CLASS VII POEM 1 The Hero

I. Word Meanings
II. Answer the questions.

Q1. Option (b) correct

Q2. What does Mother do when the dacoits attack?

A2. When the dacoits attack, mother begs the speaker to stay away
from them. During the fight, mother sits crouched in the palanquin,
saying her prayers.

Q3. What do the palanquin bearers do when they see the dacoits
coming?

A3. When the palanquin bears see the dacoits coming they hide behind
the bushes.

Q4. Describe the fight between the dacoits and the speaker.

A4. When the dacoits attack, the speaker on his horse gallops towards
them and they fiercely. Many of the dacoits run away in terror and
many are cut into pieces, by the speaker. By the time, the fight is over
the speaker is all over in blood.

Q5. What does the Mother feel after the fight?

A5. After the fight Mother is thankful that her son is still alive she hugs
and kisses the speaker and tells how grateful she is to him and that she
doesn’t know what she would have done without him. She is very
proud of her son.

Q6. What do the villagers say about the speaker?

A6. The villagers are amazed and say that it was lucky that the speaker
was with his mother.

III. Extracts.

1. It would be like a story in a book.

a) What would be like a story?

Ans. The speaker’s journey with his mother, the dacoit’s attack and the
speaker’s brave action all would be like a story.

b) What kind of book would it be?

Ans. It would be a kind of adventure story.

c) Do you think the speaker’s life is like a story?

Ans. The speaker’s real life is nothing like the story. In real life he is
quite delicate.

2. “Is it possible”? I always thought he was so delicate?

a) Who said these words?

Ans. The speaker’s brother says these words.

b) Who does he think is delicate?

Ans. He thought that the speaker was delicate.

c) How does “he” want to prove that “he” is not delicate?

Ans. “He” or the speaker wants to prove his brother wrong by being a
hero and saving his mother from danger.
Think and answer.

1. Which line from the text tells you that mother is afraid from the
speaker’s life?

Ans. You clutch my hand and say, “dear boy, for heaven’s sake keep
away from them.

2. What do you think the speaker dreams about being a hero? Is this
something he cannot do in real life? Support your answer with lines
from the text.

Ans. The Speaker dreams of being a hero because he wants to impress

her mother by rescuing her. He wants her mother to be proud of him.
We know this because his fantasy is about saving his mother’s life and
when he saves her, she says in gratitude “I don’t know what I should do
if I hadn’t my boy to escort me.” The speaker would probably not be
able to do such a thing in real life. We can see this in the line,” A
thousand useless things happen day after day, and why couldn’t such a
thing come true by chance?

3. Do you think THE HERO is a suitable title for the poem? Can you
come up with an alternative title?

Ans. THE HERO is a suitable title for this poem because that is what the
speaker wants to be. The poem is about a boy fantasy the speaker has
about being brave in the face of danger and rescuing his mother. The
name of this fantasy is “THE HERO”