English Literature Made Easy for Students

Robert Browning: Some Glimpses from his Life & Works Robert Browning, best known for his dramatic monologues, was an eminent poet of the nineteenth century. He did not achieve fame all of a sudden. In fact, he had to struggle to make his name shine in the galaxy of the poets of eminence in English Literature. Let’s have a microscopic view of his life of works. He was born on May 7, 1812 in Camberwell, London. His father was a senior clerk in a bank and mother an excellent pianist ( / ˈpiː. ə n.ɪst /   ) and there would be no exaggeration if we say that he inherited love for music from his mother. He developed his love for reading books because there was his father’s a big library in the house. He wrote his first poem Pauline A Fragment of a Confession in 1833, when he was too young, so the poem proved to be an open expression of his feelings. In a way, he lays his soul bare to a patient heroine. J. S. Mill (John Stuart Mill) commented on this poem: “…that the po...

Some Multiple Choice Questions on the poems of Class XII My Mother at Sixty-six by Kamala Das Q1. To which place the poetess Kamala Das is going along with her mother in a car? 1.     Chennai 2.    Bengluru 3.    C ochin 4.    Trivendrum Q2. From which poem the following lines have been taken? “…see you soon, Amma, all I did was smile and smile and smile.” 1.     Keeping Quiet 2.   Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers 3.   The Roadside Stand 4.   My Mother at Sixty-six Q3. What was the childhood fear that poetess Kamala Das talks about in her poem ‘My Mother at Sixty-six’? 1.    She had fear of punishment from her father. 2.    She had fear of being punished by her teacher. 3.    She had the fear of having nightmares at night. 4.    She had the fear of being separated from her mother. Q4. How did the poetess Kamala Das discard her fear and worry a...

A Visit to an Optometrist                Comprehension (Page 155) QA. Questions and Answers 1.What was the eagle family cribbing (feeling extremely boring) about? Ans. The eagle family was cribbing about wheelbarrows. 2.Who was Harry? What did he worry about? Ans. Harry was the father eagle. He was worried about Molly’s (the mother eagle’s) eyesight that was deteriorating (getting worsened) day by day. 3. How did Harry make use of the wheelbarrow? Ans. He used to relax in it. 4. How far away was the optometrist’s clinic? Ans. It was a couple of miles away from their nest. 5. What was the consultation fee? Why did Molly find it difficult to keep a doctor’s appointment? Ans. It was a couple of mongoose. It was difficult for Molly to visit the doctor due to her routine household work (chores). 6. What was Molly proud of? What did Harry make her understand? Ans. Molly was proud of he...

Poem: Nichlas Nye by Walter de la Mare Line-to-line Explanation: Stanza 1 Thistle and darnell and dock grew there, And a bush, in the corner, of may, On the orchard wall I used to sprawl In the blazing heat of the day;  Word-meanings : 1. Thistle :  It is a kind of plant with pink flowers  2. Darnell          plant with flowers 3. Dock  It is also a plant.   4 .  Bush: A thick growth of plants is called a bush 4. Orchard: a group of fruit trees is called an orchard 5. Sprawl: to lie down in a relaxing manner:     5. 5. Blazing: very bright/shining and hot Explanation: The poet describes a meadow where plants and bushes like thistle, Darnell and Dock grew in a corner in the month of May. The poet lay (sprawled) there on the wall of an orchard in the shining heat of the sun. Stanza 2. Half as...

                          Summary:   Nicholas Nye  by Walter de la Mare Walter de La Mare This poem is about a donkey, named Nicholas Nye, which lives in a meadow (grazing land) in an orchard (garden of fruit trees) . It seems that the poet used to visit that place to relax himself and lie down on the wall of the orchard. He would watch the donkey from there. Nicholas Rye                                                          Meadow One day, the poet is inspired to write a poem on the donkey. The poet had a very minute (including very small detail) study of the donkey and a lot of sympathy for the poor animal. The poet personifies the donkey in order to treat it in human terms and give equal status to it like that of a human being on this ...