Class 11 English (Elective) Poem 8 – Ode to a Nightingale Important Question Answers from Woven Words Book
Class 11 English (Elective) Ode to a Nightingale Important Question Answers – Looking for questions and answers for CBSE Class 11 English (Elective) Poem 8- Ode to a Nightingale? Look no further! Our comprehensive compilation of important questions will help you brush up on your subject knowledge. Practising Class 11 English question answers can significantly improve your performance in the exam. Improve your chances of scoring high marks by exploring Poem 8 – Ode to a Nightingale now. The questions listed below are based on the latest CBSE exam pattern, wherein we have given NCERT solutions to the chapter’s extract-based questions, multiple choice questions and Extra Question Answers
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.
- Ode to a Nightingale NCERT Solutions
- Ode to a Nightingale Extract Based Questions
- Ode to a Nightingale Multiple Choice Questions
- Ode to a Nightingale Extra Question Answers
Related:
Ode to a NightingaleTextbook Questions (NCERT Solutions)
Look for these words and guess their meanings from the context
hemlock
deep-delved earth
Forlorn
beechen green
deceiving elf
plaintive anthem
Ans.
hemlock: A highly poisonous plant, historically used to execute people.
deep-delved earth: Earth that has been dug deep down.
forlorn: Feeling sad and lonely, abandoned, or deserted.
beechen green: Made of wood from a beech tree, or referring to a place with beech trees.
deceiving elf: An elf that tricks or misleads; refers to imagination’s ability to create illusions.
plaintive anthem: sounding sad and mournful song, usually a hymn or a song of praise. Here, it refers to the nightingale’s characteristic song.
UNDERSTANDING THE POEM
1. How does the nightingale’s song plunge the poet into a state of ecstasy?
Ans. The nightingale’s song makes the poet feel such intense joy and happiness that it’s almost too much to bear. This extreme happiness is so powerful it creates a feeling of numbness and pain, as if he’s taken a drug. He feels this way not because he’s jealous, but because the bird’s pure happiness is so overwhelming and effortless, it transports him beyond his usual state.
2. What are the unpleasant aspects of the human condition that the poet wants to escape from?
Ans. The poet wants to escape from the many pains and difficulties of human life. These include feeling constantly tired (weariness), being restless or agitated (fever), and always worrying (fret). He also wants to escape a world where people suffer and complain, where old age brings sickness (palsy), and where young people get sick, become thin, and die. For humans, just thinking can lead to sadness and hopelessness, and even beauty and new love don’t last long.
3. What quality of ‘beauty’ and ‘love’ does the poem highlight?
Ans. The poem highlights the fragile and temporary nature of beauty and love in human existence. It says that “Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes” and “new Love pine at them beyond tomorrow.” This means that in the human world, beauty fades, and new love, no matter how strong, cannot last forever or escape the sorrow and despair of life.
4. How does the poet bring out the immortality of the bird?
Ans. The poet brings out the immortality of the bird by saying it “was not born for death.” He doesn’t mean the individual bird lives forever, but that its song is timeless and eternal. He emphasizes that “No hungry generations tread thee down”, meaning new generations don’t make the song disappear. He points out that the exact same song he hears now has been heard throughout history by everyone from powerful emperors to ordinary people, and it even comforted Ruth in ancient times and appeared in magical, faraway lands. The song’s enduring presence across time and different experiences makes the bird, through its voice, seem immortal.
5. How is the poet tossed back from ecstasy into despair?
Ans. The poet is tossed back from his ecstatic, dream-like escape when he uses the word “Forlorn!” This word, meaning sad and lonely, acts like a bell ringing loudly, suddenly pulling him back from his imaginative journey with the nightingale to his own lonely reality. He realizes his imagination cannot fully trick him into believing this perfect escape is real. The nightingale’s beautiful song then fades away into the distance, leaving him alone and unsure if what he experienced was a true vision or just a dream.
6. How does the poem bring out the elusive nature of happiness in human existence?
Ans. The poem shows the elusive nature of happiness in human existence by contrasting it with the nightingale’s effortless joy. The nightingale sings “in full-throated ease,” seemingly experiencing pure, unending happiness without any of the weariness, fever, and fret that humans face. For humans, happiness is fleeting; beauty and love cannot last, and even thinking can lead to sorrow. The poet tries to find happiness by escaping into the bird’s world through imagination and wine, but he is ultimately “tossed back” to his sad reality. This suggests that true, lasting happiness is hard for humans to grasp and often slips away.
