ICSE

Treasure Trove Poems Workbook Answers The Bangle Sellers

Treasure Trove Poems Workbook Answers

The Bangle Sellers Comprehension Passages

1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Bangle sellers are we who bear
Our shining loads to the temple fair…
Who will buy these delicate, bright
Rainbow-tinted circles of light ?
Lustrous tokens of radiant lives,
For happy daughters and happy wives.

(i) Where are the bangle sellers going ? Are they happy and contented ?
Answer: The bangle sellers are going to a temple fair to sell their bangles to earn money. Actually they cannot be happy and contented because they live in poverty and deprivation. But they can, of course, appear to be happy.

(ii) What do you mean by ‘Rainbow-tinted circles of light’ ? What kind of literary device is it ?
Answer: The multicoloured bangles are described as rainbow-tinted circles of light. It is a metaphor.

(iii) What are these bangles for ? Why has the poet repeated the word ‘happy’ in the last line here ?
Answer: These bangles are meant for happy daughters and happy wives. By repeating the word ‘happy’, the poet has emphasised the human element of the product. The daughters who expect to be married soon wear bangles to express their happy longings. The wives who wear bangles express their happiness and contentment in their marital life.

(iv) What colours of bangles are preferred by virgin maidens ?
Answer: The bangles which are silvery and blue and as misty as mountain mist are preferred by virgin maidens who have countless longings for their married lives. The bangles which are as pink as buds that bloom on the calm surface of a forest stream, are also preferred by the virgin maidens. The shining green bangles are also liked by them.

(v) What rhyme scheme is followed in the poem ?
Answer: The poem consists of four stanzas of six lines each. The rhyme scheme followed in each stanza is aabbcc, which is a couplet form. It is mainly responsible for the melodious effect and fast rhythm. It renders a lyrical and musical effect to the whole poem. It gratifies the auditory sense of the readers.

2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Some are meet for a maiden’s wrist,
Silver and blue as the mountain mist,
Some are flushed like the buds that dream
On the tranquil brow of a woodland stream,
Some are aglow with the bloom that cleaves
To the limpid glory of new born leaves.

(i) Who is the narrator ? What has been described earlier ?
Answer: The narrator, one of the bangle sellers, may be a man or a woman – we have no clue to the gender. The bangle sellers are going to a temple fair to sell their bangles to earn money. They sell multicoloured bangles to the happy maidens and happy wives. They have a large variety of beautiful bangles. The happy maidens and happy wives have an ample choice to select bangles of their likings.

(ii) In what context is the expression ‘the mountain mist’ used here ?
Answer: This expression is used for the colour of bangles which are preferred by virgin maidens. The poet says that the bangles which are silvery and blue and as misty as mountain are preferred by virgin maidens.

(iii) How has the poet described the bangles ?
Answer: The poet has described the multicoloured bangles with the help of similes. For example, she says :
1. Silver and blue as the mountain mist
2. Some are flushed like the buds that dream

(iv) Explain : “Some are aglow with the bloom new born leaves
Answer: Some of the bangles are shining green whose freshness is close to the vivid beauty of the new born, tender leaves. Such bangles are preferred by the virgin maidens who have countless longings for their married lives.

(v) What does the poet say about the bride’s preference about bangles later in the context ?
Answer: The bride prefers yellow bangles which look like corn fields because they are suitable for a bride on her marriage morning. She also likes fiery red bangles which are like the flame of her marriage fire. They are expressive of the passion in her heart. They create a ringing sound as the bride walks. They are shining and delicate, as the laughter of the bride (as she is getting married) or tear (as she weeps at the separation from her parents).

3. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Some are purple and gold flecked grey
For she who has journeyed through life midway,
Whose hands have cherished, whose love has blest,
And cradled fair sons on her faithful breast,
And serves her household in fruitful pride,
And worships the gods at her husband’s side.

(i) What kinds of bangles have earlier been mentioned ?
Answer: Bangles of different colours have been mentioned earlier : silver, blue, pink and green for virgin maidens, yellow and fiery red for the bride.

(ii) What hues of bangles are cherished by a bride ? What are they symbolic of ?
Answer: A bride cherishes yellow and fiery-red coloured bangles. These colours represent her happiness on the wedding day (yellow) and her passion on the wedding night (fiery red).

(iii) Purple and golden coloured bangles represent motherhood. How ?
Answer: Purple and golden coloured bangles represent motherhood. These colours are associated with the feelings of pride and fulfilment in the heart of the mother.

(iv) What fulfils the life of an Indian wife and mother ?
Answer: Rearing her sons, serving her family and sharing the proud place of being by the side of her husband at religious rituals fulfil the life of an Indian wife and mother.

