Exercise

II. COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS :
A. Answer briefly the following questions

1. The time of the day suggested in the poem is
   a. sunrise b. sunset c. either sunrise or sunset d. not clear

Ans:a. sunrise

2. The sun is described as the reluctant sun. It means that,
   a. the sun was unwilling to rise.
   b. the male bird was impatient.
   c. it was the bird’s feeling that the sun was reluctant to rise.
   d. the sun always takes more time to rise than to see

Ans: the sun was unwilling to rise.

3.a. In the first four lines, there is exaggeration in the description.What is it?

Ans:a)The male bird is shown as bending to pluck the sun out from the rim of the horizon. Certainly, the bird cannot touch the bird cannot touch the sun with its beak or even reach the horizon.The bent neck of the bird and the eager movement of the bird are shown thus.

b. What is the figure of speech used here?

Ans:The figure of speech is Hyperbole.

4.How was the majestic neck humbled by the hunter?

Ans:The neck of a Sarus crane is very long, graceful and beautiful.At a time when the bird was stretching it neck and trying to do something impossible like pulling the sun out of the rim of the horizon, the bird was shot in the neck.When it fell down dead, the hunter without paying any attention to the beauty that was lost through his action, casually picked up the bird hands and jaws, crumpled it like a piece of paper and threw it into his bag without a second look as it.In this manner, the majestic neck has humbled the hunter.

5. The expression “picked up hands and jaws,” suggests,
   a. callousness of the hunters.
   b. heartlessness of the hunters.
   c. urgency of the hunters.
   d. cruelty of the hunters

Ans: a. callousness of the hunters.

6. ———————— is compared to ‘dirty linen’ (complete the
   sentence using the correct option)
   a. the proud neck of the bird
   b. the dead body of the bird
   c. the hands and jaws of the bird
   d. the material of the bag

Ans: b. the dead body of the bird

7. “and sat to hatch/the blood stained feathers/into a toddling
   chick”. This suggests,
   a. that the female bird was out of her senses after the death of the male bird.
   b. the intense love of the female bird towards its male partner.
   c. the foolish act of the female bird.
   d. the desperate act of the female bird to bring the male bird back to life.

Ans: a. that the female bird was out of her senses after the death of the male bird.

8.How is the end of the female crane suggested in the poem?

Ans: It is said that a wave of the seas she had never seen, came to her and carried her away. It cannot be the real seas because the cranes lived near the sea. It could be a wave of grief which the bird pushed her towards sadness. Grieving for the male bird and sitting on his blood stained feathers, the female bird forgot to eat of a drink and thus becoming very weak met her end.

B. Close Study :
Read the following extract carefully. Discuss in pairs and then write the answers to the questions given below it.

1. A wave of the seas she had never seen/came to her from far
   away/and carried her to him.
   a. What does ‘wave of the seas’ refer to?

Ans:A wave of grief

b.What hadn’t the female bird seen before?

Ans: The female bird hadn’t known grief or sadness before.

c.What figure of speech is used in the extract?

Ans: Personification.

III. PARAGRAPH WRITING :
Discuss in pairs/groups of four each and answer the following questions. Individually, note down the points for each question and then develop the points into one-paragraph answers.

1. How is the callousness of the bird-killers brought out in the poem?

Ans: The Poem brings out a contrast between birds and hunter, Male bird is necking, Hunters shoots down a bird and picking it up throws it into a washing bag, Birds are very graceful and beautiful but the hunters treats them carelessly,and Hunters goes away but female bird stays there.

2. How does the poet bring out the agony and desperation of the female crane in the poem?

Ans:The crane pair for life having seen its male shot dead by the hunters and being taken away the female Sarus is heartbroken. The bird circles the sky with grace mourning over the disgraceful end of its partner. After the killers had left the place the female bird returned to the death scene and kept flying around whining for its companion with short and long wails resembling the Morse code.With her beak she kissed and bloodstained feathers of her mate which the wind had not yet carried away and sad down to hatch them in the hope she could bring him back to life.

3. Pick out any two figures of speech used in the poem and explain how they add to the effectiveness of the poem.

Ans:In first para the hyperbole which is used to highlight a particular point through exaggeration. The male Sarus crane is shown as if it is stretching its neck to pull our the sun from the rim of the horizon . The bird was no match for the cunningness and heartlessness of man.

In second para contain the figure of speech simile to like dirty linen: the proud dignified bird was killed and thrown into the washing bag like dirty linen.This reveals the callousness and lack of aesthetic sense of the hunter.The beautiful graceful bird was just a piece of meat for him