Animals : SEBA / SMEBA / NCERT CLASS 10 ENGLISH SOLUTIONS

SEBA / SMEBA / NCERT CLASS 10 ENGLISH SOLUTIONS (FIRST FLIGHT)

CHAPTER  : ANIMALS

Animals

ASSAM CLASS 10 (SEBA / NCERT / CBSE) First Flight

দশম শ্রেণী ইংরাজী পদ্য

পাঠ : ANIMALS (জন্তুগুলি)

লেখক - Walt Whitman

 

ANIMALS (জন্তুগুলি)

Summary :

In this poem, poet Walt Whitman compares the lives of human and animals and concludes that the life of an animal is far better than that of human. He finds about their conditions, weeping for their sins, dissatisfaction etc. about human very comfortable and the prefers to turn into animals instead. He feels that civilization and economic development have made humans lose their true nature and values and instead crave for material desires. He notices these lost human values in the animals and wonders where they had got them.

 

সারাংশ:

কবি Walt Whitman মানব জীবনে এবং জন্তুর জীবনের মধ্যে তুলনা করিয়া এই সমাধানে আসিয়াছেন যে, মানুষ অপেক্ষা জন্তুর জীবনটি যথেষ্ট ভাল। তিনি দেখিয়াছে যে, মানুষ নিজের অবস্থা নিয়া দুঃখ করে, পাপ সম্পর্কে ভাবিয়া কান্নাকাটি করিয়া থাকে, যাহা জন্তুর মধ্যে দেখা যায় না। সেইজন্য, তিনি জন্তুর জীবনে ঘুরিয়া যাইতে চাহিয়াছে। সভ্যতা এবং অর্থনৈতিক প্রগতি মানুষের মানবিক মূল্যবোধকে ধ্বংস করিয়া দিয়াছে এবং তাহাদের পার্থিব আকাংক্ষাকে বৃদ্ধি করিতেছে। মানুষের হারানো মূল্যবোধ তিনি জন্তুর মধ্যে দেখিতে পাইয়া আশ্চর্য হইয়াছেন এবং জানিতে চাহিয়াছে তাহারা এই গুণগুলি কোথা হইতে আহরণ করিয়াছে।

Word Meanings (শব্দার্থ)  

Placid - Calm, mild (শান্ত, নম্র); Whine - To utter cry on pain (যন্ত্রণায় চিৎকার করা); Sweat - Perspire (ঘাম ফেলা); Mania - Crage (উন্মাদনা); Kneel - To fall on knees (হাটু গাড়িয়া বসা); Token - Mark, sign (চিহ্ন) ; Possession - Ownership (মালিকানা); Evince - To show something (নিজের গুণ বা অনুভব প্রকাশ কর।)

বাংলা অনুবাদ:

আমি ভাবি আমি ঘুরিয়া গিয়া জন্তুগুলির সঙ্গে থাকিতে পারতাম, তাহারা এত শান্ত এবং আত্মনিয়ন্ত্রিত যে আমি দাঁড়াইয়া তাহাদের দিকে বহু সময় চাহিয়া আছি।

তাহারা ঘর্মাক্ত হয় না এবং তাহাদের অবস্থার জন্য দুঃখ প্রকাশ করে না, অন্ধকারে তাহারা জাগিয়া শুইয়া থাকে না, এবং পাপের জন্য কান্নাকাটি করে না।

ভগবানের প্রতি তাহাদের কর্তব্য সম্পর্কে আলোচনা করিয়া আমাকে রিক্ত করে না, কেহই অসন্তুষ্ট নহে, বস্তু পাওয়ার আশায় মানসিক অসন্তুষ্টিতে পাগল হয় না।

একে অপরের কাছে হাটু গাড়িয়া বসে না, সহস্র বৎসর পূর্বেও এই ধরণের ছিল না।

কেউ সম্মানিত নহে, নতুবা জগৎটির জন্য অসুখীও নহে, সেইজন্য তাহারা আমার প্রতি সম্পর্ক দেখাইয়াছে এবং আমিও গ্রহণ করিয়াছি।

তাহারা আমাকে প্রতীক হিসাবে আনিয়াছে, আমি তাহাদের অধীনে সাধারণভাবে তাহাদিগকে প্রদর্শন করিয়াছি।

