Read the poem and answer the questions given below. You can recite too to appreciate the idea in the poem. Poem at Thirty-Nine How I miss my father. I wish he had not been so tired when I was born. Writing deposit slips and cheques I think of him. He taught me how. This is the form, he must have said: the way it is done. I learned to see bits of paper as a way to escape the life he knew and even in high school had a savings account. He taught me that telling the truth did not always mean a beating; though many of my truths must have grieved him before the end. How I miss my father! He cooked like a person dancing in a yoga meditation and craved the voluptuous sharing of good food. Now I look and cook just like him: my brain light; tossing this and that into the pot; seasoning none of my life the same way twice; happy to feed whoever strays my way. He would have grown to admire the woman I’ve become: cooking, writing, chopping wood, staring into the fire. —Alice Walker 1. What made Alice Walker open a savings account in High School? 2. What lesson did her father give her on telling the truth? 3. Tick () the correct answer. What does ‘dancing in yoga meditation’ mean in the poem? (a) To cook relaxedly and with full concentration. (b) To cook while doing yoga exercises. (c) To cook food after doing yoga meditation. (d) Take lessons in cooking by joining class on yoga meditation. 4. Fill in the blank to complete the following statement. Alice Walker becomes nostalgic for her father and wishes, had he been alive he would have admired her for____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. Why do you think the title of the poem is ‘Poem at Thirty-Nine’?
Answers
Reading Comprehension
1. Alice Walker in the poem ' Poem at Thirty-Nine' mentions that her father was tired out when she was born which was probably for money matters. Although not very well off he saved money instead of squandering it and had a savings account when he was at High School.
Following his example and advise, Alice Walker too opened a savings account in High School.
2. Alice Walker's father was a straight forward and disciplined man. He taught his daughter to always speak the truth and emphasised that it was not necessary that every truth told had to be reciprocated with a beating. Telling the truth is not always accompanied with punishments.
3. (a) To cook relaxedly and with full concentration.
Yoga teaches one to meditate and concentrate, to remain focussed. The poet's father was an excellent cook who cooked in the kitchen as if he was a performing Artist. He enjoyed the cooking so the phrase, ‘dancing in yoga meditation’.
4. Alice Walker becomes nostalgic for her father and wishes, had he been alive he would have admired her for leading a life that was guided by him . She had followed his life lessons, his way and attitude towards life and his habits. She had grown to be Father's girl-accomplished in all activities such as cooking, writing, chopping wood, staring into the fire.
5. Thirty nine is the most ripe age of a human being. At that time the frivolous period of youth is gone, maturity has slipped in yet old age is far away. It is a time when one reaches the peak of one's career and achievements. Also it is the time one can reflect on what one has become due to the moulding of the character since childhood.
Since the poem is a reminiscence of Alice Walker about her father the title of the poem is ‘Poem at Thirty-Nine’ when she reflects upon her life and her art of living as taught by her father.
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Explanation:
1. Alice Walker opened a savings account in High School to save money.
2. She learned from her father that telling the truth will always do not warrant a punishment.
3. ‘Dancing in yoga meditation’ means, (a) To cook relaxedly and with full concentration.
4. Alice Walker becomes nostalgic for her father and wishes, had he been alive he would have admired her for he could have seen her writing, cooking, chopping wood, and looking into the fire.
5. Alice wrote this poem at the age of thirty-nine.