Treasure Trove Poems Workbook Answers The Patriot

Treasure Trove Poems Workbook Answers The Patriot

Treasure Trove Poems Workbook Answers

Treasure Trove Poems Workbook Answers The Patriot
Treasure Trove Poems Workbook Answers The Patriot

The Patriot Comprehension Passages

1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
It was roses, roses, all the way,
With myrtle mixed in my path like mad :
The house-roofs seemed to heave and sway,
The church-spires flamed, such flags they had,
A year ago on this very day.

(i) Who is the speaker here ? Where is he, and in what condition ?
Answer: The speaker here is the patriot. At present he is in a very bad condition. He has been arrested and is being led to the scaffold to be hanged for his misdeeds. He is passing through some street in a town.

(ii) What happened a year ago ?
Answer: Just a year ago the patriot had been welcomed on his return. He was hailed as a hero for his glorious victory.

(iii) How was he welcomed ?
Answer: Roses and myrtles were strewn over the path to be trodden by the patriot. Roses, being the symbols of love, reveal the people’s love for their hero. People crowded over the roof-tops to have a glimpse of the patriot. The church bells were rung in his honour.

(iv) What brought about the change in his life ?
Answer: People misunderstood him. He was arrested for his misdeeds. He was fated to be hanged. This misunderstanding on the part of the people brought about the sad change in his life.

(v) ‘The house-roofs seemed to heave and sway’. Explain.
Answer: The town was cramped with houses, as was common in Victorian times. When the crowds of people climbed over the house-roofs they seemed to be shaken and swayed. People thronged there to have a better view of their hero.

2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
The air broke into a mist with bells,
The old walls rocked with the crowd and cries.
Had I said, “Good folk, mere noise repels –
But give me your sun from yonder skies !”
They had answered, “And afterward, what else ?”

(i) Who is reminded of his past ? Why ?
Answer: The patriot. The patriot has been arrested and is being led to the gallows for his misdeeds. As he is being led, he recalls how just a year ago, he was hero- worshipped by the same people who are now treating him like a villain.

(ii) What happened a year ago ?
Answer: A year ago, the patriot was worshipped like a hero. He was accorded a warm welcome on his return after a glorious victory. His path was strewn with flowers. The church-towers were decorated with victory-flags. Huge crowds were there to welcome him.

(iii) What ‘bells’ are being referred to here ? Why were they rung ?
Answer: A year ago, the patriot was worshipped when he came back after his grand victory. His path was strewn with fragrant roses. The church-towers were decorated with victory-flags. The whole atmosphere resounded with the sound of church-bells rung in his honour. The church-bells were rung to honour the patriot and to celebrate his glorious victory.

(iv) What tells you that the speaker was swayed by the enthusiasm of his admirers ? What proves him wrong ?
Answer: The speaker was welcomed a year ago when he came back after his grand victory. His path was strewn with flowers. The people were mad in their zeal and enthusiasm. The church-towers blazed with victory-flags. All this shows that he was swayed by enthusiasm. But just after a year he has fallen on evil days. The same people who admired him have become his enemies. He has been arrested and is being led to the gallows. He recalls how he did his best to serve the people. People have proved to be fickle-minded. The fickle-mindedness of the people has proved him wrong.

(v) Why is the patriot punished ? What makes him sad ?
Answer: The patriot is punished for some misdeeds done by him during the year. It is sad and ironic that they have completely forgotten his good deeds. It makes him sad to recollect that these very people who worshipped him like a hero a year ago have turned against him. They have forgotten all he had done for them. He feels sad about the fickle-mindedness of the people.

3. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Alack, it was I who leaped at the sun
To give it my loving friends to keep !
Nought man could do, have I left undone :
And you see my harvest, what I reap
This very day, now a year is run.

(i) Why was the patriot welcomed as a hero ? How was he welcomed ?
Answer: The patriot was welcomed because he had won a grand victory. He did whatever he could do for his countrymen. And he did his best. He was welcomed like a hero. His path was strewn with fragrant roses. The church-towers blazed with victory- flags. The whole atmosphere resounded with the sound of church-bells, rung in honour of the patriot. The crowd surged with joy.

(ii) In what mood is the speaker now ? Where is he at present ?
Answer: The speaker is in a very sad mood. He is dejected to see that the people have forgotten all that he had done for them. At present, he is being led to the gallows to be executed in public.

(iii) What tells you that the patriot was over- ambitious ? What was the result ?
Answer: The patriot was overambitious as he says that he tried to do the impossible for the pleasure of his admirers. He did whatever he could do for his countrymen and he did his best. But the result was dismal. He was arrested and being led to the gallows to be executed in public. He feels sad that the people have forgotten all that he had done for them.

(iv) What do you mean by ‘harvest’ ? What had the speaker reaped ?
Answer: Here it means reward. The speaker tried to do the impossible for the pleasure of his admirers. He did whatever he could do for his countrymen and he did his best. But what reward had he got ? He was arrested for some misdeeds and was being led to the gallows to be executed in pubic. He felt sad that people had forgotten all that he had done for them.