আমি আশ্চর্য হই এইজন্য যে তাহারা এই প্রতীকগুলি কোথায় পাইল? বহুদিন পূর্বে আমি সেই পথে অতিক্রম করিয়াছিলাম কিনা এবং অবহেলাক্রমে তাহাদিগকে ছাড়িয়া আসিয়াছি।

Questions and Answers

 

CLASS 10 ENGLISH FIRST FLIGHT CHAPTER 7 : ANIMALS

 

Central Idea of the Poem

In the poem ‘Animals’, the poet Walt Whitman praises animals for being better than human beings and for possessing all such qualities that humans lack or have forgotten. Those qualities are calmness, the lack of greed and the ability to stay happy and contained among others. The poet wants to live among animals and experience a life where no one complains and where they are free of sins and sorrow.
The most important theme of the poem is not to praise how good animals are, but to compare humans with them in order to highlight the flaws of their nature. The poet believes that probably a very long time ago, humans possessed all these qualities mentioned above, but they have now lost them.

STANZA-WISE EXPLANATION

Stanza 1

I think I could turn and live with animals, they are

so placid and self-contain’d

I stand and look at them long and long.

WORD MEANINGS

Placid – quiet, calm

Self-contained – poised (in the right mind; in full control of self)

Explanation – The poet here desires to turn into an animal and live with them as he is impressed by their calmness and the purity of their mind. Unlike humans, animals seem so contained with their lives and are happy in their natural surroundings. The simple lives of animals help them maintain self control and their rationality. He stands and looks at them for a long time. In the phrase ‘long and long’ the implied meaning is the longing that the poet feels for these two qualities in human beings.

Stanza 2

They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,

WORD MEANINGS

Sweat and whine – to cry (to complain)

Sins – misdeeds (immoral actions)

Explanation – The poet is quite happy with the fact that animals do not make complaints and cry about their conditions like humans. They eat and sleep peacefully as they have nothing to worry about, while humans, because of their wrong actions are unable to do so and thus cannot sleep without worrying about them. Humans, even after committing sins, talk about God and rightness, while animals are simple creatures and they do not need to worry about praying to God. The poet here means that since animals are so pure, they do not pray to God for forgiveness or ask God to fulfil their desires like humans.

Stanza 3

Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with

the mania of owning things,

Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that

lived thousands of years ago,

Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.

WORD MEANINGS

Demented – affected with madness

Mania – madness

Owning – possessing

Kneels – bends (as a sign of respect)

Explanation – Animals do not possess material things like humans and they are happy and satisfied without all the worldly items, the desire of which has affected human beings very badly. This desire to own things has been called madness by the poet. Animals are free from the habit of praying to their ancestors. When the poet says ‘not one is respectable’ he means that since all of them are equal, there is no question of respect to some and insult to others. All these features of animals make them happy and uncomplaining.

Stanza 4

So they show their relations to me and I accept them,

They bring me tokens of myself, they evince

them plainly in their possession

I wonder where they get those tokens,

Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?

WORD MEANINGS

Tokens – symbols

Evince – to show

Possession – ownership

Negligently – in a careless manner

Explanation – The poet feels that animals represent human beings in some way. This means that animals seem to have what humans once had, i.e. virtues like kindness, Self-containment and innocence. They symbolise the lost values of the human race. He believed that civilisation has corrupted human beings and instead of teaching values to them, it has taught them greed. He believes in this poem that humans dropped these virtues a long time ago and have forgotten them.

Poetic Devices Used in the Poem

The poem has uniform personification.

Stanza 1

Repetition
stand and look at them long and long.

Stanza 2

Repetition
(i) They do not sweat……….

(ii) Not one is dissatisfied………..

Alliteration
They do not make me sick.

Stanza 3

Alliteration
I wonder where they get those tokens

Rhyme Scheme

There is no rhyme. The poem is in free verse.

Thinking about the Poem

1.  Notice the use of the word ‘turn’ in the first line, “I think I could turn and live with animals…” What is the poet turning from?

Answer : The poet is turning away from living with other humans as he finds them complicated and false. He would rather live with animals that are self-contained and non-complaining.

2.Mention three things that humans do and animals don’t.

Answer : The poet has drawn three comparisons between humans and animals.