TRY THIS OUT
1. The poet has juxtaposed sets of opposites like numbness pains, waking dream. How does this contribute to the poetic effect? What is this figure of speech called? List other such pairs from poems that you have read.
Ans. This use of opposite ideas side-by-side contributes to the poetic effect by creating tension and highlighting complex feelings. It shows how the speaker’s emotional state is so intense that contradictory feelings exist at the same time. This figure of speech is called an oxymoron. The instances of oxymoron in other poems are “sweet sorrow” and “brawling love” from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and “faith unfaithful” from Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King”.
2. The poet has evoked the image of wine—why has this image been chosen?
Ans. The image of wine has been chosen because it symbolizes escape, inspiration, and a way to forget human pain. Wine, especially old, cool wine, is often associated with pleasure, celebration, and a loosening of inhibitions. In this poem, it represents a means for the speaker to leave the harsh realities of the human world behind, to enter a state of dream-like happiness, and even to gain poetic inspiration (like the mythical Hippocrene). It’s a key element in his desire to temporarily “fade away” with the nightingale’s song.
3. The senses of sound, sight and taste are evoked in the poem. Locate instances of these.
Ans. The poem uses words that strongly bring to mind what the readers hear, see, and taste. The readers can almost hear the nightingale “Singest of summer in full-throated ease,” meaning its song is clear and effortless and can also hear “men sit and hear each other groan,” showing human suffering. Later, the nightingale’s “plaintive anthem fades,” and the word “Forlorn” is described as being “like a bell / To toll me back,” making the readers hear a sad, ringing sound. There are many things seen in the reader’s mind’s eye; the “light-winged Dryad” of the bird, the “beechen green, and shadows numberless” of the forest. They can see “sunburnt mirth” (joyful, tanned faces), “beaded bubbles winking at the brim” of the wine glass, and a “purple-stained mouth” from drinking. The human world is seen with “pale” youth that is “spectre-thin” (thin like a ghost) and “leaden-eyed despairs” (heavy, dull eyes). The magical escape involves “magic casements, opening on the foam / Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.”The speaker tastes the bitterness of “hemlock I had drunk” and the dullness of an “opiate.” Most importantly, he imagines the wine “Tasting of Flora and the country green,” giving it a fresh, natural flavor.
4. The poet addresses the nightingale and talks to the bird throughout the poem. What is this kind of poem called?
Ans. When a poet directly addresses something that cannot respond, like an inanimate object, an abstract idea, or someone who is absent or dead, this kind of poem is called an apostrophe. More specifically, because this poem is a lyrical poem that praises or glorifies the nightingale, it is classified as an ode.
5. Make a list of all the adjectives in the poem along with the nouns they describe. List the phrases that impressed you most in the poem.
Ans. The poem uses many descriptive words (adjectives) to paint vivid pictures. For example, the speaker feels a “drowsy numbness” and hears a “plaintive anthem.” The nightingale is a “light-winged Dryad” in a “melodious plot” of “beechen green” with “shadows numberless.” The wine he wishes for has been “cool’d a long age” in the “deep-delved earth,” leading to a “purple-stained mouth.” The human world has “sad, last gray hairs,” “pale” and “spectre-thin” youth, and “leaden-eyed despairs.” The nightingale is an “immortal Bird” whose “self-same song” was heard in “ancient days” and opened “magic casements” to “perilous seas” in “faery lands forlorn.” Among the many beautiful phrases, some truly stand out. “My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains” immediately sets a powerful, almost dreamlike, sad mood. The image of the nightingale singing “in full-throated ease” beautifully captures its pure, effortless joy. When the poet wishes for wine, “O, for a beaker full of the warm South, / Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene” creates a rich, sensory picture of escape and inspiration. The line “Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies” is very impactful, showing the harsh reality of human mortality. Finally, “Charm’d magic casements, opening on the foam / Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn” is incredibly imaginative, transporting the reader to a mystical, dangerous realm.
6. Find out the other odes written by Keats and read them.
Ans. John Keats wrote several other famous odes, which are similar in their structure and deep emotion. Some of his most well-known ones include ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’, a poem explores art, beauty, and eternity through the scenes on an ancient vase. ‘Ode to Autumn’ is an ode celebrating the season of autumn, focusing on its beauty, abundance, and gentle passing. ‘Ode on Melancholy’ is a poem that looks at the link between sadness and beauty, suggesting that one cannot truly appreciate joy without understanding sorrow.
‘Ode to Psyche’ is an ode that is a tribute to Psyche, a mythological figure who personifies the human soul.
