2. Indian Weavers
Question and Answer
Vocabulary
| Break of day: dawn, the first light in the sky before sunrise
Halcyon: It is a bird related to the kingfisher. In Greek legend, it is blue- winged bird generally associated with the kingfisher, it is said to calm the seas. Robes: long, loose garment Plumes: feathers Veil: a piece of cloth that covers a woman’s face Shroud: a cloth that covers the dead body |
Q1 Fill in the blanks
| a) The weavers are weaving the robes for the new-born child at break of day.
b) The weavers are weavers are weaving the marriage-veil for a queen. c) The colors used for the veil are purple and green. d) The funeral shroud is white as a feather and cloud. e) The robes of a new-born child have been compared to the wings of a wild halcyon. f) The weavers weave a bright garment at the fall of night. g) The garment is compared to colurs of a peacock’s feathers. h) Weavers weave the robes of a newborn child. i) The weavers weave a white shroud which has been compared to a feather and cloud. j) The queen’s marriage veil is purple and green coloured. |
Q2. Answer the following questions.
a) What are the weavers weaving at dawn?
Ans: At dawn, the weavers are weaving a blue garment for a newborn child.
b) Describe the garment that the weavers weave at night.
Ans: The weavers weave a bright and colorful garment like the plumes of a peacock. They weave the marriage veil of a queen.
c) Why are the weavers so serious at moonlight?
Ans: The weaver are serious at right as they are weaving the shroud of a dead man.
d) Write about the mood of the weavers from dawn till dusk. Does this have anything to do with the garments that they are weaving?
Ans: 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.
e) What message does the poem convey?
Ans: The weavers labour continuously from morning till night and their attitude affect the kind of work they produce. The poet has linked the stages of man’s life with the garments of the weaver at different times of the day.
f) Who does the poetess address in the poem?
Ans: Weavers
Q3. Write rhyming words from the poem. Then write another word that rhymes with pair.
Ans:
| a) day – gay
b) wild – child c) bright – night d) chill – -still e) cloud– shroud |
Q Extra Question
1) Name the three events referred to the poem? What are the three stages of human life indicated by these events?
Ans: 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.
2) Pick out the expressions, words are phrases from the poem that indicate the different times a day.
Ans: 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
3) What is the similarity between the break of the day and the birth of a baby?
Ans: The similarity between the break of the day and the birth of a baby is that both symbolize a new beginning.
4) With what do the weavers compare the garments being woven by them?
Ans: Weavers compare the robes of a new-born child with halcyon bird’s wings, marriage-veils of a queen with the peacock’s feather, and a dead man’s funeral shroud with white feather and cloud.
5) Give three pairs of end rhymes in the poem.
Ans: day-gay; night-bright; cloud-shroud
6) When do the weavers weave cloth for the queen?
Ans: The weavers weave cloth for the queen in the fall of night.
7) Do you think there is a specific reason why the weavers have woven the marriage veils of the queen in purple colour?
Ans: 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 color became associated with them. Moreover, purple color also represented religion as the ancient emperors who used to wear this color are often considered ad Gods or descendants of God. In Europe, it is still used by royalty as a ceremonial colour on special occasions.