Can it be -Manmohan Ghose.
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Exercise Answers (Can it be Manmohan Ghose)
Can it be Manmohan Ghose
Comprehension
I. Read the following lines and answer the questions given below.
The great sky keeps its solemn blue;
Fresh earth is wildly fair.
Can all things be, and I and you, —
She nothing, She nowhere?
a. Why do you think the sky seems solemn?
ANS – The solemn sky reflects the inner sadness of the speaker. The sky seems solemn to the poet, appearing serious and respectful, like how people act at a funeral or during sorrowful moments. The sky is calm and blue. It has become a silent witness to his grief. The emotional state of the poet has influenced how he perceives the world around him.
b. What do you think is the poet’s mood in these lines?
ANS – In these lines, the poet’s mood is a mix of emotions. The poet is very sad as he misses his loved one very deeply. He feels a sense of injustice because he sees that everything exists, everything else is unchanging and beautiful, but she is nothing and nowhere. The poet is going through an emotional struggle; he cannot accept the fact that she has reduced to nothing.
c. Do you think the poet has made peace with the fact that his loved one is no more?
ANS – No, I don’t think that the poet has made peace with the fact that his loved one is no more. It is very difficult for the poet to believe that everything in the world exists, that everything is beautiful and full of life, but his loved one is no more, and has become dust, lifeless. He repeatedly questions how she is nothing and nowhere. The poet is struggling to accept her absence. The poet is in shock, denial, and emotional pain. He is very sad and has not yet found peace.
II. Answer the following questions in a sentence each.
a. What memory does the speaker cherish the most about the loved one?
ANS – The speaker cherishes her sweet smile and her joyous and cheerful look. He cherishes the memory of her laughter, joy, and happiness she brought.
b. What symbol of grief appears in the poem?
ANS – The flowers growing on the grave of his beloved one are the symbols of grief. The roses and daisies symbolize both beauty and sorrow. While they are beautiful, they are growing from her grave, reminding the speaker of her death.
C. What natural element contrasts with the speaker’s feeling of loss?
ANS – The calm sky and the beautiful earth contrast with the speaker’s feeling of loss. These elements of nature continue to exist normally, unchanged, unaffected by the death of the loved one. The sky shows no sign of sorrow, and the earth is full of life and color. This strongly contrasts with the speaker’s inner world, which is full of pain, sorrow, emptiness, and emotional chaos.
III. Answer the following questions in about 30-40 words each.
a. What does the speaker find beautiful besides the lost loved one?
ANS – Besides the lost loved one, the speaker finds the roses and daisies on the grave beautiful. He also finds the blue sky calm and fresh earth fair. The speaker finds beauty in nature—the flowers, the sky, the earth. All the beautiful things deepen the pain of the speaker because those things continue to exist, but his loved one is no more.
b. What comparison does the speaker use to describe the woman’s laughter and joy?
ANS – The speaker compares the woman herself to her joy and laughter. The speaker says that the woman was laughter herself and the embodiment of complete joy.
By such comparison the speaker expresses how joyful and vibrant his beloved was. His beloved one brought happiness. She was full of life, energy and positivity. Instead of comparing her to anything else the speaker directly stated that she was laughter and joy. This shows that how strongly he felt about her radiant nature.
c. How does the final line suggest the speaker’s internal conflict?
ANS – The final line reveals the speaker’s internal conflict. The speaker is struggling to accept that his beloved one is gone. He cannot believe that she is nothing. The fact that everything which is beautiful continues to exist but his beloved ceased to exist is not acceptable for the speaker. The speaker is overwhelmed by her absence. He is confused and unable to understand how the world goes on while she doesn’t exist in it. His mind knows that she has died but his heart refuses to believe this. The speaker asks how could she be nowhere in the world where everything still exists, the sky, the earth, people continue to exist. The speaker’s mind is full of questions and his heart is filled with pain and grief. The state of his mind shows that the speaker has not made peace with the fact that she is gone.