(v) What in the passage will repel a modem woman ?
Answer: A modern woman will be repelled by the patriarchal notions inherent in the passage : gender discrimination and insubordination of women in the social and religious set-up.

The Bangle Sellers Assignment

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Some are like fields of sunlit corn,
Meet for a bride on her bridal morn,
Some, like the flame of her marriage fire,
Or, rich with the hue of her heart’s desire,
Tinkling, luminous, tender, and clear,
Like her bridal laughter and bridal tear.

(i) What hues of bangles are preferred by virgin maidens as told earlier in the context ?
(ii) Why does the bride have preference for yellow coloured bangles for her wedding morning ?
(iii) Why has the red colour of bangles been compared to the flame of the bride’s marriage fire ?
(iv) Which literary device is used in the last two lines here ?
(v) Why does the poet refer to the ‘bridal laughter’ and ‘bridal tear’ simultaneously ?

Treasure Trove Poems Workbook Answers The Cold Within

Treasure Trove Poems Workbook Answers

The Cold Within Comprehension Passages

1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Six humans trapped by happenstance
In bleak and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood
Or so the story’s told.

(i) What brought the ‘six humans’ together ? Where were they ?
Answer: Six humans got together by chance in a very bitter cold. In fact, six persons got together in a situation which seemed to have been arranged even though it was accidental. They were sitting near the fire at some place in a very bitter cold.

(ii) What each of them possessed ?
Answer: Each of them possessed a stick of wood.

(iii) Is there any significance of the logs of wood in the hands of six persons ? Explain.
Answer: Yes, there is a symbolic significance of the logs of wood. After reading the whole poem, we realize that the stick in each hand is a symbol of sin.

(iv) What could these persons have done ?
Answer: These persons could have helped one another and saved themselves from death.

(v) What happened to them ?
Answer: As the fire extinguished, all of them died. They died not because of the cold outside but because of the cold within. They died because they were too selfish to help the others. They were narrow in their thinking, self-centred in their approach and unhelpful to the others. In fact, they invited their own doom.

2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Their dying fire in need of logs,
But the first one held hers hack,
For, of the faces round the fire,
She noticed one was black.

(i) The poet refers to the ‘dying fire’ here ?
Who were sitting beside it, and why ?
Answer: The poet means to say that the ‘fire’ was dying for want of logs of wood. Six persons were sitting beside it in a very bitter cold. They were sitting beside it to survive from the bitter cold.

(ii) What did each of the six persons possess ?
Answer: Each one of them possessed a stick of wood.

(iii) Who was the first ?
Answer: The first one was a woman. She had a stick of wood in her hand but she was not ready to renounce her stick of wood to keep the fire burning.

(iv) What had she noticed ?
Answer: She had noticed in the light of the fire that one of the persons in the group was black.

(iv) Why did she hold back her stick ?
Answer: She had noticed that one of the persons in the group was black. She held back her stick of wood and did not put it in the fire to keep the fire burning because she did not want to save the life of a black man. She suffered from racial prejudice, selfishness and narrow thinking.

3. Read the extract given below and answer
the questions that follow :
The next man looking ‘cross the way
Saw one not of his church,
And could not bring himself to give
The fire his stick of birch.

(i) Who were trapped on a day of bitter cold ?
Answer: Six human beings were trapped on a day of bitter cold. Each had a stick of wood.

(ii) What was needed for the survival ?
Answer: Six persons were trapped in bitter cold. They sat beside the dying fire. They needed the fire to continue burning for their survival.

(iii) What did the second man notice ? What did he do ?
Answer: The second man noticed that one of the persons in the group did not belong to his religion. He could not persuade himself to give up his stick of wood to help a person of another religion.

(iv) Why did he decide not to help a person of different religion ?
Answer: He decided not to help the person of different religion because he suffered from religious intolerance.

(v) Do you feel that he, too, suffers from the ‘cold within’ ? Explain.
Answer: Yes, he, too, suffers from the ‘cold within’. He suffers from the sin of religious intolerance. He is indifferent, unhelpful, unsympathetic, unconcerned and callous towards the other human being. In fact, he invites his own doom due to his narrow thinking.

4. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
The third one sat in tattered clothes.
He gave his coat a hitch.
Why should his log be put to use
To warm the idle rich ?

(i) What does the poet tell us about a group of persons on a very cold day earlier in the context ?
Answer: The poet tells us that a group of persons get trapped somewhere in a bitter cold. They sit near the dying fire, their only hope of survival. Each one of them has a stick of wood. If they give up their sticks, the fire will keep burning and all of them will survive. But no one is willing to do so.

