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अध्याय 7. THE FOUNTAIN
ABOUT THE POET
James Russell Lowell was a famous writer and wrote ‘A Year of Life’ and ‘Poems’. His Poetry is full of nature and emotions. But other poems are full of patriotism and love for democracy. He is known as a suggestive literary critic and a lecturer on English poetry.
THEME
In this poem the poet describes the fountain in three different aspects. He describes and appreciates its attributes and want to learn these qualities of freshness and aspiring from the fountain.
SUMMARY
The poet starts the poem by describing how the fountain is filled with light in the presence of sunlight and the light reflects and leap and flashes from morning till night.Then he describes the fountain in the moonlight. The fountain is whiter than snow and it waves just how a flower waves when the wind flows. Below the starlight, the fountains inclines and drops like a shower. It is happy at midnight and happy during the day too. It is always in motion, always cheerful and still climbing to reach heaven and is never tired. The fountain is glad during all the weathers and still seems its best in upward or in downward motion when it rests. It is full of nature and nothing can tame it as it is keeps changing every moment and is still the same. Even in brightness or darkness, it never stops to look aspiring and content as it is a principal substance. The poet wants to become just like the fountain and wants his heart to be fresh, changeful, constant and upward just like the fountain. INTRODUCTION
‘The Fountain’ is a very inspiring poem. The poet describes the fountain in three different aspects. All the time it is cheerful and lively. All the time it seems to be aspiring higher and higher. The poet wishes to learn these qualities of constancy and freshness.
LITERARY DEVICES
Imagery: The poet brings an image of endless fountain of beauty in the minds of the readers.
Hyperbole: the poet exaggerates the thing of beauty as endless and immortal.
उदाहरण 1
प्रश्न:
Into the moonlight………………………….blow!
Write the title of this poem from which the above noted lines of poetry have been taken.
उत्तर:
The title of this poem is ‘The Fountain’ .
उदाहरण 2
प्रश्न:
Into the moonlight………………………….blow!
Point out the rhyming words in the stanza.
उत्तर:
Snow and blow are the rhyming words in the stanza.
उदाहरण 3
प्रश्न:
Into the moonlight………………………….blow!
What kind of movement does the word,” Waving” suggest?
उत्तर:
Waving suggests a to and fro motion due to the wind.
उदाहरण 4
प्रश्न:
Into the moonlight………………………….blow!
What color is the fountain in the moonlight?
उत्तर:
The fountain looks whiter than snow in the moonlight.
उदाहरण 5
प्रश्न:
Into the moonlight………………………….blow!
What happens to the fountain when the winds blow?
उत्तर:
When the winds blow the fountain waves in the air like a flower moves when the wind blows.
उदाहरण 6
प्रश्न:
Ever in motion……………………a weary.
Write the title of this poem from which the above noted lines of poetry have been taken. Who is the author of the poem?
उत्तर:
The title of this poem is ‘The Fountain’ . The author of the poem is James Russell Lowell.
उदाहरण 7
प्रश्न:
Ever in motion……………………a weary.
Each of the above four lines describe a particular quality of the fountain. Mention them.
उत्तर:
The qualities like the fountain always being active, happy and cheerful, goes upward and is never tired is mentioned in the above four lines.
उदाहरण 8
प्रश्न:
Ever in motion……………………a weary.
What is the meaning of the word ‘still’?
उत्तर:
The word still means not moving. The fountain looks best when it is still and calm.
उदाहरण 9
प्रश्न:
Ever in motion……………………a weary.
Point out the rhyming words in the above noted lines.
उत्तर:
Rest and best are the rhyming words in the above noted lines.
उदाहरण 10
प्रश्न:
Full of a nature ………………….. Ever the same.Write the title of this poem from which the above noted lines of poetry have been taken. Who is the author of the poem?
उत्तर:
The title of this poem is ‘The Fountain’ . The author of the poem is James Russell Lowell.
उदाहरण 11
प्रश्न:
Full of a nature ………………….. Ever the same.Why can nothing ‘tame’ the fountain?
उत्तर:
Nothing can ‘tame’ the fountain because it is constantly changing and is uncontrollable.
उदाहरण 12
प्रश्न:
Full of a nature ………………….. Ever the same.How does the fountain remain ever the same?
उत्तर:
Since the fountain changes it shape every moment, it still looks the same.
उदाहरण 13
प्रश्न:
Full of a nature ………………….. Ever the same.Point out the pairs of words which rhyme together in the stanza?
उत्तर:
Tame and same rhyme together in the stanza.
उदाहरण 14
प्रश्न:
Ceaseless aspiring ………………….. thy element.
Write the title of this poem from which the above noted lines of poetry have been taken. Who is the author of the poem?
उत्तर:
The title of this poem is ‘The Fountain’ . The author of the poem is James Russell Lowell.
