Unseen poem for class 10 is the most important part to score higher marks in your exam. .Reading the unseen poem for class 10 in English will help you to write better answers in your exam and improve your reading skill.

Students who are planning to score higher marks in class 10 English poem should practice the English poem for class 10 before attending the CBSE board exam. 

It is compulsory to solve the unseen poem for class 10 because you need to score higher marks in your exam.

To improve your skills, we have provided you with the unseen poem for class 10 with answers. 

While Solving the poem, you will see some unseen poem for class 10 with MCQs also present in them.

It is provided to make yourself an expert by solving them and score good marks in your exam. You can also practice unseen poems for class 10 in Hindi.

Important Tips to score good marks in the Unseen Poem for class 10

1-Read the complete poem carefully.Your reading should be quick.

2- Focus your mind on related details and highlight them.

3-Read the question carefully and return to the passage to write the answer.

4- Logical sequence should be present while writing the answer.

5- Do not try to copy the sentence from the poem.Write your answer with your own words.

6-While answering vocabulary based questions like synonyms Replace that word with another word that has the same meaning as that word asked in the question.

7-To Choose the correct option in MCQs.Read the passage until you don’t get the correct answer.

Unseen Poem for class 10 with answers

1. Read the poem carefully and answer the questions that follow:

 So often these days we hear and speak of the conquest of Nature, the taming of a river, the war against insects, and so on. these phrases are often used without consciously attaching any value to the, but they have an underlying attitude of hostility towards Nature and Nature’s creatures, a view point which seems to assume Nature as an enemy that needs to be vanquished.

Alternatively, Nature is seen merely as a resource to be exploited, take the maximum out of it, regardless of what this does to the natural processes and to the creatures which depend on these processes. It is this attitude which views fellow human beings as a resource to be exploited, or other human communities as enemies to be conquered.

There is a growing lack of sensitivity and respect for our fellow creatures. This attitude is being drilled into a child by social forces, which can only be countered by environmental education. Yet, sadly, in most cases this is not done. What is done is to talk about the food web and the energy cycles and ecological balance and how removal of any element disrupts the whole system, and how this can affect human beings too.

What this approach lacks is the essential interaction with Nature and with other human beings. Indeed, in many environmental activities the opposite takes place. A classic example of this is the making of a herbarium, or even worse, an insect collection, as common in both formal and non- formal education in India. A child is often encouraged to pluck leaves and flowers and run after butterflies with a net, and is part of a large group of children similarly marauding a patch of nature. It is even worse when the activity is also competitive, that is, who collects the maximum. A lot of knowledge may be gained, but this knowledge emphasises exploitation and conquest, not sensitivity and respect. Learning under a tree rather than a classroom, is far more effective and long lasting.

The alternative is to take up activities where ecological balance, ecological diversity, animal behaviour, human plurality and other such concepts and systems are introduced with the stress on their intrinsic worth. Materials, processes and living beings do not exist only for human use, they are worthwhile in themselves.

1. Based on your reading of the passage, complete the following sentences:

a. Man’s attitude towards Nature shows _________________________________.
b. Human beings exploit Nature without ________________________________.
c. Environmental education can help people ______________________________.
d. Modern education emphasises on ____________________________________ .
e. Education is not practical and does not ________________________________.
f. Ecological balance implies ____________________________________________.

2. Find words in the passage that mean the same as:
a. lack of sympathy:
b. inherent: ___

Poem 2: Read the poem carefully and answer the questions that follow:

The Mirror -Sylvia Plath

This poem is not a riddle, speaking with the voice of some mysterious “I” until the end, where the reader is shocked to find out that it’s a mirror, and not a person speaking. Instead, the poem lets us know from the start that we’re hearing from a mirror, with its title, “Mirror,” and its first line, “I am silver and exact.”

The first stanza describes the mirror, which seems to be like one of those people who doesn’t tell white lies – it’s truthful and exact, but not cruel. As the first stanza personifies the mirror, showing us some of its human characteristics, we also find out a little about the mirror’s life. Most of the time, it reflects a pink speckled wall, which could be found in any bathroom, but it also sees a lot of faces, and a lot of darkness.

Jump into the second stanza, and the stakes have changed. The mirror is no longer a mirror, but a lake, which also shows reflections. And we get to see a whole new character: a woman. We saw faces in the first stanza, but now we focus on one face in particular.

