Class 8 English - Chapter 03 TAJ MAHAL - Questions & Answers


Questions and Answers for Class 8 English - Unit 1 Hues and Views | Std 8 English - Chapter 03 TajMahal - Questions & Answers | Textual Activities
TAJ MAHAL 

Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (1861 –1941) was a Bengali writer who reshaped Bengali literature and music as well as Indian art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Author of Gitanjali and its ‘profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse’, he became the first non- European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. In translation, his poetry was viewed as spiritual and influential. 

Summary
• In the poem Taj Mahal, the poet Rabindranath Tagore addresses the Emperor Shah Jahan. He tells that life, youth, wealth and renown, all float away down the stream of time. The pain of Shah Jahan's heart was the memories of his beloved Mumtaz. He wanted to preserve the love, by building a monument. Like the sunset, the imperial power also diminishes. But he hoped that at least a single sigh would stay to grieve the sky. Emeralds, rubies, pearls are all like the glitter of a rainbow and they must pass away. Shah Jahan's wish was that the Taj Mahal would hang on the cheek of time, like a solitary tear. Steady rhythm makes the poem perfect. It is divided into uneven stanzas. They follow a musical flow. The tone is traditional. Rhythm and figures of speech like alliteration (sunset's crimson splendour),  assonance (glitter... tricking), metaphor (stream of time, thunder of imperial power), and personification (cheek of time), make the poem charming. The imagery is brilliant. The word choice is simple.

Questions and Answers
1. What, in the poet's view, are the things that would float away down the stream of time?
Answer: Life, youth, wealth and renown float away down the stream of time.

2. What do you think was Shah Jahan's 'heart's pain?
Answer: The memories of his beloved Mumtaz.

3. Why is 'imperial power' compared to the splendour of sunset?
Answer: Like sunset, imperial power also diminishes.

4. Pick out the lines which mean, 'emeralds, rubies and pearls are transient'?
Answer: Though emeralds And must pass away...

5. 'All float away down the stream of time'. What image do you get from this line?
Answer: Visual image - the picture of things floating down the stream of time comes to our mind.

6. Pick out two instances of simile from the poem.
Answer:
- 'Harsh thunder like a sunset's crimson splendour.'
- 'as the glitter of a rainbow'

Words - Meaning 
• renown - fame 
• imperial - related to an emperor, of superior excellence. 
• heave - lift, throw upward.  
• emerald - bright green precious stone.  
• solitary - living alone, without company.  
• gleam - flash of light, a faint glow. 

Activity 1
In this poem, the poet uses similes and metaphors. A simile is a figure of speech that draws a comparison between two things, using the words 'like' or 'as'. Pick out instances of similes from the poem.
Answer: 'imperial power .......  like a sunset's crimson splendour.' 'emeralds, rubies……….as the glitter of rainbow tricking out empty air'. 

Activity 2
Poets use various images to lead the readers to a sensory experience. Images often give us mental pictures that appeal to our senses of sight, sound, taste, touch and smell. Pick out instances of visual and auditory (sound) images from the poem. One is done for you.

Visual 

Auditory  

Crimson Splendour

 Thunder 

Rainbow 

 Sigh 

Solitar tear 

 
Refer to page 74 (Poetic Craft)

Activity 3
Write down words from the poem related to transience and eternity.
 Transience 
Eternity 
youth
wealth
life
beauty
time
art

EXAM BASED QUESTIONS

I. Write a critical appreciation of the poem.
In the poem Taj Mahal, the poet Rabindranath Tagore addresses the Emperor Shah Jahan. He tells that life, youth, wealth and renown, all float away down the stream of time. The pain of Shah Jahan's heart was the memories of his beloved Mumtaz. He wanted to preserve the love, by building a monument. Like the sunset, the imperial power also diminishes. But he hoped that at least a single sigh would stay to grieve the sky. Emeralds, rubies, pearls are all like the glitter of a rainbow and they must pass away. Shah Jahan's wish was that the Taj Mahal would hang on the cheek of time, like a solitary tear. Steady rhythm makes the poem perfect. It is divided into uneven stanzas. They follow a musical flow. The tone is traditional. Rhythm and figures of speech like alliteration (sunset's crimson splendour),  assonance (glitter... tricking), metaphor (stream of time, thunder of imperial power), and personification (cheek of time), make the poem charming. The imagery is brilliant. The word choice is simple.

II. Analysing Textual Poem
1. What did Shah Jahan know?
Answer: Shah Jahan knew that life, youth, wealth and renown float away down the stream of time. 

2. What all things do float away?
Answer: Life, youth, wealth and renown float away.  

3. What is the figure of speech used in " the stream of time'?
Answer: Metaphor.  

4. What was Shah Jahan's only dream?
Answer: To preserve forever his heart's pain. 

5. What would fade into sleep?
Answer: Harsh thunder of imperial power would fade into sleep.  

6. What would happen to the harsh thunder of imperial power?
Answer: Harsh thunder of imperial power would fade into sleep.  

7. What is the figure of speech used in the line 'Like a sunset's crimson splender'?
Answer: Simile.  

8. What was Shah Jahan's hope?
Answer: That at least a single, eternally heaved sigh would stay to grieve the sky.
 
9. What is the figure of speech used in 'But as the glitter of rainbow'?
Answer: Simile. 

10. What are emeralds, rubies and pearls compared to?
Answer: They are compared to the glitter of a rainbow tricking out empty air. 
 
11. What will hang on the cheek of time?
Answer: One solitary tear would hang on the cheek of time in the form of this white and gleaming Taj Mahal.  

12. 'Cheek of time'; what is the figure of speech used here?
Answer: Personification (Time is described as a human being. Only human beings have cheeks). 

13. What form does the solitary tear take?
Answer: The solitary tear takes the form of Taj Mahal. 

III.  Write a profile of Rabindranath Tagore
Born: 7 May 1861, Kolkata 
Parents: Debendranath Tagore, Sarada Devi 
Notable works: Gitanjali, Gora, Rabindra Sangeet 
Founded: Santhiniketan (1901), Viswabharati (1921) 
Died: 7 August 1941 
Answer:
RABINDRANATH TAGORE 
Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali writer who reshaped Bengali literature and music as well as Indian art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born on 7 May 1861. His parents were Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi. His notable works are Gitanjali, Gora and Rabindra Sangeet. He founded Santiniketan in 1901 and Viswabharati in 1921. He became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. He died on 7 August 1941.

IV. Find the rhyme- scheme of the given poems. 

A

B
I wandered lonely as a cloud.
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,  
When all at once I saw a crowd,   
A host of golden daffodils,  
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, 
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.         
O my aged Uncle Arly!
Sitting on a heap of Barley
Through the silent hours of night
Close beside a leafy thicket
On In his hat a railway ticket
his nose there was a cricket
But his shoes were far too light.
Answer: A. ababcc                     B. aabcccb.



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