Edmund Spenser All Brief
Q.1. Who was called the poet’s poet?
Ans. Edmund Spenser was called the poet’s poet.
Q.2. Which age did Spenser belong to?
Ans. Edmund Spenser belonged to the Elizabethan age.
Q.3. How was Spenser influenced by the Protestant religion?
Ans. While studying at Cambridge, Spenser came under the influence of the strong Protestant spirit which then pervaded the university.
Q.4. What kind of poem is The Faerie Queene?
Ans. The Faerie Queene is an allegorical poem.
Q.5. What stanza form and rhyme scheme did Spenser invent for the composition of The Faerie Queene?
Ans. The stanza form, invented by Spenser for the composition of The Faerie Queene is known as ‘Spenserian Stanza”. It consists of nine lines in iambic metres rhyming as ababbcbcc. The first eight lines are in pentameters and the final line is in hexameters, called Alexandrine.
Q.6. Why is The Faerie Queene called a romantic epic?
Ans. The Faerie Queene exhibits the heroic deeds of war, love and adventures centring around the historical figure of Prince Arthur. As it combines both romantic and epic qualities, it is called a romantic epic or epic of chivalry and romance b
Q.7. What religious allegory do you trace in The Faerie Queene?
Ans. The religious allegory in The Faerie Queene deals with the important religious events of the contemporary age. Here the Red Cross Knight stands for the reformed Church of England, fighting the corruption, pride, and manifold evils of Papacy, paganism and Catholicism as represented by the foul Dragon or the monster Error.
Q.8. Whom does the poet invoke in The Faerie Queene?
Ans. Spenser at the beginning of The Faerie Queene prays to Clio, the Muse of history for her help in writing his poem. He also appeals to Cupid, Venus and Mars for their patronage in writing the romantic epic.
Q.9. Who is the noble Briton Prince?
Ans. Prince Arthur was the noble Briton Prince whom the world had been looking for so long. He was represented by the Earl of Leicester who was in love with Queen Elizabeth I and wanted to in love wit marry her.
10. Who is the Red Cross Knight?
Ans. The Red Cross Knight is the hero of Book One of The Faerie Queene. He symbolizes St. George, the patron saint of England. Allegorically he is Holiness or the Reformed Church of England.
Q.11. What was the most desired reward of the Red Cross Knight?
Ans. The most desired reward of the Red Cross Knight was to win the favour of Gloriana, the Fairy Queen.
Q.12. What task did the Lady assign to the Red Cross Knight? Or,
To what job did the Lady appoint the Red Cross Knight?
Ans. The lady came from a royal parentage that ruled a vast kingdom from the eastern shore to the western shore. But her parents were enslaved and the whole empire was ravaged by the infernal Dragon. So the knight was entrusted with the task of avenging this foul Dragon and freeing her parents.
Q.13. What kind of shelter did the Red Cross Knight and Lady Una find during the rain and storm?
Ans. The Red Cross Knight and Lady Una discovered a shady grove nearby that could protect them from the tempest. Its lofty trees were so laden with leaves that the sunbeam or the light from the stars could not pierce within.
Q.14. How were the Red Cross Knight and Lady Una enchanted by the grove?
Ans. The grove enchanted the weary travellers, the Red Cross Knight and Lady Una with its beauty. They kept moving forward when the birds’ song made them forget the tempest outside. They moved on praising the lofty trees like the Pine, the Cedar, the Elms, the Oaks, the Ash and so on.
Q.15. How did the Lady warn the Knight at the entrance of the cave?
Ans. Lady Una advised the Red Cross Knight to be well aware and to strike with his sword after being sure of the danger, as dangers may come without a show in unknown and wild places.
Q.16. Who is ‘Error’?
Ans. The monster Error is one of the evil forces against whom the Red Cross Knight has to fight. Error is represented as a horrible creature, with the face of a woman and the hind part a serpent.
Q.17. What does the monster Error symbolise?
Ans. The monster Error stands for errors or mistakes, committed by human beings in the course of their lives. Allegorically, Error stands for Roman Catholicism or the Pope of Rome.
Q. 18. How did Lady Una attempt to dissuade the Red Cross Knight from entering the Error’s den (cave)?
Ans. Lady Una warned the Red Cross Knight saying that it was “Errours Den” or the cave of monster Error whom both God and man hated. So it would be better to stop before they were forced to retreat.
Q.19. How many young ones of hers, did the monster Error feed daily?
Ans. The monster Error fed daily a thousand young ones who were her offspring.
Q.20. How did the Red Cross Knight attack the monster Error?
Ans. The bold Knight of the Red Cross jumped upon the monster Error fiercely as a ferocious lion leaps upon its prey and with his sharp sword prevented it from turning back.
Q.21. How did the monster Error behave when the Knight hit her hard with his sword?
Ans. When the Red Cross Knight hit the monster Error with his sword, she began to roar angrily and advanced towards him, brandishing her sting angrily.
Q.22. How did the Red Cross Knight fall in the tight grip of Error’s tail?
Ans. Although the monster Error was much dazed for some time by the force of the Knight’s blow, it collected its strength and suddenly with great rage raised itself up high above the ground, with its tail coiled. Then it jumped fiercely at the Knight’s shield and coiled her huge tail around his body so that he vainly tried to move hand or foot.
Q.23. What is the Nile? Why is it famous?
Ans. The Nile is a famous river in Egypt. When there is a flood in the Nile, the Egyptian valley is covered with fertile slime that helps new vegetations grow.
Q.24. How did the monster Error’s vomit react upon the Knight?
Ans. The stinking items discharged through the monster Error’s vomit robbed the Knight of his strength and he could combat no longer. At this, the hellish monster let out of her womb her ugly children of different shapes.
Q.25. What was the colour of Error’s blood?
Ans. The colour of Error’s blood was coal black.
Q.26. What did the children of Error do after their mother’s death?
Ans. When the children of Error saw their mother fall groaning to the ground, they tried to enter her mouth. But failing to do so, they began to suck their mother’s blood from her wounds.
Q.27. How was the Red Cross Knight greeted by Lady Una for killing the monster Error?
Ans. Lady Una greeted the Red Cross Knight warmly for his first adventure in killing the deadly monster Error. She said that he was born under a lucky star and was worthy of the armour he was wearing.
Q28. What does “Archimago” symbolize?
Ans. Archimago symbolizes the hypocrisy and plots of Roman Catholicism against Anglicanism or the English Church. Archimago, one instrument of the separation between the Red Cross Knight (Holiness) and Lady Una (Truth), may be identified with the Roman Catholic Pope.