This woman, we find out, isn’t very happy with her reflection in the lake, so she tries to find a kinder reflection under the light of a candle or the moon. When the lake reflects her faithfully anyway, she cries and gets upset.

In the last two lines of this poem, we see why this woman is so upset: in her watery reflection, her past is drowning, and a horrible future is rising to meet her.

Reference to the Context Questions
I am silver and exact. I have no preconception… just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
i) Who is “I” in the above passage?
ii) Why does it claim to have no preconception?
iii) Why has it been described as “unmisted”? What is the image it is trying to convey about its nature?

Sample Answers:
i) In the above passage, “I” is the mirror
ii) The mirror can rightly claim to have no preconception because it gives the exact reflection of the object before it.
iii) A misted mirror cannot give the exact image of the object before it and the mirror is not affected by love or dislike or any other human emotions. It gives a proper and exact image, and it is trying to convey that its nature is not biased or prejudiced.

2. I am not cruel, only truthful-
   The eye of a little god, four-cornered.
   i) What cruel action does the mirror commit?
   ii) What is the figure of speech used in the second line?
   iii) What does the mirror mean by saying “it is four- cornered”?
3. Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me…. Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
   i) How is the mirror “a lake”?
   ii) What is the woman searching for in the depth of the lake?
   iii) Why have the candles and the moon been called liars?
4. I see her back, and reflect it faithfully…. I am important to her. She comes and goes.
   i) Who is “she” and what does the mirror do to her?
   ii) How does “she” react to her face when she sees it in the mirror?
   iii) Explain “I am important to her. She comes and goes”.
5. In me she has drowned a young girl, and …. Like a terrible fish.
   i) How has “she” drowned a young girl in the mirror?
   ii) How does “she” react when “she” looks at her face reflected in the mirror?
   iii) Why does “she” behave like a terrible fish?

Long answer type questions:

1. The mirror is the only thing here which is unbiased and not prejudiced and reveals only the truth and gives the exact reflection. Comment.
2. The mirror’s view of life is difficult to accept. Do you agree with the statement? Substantiate your answer with examples from the poem.
3. Ageing is inevitable. Every living being has to face the ravages of time. The woman in the poem is unable to accept the process of ageing and hates her truthful image. Write in about 100 words what you feel about this process.
4. What is the central theme of the poem “mirror”?

Sample Answers:
i) She-meaning the woman was once a young girl. But now she has grown old. The physical changes brought about due to age and time seems to have “drowned” the young girl in the mirror and the older varnish of the woman now is reflected every time the woman looks at herself in the mirror.
ii) “She” (the woman) feels very sad at the physical change. She looks into the depths of the mirror to see her young face again, but she cannot find it. She feels very upset over this fact.
iii) She (the woman) behaves like a terrible fish which is out of water because she still imagines herself to be young and beautiful and cannot accept the fact that one grows old with the passage of time. She still has romantic ideas about her youth and beauty.

Poem 3: Read the poem carefully and answer the questions that follow:

Not Marble, Nor the Gilded Monuments

William Shakespeare

Sonnet 55 is one of a collection of 154 sonnets written by William Shakespeare and expresses one of the major themes of these sonnets: Poetry is eternal. The tone of the first four lines, reflects the immense confidence of the poet. His “powerful rhyme” is compared to durable marble and solid, gilded memorials that mark the graves of princes. The sonnet is compared not only to the lastingness of stone but also to an enduring image of the deceased. The poet asserts that his portrait of the young man, written in verse on fragile paper, will outlive even the marble memorials of princes, which will become neglected, “unswept stone” with passage of time. In this sonnet, Shakespeare gives time a character. In this case, time is “sluttish”, suggesting that it is immoral and careless. It cares for no individual and finally passes. The grand memorials will be eroded, and the people memorialized will eventually be forgotten. However, the subject of the poem will “shine more bright” than the timesmeared monuments and live not in effigy but in the essence in Shakespeare’s verse.

