1. Answer the questions after reading the passage from the play ‘The Hour of Truth’.
‘I have got only a few years to live but I’ll live those as I’ve lived the rest of my life. I’ll go to my grave clean.’
a) Who speaks these words?
b) Why does he say so?
Ans: a) Robert Baldwin
b) He wanted to live by the principles of his life. He wanted to be honest till the end of his life.
2. After reading ‘Mending Wall’ and in the wake of newspaper reports about millions of refugees who are denied entry into the developed nations, you feel that there should be one world for all without any walls or boundaries. Prepare a script for presentation as the first speaker in a panel discussion on ‘One World Without Walls’.
Friends I am Veena. In my opinion one world for all without any walls or boundaries is a rare concept. But we have to make it real. We, the people of the world, want peace to our life but choose wars. We choose dead bodies of soldiers, orphans and widows in wars, we choose boundaries instead of horizon. Tears in exchange of happiness and hate rather than love.
If there are no boundaries, there are no countries and no cities, no partition and no discrimination; only one earth - a world where there is no borders and there is no war on it. We have to make a world for every one and everyone is for the whole world.
3. Comment on the contrasting character of Gresham and Baldwin in about 60 words.
Mr. Baldwin represents an everyday American man who works for a living and whose salary may not be as good as he wished to support his family. He is also long-suffering and dependable. He is an honest, diligent and hard-working employee. He is not ready to make any kind of compromise with his morality. He is not upset when John Gresham offers a bribe of hundred thousand dollars to say in the court, ‘I don’t
remember’. He is neither ready to accept bribe nor to tell a lie. It is because of his deep-rooted morality and honesty.
Mr. Gresham was a good boss to Mr. Baldwin, and seems to have been the type of
person nobody would suspect. He seems to be a representative of the new American who has deep crave for money. Mr. Gresham spread out Baldwin’s reputation as a decent and dignified man. He also realized that Robert Baldwin was really a good man. Gresham and the Baldwin were boys together and worked together. When Baldwin refused the money, Gresham was not surprised. It says that they were friends and they knew each other very well. They had healthy relation and
Gresham knew the honesty of Baldwin. It shows the regard Gresham had for Baldwin and Baldwin’s handling of the episode shows the compassion he had for Gresham.
4. Read the following poem.
A Poison Tree
William Blake
I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I watered it in fears
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine,
And into my garden stole,
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
(Hints: wrath-anger; foe-enemy; deceitful-misleading; wile-cunning methods)
Now, compare the poem with ‘Mending Wall’ by Robert Frost.
(Hints: theme, message, poetic devices, etc.)
‘A Poison Tree’ is a short and deceptively
simple poem about holding back anger and the consequences of doing so. The speaker tells of how they fail to communicate their wrath to their foe and how this continues to grow until it develops into poisonous hatred. Eventually the anger blossoms into a poisoned fruit, the enemy eats the fruit and dies and the speaker seems to be glad of this. As the first lines acknowledge, we can easily overcome our anger if we communicate it properly.
The poem ‘Mending Wall’ prompts us to think of tolerance and fraternity and the need for accepting other people’s views. It shows the reader an example of two different kinds of people who keep an emotional distance between one another to prevent others from getting too close to them. One kind of person is open to the idea of friendship. Then, there is the other side which is against the idea of change and is against breaking down social barriers. Yet both sides seem to find their common ground meeting at the wall.
It prompts readers to think of the walls that
separate human beings. Sometimes we may want to break the barriers of nationality, caste and creed. We may also want to let others
in – into our houses, into our minds. Sometimes we may want to build up walls. Our nation has seen large influx of refugee populations throughout history. That is when we realise how opening up ourselves may become dangerous.
Both poems appear to be autobiographical that explores the stubbornness. Sentence breaks occur within lines and the sense carries over into the next line. They set out to make a moral point to the reader. Both are about core human feelings – in religious terms, Wrath and Envy are two of the Seven Deadly Sins. Both poets use an extended metaphor. William Blake makes use of simple vocabulary, while Frost’s language is a little more complex. Frost’s use of detailed description in this poem is quite interesting. It helps to provide the reader with a better visual image of the poem.
‘A Poison Tree’ has four different stanzas. It starts as a first person poem, where the poet is expressing his anger and hatred towards his enemy. The poem then takes a turn and ‘I’ is replaced with the word ‘It’, a pronoun to depict the feelings of the enemy. Blake uses four line stanzas-quatrains-with rhyme scheme. He uses a clear first-person perspective and involves himself in the action of the poem.
‘The Mending Wall’ is a narrative poem which employs dialogue to characterize the speaker’s thoughts, as well as the attitudes of his neighbour. It is written in blank verse, which is unrhymed lines. These forms of language better help Robert Frost to express his feelings and thoughts that would not normally be able to be expressed by words.
‘A Poison Tree’ forces you to look deep down
inside your own self. It makes you ask a
question to yourself – you often forgive your friends; would you ever forgive an enemy? ‘The Mending Wall’ is a motivation for the readers to work together to accomplish a common goal, building a relationship in the process.