IV. Answer the following questions in about 150 words each.
a. List some of the rhetorical questions that the poet asks in the poem.
ANS – Rhetorical questions are the questions that are asked to express emotions or to make a point, not to get an actual answer. In the poem, the poet asks some questions, but he doesn’t expect yes or no answers. By asking the questions, the poet is trying to express his feelings, his sadness. He wants the listener or the reader to think deeply, thus he emphasizes his point by asking those questions.
Some of the rhetorical questions that the poet asks in the poem are as follows:
1. “And can she now be clay?”
He asks if someone who was full of laughter, joy, and life could now be a lifeless body.
2. “And is she earth indeed?”
The speaker cannot believe that she has really gone, that she is buried and has become a part of the soil. It is unbelievable for him, so he asks the question to emphasize what he feels.
3. “And is she only dust?”
It is difficult for the speaker to accept that everything exists, all beautiful things exist, but she has become just dust, a part of the soil.
4. ‘Can all things be, and I and you, – She nothing, she nowhere?’
He asks that everything in the world and the people continues to exist but why not his beloved one? His beloved one is seen nowhere.
These rhetorical questions express the grief, pain, disbelief, denial, and internal emotional struggle of the poet in accepting the death of his loved one.
b. The poet uses multiple juxtapositions throughout the poem. List some of them.
ANS – When two opposite or very different ideas, images or things are placed close together to highlight their contrast. Juxtapositions show sharp differences between two ideas. It puts two things side by side to show how different they are. In the poem the poet uses several juxtapositions to highlight the contrast between life and death, presence and absence.
1. The joyful life of his beloved and her death.
Here the complete joyful and a person full of life is juxtaposed with lifelessness of clay.
2. Beauty of flowers vs. Pain of the grave.
The natural beauty of roses and daisies are in contrast with the deep pain they bring while they grow on her grave.
3. Beautiful things existing on the earth vs. She part of the earth, only dust.
There is a contrast between everything that is beautiful exists but a joyful, cheerful person is buried and has become a part of the earth and is no more.
4. Eternal values vs. Her absence.
The eternal human values (faith, duty, truth) continue to exist but she is nowhere to be seen. She has gone.
5. The world’s continuity vs. Her disappearance.
The ongoing existence of everything and everyone juxtaposes with the fact that she is completely gone.
The above juxtapositions express the strong pain, disbelief and internal emotional conflict of the poet.
c. What do you think is the overall tone of the poem? Is the poet’s mind at peace?
ANS – The tone of the poem means the feelings or emotions the poet shows through the words. The tone is the emotion or the mood we feel when we read the poem. It comes from the words, images, and the way the poet expresses his thought. The tone helps to understand what the poet is feeling deep inside while writing the poem.
In this poem, the poet feels very sad and heartbroken because he has lost his loved one forever. He remembers her sweet smile and how she was always cheerful and happy. But he is unable to accept that she has become a part of the soil (the earth). She has become just clay, dust or earth in the grave.
He continues to ask questions that why every beautiful thing exists and not his beloved one who brought happiness and joy. These questions show that the speaker is confused and struggling the emotional conflict. He cannot accept her death.
The overall tone of the poem is full of grief, sadness, pain, reflective, and confused. The poet is crying in his heart. He is thinking deeply about life and death, existence and non-existence. He is not angry but quietly suffering and feeling emotional pain. What he sees in the world and what he feels are completely confusing for him and he faces internal emotional conflict.
The poet’s mind is not at peace. Throughout the poem he expresses sadness, confusion and emotional conflict. He repeatedly asks whether his loved one is gone and has become dust. The thoughts in his mind are not peaceful.
He cannot understand that how someone so full of life could now be gone forever. He is searching for comfort but hasn’t found it yet.
Can it be – Manmohan Ghose
Can it be Manmohan Ghose
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