How to Tell Wild Animals: Question Answers Class 10 English Poetry Solutions

Answers to Textbook exercises of the poem ‘How to Wild Animals’ are given here. The answers are short and crisp following the CBSE required standards. You can have more such study materials on ‘How to Tell Wild Animals’ by clicking here.

How to Wild Animals Textbook Exercise Solutions

Thinking about the Poem (Page 45)

1. Does ‘dyin’ really rhyme with ‘lion’? Can you say it in such a way that it does?

Ans. It is a case of irregular rhyme. However, ‘dyin’ can rhyme with ‘lion’ if we pronounce it ‘dion’.

2. How does the poet suggest that you identify the lion and the tiger? When can you do so, according to him?

Ans. The poet suggests that if a large and tawny beast roars at us then it is Asian lion. While roaring if we come across a wild beast that is yellow in colour with black stripes, then it is tiger. We can identify the two while roaming in the jungle.

3. Do you think the words ‘lept‘ and ‘lep’ in the third stanza are spelt correctly? Why does the poet spell them like this?

Ans. The words ‘lept’ and ‘lep’ are not spelt correctly. The correct spellings are ‘leapt’ and ‘leap’. However ‘lept’ is sometimes used in poetry as past participle of ‘leap’. The repetition of ‘lep’ and ‘lep’ in the last line gives rise to alliteration and indicates the fastness of the leopard’s attack.

4. Do you know what a ‘bearhug’ is? It’s a friendly and strong hug — such as bears are thought to give, as they attack you! Again, hyenas are thought to laugh, and crocodiles to weep (‘crocodile tears’) as they swallow their victims.Are there similar expressions and popular ideas about wild animals in your own language(s)?

Ans. A bear hug is the bear’s tight embrace to kill its victim. Hyenas never laugh but their faces look like that only. Crocodiles do not weep but tears come when they swallow their victims.

5. Look at the line “A novice might nonplus”. How would you write this ‘correctly’? Why is the poet’s ‘incorrect’ line better in the poem?

Ans. The correct form would be ‘‘A novice might be/get nonplussed’. However, the poet’s line is better in the poem because ‘nonplus’ rhymes with ‘thus’.

6. Can you find other examples of poets taking liberties with language, either in English or in your own language(s)? Can you find examples of humorous poems in your own language(s)?

Ans. The poet’s taking liberties with language is called ‘poetic licence’. A poet is not bound by the rules of grammar. One can find plenty of examples in poetry of what we call ‘poetic licence’.

For example, in the following lines the word ‘prest’
is used instead of ‘pressed’ so that it may rhyme with ‘breast’:

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast

Another example is from Keats’s ‘‘Ode to Autumn’’:

Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind

Here the noun ‘wind’ will be pronounced like the verb ‘wind’ so that it may rhyme with ‘find’.

7. Much of the humour in the poem arises from the way language is used, although the ideas are funny as well. If there are particular lines in the poem that you especially like, share these with the class, speaking briefly about what it is about the ideas or the language that you like or find funny.

Ans.  The lines from the poem that appears to be funny are “A noble wild beast greets you”. The idea that a wild beast is going to welcome you is quite funny