psychiatrist friend, Sam tells his stamp collecting also as an escape into the past.

There were only two levels at Grand Central Station. However, Charley found a third one. It was by chance. Many a times, he was lost there. He was always discovering new doorways, new corridors and new tunnels. He had begun to think that the Grand Central was always pushing out tunnels and new corridors like roots of a huge tree.

There he lost his way and found himself on the third level. This level was entirely different and olcl-fashioned. The locomotive, the brass spittoons and the naked gaslights belonged to the previous century. He desired to escape to Galesburg, the town of his dreams. However, he was nearly arrested. The money he gave to pay the fare was different from that in use those days. The booking clerk thought that he was cheating. Charley, thus, ran into the present. He never found the third level again. However, his psychiatrist friend, who did not believe that the third level existed, found it and escaped to Galesburg of 1894.

The Third Level Main Characters in the Chapter

Charley

Charley is a thirty-one year old man in a tan gabardine suit and a straw hat. One night, on his way back from work, he decides to take the subway at the Grand Central Station, which as everyone knows, has two levels. Preoccupied and in a hurry, Charley discovers an unknown exit that takes him through a long corridor, into the third level.

Here, there were fewer ticket windows, the man at the booth wore green eye-shades, the lights were open-flame gas lights, and women wore old-fashioned, fully covered dresses. The newspaper, ‘The World’, was dated June 11,1894. Charley knows that from there, the third level of the Grand Central, he could go to anywhere in the United States, 1984. He decides to buy two tickets to Galesburg, Illinois, for his wife Louisa and himself from the ticket window in the third level.

Galesburg, with its big old houses, huge lawns and tremendous trees represents an idyllic world to Charley, with the World War II still forty years into the future. However, the clerk at the window refuses the currency Charley offers. Charley leaves, deciding to return the next day, after converting all his savings into old-style currency. But Charley has never again found the third level.

When Charley tells his psychiatrist friend, Sam Weiner about this, Sam tells him that it was “a waking dream wish fulfilment” as Charley was “unhappy” in the modern world with its insecurities and fears, and just wanted to escape. Charley never again found the corridor that led to the third level at the Grand Central. Ironically, his friend Sam, the psychiatrist, disappeared, only to reach Galesburg, Illinois, in 1894.

Sam

Sam Weiner is Charley’s friend, and psychiatrist, and the next most important character in the story. He concludes that the third level is a figment of Charley’s imagination, induced by the pressures of modern living.

When Charley fails to find the third level of the Grand Central Station, his wife Louisa is worried for him and tells him to stop looking for it. But after sometime, both start looking for it because they find proof that the third level exists. Charley’s friend, Sam Weiner disappears. A first-day cover that Charley discovers in his collection, is signed by Sam and is from Galesburg, Illinois, dated July 18,1894. Charley subsequently discovers that Sam had bought eight- hundred dollars worth of old-style currency and moved to Galesburg, Illinois, in 1894. He had . set up a hay, feed and grain business as he had always said that it is what he really wished to do. Clearly, he could not go back to his old business—psychiatry—in Galesburg, Illinois, in 1894.

Louisa

Charley’s wife Louisa was initially angry with Sam’s suggestion that Charley was unhappy, ‘ when Charley tells him about his sojourn to the third level of the Grand Central Station in New York. Then Sam explains that it is not marital unhappiness, but dissatisfaction and discontent with modern day living with its insecurity, fear, war and worry. To escape from these pressures, Charley’s mind had sought refuge in the idyllic world of the third level. Louisa’s conviction in the existence of the third level is affirmed only when she sees the note sent by Sam himself, from Galesburg, Illinois, dated July 18, 1894. Since then, Louisa has been actively involved in looking for the third level, along with her husband, Charley.

The Third Level Summary Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Why did Charley meet a psychiatrist?
Answer:
Charley met a psychiatrist, since he was in a dilemma. He felt sure that he had been on the third level of the Grand Central Station, which everyone knows has only two levels. Even the Presidents of the railroads would swear on a stack of timetables that there were only two levels.

Question 2.
What was the psychiatrist’s diagnosis?
Answer:
The psychiatrist said that Charlie was unhappy. The modern world, full of insecurity, fear, war and worry oppressed him, and he just wanted to escape.

Question 3.
What proof did the psychiatrist provide?
Answer:
Charley’s psychiatrist and his friends said that his stamp-collecting was an indication of his desire to seek “a temporary refuge from reality”, as was his collection of first-day covers.

Question 4.
What was Charley’s argument when the psychiatrist told him that the stamp collection was a temporary refuge from reality?
Answer:
Charley argued that his grandfather lived in nice and peaceful times, yet he was the one . who had started the stamp collection. He did not need any “temporary refuge from reality”. He added that President Roosevelt collected stamps too.

Question 5.
How does Charley describe Galesburg, Illinois, 1894?
Answer:
Charley describes it as a wonderful town with a leisurely way of life with big old frame houses, huge lawns, tremendous trees and a peaceful and tranquil world. During summer evenings, people sat in their lawns, with men smoking cigars and women waving palm-leaf fans. The first World War was twenty years away and the second World War was forty years into the future.

Question 6.
What is a first-day cover?
Answer:
When a new stamp is issued, stamp collectors buy some and use them to mail envelopes to themselves on the very first day of sale and the postmark proves the date. The envelope is called a first-day cover. They are never opened. You just put a blank paper inside the envelope.