7. Find out the odes written by Shelley and read them.
Ans. Percy Bysshe Shelley, another important Romantic poet and a friend of Keats, also wrote powerful odes. Some of his notable ones are ‘Ode to the West Wind’, a famous ode that calls upon the powerful west wind to spread Shelley’s ideas and inspire new beginnings. ‘To a Skylark’ While not titled “Ode,” has the qualities of an ode, praising the bird’s spontaneous and joyful song and comparing it to human art. ‘Ode to Liberty’ is a strong expression of Shelley’s political beliefs and his hopes for freedom and human progress.
CBSE Class 11 English (Elective) Poem 8 Ode to a Nightingale Extract-Based Questions and Answers
A.
My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:
’Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,
But being too happy in thine happiness,
That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees,
In some melodious plot
Of beechen green, and shadows numberless,
Singest of summer in full-throated ease.
Q1. How does the speaker feel at the very beginning of the poem?
Ans. He feels a dull pain and a sleepy numbness.
Q2. What does the speaker compare his feeling to having drunk or emptied?
Ans. He compares it to having drunk hemlock or emptied a dull opiate.
Q3. Is the speaker jealous of the nightingale?
Ans. No, the speaker is not jealous of the nightingale.
Q4. What kind of creature does the speaker imagine the nightingale to be?
Ans. He imagines it as a “light-winged Dryad of the trees.”
Q5. How does the nightingale sing about summer?
Ans. It sings freely and easily, with its whole voice, “in full-throated ease”.
B.
O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been
Cool’d a long age in the deep-delved earth,
Tasting of Flora and the country green,
Dance, and Provencal song, and sunburnt mirth!
O, for a beaker full of the warm South,
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,
And purple-stained mouth;
That I might drink, and leave the world unseen,
And with thee fade away into the forest dim.
Q1. What does the speaker wish to drink in this stanza?
Ans. He wishes for “a draught of vintage” (a drink of old wine).
Q2. Where has this wine been kept cool for a long time?
Ans. It has been kept cool for a very long time deep underground.
Q3. What kind of experiences does the wine seem to taste of?
Ans. It tastes of nature, dance, Provencal song, and joyful “sunburnt mirth.”
Q4. What does the speaker want to do after drinking this wine?
Ans. His ultimate desire is to drink this wine so he can quietly leave the real world without anyone seeing him, and then disappear with the nightingale into the dark, shadowed forest.
Q5. What color is described as staining the speaker’s mouth from the wine?
Ans. The wine would make his mouth “purple-stained.”
C.
Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget
What thou among the leaves hast never known
The weariness, the fever, and the fret
Here, where men sit and hear each other groan;
Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs,
Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies;
Where but to think is to be full of sorrow
And leaden-eyed despairs,
Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes,
Or new Love pine at them beyond tomorrow.
Q1. What does the speaker want to completely forget?
Ans. He wants to forget his weariness, fever, and fret.
Q2. What has the nightingale never experienced, according to the speaker?
Ans. The nightingale has never known human suffering like weariness, fever, and fret.
Q3. How does the speaker describe what men do in his world?
Ans. He says men “sit and hear each other groan.”
Q4. What happens to youth in this human world?
Ans. Youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies.
Q5. How long can Beauty and new Love last in this world?
Ans. They cannot last beyond tomorrow.
D.
Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!
No hungry generations tread thee down;
The voice I hear this passing night was heard
In ancient days by emperor and clown:
Perhaps the self-same song that found a path
Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home,
She stood in tears amid the alien corn;
The same that oft-times hath
Charm’d magic casements, opening on the foam
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.
Q1. Does the speaker think the nightingale can die?
Ans. No, he calls it an “immortal Bird”.
Q2. Who heard the nightingale’s song in ancient times?
Ans. Its song was heard by both emperors and clowns.
Q3. What woman from the Bible is mentioned as being touched by the song?
Ans. The song found a path through the sad heart of Ruth.
Q4. How did Ruth feel when she heard the song?
Ans. She was “sick for home” and stood in tears.
Q5. What kind of magical places did the song sometimes open windows to?
Ans. It opened windows to “perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.”
Class 11 Ode to a Nightingale Multiple-Choice Questions
Q1. How does the speaker’s heart feel at the beginning of the poem?
A. Joyful and light
B. Energetic and strong
C. Calm and peaceful
D. Aches and pains
Ans. D. Aches and pains
Q2. What does the speaker compare his feeling of numbness to having drunk?
A. Water
B. Hemlock or an opiate
C. Coffee
D. Wine
Ans. B. Hemlock or an opiate
Q3. Why is the speaker feeling this way about the nightingale’s happiness?
