NCERT Solutions Class 9 English - Beehive Poem Chapter 8 A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal

NCERT Solutions

Thinking About The Poem

Question.1. “A slumber did my spirit seal,” says the poet. That is, a deep sleep ‘closed off’ his soul (or mind). How does the poet react to his loved one’s death? Does he feel bitter grief? Or does he feel a great peace?
Ans. The poet’s reaction to his loved one’s death is not of bitter grief that he could shed out in the form of tears. On her death, he did not experience any human fears. He just looked at her and wondered how she looked and what she would experience later. Therefore, it is difficult to say whether he is experiencing bitter grief or is in a peaceful state of mind.

Question.2. The passing of time will no longer affect her, says the poet. Which lines of the poem say this?
Ans. The following lines show that the passing of time will no longer affect her:

“She seemed a thing that could not feel
The touch of earthly years.”

Question.3. How does the poet imagine her to be, after death? Does he think of her as a person living in a very happy state (a ‘heaven’)? Or does he see her now as a part of nature? In which lines of the poem do you find your answer?
Ans. The poet imagines her to be an inseparable part of nature. No, he does not think that she is in heaven because ‘heaven’ is not a dead thing. He believes that she has become a part of the nature. It is shown in the line ‘Rolled round in earth’s diurnal course/With rocks and stones and trees’.

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