Previous Years Brief Questions | Introduction to Poetry

 2021

a. What does Shakespeare mean by ‘eye of heaven’? 

Ans: The eye of heaven means the sun.

b. What type of sonnet is “On His Blindness”? 

Ans. “On His Blindness” is a Petrarchan or Italian type of sonnet with octave and sestet.

c. What is ‘Seven Sleeper’s Den’? 

Ans: Biblical reference: seven brothers slept in a cave, escaping death.

d. Who was Cromwell?

Ans: Oliver Cromwell was an English statesman, politician, and soldier widely regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of the British Isles.

e. What is an Ode?

Ans: An ode is a lyrical poem expressing strong feelings, often praising or addressing a person or thing.

f. Who is Penelope?

Ans: Penelope is the wife of Ulysses, the legendary King of Ithaca.

g. “Thus I entered, and thus I go.” -Who is the speaker? 

Ans: The patriot is the speaker here.

h.How does the west wind destroy and preserve?

Ans: The West Wind both clears away and shelters seeds, nurturing renewal underground with care.

i. What makes Robert Herrick weep?

Ans: The short lifespan of daffodils makes Robert Herrick weep.

j. What is the ‘bliss of solitude’ to Wordsworth?

Ans: Solitude brings a precious gift: the absence of distractions, allowing vivid recall of memories, like daffodils, for lasting joy.

k. How were the waves in the Brooklyn River?

Ans: In Brooklyn River, there were scalloped waves, that is, waves with a series of small turns along the edges.

l. What is personification?

Ans: Personification is a figure in which lifeless objects or ideas are given the personality of a living being.

 

2020

a. What is the rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet?

Ans: The rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet is abab cdcd efef gg.

b. What is metaphysical conceit?

Ans: The metaphysical conceit, characteristic of Donne and his followers, is a comparison, often complex, startling, highly intellectual, and dissimilar.

c. How is autumn personified in the poem “To Autumn”?

Ans: By paralleling the concept of autumn to a living being, possibly a woman. 

d. How was the patriot received by his countrymen? 

Ans: The patriot was received by his countrymen with flowers and myrtle. 

e. What is the name of the wife in the poem “Home Burial”?

Ans: The name of the wife is Amy.

f. How do humans disappear from the earth, as stated in the poem “To Daffodils”?

Ans: Like daffodils, humans swiftly fade, like summer rain’s dazzle.

g. What does Ted Hughes mean by the phrase “Killer from the eggs”?

Ans: Here, Ted Hughes means that the pike has a destructive instinct from when the mother fish lays its eggs. 

h. What does Dylan Thomas mean by “lilting house”?

Ans: The lilting house is a melodious house full of merry and sweet sounds.

i. What are the twofold functions of the West Wind?

Ans: The twofold functions of the West Wind are that it is a destroyer and a preserver.

j. Who is Telemachus?

Ans: Telemachus is the son of Ulysses and Penelope.

k. What is ‘irony’?

Ans: Irony is a literary device whose intended meaning differs from the literal, often creating humour or revealing contradictions.

l. What does Gray mean by the “inevitable hour”?

Ans: By the inevitable hour’, Gray means the hour of death.

 

2019

a. What is meant by the ‘eternal lines’ in the poem “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day”?

Ans: The lines of this sonnet which will make the poet’s friend alive forever.

b. How do the daffodils look like?

Ans: Daffodils resemble countless stars, mirroring the shimmering night sky’s brilliance.

c. What does the expression ‘Thou breath of Autumn’s being’ mean?

Ans: Here ‘thou’ is the West Wind, which is described as the universal spirit of autumn.

d. What does W.B. Yeats pray for his daughter? 

Ans: The poet wants his daughter not to be excessively beautiful, and she should have courtesy and self-gratification.

e. How does the poem “Ulysses” end?

Ans: The poem “Ulysses” ends with the famous exhortation of Ulysses to his comrades to “strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” 

f. What does ‘ferry’ symbolize in the poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”? 

Ans: The ‘ferry’ symbolizes the journey of a man across life.

g. With what does Herrick compare human life?

Ans: Herrick compares human life with that of the daffodils. 

h. What is a rhetorical question?

Ans: A rhetorical question is a statement phrased as a question, not expecting an answer, used for emphasis or persuasion.

i. What is an ode?

Ans: A poem expressing deep admiration is often addressed to a person or thing.

j. ‘The path of glory leads but to the grave.’ What is meant here?

Ans: Here, it is meant that it does not matter if we are rich or poor; we all will die. No one can escape death.

k. What is a hemisphere?

Ans: A hemisphere is half of a sphere divided by an imaginary plane.

1. Why shall God repay the patriot?

Ans: God shall repay the patriot as people have not recognized his services in this life. It is a good reason that God will reward him in Heaven.

 

2018

a. What is the Greek name of Ulysses?

Ans: The Greek name of Ulysses is Odysseus.

b. What does the word ‘Curfew’ mean? 

Ans: Originally named ‘Curfew,’ the evening bell, instituted by William the Conqueror, signaled bedtime at 8 pm.

c. Which book of Tagore is the poem, ‘Where the Mind is without Fear’ taken from? 

Ans: The poem is taken from the English version of Tagore’s celebrated work “Gitanjali”, published in 1909.

d. What does Herrick mean by “short spring”? 

Ans: The short duration of the youth of a human being.

e. What is a dramatic monologue? 

