FIRST LANGUAGE ENGLISH - KSEEB - CLASS 10 - COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - Sonnet 73 , That Time of Year ……………..

 

Poem – 6

SONNET 73

THAT TIME OF YEAR ……………..

William Shakespeare

Comprehension Questions

I. Answer the following questions briefly:

 1) a) Which of the following four seasons is the poet talking about in the first stanza?

a) spring               b) summer            c) autumn            d) winter

Ans: c) autumn

 

b) Which words in the stanza support your answer?

Ans: Yellow leaves

 

2) The four seasons correspond to the four stages of man’s life – childhood, youth, old age, and death. Where does the poet imagine himself to be?

Ans: Autumn (old age) the poet imagines himself to be.

 

3) a) What is compared to “bare ruined choirs”?

b) What does the comparison mean?

Ans: a) The branches on which the birds used to sit and sing.

b) During autumn there were no leaves on branches and it was cold that’s why birds didn’t sit and sing.

 

4) Through the image of late autumn, (in the first stanza) the poet convinces his friend that he is close to his death. What image does the poet use in the second stanza?

Ans: “Twilight” the poet uses in the second stanza.

 

5) Like seasons or stages of man’s life, a day can also be divided into four stages:

a) morning          b) noon      c) evening            d) night.

Where does the poet imagine himself to be in the second stanza?

Ans: c) evening.

 

6) What is referred to as “Death’s second self?”

Ans: Sleep is referred to as “Death’s second self.”

 

7) Identify the metaphors used by the poet to show the approach of death.

Ans: The metaphors used by the poet to show the approach of death were the autumn season, the twilight of the day, the ashes and embers.

 

8) Through the usage of the twilight, the poet repeats that he is approaching the night of his life. What image does he use in the next stanza?

Ans: “The ashes, the death bed where it must expire”

 

9) As in the other images, the fire image of the third stanza also has four stages -

a) fuel         b) flame               c) ember               d) ash.

Which stage does the poet identify himself with?

Ans: c) ember

 

10)    a) What lies on the ashes of its youth?

b)  What does death-bed mean here?

Ans: a) The glowing of fire lies on the ashes of its youth

b) Death-bed here is the last stage of his life.

 

11) This in the couplet refers

a) back to the three quatrains

b) forward to the next two lines

c) to both

Ans: a) back to the three quatrains

 

12) When does love become more strong?

Ans: Love perceives when it is going to lose someone, at that time love becomes stronger.

 

13) The poem is about the stage of life in which the poet imagines himself to be. What stage does he imagine himself to be in?

a) Comparing life to the seasons he identifies his present stage with autumn season.

b) Comparing life to the day he identifies his present stage with a twilight time of day.

c) Comparing life to the fire, he identifies his present stage with ashes.

 

II. Close Study

Read the following lines of the poem carefully. Discuss in pairs and then write the answers to the questions given below them.

1) Bare ruin’d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.

a) “Bare ruin’d choirs” refer to

i)  a crumbling church      ii)  trees empty of birds           iii) both

Ans: iii) both

 

b) Why has the “sound” disappeared?

Ans: The sound disappeared due to autumn season, there were no leaves on branches and it was too cold and birds had flown away.

 

c) Why has the poet used the word “late”?

Ans: ‘late’ means long past-late glory and the beauty.

 

d) Why are the branches of trees leafless?

Ans: Trees wither leaves in autumn season. So, the branches are of trees leafless.

 

2) This thou perceivest, which makes them love more strong, To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

a) Who is “thou” here?

Ans: Speaker’s friend is “thou” here.

 

b) What makes love more strong?

Ans: Love becomes stronger when the speaker thinks that he will lose his friend soon.

 

c) Explain the literal meaning of the last line.

Ans: The last line expresses that to love the person whom you lose soon.

 

III. Paragraph Writing:

Discuss in pairs/groups of 4 each the answers to the following questions. Note down the important points for each question and then develop the points into one paragraph answers.

 

1) How is the couplet a fitting conclusion to the three quatrains?

Ans: William Shakespeare had beautiful compared the stages of his life to autumn, twilight, and dying of fire. Here he wanted to make everyone to realize different stages of life as well as the importance of last stage of life that was old age. In each quatrain he had beautiful described its significance and in the couplet he mentioned to love the person who is on death bed that was last stage. He asked to perceive so that his love grew stronger before he died. The poet described last stage of life considering the couplet a fitting conclusion to the three quatrains.  

 

2) “Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang” has double images. Explain what the poet wants his friend to ‘behold’.

Ans: It was autumn season; the branches of the trees were leafless. The trees had withered all leaves and it was too cold and the birds had flown away to warmer place and the poet compared that to his last stage of life. Similarly the choir once they would have sung in church was stopped as the church had ruined and it had no roof and it was exposed to nature.