SSLC English Lesson 3 - "Lines Written in Early Spring" : Lines-based Q & A and Note of Appreciation

 Lesson 3 

Lines Written in Early Spring

1. Read the lines from ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’ and answer the questions.

I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

1.     When did the poet hear a thousand blended notes?

2.     What does the expression ‘I sate reclined’ indicate about the poet’s state of mind?

3.     What did Nature link to her fair works?

4.     Pick out an example of Alliteration from these lines.

 Answers:

1.     The poet heard a thousand blended notes when he sat in a grove in a sweet and relaxed mood.

2.     The poet was in a sweet, calm and relaxed mood.

3.     Nature linked human souls to her fair works.

4.     ‘What man has made of man’.

2. Read the lines from ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’ and answer the questions.

 

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And 'tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

        The birds around me hopped and played,
        Their thoughts I cannot measure:-
         But the least motion which they made
         It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

1.     Where did the periwinkle trail its wreaths?

2.     What is the faith of the poet?

3.     What did the birds do to express their thrill of pleasure?

4.     Whose thoughts can’t the poet measure?

 Answers:

1.     The periwinkle trailed its wreaths in the green bower.

2.     The poet’s faith is that every flower enjoys the air it breathes.

3.     The birds hopped and played to express their thrill of pleasure.

4.     The thought of the birds around the poet.

3. Read the lines from ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’ and answer the questions.

 

The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.

        If this belief from heaven be sent,
        If such be Nature's holy plan,
        Have I not reason to lament
        What man has made of man?

1.     Why did the budding twigs spread out their fan?

2.     What must the poet think, which is all he can do?

3.     What do you understand from the poem Nature’s holy plan is?

4.   What does the poet think he should lament over?

Answers:

1. The budding twigs spread out their fans to catch the breezy air.

2. The poet must think that there was pleasure in the grove.

3. Nature’s holy plan is that everything in nature should coexist in perfect harmony.

4. The poet thinks he should lament over what man has made of man.

4. Read the lines from ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’ and answer the questions.

 I heard a thousand blended notes,

While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind

1.     What is the Rhyme Scheme of the poem?

2.     The expression ‘a thousand blended notes’ is an exaggerated expression. What is the figure of speech applied in it?

Answers:

1.     ABAB

2.     Hyperbole

5. Read the lines from ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’ and answer the questions.

 

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

 1. In the line ‘To her fair works did Nature link’ the poet speaks of Nature as a woman.  What figure of speech do you identify in  referring to an inanimate object as a person?

2. What grieved the poet’s heart much?

Answers:

1.     Personification

2.     Man’s cruelties against Nature and among his own kind

 

6. Read the lines from ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’ and answer the questions.

 

The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:-
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure

1. Pick out a Visual Image from the stanza.

2. Identify an example of Alliteration.

Answers:

1.     The birds hopped and played.

2.     ‘motion which they made’.

 7. Read the lines from ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’ and answer the questions.

 Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,

The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And 'tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

1.  Pick out examples of Visual Images from the stanza. 

2.  What is the Figure of Speech applied in ‘every flower enjoys the air it breathes’?

Answers:

1. Primrose tufts, green bower, wreaths of periwinkle.

2. Personification.

 8. Read the lines from ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’ and answer the questions.

 If this belief from heaven be sent,

If such be Nature's holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?

1.     The last two lines are in the form of a question. What are the two figures of speech in these lines?

2.     The poet talks about Nature’s holy plan. What indication do you get about the theme of the poem from the expression?

Answer:

1.     Rhetorical question and Alliteration.

2.     In nature everything is in peace and pleasure. But in the human world, man destroys nature as well as his own kind.

Appreciation Note

Lines Written in Early Spring - Note of appreciation

 

The poem ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’ is a poem by the well-known nature poet William Wordsworth. The poem deals with the theme of coexistence, peace and pleasure in nature and the cruelties in the human world.  The poet once sits in a grove in a relaxed mood enjoying sights and sounds. He sees there various kinds of plants and flowers coexist. Birds hop and play around him to express their thrill of pleasure. The sights and sounds in nature bring pleasant thoughts into his mind. Nature links human souls to her fair works; still humans thoughtlessly destroy nature. When the poet thinks of human activities, he becomes very sad.

He believes every flower enjoys the air it breathes and the twigs spread their fans to catch breezy air. He thinks that there is pleasure everywhere in nature. The poet says that coexistence is Nature’s holy plan. But he laments over the cruelties of man against nature and amongst his own kind.

 The lines ‘To her fair works did Nature link…’ ; ‘every flower enjoys the air it breathes’, and ‘The budding twigs spread out their fan, To catch the breezy air’  are examples of Personification. There is the figure of speech hyperbole in the expression ‘a thousand blended notes’. ‘What man has made of man' is an example Alliteration.  The poem ends with a Rhetorical Question: “Have I not reason to lament / What man has made of man?” An example of the Auditory Image is there in “I heard a thousand  blended notes.” The ‘breezy air’ brings to our mind a ‘Tactile Image’ as well. Some Visual Images are: flowers (primrose, periwinkle), birds, grove, bower, budding twigs, etc. The Rhyme Scheme of the poem is ABAB. 

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