(ii) Why did the two persons keep their sticks of wood back ?
Answer: One of them kept her stick of wood back because she did not want to save the black man’s life whose face she had seen in the light of the fire. She suffered from racial prejudice. The other kept his stick of wood back because he did not want to save the life of a person of another religion. He suffered from religious intolerance.

(iii) Who do you think was the third man ?
Answer: The third man was very poor. He was in tattered clothes. He was full of bitterness and envy for the rich. He gave his coat a ‘hitch’ which is suggestive of his tightness.

(iv) Why did he decide not to ‘warm the idle rich’ ?
Answer: He was a poor man and was full of bitterness and envy for the rich. He thought that it would be unjust to give what little he had to help the other man who had more than he. Moreover, he thought that it would be wrong to help the rich man who remained idle. So he decided to hold back his stick.

(v) Were all the six persons unaware of the consequence of what they were doing ? Explain.
Answer: No, they were not aware of the consequence of what they were doing.
Each one knew that it was fire that could make them survive. Each one had a stick of wood which could keep the fire burning. But no one was willing to part with his stick for one reason or the other. In fact, each one was cold within. Thus the result was their death by cold – the cold within.

5. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
The rich man just sat back and thought
Of the wealth he had in store,
And how to keep what he had earned
From the lazy, shiftless poor.

(i) Comment on the three persons in the group referred to earlier.
Answer: One of the three persons was a woman. She did not want to part with her stick of wood to keep the fire burning because she had noticed that one of the persons in a group was black.
The second person was a man who did not want to part with his stick of wood to keep the fire burning because he noticed that one of the persons in a group did not belong to his religion.
The third person was a poor man. He did not want to part with his stick of wood to keep the fire burning because he did not want to save the idle rich man.

(ii) Why did the poor man not part with his stick of wood ?
Answer: The poor man was full of bitterness and envy for the rich man. He thought that it would be unjust to give what little he had to help the rich man who had more than he. So he did not part with his stick of wood.

(iii) What kept the rich man lost in his thoughts ?
Answer: The rich man continued to think about the money he had and how to save it from the lazy poor. He did not want to help the poor man.

(iv) Why did he decide not to help the poor man ?
Answer: He decided not to help the poor man because he thought that the poor man was lazy and undeserving. He wanted to keep his wealth away from the poor man.

(v ) What kind of sin did he possess ?
Answer: He possessed the sin of avarice, stinginess and selfishness. His hatred for the poor man reveals his sinful nature. His sinful and selfish nature is responsible for his own death.

6. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow : (ICSE 2018)
Their logs held tight in death’s still hands
Was proof of human sin.
They didn’t die from the cold without
They died from the cold within.

(i) What was the weather like when the six people found themselves together ?
Answer: The weather was terribly cold. They were all sitting near the dying fire, which was their only hope of survival.

(ii) Why wouldn’t the third man put his piece of log in the dying fire ?
Answer: The third man was full of bitterness and envy for the rich. He thought that it would be unjust to give what little he had to help others who had more than he.

(iii) What did the black man see in his piece of wood ? Give an instance from the poem to show that his feelings were somewhat justified.
Answer: The blackman saw in his piece of wood a means to hurt the white people. From the second stanza we come to know that the lady had not given her stick because one of the men in the group was a black. She did not want to give her stick to save the black man. This shows that the blackman’s revengefulness was slightly justified.

(iv) Who among the gathering was an opportunist ? How can you say so ?
Answer: The last man in the gathering was an opportunist. We can say this because he never did anything except for gain.

(v) Would you say that ‘The Cold Within’ is an apt title for this poem ? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer: The title of the poem ‘The Cold Within’ is quite appropriate. It is quite suggestive. What the poet wants to say is that the coldness which we carry in our hearts is dangerous and fatal. It prevents us from reaching out to others, and helping them. The aptness of the title comes through the tragic end of the six persons who hold on to their sticks and let the life saving fire die. They are consumed by the cold within their hearts.

The Cold Within Assignment

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
The black man’s face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from his sight.
For all he saw in his stick of wood
Was a chance to spite the white.
(i) Who were the other four men in the group referred to earlier ?
(ii) What were the prejudices in the minds of the poor man and the rich man ?
(iii) What did the black man’s face reveal ?
(iv) How could he hurt the white man ?
(v) Why was each of the men in the group unaware of self-destruction by his action ?

Treasure Trove Poems Workbook Answers The Heart of a Tree

Treasure Trove Poems Workbook Answers

The Heart of a Tree Comprehension Passages

1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
What does he plant who plants a tree ?
He plants a friend of sun and sky;
He plants the flag of breezes free;
The shaft of beauty, towering high;
He plants a home to heaven anigh;
For song and mother-croon of bird In hushed and happy twilight heard—
The treble of heaven’s harmony—
These things he plants who plants a tree.

