Word Meaning, Summary, Important Questions Of Chapter 7 Animals | Class 10
Hindi Meaning Of Difficult Words | Chapter 7 Animals
1 | Placid | calm, peaceful | शांत | tranquil, serene, sober |
2 | Contained | keep up control | निहित | Contained, implied acceptance |
3 | Whine | cry | कराहना | wail, cry, mewl, moan |
4 | Sins | wrongdoing | गुनाह | fault, gilt, crime |
5 | Demented | mad, disturbed | पागल | raving, demented, wild |
6 | Kneels | bow down | घुटना टेकना | fall to one's knees, genuflect, crouch |
7 | Evince | show, reveal | प्रकट करना | display, exhibit, reveal |
8 | Possession | ownership of something | अधिकार | authority, the right, power |
9 | Tokens | here, the qualities | उपलक्ष्य | salvo, stalking horse |
10 | Turn | change into | बदलना | commute, switch, alter |
11 | Self contained | self satisfied, not dependent on others | आत्मनिर्भर | complete, independent, self-reliant |
12 | Sweat | sweat after working hard | परिश्रम | diligence, struggle, industry |
13 | Awake | don't sleep | जागना | wakefulness, awake, waken |
14 | Mania | obsession, madness | पागलपन | lunacy, psychosis, paranoia |
15 | Huge times ago | long- long ago | बहुत पहले | far, remote, long |
16 | Negligently | carelessly | लापरवाही से | inadequately, badly, sloppily |
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About The Poet | Chapter 7 Animals
INTRODUCTION
Walt Whitman (1819-92) is a major figure in American poetry. In a time when all poetry was rhymed and metrical, Whitman made a break with tradition and wrote a new kind of poetry called ‘free verse’. He was a nonconformist in all aspects of his life.
In the poem, ‘Animals’, he expresses how comfortable he is in the company of animals. He says that animals are placid and self-contained, who do not whine and weep about their conditions, are always satisfied and do their duty towards God and express their love and respect towards human beings and lead a life of satisfaction and contentment
Short Summary Of Chapter 7 Animals In English
SUMMARY
Whiteman desires to live among animals because he believes that they are serene and self-contented. They are too wise to bewail their condition. They weep for their sins and do their duty to God.
The animals are always satisfied. They do not possess the mania of possessing things like humans do. They do not show respect for the others. They even do not respect their thousands of years old ancestors. They remain in a state of tranquility and equanimity in sorrow as well as in happiness.
The poet has a deep desire to learn from the animals, since they show their deep concern with them. They give him respect in the shape of a token and show their painful feelings. They do not have any kind of falsehood like humans have. The poet is much surprised at their quality and wishes to learn these traits which he thinks he once possessed but has forgotten in the process of being civilized.
TITLE JUSTIFICATION
TITLE JUSTIFICATION
The title of the poem ‘Animals’ is literally about them. But it does not describe any animal. In fact through poem, the poet Walt Whitman expresses his own views and RHY observations about them. He seems to have considered the differences between humans and animals over a long period of time. He also seems to suggest that perhaps once, long back man was also contented and self-contained like the animals, but somewhere in the process of civilization, man has forgotten how to live instinctively and naturally like them. He finds peace of mind and great comfort just to be among them, relaxed, contented and without desires.
THEME
THEME
In the poem, Whitman explores the theme of natural existence as opposed to modern day living. He believes that the civilized man has lost touch with nature and God. Since money has become his God, there is no end to his desires and resultant complications. He wants to own more possessions and this is causing him untold sufferings. He needs to relearn from the animals, how to be self-contained and live naturally as God intended us to live.
MESSAGE
MESSAGE
In the poem Animals’, Walt Whitman wishes to convey that humans have become complicated and false. They have forgotten their true nature. They want to earn more and more, so that they can own more luxuries. They commit sins in order to earn and they end up repenting. Their sins have made them restless. On the other hand animals are free from all types of trivial anxieties, so they are still living their life naturally. According to him, animals are complacent and self-contained unlike humans.
RHYME SCHEME OF THE POEM
RHYME SCHEME OF THE POEM
The poem, Animals, by Walt Whitman has no rhyme scheme. It is a free verse poem of sixteenth lines.
