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Karnataka State Syllabus Class 10 English Poem Chapter 10 C.L.M
C.L.M Questions and Answers, Summary, Notes
Pre – Reading Activity:
Can you think of a one-line dedication to yOur mother? Share it in pairs.
Answer:
Live life in such a way that everyone praises your unseen mother.
II. Comprehension Questions
A. Answer the following questions briefly:
Question 1.
The Second Line “My mother’s life made me a man”
a. Just states a natural phenomenon of a mother giving birth to a son
b. has a hint that he was born at the cost of his mother’s life
Answer:
(b) has a hint that he was born at the cost of his mother’s life.
Question 2.
The phrase “Her beauty” in line 4 refers to
a. The physical beauty of his mother
b. The ‘beauty’ of his mother’s physical and emotional trauma at the birth of the child
Answer:
(b) The ‘beauty’ of his mother’s physical and emotional trauma at the birth of the child.
Question 3.
Why does the poet use the present tense in lines 5 and 6?
a. to emphasize that his very existence now is made possible by the death of ‘some of her’
b. to emphasize that every movement of his in his mother’s womb destroyed a part of her life
c. to show that his very birth and life are responsible for his mother’s partial death
Answer:
(a) to emphasize that every movement of his in his mother’s womb destroyed a part of her life.
Question 4.
What does ‘it’ inline 10 refer to?
Answer:
‘It’ refers to the life the mother gave to the boy.
Question 5.
“Her beauty” in line 12 refers to
a. his mother’s physical beauty
b. her son, the poet
Answer:
(b) her son, the poet.
Question 6.
“dusty in the mind” in line 12 refers to
a. the fading memory of his mother in his mind
b. the state of his dead mother’s mind which has forgotten the dear ones left behind
Answer:
(a) the fading memory of his mother in his mind.
Question 7.
“I am so grown” in line 15 means
a. that he has grown so much physically that she would not be able to recognize him
b. that he has grown so unworthy of all her sacrifice that she would not be able to recognize him
c. both a and b
Answer:
(c) both (a) and (b).
Question 8.
Which line in stanza 3 suggests that the poet is totally unworthy or ungrateful?
Answer:
‘She would not know her little son, I am so grown.’
Question 9.
Which phrase in stanza 4 suggests that his concern goes beyond his personal experience?
Answer:
‘What have I done to keep in mind my debt to her and womankind ?’
Question 10.
“Providing a happier life to one’s mother will repay for all her sacrifice.” Is this what the poet says in lines 21 and 22?
Answer:
The poet says this and also something more. He means that a person should repay his mother not just by making her life better, but by making other women’s lives also better.
Question 11.
Stanza 4 has some very powerful and forceful images.
a) What is compared to a – leech?
Answer:
The baby inside the mother’s womb…
b) How is it a leech?
Answer:
It sucks on the life of the mother.
c) What is unusual about the use of the word ‘leech’d’?
Answer:
The word ‘leech’d is used for a parasite-like creature which feeds on the other and destroys it. Usually, babies who are entirely dependent on their mothers are referred to as leeches. But here the poet feels his mother has suffered a lot with every baby she carried, and hence he has been like a leech when he was in her womb.
d) Why is B in ‘Birth’ capitalized? (line 24)
Answer:
Birth is a very significant moment in the life of a baby or an individual because it signifies the separation of the baby from the mother and the need for the baby to- fend for itself to a certain extent. It has come out of a warm, protective cave into a cold, harsh world.
e) For whom is birth a hell
a. for the mother (for all her pain and suffering during the birth of her child)
b. for the son (who feels that it was because of his birth that his mother died, though partially)
c. for both
Answer:
(c) for both.
Question 12.
Note that lines 19 to 26 introduce a series of rhetorical questions. (A rhetorical question is asked for effect rather than to obtain an answer. The answer is very much implied in the question itself.) Lines 19-20 are a good example of a rhetorical question. The meaning of the two lines is,” I have done nothing worth remembering to show my debt to my mother and womankind.”
a) Identify 2 more examples of rhetorical questions.