The next four lines intensify the poet’s declaration. The imagery of long- forgotten, cold stone monuments gives way to active, deliberate devastation. The young man will be remembered despite the wrack and ruin of “wasteful war”. When marble statues topple and stone buildings and other “works of masonry” are destroyed, the poetry will live on. Not even the flaming sword of mighty Mars (Clarent), the God of war himself, is able to “burn the living record” of the young man’s memory. The final quatrain (four lines) contains the powerful image of the young man striding like a Titan through time “ Gainst death and all oblivious enmity”. He will “pace forth” and be not only remembered but praised in the eyes of “all posterity” even to posterity’s end. His memory will outwear the world and survive “the ending doom,” the Apocalypse itself.

 The couplet—the final two lines of the poem—draws a conclusion and sums up the ideas that have accumulated with each successive quatrain. The young man will live in “this”, the poet’s verse, until Judgement Day. On that day, the bodies of all humanity are to be resurrected and reunited with the soul, and judgement will be passed as to which souls will suffer in hell and which will rise to heaven. He, too, will face his individual judgement and will “arise” to heaven rather than go to hell.

Questions: 1. “But you shall shine more bright in these contents
Than unswept stone, besmear’d with sluttish time.
When wasteful war shall statues overturn
And broils root out the work of masonry
a. Who does “you” refer to in the first line?
b. How do the royal princes try to immortalize themselves?
c. Explain the term “these contents”. How has the poet brought out the importance of “these contents” in this sonnet?

2. ‘Gainst death and all oblivious enmity
   Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room,
   Even in the eyes of all posterity
   That wear this world out to the ending doom.
   a. Whom is the stanza addressed to?
   b. Why has “enmity” been referred to as “oblivious”?
   c. For how long will “you” be remembered?
3. Nor Mars, his sword, nor war’s quick fire shall burn
   The living record of your memory
   a. Who is “Mars”?
   b. What is meant by the living record of memory?
4. What is the tone of the poet in the poem?
5. Where is the poem set and how does it impact the general theme of the sonnet?
6. Who has the poem been dedicated to? How is his fate different from that of statues and monuments?
7. How does the couplet in the Sonnet highlight the message in the poem?
8. Explain the phrase,” than unswept swept besmear’d with sluttish time”.

Long answer type questions (100 words):

1. Do you think that building ornate monuments in your name is an obscene display of power and wealth? Discuss.
2. The poet emphasises on the immortality of his friend, which he has achieved through verse. He says that the royal princes could not manage to immortalize themselves through the marble monuments and he could do it through a fragile piece of paper. Discuss how these monuments are a waste and have to face the ravages of time; its only leg ends and literature that live forever.

Poem 4: Read the poem carefully and answer the questions that follow:

OZYMANDIAS –  Percy Bysshe Shelley

This poem is a sonnet composed by the Romantic poet Shelley and named after its subject: the Greek name of the Egyptian king Ramses II. This sonnet reminds one of the Shakespearean sonnets “Not Marble, nor the Gilded monuments” where the poet highlights the futility and the inability to immortalise the rich and the powerful. Shelley describes the dilapidated state of one such statue that proves the veracity of Shakespeare’s views.

The rich and the mighty try to immortalise themselves through statues. The poem brings out the transience of man and his foolish urge to immortalise his name. Man too is feeble to withstand the ravages of time. Hence, wisdom lies in leading a modest and unpretentious life and later on accepting the philosophy that time and tide wait for none. Man should leave behind his imprints in the sands of time through his actions and good deeds. He thus carves a niche for himself and stays on in the memories of his close ones.

Questions:

1. I met a traveller from an antique land
   Who said: two vast and trunkless legs of stone
   Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
   Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
   a. Who is the speaker of the above lines.
   b. Who is being spoken about?
   c. What are the expressions seen on the visage?
   d. What do the above lines suggest to you about time?
2. And on the pedestal these words appear: “
   My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
   Look upon my works, ye mighty and despair!”
   Nothing beside remains
   a. What is the rhyme scheme of the lines above?
   b. What do you gather about the tone of the poem from the above lines?
   c. Who are the “mighty” in the above lines?
   d. Explain the phrase “Nothing beside remains”. Bring out the irony too.

3. From your reading of the poem, what should be the ideal traits of a good ruler?
4. What reflects the great skill of the Sculptor? Value Points: The sculptor had captured the conceited king’s scornful, inhospitable and cold expression with great precision. The expressions highlighted the sculptor’s skill and mocked at the king’s lack of foresight.
5. What is the underlying message in the poem? Class X / English/99 Value Points: King Ozymandias who claimed to be “King of Kings” is dead, trace of his works remain either. Only his “frown” and “sneer of cold command” continue to survive as stamped on the image of the statue.

