Q. 3. (A) Read the extract and complete the activities given below: (10) [14]

When I had money, money, O!                I knew no joy till I went poor;            For many a false man as a friend  Came knocking all day at my door.

Then felt I like a child that holds A trumpet that he must not blow Because a man is dead; I dared Not speak to let this false world know.

Much have I thought of life, and seen How poor men's hearts are ever light; And how their wives do hum like bees About their work from morn till night.

So, when I hear these poor ones laugh, And see the rich ones coldly frown Poor men, think I, need not go up So much as rich men should come down.

A1. Compare the lifestyle of the rich and poor people. (2)

Expected Answer:- 

A2. Explain the reasons for which many false friends came knocking at the poet's door. (2)

Expected Answer:- Many false friends came to the poet's door because he had money. They were not his real friends who love and care him, they were not interested in him. They pretended to be his friends to take advantage of his wealth.

A3. Define, 'Friendship' in your own words.(2)

Expected Answer:- Friendship is when someone believes in you, even when you don’t believe in yourself. It’s about trust, support, and being there for each other no matter what.

A4. Name and explain the figure of speech in the following line:(2)

'Much have I thought of life, and seen'

Expected Answer:- There is inversion in the above line as the words are not arranged in proper prose order, the correct order is.

I have thought much of life, and seen"

A5. Compose four poetic lines of your own on 'happiness.'

Expected Answer:- 

(B) Appreciation: (4)

Read the extract and write the appreciation of the poem given below:

My father travels on the late evening train 

Standing among silent commuters in the yellow light 

Suburbs slide past his unseeing eyes His shirt and pants are soggy and his black raincoat 

Stained with mud and his bag stuffed with books 

Is falling apart. His eyes dimmed by age 

Fade homeward through the humid monsoon night. 

Now I can see him getting off the train Like a word dropped from a long sentence. 

He hurries across the length of the grey platform, 

Crosses the railway line, enters the lane, 

His chappals are sticky with mud, but he hurries onward.

Expected Answer:- 

Father Returning Home’ is the famous poem by Dilip Chitre, taken from 'Traveling in the cage'. He is known as a bilingual poet. He has translated ‘the popular Marathi Abhangas (Spiritual Poem) 'Says Tuka into English. He received the Prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for his remarkable contribution to poetry as well as to Translation. The present is an autobiographical poem where the poet shows the complete solitude and lethargic life of an old man in modern society by depicting a picture of his father returning home from work. Thus the main theme of the poem is "Man's Isolation from a materialistic man-made World". The poet expressed his feelings for his working father. He realized that his father was neglected and uncared for despite being the lone bread-earner for the family.

Though the poem ‘Father Returning Home’ has autobiographical touch, it goes beyond its autobiographical significance. As is an account of every old man in a suburban area who does hard work for his family but leads a monotonous life where no one to converse with him, understand his feelings, and look after him.

The poem consists of two stanzas of the first stanza 12 lines and the second stanza 13 lines. It is a free verse where there is no rhyme and no rhythm. The poem is very symbolic the very structure of the poem is also symbolic as the lack of rhythm symbolizes that the poet’s father was uncared-for life. The language is easy and simple but full of imagery and symbolism. It is in first person narrative where the poet himself is the speaker who narrates the isolated life and monotonous routine of his father. The prominent figures of speech in the poem are Alliteration, Simile, and Onomatopoeia. The poet expresses his feelings for his old father, but every old father has almost the same condition so we can take the moral from the poem that 'we must look after the elderly members in our family and society' I like the poem very much as it depicts the real picture of monotony and lethargic life of the elderly hard-working person in the modern society. 

Share