POETIC DEVICES
- Anaphora
Anaphora has been used in the 4th, 5th and 6th lines. It is seen in the repetition of the phrase’ They do not’. It is also used in the lines 9 and 11 ‘not one’ is repeated for emphasis.
- Syntax and structure
The poem has three stanzas and sixteenth lines. The first stanza has three lines. The second has 11 lines and the last stanza has two lines. The lines are long and short and the poem is written in free verse.
GLOSSARY
Complicated- complex;
False-untrue;
Placid- calm, peaceful, serene:
Sins-offence; Dissatisfied not contented.
TYPE I: REFERENCE TO CONTEXT (VERY SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS)
TYPE I: REFERENCE TO CONTEXT (VERY SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS)
Read the extracts and answer the following questions:
- I think I could turn and live with animals,
they are so placid and self-contained,
I stand and look at them long and long.
Questions
(i) What does the poet wish for?
(ii) Why does the poet like animals?
(iii) What is the mood of the poet here?
(iv) Name the poem and the poet.
Answers
(i) The poet wishes to live with animals.
(ii) The poet likes animals because they are calm and self-reliant
(iii) The poet’s mood is thoughtful here:
(iv) The poem is Animals and the poet is Walt Whitman.
- They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,
Questions
(i) Who is the speaker?
(ii) Who does he refer to as “they’?
(iii) What do the animals not do?
(iv) What is the poet’s attitude to animals?
Answers
(i) The speaker is the poet Walt Whitman.
(ii) He refers to the animals as they.
(iii) The animals do not weep for their sins and do not think about their duty to God.
(iv) The poet admires the animals.
- Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things,
Questions
(i) Who is the speaker?
(ii) Who is he referring to?
(iii) What does he observe about the animals?
(iv) What is the comparison he is making and why?
Answers
(i) The speaker is the poet.
(ii) He is referring to animals.
(iii) He observes about animals that they are satisfied.
(iv) He is comparing man with animals as man has a mania for owning possessions while animals live simply without such desires.
- Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that Inved thousands of years ago,
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth
Questions
(i) Who does another refer to here?
(ii) Who is the poet referring to that lived thousand of years ago?
(iii) What does ‘kneel’ symbolize here?
(iv) What does the poet imply in the last line?
Answers
(i) Another. refers to other animals here.
(ii) The poet is referring to the ancestors of human beings who lived thousands of years ago,
(iii) Kneel is symbolic of one’s domination over another that is so prevalent in the world of man.
(iv) The poet implies in the last line that unlike the animal world, man is unhappy in his life.
- I wonder where they get those tokens,
Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?
Questions
(i) Who is I’ in the above lines?
(ii) Who are they?
(iii) What tokens is the poet talking about?
(iv) What did the poet drop?
Answers
(i) 1′ refers to the poet.
(ii) They are the animals.
(iii) The poet is talking about the traits of love and affection that animals show him.
(iv) in the race of civilization, the poet negligently dropped or forgot the characteristics of love and peace that the animals still retain.
Type II: SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS (30-40 WORDS EACH)
Answer the following questions:
- Notice the use of the world turn in the first line, think I could turn and live with animals What is the poet turning from?
Ans. The poet wants to turn from the company of men and their society. He wants to go and live in the company of birds, animals and nature.
- Mention three things that humans do and animals don’t?
Ans. Man is always unhappy and discontented. They keep grumbling. They go mad for material possessions Animals do none of these things. They are always happy and contended. They don’t have to weep over their sins as they commit none.
- Why do animals not lie awake in the dark?
Ans . Animals don’t commit any sin. They have no worries They are always happy. They have nothing to grumble about. So they don’t have to lie awake in the night. They have no sins to weep over.
- What are the tokens that the poet says he may have dropped long ago, and which animals have kept for themselves?
Ans. The tokens are the qualities of innocence, simplicity and contentment that animals have retained. Man has dropped these qualities through the ages but now animals still possess them.
- Why does Whitman want to live with animals?
Ans Whitman finds that animals have many virtues that men are lacking. They always remain very calm, quiet and satisfied. They have no worries or complaints or biases. They live as God intended them to live-freely and peacefully. That is why Whitman wants to live with them.