Long answer type questions (100 words)

1. Bring out parallelism between this poem and Shakespeare’s Sonnet, “Not Marble, Nor The Gilded Monuments”.
2. My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
   Look upon my works, ye mighty and despair!”
   The above lines exude negativity and arrogance. Elaborate on the following: There can be no positive result through negative attitude. Think positive. Live positive.

Poem 5: Read the poem carefully and answer the questions that follow:

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner –Samuel Taylor Coleridge

An Ancient Mariner, unnaturally old and skinny, with deeply-tanned skin and a “glittering eye”, stops a Wedding Guest who is on his way to a wedding reception with two companions. He tries to resist the Ancient Mariner, who compels him to sit and listen to his woeful tale. The Ancient Mariner tells his tale, largely interrupted save for the sounds from the wedding reception and the Wedding Guest’s fearsome interjections. One day when he was younger, the Ancient Mariner set sail with two hundred other sailors from his native land. The day was sunny and clear, and all were in good cheer until the ship reached the equator. Suddenly, a terrible storm hit and drove the ship southwards into a “rime” – a strange, icy patch of ocean. The towering, echoing “rime” was bewildering and impenetrable, and also desolate until an Albatross appeared out of the mist. No sooner than the sailors fed it did the ice break and they were able to steer through. As long as the Albatross flew alongside the ship and the sailors treated it kindly, a good wind carried them and a mist followed. One day, however, the Ancient Mariner shot and killed the Albatross on impulse.

Suddenly the wind and mist ceased, and the ship was stagnant on the ocean. The other sailors alternately blamed the Ancient Mariner for making the wind die and praised him for making the strange mist disappear. Then things began to go awry. The sun became blindingly hot, and there was no drinkable water amidst the salty ocean, which tossed with terrifying creatures. The sailors went dumb from their thirst and sunburned lips. They hung the Albatross around the Ancient Mariner’s neck as a symbol of his sin. After a painful while, a ship appeared on the horizon, and the Ancient Mariner bit his arm and sucked the blood so he could cry out to the other sailors. The ship was strange: it sailed without wind, and when it crossed in front of the sun, its stark masts seemed to imprison the sun. When the ship neared, the Ancient Mariner could see that it was a ghost ship manned by Death, in the form of a man, and Life-in-Death, in the form of a beautiful, naked woman. They were gambling for the Ancient Mariner’s soul. Life-in-Death won the Ancient Mariner’s soul, and the other sailors were left to Death. The sky went black immediately as the ghost ship sped away. Suddenly all of the sailors cursed the Ancient Mariner with their eyes and dropped dead on the deck. Their souls zoomed out of their bodies, each taunting the Ancient Mariner with a sound like that of his crossbow. Their corpses miraculously refused to rot; they stared at him unrelentingly, cursing him with their eyes.

The Ancient Mariner drifted on the ocean in this company, unable to pray. One night he noticed some beautiful water-snakes frolicking at the ship’s prow in the icy moonlight. Watching the creatures brought him unprecedented joy, and he blessed them without meaning to. When he was finally able to pray, the Albatross fell from his neck and sank into the sea. He could finally sleep, and dreamed of water. When he awoke, it was raining, and an awesome thunderstorm began. He drank his fill, and the ship began to sail in lieu of wind. Then the dead sailors suddenly arose and sailed the ship without speaking. They sang heavenly music, which the ship’s sails continued when they had stopped. Once the ship Class X / English/101 reached the equator again, the ship jolted, causing the Ancient Mariner to fall unconscious. In his swoon, he heard two voices discussing his fate. They said he would continue to be punished for killing the Albatross, who was loved by a spirit. Then they disappeared. When the Ancient Mariner awoke, the dead sailors were grouped together, all cursing him with their eyes once again. Suddenly, however, they disappeared as well. The Ancient Mariner was not relieved, because he realized that he was doomed to be haunted by them forever.

