SEBA Class 9 English Lesson - 10: A Slumber did My Sprint Seal Question and Answer
A Slumber did My Sprint Seal
TEXTUAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Thinking about the Poem
1. “A slumber did my spirit seal,” says the poet. That is, a deep sleep ‘closed off’ his soul (or mind). How does the poet react to his loved one’s death ? Does he feel bitter grief ? Or does he feel great peace?
Ans: The poet is devastated by the death of his loved one. He is engulfed by bitter grief and misses the person greatly.
2. The passing of time will no longer affect her, says the poet. Which lines of the poem say this ?
Ans: The lines of the poem that say that the dead person will not be affected by the passing of time are:
“No motion has she now, no force “
or
The poet felt that she would not be affected by age. Which lines of the poem says this ?
Ans: The lines of the poem that say that the poet felt she would never age, are : “She seemed a thing that could not feel The touch of earthly years.”
3.How does the poet imagine her to be, after death? Does he think of her as a person living in a very happy state (a ‘heaven’) ? Or does he see her now as a part of nature ? In which lines of the poem do you find your answer ?
Ans: Wordsworth believes that the person upon her death had become one with nature. The lines of the poem that confirm this thought of the poet are: “Rolled round in Earth’s diurnal course With rocks and stones and trees.”
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
Answer the following questions :
1. What did the poet feel about the person who is now dead when she was alive?
Ans: When this person whom the poet loved was alive, he felt that she would never age and thus he had no fears of losing her.
2. Why is she rolled with rocks and stones ?
Ans: She is now dead and thus lies buried on the depths of the earth with soil and rocks all around her.
Reference to the context
1.No motion has she now, no force ―
(a) Who is she ?
Ans: She is the someone who the poet, William Wordsworth, loved deeply.
(b) Why does she have no motion ?
Ans: She has no motion, i.e. is unmoving, because she is dead.
(c) What does the poet mean when he says that she has a force ?
Ans: By her having no force, the poet means that the force or power of life has been taken away from her.
