The School Boy NCERT Solutions for Class 8 English Honeydew Poem 5
Question 1.
Find three or four words/phrases in stanza 1 that reflect the child’s happiness and joy.
Answer:
(i) …… I love to rise
(ii) …… the birds sing
(iii) skylark sings with me
(iv) …… sweet company
Question 2.
In stanza 2, the mood changes. Which words/phrases reflect the changed mood?
Answer:
(i) It drives all joy away
(ii) Under a cruel eye outworn
(iii) In sighing and dismay
Question 3.
‘A cruel eye outworn’ (stanza 2) refers to
(i) the classroom which is shabby/noisy.
(ii) the lessons which are difficult/uninteresting.
(iii) the dull/uninspiring life at school with lots of work and no play. Mark the answer that you
Answer:
(iii) the dull/uninspiring life at school with lots of work and no play.
Question 4.
‘Nor sit in learning’s bower worn thro’ with the dreary shower Which of the following is a close paraphrase of the lines above ?
(i) Nor can I sit in a roofless classroom when it is raining.
(ii) Nor can I learn anything at school though teachers go on lecturing and explaining
(iii) Nor can I sit in the school garden for fear of getting wet in the rain.
Answer:
(ii) Nor can I learn anything at school though teachers go on lecturing and explaining.
The School Boy Introduction
The poet William Blake depicts the feelings of a school boy who is not a happy child. He compares himself to a bird that lives in a cage, and that to a plant that withers when it should blossom. Of course, he finds no joy in school during summer morning:
Question 1.
Where did the child spend anxious hour ?
(a) in the garden
(b) on the terrace
(c) in the classroom
(d) on the attic
Answer:
(c) in the classroom
Question 2.
Who sings with the child in summer morning ?
(a) thrust
(b) pigeon
(c) cuckoo
(d) Sky lark
Answer:
(d) Sky lark
Question 3.
Whom does the child compare to ?
(a) buds
(b) evils
(c) joys
(d) fantasies
Answer:
(a) buds
Question 4.
Which word in the poem means ‘uninteresting’?
(a) dismay
(b) droop
(c) dreary
(d) down
Answer:
(c) dreary
Question 5.
At school what is the mood of the child ?
(a) unhappy
(b) drooping
(c) a, & b, both
(d) None of these
Answer:
(c) a, & b, both
