Question

Read the following poem carefully and answer the following questions.

When will the bell ring, and end this weariness?

How long have they tugged the leash, and strained apart, My pack of unruly hounds! I cannot start

Them again on a quarry of knowledge they hate to hunt, I can haul them and urge them no more.

……. I will not waste my soul and my strength for this. What do I care for all that they do amiss!

What is the point of this teaching of mine, and of this Learning of theirs? It all goes down the same abyss. What does it matter to me, if they can write

A description of a dog, or if they can’t?

What is the point? To us both, it is all my aunt! And yet I’m supposed to care, with all my might.

I do not, and will not; they won’t and they don’t; and that’s all! I shall keep my strength for myself; they can keep theirs as well. Why should we beat our heads against the wall Of each other? I shall sit and wait for the bell.

1a.What do you think is the poet’s profession?

1b.Who is he talking about?

1c.Pick the words which describe the attitude of the poet:

irritable contemplative bored

frustrated inflexible defiant



Say why you have picked these words:

1d. Why do you think the poet has this attitude?

1e. What does the poet mean by the following lines “I cannot start…no more.”

1f.Which is the main metaphor in the poem?

Answer 1

1a) a teacher
1b) the students
1c)frustrated inflexible defiant as he doesn't like teaching as the students all shout
1d)it means that he couldn't start teaching again in more to students
1d)the metaphor is about the teacher's thought