‘I have got only a few years to live but I’ll live those as I’ve lived the rest of my life. I’ll go to my grave clean.’
a) Who speaks these words?
b) Why does he say so?
Ans: a) Robert Baldwin
b) He wanted to live by the principles of his life. He wanted to be honest till the end of his life.
2. After reading ‘Mending Wall’ and in the wake of newspaper reports about millions of refugees who are denied entry into the developed nations, you feel that there should be one world for all without any walls or boundaries. Prepare a script for presentation as the first speaker in a panel discussion on ‘One World Without Walls’.
Friends I am Veena. In my opinion one world for all without any walls or boundaries is a rare concept. But we have to make it real. We, the people of the world, want peace to our life but choose wars. We choose dead bodies of soldiers, orphans and widows in wars, we choose boundaries instead of horizon. Tears in exchange of happiness and hate rather than love.
If there are no boundaries, there are no countries and no cities, no partition and no discrimination; only one earth - a world where there is no borders and there is no war on it. We have to make a world for every one and everyone is for the whole world.
3. Comment on the contrasting character of Gresham and Baldwin in about 60 words.
Mr. Baldwin represents an everyday American man who works for a living and whose salary may not be as good as he wished to support his family. He is also long-suffering and dependable. He is an honest, diligent and hard-working employee. He is not ready to make any kind of compromise with his morality. He is not upset when John Gresham offers a bribe of hundred thousand dollars to say in the court, ‘I don’t
remember’. He is neither ready to accept bribe nor to tell a lie. It is because of his deep-rooted morality and honesty.
Mr. Gresham was a good boss to Mr. Baldwin, and seems to have been the type of
person nobody would suspect. He seems to be a representative of the new American who has deep crave for money. Mr. Gresham spread out Baldwin’s reputation as a decent and dignified man. He also realized that Robert Baldwin was really a good man. Gresham and the Baldwin were boys together and worked together. When Baldwin refused the money, Gresham was not surprised. It says that they were friends and they knew each other very well. They had healthy relation and
Gresham knew the honesty of Baldwin. It shows the regard Gresham had for Baldwin and Baldwin’s handling of the episode shows the compassion he had for Gresham.
4. Read the following poem.
A Poison Tree
William Blake
I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I watered it in fears
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine,
And into my garden stole,
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
(Hints: wrath-anger; foe-enemy; deceitful-misleading; wile-cunning methods)
Now, compare the poem with ‘Mending Wall’ by Robert Frost.
(Hints: theme, message, poetic devices, etc.)
‘A Poison Tree’ is a short and deceptively
simple poem about holding back anger and the consequences of doing so. The speaker tells of how they fail to communicate their wrath to their foe and how this continues to grow until it develops into poisonous hatred. Eventually the anger blossoms into a poisoned fruit, the enemy eats the fruit and dies and the speaker seems to be glad of this. As the first lines acknowledge, we can easily overcome our anger if we communicate it properly.
The poem ‘Mending Wall’ prompts us to think of tolerance and fraternity and the need for accepting other people’s views. It shows the reader an example of two different kinds of people who keep an emotional distance between one another to prevent others from getting too close to them. One kind of person is open to the idea of friendship. Then, there is the other side which is against the idea of change and is against breaking down social barriers. Yet both sides seem to find their common ground meeting at the wall.
It prompts readers to think of the walls that
separate human beings. Sometimes we may want to break the barriers of nationality, caste and creed. We may also want to let others
in – into our houses, into our minds. Sometimes we may want to build up walls. Our nation has seen large influx of refugee populations throughout history. That is when we realise how opening up ourselves may become dangerous.
Both poems appear to be autobiographical that explores the stubbornness. Sentence breaks occur within lines and the sense carries over into the next line. They set out to make a moral point to the reader. Both are about core human feelings – in religious terms, Wrath and Envy are two of the Seven Deadly Sins. Both poets use an extended metaphor. William Blake makes use of simple vocabulary, while Frost’s language is a little more complex. Frost’s use of detailed description in this poem is quite interesting. It helps to provide the reader with a better visual image of the poem.
‘A Poison Tree’ has four different stanzas. It starts as a first person poem, where the poet is expressing his anger and hatred towards his enemy. The poem then takes a turn and ‘I’ is replaced with the word ‘It’, a pronoun to depict the feelings of the enemy. Blake uses four line stanzas-quatrains-with rhyme scheme. He uses a clear first-person perspective and involves himself in the action of the poem.
‘The Mending Wall’ is a narrative poem which employs dialogue to characterize the speaker’s thoughts, as well as the attitudes of his neighbour. It is written in blank verse, which is unrhymed lines. These forms of language better help Robert Frost to express his feelings and thoughts that would not normally be able to be expressed by words.
‘A Poison Tree’ forces you to look deep down
inside your own self. It makes you ask a
question to yourself – you often forgive your friends; would you ever forgive an enemy? ‘The Mending Wall’ is a motivation for the readers to work together to accomplish a common goal, building a relationship in the process.
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