► Humans sweat and work to make a living and later whine and sulk about the amount of work they have to do to survive. Animals, on the other hand, do not whine about their condition.
► Humans lie awake at night and cry for the wrongs they have done. Animals do not weep for anything they do and sleep peacefully.
► Finally, humans make each other sick by discussing their duties to God. However, animals do not have any god and they live and survive without any prayers or fasts.

3.Do humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago? Discuss this in groups.

Answer : Yes, humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago. They worship their ancestors and pray by kneeling in front of their portraits. They hold religious sermons and ceremonies in their memory.

4.What are the ‘tokens’ that the poet says he may have dropped long ago, and which the animals have kept for him? Discuss this in class. (Hint: Whitman belongs to the Romantic tradition that includes Rousseau and Wordsworth, which holds that civilisation has made humans false to their own true nature. What could be the basic aspects of our nature as living beings that humans choose to ignore or deny?

Answer : The token that the poet says he might have dropped long ago, and which the animals have kept for him, is his true nature as a human. While humans came close to civilisation, they gradually moved away from their true nature. The natural instincts that humans had and the innocence with which they lived and helped each other have been left behind somewhere. As they got near civilisation, they chose to leave behind the virtues of kindness, sincerity, unselfishness, joy, satisfaction, respectability, and sharing. They took to vices such as greed, selfishness, desire to capture everything, and other such inhuman characteristics. Animals have carried forward the real instincts and characteristics, which the poet looks at and tries to remember where he had negligently lost his true nature.

 

Summary

In this poem, Walt Whitman has beautifully brought out the contrast between animals and human beings. Animals are generally simple in nature whereas human beings are generally greedy, selfish and very complicated. He is very happy with the easy going nature of animals and he wants to follow them.

The poet Walt Whitman is desirous to live among the animals as he thinks that they are self contented and serene. They are wise and this is the reason why they never bewail of their lot and condition. They do not weep for their sins and they have no care to worship even God. They are always satisfied and do not need to possess things. They respect none including their ancestors and they remain indifferent in their pleasure and pain. For this reason, the poet wishes to learn from animals. They do not have any kind of falsehood. They are free from all types of trivial anxieties, so they are still living their natural life.

Extract Based Questions

(4 marks each)

Read the lines given below and answer the questions that follow :

Question 1. I think I could turn and live with animals, they are So placid and self-contain’d I stand and look at them long and long.

(a) Name the poem and the poet.                         

(b) What does the poet say about animals ?

(c) Trace a word from the extract that means ‘Serene’.     

(d) The poet looks at the animals. 

Answer:
(a) The poem ‘Animals’ has been written by Walt Whitman.

(b) The poet says that the animals are placid, self-contained, calm and peaceful.

(c) placid.         

(d) long and long

OR  Questions:

(a) The poet wants to live with animals because of their ……….

(b) The two qualities of the animals mentioned in the passage are ……….

(c) Find a word that means ‘serene’.         

(d) Name the poem and the poet.

Answer:-

(a) peaceful nature.

(b) peaceful and satisfied.                            

(c) placid.

(d) The poem ‘Animals’ has been written by Walt Whitman.

OR  Questions:

 (a) The word ‘turn’ in the first line implies ………

(b) The poet wishes to live with animals because …………

(c) Word ‘placid’ used in the second line means …………

(d) Who seem to be self contained ?          

Answer:-

(a) new directions in life. 

(b) they are contented.

(c) peaceful.                        

(d) Animals.

Question 2.

They do not sweat and whine about their condition,

They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,

They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God.

(a) Name the poem and the poet.               

(b) Who does the pronoun ‘they’ stand for.

(c) Who weep for their sins ?                       

(d) Who do not discuss their duty to God ? 

Answer:
(a) ‘Animals’ by Walt Whitman.                          

(b) Animals.

(c) Human beings.                                

(d) Animals.

OR Questions

(a) Who are ‘they’ referred to here ?          

(b) What do they not do at their condition ?

(c) How do they feel for their sins ?           

(d) Their duty is towards …………

Answer:
(a) ‘They’ refers to ‘animals’.             

(b) They do not sweat and whine at their condition.

(c) They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins.             

(d) God.

Question 3. They bring me tokens of myself, they evince them plainly in their possession I wondered where they get those tokens,

Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them ?

