On the Grasshopper and Cricket -John Keats

(Short Answer Type)

Write in your copy books

Question 1.
What is the meaning of the line: ‘The poetry of earth is never dead’?
Answer:
The poet wanted to say that poetry of nature is never going to end. No matter what
the season is, whether it is the sweltering summer or the harsh cold winter, the
music and poetry of nature is never dead.

Question 2.
What is the main theme of the poem?

The main theme of the poem is that poetry and music in nature do not perish.

Question 3.
Where do birds take rest on a hot summer day?

The birds took rest under shady trees to secure themselves from the scorching heat
of the sun.

Question 4.
Where do grasshoppers take rest when they are tired?
Answer:
When grasshoppers become tired,they rest easily beneath some pleasant weeds.

Question 5.
In which season does cricket sing?
Answer:
The cricket sings in winter. When it is very cold and quiet, the winter silence is broken
by a shrill sound.

Question 6

The poetry of earth continues round the year through a cycle of two seasons’.
Mention each with its representative voice.
Answer:
The grasshopper takes the lead in summer. He is never done with his delight. On a
long winter evening when the forest is silent, the cricket sings with its shrill voice
from the stone and takes it from there.

Question 7
Find in the poem lines that match the following:

(i)The grasshopper’s happiness never comes to an end.

(ii) The cricket’s song has a warmth that never decreases.
Answer:
(i) In summer luxury — he has never done with his delights.
(ii) the cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever.

Reference to Context
Question 1. - Read the extract and write answers to the questions set below:
The poetry of earth is never dead:
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,
And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run
From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead,
That is the grasshopper’s
he takes the lead In summer luxury
he has never done With his delights, for when tired out with fun
He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.

Paraphrase:
Like every poet Keats has been attracted towards the beauty of nature. He finds
nature beautiful in all seasons not excluding the hot summer and cold winter. He
says that the earth is always singing. When the birds stop singing in the hot summer
and find a cool place, we find the grasshopper singing and flying from the hedge. He
sings tirelessly and when he gets tired, he rests beneath some weed.

(i) What is an ongoing process in nature?

(ii) Where do birds go when the heat of the sun rises?
(iii) How has the continuity of music been maintained?
(iv) Name the figure of speech in the above stanza.
(v) Describe the beauty of the poem.