Previous Brief Questions with Answers | Twentieth Century Poetry | Previous Board Brief Questions with Answers | Twentieth Century Poetry made by Bangla Summary
01 -a) What is the occasion of Dylan Thomas’ poem “Poem in October?
Ans : Dylan Thomas wrote “Poem in October”, a wonderful lyric to celebrate his thirtieth birth anniversary.
02 -b) What does the phrase “October blood” mean?
Ans : The phrase “October blood” refers to red colored autumnal leaves which have fallen down from the tree.
03-c) When was the poem “Morning Song” written?
Ans : The poem was written in 1961 after Sylvia Plath had given birth to her first child Frieda Rebecca Hughes.
04-d) What incident hurt Sylvia Plath very much?
Ans : Sylvia Plath’s mother did not allow her children to attend the funeral of her father who died of toe-infection (পায়ের আঙ্গুলের পচন). Her refusal hurt Sylvia Plath very much.
05-e) What does “The Second Coming” refer to?
Ans : “The First Coming” was the birth of Christ which added the christian civilization. And “The Second Coming” refers to the coming of new destructive god and the reversal (বিপর্যয়) of christian values.
06 -f) What does Eliot mean by ‘unreal city? 2017-L
Ans : By ‘unreal city’ Eliot refers to London that is cut off (বিচ্ছিন্ন) from both natural and spiritual sources of life.
07-g) What is the last line of the poem “The Waste Land”?
Ans : “Shantih Shantih Shantih” is the last line of the poem “The Waste Land”
08-h) Who is Michelangelo?
Ans : Michelangelo was a great Italian sculptor (খোদাইকর), painter and poet of the early sixteenth century.
09-i) Why does Yeats want to go to the Lake of Innisfree? 2017-j
Ans : Yeats wants to go to the Lake of Innisfree as it seems to him a world of escape or a fairy land which is free from fever and fret (যন্ত্রণা) of life.
10-j) What is terrible beauty’?
Ans : Terrible beauty refers to the heroic achievement that involved the deaths of many people.
11-k) Who is Maud Gonne?
Ans : Maud Gonne was an Irish nationalist who had romantic affairs with W. B. Yeats.
12-l) Who is addressed by Sylvia Plath in the poem “The Rival”?
Ans : Her husband is addressed in the poem.
13-a) What will the poet build in the Lake Isle of Innisfree?
Ans : The poet will build a small cabin or hut with clay (খড়) in the Lake Isle of Innisfree.
14-b) What does ‘falcon’ stand for in the poem “The Second Coming?”
15-c) What is the poem “Easter 1916” about?
Ans : The poem is about the nationalist rising (বিদ্রোহ) of the Irish people against the British rule on the Easter day of 1916.
16-d) Name some water creatures we find is the poem ‘Poem in October’.
Ans : Mussel, heron, seagull, snail. (ঝিনুক, সারস, সীগাল, শামুক)
17-e) How does Madame Sosostris foretell? (ভবিষ্যতবাণী)
Ans : Madame Sosostris foretells with the help of her Tarot cards, seventy-eight cards.
18-f) What does the blindness of one eye of the merchant symbolize?
Ans : The blindness of one eye of the merchant symbolizes that the eye of religion is blind.
19-g) What does the word ‘rose’ mean in the sentence “And I rose in rainy autumn”?
Ans : The quoted expression the word ‘rose’ means ‘born’. It signifies that the poet, Dylan Thomas, was born in October which is a month of autumn.
20-h) Why does the poet want to sail to the holy city of Byzantium?
Ans : Being old and unfit for the world of the senses, the poet wants to sail to the holy city of Byzantium.
21-i) How is the weather on the hill-top in the poem “Poem in October” – 2020
Ans : On the hill-top, the weather is bright.
23-j) How does Sylvia Plath make a comparison between a child and a cat?
Ans : A child is compared to a cat in the sense that it swallows (পান করা) its milk in a manner as a cat does.
24-l) What is the poem “Crossing the Water” about?
Ans : The poem is about a mystical journey of the soul in the underworld.