(a) What does the poet thinks about the animals brought him tokens of ?
(b) Who composed these lines ?                           

(c) What does the animals evidently show about the tokens ?

(d) Which word in the passage refers to ‘careless’ 

Answer:
(a) The recognition of his true self.            

(b) Walt Whitman.

(c) The animals evidently show about the tokens of virtues like their kindness, innocent and self-containment.

(d) Negligently

Short Answer Type Questions

(30-40 words & 2 marks each)

Question 1. In the first line of the poem, ‘I think I could turn and live with the animals’, What is the poet turning from ?

Answer: The poet Walt Whitman says that he can identify himself better with the animals, for their qualities of serenity and calm composure. So he intends turning towards them, away from his human companions.

Question 2. Do humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago ?

Answer:  Yes, many communities of humans follow the practice of worshiping saints and sages, who lived thousand of years ago, who led an exemplary life of high moral values and therefore reflect the image of ‘God Almighty’ and are worshipped by generations of humans.

Question 3.  Mention three things that humans do and animals don’t.

Answer:  Though humans differ from animals in innumerable ways, but this poem highlights some negative traits of humans that animals are free from. Humans are for ever fretting and complaining about their circumstances and condition, they get distraught with anxiety to gain material possessions and are ridden with guilt of sinful actions which deprive them of a sound sleep.

Question 4.  What are the ‘tokens’ that the poet says he may have dropped long ago and which the animals have kept for him ?

Answer:  Humans and animals have similar basic instincts. While civilization has changed the man, but these basic instincts are preserved in the animals and help the humans to reconnect to their true self; so man seeks comfort in the company of animals.

Long Answer Type Question

(4 marks)

Question 1.  Mention three things that humans do and animals do not ?

Answer:  The poet wait whitman in his poem ‘Animals’ compares animals to human beings and differentiates between . them on the basis of their characteristics. According to the poet’s perception animals are ranked much higher than humans. Animals do not complain about their situation and are much happier then humans. Animals live in natural surroundings, they accept nature. Human beings on the other hand do not accept nature i.e., they complain about it and try to change it leading an unhappy life.

 

Extract Based Questions

[3 Marks each]

Read the following extracts carefully and answers the questions that follow.

Question 1. I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-containd, I stand and look at them long and long.
(a) What does the poet want to turn into?          

(b) Which qualities of animals attract the poet?

(c) Which word is similar to the word “Calm”?         

(d) Explain the successive use of the word ‘long’ twice and bring out its significance.

Answer:
(a) The poet wants to turn into an animal.                  

(b) The poet is attracted to the calmness and poise of the animals.
(c) The word is ‘Placid’.                                          

(d) The successive use of the word ‘long’ makes the line significant; the first ‘long’, denotes ‘period/Time’ whereas the other, ‘a desire’.

Question 2. They do not sweat and whine about their condition, They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, 

(a) Why do humans lie awake in the dark?.                

(b) What do humans do about their condition?

(c) Which word is opposite to “good deeds”?    
(d) Find a word from the passage that is an antonym of ‘Thanking’.

Answer:
(a) Humans lie awake in the dark weeping for their sins.           

(b) They sweat and whine about their condition.

(c) The word is ‘Sins.’                                                       

(d) The word is ‘whine’

Question 3. Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things,

Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago,
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.
(a) What does the poet call a mania here?         

(b) How are the animals not dissatisfied?

(c) What does ‘demented’ mean?               

(d) Which word in the passage means ‘species’?

Answer:
(a) The habit of owning things by humans has been called a mania.
(b) Since animals do not have the desire to own anything, therefore they are never dissatisfied.

(c) It means mad or unbalanced.               

(d) The word is ‘Kind’.

Question 4. Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago,

Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.
(a) Who does ‘another’ refer to here?        

(b) Who is the poet referring to that lived thousands of years ago?
(c) What does ‘kneel’ symbolise here?                

(d) Which word in the passage is an antonym of ‘a part’?

Answer:
(a) ‘Another’ refers to other animals here.

(b) The poet is referring to the ancestors of human beings who lived thousands of years ago.

(c) Kneel is symbolic to praying in the above line.     

(d) The word is ‘Whole’.

Question 5.  So they show their relations to me and I accept them, They bring me tokens of myself, they evince them plainly in their possession I wonder where they get those tokens, Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?

