Class 8 English - Song of the Flower - Questions & Answers


Questions and Answers for Class 8 English - Unit 4 Flowers and Showers | Std 8 English - Song of the Flower - Questions & Answers | Textual Activities
Song of the Flower - Questions And Answers

1. Who is the speaker in the poem?
Answer: The flower is the speaker in the poem 

2. What do the expressions 'blue tent' 'and' 'green carpet' refer to?
Answer:'The blue tent' refers to the sky. The green carpet' refers to the green plants growing on the earth.

3. How are the seasons related to the life of the flower? 
Answer: The four seasons have their roles in the life of the flower. Winter conceives it, Spring gives birth to it, Summer rears it and it dies in Autumn.

4. What does the flower do at dawn and at dusk?
Answer: In the morning the flower announces the coming of light and in the evening it bids farewell to light. 

5. How does the flower make the world beautiful?
Answer: It decorates the plains with beautiful colours and fills the air with fragrance.

6. What is described as 'the eye of the day'?
Answer: During day time, the sun-the only eye of the day watches over it.

7. How does the flower become part of joy and sorrow? 
Answer: As the flower is used on the occasions of weddings and funerals, it becomes part of both joy and sorrow.

8. Why does the flower consider itself as the last gift of the living to the dead?
Answer: When people die, others give bouquets of flowers to the dead.

9. What according to the flower, is the wisdom that man should learn?
Answer: The flower loves to look up high to see only the light and never looks down to see the shadow. This is the wisdom that man must learn from the flower.

Let’s revisit

1. What does the flower symbolize? Explain.
Answer: The flower symbolizes kindness, beauty, fragrance, love – all the bright things in nature. It also symbolizes the experiences we have in our life – joy, sorrow, failure, victory, etc.

2. Quote some instances in which the flower becomes part of joy and sorrow.
Answer: Wedding (Joy), Funeral (Sorrow)

3. Read the last stanza of the poem once again. What are the two contrasting ideas presented in it? Do you think the poet is optimistic? Why?
Answer: The light is contrasted with the shadow. Yes, the poet is optimistic. The attitude of the flower represents the poet’s optimism. The flower likes to see only the light and not the shadow.

4. Pick out the lines and expressions that impressed you the most. Give reasons.
Answer: But I look up high to see only the light And never look down to see my shadow I like these lines the most because here the poet says that man should see the brighter side of life and never brood over their darker side. I appreciate the poet’s optimistic view of life.

5. What do you think is the mood of the poem – happy, sad, humorous or philosophical?
Answer: The mood of the poem is happy and philosophical. The poem reflects upon the themes of life and death and imparts the wisdom that man must look always for light.

Activity 1.

Read the poem again and complete the following notes. One hint is given for you.
1. What does the flower say about itself?
• a kind word uttered and repeated by the voice of nature.
• ………………………………
•………………………………
•………………………………
Answer:
• ‘a star fallen from the sky’
• ‘daughter of the elements’
• ‘was conceived by winter

2. What are the everyday activities that the flower is engaged with?
• announce the coming of light
•  …………………..
• …………………..
Answer:
• ‘bid the light farewell’
• ‘decorate the plains with beautiful colors’

3. Who watches over the flower?
• ……………………
Answer: Eyes of night’

4. How does the flower enjoy nature?
• I drink dew
• ………………..
• ………………..
Answer:
• ‘listen to the voice of the birds’
• ‘dances to the rhythmic swaying of the grass’

5. What is the flower used as
• as the lover’s gift
• ………………….
• ………………….
• ………………….
Answer:
• wedding wreath
• wreath for the dead body
• memory of a moment of happiness

6. What is the flower’s vision?
• see only the light
• ………………..
Answer:
• ‘never look down to see my shadow’

Activity 2.

