A Think of Beauty with summary and question and answers
( John Keats )
{ Introduction }
The romantic poet John Keats ‘ poem ‘ A Thing of Beauty ‘ is an excerpt from his poem Endy mion : A poetic romantic “. The poem is based on a Greek legend, in which Endy mion , a beautiful young shepherd and poet who live on Mount Latmos, had a version of Cynthia, the moon goddess. The enchanted youth resolved to seek her out and so wandered away through the forest and down under the sea. The theme of the poem is love, beauty and youth. The poem reflects the poet’s attitude towards beauty. He has made use of the myth to explore his own way to realise the truth that is beauty.
Summary with explanation
This poem tells us what role beauty plays in our lives and how it is important to us. It provides enternal joy. Beauty never fades away but its loveliness keeps increasing only. In this mundane world of pain and sarrow, beauty helps us in many ways. It acts as a shady place for us, under which we can sleep and have sweet dreams. It is like a flowery band that binds us to the earth because no one who is born on this tittle planet wants to quit it .
Our life on this earth is not bed of roses, but full of sadness and misery. We often find there is a scarcity of noble qualities and we have to tread unhealthy and over darkened paths. In these moments of sorrow and pain beauty enlivens our spirits and provides us with a few moments of wonder and joy.
There are many objects that are eternal sources of joy like the sun, moon, young as well as old trees, which provides shade to sheep, the daffodils, puru streams with cool water which can refresh in the heat of the summer sun and musk roses blooming in forests. The poet also finds beauty in the imaginary stories people have made about death and lovely stories that he has heard. According to the poet, things of beauty are like an endless fountain pouring on us from the Havens, which signifies that God himself has made these beautiful things so that we may have happiness, calm and peace in our lives
Questions and answers
Read the extracts and the answer the questions that follow :
1. A thing of beauty is a joy forever
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Questions:
i). “A thing of beauty is joy forever”. Explain.
ii). Why a beautiful thing does not ” pass into nothingness”?
iii). What does poet mean by “a bower quiet for us”?
iv). Give the rhyme scheme in the above lines.
Answers:
i). A thing of beauty is a source of joy that is constant, never ending. The beauty of a thing is eternal and it increases as time passes by. It will never pass into nothingness. It has a permanent impact on our minds.
ii). A thing of beauty is not pass into nothingness because as the time passes beauty is increases only. Beauty is eternal and lives forever.
iii). The right order of the phrase “A bower quiet for us’ is ‘ a quiet bower for us’. The word ‘quiet’ means calm , silent and peaceful. Beauty is like a shady grove in which we can sit and relax or enjoy a sound sleep full of dreams. It refreshes and re energizes us.
iv). aa, bb
Or
Questions :
i). Does the poet believe that beauty fades away?
ii). What does the poet mean by ‘ bower ‘ in the above stanza?
iii). What will beauty provide us with?
iv). Name the poem of above lines.
Answers:
i). No, the poem doesn’t believe that beauty will fade away. It is eternal and its loveliness keeps on increasing. It will never pass into nothingness.
ii). ‘ Bower’ refers to a pleasant place in the shade under trees or climbing plants in a wood or garden.
iii). Beauty will provide us with a resting place where one can sleep and can have beautiful dreams. It will provide us with good health and restful sleep.
iv). John Keats.
2. Therefore, on every marrow, are we wreathing
A flower band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of nobal natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o’ er – darkened ways
Made for our searching:
Questions:
i). What are the flowery bands that bind us to the earth?
ii). Why do wreath ourselves with flowery bands every marrow?
iii). What according to the poet , is the normal course of our life?
iv). The rhyme scheme used in the extract is
—————————.
Answers:
i). The beautiful things present in the nature around us are like the beautiful flowers that we seem to wreathe into a flowery band and that keeps us connected to the beautiful earth.
ii). We wreathe ourselves with flowery bands every marrow because we don’t want to quit this earth. Everyone wants to continue living on this little planet, inspire of all problems.
iii). According to the poet the normal course of our life is that it is full of sadness, cruelty, lack of nobel ways, and the paths we follow are often unhealthy and over darkened.
iv). a, bb, cc, a.
THINK IT OUT
Q.1. List the things of beauty mentioned in the poem.
