Not Marble nor the Gilded Monuments Question Answers| Class 10 Communicative English Chapter 8

by Meenu Saini | Jul 31, 2023 | General | 0 comments

CBSE Class 10 English Communicative- Interact in English Chapter 8 Not Marble nor the Gilded Monuments (Poem) Important Question Answers

Looking for Not Marble nor the Gilded Monuments question answers for Class 10 English Communicative- Interact in English Chapter 8 (Poem)? Look no further! Our comprehensive compilation of important questions will help you brush up on your subject knowledge. Practising Class 10 English Communicative question answers can significantly improve your performance in the exam. Our solutions provide a clear idea of how to write the answers effectively. Improve your chances of scoring high marks by exploring Poem: Not Marble nor the Gilded Monuments now. The questions listed below are based on the latest CBSE exam pattern, wherein we have given solutions to the chapter’s extract based questions, multiple choice questions, short answer questions, and long answer questions.

Also, practising with different kinds of questions can help students learn new ways to solve problems that they may not have seen before. This can ultimately lead to a deeper understanding of the subject matter and better performance on exams.

Not Marble nor the Gilded Monuments Question Answers – Book Questions, Extra Questions

Not Marble nor the Gilded Monuments Extract Based Questions
Not Marble nor the Gilded Monuments Short Answer Questions
Not Marble nor the Gilded Monuments Long Answer questions

Book Questions

1. Look at the following picture carefully.

a) What has Time been portrayed as? Why?
Ans- Time is shown as a shadowy figure holding an hourglass and a scythe wearing a loose cloak. The mysterious man may be approaching death with the passing of time. It may depict that human existence is fleeting, and that time will run out for every human.

b) What are the other symbols associated with Time?
Ans- Journey of time.

2. a) What are the things that last for centuries? List a few things around you that will survive four to five hundred years into the future.

Things that last for centuries-
Mountains

Ans-
Sun
Moon
Stars
Rivers
Trees/Forest
Desert
Caves
Soil
Ocean

b) Think of things that will perish and/or be forgotten with the passage of time.

Ans-
Flowers
Humans
Animals
Monuments
Government
Civilizations
Technology

3. On the basis of your understanding of Shakespeare’s sonnet, answer the following questions by ticking the correct options.

(a) The couplet in the sonnet reinforces the poet’s claim that his friend will_________.
A. rise out of his grave
B. be judged on the Judgment Day
C. be praised by all
D. live through this poem
Ans- D. live through this poem

(b) Choose the most appropriate collocation for the word doom, from the following:
A. imminent
B. unlikely
C. conscious of
D. avoidable
Ans- A. imminent

(c) The poet’s tone in the poem is ______________.
(i) despairing
(ii) optimistic
(iii) loving
(iv) admiring
Ans- (iii) loving

(e) The poem is set in ________________.
(i) the place where the poet meets his friend
(ii) a battlefield where Mars is fighting a battle
(iii) a city ravaged by war
(iv) the poet’s study where he is writing
Ans- (iv) the poet’s study where he is writing

4. Answer the following questions briefly.

(a) Describe how the monuments and statues brave the ravages of time.
Ans- The monuments and statues brave the ravages of time. However, in the process, they get ruined, disfigured, broken or spoiled, if not taken proper care of.

(b) Validate the poet’s reference to Time, as being sluttish.
Ans- The poet refers to Time as sluttish because it spoils the marbled or gilded monuments. It discolors them, spoils them and ruins them gradually through its various agents or forces. These agents are like air, rain, natural vegetation, etc.

(c) Elaborate on the reason why wars have been described as ‘wasteful’?
Ans- Describing wars as “wasteful” highlights that all results of war are not useful. Wars lead to destruction, death, loss of resources. All these things are negative impacts and so, wars are wasteful.

