61. Which poetic device is used in “A creeper climbs, in whose embraces bound No other tree could live”?
a) Hyperbole
b) Simile
c) Personification
d) Metaphor
Answer: c) Personification
Explanation: The line uses personification, where the creeper’s embraces are described as if it were a human act of holding or embracing. The phrase “in whose embraces bound” suggests that the creeper’s hold on the tree is like a relationship, where the tree becomes dependent on the creeper. This gives the creeper human-like qualities, emphasizing the intimate relationship between the creeper and the tree and suggesting the tree’s vulnerability to the creeper’s growth.
62. Identify the poetic device in the line “The water-lilies spring, like snow enmassed.”
a) Metaphor
b) Simile
c) Hyperbole
d) Imagery
Answer: b) Simile
Explanation: This line contains a simile. The poet compares water-lilies to snow enmassed, using the word “like” to make the comparison. The image evokes a scene of white lilies growing in clusters, similar to snow that has accumulated in large masses. The simile enhances the visual imagery, highlighting the purity and beauty of the water-lilies, while also emphasizing their delicate, almost ethereal quality.
63. The phrase “Fear, trembling Hope, and Death, the skeleton” is an example of which poetic device?
a) Metaphor
b) Personification
c) Alliteration
d) Irony
Answer: b) Personification
Explanation: The phrase “Fear, trembling Hope, and Death, the skeleton” personifies abstract concepts by giving them human qualities. Fear and Hope are described as trembling, and Death is referred to as a “skeleton”, which is a human-like depiction of these intangible ideas. This personification brings these emotions to life, giving them a physical presence and highlighting their reality in the poet’s mind, especially in the face of uncertainty and mortality.
64. What literary device is used in the line “May Love defend thee from Oblivion’s curse” where Love is given human qualities?
a) Hyperbole
b) Metaphor
c) Personification
d) Symbolism
Answer: c) Personification
Explanation: In this line, personification is used to give human qualities to Love. The poet describes Love as something that can “defend” the tree from Oblivion’s curse, which implies that Love has the power to protect. This human-like attribution of agency to an abstract concept elevates Love to a protective force. By personifying Love, the poet underscores its significance in preserving memories and ensuring that the tree will never be forgotten.
65. The line “It is the tree’s lament, an eerie speech” contains which poetic device?
a) Simile
b) Metaphor
c) Personification
d) Alliteration
Answer: c) Personification
Explanation: The line “It is the tree’s lament, an eerie speech” uses personification by attributing human qualities to the tree. The lament and speech are characteristics typically associated with humans, but here, they are used to describe the sound made by the tree. This personification intensifies the emotional and spiritual weight of the tree’s voice, implying that it sorrowfully communicates, as if it were mourning a loss, much like a human would.
66. What poetic device is present in the repetition of the “s” sound in the phrase “sweet song that seems to have no close”?
a) Simile
b) Alliteration
c) Personification
d) Imagery
Answer: b) Alliteration
Explanation: The repetition of the “s” sound in the phrase “sweet song that seems to have no close” is an example of alliteration, where the same consonant sound is repeated at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. This creates a musical, flowing quality that mirrors the continuous, flowing nature of the song the poet hears. Alliteration in this case also adds to the lyrical beauty of the poem, enhancing the reader’s experience of the song’s sweetness.
67. Complete the famous opening line of the poem: “Like a huge Python, winding ______ and ______”
a) up and down
b) round and round
c) here and there
d) back and forth
Answer: b) round and round
Explanation: The full line reads, “Like a huge Python, winding round and round,” describing the creeper that twists around the casuarina tree’s trunk. This vivid simile sets the tone for the poem’s rich imagery, and “round and round” captures the spiraling motion of a python, fitting the natural scene Toru Dutt paints.
68. The line “No other tree could live” suggests which theme of the poem?
a) The destructive power of nature
b) The uniqueness and strength of the Casuarina tree
c) The need for deforestation
d) The poet’s dislike for other trees
Answer: b) The uniqueness and strength of the Casuarina tree
Explanation: In the first stanza, Toru Dutt writes, “A creeper climbs, in whose embraces bound / No other tree could live. But gallantly / The giant wears the scarf,” portraying the casuarina tree as a resilient “giant” that thrives despite the creeper’s tight grip, which would choke lesser trees. This highlights the tree’s exceptional strength and distinctiveness, setting it apart as a powerful, enduring symbol in the poem—both physically and emotionally for the poet’s memories.