Read the following lines.
I am a kind word uttered and repeated 
By the voice of Nature 
Here the flower is considered as a word uttered by Nature. This is an example of a metaphor. A metaphor is a figure of speech that develops a hidden comparison between two objects that share something in common. It is different from a ‘simile’ where the comparison is drawn using ‘like’ or ‘as’.
Pick out few more examples of metaphors from the poem.
• ………………………………….
• ………………………………….
• ………………………………….
• ………………………………….
Answer:
• I am a star.
• I am the daughter of the elements.
• The eyes of the night
• The eyes of the day

Write what the following metaphors imply. One is done for you.
Answer:
  Metaphors  What they mean?
1. My father is a rock. 
2. The lawn is a green carpet.
3. He drowned in a sea of grief.
4. She is fishing in troubled waters.
5. He is the apple of my eye.
6. My brother was boiling mad.
7. Her voice is music to his ears.		1. My father is a very strong or strict rson 
2. The grass-covered lawn looks like a carpet 
3. He was extremely sad.
4 He is taking advantage of adverse situation
5. He is very dear to me.
6. My brother was very angry.
7 Her voice is melodious like music
Attempt writing your own examples of metaphors
• …………………..
• ………………….
• ………………….
• …………………
Answer:
• Her eyes were fireballs.
• I was lost in a sea of nameless faces.
• He is a rolling stone
• The wheels of justice turn slowly

Additional questions
1. What is the theme of the poem?
Answer: Khalil Gibran, the renowned writer exhorts each of us to learn from the life of a flower. It gets mixed up with every changing situation all the while staying steadfast. Adverse situations do not hamper its spirits. Neither do high placements make it forget itself. The flower holds a very vital place in every
one’s life but the flower never boasts or brags.

2. How does the poet state that the flower is born out of the five elements.
Answer: The lines I am the daughter of the elements clearly state that the flower is born to the elements.

3. What does the flower do in the morning?
Answer: The flower joins with the breeze to welcome the light.

4. How does the flower bid goodbye to the sun?
Answer: In the evening, the flower, unites with the birds that fly along the sky and bid farewell to the sun.

5. Find out an example for metaphor.
Answer: I am a star fallen from the blue tent.

6. What does blue tent and green carpet stand for?
Answer: Blue tent stands for the blue sky and green carpet stands for the green fields.

7. Which is referred to as the only eye of the day?
Answer: Sun is referred to as the only eye of the day.

8. How does the flower enjoy its life?
Answer: The flower appreciates everything that it sees around and enjoys everything without any complaints. it listens to the sweet songs of the birds and sways along with the rhythmic movement of the grass.

9. What are the roles a flower takes?
Answer: The flower is the lover’s gift, the wedding wreath, and the last gift of man to the dead. Thus flower forms an inevitable part of our life.

10. What should man learn from the life of a flower?
Answer: Look up high to see the light and never look down to see the negatives. One should hold his head high to look forward, not linger on the past or cling on to unwanted thoughts which would stop us to grow.

Appreciation of the poem.
Song of the flower is a beautiful poem about nature and its relationship with living beings. This poem was written by Khalil Gibran, the famous Lebanese poet. This poem speaks about the life cycle of a flower and its experience. The flower in the poem is a representative of every aspect of nature. The flower claims that it is a kind word uttered and repeated by nature’s voice. It is a star fallen from the sky. The sky is referred as ‘the blue tent’. All the four seasons play vital roles in the life of the flower. The flower is conceived by winter, given birth by spring, reached by summer and eternal sleep by autumn. The flower heralds the coming of the light in the dawn. It bids farewell to the light in the evening.
The plains are decorated with beautiful flowers. The air is filled with the lovely fragrance of the flower. Days and nights shower love, care and affection on the flower lavishly. The flower enjoys nature as much as it can. To the flower dew is wine. It sings with- the birds and dances according to the rhythm of the swaying grass. The poet is impressed by the beautiful image of nature. The flower becomes a part of joy as well as sorrow because it is used on occasions of wedding and funeral. The poem teaches us how to deal with life’s struggles, to learn from our past and face the future with confidence and hope. The poet uses appropriate similes and metaphors in the poem, that makes the poem more beautiful.


ഈ ബ്ലോഗിലെ എല്ലാ പോസ്റ്റുകളും ഒരുമിച്ച് കാണാനും ആവശ്യമുള്ളവ എളുപ്പത്തിൽ തിരഞ്ഞെടുക്കാനും ഇവിടെ ക്ലിക്കുക.

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