(d) The poet says that neither forces of nature nor wars can destroy his poetry. In fact, even godly powers of Mars are not going to have a devastating effect on his rhyme. What quality of the poet is revealed through these lines?
Ans- The permanence of his poetic art and the immortality of his verse is a characteristic trait which can be noticed in the quality of the poet. It is a well known fact that like Time and Nature, literary art is also immortal and permanent, making poets live through their work, for thousands of years.

5. Shakespeare’s sonnet has been divided into three quatrains of four lines, each followed by a rhyming couplet. Each quatrain is a unit of meaning. Read the poem carefully and complete the following table on the structure of the poem.

Ans-

6. a) The poet uses alliteration to heighten the musical quality of the sonnet. Working in pairs, underline the examples of alliteration in the poem.
Ans-

The sound of /sh/ in “But you shall shine more bright in these contents”
The sound of /w/ in “When wasteful war shall statues overturn”.

b) Identify Shakespeare’s use of personification in the poem.
Ans- ‘Time’ has been called a ‘slut’ and thus, personified.

Extract Based Questions

Extract-based questions are of the multiple-choice variety, and students must select the correct option for each question by carefully reading the passage.

A. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:

Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
Of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme;

Q1. Who is the poet of this verse?
Ans- Shakespeare is the poet of this verse.

Q2. What will not outlive the powerful rhyme?
Ans- The monuments built to immortalise will not outlive his rhyme.

Q3. What does he mean by “Powerful rhyme?
Ans- By ‘powerful rhyme’ the poet is referring to the power of poetry.

Q4. What is the poet conveying through these lines?
Ans- The poet is attempting to convey the idea that “words” have the extraordinary ability to be kept and immortalised and, as a result, survive the physical buildings created in honour of great leaders.

B. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:

But you shall shine more bright in these contents
Than unswept stone, besmear’d with sluttish time.

Q1. Who is “You” in the first line?
Ans- ‘You’ is poet’s beloved friend.

Q2. Why is the poet calling time sluttish?
Ans- The poet is therefore referring to time as sluttish, because time that is guided by nature displays “unethical” behaviour while ruthlessly destroying and tarnishing precious monuments.

Q3. Identify the poetic device.
Ans- Alliteration- The sound of /sh/ in “But you shall shine more bright in these contents”

Q4. What do you understand by “Unswept stone”?
Ans- “Unswept stone” implies monuments that are built for immortalising great leaders, are often left unattended and uncared for.

C. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:

When wasteful war shall statues overturn,
And broils root out the work of masonry,
Nor Mars his sword nor war’s quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory.

Q1. What do wasteful wars and broils do?
Ans- Wasteful wars and broils destroy the statues that are pieces of wonderful work of masonry.

Q2. Explain the third line.
Ans- The poet is saying that neither the sword of “Mars” the God of war, nor the fires that spread during wars can burn anything that is “written” to record a memory.

Q3. Why would it be a living record?
Ans- The memory is written down so, it is considered to be a living record as it continues to be alive as it is read and passed on from one generation to another.

Q4. Identify the poetic device.
Ans- Imagery- Nor Mars his sword nor war’s quick fire shall burn
Alliteration- The sound of /w/ in “When wasteful war shall statues overturn”.
Personification- “And broils root out the work of masonry.”

D. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:

’Gainst death and all-oblivious enmity
Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room
Even in the eyes of all posterity
That wear this world out to the ending doom.

Q1. Who shall pace forth against death and all oblivious enmity?
Ans- The poet says that the written memory of his beloved will walk forward to remain alive defeating death and enmity which is forgetful of everything and so seeks to destroy everything.

Q2. What is to happen till the ending doom?
Ans- The poet says that the verses written to praise his beloved will continue to remain alive as it will be read even by the last generation that lives to face the doomsday.

Q3. Find a word which means the same as “the entire world in generations to come; descendants; succeeding generations, future times”
Ans- Posterity

Q4. What is “ending doom”?
Ans- The ending doom that the poet is referring to is the Apocalypse; i.e., the last day of humanity.

E. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:

So, till the Judgement that yourself arise,
You live in this, and dwell in lovers’ eyes.

Q1. What does “the Judgement” mean?
Ans- According to Christian belief, ‘Judgement” is —Immediately upon death each soul undergoes the particular judgement, and depending upon the state of the person’s soul, goes to Heaven, Purgatory, or Hell. … The Last Judgement will occur after the resurrection of all the dead souls and the reuniting of a person’s soul with its own physical body, resulting in the glorification of some and the punishment of others.

Q2. Where will the poet’s friend dwell?
Ans- The poet’s beloved will be alive in the eyes of all the lovers ‘who’d be inspired to read the words of praise he had written to keep her memory alive

Q3. Find two themes of the poem.
Ans- Love and Immortality

Short Answer Questions

In this post we are also providing important short answer questions from Chapter 8 Not Marble nor the Gilded Monuments (Poem) for CBSE Class 10 exam in the coming session

Question 1. How does the poet declare his rhyme to be powerful?
Or
What comparisons does the poet draw between the poetry and monuments?
Answer: The poet claims that even if time will eventually demolish the most majestic monuments on earth, it won’t erase the poem’s powerful rhyme. In order to demonstrate how poetry is more powerful than these buildings, he draws similarities between poetry and other monuments. The poem that the poet has written in honour of his young companion has a profound impact that is unmatched by the priceless marble or the gold-plated monuments intended to represent the tombs of royalty. Everything is destroyed by sluttish time. But the time will have no sway over the poem that glorifies the young friend in its lines.

Question 2. Describe how poetry survives all wars and destruction.
Or
Describe how the memory of the friend shall survive all kinds of ravages.
Answer: The poet has a lot of faith in the power of poetry. He expresses his sorrow at how destructive conflicts destroy magnificent sculptures and reduce them to insignificance.
In addition, he is saddened to learn that even significant conflicts, particularly those that arise during a war, devastate magnificent works of architecture. He is also pleased to say that the words in which he has exalted his dear friend cannot be ruined by the hostilities that Mars (God of war) and his followers have instigated.

Question 3. ‘Gainst death and all oblivious enmity, shall you pace forth.’ On the basis of these lines comment how the poet honours his friend.
Answer: The poet states that he has created a living record of his friend in the form of a sonnet that will outlive all the ravages of time. This written recollection of his friend must be respected and preserved for future generations. The poet makes it clear that his friend will advance despite all negative forces, including death and foes, and will be revered even by future generations. His memory will live on till the end of mankind as we know it—the doomsday—and outlive the entire world.

Question 4. What judgement does the poet talk about in the ending couplet of this poem?
Answer: When the poet talks of the “judgement” in the last couplet, he is referring to the end of the world, the Apocalypse, or the last day of humanity. In order to emphasise his friend’s immortality in his verse, he alludes to judgement in this stanza. He wishes to reassure the audience that his friend will live forever and that this poetry will be read as long as humanity exists.

Question 5. Where does the poet tell his friend to stay until the judgement day and why?
Answer: The poet cares deeply about his friendship and about his friend. He claims that his friend will always be remembered in the poetry he wrote and will be adored by all lovers everywhere. Only on the final day of humanity (the Day of the Last Judgement) will he ascend to heaven. He will continue to exist in this poem and in the hearts of the lovers who read it till the doomsday.

Question 6. Why do you think the rich and powerful people get monuments and statues erected in their memory?
Answer: The rich and the powerful people get the monuments and statues erected in their memory so as to last until posterity. The rich do not realise that good deeds can outlive these monuments.

Question 7. Describe how the monuments and statues struggle to brave the ravages of time.
Answer:
Time is all powerful. All durable, solid, precious marbles and gilded memorials that mark the graves of the princes are ravaged with the passage of time. These stone monuments are left uncared and neglected to such an extent that the cruel time tarnishes and destroys them completely. Whatever little is spared and left is destroyed completely by the wasteful wars and broils.