The wind picked up, and the Ancient Mariner spotted his native country’s shore. Then bright angels appeared standing over every corpse and waved silently to the shore, serving as beacons to guide the ship home. The Ancient Mariner was overjoyed to see a Pilot, his boy, and a Hermit rowing a small boat out to the ship. He planned to ask the Hermit to absolve him of his sin. Just as the rescuers reached the ship, it sank suddenly and created a vortex in the water. The rescuers were able to pull the Ancient Mariner from the water, but thought he was dead. When he abruptly came to and began to row the boat, the Pilot and Pilot’s Boy lost their minds. The spooked Hermit asked the Ancient Mariner what kind of man he was. It was then that the Ancient Mariner learned of his curse; he would be destined to tell his tale to others from beginning to end when an agonizing, physical urge struck him. After he related his tale to the Hermit, he felt normal again.

The Ancient Mariner tells the Wedding Guest that he wanders from country to country, and has a special instinct that tells him to whom he must tell his story. After he tells it, he is temporarily relieved of his agony. The Ancient Mariner tells the Wedding Guest that better than any merriment is the company of others in prayer. He says that the best way to become close with God is to respect all of His creatures, because He loves them all. Then he vanishes. Instead of joining the wedding reception, the Wedding Guest walks home, stunned. We are told that he awakes the next day “sadder and…Wiser” for having heard the Ancient Mariner’s tale.

Questions:

1. And now the Storm-Blast came, and he was tyrannous and strong:
   He struck with his O’ertaking wings,
   And chased us south along.
   a. Identify the figure of speech in the first two lines.
   b. What does the term “chased us” refer to?
   c. Explain the consequences faced by “us” on reaching a destination in the south.
2. The wedding-guest he beat his breast,
   Yet he cannot choose but hear;
   And thus spake on that ancient man,
   The bright eyed mariner.
   a. What does the action of the guest “beating his breast” signify?
   b. What is the Wedding-Guest supposed to hear and why? Class X / English/102
   c. Comment on the use of the words “spake” and “ancient” in these lines.
3. At length did cross an Albatross,
   Through the fog it came;
   As if it had been a Christian soul,
   We hailed it in God’s name.
   a. What does the expression “at length” mean?
   b. Why was the Albatross hailed as a Christian Soul?
   c. What effect did the coming of the Albatross have on the sequence of events?
4. The ice was here, the ice was there,
   The ice was all around:
   It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,
   Like noises in a swound!
   a. Identify the poetic device used in line
   b. Where was the ship stuck? Why?
   c. What happened soon after, that proved to be a good omen?

5. Christ! That ever this should be?
   Why does the mariner invoke Christ here?
6. Describe the ancient mariner.
7. Why did the ancient mariner shoot the Albatross down and with what? Why was this action of his considered to be a crime?
8. What were the consequences of this crime?

Long answer question (100 words):

1. The poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is based on the theme of sin and regeneration. Explain.
2. The Ancient mariner indulges in wanton killing. Do you consider it to be a sin? Does he get an apt punishment for the same? Why or why not?
3. The Ancient mariner commits a crime and then repents. He feels guilty after the act. How important is it to think before we act?
4. Explain how the ancient mariner’s tale of woe serves as a cautionary tale, warning us about the repercussions of any wayward act against nature.
5. Respect for all forms of life is an essential value. Unmindful destruction of nature and its creatures deserves just punishment. Write in about 80- 100 words this essential value as brought out in the poem, ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’

Poem 6: Read the poem carefully and answer the questions that follow:

Snake —D H Lawrence
“Snake” is a seventy-four-line free-verse poem divided into nineteen verse paragraphs (stanzas of unequal length). Like many modern lyrics, it incorporates a narrative element, recording the poet’s encounter with a snake at his water-trough. Through this structure and carefully mobilized imagery, the poet reveals his conflicted, deepening consciousness, which moves from casual description to epiphanic confession. Written when D. H. Lawrence and his wife Frieda were living in Taormina, Sicily, in 1920-1921, the poem is derived from Lawrence’s actual experience…
This poem has a great vision human vs. nature… it’s about human being scared by the innocent creatures but also distracted by its beauty. The phrase “My Snake” shows how human could change his feeling in period of time. It is one of those things when a person doesn’t know what he wants and they later on realize that they have made a mistake by not caring or making the right decision at the right time.
The narrator has been taught to kill poisonous snakes– not all snakes. He mentions that the black snakes are “innocent”, not poisonous while the “golden” snake he describes are dangerous, and his first instinct is to kill it because that is what he is taught. Kill the snake before it kills you. However, the snake is only drinking peacefully and so the narrator is then conflicted. On one hand he’s fascinated by the creature and doesn’t want to harm it if it isn’t aggressive, yet the voices continue to tell him to kill it. He thinks himself a coward for not doing so. In the end he attempts to kill the snake only to deeply regret it, because he struck first without being provoked. In an abstract way, we can even say that is a description of war; soldier VS soldier, they don’t have a personal reason to hate each other, but they’re obligated to attack.
This poem distinguished the fact that snakes are not devilish, harmful creatures and are not bad creatures, that we are scared of them only because of small instincts of the natural world.
Lawrence is exploring how we are like the mariner, through using the archetypal figure of the snake as a reflection of nature. Lawrence highlights how we have an underlying voice in our head which makes us act on impulse without taking into account the real beauty of nature. He highlights how if we do not appreciate the beauty of nature and therefore destroy it, then we will live our lives with emptiness and regret just as the mariner had to live his ‘life in death’.
Also the poem talks about man vs. society; he sees the beauty of the snake and knows that it is harmless but because he has always been taught snakes to be evil and coming from hell he feels entitled to kill it with no justification except prior knowledge. This poem shows why it is better to think of one’s sound man rather than do as taught. His instant regret at killing something he thought so highly of, shows his unwillingness to commit the act.

Questions:
A. And yet those voices: If you were not afraid, you would kill him! And truly I was afraid, I was most afraid, But even So, honoured still more

1. What does the phrase “those voices” refer to?
2. Why was the poet afraid?
3. What made the poet feel honoured, despite being afraid of the snake?

B. And so, I missed my chance with one of the Lords of life. And I have something to expiate A pettiness

1. What chance has the speaker missed?
2. What has the speaker to expiate?
3. What are the speaker’s feelings in the above extract and why?

C. And must wait, must stand and wait, for there he was at the trough before me.

1. Identify the “he” and “me” in the above lines.
2. Why have “he” and “me” come to the trough?
3. “Me” must wait, must stand and wait. Why?
4. What is the significance of the repetition of the word “must” here?

D. But suddenly that part of him, that was left behind convulsed in undignified haste
Writhed like lightning and was gone
Into the black hole the earth-lipped fissure in the wall-front,
At which, in the intense still noon, I started with fascination
And immediately I regretted it.

1. Why did the snake convulse in undignified haste?
2. Identify the poetic device used in “Writhed like lightning”.
3. What did the poet regret?
4. What does the action regretted by the poet suggest about his character?

E. But must I confess how I liked him,
How glad I was he had come like a guest in quiet,
to drink at my water trough
And depart peaceful, pacified, and thankless,
Into the burning bowels of the earth?

1. The poet here was in a dilemma, what was it?
2. What is the poetic device in the line, “and depart peaceful, pacified and thankless”?
3. Why was the poet glad?

Long answer type questions:

1. With reference to the poem comment on man being a slave to thought processes ingrained in him through education contradictory to his love for nature.
2. The snake was perceived by the poet as a majestic creature that was living in exile. Does it continue to look like one? Explain the treatment meted out to the snake.
3. The poet follows the voice of education and tries to harm the snake. Do you feel that we are trying to harm the animals to live a comfortable life on earth? Write in about 100 words: Killing in self-defence is justified.
4. The poem, ‘Snake’ reminds us of the fact that animals too have the right to life which we have no right to deny them. Describe how man should co-exist with nature and its creatures for ecological balance.

Poem 7: Read the poem carefully and answer the questions that follow:

The Frog and The Nightingale -Vikram Seth

The poet, Vikram Seth, very cleverly gives us a message of the importance of self-confidence and moral courage in his poem – The ‘Frog and the Nightingale’. Once in a bog, a frog sat under a Sumac tree and croaked all night in a loud and unpleasant voice. The other creatures loathed his voice but their complaints, insults and brickbats couldn’t stop him from croaking stubbornly and pompously, insensitive to the disturbance he was causing.

Then, one night a nightingale appears at the bog. Her melodious voice captures the admiring attention of the creatures of the Bingle Bog. Ducks and herons swim towards the Sumac tree to hear the nightingale serenade. Some lonely creature even weeps hearing her song. When she stops, there is thunderous applause with the creatures demanding a repeat performance (encore). The jealous frog disturbed by the intrusion of a challenging rival listens to the nightingale dumbstruck.