Q.29. How does Archimago appear before the Red Cross Knight and Lady Una?
Ans. Archimago appears before the Red Cross Knight and Lady Una as a very old man with bare feet, a white and grey beard, wearing a long black garment, and a book from his belt. His eyes are bent downwards and as he walks on the way, he seems to pray and often beats his breast like a man who repents for his sins.
Q.30. How/ In what way did the ‘Old Sire’ answer the solicit of the Red Cross knight?
Ans. The old “Sire” (man) answered politely that he was a simple old man, living in a secluded cell, and saying his prayer all day, as a penance for his sins. How could he tell him of war and adventure in the world outside.
Q.31. Why did the Knight agree to spend the night at the old man’s house?
Ans. Being convinced of the apparent sweet dealings and persuasiveness of the old man, the Red Cross Knight agreed to spend the night at his house. He thought that sleep at night would freshen his body and mind and thus he would be fit for fresh adventures.
Q32. What is “Ave-Mary”?
Aas. “Ave-Mary” means Hail Mary. It is the first word of a Roman Catholic prayer to the Virgin Mary.
0.33. Where did Archimago call the spirits?
Ans. By means of his magic spells, Archimago called out of deep darkness a large number of dreadful spirits. They fluttered like flies around his damned head.
Q.34. Which two spirits did Archimago select for his evil purpose?
Ans. Archimago, the wicked magician selected two spirits, who were the falsest of the lot. They were most skilled in assuming false appearances which seemed most like the true ones.
Q.35. How did the spirit make his journey to the underworld?
Ans. The spirit, at the bidding of the wicked magician, made his speedy journey through the wide expanses of air and the world of oceans to the house of Morpheus, the god of sleep.
Q.36. Where was the house of Morpheus situated?
Ans. The house of Morpheus was situated deep down in the very bowels of the earth where the light of the day could never enter. There Tethys (wife of the sea god) always washed his wet bed and Cynthia (the Moon-goddess) always covered his drooping head with her silver light. Night always spread over him her dark mantle.
Q.37. How many gates the house of Morpheus had and what were their features?
Ans. The house of Morpheus had two gates which were well-locked. One of them was made of bright ivory which sent forth false dreams. The other was made of silver which sent out true dreams.
Q.38. Who was banished from entering the house of Morpheus?
Ans. Care was banished from the house of Morpheus as the former often troubled gentle sleep.
Q.39. Who was Hecate?
Ans. Hecate, according to Greek mythology, was the queen of the underworld or Hell. The spirit sent by Archimago, the wicked magician, tried to wake Morpheus, the god of sleep by threatening with the name of Hecate.
Q.40. What did Archimago do during the period of bringing the dream?
Ans. During the period of bringing the dream from Morpheus. Archimago made a lady of that other spirit in the image of Lady Una by his magic. The lady was made of light air, but she was so beautiful that she could enthral the sense of any man.
Q.41. What was Archimago’s direction to the magically made woman?
Ans. Archimago’s direction to the magically made woman was to imitate cunningly the gestures, speeches, etc. of true Lady Una whom it so closely resembled in its false shape.
Q.42. How did the false lady try to seduce the Red Cross Knight in his dream?
Ans. The false lady made of dream placed itself in the brain of the sleeping Knight and began to make him see visions of the game of love and lust. It seemed to the Knight that Lady Una was lying by his side and complaining against Cupid who prompted her to enjoy the amorous game of love.
Q.43. Who had honoured Spenser as the Poet’s Poet?
Ans. Charles Lamb had honoured Spenser as the Poets’ Poet.
Q.44. What is an allegory?
Ans. An allegory is a detailed description of one thing under the image of another. It is a story or description, in prose or verse, in which ideas are symbolized by persons who are characters in the story and the underlying meaning may be moral, religious, political, social or satiric.
Q.45. Who is Lady Una?
Ans. Lady Una, the heroine of The Faerie Queene, Book-I, is the daughter of the fairy king and queen. Allegorically, she
symbolizes Truth, Goodness and Wisdom.
Q.46. What did the monster Error vomit?
Ans. When the Red Cross Knight strangled the throat of the monster Error, it vomited out a horribly foul-smelling black poison, full of lumps of flesh, books, papers, frogs and toads without eyes, which crept about in the grass.
Q.47. Why is the Knight in The Faerie Queene called the Red Cross Knight?
Ans. The Knight bore a “bloodie Crosse” (red cross) on his breast in memory of his martyr Lord, Jesus Christ. His shield also was bearing an inscription of the red cross that symbolized his great hope. So he is called the Red Cross Knight.
Q.48. Whom has the Queen assigned the task of rescuing Una’s parents?
Ans. Red Cross Knight
Q.49. What does the Dwarf represent in “The Faerie Queene”?
Ans. The Dwarf represents prudence or common sense.
Q.50. Who is Archimago?
Ans. Archmage is the arch magician, symbolizing hypocrisy or Satan in The Faerie Queene.
Q.51. Why is the Gentle Knight called ‘The Red Cross Knight’?
Ans. The Knight bore a “bloodie Crosse” (red cross) on his breast in memory of his martyr Lord, Jesus Christ. His shield also was bearing an inscription of the red cross that symbolized his great hope. So, he is called the Red Cross Knight.
Q.52. What does ‘Una’ stand for allegorically?
Ans. Lady Una, the heroine of The Faerie Queene, Book-I, is the daughter of the fairy king and queen. Allegorically, she symbolizes Truth, Goodness and Wisdom.
Q.53. What scares the Redcross Knight away from the House of Pride?
Ans. The dungeons hidden beneath the House of Pride scare the Redcross Knight away from the House of Pride.
Q.54. How were the children of the Monster of Error killed?
Ans. Seeing their mother dead, the children flocked about their bleeding mother’s wounds and started sucking her blood until their blood thirst was fully satisfied. Gradually their bellies swelled up and burst out.
Q.55. What is an invocation?
Ans. Invocation is a kind of prayer or appeal of the poet at the beginning of his composition to the Muse, some god or the divine power for inspiration in his writing.
Q.56. What is ‘Spenserian Stanza”?
Ans. Spenserian stanza refers to the stanza pattern invented by Edmund Spenser, the famous poet of the Elizabethan Age. Its rhyme scheme is abab, bc bc c
Q.57. What does Lady Una symbolize?
Ans. Lady Una, the heroine of The Faerie Queene, Book 1, is the daughter of the fairy King and Queen. Allegorically she stands for Truth, Goodness and Wisdom.
Q.58. How did the children of Monster Error look?
