Unseen passage, Factual description, to improve your reading skills, Test your ability of mind to understand the topic

Read the following poem carefully:

Read The poem carefully and answer the following questions.

"There was a man whom sorrow named his friend, And he, of his high comrade sorrow dreaming, 

Went walking with slow steps along the gleaming

 And humming sand, where windy surges wend;

And he called loudly to the stars to bend

 From their pale thrones and comfort him, but they 

Among themselves laugh on and sing away.'

'Dim sea, hear my most piteous story The sea swept on and cried her old cry still, 

Rolling along in dreams from hill to hill.'

'He, in a far off, gentle valley stopping, Cried all his story to the dew drops glistening.

But naught they held for they are always listening.

The dewdrops, for the sound of their own dropping.

"The man sought once again the shore, and found a shell, 

And thought, I will my heavy story tell

Till my own words, re-echoing, shall send 

Their sadness through a hollow, pearly heart:

 And my own tale again for me shall sing.

And my own whispering words be comfortings,

 And lo! my ancient burden may depart.

And then he sang softly nigh the pearly rim; 

But the sad dweller by the sea-ways lone

 Changed all he sang to inarticulate moan 

Among her wildering whirls, forgetting him.                 W.B..Yeats

Questions:

1. Based on your reading of the poem, choose the correct options:

(1×6=6)

(a) The poem sends a message of truth which is…………..

(i) personal (ii) related to man only

(iii) animals (iv) related to one and all.    

(b) The echo of the shell is lost in the roar of the………..

(i) clouds (ii) river waves

(iii) sea waves (iv) falling rain

(c) The word 'humming' means:

(i) singing song

(ii) producing a low sound

(iii) weeping (iv) sighing

(d) The word 'dim' is a/an

(i) noun (ii) article (iii) adjective

(iv) verb

(e) An appropriate title of the poem is:

(i) Sea Shore (ii) Sad Man 

(iii) Sad Nature (iv) Indifference

(f) The word 'nigh' means:

(i) no (ii) near (iii) far away

(iv) not seen

2. Answer the following questions briefly: (1×6=6)

(a) To whom does the poet address his grief initially?

(b) What is the reaction of those on the pale thrones?

(c) Why didn't the dew drops listen to the poet's story?

(d) Where did the man go and what did he find?

(e) Who engulfed the song of the man?

(f) Find the word from the poem which is an antonym of the word 'joy'.

Answers to Unseen Poems

1. (a) (iv) (b) (iii) (c) (ii) (d) (iii) (e) (iv)

(f) (ii) 

2. (a) Initially, the poet addressed his grief to the shining stars.

(b) The stars sitting on their pale thrones simply laughed away singing joyfully. all unconcerned.

(c) The dew drops were absorbed in the music of their own creation and hence, they didn't listen to the poet's story.

(d) The man went to the sea shore and found a shell.

(e) The larger song of the sea engulfed the song of the man.

(f) sorrow