Question 7.
What role does the first-day cover play in the story?
Answer:
One night,while fussing with his stamp collection, Charley comes across a first-day cover that should not have been there. It had been mailed to his grandfather at his home in Galesburg in July 18, 1894. However, instead of a blank paper, it contained a letter for Charley from Sam. It urged him to come back to the third level with Louisa, and keep looking for it till he found it.

Question 8.
What was the content of the note that Sam wrote to Charley?
Answer:
Sam said that he had found the third level, that he had already been there for two weeks, that life was peaceful, calm and tranquil. He urged Charley and Louisa to go back to the third level and keep looking for it till they found it.

Question 9.
How was Charley often lost on the Grand Central Station?
Answer:
Cllarley had went to the Grand Central Station hundreds of times. However, at times, he was always lost in new doorways and corridors. Once, he entered a tunnel and came out in the lobby of a hotel. Another time, he reached in an office building.

Question 10.
How did Charley compare the Grand Central to a huge tree? Why?
Answer:
Charley always found new tunnels and staircase at the Grand Central. He began to suspect that Grand Central was like a huge tree. It used to push out new corridors and tunnels like the roots of a tree.

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The Laburnum Top Poem Summary in English by Ted Hughes

The Laburnum Top Poem by Ted Hughes About the Poet

Name	Ted Hughes
Born	17 August 1930, Mytholmroyd, United Kingdom
Died	28 October 1998, North Tawton, United Kingdom
Education	Pembroke College, University of Cambridge
Spouse	Carol Orchard (m. 1970–1998), Sylvia Plath (m. 1956–1963)
Awards	Costa Book of the Year, Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts, US & Canada, Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize

The Laburnum Top Poem Summary in English

Laburnum is known as amaltas in Hindi.

On a bright September afternoon, the laburnum, a short tree with hanging branches and yellow flowers, stood soundless and motionless. A few leaves that had yellowed and some seeds lay scattered around it. Just then, all of a sudden a small singing bird with yellow feathers on its wings, the goldfinch, arrived chirping. She entered the foliage like a lizard—smooth, watchful and hasty.

As she entered, the tree suddenly seemed to come alive. It started up like a machine. There were shrill sounds of twittering arid the tree seemed to quiver with joy. The mother bird was like the engine of her family. Like an engine she added life to the tree and flitted from branch to branch, showing her striped face, with yellow and black markings that were peculiar to her. Then with a mysterious, low whistle she flew off into the sky. Once again the laburnum quietened down as it was before her arrival.

The Laburnum Top Poem Summary Questions and Answers

1. The Laburnum top is silent, quite still
In the afternoon yellow September sunlight,
A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen.

a. Mention the poetic device used in the ‘The Laburnum top is silent, quite still’. Why has it been used? Alteration. The Laburnum top is silent, quite still. The repeated sound creates a musical effect.

b. Mention the colour suggested by the poet. Also mention the words that suggest colour.
The colour is yellow. The colour is suggested by the yellow September sunlight and the yellowing leaves.

c. What is the stillness disturbed by?
It is disturbed by the arrival of the goldfinch.

d. What season is the poet talking about? Mention the words that suggest the season.
Autumn. The words that suggest the season are September; leaves yellowing and all the seeds fallen.

2. Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup
A suddenness, a startlement, at a branch end.
Then sleek as a lizard, and alert, and abrupt,
She enters the thickness, and a machine starts up
Of chitterings, and a tremor of wings, and trillings –
The whole tree trembles and thrills.

a. What changes the scene completely?
Answer:
The arrival of the goldfinch changes the scene completely.

b. What is the affect on the tree?
Answer:
There is a lot of movement and sound.

c. How does the bird enter the tree? Mention the poetic device.
Answer:
Like a lizard, watchfully and unexpectedly. Simile.

d. ‘… and a machine starts up.’ What is compared to a machine? What is the poetic device?
Answer:
The tree becomes noisy and trembles like a machine. Metaphor.

e. What is the mood of the poem now? How is it suggested?
Answer:
Happy and excited as if trembling with delight. The word that suggest it are ‘The whole tree trembles and thrills’. .

f. Mention the words that show movement?
Answer:
enters, machine starts up, tremor of wings, and trillings, trembles, thrills.

g. Mention the words that show sound. Name the poetic device,
Answer:
twitching chirrup, machine starts up; chitterings. Onomatopoeia.

h. Mention the adjectives used for the goldfinch.
Answer:
sleek, alert, and abrupt.

3. It is the engine of her family.
She stokes it full, then flirts out to a branch-end
Showing her barredface identity mask

a. Who is the‘she’in these lines?
Answer:
The goldfinch.

b. What is her arrival compared to?
Answer:
The starting of an engine.

c. What are the similarities in an engine and a tree then?
Answer:
Both are noisy and pulsating.

d. What does she do to the engine?
Answer:
She ‘stokes it full’ implying she adds fuel to it and causes it to come to life.

e. What is the ‘barred face identity mask’?
Answer:
It’s distinctive face with yellow and black markings.

f. What does she do on the tree?
Answer:
She moves about playfully from branch to branch.

4. Then with eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings
She launches away, towards the infinite
And the laburnum subsides to empty.

a. What does the goldfinch finally do?
Answer:
It flies away from the laburnum after producing a whistling sound.

b. Why has the sound been described as ‘eerie delicate whistle-chirrup whisperings’?
Answer:
The sound of a goldfinch is peculiar. It is a liquid, twittering song with trills.

c. Where does she go?
Answer:
She flies into the sky.

d. What is the effect on the tree?
Answer:
It once again reverts back into silence.

e. What do the words ‘eerie delicate’ suggest?
Answer:
They suggest an unusual and weak sound.