Ans. The children of the monster Error looked like little snakes. Each one of them was different in shape, but all were foul.
John Donne All Brief
Q.1. What is metaphysical poetry?
Ans. Metaphysical poetry means poetry dealing with metaphysical subjects like the nature of the universe, the movement of the stars and planets, the creation of man and his relation with the universe, the nature of the soul and its function in the body made of flesh and blood, and the whole relationship of man with God.
0.2. Bring out the main features of metaphysical poetry.
Ans. Metaphysical poetry is generally marked by such characteristics as wit, conceit, ratiocination, blend of emotion and intellect, use of hyperboles, imagery, and expression in dramatic and colloquial tones.
Q.3. Define a metaphysical wit.
Ans. Wit is a clever and humorous expression but in a metaphysical sense, it is the saying of fine sparkling things which startle and amuse. It is the perception of similarity in dissimilarity. For example, in Donne’s poem “The Sun Rising”, we find a wonderful wit: “She’s all states, and all princes, I Nothing else is”.
1. The Sun Rising
Q.4. What is the theme of the poem “The Sun Rising”?
Ans. “The Sun Rising” is a love-lyric showing the self-sufficient nature of love. The pair of lovers concentrate within themselves all the glory and riches of the outside world.
Q.5. What is Donne’s view on love in this poem?
Ans. Donne’s view on love in this poem cannot be termed definitely Platonic or sensual, but rather a mixture of both. According to him, love must be based on both body and soul.
Q.6. How can the poet bedim/eclipse/shun the brightness of the sun?
Ans. The poet-lover tells the sun that if he so desires, he can bedim all its brightness by a wink and suggests the possibility of the brightness of his beloved’s eyes having blinded its own.
Q.7. What does the poet compare his beloved too?
Ans. The poet compares his beloved to the spices found in East Indies and to the valuable metals and stones found in West Indies. She is as fragrant as the spices of the East Indies and as rich and valuable as the gold mines of the West Indies.
Q.8. What does the poet compare his bedroom to and why?
Ans. The poet compares his bedroom to a world because his beloved and he stands for all the states and princes of the world, and thus the world has been reduced to a pair of lovers lying in their bedroom.
Q.9. How, according to the poet, can the sun by shining in their bedroom, shine the whole world?
Ans. The bed on which the poet and his sweetheart are lying is the whole world to them. So the sun shining in their bedroom only can shine the whole world, because their bedroom is the epitome of the whole world.
Q.10. How has the poet brought a macrocosm into a microcosm?
Ans. According to Donne, the bedroom of the lovers constitutes the center of the Universe and the four walls, the sphere within which the sun revolves (according to the Ptolemic system of cosmology). The poet here has brought the macrocosm into the microcosm.
Q.11. What is the nature of true love?
Ans. True love is unaffected by time and space. It knows no division of time, like hours, days, months, or seasons which are nothing but scraps of eternity. It rises above the considerations of months and years, countries, and climates.
Q.12. Why does the poet say that love-making has no particular season or time?
Ans. Love, according to the poet, transcends the limitations of time and space. It rises above considerations of hours, days, months, or years. So the poets, whose love is true and perfect, do not want the sun to announce the morning by peeping through the windows and curtains of lovers’ bed rooms.
Q.13. How does the poet rebuke the sun in the poem “The Sun Rising”?
Ans. The poet rebukes the sun for disturbing the lovers in their bedroom. He asks it not to send its rays through the windows and curtains of their bedroom but to go and tell late school boys, apprentices, hunters, and ants that it is dawn. He calls the sun an old fool disturbing their love-making.
Q.14. How does Donne use personification in ‘The Sun Rising”?
Ans. In “The Sun Rising”, Donne disparagingly personifies the sun as a “busy old fool” who is “unruly” in the face of some authority.
II. A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning
Q.15. Why does the poet forbid his beloved to mourn? Or, What is the central theme of the poem?
Ans. The poem, “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” reveals the fact that temporary separation cannot cause a breach of perfect love. Absence extends the domain and expanse of love. That is why mourning is prohibited because love is eternal.
Q.16. How does the poet urge his wife to allow him to go?
Ans. Donne urges his wife to let him go like virtuous people who die very quietly, being dauntless of death.
Q.17. What does Donne compare his separation from his beloved to?
Ans. Donne compares his separation from his beloved to the trepidation of the heavenly bodies which remain totally unfelt by the people of the world. So also their parting should be peaceful and harmless.
Q.18. What is the nature of love between the poet and his beloved?
Ans. The love between the poet and his beloved is spiritual and refined. They are so confident of and faithful to each other’s souls that physical separation does not matter at all to them.
Q.19. What does the poet compare their two souls to?
Ans. The poet compares their two souls, one of himself and the other of his beloved, to the two feet of a compass, which appear to be separate but are in reality united at the top. The beloved who stays at home may be likened to its fixed foot, which does not seem to move, but which moves in reality, if the other foot moves.
Q.20. What instrument does the poet compare his beloved to and why?
Ans. The poet compares his beloved to the foot of the compass which remains fixed at the center. But it leans and follows the other foot when it moves and grows erect and unites with the moving foot when it returns to the starting point after completing the circle.
Q.21. “Thy firmness makes my circle just”-Explain. Or, How will the two lovers reunite?
Ans. The beloved has the same relation with the lover (the poet) as the fixed foot of the compass has with the moving foot, which moves and draws a circle. It is the firmness of the fixed foot which enables the moving foot to draw the circle correctly. Similarly, it is her love and faithfulness which would enable him to perform his journey successfully and then return home to unite with her.
Q.22. In what sense, Donne’s love is platonic in the poem, “Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”? Ans. Donne can claim that his love is platonic when he says that he differs from the sublunary sensual lovers. His love is spiritual and in no way dependent upon bodily attraction.
IV. The Canonization
Q.23. “For God’s sake hold your tongue, and let me love”- Who does the poet say this to and why?
Ans. Donne says this to some friend of his, who is trying to dissuade him from making love to his beloved.
Q.24. How does Donne prove/ argue that his love is harmless/ innocent?
Ans. Donne employs several hyperbolical expressions to prove that nobody or nothing is affected by his love-making. He says that his sighs have not drowned any merchant’s ship, his tears, shed out of love, have not flooded any farmer’s land, his colds have never elongated winter and delayed the coming of the Spring, his passion caused by love, has never led to a disease like a plague and thus added to the number of the dead.
Q.25. How does the poet make a defense of /or justify his love-making by citing the examples of soldiers and lawyers?
