Porousand His Elephant | Poem 2 | English 8th | TulipSeries |
(MaryDobson)
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THINKING ABOUT THEPOEM
Q1. Howdid the elephant save the life of Porus?
Ans.While fighting with Alexander’s troops, Porus on his elephant fell downunconscious. On seeing his master unconscious, he came forward defending himagainst the sharp swords and spears of enemies. At last, he lifted him with hismighty trunk and took him to a safe place away from enemies thereby saving hislife.
Q2. Whatdoes the poet mean, by?
“Ah! These dumb things that but cry and pant,
They, too, can love, for God made them so.”
Ans.These lines have been taken from the poem “Porus and His Elephant” written byMarry Dobson. In these lines, the poet says that the beasts like elephants inthe poem, cannot talk or speak like human beings but they can feel, breathe, cryand love like human beings because God had made them capable to love and to beloved.
Q3.Write the story told in the poem in your own words.
Ans. The poem “Porus and His Elephant” is a lyrical ballad written by Marry Dobson. Thispoem narrates the beast for his master in the battle between Porus andAlexander.
The poemstarts when the king Porous goes to meet his enemy, Alexander the great, onriver Jhelum to defend his kingdom. But a bloody battle takes place between thearmies of Alexander and Porus in which Porus gets injured and falls downunconscious. The unconscious Porus is defended by his faithful Elephant and atlast, lifts him up on the back and takes him to a safe place. Porus is savedbut his faithful beast dies of the wounds he got while defending his master.This sacrifice shows the love of a faithful beast to his master. Although theycannot talk or speak they can cry, feelpain and love because ALLAHhas made them capable of love and to be loved.
Q4. Whatis the rhyme scheme of the poem?
Ans. Asthe poem is a lyrical ballad so the rhyme scheme of the poem is in the form of“abab”, that means the sound of the last word of the first line of the fourlines stanza rhymes with the last word of the third line of the stanza and thatof the second line with the fourth line of the stanza and vice versa.
Q5. The poemreflects the faithfulness of an elephant towards his master. Explain.
Ans.“Marry Dobson” has written this poem to show the faithfulness of a beast whocannot talk like a human being but still he saves his master from the sharpswords of enemies. This faithful beast is the elephant. When the fight beginsbetween the two kings, Porus is wounded and falls down from his elephant butthe elephant comes to his rescue. He defends him from the sharp swords andarrows of enemies. Although he is wounded, he lifts his master on his back andtakes him to a safe place to save him. In this way, he shows his faithfulnesstowards his master by sacrificing his life for his sake.
Q6. Tickthe right answer:
a.Porusmet his enemy on the bankof:
a. TheNile b. The Jhelum c. TheGanges d. The Satluj
Ans. b.The Jhelum
b.Alexander in the poem is referred to as:
a.Friend b. Foe c.Brother d. Statesman
Ans. b.Foe
c. Whowas wounded?
a.Alexander b. Porusc. Both d. None
Ans. b.Porus
d. Thewounded Porus is lifted by: a. His ownsoldiers b. Soldiers ofAlexander c. The Elephant d. None
Ans. c.The elephant
e. Whosaves Porus?
a. His Elephant b. Hissoldiers’ c.Both d. Villagers
Ans. a.His Elephant
LANGUAGE WORK
I. Usethe following words, phrases, and expressions in your sentences:
Days gone by, fray, to hold at a bay, battle-pride, fought the more,gallant part, mighty trunk
Ans.Daysgone by:Days have gone by, since the battle between Porus andAlexander.
Fray:Alexander came to Indiafor fray.
To holdat bay:Oursoldiers hold at bay our enemies.
Battle-pride:Participation in thewar in olden times was considered as battle-pride.
Foughtthe more:Porusfought the more, against Alexander.
Gallantpart:Theelephant played a gallant part in the fight between Porus and Alexander.
Mightytrunk:Thelifted his master on his back with his mighty trunk to save him.
II. Usethe following words as nouns and verbs in your sentences:
Record, Present, Object, Contest, Produce
Ans.Record:
(Noun) Ikeep the record of my all expenditures.
(Verb)In Kashmir, the maximum temperature was recorded as 35ºC.
Present:
(Noun)He gave me a present on my birthday.
(Verb)The student presented himself before the headmaster.
Object:
(Noun)Do not touch an unclaimed object on the road.
(Verb)He was objected by people in his rude language.
Contest:
(Noun) Amusic contest was conducted at Radio Kashmir Srinagar on Saturday.
(Verb)He contested for writing an essay in English.
Produce:
(Noun)Plants produce oxygen for animals.
(Verb) Alarge quantity of paddy is produced in Kashmir.
