Q8. Answer the following questions in 50-60 words
i. Nature never dies. It just changes its form. How does the poem' The
Grasshopper and the Cricket' bring out this idea.
ii. What is meant by the phrase „he takes the lead in summer luxury‟?
Explain with reference to the context.
Answers
ans 1) The grasshopper is a symbol of hot summer and the cricket is of very cold winter. The cricket keeps the music of the earth alive in the winter and grasshopper is the music provider during hot summer when all the birds are tired
ans2)The phrase "he takes the lead in summers luxury" means that grasshoppers fully relish the summers and enjoy it to its utmost intensity. Since the poet has a love for nature, he exhibits this through the unique composition of his poem using two main insects grasshoppers and crickets
1. “On the Grasshopper and the Cricket” is a fine sonnet and a symbolic poem. The grasshopper symbolizes summer while the cricket symbolizes the cold winter. The opening line of the poem suggests that ‘the poetry of earth is never dead.’ Every poet has been attracted towards nature and so has Keats been. Through his poem, ‘On the Grasshopper and the Cricket’ the poet asserts that no matter what the season is, whether it is the sweltering summer or the harsh cold winter, the music and the poetry of the nature is never dead.
During a very hot summer day, all the birds take rest under shady trees. Due to the scorching heat of the sun, they are tired and stop their twittering and singing. Yet the music of the earth does not come to a halt. The grasshopper goes on hopping from one hedge to another, chirping and singing merrily to continue with the music of the earth. It continues to sing delighting until he is satisfied and tired out with fun that it takes rest under some shady weed.
The poet again mentions that the poetry of the earth will never cease. It is omnipresent and ever-lasting. During the bitterly cold winter evening, when all living creatures have taken shelter for rest, an atmosphere of loneliness and silence prevails. Even then the poetry of the earth continues without any break. The cricket which has been driven indoors to seek the warmth of the stove sings a shrill song and it gets louder and louder as he gets more and more warmth from the stove. Now the living beings and the animals who are in slumber cannot find any difference in the song of the cricket from that of the grasshopper. They think the music of the grasshopper is still continuing.
2. The phrase "he takes the lead in summers luxury" means that grasshoppers fully relish the summers and enjoy it to its utmost intensity. Since the poet has a love for nature, he exhibits this through the unique composition of his poem using two main insects grasshoppers and crickets.