Next night, when the modest bird prepares to sing, the plotting frog interrupts and posing as a music critic, says that the technique was fine, of course, but it lacks a certain force. Unassuming and not used to any kind of criticism, she defends herself by saying, “At least its mine”.

The heartless frog convinces the nightingale that she was in need of training that only he could provide. The nightingale, lacking in confidence and extremely gullible agrees and flatters him, saying that he was Mozart in disguise. The frog capitalized on the nightingale’s servile attitude and said that he would charge a modest fee, which would not harm her.

The nightingale soon became famous and the frog grew richer, earning money from her concerts. Eminent personalities like the Owl (Earl) of Sandwich and Duck (Duke) of Kent attend the concerts. The frog sat and watched with mixed feelings of happiness and bitterness. Happy because he was earning money and jealous because the bird was receiving so much attention.

Meanwhile, the frog makes the nightingale rehearse hard even when it rained and constantly criticized and abused her, ensuring that she became broken in spirit. Fired and spent, her voice lost its beauty and the creatures stopped coming to hear her sing. Morose and depressed, she refused to sing, but the frog goaded her to practice. Scared and unhappy, the nightingale tried, burst a vein, and died. The frog, unsympathetic, dismissed her off – calling her ‘stupid’. A shrewd judge of character, he summed her up saying that the nightingale was too nervous and prone to influence, hence bringing her own downfall. Now, the frog once more sings at night in his bog – unrivalled.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where does the frog croak?
   a. In Bingle bog
   b. From dusk to dawn
   c. On the Sumac tree
   d. On a toadstool
2. What kind of reaction did the animals display to the frog’s songs?
   a) They hated it
   b) They adored it
   c) They ignored it
   d) They tried to improve it
3. Why were the animals of the Bog dumbstruck?
   a. The frog sang very well
   b. The nightingale sang melodiously
   c. The moon shone brightly
   d. All the animals came to the same place
4. One night when the nightingale was about to sing she was startled. What startled her?
   a. The frog’s advice
   b. The frog’s croak
   c. The frog’s movement
   d. The frog’s scolding
5. What did the frog claim to be?
   a. A great teacher
   b. The owner of the sumac tree
   c. A publisher
   d. The king of the Bog

6. ‘I don’t think the song’s divine But – oh – well – at least it’s mine.’ What does the nightingale imply by the last line?
   a. She does not like the frog’s songs
   b. She sings from her heart
   c. She wants him to train her
   d. She is haughty
7. Animals for miles around Flocked towards the magic sound What had made the sound magical?
   a. skill and praise
   b. art and fire
   c. inspiration and skill
   d. flattery and money
8. In which weather does the nightingale not prefer to sing?
   a. sunny weather
   b. rainy weather
   c. winter
   d. autumn
9. ‘So the frog and nightingale journeyed up and down the scale’. This line refers to their
   a. travel in Bingle Bog
   b. singing
   c. movement on the tree
   d. popularity rating
10. Which of the following do not indicate the nightingale’s growing popularity?
    a. Attendance by the aristocrats
    b. The joy of the frog
    c. The sale of tickets
    d. The frog’s reprimand

11. The birds and beasts stopped coming to the concert because the nightingale’s song
    a. was always the same
    b. was uninspired
    c. was too loud d. had no trills
12. The frog says that the nightingale was ‘far too prone to influence.’ What was ironical about this statement?
    a. The nightingale was not like that
    b. The frog was too proud
    c. It was this quality that fetched him money
    d. It was the frog who was prone to influence Reference to the context

Questions Read the following stanzas and answer the questions that follow:
(1) Other creatures loathed his voice,
But, alas, they had no choice.
And the crass cacophony
Blared out from the sumac tree
At whose foot the frog each night
Minstrelled on till morning light.
Questions
(a) Whose voice is referred to here?
(b) Why did the other creatures loathe that voice?
(c) Where did the frog live?
(d) What does ‘minstrelled on till morning light’ mean?
a. The Frog’s voice is referred to here.
b. They loathed it because it was loud, unpleasant, crass, meaningless and jarring to the ear.
c. It lived under the foot of a sumac tree in the Bingle Bog.
d. It means that the frog continued to croak loudly, irritating others all through the night.