Ans. To justify his love-making, the poet says that the fighting instinct of soldiers has not been disturbed in the least nor are the lawyers, busy with litigation, prevented from their practice by his love affair.
Q.26. What do you mean by the expression, “The Phoenix riddle”?
Ans. The Phoenix is a mythical bird. It is said that only one such bird exists at a time and when its life term of 500 years is over, it burns itself on a burning pyre and then renews itself from its own ashes.
Q.27. What do the dove and the eagle symbolize? Why does the poet compare himself and his beloved to the eagle and the dove?
Ans. The eagle, a bird of prey, symbolizes strength, while the dove stands for peace or gentleness. The poet compares them (himself and his beloved) to the eagle and the dove because both of them are violent and gentle and prey on each other. Donne used these symbols to indicate their carnal desire.
Q.28. How does the poet want themselves to be canonized? Or, How does the poet attain immortality?
Ans. The poet and his beloved are prepared to die for love if they cannot live by love. The tale of their death will form the subject of love poets. Their love will be commemorated in lyrics and sonnets and thus they will attain sainthood or immortality through canonization.
Q.29. What, according to Donne, would render them sainthood?
Ans. The sonnets written by the followers of the poet and his beloved to commemorate their immortal love story would render them sainthood.
Q.30. What is the true nature of Donne’s love in “Canonization”?
Ans. Love, according to Donne, must be based on both body and soul. In “Canonization” Donne tries to reach his beloved’s soul through physical love.
Q.31. What is canonization?
Ans. According to Christianity, the term ‘Canonization’ means to proclaim a person to be a saint after his death by canon law, and to be fully honored as such.
VI. Batter My Heart, Three-Personed God
Q.32. Why does the poet compare himself to a usurped town?
Ans. The poet compares himself to a town illegally occupied by Satan. His soul belongs to God but has been taken away by the devil. He is willing to obey God but he cannot do so, because he is under the power of the devil.
Q.33. In what sense is ‘Reason’ God’s Viceroy?
Ans. The reason, according to the poet, is the agent of God but even Reason is unable to oppose the might of the Devil. The poet feels that his sense of reason has been enslaved by the material world of temptation. man,
Q.34. What prayer does Donne make to God?
Ans. Donne prays to God (the lover) to save him (The mistress) from the clutches of Satan (adversary of God) and to free him from all wickedness. He asks God to use force and separate him from the devil to whom he is betrothed.
Q.35. How will Donne achieve real freedom?
Ans. Donne thinks that now he is enslaved by Satan and God alone can rescue him by severing his connection with evil. The poet can achieve real freedom if God imprisons him or takes total possession of him.
Q.36. Why does the poet want to be ravished by God?
Ans. In order to become chaste, the poet (beloved) wants to be ravished by God (lover). Being ravished means losing one’s chastity but the poet means that only if God takes forcible possession of him, then he may be rid of his sinfulness.10
Q.37. What does ‘Three Personed God’ refer to in “Batter My Heart”?
Ans. ‘Three Personed God’ refers to the Divine Spirit manifesting itself in three persons – God, the Father; God, the Son; and the Holy Ghost. This is the doctrine of the trinity which means the union of three persons – God, the son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Ghost-in one God-head.
VII. Death Be Not Proud
Q.38. What is the popular idea about death?
Ans. The popular idea about death is that it is a very terrifying and mighty power of destruction. It can kill anybody at any time.
Q.39. How does Donne discard the popular notion about death as a dreadful power?
Ans. According to Donne, death is not dreadful, for those whom death is supposed to kill, are not killed in reality. They do not die; they only sleep a long and peaceful sleep.
Q.40. In what sense does death resemble rest and sleep?
Ans. Rest and sleep resemble death. Just as sleep refreshes and invigorates the human mind, so also death provides more comfort and pleasure to the soul.
Q.41. What is the meaning of the soul’s delivery?
Ans. It is only through death that the soul of a man can be freed from the prison of his body and thus attains eternal rest. WALO
Q.42. How can opium and other drugs induce better sleep than death can?
Ans. Death certainly brings about sleep, but opium preparations or similar other intoxications or drugs, supposed to have magical properties, can induce better sleep with a far gentler and painless operation.
Q.43. How is death conquered?
Or, How will death die? Or, What is the poet’s idea about the immortality of the soul?
Ans. Death can cause only a temporary sleep in the grave and then people wake up to eternal life. In fact, death does not kill human beings; it is death itself that dies. Thus, the immortality of the soul is achieved by conquering death.
Q.44. How does the poet refute the pride of death?
Ans. The poet says that there is no reason at all for death to be the mood of power. It can induce only a temporary sleep after which we shall live eternally in Heaven.
Q.45 Why does Donne advise Death not to be proud?
Ans. The poet says that Death can induce only a temporary sleep after which we shall live eternally in Heaven. So Donne advises Death not to be proud.
Q.46. What is a metaphysical conceit?
Ans. A metaphysical conceit is basically a simile or a comparison between two dissimilar things, or two most heterogeneous ideas. This kind of comparison is highly exaggerated, fantastic, and far-fetched, and it gives rise to an image.
Q.47. What does ‘The Phoenix’ symbolize?
Ans. The Phoenix symbolizes the immortality of the love of the poet and his beloved.
Andrew Marvell All Brief
1. To His Coy Mistress
Q.1. What does the title indicate about the mistress of the poet?
Ans. The title, “To His Coy Mistress” indicates that the poet’s mistress is a shy lady who hesitates to respond quickly to her lover’s advances.
Q.2. Where is Humber situated?
Ans. Humber is a river in Humberside, North-East England, consisting of the estuary of the rivers Trent and Qusi and extending from their confluence for about sixty kilometres to the North Sea.
Q.3. Which Flood does the poet refer to in the poem, “To His Coy Mistress”?
Ans. The Flood, referred to by the poet in “To His Coy Mistress” was the great Flood as related in the Genesis of the Bible. The
Scripture says that the world was destroyed by the Deluge.
Q.4. How does the poet propose to appreciate the different parts of his beloved’s body?
Ans. If the poet and his beloved had enough space and time at their disposal, he would spend a hundred years in praising her eyes and gazing on her forehead; he would spend two hundred years in admiring each of her breasts; and he would spend thirty thousand years in praising the remaining parts of her body.
Q.5. What does the poet always hear behind his back?
Ans. The poet always hears the rumbling sound of Time’s winged chariot that rushes forward to swallow everything eternally. The image of Time’s winged chariot signifies the inevitability of death and the shortness of human life.”
Q.6. What, according to the poet, is the proper time for enjoyment of life?
