What does the poet want for the children of the slums? How can their lives be made to change?
The poet wants that these children should also get good education as other children gets. They should also get a bright future, they should the break the boundaries of their slums and experience a better life just like a other people.
The poet feels that the governor, inspector and visitor should take a initiative against their current situation to bring some changes for them and to ensure a better way of living for them, they should provide a proper education and provide freedom from their present confines. They only need some opportunities and encouragement to be able to live life freely and with zest.
What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
Tick the item which best answers the following.
(a) The tall girl with her head weighed down means
The girl
(i) is ill and exhausted
(ii) has her head bent with shame
(iii) has untidy hair
(b) The paper-seeming boy with rat’s eyes means
The boy is
(i) sly and secretive
(ii) thin, hungry and weak
(iii) unpleasant looking
(c) The stunted, unlucky heir of twisted bones means
The boy
(i) has an inherited disability
(ii) was short and bony
(d) His eyes live in a dream, A squirrel’s game, in the tree room other than this means
The boy is
(i) full of hope in the future
(ii) mentally ill
(iii) distracted from the lesson
(e) The children’s faces are compared to ‘rootless weeds’
This means they
(i) are insecure
(ii) are ill-fed
(iii) are wasters
Why has the mother been compared to the ‘late winter’s moon’?
Why do you think Aunt Jennifer created animals that are so different from her own character? What might the poet be suggesting, through this difference?
What do the parting words of the poet and her smile signify?
Do you think the poet advocates total inactivity and death?
What will counting upto twelve and keeping still help us achieve?
What pleasure does a beautiful thing give us? Are beautiful things worth treasuring?
The walls of the classroom are decorated with the pictures of ‘Shakespeare’, ‘buildings with domes’, ‘world maps’ and beautiful valleys. How do these contrast with the world of these children?
Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’?
Interpret the symbols found in this poem.
What is the ‘childish longing’ that the poet refers to? Why is it ‘vain’?
What is the kind of pain and ache that the poet feels?
What does the title of the poem suggest to you? What do you think the poem is about?
List the things that cause suffering and pain.
What is suggested by the image ‘massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band’?
Why has the poet brought in the image of the merry children ‘spilling out of their homes’?
Why are the young trees described as ‘sprinting’?
List the things of beauty mentioned in the poem.
Why do you think Aunt Jennifer created animals that are so different from her own character? What might the poet be suggesting, through this difference?