25-a) What does ‘terrible beauty’ signify in the poem “Easter 1916′? 2013 -j
Ans : Terrible beauty refers to the heroic achievement that involved the deaths of many people.
26-b) How does Prufrock visualize death?
Ans : Prufrock visualizes death the eternal footman coming near him and mocking at his cowardice. Naturally he is afraid of death.
27-c) How does Dylan Thomas Celebrates his birthday?
Ans : Dylan Thomas celebrates his birthday by observing the games of water creatures like mussel, heron and seagull, by listening to the songs of birds and by enjoying the beauty of nature.
28-d) Who are the ‘dying generation”?
Ans : According to the poet the dying generations consist of the young men and women, all the creatures, ‘fish, flesh or fowl’ in the fullness of their powers, are engaged in the sensual and sexual urge for procreation which is only a process ending in death.
29-e) What kind of man is Prufrock?
Ans : Prufrock is a middle aged lover who is a neurotic (স্নায়বিক পীড়াগ্রস্ত) and does not have the courage to meet his lady, not to speak of lovemaking.
Ans : Innisfree stands for W.B. Yeats a Utopia or a fairy land into which he would like to escape from the hurly-burly (উচ্ছৃঙ্খলতা) of town life.
31-g) Who is the hyacinth (গ্রাম্য) girl?
Ans : The hyacinth girl is a young and beautiful lady of the present age who has now been forgotten by her lover.
32-h) What is the central image in the poem “The Rival”?
Ans : The Moon is the central image in the poem, “The Rival”
33-i) What does the title “Crossing the Water” signify?
Ans : The title “Crossing the Water” signifies a mystical journey of the soul in the underworld.
34-j) What is the poem ‘Words’ about?
Ans : The poem, “Words” is about the act of writing.
35-k) Who is Tiresias?
Ans : Tiresias was a seer of Thebes during the time of king Oedipus. His divinity inflected (দেবত্ব প্রবর্তিত) blindness was compensated (ক্ষতিপূরণ দেয়া) with the gift of prophecy.
36-l) What does ‘Gyre’ mean in ‘Yeats’ poem ‘The Second Coming’?
Ans : A ‘Gyre’ is a core or wheel (চক্র) that spins rapidly round a fixed center. In ‘The Second Coming” ‘Gyre’ refers to a civilization which is initially intense narrow, and as it progresses, it broadens and slowly loses its intensity and finally disintegrates. (Gyre এমন একটি সভ্যতা যা প্রথমে খুভ ছোট থাকে এবং এটা যখন বড় হয় তখন খুভ প্রশস্ত হয় এবং ধীরে ধীরে তার বেগ কমে এবং সবশেষে ধ্বংস হয়ে যায়)
37-a) What does the title “The Second Coming” signify? 2013 (e)
Ans : “The First Coming” was the birth of Christ which added the christian civilization. And “The Second Coming” refers to the coming of new destructive god and the reversal (বিপর্যয়) of christian values.
38-b) Why does April appear to be the cruelest month?
Ans : April in England is generally considered to be a happy month, the beginning of the spring but for the modern man who is spiritually dead, it appears to be the cruelest month, because he has no desire for regeneration.
39-c) Why will not Mermaid (জলপরী) using for Prufrock?
Ans : In Greek mythology, mermaids are found singing to brave and adventurous Odysseus. But Prufrock feels that he is a timid (ভীরু) and cowardly man, so the mermaids (or the modern girls) will not sing to win.
40-d) Who is Fisher king?
Ans : Fisher king is a mythical figure in Miss Jessie Waston’s book “From Ritual to Romance”
41-e) On what occasion was Poem in October’ written? 2013-a
Ans : Dylan Thomas wrote “Poem in October”, a wonderful lyric to celebrate his thirtieth birth anniversary.
42-f) What does ‘New Statue’ refer to in the poem ‘Morning Song’?
Ans : The new born child is compared to a statue (ভাস্কর্য) exposed to the elements. That is the Child becomes for the present, the centre of the family.
43-g) What does ‘falcon’ symbolize in the poem The Second Coming? 2014 (b)
Ans : Falcon is a hawk (বাজপাখি) trained to hunt small birds. In the poem The Second Coming, the falcon is used as a symbol of mankind or the intellect, science, technology, rationalism, etc.