Ans. According to the poet, it would be proper for the lovers to enjoy the pleasures of love when there is still time, when her skin is still youthful and fresh, and when her responsive soul is burning with a desire for love-making.
Q.7. does the poet propose to his beloved to enjoy the present moment?
Ans. The poet proposes to his beloved that they should be like amorous birds of prey and enjoy the pleasures of love, rather than suffering the pangs of unsatisfied love. In other words, they should enjoy the pleasures of love-making with all their energy and vigour.
Q.8. Why does the poet compare himself and his beloved to the amorous birds of prey?
Ans. The poet proposes to enjoy love-making with his beloved like amorous birds of prey. Here the idea of love-making is combined with fierceness. The lover here speaks in terms of a fierce passion.
Q.9. What is hyperbole?
Ans. Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which something is described as or worse than it really is.
Q.10. What is Carpe Diem Theme’?
Ans. The central theme of the poem, “To His Coy Mistress” is the ‘Carpe Diem’ theme. According to this theme, the wisest man is he who understands the ruthless march of time and knows how to enjoy the present moment without caring for any criticism what so ever.
Q.11. Why is the grave, not a proper place for making love?
Ans. The grave is a place where the dead body lies. But nobody can enjoy the pleasures of love-making there, because the dead body has no sensation or feeling, and ultimately it turns to dust.
Q.12. What is ‘Carpe-Diem Theory”? In which poem do you find it?
Ans. ‘Carpe-Diem Theory’ as illustrated in Andrew Marvell’s poem “To His Coy Mistress” means that one should enjoy the present moment without caring for any criticism whatsoever.
Q.13. How is the lady committing a crime in “To His Coy Mistress”?
Ans. The lady is hesitating to respond to her lover’s advances quickly due to her shyness and thus she is committing a crime by wasting time and approaching gradually towards senility and death.
Q.14. Why does Marvell call his beloved a coy mistress?
Ans. Marvell calls his beloved a coy mistress because she hesitates to respond quickly to her lover’s advances.
Q.15 What are the rivers mentioned in the poem, “The His Coy Mistress”?
Q.16 Name a poem in your syllabus in which a syllogistic pattern has been used. Ans. “To His Coy Mistress”
Q.17. What does the phrase ‘Time’s winged chariot signify?
Ans. The phrase ‘Time’s winged chariot” signifies the fleeting nature of time and the shortness of human life.
Q.18. What is Marvel’s opinion about the grave?
Ans. The poet assures his beloved that the grave is a fine and private place, where none can enjoy the pleasures of love-making. Thus the poet is laying emphasis on the sensual pleasures of the present moments.
II. The Definition of Love
Q.19. What is the nature of the poet’s love in the poem, “The Definition of Love”?
Ans. The love between the poet and his beloved is perfect and divine. As perfect love always remains unfulfilled, the poet regards it as the child of despair and impossibility.
Q.20. Why does the poet term his despair as magnanimous?
Ans. The poet’s sense of frustration has aroused in him a kind which aided him to recognize the divine nature of love. So he has termed his despair as “Magnanimous Despair’ which means high-souled, noble despair.
Q.21. What is the role of hope in the poet’s love affair?
Ans. Hope has been compared to a bird having gaudy wings but not having the required strength to fly high enough. The poet’s hope. being weak could never have touched the heights attained by despair. That means the poet’s love did not hold much promise of fulfilment.
Q.22. How does Fate control the love of two perfect lovers in the poet’s opinion?
Ans. Fate keeps vigil upon two perfect lovers with her envious eyes and impedes them to become close as their union would announce the ruin of her despotic power.
Q.23. How does the poet imagine being united with his beloved?
Ans. The poet imagines some kind of colossus turmoil in the universe that might bring down Heaven upon the earth and would turn the world into a two-dimensional object from her spherical shape. Thus, when the world would achieve a plainispheric form, then only they could be reunited.
Q.24. Which geometrical imagery does the poet use to show the nature of guilty or adulterous love?
Ans. The poet compares the guilty lovers to the two oblique lines in geometry. As oblique lines can meet each other from all geometrical angles, so also only guilty or adulterous lovers can find the fulfilment of their passion.
Q.25. Which geometrical figures are compared to the loves of the poet and his beloved?
Ans. The loves of the poet and his beloved are compared to the two parallel lines in geometry. Such lines can never meet even if they are stretched to infinity. Similarly, the poet and his beloved can never be united.
Q.26. What is the central theme of the poem, “The Definition of Love”?
Ans. Divine or true love means the union of two souls but the separation of two bodies.
Q.27. What are the three conditions for the fulfilment of the poet’s love?
Ans. According to the poet, the two perfect lovers can be united- only if three marvels happen. First, the spinning spheres of the
universe must lose their balance and fall flat. Second, the earth’s globe must be shattered by a convulsion and twisted out of shape. Third, the whole created world must be cramped into a plane.
Q.28. What figure of speech is used in the term ‘Magnanimous Despair’?
Ans. Oxymoron
Q.29. How is the lover’s love begotten in “The Definition of Love”?
Ans. The poet’s love is the child of the marriage of Despair and Impossibility. Despair is the father of Impossibility, the mother of this love.
Q.30. How is the lover’s love begotten in “The Definition of Love”?
Ans. The poet’s love is the child of the marriage of Despair and Impossibility. Despair is the father and Impossibility, the mother of this love.
Q.31. What has prevented the union between the poet and his beloved in ‘The Definition of Love”?
Ans. The indefinable Fate has prevented the union between the soul of the poet and that of his beloved through its complicated policy.
Q.32. What is meant by the phrase ‘vegetable love”?
Ans. By “vegetable love” the poet means a kind of love that is characterized only by growth like vegetables and plants. The poet assumes that due to his beloved’s shyness, his love will continue for thousands of years and grow slowly like a big tree vaster than an empire.
George Herbert All Brief
1. Easter Wings
Q.1. What is Easter?
Ans. Easter is a festival in the Christian Church Commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is observed on the first Sunday following the full moon that occurs on or just after March 21.
Q.2. What Biblical allusion do you find in the poem, “Easter Wings”
Ans. The Biblical story of the first sin of Man (Adam) and his consequent fall from the blissful Eden, the Garden of Heaven, due to Satan’s temptation, has been depicted at the beginning of the poem, “Easter Wings”.
Q.3. What did Man lose foolishly?
Ans. Man lost his spiritual quality because of his own folly. This refers to the original sin, committed by Adam and Eve by violating God’s command not to eat the fruit of the Forbidden Tree of Knowledge under the temptation of Satan.
Q.4. How did Man decay and become poor?
