POEM NO: 9
LAST LESSON OF THE AFTERNOON
QUES1. What is the tone in the opening line of the poem?
Ans . In the opening of the poem, there is a tone of tiredness and boredom on the part of a teacher. The poet has been doing something which he thinks is all futile. He has been doing it for long and has become sick of it. This gives him a feeling of weariness.
Ques2. Who is the speaker of the poem?
Ans. The speaker is the poet himself. It is D.H. Laurence.
Ques3. What are the pupils regarded as? Why has the teacher failed to ‘hual them and urge them’ nay more?
Ans. The pupils are regarded as unruly hounds. These hounds don’t want to hunt the quarry of knowledge. The students are not interested in studies and they want to break apart the shackles of school rules and studies.
Ques4. Which words and phrases in stanza 2 convey the mood of the speaker
Ans. The words which convey the mood of the speaker are:
1 endure
2 brunt
The phrase that convey the mood of the speaker are:
1 I m sick
2 What on earth is the good of it all?
3 What good to them or me?
Ques5. Why doesn’t the speaker want to consume his fuel anymore?
Ans. The speaker doesn’t want to consume his fuel anymore because even after his utmost efforts he has failed to motivate them to gain knowledge. So he decides to preserve his precious energy. He doesn’t want to consume it uselessly the way he has been so far.
Ques6. What do you think ‘take the toll of their insults in punishment means?
Ans. The poet has used a figurative language toll is a kind of tax that a traveller has to pay for using a road. The teacher here reflects himself as, a road, on which students ferried the heaps of insults. In simple words, the students used to insult the teacher and the teacher would punish them in return.
Ques7. Why does the teacher feel that his teaching and pupil’s learning are both purposeless? Pick out words an phrases show that he shares his pupil’s indifference to their work?
Ans. The teacher feels that his teaching and the pupil’s learning are both purposeless because the students are not interested in studies because teacher has lost the interest in teaching them.
PHRASES
1 waste my soul and strength
2 Beat our heads against the wall
LITERARY DEVICE
QUES. What is the metaphor used by the poet in stanza 1 ?
Ans. My pack of unruly hounds.
QUES. Identify the metaphor in stanza 3?
Ans. “My last dear fuel of life”.