‘Animal’ Poem solutions: NCERT textbook ‘First Flight’ contains this poem ‘Animals’ by Walt Whitman. Here solutions to the textbook exercises of this poem ‘Animals’ are given. All the answers are given in easy language. Click here for more such materials on class 10 English.
Animals NCERT Solutions CBSE Class 10
Thinking about the Poem (Page 84)
Q.1. 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?
Answer: The poet is turning from human beings when he finds them complicated and false. He likes to live with animals because he feels more at home with them. This turning is symbolic of the poet’s detachment from human beings and their nature and his appreciation of the animal kind.
Q.2. Mention three things that humans do and animals don’t.
Answer: Humans complain about their condition. They remain awake at night repenting of their sins. They make us sick discussing their duty to God. Animals don’t do any of these things.
Q.3. Do humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago? Discuss this in groups.
Answer: Yes, humans kneel to other human beings who lived thousands of years ago. We remember and worship those great souls in different fields who made man what he is today. it is also as per our traditions that we bow to our elders and our teachers to show respect and seek blessings.
Q.4. What are the ‘tokens’ that the poet says he may have dropped long ago, and which the animals have kept for him? Discuss this in class. (Hint: Whitman belongs to the Romantic tradition that includes Rousseau and Wordsworth, which holds that civilisation has made humans false to their own true nature.
What could be the basic aspect of our nature as living beings that humans choose to ignore or deny?)
Answer: These ‘tokens’ are those qualities, values and virtues which man had when he lived in the lap of nature. These qualities are as contentment, honesty, innocence, kindness, joy, satisfaction and sharing. But civilisation has made false to his own true nature. He has become materialistic and bade good-bye to those virtues and values. Humans took to vices such as greed, selfishness, desire to capture everything and other vices Now animals possess these qualities instead of man.
