Treasure Trove Poems Workbook Answers Daffodils
Treasure Trove Poems Workbook Answers
Daffodils Comprehension Passages
1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
I wandered lonely as a cloud,
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
(i) What was the poet doing ? In what sense was he like a floating cloud ?
Answer: The poet was wandering idly. Like a cloud freely floating over hills and valleys, he was wandering freely without any purpose. He was as lonely as the cloud in the sky.
(ii) What pleasant sight attracted his attention ?
Answer: A beautiful sight of daffodils attracted his attention. The golden daffodils were in a large number, growing under the trees and spreading along the bank of a lake.
(iii) Why does the poet compare himself to an object of nature and an object of nature to a human being ?
Answer: The poet does so in order to convey the idea that there is an inherent unity between man and nature.
(iv) The poet later uses a simile to describe the beauty of the daffodils. What is that simile ?
Answer: The poet later uses a simile to compare the beauty of the daffodils to the beauty of the twinkling stars in the Milky Way in the sky. He also uses the simile to underline the large number of daffodils, comparable to the numerous stars in the Galaxy.
(v) Whom did the daffodils seem to surpass in vigour and liveliness ?
Answer: The daffodils seemed to dance in the gentle breeze. The waves in the lake, too seemed to dance in the wind. However, their dance was surpassed by the dance of the daffodils in vigour and liveliness.
2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay :
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
(i) Why does the poet compare the daffodils to the stars ?
Answer: The poet compares the daffodils to the stars in order to underline the large number and the beauty of the flowers.
(ii) ‘They stretched in never-ending line’. Explain.
Answer: The poet wants to say that the daffodils growing beside the lake seemed to form an endless line. He wants to emphasize the large number of daffodils.
(iii) Explain the lines :
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
Answer: The daffodils growing beside the lake seemed to form an endless line. They were in a very large number. They tossed their heads to and fro in the breeze as if they were engaged in a lively dance.
(iv) “Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.” What literary device has the poet used here ? Explain.
Answer: Personification. The daffodils are personified as human beings ‘dancing’ and tossing their heads. This personfication underlines the inherent unity between man and nature.
(v) When does the sight of daffodils come to the poet’s mind later in the poem ? What does he get by recollecting that sight of daffodils ?
Answer: When the poet is in a sad mood, the beautiful scene of daffodils seen by him earlier flashes across his mind. This happens when he is all alone. The recollection of the sight of daffodils fills the poet’s mind with joy. His heart begins to dance with the dancing daffodils.
3. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
The waves beside them danced; but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee :
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company :
I gazed-and gazed-but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought:
(i) How had the poet described the daffodils earlier in the poem ?
Answer: The poet had described the daffodils as golden. They had grown under the trees near the lake. The flowers were beautiful and they tossed their heads in breeze as if in a dance. They were in large numbers.
(ii) Whose waves had the poet in mind ? What did he notice about them ?
Answer: The waves in the lake were in the poet’s mind. He noticed that they were shining and dancing in the breeze.
(iii) Why does the poet compare the dance of the daffodils to that of the waves ?
Answer: The poet compares the dance of the daffodils to that of the waves in order to point out that the dance of the daffodils surpassed the dance of the waves. He wants to say that the dance of the daffodils was more lively than that of the waves.
(iv) Who could not help being happy in the presence of the beautiful objects of nature ?
Answer: The poet feels that no sensitive person could help feeling delighted in the company of such joyful companions (the beautiful objects of nature). He recalls how he continued to gaze at the beautiful scene. He could not think what wealth of joy had brought to him.
(v) What ‘wealth’ has the poet referred to here ? When did he realize its worth ?
Answer: ‘Wealth’ here is referred to the great joy that the poet got by continuously looking at the beautiful sight of daffodils. Whenever the poet felt sad, the beautiful scene of daffodils flashed across his mind and filled it with joy. Then he realized the true worth of the beautiful sight of daffodils.
4. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
(i) Who are ‘they’ referred to in the third line here ? When had the poet come across them ?
Answer: They are the beautiful daffodils that the poet had seen earlier.
The poet and his sister Dorothy had come across a large number of golden daffodils ‘ during a walk in the woods.
(ii) What makes the poet become happy again ?
Answer: Whenever the poet lies on his couch in a free or sad mood, the beautiful scene of daffodils seen by him earlier flashes across his mind. This happens when he is all alone. Then the memory of the beautiful scene makes the poet become happy again.
(iii) Explain the phrase ‘the bliss of solitude’ in the context in which it has been used.
Answer: The poet had once come across a large number of beautiful daffodils. The sight of the beautiful daffodils had a great impact on his mind. But now whenever the poet lies on his couch in a free or sad mood, the beautiful scene of daffodils seen by him earlier flashes across his mind. But this happens only in solitude. The memory of the beautiful scene of daffodils removes his sadness and makes him happy again. Thus, solitude is a great blessing because in solitude, the poet recollects the beautiful scene of daffodils and feels happy.
(iv) Explain :
“And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.”
Answer: The poet says that whenever he recollects the beautiful scene of daffodils seen by him earlier, it fills his heart with joy. The memory of the beautiful scene makes him so happy that his heart begins to dance with the dancing daffodils.
(v) What do you think is the message of the poet conveyed through these lines ?
Answer: The poet says that whenever he is in a free or sad mood, the beautiful scene of daffodils seen by him earlier flashes across his mind. This happens only in solitude. The memory of the beautiful scene of daffodils fills the poet’s mind with joy. Then his heart begins to dance with the dancing daffodils. Thus, the poet conveys a message that nature has the power to remove our melancholy mood and make us happy.
Daffodils Assignment
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
(i) What does the poet refer to in the previous stanza ? What is the figure of speech used in the first line ? Explain the figure of speech.
(ii) Explain the expression ‘in sprightly dance’.
(iii) ‘Ten thousand saw I at a glance.’ Why does the poet use the number ‘ten thousand’ ? What literary device is used here, and why ?
(iv) What was peculiar about the dance of the daffodils ?
(v) Why does the sight of daffodils come to the poet’s mind later in the poem ?