44-h) Who is the lady of situations? । Who is Madame Sosostris?
Ans : The lady of situations is referred by Madame Sosostris, the fortune-teller to a figure on her Tarot cards of a woman who is a promoter of love intrigues and sexual contacts.
45-i) What is ‘interior monologue’?
Ans : An ‘interior monologue’ is the presentation to the reader of the flow of a character’s inner emotional experience through his single speech.
46-j) Who is Mac Bride in the poem ‘Easter 1916?
Ans : John Mac Bride, the man whom Maud Gonne married in 1903, was one of the leaders of the Easter uprising of 1916 and consequently was shot dead by the order of the British court-martial.
47-k) What is the source of the subtitle “What the Thunder Said”?
48-l) Who is ‘Lazarus’ ?
Ans : Lazarus, as referred to in the bible, was the brother of Mary and Martha, the dead man whom Christ brought back to life.
49-a) In which year did the historical ‘Easter Rising’ take place?
Ans : in 1916
50-b) What is ‘Spiritus Mundi’?
51-c) What is the significance of gyre’ in the poem ‘The Second Coming’? 2015 (L)
Ans : A ‘Gyre’ is a core or wheel (চক্র) that spins rapidly round a fixed center. In ‘The Second Coming” ‘Gyre’ refers to a civilization which is initially intense narrow, and as it progresses, it broadens and slowly loses its intensity and finally disintegrates. (Gyre এমন একটি সভ্যতা যা প্রথমে খুভ ছোট থাকে এবং এটা যখন বড় হয় তখন খুভ প্রশস্ত হয় এবং ধীরে ধীরে তার বেগ কমে এবং সবশেষে ধ্বংস হয়ে যায়)
52-d) Whose rivalry do you find in the poem The Rival?
Ans : The rivalry between husband and wife is found in the poem “The Rival”
53-e) What is are the threefold meanings of the voice of Thunder ‘Da’?
Ans : The Thunder ‘Da’ means Datta, to give. the second ‘Da’ Dayadhvam. i.e. to sympathize the third ‘Da’ means “Damyata” i.e. self-control and discipline.
54-f) What does ‘Byzantium’ Symbolize in the poem “Sailing to Byzantium” ?
Ans : Byzantium in W. B. Yeats’s poem, Sailing to Byzantium an ideal country of culture and wisdom, a place out of symbolizes time and nature or a world of art and philosophy.
55-g) What is the significance of the subtitle ‘the Fire Sermon?
Ans : The subtitle ‘the Fire Sermon’ is based on lord Buddha’s great Sermon to his disciples against the fires of anger, lust and malice. Fire is used here as a consuming and purifying symbol.
56-h) What does the word ‘rose’ mean in the sentence “And I rose in rainy autumn” ? 2014 (g)
Ans : The quoted expression the word ‘rose’ means ‘born’. It signifies that the poet, Dylan Thomas, was born in October which is a month of autumn.
57-i) How does The Waste Land end? Or, Why does Eliot utter the word ‘Shantih’ thrice at the end?
Ans : After the stern commands, “Give, Sympathize, and Control”, Eliot utters Shantih (peace) thrice more in the tone of a promise than a gift which the receivers may feel sure of.
58-j) Why does the poet want to go to the Lake of Innisfree? 2013 (i)
Ans : Yeats wants to go to the Lake of Innisfree as it seems to him a world of escape or a fairy land which is free from fever and fret (জ্বালাতন) of life.
59-k) What are the major themes of the poem “The Waste Land”?
Ans : The disintegration (বিভেদ, বিচ্ছিন্নতা) of the modern civilization sexual perversion (বিকৃতি), loss of faith and mortal values, lake of human relationship, commercialization (বাণিজ্যিকীকরণ) of life etc. are the major themes of the poem “The Waste Land”
60-l) Which city is called “unreal city”? 2013 (f)
Ans : By ‘unreal city’ Eliot refers to London that is cut off from both natural and spiritual sources of life.
61-a) What does the ‘falconer’ symbolize in the poem ‘The Second Coming’?