(i) Who is described as a ‘friend of sun and sky’ ?
Answer: A tree is described as a ‘friend of sun and sky’.

(ii) Whom does a tree give shelter 7 How 7
Answer: A tree gives shelter to birds by allowing them to build their nests.

(iii) Which literary device has been used in the line : ‘In hushed and happy twilight heard’ 7
Answer: The literary device used here is alliteration.

(iv) Explain : ‘He plants a home to heaven anigh.’
Answer: He who plants trees makes the surroundings green. The place where there are green trees is nothing short of heaven.

(v) Towards the end of the poem the poet refers to the longing in the heart of the one who plants a tree. What is this longing ?
Answer: This longing is for the growth, development and prosperity of his country. He who plants a tree desires peace, harmony and comfort for himself and others. In fact, he yearns for the ecological, social and economic benefits for his country.

2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
What does he plant who plants a tree ?
He plants cool shade and tender rain,
And seed and bud of days to be,
And years that fade and flush again;
He plants the glory of the plain;
He plants the forest’s heritage;
The harvest of a coming age;
The joy that unborn eyes shall see- These things he plants who plants a tree.

(i) What does a tree ensure us in summer ? What do buds become in the days to come ?
Answer: A tree ensures cool shade for us in summer. Buds will bloom into flowers in the days to come.

(ii) How is a tree the glory of the plain ?
Answer: A tree ensures growth and development of the country. It brings prosperity and richness to the country. It saves the country from pollution.

(iii) Which literary device has been used in the line:
“And years that fade and flush again” ? Explain.
Answer: The literary device used in the line is alliteration. The placement of the words ‘fade and flush’ close by makes it an alliteration.

(iv) Explain the line :
‘And years that fade and flush again.’
Answer: The poet wants to convey that a tree establishes a link between our present and future. It serves as a living legacy for the next generation. It provides a link between us and our children.

(v) How does a tree become ‘the forest’s heritage’ ?
Answer: It becomes ‘the forest’s heritage’ because it leaves behind a history that lasts for many years. It reflects a tradition of the past. It serves us as a living legacy for the next generation. It symbolises the social fabric of the times.

3. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
What does he plant who plants a tree ?
He plants, in sap and leaf and wood,
In love of home and loyalty
And far-cast thought of civic good
His blessings on the neighborhood
Who in the hollow of His hand
Holds all the growth of all our land
A nation’s growth from sea to sea
Stirs in his heart who plants a tree.

(i) Name some benefits of tree planting referred to by the poet earlier in the context.
Answer: A tree ensures cool shade for us in summer and tender rains in all seasons. A tree gives us seeds which sprout and buds which bloom into flowers in times to come. It establishes a link between our present and future.

(ii) How does a tree planter do civic good ?
Answer: A tree planter does civic good by planting a tree. The tree benefits all the neighbours around. It saves the surroundings from
pollution. It provides shade to the people in summer and protects them from the scorching heat of the sun.

(iii) Who holds ‘all the growth of the land’ ? Which land has the poet in mind ?
Answer: He who plants a tree holds all the growth of his country. The poet emphasizes the fact that a country’s growth and development depend upon its wealth of trees. The planter’s country is the land which is in the poet’s mind.

(iv) Do you agree with the poet that a nation’s growth depends upon the wealth of trees ? Why/Why not ?
Answer: Yes, a nation’s growth depends upon the wealth of trees. A tree has ecological,
social and economic benefits. It saves us from pollution. It gives us seeds which sprout and buds which bloom into flowers in the times to come. It provides several general benefits to people.

(v) In what way is the poem relevant in our times ?
Answer: In our times forests are being decimated for building houses, roads and bridges. Trees seem to attract none. The poem, therefore, is relevant in our times because the poet draws our attention to what we do when we plant trees. He rightly says that one who plants trees plants many things – beauty, peace, prosperity and good values.

The Heart of a Tree Assignment

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
What does he plant who plants a tree ?
He plants cool shade and tender rain,
And seed and bud of days to be,
And years that fade and flush again;
He plants the glory of the plain;
He plants the forest’s heritage;
The harvest of a coming age;
The joy that unborn eyes shall see- These things he plants who plants a tree.

(i) How has the poet described a tree earlier in the poem ?
(ii) Which line has been repeated, and why ?
(iii) What social and ecological benefits of planting a tree does the poet refer to ?
(iv) In what sense is a tree ‘the harvest of a coming age’ ?
(v) Comment on the things a tree planter actually plants.