Animals Poem Extract Based Questions Class 10
Q. Read the extract to attempt questions that follow. [CBSE 2019]
So they show their relations to me and I accept them, They bring me tokens of myself, they evince them plainly in their possession I wonder where they get those tokens, Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?
(i) Explain the line: “They bring me tokens of myself”.
(ii) What does the poet accept?
(iii) What similarities does the poet find between the human beings and the animals?
(iv) What does the poet wonder about?
(v) Which poetic device is used in the line – “I wonder where they get those tokens”?
Answers
(i) The poet here means that the animals remind him of true values of the human nature such as love and understanding.
(ii) The poet accepts the bonding with animals and their love.
(iii) The poet finds that animals have virtues of truthfulness, kindness, and innocence just like human beings. However, human beings have long lost these virtues.
(iv) The poet wonders if the animals got their virtues from humans when they dropped them for their greed and selfishness.
(v) Alliteration is used in the given line.
Q. ‘Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.’ [2011]
Who is the poet talking about? What is their state of mind?
Ans. The poet is talking about the animals. The animals are placid and self-contained; they are happy. They are not worried about getting respect or disrespect. Most importantly, animals do not have ego.
Q. ‘They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God’. [2011]
Who are ‘they’? What makes him sick?
Ans. They’ are animals. What makes the poet sick are the discussions on the logic or the reasons about subjects of philosophy or religion which the humans more and more indulge in, unlike animals.
Q. They do not lie awake in the dark and [2011]
Weep for their sins, ………….
Who are ‘they’? How are they different from human beings?
Ans. They’ are animals. Humans commit sins, which they regret. They cannot always repent even if they want to. This makes them sad, and so, they cry. On the contrary, animals behave on their natural instincts. Therefore, they do not have any grudges or regrets for their actions. Hence, animals do not cry.
