Indian Weavers by Saraojini Naidu

 

Question 1: Name the three events referred to in the poem? What are the three stages of human life indicated by these events?

Answer: Birth, marriage and death are the three events referred to in this poem. These events indicate the three stages of human life – childhood, youth and old age.

Question 2: What are the weavers weaving at dawn? 

Answer: At dawn, the weavers are weaving a blue garment for a new born child.


Question 3: Pick out the expressions, words or phrases from the poem that indicate different times of the day.

Answer: The expressions, words or phrases indicating different times of the day in the poem are –
Break of day – early morning
fall of night – late in the evening
moonlight chill – cold night

 Question 4: What is the similarity between the break of the day and the birth of a baby?

Answer: The similarity between the break of the day and the birth of a baby is that both symbolize a new beginning.

 . Answer the following questions.

     a)   What three events are referred to in the poem? Can you guess the three stages of human life indicated by these events?

      Ans. The three events referred to in the poem are birth, marriage and death. The three stages of human life indicated by these events are childhood, youth, and old age.

 

     b)   With what do the weavers compare the garments being woven by them? 

     Ans. Weavers compare the robes of a new-born child with the wing of a halcyon bird, marriage-veils of a queen with the feathers of a peacock and dead man’s funeral shroud with white feather and cloud.

 

Question 5: With what do the weavers compare the garments being woven by them? 

Answer: Weavers compare the robes of a new-born child with halcyon bird’s wings, marriage-veils of a queen with the peacock’s feathers and dead man’s funeral shroud with white feather and cloud.

Question 6: Give three pairs of end rhymes in the poem.

Answer: day-gay, night-bright, cloud-shroud.

 Question 7: Why are the weavers so serious at moonlight?

Answer: The weavers are serious at night as they are weaving the shroud of a dead man.

Question 8: Describe the garment that the weavers weave at night.

Answer: The weavers weave a bright and colourful garment like the plumes of a peacock. They weave the marriage veil of a queen.

 Question 9: Write about the mood of the weavers from dawn till dusk. Does this have anything to do with the garments that they are weaving?

Answer: The weavers are happy at dawn, their mood is energetic and enthusiastic in the afternoon, but they become calm and serious at night. Their mood reflects the garment they weaving and for whom they are weaving.

Question 10: What message is conveyed in the poem?

Answer: The weavers labour continuously from morning till night and their attitude affects the kind of work they produce. The poet has linked the stages of man’s life with the garments the weavers weave at different times of the day.

 

Q1. Pick out the words, expressions or phrases from the poem that indicate different times of the day.
A. These are the words, expressions or phrases from the poem that indicate different times of the day:
 i. daybreak - early morning
ii. fall of night - before the night, late in the evening
iii. moonlight chill - cold night

Q2. Is there a similarity between the break of the day and the birth of a baby? If yes, what is it?
A. Yes. There is a similarity between the break of the day and the birth of a baby. Both symbolize a new beginning.

Q3. Pick out two objects which the shroud is compared to its colour.
A. The two objects that are compared to the shroud are feathers and cloud.

Q4. Which three stages of life that the poem speaks of? Can you relate them to the three stages of the day?
A. The three stages of life that the poet spoke of are birth, marriage, and death. We can relate them to the daybreak, fall of night and midnight chill, the three stages of the day.

Q5. The poet uses similes to draw a direct comparison between things. Identify the similes used in the poem and point out the common link between the two objects or things compared in each case.
A. The similes used by the poet to draw a direct comparison between things are:
i. blue as the wing of a halcyon
ii. like the plumes of a peacock, purple and green
iii. white as feathers and white as a cloud
The links between the two objects compared are i. blue, ii. purple and green and iii. white.

Q6. Identify and collect the words in the poem that indicate the changing mood of the poet?
A. These are the words in the poem that indicate the changing mood of the poet. Gay, bright, solemn and still.

Question 11: When do the weavers weave cloth for the queen?

Answer: The weavers weave cloth for the queen at fall of night.

Question 12: Do you think there is a specific reason why the weavers have woven the marriage veils of the queen in purple colour?

Answer: The dye used to make purple colour came from the Phoenician trading city of Tyre and the fabric traders obtained it from a small mollusk, found only in Mediterranean Sea. To create one gram of purple, more than 9000 molluscs were required. So, only wealthy rulers could afford to buy and wear purple and the colour became associated with them. Moreover, purple colour also represented religion as the ancient emperors who used to wear this colour are often considered as Gods or descendants of God. In Europe, it is still used by royalty as a ceremonial colour on special occasions.

 

Question 13: Answer the following questions by choosing from the options given below:

(a) The weavers weave a ____________ at the fall of night.

(i) carpet
(ii) rug
(iii) bright garment
(iv) black garment

(b) The bright garment is compared to ______________.

(i) the stripes of a tiger
(ii) the wings of a parrot
(iii) colours of a peacock’s feathers
(iv) the rainbow

(c) Weavers weave the __________ of a new born child.

(i) robes
(ii) mittens
(iii) socks
(iv) veils

(d) The weavers weave a ________ shroud which has been compared to a feather and a cloud.

(i) blue
(ii) large
(iii) gay
(iv) white

(e) Whom does the poetess address in the poem?

(i) children
(ii) queen
(iii) weavers
(iv) all the above

(f) The ________ is purple and green coloured.

(i) dress of a newborn child
(ii) the queen’s marriage veil
(iii) dress of the weavers
(iv) the robe of a king

Question 14: Fill in the blanks:

(a) The weavers are weaving the robes of a new born child at break of day.
(b) The robes of a new born child are compared to the wings of a wild halcyon.
(c) The colours used for the veil are purple and green.
(d) The weavers are weaving the marriage-veil for a queen.
(e) The funeral shroud is white as a feather and cloud.
(f) The three stages of life that are mentioned in the poem are infancy, yout

Morning, afternoon, night

Childhood, adulthood, old age

Blue, pink, red, white



1. Fill in the columns based on your reading of the poem.

Time of day

Type of garment

Colour of garment

For whom

a) Early in the morning

Robes of a new-born child

Blue

New-born child

b) During the fall of night

Marriage-veils of a queen

Purple and Green

Queen

c) In the dead of the night

Dead man’s funeral shroud

White

Dead man

 

 

 

     1.   What is the stanzaic pattern of the poem?

       Ans. Quatrain

 

     2.   What is its rhyming scheme?

       Ans. Its rhyming scheme is AABB

 

     3.   How many rhyming couplets does the poem have?

       Ans. 6

 

     4.   List all the pairs of end rhymes in the poem.

       Ans. day-gay, wild-child, night-bright, green-queen, still-chill, cloud-shroud

 

     5.   Give three examples of alliteration from the poem.

       Ans. Weavers – weaving, peacock-purple, wing-wild

 

D Do you think the weavers are affected by what they are weaving? Give a reason for your answer.

      Ans. Yes I think the weavers are affected by what they are weaving because they are happy, fresh and full of hope while weaving robes of a new-born child, they are happy and more active while weaving marriage-veils of a queen and they are serious and calm while weaving dead man’s funeral shroud.



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