Ans. The things of beauty mentioned in the poem are the sun, the moon, trees, old and young, daffodils, green world, clear rills ( small stream) , the mid forest brake, musk- rose blooms those beautiful stories we read, and the glory and grandeur that comes from the life of those mighty people who lived in the past.
Q. 2. List the things that cause suffering and pain.
Ans. There are many things that cause suffering and pain like sad and sorrowful days, cruelties , lack of nobal qualities, unhealthy and over darkened ways that we have to follow etc.
Q.3. what does the line, ” Therefore are we wreathing a flowery band to bind us to the earth ‘ suggest to you ?
Ans. John Keats is deeply in love with the constant beauty of the earth. He believes that man and nature are woven into an unbroken bond. The above line suggests the intensity and eternity of this bond. The beautiful things present in the nature around us are like beautiful flowers. We wreathe them into a flowery band that keeps us connected and attached to this beautiful earth.
Q.4. what makes human beings love life in spite of troubles and sufferings?
Ans . We, as human beings, suffer from malice, despondence, lack of nobal qualities and so on. These things make our life sad and gloomy. The poet, however, feels that in spite of all these sufferings, man has a hope to redeem himself and make him love life. This hope lies in the small beautiful things around which provides happiness and joy through their sheer charm and beauty.
Q. 5. Why is ‘ grandeur ‘ associated with the ‘ mighty dead’?
Ans. The ‘ mighty dead’ reffers to our forefathers who were powerful in their own ways and in their times. Their values and achievements made them ‘ mighty’ and great. They were great because of their grand, dazzling deeds. Thus, ‘ grandeur’ is associated with our dead ancestors who are remembered for their good works.
Q. 6. Do we experience things of beauty only for short moments or do they make a lasting impression on us?
Ans. ‘ A thing of beauty is a joy forever’; it has a lasting effect on us. The poet goes on to say that its loveliness goes on increasing every moment and it never passes into nothingness.
Q.7. what images does the poet use to describe the beautiful bounty of the earth?
Ans. The poet uses various images to describe the many beautiful things existing on the earth. The sun, the moon, trees old and young, the beautiful daffodils, small streams of clear water, thickets, forest, brake, musk roses etc. And then, there is this striking image of nature as an endless fountain pouring into us a heavenly immortal dink i.e., nectar and thus keeping us in a constant state of joy.
Some other questions
Answer the following questions in about 30 to 40 words.
Q. 1. How does beauty sustain our life on this earth?
Ans. Beauty brings us joy forever. It removes gloom from our sad lives and lifts our spirit. It is like a quiet bower which provides us health and quiet breathing and sleep full of dreams.
Q. 2. According to Keats, what makes man love life in spite of all its problems and miseries?
Ans . We, as human beings, suffer from malice, despondence, lack of nobal qualities and so on. These things make our life sad and gloomy. John Keats, however, feels that in spite of all these sufferings, man has a hope to redeem himself and make him love life. This hope lies in the small beautiful things around him which provides happiness and joy through their charm and beauty.
Q.3. what images does Keats use to describe the beautiful bounty of the earth?
Ans. He uses various images to describe the many beautiful things existing on the earth. The sun, the moon, trees old and young, the beautiful daffodils, small streams of clear water, thickets, forest brake, musk – rose etc.— all are various incarnations of the eternal beauty on earth.
Q. 4. Why does Keats associated ‘ grandeur’ with ‘ the mighty dead’?
Ans. According to Keats, there is beauty even in death. Keats has associated mighty dead with grandeur as warrior and people who selflessly sacrifice their lives for others are beautiful and they remain immortal. The values and achievements of those dead made them ‘ mighty’ and great. Thus , ‘grandeur’ is associated with our dead who are remembered for their good works.
Q.5. why does john Keats compare beautiful things to an ‘ endless fountain’ ?
Ans. According to john Keats, things of beauty are like an endless fountain pouring on us from the heavens. The comparison signifies that God Himself has made these beautiful things so that we may have happiness, calm and peace in our lives.
—————————————————————
Class Xll class Xll class Xll
Summary summary class Xll
With questions and answers for
Class Xll A thing of beauty summary
Class Xll