Ans: A dramatic monologue is a speech by a character expressing inner thoughts and emotions, revealing insights into their mind.

f. What does Shelley mean by the line, ‘If winter comes, can spring be far behind’?

Ans: It means that we should never give up hope.

g. What does Dylan Thomas glorify in ‘Fern Hill? 

Ans: Dylan Thomas glorifies childhood in Fern Hill.

h. What was the name of Yeats’s daughter? 

Ans: The name of Yeats’s daughter was Annie. 

i. What is the cause of conflict between husband and wife in the poem, ‘Home Burial”? 

Ans: Lack of understanding between the husband and wife centering around the death of their child.

j. “Killers from the egg”-what do you understand by this line?

Ans: Here, it is meant that the pike has a destructive instinct when the mother fish lays its eggs. 

k. How did the speaker’s sister in the poem “Learning Grief die? 

Ans: In the poem “Learning Grief”, the speaker’s sister died from winter pneumonia.

l. “Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest.” Identify the figure of speech.

Ans: This is an example of synecdoche.

 

2017

a. Who serves God best, according to Milton?

Ans: One who His mild yoke.

b. Why does D.H. Lawrence’s heart weep to remember the old Sunday evenings at home?

Ans: Lawrence’s sorrow: Sundays at home hindered his life’s growth.

c. How did the poet Kaiser Haq pass his days after his sister’s death?

Ans: Post-sister’s death, Kaiser Haq endured tasteless days marked by boredom and unbearable sorrow over profound loss.

d. What did Whitman do when he lived in Brooklyn? 

Ans: In Brooklyn, the poet walked Manhattan, once bathing in the East River, now too polluted for indulgence.

e. Who are the carriage riders in “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”?

Ans: Death, the poet herself, and Immortality.

f. “The paths of glory lead but to the grave.” What figure of speech is used here?

Ans: It is an example of an epigram.

g. What is the bliss of solitude, according to Wordsworth? 

Ans: In his lonely time, the poet recalls the sweet scene of the daffodils and calls it the bliss of solitude.

h. Why are Autumn and the Sun called close bosom friends?

Ans: Autumn and the Sun are called close bosom friends because they cooperate with each other to bring about the ripeness of the fruits.

i. How does E.B. Browning convey the idea of the immortality of her love? 

Ans: By declaring that she would love her husband better after death.

j. What does the phrase “good morrow” mean? 

Ans: The phrase “good morrow” means good morning.

k. What is the subtitle of Shakespeare’s Sonnet-18? 

Ans: The subtitle of Shakespeare’s Sonnet-18 is “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day”.

1. What is an allusion?

Ans: An allusion is a brief reference to a person, event, or work in literature or art.

 

2016

a. What does Shakespeare mean by “eye of heaven”? 

Ans: The eye of heaven means the sun.

b. What is the tone of the poem “To Daffodils”?

Ans: Melancholic and sad. 

c. “I will drink life to the lees”-What figure of speech is used here?

Ans: A metaphor is used here.

d. What is “Shamble’s Gate”?

Ans: The Shamble’s Gate is a place where public execution is done.

e. To which literary age does E.B. Browning belong? 

Aus: E.B. Browning belongs to the Victorian Age.

f. What type of poem is “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”? 

Ans: A lyric poem.

g. What does Yeats mean by ‘intellectual hatred??

Ans: The worst kind of hatred.

h. What is the color of the pike?

Ans: The pike is of deep green and golden color.

i. What kind of freedom does Tagore want for his countrymen?

Ans: Tagore wants his countrymen to be a heaven of freedom that flourishes in an ideal state.

j. What is onomatopoeia?

Ans: Words that imitate sounds; language mimicking real-world sounds, enhancing expressiveness and sensory experience in writing.

k. What is the theme of the poem “Home Burial”? 

Ans: The misunderstanding between a husband and a wife.

1. What is an Ode? 

Ans: An ode is a lyrical poem celebrating or praising its subject with amplified emotion and form.

 

2015

a. What is the subtitle of Shakespeare’s Sonnet-18? a

Ans: “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day”.

b. Name the figure of speech used in the line “Ten thousand saw I at a glance”.

Ans: In this line, both hyperbole and hyperbaton are used.

c. What is Fern Hill?

Ans: Fern Hill was the name of the farm of the poet’s aunt, Ann Jones. 

d. Whom does Gray compare the dead villagers with?

Ans: Gray compares the village people to undiscovered gems in caves in the ocean and undiscovered flowers in the desert.

e. Define Oxymorn with an example.

Ans: An oxymoron juxtaposes contradictory terms, like “bittersweet” in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” combining opposites to convey complex emotions.

f. “Thus I entered, and thus I go!”-Who is the speaker? 

Ans: The patriot is the speaker here.

g. What is the message of the poem “To Daffodils”? 

Ans: The poem’s message is that a human’s life does not last long. 

h. What is the rhyme scheme of the sonnet “On His Blindness”?

Ans: The sonnet’s rhyme scheme is abba, abba, cde, cde.

i. Where was Walt Whitman born?

Ans: Walt Whitman was born on Long Island, New York, U.S.

j. Who was Achilles?

Ans: Achilles: Greek hero of the Trojan War, known for courage, strength, and a weak heel.

k. What is the theme of the poem “Home Burial”?

Ans: The misunderstanding between a husband and a wife.

1. Who was Maud Gonne?

Ans: Maud Gonne: Irish revolutionary, feminist, actress; muse to W.B. Yeats; advocate for Irish independence.