Ans. After committing sin, Man’s moral nature went on declining till, from the spiritual point of view, he became very poor, almost bankrupt. In other words, Man’s nature went on becoming more and more sinful.
Q.5. How can the sin of man be transformed into redemption? Or, Give the meaning of the expression, “Then shall the fall To further the flight in me”.
Ans. If there is no fall, there can be no flight. Man first fell from the grace of God, when he disobeyed Him but he got his redemption through repentance and God’s forgiveness. The poet thinks, if God forgives him for his sins, he would be spiritually rejuvenated.
Q.6. Whose victory does the poet want to sing and in what way?
Ans. On Easter Sunday Herbert, the poet clergy wishes to sing about the victory of Jesus Christ, soaring above the sky harmoniously like a lark. In fact, the poet wishes to sing about Christ’s Resurrection which signifies his triumph over death and thus achieves his spiritual
Q.7. How did God purge the poet of his sins?
Ans. In the poet’s opinion, God had punished him with sickness and shame to purge him of his sins.
Q.8. How does the poet want to feel on Easter Sunday?
Ans. On the holy Easter, Sunday Herbert expresses his strong desire to be one with God or Christ and feel wholeheartedly his (Christ’s) victory over death.
Q.9. What kind of help does Herbert expect from Christ?
Ans. Herbert compares himself to a lark with damaged wings. He, therefore, urges God or Christ to repair his damaged wings so that he may be able to fly with increased power. The damaged wings imply the poet’s miserable condition brought about by his sinfulness.
Q.10. What is the central theme of the poem, “Easter Wings”?
Ans. The central theme of the poem, “Easter Wings” is the poet’s earnest appeal to God to allow him to be one with Him on the holy Easter Day and feel the victory of Christ over death. Thus he will achieve his spiritual upliftment.
Q.11. What is the theme of the poem “Easter Wings”?
Ans. The poet laments the utter moral and spiritual degeneration of the human race and seeks salvation through Jesus Christ.
Q.12. What does ‘Easter’ stand for?
Ans. Easter is a festival in the Christian Church Commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Q.13. How is Herbert reconciled with God after a course rebellion against Him?
Ans. It seems that a voice has spoken to the poet, addressing him, a “Child”. What the poet means is that an inner voice in his heart represents the voice of God.
Q.14. How did a man, according to Herbert, become nearer to God?
Ans. The poet could become nearer to God having been cleansed of his sins.
II. The Collar
Q.15 What does the “Collar” symbolize?
Ans. A collar is a neckband attached to a coat or a shirt. In the poem of Herbert, “Collar” conveys the idea of the collar worn by a priest as a symbol of his priesthood. This indicates the rigorous discipline of priestly life, from which Herbert desires freedom.
Q.16. What does George Herbert mean by the word ‘collar’?
Ans. A collar is a neckband attached to a coat or a shirt. In the poem of Herbert, “Collar” conveys the idea of the collar worn by a priest as a symbol of his priesthood. This indicates the rigorous discipline of priestly life, from which Herbert desires freedom.
Q.17. What is the nature of the poem, “The Collar”?
Ans. “The Collar” is a religious poem depicting Herbert’s dilemma for his self-denial of all worldly pleasures but ends with his calm and submissive surrender to God.
Q.18. What does Herbert ever sigh and pine for?
Ans. Herbert, the poet-clergy has to lead a life of self-denial and that is why he has ever to sigh and pine for worldly pleasures.
Q.19. Which worldly things were Herbert deprived of and why did he heave sighs and shed tears?
Ans. As a devoted priest of the church Herbert was deprived of wine, fruits, flowers, and garlands symbolizing all joyous celebrations and worldly pleasures. For this reason, he heaves sighs, and sheds tears, expressing his bitter disappointment.
Q.20. How will Herbert recover from the loss of his youthful pleasures?
Ans. Herbert tells himself that he can make up for all the wasted years of his life by how enjoying double the number of pleasures which he would normally have enjoyed.
Q.21. How does Herbert react to the flimsy bond of religion?
Ans. At the height of his rebellious thought, Christianity appears to Herbert as a rope of sand which have no power to bind. In other words, his life as a priest could not have satisfied him, even though it appeared at the time that he would be able to draw strength from it.
Q.22. How does Herbert chide himself?
Ans. Herbert chides himself saying that he is willingly getting used to the conduct of church life and that he always closes his eyes, shutting out reality.
Q.23. How does the poet dispel his fear of death?
Ans. The poet has made up his mind to pay no attention to the human skull which frightens a man with the thought of death. He has decided to enjoy the pleasures of worldly life and to pay no heed to those things which remind a man of death.
Q.24. “Have I no harvest but a thorn?”- In which poem notice this line?
Ans. The quoted line occurs in Herbert’s poem “The Collar”..
Q.25. How did the poet reply in response to calling ‘child’?
Ans. Submitting humbly to God, Herbert replied, “My Lord”
Q.26. What does the poem ‘Easter Wings’ symbolize?
Ans. “Easter Wings” symbolizes spiritual upliftment or spiritual flight through Christ’s mercy.
Q.27. How does the poet console himself in ‘The Collar’?
Ans. Herbert consoles himself with the thought that everything has not yet been lost. There is still time for him to give up his priestly vocation and return to a secular life with all its pleasures.
John Milton All Brief
Q.1. Who was Milton?
Ans. John Milton was the greatest epic poet in English literature. His best-known epic poem is published in 1667.
Q.2. Which age did Milton belong to?
Ans. John Milton belonged to the Puritan age.
Q.3. What do you mean by ‘The Restoration Period”?
Ans. “The Restoration Period’ signifies the period between the return of Charles II to the British throne and the revolution of 1688.
Q.4. What is Milton’s idea about the universe?
Ans. According to Milton’s cosmology, the whole created universe is suspended from Heaven by a golden chain. Various insulating layers are provided between the spheres. Among these are the Chaos and the Old Night.
Q.5. What are the four basic elements according to Milton’s cosmology?
Ans. According to Milton’s cosmology, there were four basic elements that made up all earthly matter. These were earth, air, fire, and water. They were naturally repugnant to each other and only the imposition of God’s will made them bend to natural laws.
Q.6. Whom does Milton invoke in his epic Paradise Lost and what is his purpose in the invocation?
Ans. Milton invokes the Heavenly Muse or God for his assistance in writing his epic, Paradise Lost. His purpose is to prove God’s eternal foresightedness and His unending love and care for mankind.
Q.7. Why was the taste of the forbidden fruit mortal for Man?