- What is the poet’s attitude to animals?
Ans. The poet likes animals for their self-contained and quiet nature. The fact that animals are not like human beings and are quite satisfied with their lives appeals to the poet a lot. He thinks that they have a close bond with nature and God.
- Explain the satisfaction that animals have and humans don’t.
Ans. Animals do not have the desire to possess worldly things. They take from nature only what they need. They are not greedy. Whereas, the more humans own, the more their desire to own grows, leaving them dissatisfied forever. The absence of this greed in animals keeps them satisfied and its presence in humans keeps them dissatisfied and is the cause of their misery.
- Why do animals not weep for their sins?
Ans. Animals do not weep for their sins because they do not need to do so. They are innocent creatures that commit no sins. It is humans, who are caught in the vicious cycle of weeping, commit sins and weeping over them yet again.
- What makes the poet sick?
Ans. The fact, that humans commit all kinds of sins and still discuss their duty to God, makes the poet sick. This shows the hypocrisy of humans, who on one hand do wrong and on the other pray to God. He thinks that if humans would be doing their duty to God, if they did their duty to other fellow men and live with nature.
TYPE III: LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS (100-120 WORDS EACH)
Answer the following questions:
- Comment on the theme of the poem.
Ans. In the poem, “Animals’, Whitman explores the theme of natural existence as opposed to modern day living. He believes that the civilized man has lost touch with nature and God. Since money has become his God, there is no end to his desires and resultant complications. He wants to own more possessions and this is causing him untold sufferings. He needs to relearn from the animals, how to be self-contained and live naturally as God intended us to live.
- What is the message that the poem conveys?
Ans. In the poem “Animals’, Walt Whitman wishes to convey that humans have become complicated and false. They have forgotten their true nature. They want to earn more and more, so that they can own more luxuries. They commit sins in order to earn and they end up repenting. Their sins have made them restless. On the other hand animals are free from all types of trivial anxieties, so they are still living their life naturally. According to him, animals are complacent and self-contained unlike humans.
- In the poem, Walt Whitman is critical of man’s nature and behavior. Discuss.
Ans. The poet uses words such as demented’ and ‘mania” for never ending desire of human beings to own things. These words show that the poet is comparing this desire to a kind of madness. The poet is right in doing so as this desire makes us greedy and traps us in a vicious circle of aspiring for more and more.
Animals that are free from any possession are also free from sins, worries and complaints. In order to gain more wealth, all the important values such as morality and kindness are sacrificed by humans. Excessive desire for material things is taking away man from the natural state in which God created him. Man needs to relearn the natural way of living from animals and find peace and contentment that he is lacking.
- It is not complaining but accepting a situation, the key to happiness in life. Elaborate in context of the poem, ‘Animals”.
Ans. The poet Walt Whitman in his poem Animals” compares animals to human beings and differentiates between them on the basis of their characteristics. Animals have been ranked much higher than humans in the poet’s perception. Since animals do not complain about their situation, they are considered to be much happier than humans. Animals live in natural surroundings, they accept their natural lives. Humans, on the other hand, have never accepted nature, i.e., they complain about it and try to change it, leading to an unhappy life. Animals don’t commit any sin They have no worries. They are always happy, calm and contented. They have nothing to complain about They have no sins to weep over. So they don’t have to lie awake in the night and think negative thought They live as God intended them to live-freely and peacefully.
- What can man learn from animals. Discuss with reference to the poem?
Ans. The poet seems to imply that human beings should be gentle not only to their own kind but also to everyone and everything. Virtues such as kindness bring along other important values like innocence and honesty that together make the world a better place to live. The lack of such values results in a corrupt and degraded society where people commit sins and weep over them when they are in solitary This situation makes them dissatisfied and unhappy in life. Human beings probably had these virtues in them once but along the course of civilization. they have left them behind and become greedy and cunning.
QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICE
- Why does the poet admire the animals?
- Why do animals sleep peacefully?
- According to the poet, what is the difference between the tendencies of man and animals.
- What according to the poet has man forgotten? 5. What does the poet learn from animals?