CLASS XI LITERATURE NCERT SNAPSHOT AND HORNBILL
3. And who art thou? said I to teh soft falling shower
Which strange to tell, gave me an
answer as here translated:
(i) What questions does the poet ask the rain?
(ii) What does the expression ‘soft falling shower’ suggest?
(iii) What language does the poet receive the answer in? What does the rain tell him?
4. And forever by day and night, I give back life to my
own origin
And make pure and beautify it;
(for song issuing from its birthplace, after fulfilment, wandering
Reck’d or unreck’d daily with love returns)
(i) Who does ‘I’ refer to?
(ii) What is the impact of the rain on the earth?
(iii) What does Reck’d or unreck’d signify?
Answers
Answer:
Question.1.
I am dotted silver threads dropped from heaven
By the gods. Nature then takes me to adorn
Her fields and valleys.
(a) Name the poem and the poet of the above extract.
(b) Who is T ? Why is T being compared to silver threads ?
(c) Explain the line ‘Nature…. valleys’.
Answers :
(а) The poem is ‘Song of the Rain’. The poet is Kahlil Gibran.
(b) ‘I’ is the rain. T, that is the rain, falls in strings of sparkling drops, like silver threads.
(c) The line means that Nature uses rain to decorate fields and valleys. Fields and valleys look fresh and beautiful with rain drops.
Question.2.
I touch gently at the windows with my
Soft fingers, and my announcement is a
Welcome song. All can hear, but only
The sensitive can understand.
(a) How is the arrival of rain announced ?
(b) Why is it welcomed ?
(c) What is the difference between hearing and understanding ?
Answers:
(а) The arrival of the rain is announced by a welcome song.
(b) It is welcomed because it is needed by all – men, animals, plants.
(c) Hearing means hearing casually, whereas understanding implies hearing something with understanding its meaning as well.
Question.3.
‘The voice of thunder declares my arrival,
The rainbow announces my departure.
I am like earthly life which begins at
The feet of the mad elements and ends
Under the wings of death’.
(а) Whose arrival is declared by ‘the voice of thunder’ ?
(b) ‘I am like earthly life’. Explain.
(c) What do you mean by ‘wings of death’ ?
Answers :
(a) The rain’s arrival is declared by ‘the voice of thunder’.
(b) The rain’s life is similar to the worldly life. It takes birth and then dies.
(c) “Wings of death’ means various causes or forces of death.
Q- What does the poet say here translated?
A- Because it is an old poem and the words mainly used then was 'dost' meaning 'do' and 'thou' meaning 'you'.So he says "as here translated".
Hope it helps you.
Explanation:
please mark me asa brilliant
poet asked the rain who he was (1). The rain answered that he was the "poem of the earth"(2). The poet again asked the rain why has the rain come to earth (here)(3). The rain replied that it has come to beautify "its origins" (the earth)(4). It further told that it (rain) had come to give life to "unborn seeds"