Ans. Before eating the forbidden fruit Adam and Eve were angelic beings, living happily in Heaven. But as soon as they tasted the fruit of the temptation of Satan, they became mortal human beings with sensual passions.
Q.8. What was the first sin of Man and what were its consequences?
Ans. The first sin, committed by Adam and Eve, the grandparents of mankind, was eating of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge in Heaven. As a result of this sin, they lost heavenly innocence, became mortal, and were ordained to live on earth with sufferings till Jesus Christ paid the price of man’s sin and enabled him to regain the lost seat of Heaven.
Q.9. What is chaos?
Ans. Chaos means the disordered state of unformed matter and infinite space, supposed to have existed prior to the ordered universe according to some religious cosmological views.
Q.11. How was Satan punished by God?
Ans. God hurled Satan headlong from Heaven and he fell in a track of flame from the ethereal sky. He fell down actually into the fathomless abyss of Hell. He had to dwell there forever being bound in unbreakable chains and afflicted by fire.
Q.12. How was Satan’s sorrow aggravated? Or, Why was Satan tormented?
Ans. Being within the doomed condition Satan’s sorrow increased. He remembered his lost happiness and was much tormented by his sufferings in Hell. The entire lake showed a picture of utter desolation, waste, and wild.
Q.13. Where was the prison for the fallen angels made?
Ans. The vast prison of Hell was made in the lowest part of chaos which is far away from the light of God.
Q.14. What is the distance between Heaven and Hell?
Ans. The distance between Heaven and Hell was three times the distance between the earth, the center of the Universe, and the northernmost limit of the Universe.
Q.15. Who is Satan?
Ans. In Hebrew ‘Satan’ signifies the Chief adversary of God and mankind and so Milton calls him the “Arch-Enemy”. His synonym is the devil. He was the leader of the angels who rebelled against God in Heaven long ago.
Q.16. What is Satan’s view on the defeat of the fallen angels?
Ans. Satan, the leader of the fallen angels, tries to inspire his army saying that the last war could not lessen their physical strength; instead, their experience and wisdom have been increased.
Q.17. What does Satan suggest to continue their war against God?
Ans. Satan encourages his followers, saying that as they have gained experience of warfare by fighting the last battle and since their strength is in no way inferior to God’s, they may wage eternal war against Him by physical force or cunningness or both.
Q.18. What is Satan’s sole delight?
Ans. While speaking to Beelzebub, Satan announces in a downright manner that carrying out God’s orders will never be their task. On the contrary, their sole delight will be to do ill ever, to oppose God’s noble task. Even they will never attempt to find means of evil out of good.
Q.19. To which sea animal has Satan been compared in vastness by the poet?
Ans. In the vastness of Satan’s body, he has been compared to the monstrous sea creature ‘Leviathan’ mentioned in the Old Testament.
Q.20. How will God baffle all the malice and ill-will of Satan towards man?
Ans. God will baffle all the ill will and malice of Satan by producing unlimited goodness and kindness for man but confusion and sufferings for him (Satan).
Q.21. Why and how did Satan bid farewell to Heaven? Or, When did Satan express his nostalgia?
Ans. Satan’s nostalgia may be traced in his bidding farewell to the “happy fields (Heaven) where the joy forever dwells!” He has felt shocked at the “mournful gloom” of hell which he has to exchange for the celestial light of Heaven from where he and his followers have been overthrown.
Q.22. How long is Satan’s spear? Or, What impression of Satan’s spear does the poet give?
Ans. In comparison with Satan’s spear, the tallest pine cut down on the Norwegian hills and shaped into a mast of the prime ship of a fleet, would, according to the poet, seem a mere stick.
Q.23. How did the fallen angels, lying in slumber, respond to the last command of Satan?
Ans. When the fallen angels heard Satan’s rousing call, they were filled with shame, instantly they rose and got themselves prepared to execute their general’s order.
Q.24. When does Milton compare the rebel angels to the Barbarians?
Ans. At the direction of Satan, his army (the fallen angels) descended instantly on the hot sulfurous plain in a disciplined manner. At this point, the fallen angels have been compared to the barbarians that descended from the icy and over-populated regions of the North, crossed the Rhine and Danube, and like a flood spread over the south of Europe and entered Africa.
Q.25. What is ‘Judah’?
Ans. Judah is the name of a tribe of Israel descended from Judas Iscariot who betrayed Christ with a kiss.
Q.26. Who was Moloch?
Ans. Moloch, one of the fallen angels, became the god of the Ammonites and was worshipped with inhuman rites in Rabba and in the neighboring countries. His idol was made of brass with the figure of a king and the head of a calf and with hands outstretched, children were sacrificed to appease him.
Q.27. Who was Chemos?lan
Ans. Chemos was the chief God of the Moabites, a Canaanite nation inhabiting the country east of the Dead Sea and south of Ammon. He was often identified with Baal-Peor and his worship was accompanied by drunkenness and debauchery. Solomon built a shrine to him as he did to Moloch.
Q.28. Who was Josiah?
Ans. Josiah, King of Judah, was a devout worshipper of Jehovah, the true God of the Old Testament. He set himself to cleanse his kingdom of all idolatrous practices. It was he who stopped the worship of both Moloch and Chemos.
Q.29. What do you mean by “Baalim” and “Ashtaroth”?
Ans. ‘Baalim’ is the plural form of “Baal” who was the sun god and the supreme male deity of the Phoenicians and the Syrians. He was also known as ‘Baal-Peor’. Similarly, “Ashtaroth” was the collective name for moon goddesses. The singular form is ‘Ashtoreth” who was the supreme female deity of these nations and the counterpart of ‘Baal’. She was the equivalent of the Greek Aphrodite.
Q.30. Who was Thammuz?
Ans. Thammuz was a Syrio-Phoenician god, equivalent to Adonis of the Greeks. He would be worshipped by the maidens of Israel at Jerusalem with an intense desire for sexual pleasures.
Q.31. Who was Dagon?
Ans. Dagon was the national god of the Philistines. His worship seems to have been introduced from Babylonia. The name has been derived from the Hebrew “Dag” -a fish, and from the Hebrew word for “com”. Dagon is also the god of agriculture.
Q.32. What do you mean by the word, “Belial”?
Ans. Belial was not the name of any god. The word simply meant worthlessness. In the Bible, the word, sometimes, occurs as a proper name. However, Milton imagines Belial as a heathen god. Belial here represents both effeminacy and lust.
Q.33. Who is Jove?
Ans. Jove is Jupiter, the supreme god, patron of the Roman state, and brother, and husband of Juno. He is identified with the Greek god Zeus.