Answer:
Lines 21-22: “What woman’s happier life repays/Her for those months of wretched days?”
Lines 25-26: “What have I done, or tried or said / in thanks to that dear woman dead?”
b) Write down the actual meaning of each of them.
Answer:
Lines 21-22: “I have not repaid my mother for those months of wretched days by making a woman’s life. happier.”
Lines 25-26: “I have not done or tried or said anything to express my thanks to that dear dead woman.”
Question 13.
“man’s lust” in line 29 refers to
a. man’s beastly sexuality
b. man’s lust for power over women
c. both a and b
Answer:
(c) both (a) and (b).
Question 14.
The poet has used many poetical devices in the last line in order to draw the reader’s attention to it.
a) What typographical deviation is used in the last line? Ans: (c) both (a) and (b).
Answer:
It is a single exclamatory sentence, unlike the rest that are in stanzas and is written as observations and rhetorical questions.
b) Why, do you think, has he used this deviation?
Answer:
He has used that form as an answer to all those questions and feelings he has outlined in the stanzas.
c) What figure of speech is used in this line?
Answer:
A hyperbole. It’s an exaggerated statement highlighting the shame the poet is experiencing. Surely, a grave will not open and his mother will not come to life to put him to shame.
d) Why does the poet want the grave to keep shut?
Answer:
If his mother were to see him now, or women were to see mankind now, she/they would be ashamed.
e) How does the line end?
Answer:
The line ends with a regretful plea that the grave should remain shut.
Question 15.
The most dominant feeling of the poet in this poem is:
a. a feeling of guilt
b. a sense of ingratitude
c. a sense of shame
Answer:
(c) a feeling of shame.
Question 16.
Look at the rhyme scheme of the first stanza. The word ‘began’ rhymes with ‘man’. The rhyme scheme is aa. ‘Birth’ in line 3 rhymes with ‘earth’ in line 4. The rhyme scheme is bb. ’stir’ in line 5 rhymes with ‘her’ in line 6. The rhyme scheme is cc. So, the rhyme scher of the first stanza is aa, bb, cc.
Now work out the rhyme scheme of the remaining 4 stanzas. Start with lines 7 and 8 as dd…
Answer:
1st Stanza : aa bb cc
2nd Stanza : dd ee ff
3rd Stanza : gg hh ii
4th Stanza : jj kk ll
5th Stanza : mm nn oo
B. Close Study:
Read the following extracts carefully. Discuss in pairs and then answer the
questions given below them.
Question 1.
For all her love, she cannot tell Whether I use it ill or well.
a) Who do ‘I’ and ‘she’ refer to?
Answer:
T refers to the son, i.e., the poet, and ‘she’ refers to the mother.
b) What does ‘it’ in the second line refer to?
Answer:
‘It’ refers to the life that the mother has given the son.
c) Why is it that she cannot tell?
Answer:
She is dead and cannot see whether he lives well or net.
Question 2.
…………….. If we should meet, She would pass by me in the street Unless my soul’s face let her see My sense of what she did to me.
a) Would it be possible for the mother and son to meet each other?
Answer:
No, since the mother is dead the son is still alive.
b) What is my figure of speech used in the expression ‘soul’s face’?
Answer:
Personification.
c) His soul would reveal
a. his sense of gratitude to his mother
b. his sense of ingratitude to his mother
Answer:
(b) his sense of ingratitude to his mother.
III. Paragraph Writing:
Discuss in pairs/groups of four each the answers to the following questions. Note down the important points!’ for each question and then develop the points into one-paragraph, answers.
Question 1.
The poem describes the poet’s personal experience. Does it stop at that?
Answer:
- It starts with how the mother gave her beauty to the child and lost a little with every birth.
- She is dead, and the poet feels guilty that he has not used her gift properly.
- When he thinks about how he has helped to make any woman’s life better, he realizes that he has not done anything at all.