A. HOde to a Nightingalee is jealous of it
B. He is too happy in its happiness
C. He wants it to stop singing
D. He feels nothing
Ans. B. He is too happy in its happiness
Q4. What does the speaker call the nightingale in the first stanza?
A. A light-winged Dryad of the trees
B. A tiny sparrow
C. A loud crow
D. A silent owl
Ans. A. A light-winged Dryad of the trees
Q5. What does the speaker wish for in the second stanza?
A. A glass of water
B. A draught of vintage wine
C. A cup of tea
D. Some fresh juice
Ans. B. A draught of vintage wine
Q6. What does the speaker imagine the wine tastes like?
A. Fruit and sugar
B. Flora and the country green
C. Spices and herbs
D. Salt and pepper
Ans. B. Flora and the country green
Q7. What kind of song is mentioned along with dance and mirth?
A. A sad ballad
B. A rock anthem
C. A Provencal song
D. A lullaby
Ans. C. A Provencal song
Q8. What is the speaker’s goal if he drinks the wine?
A. To become very alert
B. To go to sleep immediately
C. To forget the nightingale
D. To leave the world unseen
Ans. D. To leave the world unseen
Q9. What three human experiences has the nightingale “never known”?
A. Love, peace, and joy
B. Weariness, fever, and fret
C. Hunger, thirst, and cold
D. Dreams, songs, and rest
Ans. B. Weariness, fever, and fret
Q10. How does the speaker describe what men do in his world?
A. They sing and dance together
B. They explore new lands
C. They work hard and prosper
D. They sit and hear each other groan
Ans. D. They sit and hear each other groan
Q11. What happens to youth in the human world the speaker describes in the poem?
A. It grows strong and healthy
B. It grows pale, spectre-thin, and dies
C. It remains young forever
D. It finds eternal happiness
Ans. B. It grows pale, spectre-thin, and dies
Q12. What happens to Beauty and new Love in the human world?
A. They last forever
B. They bring endless joy
C. They become stronger with time
D. They cannot keep their lustrous eyes or pine beyond tomorrow
Ans. D. They cannot keep their lustrous eyes or pine beyond tomorrow
Q13. How does the speaker describe the nightingale’s relationship with death?
A. It was born for death
B. It is an immortal Bird
C. It is afraid of death
D. It lives a very short life
Ans. B. It is an immortal Bird
Q14. Who among others heard the nightingale’s voice in “ancient days”?
A. Only poets
B. Only kings
C. Emperor and clown
D. Only children
Ans. C. Emperor and clown
Q15. What biblical figure’s heart was touched by the nightingale’s song?
A. Mary
B. Eve
C. Ruth
D. Sarah
Ans. C. Ruth
Q16. Where was Ruth when she was sick for home and heard the song?
A. Amid the alien corn
B. In her own house
C. By a river
D. On a mountain
Ans. A. Amid the alien corn
Q17. What kind of windows did the song sometimes charm open?
A. Ordinary house windows
B. Magic casements
C. Windows of a prison
D. Windows to the past
Ans. B. Magic casements
Q18. What does the word “Forlorn” do to the speaker at the end?
A. It makes him happy
B. It is like a bell to toll him back to his sole self
C. It makes him sing
D. It makes him forget the world
Ans. B. It is like a bell to toll him back to his sole self
Q19. What does the speaker say about fancy or imagination?
A. It can always cheat very well
B. It cannot cheat so well as she is fam’d to do
C. It is not important
D. It is always real
Ans. B. It cannot cheat so well as she is fam’d to do
Q20. At the very end, what does the speaker wonder about his experience?
A. If it was a vision or a waking dream
B. If the nightingale will return tomorrow
C. If he should follow the song
D. If he should write a new poem
Ans. A. If it was a vision or a waking dream
CBSE Class 11 English (Elective) Poem 8 Ode to a Nightingale Extra Question Answers
Answer the following questions.
Q1. How does the speaker feel at the beginning when he hears the nightingale’s song?
Ans. He feels a deep sadness and numbness, almost like he’s taken a drug.
Q2. Why is the speaker sad even though the nightingale is happy?
Ans. He is sad because the nightingale’s happiness makes his own human suffering stand out more.
Q3. What does the speaker wish he could drink to escape his pain?
Ans. He wishes for a glass of old, inspiring wine.
Q4. What bad things about the human world does the nightingale not know?
Ans. It doesn’t know about human tiredness, worry, sickness, and death.
Q5. How does the nightingale’s song feel at the very end of the poem?
Ans. The song fades away, leaving the speaker unsure if he was dreaming or awake.