69. The line “But gallantly the giant wears the scarf” refers to:
a) The strength of the tree despite hardships
b) The beauty of the garden
c) The arrival of winter
d) A royal tree standing tall
Answer: a) The strength of the tree despite hardships
Explanation: In this line, the poet describes the Casuarina tree as a giant wearing a scarf, symbolizing the creeper that winds around it. The word “gallantly” suggests that despite being entwined by the creeper, the tree remains majestic and strong, similar to a royal figure wearing a scarf as a sign of dignity. This line emphasizes the tree’s resilience and how it courageously bears the weight of time and nature, maintaining its grandeur.
70. What does the poet mean by the line “What is that dirge-like murmur that I hear, Like the sea breaking on a shingle-beach?”
a) The murmuring wind in the tree sounds like ocean waves
b) The tree is cursed
c) The poet is scared of the tree
d) The poem describes a seaside tree
Answer: a) The murmuring wind in the tree sounds like ocean waves
Explanation: The poet compares the sound of the wind rustling through the Casuarina tree to a “dirge-like murmur”, which evokes sorrow and remembrance. The line “like the sea breaking on a shingle-beach” intensifies this image, suggesting the rhythmic, continuous nature of the sound. The ocean waves metaphorically link the sound of the tree’s wind to the poet’s emotional currents, reinforcing the poem’s themes of loss, memory, and the inevitability of time.
71. The phrase “The tree’s lament, an eerie speech”, suggests that:
a) The tree is haunted
b) The tree’s sound resembles a sorrowful voice
c) The poet is afraid of the tree
d) The tree can literally speak
Answer: b) The tree’s sound resembles a sorrowful voice
Explanation: The phrase “The tree’s lament, an eerie speech” personifies the tree, implying that its sound is more than just wind—it is a sorrowful voice expressing grief and longing. The word “eerie” creates a spooky, haunting atmosphere, emphasizing the melancholy in the poem. By giving the tree a voice, the poet elevates it beyond a mere symbol of nature to a witness to memory and loss, reflecting on the emotional depth tied to the poet’s childhood.
72. What does the poet express in the line “Beneath it we have played; though years may roll”?
a) The passing of time but an unbreakable connection to childhood memories
b) The tree’s destruction over time
c) The poet no longer values the tree
d) The tree has been cut down
Answer: a) The passing of time but an unbreakable connection to childhood memories
Explanation: In the third stanza, Toru Dutt writes, “Beneath it we have played; though years may roll, / O sweet companions, loved with love intense, / For your sakes, shall the tree be ever dear.” This line reflects how time has passed (“years may roll”), yet the poet’s bond with the casuarina tree remains strong because it’s tied to joyful childhood memories with her “sweet companions” (likely her deceased siblings). The tree endures as a symbol of that unbreakable connection, despite the years and their loss.
73. The line “May Love defend thee from Oblivion’s curse” suggests that:
a) The tree should be protected from being forgotten
b) Love has the power to defeat death
c) The poet’s love for nature is eternal
d) The tree is under a magical spell
Answer: a) The tree should be protected from being forgotten
Explanation: In the final stanza, Toru Dutt writes, “May Love defend thee from Oblivion’s curse,” addressing the casuarina tree directly. “Oblivion” means being forgotten, and the “curse” implies the fate of fading into obscurity. By invoking “Love”—her deep affection for the tree and the memories it holds—she hopes it will be preserved in memory, much like the “deathless trees” of Borrowdale she mentions earlier. The line is a plea for the tree’s legacy to endure through her love and poetry, not a literal spell or a claim about defeating death or eternal nature love.
