An Epitaph by Walter de la Mare

Bihar Board Rainbow English Book Class 12 Solutions 
Poem 5 'An Epitaph by Walter de la Mare'

Find the summary of the poem, here.

Text Book Questions and Answers

B. 1.1. Read the following sentences and write “T” for true and “F” for false statements -

(a) The poet expresses his sad feeling for a lady. - T
(b) The lady belonged to the North Country. - F
(c) The poet considers her the most beautiful lady. - T
(d) ‘Beauty’ remains forever if we take proper care for it. - F
(e) There are other persons who also know the lady. - F
(f) The poet feels that after his death nobody will remember her. - T

B. 1.2. Answer the following questions briefly -

1. Where does the lady lie?
Ans: The lady lies dead in the West Country.

2. How does she look to the poet?
Ans: She looks to the poet the most beautiful lady ever born in the west country.

3. Was she a kind and considerate lady?
Ans: No, She was not a considerate lady. She had the habit of moving here and there.

4. What does the poet think about ‘beauty’?
Ans: The poet thinks about the beauty that it is short-lived and will disappear one day or another.

5. What does the poet mean when he says. ‘And when I crumble.’
Ans: The poet is sad to think that nobody will remember the most beautiful lady in the west country.

C. 1. Long Answer Questions -

1. ‘Ambiguity’ is a poetic device that is used to suggest more than one meaning and attitude. Comment on the ‘ambiguity’ in the use of the word ‘light’ in the second line of the poem?
Ans: ‘Ambiguity’ is a poetic device that is used to suggest more than one meaning and attitude. It is commonly used in the sense of light. But in the second line of the poem, the poet has used it for the beautiful lady moving here and there.
Usually, the word light means brightness, but the use of the word light in the second line of the poem is related to the habit of moving.

2. What according to the poet, are the two qualities of ‘beauty’? Discuss with your own comments.
Ans: The two qualities of’ beauty’ are short-lived and rare. The poet wants to say that beauty is rare and it disappears after some time. It never lasts long and people forget the person who holds this beauty.

3. What will happen when the poet dies?
Ans: When the poet will die nobody will remember the beautiful lady of the West Country.

4. Write a note on the philosophical meaning of the poem.
Ans: The poet ‘Walter De La Mare’ who has written the poem ‘An Epitaph’ has most philosophically expressed his deep concern over the death of the most beautiful lady of the west country. He is also mentally upset that who will remember the lady (lying in the grave) after his death. The philosophical meaning of the poem is the mortality of human life, the short-living of beauty and glamour which is bound to vanish and lust for life.

5. What makes you feel that the poem is ‘ironical’ in meaning?
Ans: The feelings about the poet that how he loved his beloved make me feel that the poem is ironic. He loved her so much that when his beloved died he mourned her death but could not save her from the cruel hands of death. The beautiful lady turned into a dead body and was burned. It is but the irony of life.

C. 3. Composition -

Write a paragraph in about 100 words on each of the following -

(a) A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
Ans: Many things in this world bring joy to us. This is correct that a thing of beauty is a joy forever. Any beautiful thing that is created by God on man brings happiness to its viewer. But at the same, we can think it beautiful only because we see it this way. We all know that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Nature has given us many beautiful things to appreciate and praise. We feel happy, seeing the mountains, landscape, flowers, and fruit. We feel happy when we see a beautiful dress, a beautiful picture, and beautiful surroundings.

(b) All that glitters is not gold.
Ans: It is a very well said statement that all things that dazzle are not pure or real. Gold is the symbol of purity and real glitter. We should have an eye for real or unreal things. Even artificial or unreal things can dazzle so much that we are misled from our sense of understanding. Human beings should not be honored for their show-offing. We should try to see the inner beauty and purity of the heart. Glitters can sometimes be fake. Human beings should be recognized for their inner dazzle and not the take emotions. Gold dazzles. It is we who should understand and see the real shine remembering that all the things that glitter is not gold.

D. Word Study -

D.1. Dictionary Use -

Ex. 1. Correct the spelling of the following words -

• beautyful - beautiful
• vanises - vanishes
• crumbul - crumble
• rimember - remember
• ladie - lady

D. 2. Word-formation -

Read the following line carefully -
I think she was the most beautiful lady.
Mark that ‘beautiful’ is derived from ‘beauty’ by adding suffix ‘-ful’ to it Write 10 words that end in ‘-ful’.

1. faith - faithful
2. doubt - doubtful
3. power - powerful
4. use - useful
5. house - houseful
6. great - grateful
7. hand - handful
8. mouth - mouthful
9. need - needful
10. care - careful

D. 3. Word-meaning -

Ex. 1. Fill in the blanks with the antonyms of the following words given in the box -

beautiful     light      ever       vanish        rare       remember

(i) The stars suddenly appear from behind the cloud.
(ii) As the room was dark I could not see anything.
(iii) They created an ugly scene when they fought together.
(iv) A crow is a common bird in India.
(v) We can never forget the valuable sacrifice of the leaders of the freedom struggle movement.

E. Grammar -

Ex. 1. Read the following lines from the poem carefully - 

(i) Here lies a most beautiful lady,
(ii) I think she was the most beautiful lady.

The use of ‘a most’ is uncommon. The use of ‘a’ before ‘most’ suggests general observation.
The most’ is commonly used, and here ‘the’ suggests particular reference.
Fill in the blanks with ‘a’, ‘an’ or ‘the’ to complete the sentences -

(i) Most of the students today want to work in the U.S.A.
(ii) There is a red rose on the plant, the rose has become quite attractive.
(iii) There are very few students in the university, who want to pursue research work.
(iv) An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
(v) I have met the M.L.A. today.