(2) Dumbstruck sat the gaping frog,
And the whole admiring bog
Stared towards the sumac, rapt,
And, when she had ended, clapped.

Questions
(a) Who is ‘she’ in these lines?
(b) Why was the frog dumbstruck?
(c) Why was everyone starting ‘towards the sumac, rapt’?
(d) Explain the phrase: ‘whole admiring bog’.
(e) What had been the frog’s experience at the sumac tree ?

(3) ‘‘The technique was fine, of course,
But it lacked a certain force.’’
‘‘Oh! the nightingale confessed.
Greatly flattered and impressed………
(a) Name the poem and the poet.
(b) Which ‘technique’ is referred to here?
(c) How did the listener react to these words?

(4) “Oh!” the nightingale confessed,
Greatly flattered and impressed
That a critic of such note
Had discussed her art and throat:
“I don’t think the song’s divine.
But-oh, well-at least it’s mine”.
(a) Who was the critic? Was the critic actually a renowned figure?
(b) Why was the nightingale so impressed by this critic? What does it tell us about her nature?
(c) What does the nightingale mean by “at least it’s mine”?

Short Answer Type Questions (30 – 40 words)
Q. 1. Describe the first meeting between the nightingale and the frog.

Q. 2. Why did the frog appear to the nightingale like a Mozart in disguise?
Ans. The frog told the nightingale that he was a great critic of music and tactically said that her song was good but at the same time there was a great room for improvement. The nightingale admitted that there was nothing divine in her song, but she felt proud of her song. In fact the frog was a crafty fellow and planned to eliminate his rival in the bog. So he pointed out that she was a beginner in the art of singing and needed proper training. He would impart training to her and make her a winner. The nightingale felt encouraged and so the frog appeared to her like a Mozart in disguise.

Q. 3. Now the frog puffed up with rage. ‘‘Brainless bird – you’re on the stage Use your wits – follow fashion. Puff your lungs out with your passion.’’
(a) Why was the frog so angry?
(b) Do you think that the nightingale was truly ‘‘brainless’’? (Give two reasons to support your answer).
(c) In what way did the frog become the unrivalled king of the bog once again?

4. How do you know that the nightingale was getting ready to sing?
5. How did the frog introduce himself?
6. Why is the frog called heartless?
7. How did the frog make money? What was the effect of training on the nightingale’s voice?
8. Whose influence did the nightingale come under? What was the effect of the influence?
9. What do you learn from the poem?

Long Answer Questions 100 words

1. Bring out the character of the frog and the nightingale. Can you draw parallel to the present times?
2. To some extent, the nightingale herself was responsible for her downfall and death. Comment.
3. Nightingale was too simple, naive and gullible. Do you think these behavioural traits led to her downfall? Do all such people face a similar end?
4. Society these days is full of cunning and opportunist people. Keeping in mind the frog from the poem, write in about 100 words what you think about this situation.

Poem 8: Read the poem carefully and answer the questions that follow:

The earth was green, the sky was blue;
I saw and heard one sunny morn
A skylark hang between the two,
A singing speck above the corn.
A stage below in gay accord,
White butterflies danced on wing,
And still the singing skylark soared,
And silent sank and soared to sing.
The cornfield stretched a tender green
To right and left beside my walks;
I knew he had a nest unseen
Somewhere among the million stalks.
And as I paused to hear his song
While swift the sunny moments slid,
Perhaps his mate sat listening long,
And listened longer than I did.

1. Read the following summary. Complete it by writing the missing word against the correct blank number in your answer sheet:
   The poet’s intense (a) ………………….. for nature is (b)…………………. in the poem. She
   looked (c) ………………. from a cornfield and saw a (d) ………………. soaring in the sky
   and (e) …………….. The butterflies (f) ……………….. about in the cornfield. The poet
   knew that the skylark’s (g) ………………….. was hidden (h) ………………… the stalks.
   She (i) …………….. that its (j) ……………. too was listening intently to the song.
2. Complete the following statements on the basis of your reading of the poem. Write your answers in the answer sheet against the correct blank number:
   (1) The colours mentioned in the poem are ……………………………………………………..
   (2) One sunny morning the poet …………………………………………………………………….
   (3) The phrase ‘gay accord’ in the second stanza means …………………………………..

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