ICSE English Literature Poems: Probable questions for Class 10 board exams

Haunted Houses by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"We have no title-deeds to house or lands;

Owners and occupants of earlier dates

From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands,

And hold in mortmain still their old estates."

a. How does Longfellow describe the "owners and occupants of earlier dates" earlier in the poem? 3

b. What is the defining feature of these phantom beings? Bring out evidence from the poem to support your answer. 3

c. Why are there “more guests at the table than the hosts/ Invited”? What do these guests do? Who can see these guests and who cannot? Why? 3

d. In the given excerpt, what are the phantoms doing? Do you think this image belies the earlier image of ‘benign spirits’? 3

e. How does Longfellow’s poem establish that ‘haunted houses’ need not be scary places? 4

"These perturbations, this perpetual jar

Of earthly wants and aspirations high,

Come from the influence of an unseen star

An undiscovered planet in our sky.

And as the moon from some dark gate of cloud

Throws o’er the sea a floating bridge of light,

Across whose trembling planks our fancies crowd

Into the realm of mystery and night,—"

a. What are the perturbations? Why have they been called “perpetual jar”? 3

b. How has the poet described the interaction between the spirit world and the world of sense? What is meant by the “world of sense”? 3

c. How do our thoughts move into the spirit world from our world? 3

d. What kind of bridge comes down from the moon? Why are the planks said to be “trembling”? 3

e. How do you think the poet uses imagery to create an otherworldly atmosphere in the last two stanzas of the poem? 4

The Glove and the Lions by Leigh Hunt

"King Francis was a hearty king, and loved a royal sport,

And one day as his lions fought, sat looking on the court;

The nobles filled the benches, and the ladies in their pride,

And 'mongst them sat the Count de Lorge, with one for whom he sighed:

And truly 'twas a gallant thing to see that crowning show,

Valour and love, and a king above, and the royal beasts below."

a. Describe the character of King Francis. What is the setting of this poem? 3

b. How does the poet use imagery to bring out the horror of the lions’ fight? 3

c. Describe the lady. What does she do? Why? 3

d. What did deLorge do in response? Why do you think he jumps into the arena to fetch her glove? Why did King Francis support his action? 3

e. What are the themes of the poem and do they hold true for today's day and age? 4

When Great Trees Fall by Maya Angelou

"When great souls die,

the air around us becomes

light, rare, sterile.

We breathe, briefly.

Our eyes, briefly,

see with

a hurtful clarity.

Our memory, suddenly sharpened,

examines,

gnaws on kind words

unsaid,

promised walks

never taken."

a. What happens in the forest when great trees fall? 3

b. How is this poem an extended metaphor? Write with respect to what great trees stand for and how it affects us? 3

c. What is meant by “We are not so much maddened/as reduced to the unutterable ignorance of/dark, cold/ caves.”? What figure of speech is used in these lines? 3

d. What is the message of peace and hope the poem brings to the world? 4

e. Narrate an instance where you may have felt the range of emotions which the poem speaks about. 3

A Considerable Speck by Robert Frost

"A speck that would have been beneath my sight

On any but a paper sheet so white

Set off across what I had written there.

And I had idly poised my pen in air

To stop it with a period of ink

When something strange about it made me think,

This was no dust speck by my breathing blown,

But unmistakably a living mite

With inclinations it could call its own"

a. What is the subject of the poem? How does the poet describe it? 3

b. Why does the poet say that it is “unmistakably a living mite” and later that he was dealing “Plainly with an intelligence”? What are the signs of life and intelligence that the poet sees? 3

c. What does the term “tenderer-than-thou/ Collectivistic regimenting love” mean? How is the modern world being swept by this? 3

d. How does this poem show a “reverence for life”? Why does the poet decide to save the mite? 3

e. Comment on the title of the poem. What figure of speech does the poet use in the last four lines of the poem? 4 

The Power of Music by Sukumar Ray

"The wretched brutes resent the blare the hour

they hear it sounded,

They whine and stare with feet in air or wonder

quite confounded.

The fishes dived below the lake in frantic search

for silence,

The very trees collapse and shake – you hear the

crash a mile hence –"

a. What kind of poem is ‘The Power of Music’? How does Sukumar Ray use the medium of poetry to make a statement against British rule? 3

b. How does Bhishma Lochan Sharma sing? What effect does his song cause in people? 3

c. How are animals and other inanimate objects affected by the song? 3

d. How does the song stop finally? 3

e. How does the poet use elements of humour to narrate the story of Sharma’s unfortunate end? 4