उदाहरण 15
प्रश्न:
Ceaseless aspiring ………………….. thy element.
What are the elements of the fountain?
उत्तर:
Darkness and sunshine are the elements of the fountain.
उदाहरण 16
प्रश्न:
Ceaseless aspiring ………………….. thy element.
What are the rhyming words in the stanza?
उत्तर:
Content and element are the rhyming words in the stanza.
उदाहरण 17
प्रश्न:
Ceaseless aspiring ………………….. thy element.
Who is the poet of the poem from which the above lines have been taken?
उत्तर:
The poet of the poem is James Russell Lowell.
उदाहरण 18
प्रश्न:
Ceaseless aspiring ………………….. thy element.
What lesson does the Poet want to give us, in the above stanza?
उत्तर:
The wants to give the lesson that we should aspire to be happy in all the conditions. We should keep ourselves fresh and steady, look towards higher things and be consistent.
उदाहरण 19
प्रश्न:
Glorious fountain…………… like thee.
Write the title of this poem from which the above noted lines of poetry have been taken. Who is the author of the poem?
उत्तर:
The title of this poem is ‘The Fountain’ . The author of the poem is James Russell Lowell.
उदाहरण 20
प्रश्न:
Glorious fountain…………… like thee.
Why has the fountain been addressed as ‘Glorious’?
उत्तर:
The fountain been addressed as ‘Glorious’ because it looks very beautiful and graceful.
उदाहरण 21
प्रश्न:
Glorious fountain…………… like thee.
What qualities of the fountain does the poet wish to have?
उत्तर:
The qualities of the fountain the poet wishes to have are consistency, freshness and changefulness.
उदाहरण 22
प्रश्न:
Glorious fountain…………… like thee.
Point out the rhyming words in the stanza.
उत्तर:
Be and thee are the rhyming words in the stanza.
उदाहरण 23
प्रश्न:
Glad of all………………………….. Motion thy rest.
What is the state of fountain in every weather?
उत्तर:
The fountain is glad and happy in every weather.
उदाहरण 24
प्रश्न:
Glad of all………………………….. Motion thy rest.
What lesson does the poet want to give us in the above stanza?
उत्तर:
The lesson that the poet wants to give us in the above stanza is that we should always try to look upward and be positive and work hard.
उदाहरण 25
प्रश्न:
What does the fountain do from morn till night?
उत्तर:
The fountain leaps and flashes from morning till night.
उदाहरण 26
प्रश्न:
How does the fountain look in the moonlight?
उत्तर:
In the moonlight, the fountain looks whiter than snow.
उदाहरण 27
प्रश्न:
What happens when the wind blows?
उत्तर:
When the wind blows the fountain waves in the air like a flower.
उदाहरण 28
प्रश्न:
The poet describes the fountain under three different kinds of light. Name them in order.
उत्तर:
The poet first describes the fountain in the following order of light:
1)Sunlight
2)Moonlight
3)starlight.
उदाहरण 29
प्रश्न:
What are the qualities of the fountain?
उत्तर:
The fountain is always happy and fresh and blithesome in all the conditions.
उदाहरण 30
प्रश्न:
Why does the fountain not feel tired?
उत्तर:
The fountain does not feel tired because it is always in motion and its state of motion is its resting state.
उदाहरण 31
प्रश्न:
How does the fountain look all the time?
उत्तर:
The fountain always looks fresh, cheerful and glad during all the weathers. It is always happy.
उदाहरण 32
प्रश्न:
What qualities of the fountain does the poet wish to have?
उत्तर:
The poet wishes to always be happy, active and cheerful like the fountain.
उदाहरण 33
प्रश्न:
What does the word “ceaseless “ indicate?
उत्तर:
The word “ceaseless “ indicates how the fountain never stops and is constant and unending and never gets tired.
उदाहरण 34
प्रश्न:
Give the Central idea of the poem “The Fountain”.
उत्तर:
The central idea of the poem is to motivate and inspire the readers. It inspires the readers to be as happy and fresh and glorious like the fountain.
GLOSSARY
Fountain-spring, झरना
Sunshine- light of the sun, धूप
Leaping- going up into the air, उछाल
Flashing- shining, चमकता
Moonlight- light of the moon, चांदनी
Starlight- light of the stars, तारों का
Spray- water sent through the air in tiny drops,फुहार
Motion- manner of moving, गति
Blithesome- happy, ज़िंदादिल
Cheery- cheerful, प्रसन्न
Weary- tired, थका
Tame- train, पालतू बनाना
Ceaseless- continuous, निरंतर
Aspiring- moving upward, आकांक्षी
Element- principal substance, तत्त्व
Glorious- magnificent, यशस्वी
Constant- fixed, unchanging, स्थिर