- Women all over the world are still exploited, tormented and oppressed by men.
Answer:
The poet doesn’t stop at his personal experience. There is a strong opinion about women’s right that is communicated in the poem. A woman’s role as a mother, a woman who is made powerless by a man, a woman who has to fight for every right and men who force her into those situations and worse should be ashamed.
Question 2.
Do you like the poem? Why?
Answer:
- The poet talks about a common event in a very unusual manner.
- Everyone feels indebted to the mother for their birth, but the poet’s intensity of feelings makes it a very poignant experience.
- the poet’s perception of the mother’s sacrifice in giving birth to children is uncommon.
- In return for the mother’s sacrifice, the poet wants to make another woman’s life better. This is a wonderful thought.
IV. Activities.
1. Pair work.
a) Cite any 3 examples (from your family or the society you live in) of discrimination against women.
Answer:
- Women are not allowed to dress as they want to.
- They are not allowed to come home late.
- In places of work, they are not given higher responsibilities or posts.
b) Cite any 3 examples of men trampling women’s rights.
Answer:
- When the woman earns more money, the husband takes charge of it and spends it as he thinks fit.
- In places of political power (municipal corporations and state assemblies), women’s opinions are not given much importance.
2. Discussion
Have a discussion, in groups of 4 each, on the following. One in each group notes down the points and reads it out to the class.
Topic: What should we do to empower women so that they can fight against gender discrimination and oppression?
Answer:
Some suggestions can be given on this point:
1. All women should be educated, preferably up to degree level.
2. They should be taught the importance of physical, financial and emotional independence.
3. They should be made to understand the dignity of womanhood, and the need to preserve it.
4. They should be made to realize the importance of women in creating a balanced society.
5. They should be made to understand the unique ways in which only a woman and not a man can contribute to the welfare of the children and society.
6. They should be made to accept responsibility for their acts and accept equal responsibility (along with men) for the creation of a good society.
7. They should be taught the importance of good health, knowledge of defense skills like karate, judo etc.
8. Most importantly, women should not ask for special rights or concessions because they are women. They should understand the need to face men on an equal level. They should never take the help of their gender to rise in their careers or secure opportunities.
9. They should be made to understand that empowerment is not equivalent to a licence to smoke, drink, gamble or flirt like men. Empowerment gives the woman such confidence that she will not be tempted to indulge in any of the above acts. Empowerment gives physical, financial, social, emotional and intellectual freedom to do the right and just act all the time.
C.L.M by John Edward Masefield About the Author:
John Edward Masefield, (1 June 1878 . 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967. He is remembered as the author of the classic children’s novels The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, and poems, including “The Everlasting Mercy” and “Sea- Fever”.
Masefield was born in Ledbury in Herefordshire, to Caroline and George Masefield, a solicitor. His mother died giving birth to his sis- ter when Masefield was only six, and he went to live with his aunt. His father died soon after following a mental breakdown.
C.L.M. Poem Summary in English
In this poem the poet talks about his mother who, while giving birth to him, suffered in many ways and became weak. The poet is thankful to his mother that she nurtured him while he was in her womb, and her ‘emotional beauty’ shaped his human form and made it strong. Whatever he is capable of doing as an adult human being, the poet says is due to what his mother gave him, but through the giving of that, she suffered a lot.
Now the poet’s mother is dead, and the poet is thankful for that because he feels that if his mother were to be there beside him, she might have regretted giving birth to him. He feels he has not made good use of the life his mother gave him. Moreover, he feels he has become a bad person, and she wouldn’t certainly recognize him.
In his anguish, the poet says that he has not repaid the debt he owes to his mother by doing anything good to womankind. He has not made any woman’s life happier. In no way has he shown his gratitude to her for going through hell and bringing him into this world.
The poet feels sad that he has not been able to change the way men treat women – exploit them for their own pleasure or suppress their voices – and asks the grave to keep shut and never to let his mother out, as then she will get to know how he has wasted his life and that moment will be the worst of his life.