Q.34. How did the fallen angels march in the field of Hell? Ans. The fallen angels marched in perfect battle order to the accompaniment of the Dorian music of flutes and soft recorders.
Q.35. What was the effect of the Dorian music upon the fallen angels?
Ans. The soft mysterious music helped the rebel angels forget the pain of walking on the burning soil of Hell.
Q.36. What does Milton compare the fallen angels too?
Ans. The defeated angels with their lost luster are compared to the forest oaks or the tall pines with their tops burnt by lightning or struck by thunder.
Q.37. What is the importance of Satan’s fifth speech?
Ans. The fifth speech of Satan is very important because, in that very speech, he announces his new strategy of war against God. He wants to win this new war through treacherous cunningness. In this speech, he also orders his followers to invade the new world that God intended to create.
Q.38. What leadership qualities of Satan do you trace in his last speech?
Ans. Satan’s heroic leadership may be traced in his initiative, determination, rebellion, and cunning against the monarchy of God. This is clearly indicated when he declares before the assembly of the fallen angels his firm determination to wage a war, open or secret, against God. He rules out the possibility of compromise with the Almighty.
Q.39. Who is Mammon? What type of angel was he?
Ans. Mammon is the angel who led the expedition of a group of fallen angels at the hill with mines of metallic ore. The extremely greedy Mammon is the personification of avarice.
Q.40. Who made mankind acquainted with greed?
Ans. Mammon, the most greedy fallen angel taught mankind to ransack the bowels of mother Earth for treasures. Thus mankind became acquainted with greed.
Q.41. What is the name of the capital of Satan’s empire?/ What is Pandemonium?
Ans. Pandemonium was the name of the capital of Satan’s empire. It was the home of all the demons in Hell. It was to the fallen angels as the Pantheon, a temple in Rome, was to the gods. The word ‘Pandemonium’ is now used to express a place full of tumultuous noise, confusion and discord.g
Q.42. Who is Mulciber?
Ans. Mulciber is one of the evil angels who fell from Heaven with Satan. In Heaven, he was the architect of mansions for the angelic host. He was the Greek god Hephaestus. He is the architect of Pandemonium, the capital of Hell.
Q.43. In what sense is Satan a Renaissance hero?
Ans. Satan stands as the most dominant and powerful figure of the Renaissance in Book 1 of Paradise Lost. His Renaissance qualities may be traced in his initiative, rebellion, cunning stubborn pride, courage and fortitude in adversity, and above all, organizing capacity as the leader of the fallen angels.
Q.44. Who was Rimmon?
Ans. Rimmon was a Syrian god worshipped at Damascus which was situated between the rivers Abana and Pharphar. Rimmon had the insolence to defy the true God. He lost the allegiance of Naaman who was cured of his leprosy by the prophet, Elisha. But he got as a worshipper the foolish king Ahaj.
Q.45. Who is the ‘Arch-Enemy’ of God and man?
Ans. Satan is the Arch-Enemy of God and man. Milton gives the literal meaning of the word “Satan’ as the Arch-Enemy or the adversary of God.
Q.46. What are the objects, compared to the fallen angels as they lay unconscious on the burning lake of fire in Hell?
Ans. The fallen angels lying unconscious on the burning lake of fire in Hell have been compared to (i) the autumnal leaves on the brooks in Vallombrosa, (ii) The scattered sedge afloat on the Red Sea after a storm and (iii) the floating carcasses and broken chariot wheels of the Egyptian army, on the Red Sea after the Israelites had crossed over. his potent
Q.47. What was the miracle performed by Moses with rod?
Ans. In order to force the Pharaoh the King to let the Israelites leave Egypt, Moses summoned, by waving his potent rod, a huge swarm of locusts which darkened the whole land. This was one of the miracles performed by Moses.
Q.48. Why was Pharaoh, the king called “impious Pharaoh”?
Ans. Pharaoh, the King of Egypt was impious and wicked. because he defied God and refused to obey His command and let His people go astray.
Q.49. Why is Egypt called the land of the Nile?
Ans. Egypt is called the land of the Nile because it owes its fertility to the river Nile.
Q.50. Who was called the great Sultan and why?
Ans. Satan, as the leader of the fallen angels, was called the great Sultan by Milton. Sultan not only implies grandeur and absolute power but also as being the usual title of Mohammedan rulers, opposition to the true faith.
Q.51. What do you mean by “Old Olympus”?
Ans. Olympus was the name of a mountain range in Greece. Greek poets spoke of it as being the abode of Zeus and other gods. Its summit was covered with perpetual snow.
Q.52. What is Babel?
Ans. Babel may refer to Babylon, but it may also mean the Tower of Babel.
Q.53. Why does Milton say that Pandemonium the capital in Hell rose like an exhalation?
Ans. As a result of the angelic effort of Pandemonium, the capital in Hell rose from the land rapidly like a mist to the accompaniment of music. Owing to the total absence of bustle, noise and other signs of labour, the building seemed to rise naturally out of the earth like an unsubstantial mist.
0.54. Who is Beelzebub? eum iod?
Ans. In Hebrew ‘Beelzebub’ means “The Lord of Flies”. He was the prince of Hell, next to Satan in power. Historically he was the most alluring false god of the children of Israel.
Q.55. What is the theme of the epic “Paradise Lost”?
Ans. The major theme of Paradise Lost is the ‘Fall of Man’ on account of his disobedience to God in eating the fruit of the Forbidden Tree.
Q.56. What is Leviathan? In which poem do you find it?
Ans. Leviathan refers to a sea monster. It is found in “Paradise Lost”.
Q.57. What is “invocation” in an epic?
Ans. Invocation is a convention of classical literature and of epics in particular, in which an appeal for aid (especially for inspiration) is made to a muse or deity, usually at or near the beginning of the work.
Q.58. Who is the architect of Pandamonium?
Ans. Mulicber is the architect of Pandemonium.
Q.59. What is John Milton’s intention in writing ‘Paradise Lost’?
Ans. Milton’s aim in writing “Paradise Lost” is to “justify the ways of God to men”.
Q.60. What does ‘Man’s first disobedience’ refer to?
Ans. The phrase ‘Man’s first disobedience’ refers to the incident of the eating of the forbidden fruit by Adam and Eve.
Q.61. Who is Jehovah?
Ans. “Jehovah’ is the name of God as described in the Christian translation of the Old Testament.
Q.62. What is a blank verse?
Ans. Blank verse is a type of poetry that is written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
For example:
“A once as far as ángels kén he views The dismal situation wáste and wild.