Question 8. “You live in this, and dwell in lovers eyes.”
(a) How can he dwell in lovers’ eyes?
(b) What values are highlighted in the above line?
Answer:
(a) He can dwell in lovers’ eyes by living in the memory of his admirers. He will be immortalised in the verses of the poet.
(b) Despite death and enemies one can be remembered by his good deeds. Beautiful words may make one eternal, not sculptures and monuments. Pen thus has greater power than both time and the sword. Nobody makes himself eternal by wealth and power, but anybody may be remembered by impacting people’s hearts.

Long Answer Questions

Question 1. Comment on the theme of the poem ‘Not Marble, nor the Gilded Monuments’.
Or
“The poem ‘Not Marble, nor the Gilded Monuments’ is all about love.” Comment.
Answer: Shakespeare’s sonnet 55 deals with the idea that his friend, his love will be made immortal in these verses, though everything else will be lost through war, “sluttish” time, or other violent forces. Shakespeare considers poetry as superior, and the only assurance of immortality in this world, but lowers this particular sonnet itself as being unworthy of his friend. As a result, his central message is that everything will perish and be forgotten, but for the friend, who will be remembered and appreciated forever due to the immortality of these verses.

This, he proves by comparing his verse with marbled, gilded monuments of the princes. He is pleased to note that these magnificent landmarks have also succumbed to the ravages of time and are in a complete state of disrepair. However, neither time nor any other form of annihilation can lessen the impact of his “powerful rhyme,” which has been glowing in honour of his companion for centuries.

The poet continues by stating that significant harm has also been done to famous sculptures and magnificent structures by wars and battles. As a result, these once popular buildings and statues will be destroyed. Mars, his sword, or any other ferocious fire brought on by the conflicts, however, cannot destroy the poems in which the poet has immortalised his friend.

His assurance that death or any other kind of animosity will not cause his friend sorrow as he shall stride forth to be remembered till posterity until the ‘day of Last Judgement’ is a clear indication of how much he loves his friend. In this way, the poet immortalises his friend in his poetry for all time.

Question 2. Shakespeare, in this poem talks about two destructive forces. What are those and how does he manage to save his love from their clutches?
Answer: The two devastating powers mentioned by the poet in this poem are time and war. His sonnet’s first quatrain is devoted to the subject of the harm caused by the passage of time. The poet claims that the’sluttish time’ has soiled and neglected the previously praised and well-known durable marbled and gilded monuments of monarchs. He continues by discussing yet another destroyer called war in the second quatrain. Over the years, these conflicts have destroyed enormous sculptures and enormous “works of masonry.”

However, the poet feels at ease when he becomes sure that neither the blade of Mars nor sluttish time pose a threat to either his poem or his dear friend. His poem will endure all the effects of time, and his friend will be more radiant than the princes’ gilded monuments. Mars or his “quick fire” won’t be able to destroy the poetry in which the poet has immortalised his friend since it is a live record.

Question 3. Critically appreciate the poem.
Answer: The sonnet Not Marble, Nor the Gilded Monument by William Shakespeare opens eyes to the great truth of life that nothing in life is permanent except the immortality that one can achieve through literature. Often successful people seek to immortalize their greatness and fame by erecting statues and monuments for themselves. Sadly enough, such memories are destroyed by the ravages of time that spare none however great or trivial.

There are numerous such historic pieces of evidence lying neglected throughout the world. Often they are destroyed in wars, riots etc. But the truly noble thoughts and deeds never die out. The warmth of love and reverence generated in the human hearts continues to live forever.

The ideas of great souls as Shakespeare, Swami Vivekananda, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, Florence Nightingale, and countless other such awakened souls continue to inspire respect and following even today. They do not need evidence of their greatness through monuments.

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