Ans : The ‘falconer’ symbolizes Christianity or the soul or the spiritual and emotional part of them.
62-b) What do you mean by murmur of maternal lamentation?
Ans : The expression ‘murmur of maternal lamentation’ refers to cries of mothers lamenting the loss of their children during the Russian Revolution of 1917.
63-c) What does dylan thomas mean by ‘twice told fields of infancy’?
Ans : ‘Twice told fields of infancy” refers to the glorious visions and wonders of childhood first lived through and now remembered.
64-d) How does a mother resemble cloud?
Ans : In giving birth to a child a mother resembles a cloud.
65-e) What does ‘interior monologue’ refer to?
Ans : 2016 (i) An ‘interior monologue’ is the presentation to the reader of the flow of a character’s inner emotional experience through his single speech.
66-f) What do you understand by ‘The Second Coming’?
Ans : (2013 -e) “The First Coming” was the birth of Christ which added the christian civilization. And “The Second Coming” refers to the coming of new destructive god and the reversal (বিপর্যয়) of christian values.
67-g) What is the central image of the poem, ‘The Rival’?
Ans : (2015 -h) The Moon is the central image in the poem, “The Rival”
68-h) Who is the ‘Phoenician Sailor’?
Ans : Phlebas is an imaginary name of the ‘Phoenician Sailor’
69-i) What is ‘Ganga’?
Ans : ‘Ganga’ is a river in India.
70-j) What does ‘terrible beauty’ refer to in Yeats’ poem ‘Easter 1916’ ? (2013 -j, 2015 -a)
Ans : Terrible beauty refers to the heroic achievement that involved the deaths of many people.
71-k) What is ‘October Blood’? (2013 -b)
Ans : The phrase “October blood” refers to red colored autumnal leaves which have fallen down from the tree.
72-l) Who is Maud Gonne? (2013 -k)
Ans : Maud Gonne was an Irish nationalist who had romantic affairs with W. B. Yeats.
73-a) What does ‘red rock’ stand for in ‘ The Waste Land’?
Ans : ‘Red rock’ refers to Christianity of the Christian Church which can give humanity a firm support.
74-b) Who is ‘Lazarus’?
Ans : 2016 (L)
75-c) What does eternal footman imply in the poem ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’?
Ans : By ‘eternal footman’ Prufrock implies death or destiny.
76-d) What does ‘Black’ symbolize in the poem ‘Crossing the Water’?
Ans : In the poem ‘Crossing the Water’, ‘Black’ symbolizes a couple in the boat are being transported to their death.
77-e) What is the poem “Easter 1916” about?
Ans : The poem is about the nationalist rising of the Irish people against the British rule on the Easter day of 1916.
78-f) On what occasion was Poem in October’ written?
Ans : 2013 (a), 2016 (e)
79-g) What is byzantium famous for?
Ans : Byzantium famous for art, culture, wisdom and philosophy.
80-h) What is a mermaid?
Ans : Mermaids are the mythical sea-creatures, half woman and half fish. But by mermaid Prufrock refers to woman in bathing dresses.
81-i) What does ‘a tattered coat’ stand for?
Ans : ‘A tattered coat’ stands for a scare-crow is a figure of man, dressed in old clothes and set up in a stick in the crop fields to scare or frighten the birds away from crops.
82-j) What figure of speech lies in the phrase ‘restless night’?
Ans : ‘Restless night’ refers to transferred epithet (উপাধি), a figure of speech in which an adjective is linked to a noun that would not normally modify. Here the night is not restless but the people of night are restless.
83-k) What do the white horses symbolize?
Ans : The white horses symbolize something highly desirable.
84-l) What is the meaning of the voice of thunder – Da, Da, Da?
Ans : The first Da implies Datta which means give or sacrifice, The second Da implies Dayadhvam meaning to sympathetic and the third Da implies Damyata which signifies self-control. (2017 – e)
Khubi upokrito hoyechi, ami Rini
Honours 3rd year previous brief questions solutions dila valo hoto.please
ok, I’ll try
Thank you so much Sir,,,,it is very helpful to us,,,May Allah bless u with a long life.
Ameen. You are welcome!