74. What does the poet mean by the line “And Time the shadow”?
a) Time is dark and evil
b) Time is fleeting and ever-present like a shadow
c) Time moves very slowly
d) The tree is hidden in shadows
Answer: b) Time is fleeting and ever-present like a shadow
Explanation: In the final stanza, Toru Dutt quotes from Wordsworth’s “Yew-Trees,” writing, “Under whose awful branches lingered pale / ‘Fear, trembling Hope, and Death, the skeleton, / And Time the shadow.’” Here, “Time the shadow” personifies time as a constant, elusive presence—like a shadow, it follows everything, shifting yet always there, subtle but inescapable. In the context of both Wordsworth’s and Dutt’s poems, it suggests time’s role in memory and mortality: fleeting in its moments, yet ever-present in its effects on life and the tree’s enduring significance. It’s not about evil, slowness, or the tree’s physical state, but a poetic image of time’s nature.
75. The line “And oft at nights the garden overflows with one sweet song that seems to have no close” describes:
a) The continuous and beautiful song of birds
b) The poet’s sadness
c) A lullaby sung by the poet
d) The sound of ocean waves
Answer: a) The continuous and beautiful song of birds
Explanation: In the first stanza, Toru Dutt writes, “And oft at nights the garden overflows / With one sweet song that seems to have no close, / Sung darkling from our tree, while men repose.” This depicts a bird singing beautifully and endlessly (“seems to have no close”) from the casuarina tree at night, filling the garden with its melody while people sleep (“repose”). “Darkling” (an old term for “in the dark”) reinforces the nighttime setting and suggests a bird, like a nightingale, known for such songs. The description focuses on nature’s charm, not human emotion or action.
76. What is the meaning of the line “Thy form, O Tree, as in my happy prime I saw thee, in my own loved native clime”?
a) The poet remembers the tree as it was in her childhood
b) The poet sees the tree in her dreams
c) The poet has returned to her homeland
d) The tree has grown larger over time
Answer: a) The poet remembers the tree as it was in her childhood
Explanation: In the fourth stanza, Toru Dutt writes, “And every time the music rose,—before / Mine inner vision rose a form sublime, / Thy form, O Tree, as in my happy prime / I saw thee, in my own loved native clime.” Here, “happy prime” refers to her joyful early years—likely her childhood—before the loss of her siblings and her own illness. “Native clime” means her homeland, India, where the casuarina tree stood. The line expresses how, when she hears the tree’s lament in distant lands, her memory recalls its image from those carefree days, not a dream, a return, or its growth.
77. What color are the flower clusters mentioned in the first stanza?
a) Golden
b) White
c) Crimson
d) Blue
Answer: c) Crimson
Explanation: In the first stanza, Toru Dutt writes, “The giant wears the scarf, and flowers are hung / In crimson clusters all the boughs among.” This describes the vibrant red flowers that adorn the casuarina tree, enhancing its beauty as the creeper entwines it.
78. What animals are described as leaping and playing on the tree’s lower boughs?
a) Squirrels
b) Puny offspring of the baboon
c) Birds
d) Monkeys
Answer: b) Puny offspring of the baboon
Explanation: In the second stanza, Toru Dutt writes, “A gray baboon sits statue-like alone / Watching the sunrise; while on lower boughs / His puny offspring leap about and play.” This refers to the baby baboons, described as “puny” (small or weak), playfully moving on the lower branches while the adult baboon sits still above.
79. What does the poet see in the shadow of the tree on the broad tank?
a) Fish swimming
b) Water-lilies
c) Reflections of birds
d) Floating leaves
Answer: b) Water-lilies
Explanation: In the second stanza, Toru Dutt writes, “And in the shadow, on the broad tank cast / By that hoar tree, so beautiful and vast, / The water-lilies spring, like snow enmassed.” This describes the water-lilies growing in the pond (tank) under the tree’s shadow, adding to the serene beauty of the scene.
80. What does the poet hear that makes her think of a “form sublime” in the fourth stanza?
a) The rustling leaves
b) The music of the tree’s wail
c) The sound of children playing
d) The baboon’s cry
Answer: b) The music of the tree’s wail
Explanation: In the fourth stanza, Toru Dutt writes, “And every time the music rose,—before / Mine inner vision rose a form sublime, / Thy form, O Tree, as in my happy prime / I saw thee, in my own loved native clime.” The “music” refers to the “wail” or “dirge-like murmur” of the tree, mentioned earlier in the poem (third stanza: “What is that dirge-like murmur that I hear”). This sound, heard in distant lands, triggers her memory of the casuarina tree’s majestic form from her childhood, described as “sublime” (grand and awe-inspiring).