(a) Who does ‘they’ refer to here?               

(b) Explain the line: “They bring me tokens of myself”

(c) Which word in the stanza means “show”?   

(d) What similarities does the poet find between the human beings and the animals?

Answer:
(a) ‘They’ refers to the animals.

(b) The poet here means that the animals remind him of true values of the human nature such as kindness and innocence.

(c) The word is ‘Evince’.

(d) The poet finds that animals, like human beings do not trouble others unless they are compelled; they are equally kind and innocent.

Question 6.

I wonder where they get those tokens, Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?

(a) What does the poet wonder?                 

(b) Why does the poet say that he negligently dropped them?

(c) Which word in the stanza means “carelessness”?

(d) Find from the passage a word which means ‘enormous’?

Answer:
(a) The poet wonders whether the animals get all their virtues from humans.
(b) The poet believes that animals got their values from humans while they lost them a long time ago and have forgotten about them.       

(c) The word is ‘Negligent’.       

(d) The word is ‘Huge’.

Short Answer Type Questions

[2 Marks each]

Question 1.  Why does the poet like animals?

Answer:  The poet likes animals for their self-contained and quiet nature. The fact that animals are not like human beings and satisfied with their lives appeals to the poet a lot.

Question 2. Explain the satisfaction that animals have and humans don’t. 

Answer: Animals do not have the desire to possess worldly things. 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 keeps humans dissatisfied.

Question 3. Why do animals not weep for their sins?

Answer: 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 weep yet commit sins.

Question 4. What makes the poet sick?

Answer: 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.

Question 5. Differentiate between humans and animals in terms of desire.
Answer: Animals are very different from humans as they have no desire to own things. They are happy without an unending greed while humans become maniacs in their greed for possessing valuables.

Question 6. What does the poet mean by, “Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth”?

Answer: The poet means that animals do not pray to God or to ancestors and all of them are equal, hence no one is more respectable than the other. The good values of animals and the lack of social conventions make them happy.

Long Answer (Value Based) Type Questions

[8 Marks each]

Question 1. Why do you think the poet has called the desire to own things, a mania? Is the poet right in doing so? Write your own views.

Answer: The poet uses words such as ‘demented’ and ‘mania’ for never ending desire of human beings to own things. These words show that poet is comparing this desire to madness. The poet stands right in doing so as this desire makes us so greedy and traps us in a vicious circle of aspiring 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 left behind.

Question 2. What according to you should be the virtues that humans should possess?

Answer: 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 society where people commit sins and weep over them in dark. This situation makes them dissatisfied and unhappy in life. Human beings probably had these virtues in them but along with civilisation processes, they have left them behind and adopted greed and cunningness.

Question 3.  It is not complaining but accepting a situation, the key to happiness in life. Elaborate in context of the poem Animals’.   

Answer:  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 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.

Question 4.  The poet in the poem Animals’ laments the loss of certain values on the part of human beings, whereas animals seem to have retained them and are self contented. Analyse the cause of degeneration of values in today’s hard times.

Answer: In the modern civilised world, human beings have achieved a lot of material values but lost the real virtues. The more developed and modern human beings became, the more they lost the essence of their characters. Animals, whereas, never adapted to any material goods and always remained natural. This natural aspect of animals has helped them maintain their values. Humans, in order to possess more and more have forgotten kindness and innocence.

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q.1. Why does the poet wish to live with animals?

Ans. The poet wishes to live with animals because he finds them better than humans.

Q.2. What do the animals not do for their sins?

Ans. The animals don't weep or lie awake in the dark for their sins. us.

Q.3. What do the men do for their sins?

Ans. The men repent for their sins.

Q.4. How do the human beings behave about owning things?

Ans. About owning of things the human beings behave like the mad.

Q.5. What makes the poet wonder?

Ans. The animals love for him makes the poet wonder.

Q.6. Why does the poet want to 'turn and live with animals?

Ans. The poet finds something attractive among animals. He has found them peaceful and self-content without any complain. They never weep for their sins like human beings.

Q.7. What does the term 'tokens of myself mean?

Ans. The term 'tokens of myself means the love and affection of animals.

Q.8. What do the animals have in plenty?

Ans. The animals have 'tokens of love' in plenty,

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