(v) Where is he being led to ? What thought makes him reconcile with his fate ?
Answer: He is being led to the gallows to be executed in public for some misdeeds that he had committed. He reconciles himself with his fate by thinking that if he has not been rewarded by the people, he is certain to be rewarded by God in heaven. He feels safe in the bosom of God.

4. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
There’s nobody on the house-tops now—
Just a palsied few at the windows set,
For the best of the sight is, all allow,
At the Shambles’ Gate — or, better yet,
By the very scaffold’s foot, I trow.

(i) What has made most of the people leave the town ?
Answer: People have left the town and gone to the Shambles’ Gate or quite near the scaffold in order to have a better view of the patriot’s execution. Only a few paralysed persons are sitting at the windows.

(ii) Who is being led to gallows ? What has he done ?
Answer: The patriot who was hero-worshipped a year ago is being led to the gallows to be executed in public. He has done some misdeeds for which he is being led to the gallows.

(iii) Why do the people try to be at the Shambles’ Gate or near the scaffold ? What do you mean by the Shambles’ Gate ?
Answer: The people try to be at the Shambles’ Gate or quite near the scaffold in order to have a better view of the patriot’s execution. It means the gate that leads to the place of execution.

(iv) Explain the line : ‘Just a palsied few at the windows set’.
Answer: Most of the people have gone to the Shambles’ Gate or quite near the scaffold in order to have a better view of the patriot’s execution. Only the paralysed persons are sitting at the windows because they are unable to walk upto the place of execution.

(v) The poet here brings out a sharp contrast between the past and the present of the patriot. How ?
Answer: The poet brings out a sharp contrast between the past and the present by saying that people thronged to have a glimpse of the patriot a year ago, but now nobody is there on the house-tops. Most of them have gone to the Shambles’ Gate or quite near the scaffold in order to have a better view of the patriot’s execution. Only a few paralysed persons are sitting at the windows.

5. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
I go in the rain, and, more than needs,
A rope cuts both my wrists behind;
And I think, by the feel, my forehead bleeds,
For they fling, whoever has a mind,
Stones at me for my year’s misdeeds.

(i) Who is the speaker here ? Where is he at the present ?
Answer: The patriot is the speaker here. At present he is being led to the gallows to be executed in public.

(ii) What tells you that he is being treated very harshly ?
Answer: He is being led to the gallows. A long rope has been used to tie his hands tightly on the back. The rope is so tight that it cuts both his hands. His forehead is bleeding. It is due to the stones hurled at him by some callous and cruel fellows. All this shows that he is being treated very harshly.

(iii) Why have some people hurled stones at him ?
Answer: Some people have hurled stones at him to show their resentment for the so-called misdeeds done by him during the year.

(iv) How had the same people treated him a year ago ?
Answer: The same people had welcomed him a year ago when he came back after his grand victory. His path was stream with fragrant roses. The church-towers blazed with victory-flags. The whole atmosphere resounded with the sound of the church- bells rung in his honour. The crowd surged with joy and thronged to have a glimpse of his face. They worshipped him as a hero.

(v) What do you think of the crowd mentality ?
Answer: The poem illustrates the fickle-mindedness of the crowd. The crowd welcomed the patriot a year ago. They worshipped him as a hero when he came back after his grand victory. His path was strewn with fragrant roses. They were mad in their zeal and enthusiasm. The church-bells were rung in his honour. But just after a year he has been arrested for some misdeeds and is being led to the gallows. The same people who thronged to have a glimpse of his face a year ago have now gone to the Shambles’ Gate or quite near the scaffold to have a better view of his execution. The same people have proved to be fickle-minded.

The Patriot Assignment

1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Thus I entered, and thus I go!
In triumphs, people have dropped down dead.
Paid by the world, what dost thou owe “Me?” – God might question; now instead,
‘Tis God shall repay : I am safer so.

(i) Explain : ‘Thus I entered, and thus I go !’
(ii) What would have happened if the patriot had died in excess of joy at his tumultuous welcome after his grand victory ?
(iii) What thought makes him feel ‘safer’ ?
(iv) ‘I am safer so’. What irony is involved here ?
(v) Is the patriot’s optimism unrealistic ? What do you think about it ?

2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
I go in the rain, and, more than needs,
A rope cuts both my wrists behind;
And I think, by the feel, my forehead bleeds,
For they fling, whoever has a mind,
Stones at me for my year’s misdeeds.

(i) What treatment is meted out to the patriot by the people after a year ?
(ii) Explain the line :
‘And I think, by the feel, my forehead bleeds’.
(iii) Why has the speaker fallen on evil days ?
(iv) How was the speaker treated by the people a year ago ?
(v) Where is he being led to ? How does he console himself ?

Leave a Comment