Song Of A Dream Questions And Answers Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 1.
In her dream, the poet stood in a magical wood. Have you ever been to a land of imagination in your dream? Share it with your friends.
Answer:
Yes, I have. Once in my dream, I went to a place where everyone was happy. They smiled often and they looked without any worries. They welcomed me and treated me with love.
Song Of A Dream Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 2.
What are the spirits of Peace, Truth, and Love compared to?
Answer:
The spirits of Truth is compared to birds, Love to stars and Peace to streams.
Song Of A Dream Summary Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 3.
Why are the spirits of Truth compared to birds that sing?
Answer:
The spirits of Truth are compared to birds that sing because they proclaim themselves like birds that sing and spread their message wherever they go.
Song Of A Dream Poem Questions And Answers Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 4.
What does the poet compare the soulful visions to? Comment.
Answer:
The poet compares soulful visions to poppies. They intoxicate like poppies. It is an example of a simile.
Song Of A Dream Notes Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 5.
What do the spirits of love do?
Answer:
The spirits of Love gather and gleam round the poet’s delicate youth.
Song Of A Dream Appreciation Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 6.
How does the poet quench her longing?
Answer:
The poet quenches her longing by bending low by the stream of the spirits of Peace.
Song Of A Dream Lesson Plan Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 7.
What is the magical wood referred to here?
Answer:
The magical wood is an idyllic place marked by the absence of any evil or vice.
Let’s revisit and reflect
Song Of A Dream Poem Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 1.
Discuss the relevance of Sarojini Naidu’s dream in the present scenario.
Answer:
Sarojini Naidu dreams of a magical, imaginative land which is free from all evils. We are also dreaming about India to become an ideal country. But unfortunately, our nation reels under several threats marring the ideals of truth, love, and peace. Sarojini Naidu in the poem expresses her desire in the form of a dream and describes the idealized place as the “magical wood in the land of sleep.” In her imaginative world, the abstract values and ideas of truth, love, and peace are clearly palpable in nature. They are no more just abstract ideas but perceived with proper shape and size.
The imagination assumes relevance when it is interpreted as the poet’s vision for her motherland. She wants her motherland to be a dreamland free of vices and evil. When the poem was published in 1905, India was a British colony. Moreover, Sarojini Naidu was not only a poet but also an active participant in the Indian Freedom Movement and the poem reflects her intense desire for an ideal motherland.
Song Of The Dream Kerala Syllabus 9th Activity 1
Read the poem again and pick out nouns and verbs and write them in the circles. Add a word/words to describe each.
Answer:
stream — clear stream
dream — beautiful dream
night — dark night
spirit — good spirit
wood — magical wood
grove — sacred grove
gather — gather round
gleam — gleam brightly
stars — bright stars
Song Of A Dream Pdf Kerala Syllabus 9th Writing Cinquains
A cinquain is a five-line poem that was invented by Adelaide Crapsey. She was an American poet who took her inspiration from Japanese haiku and tanka. A collection of poems, titled Verse, was published in 1915 and included 28 cinquains.
Now, let’s write cinquains about the words in the circles or about any person you like, following this pattern.
- A noun.
- Two words describing the noun.
- Three words showing what the noun does.
- A short phrase about the noun.
- Another word synonymous with the noun.
Cinquains are particularly vivid in their imagery and are meant to convey a certain mood or emotion.
Popular Cinquain Forms:
There have been many variations of the cinquain since its invention.
Song Of The Dream Summary Kerala Syllabus 9th Cinquain Form 1
Didactic Cinquain:
This is a very popular form of the cinquain because of its simplicity.
1. The first line is one word which is the title of the poem.
2. The second line contains two words which are adjectives that describe the title.
3. The third line has three words that tell the reader more about the subject of the poem or shows action. Many times these words are gerunds that end with “ing.”
4. The fourth line has four words that show emotions about the subject of the poem and may be individual words or a phrase.
5. The fifth line is one word that is a synonym of the title or is very similar to it.
Answer:
example: 1
Snow
Lovely, white
Falling, dancing, drifting
Covering everything it touches
Blanket
Here is another
example: 2
Teacher
Friendly, sincere
Teaching, correcting, guiding
Always ready to help
Guru.
Song Of A Dream Activities Kerala Syllabus 9th Cinquain form 2
This form is just slightly different from the first form in that the fourth line is a complete sentence and may have more than four words.
1. The first line is one word.
2. The second line contains two adjectives.
3. The third line has three words ending in “ing.”
4. The fourth line has four or more words that make a complete sentence.
5. The fifth line is one word.
Answer:
example:
Star
Hot, radiant
Shining, burning, exploding
It gives life to everything
Sun
Activity – 2 (Page 57)
Song Of A Dream Line By Line Explanation 9th Question 1.
Identify the key moments in the poem
Answer:
example:
- The poet dreams of being in a magical wood.
- She is soul-deep in visions which sprang like poppies.
- She considers the spirit of truth as the birds that sang.
- The glowing stars according to the poet are the spirits of love.
- The slow-flowing streams remind the poet of the spirits of peace.
- The poet stands alone in the light of the magical grove feeling the stars of the spirits of love gather and gleam around her delicate youth.
Song Of A Dream Appreciation Pdf Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 2.
Which of them appeals to you most? Why?
Answer:
The last one appeals to me most. I like to imagine standing in the light of the magical grove feeling stars of the spirits of love gather and gleam around my youth.
Activity – 3 (Page 57)
a) Question 1.
Read the expression ‘magical wood’. What picture comes to your mind? Discuss in groups and draw pictures in your own way.
Answer:
The pictures that come to my mind are a dense forest, where birds are singing, sitting on trees. Through the leaves, I can spot the glowing stars in the sky. Through the forest flows a crystal clear stream in which I can swim. The poet gives a clear picture of a magical wood using words. Such word pictures are called imagery. Imagery makes you imagine pictures in your minds. They appeal to our senses of sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell and help us form a mental picture.
Song Of A Dream Alliteration Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 2.
Pick out the images of sight (visual) from the poem
Answer:
| Visual images |
| 1. a fine forest |
| 2. birds flying about, singing |
| 3. glowing stars in the sky |
| 4. a river flowing through the forest |
Present a tableau using a significant scene from the poem. Atableau is a group of models or motionless figures representing a scene from a story or poem. Attempt a choreography of the poem: (Choreography is the sequence of steps and movements in dance.)
b) Now, form different groups and identify significant scenes in the poem which can be used for presenting a tableau. Perform it in groups. Attempt a choreography of the poem.
Activity – 4
A few poetic devices are given below. Write them against their correct meaning given in column B. Then complete column C.
1. Simile
2. metaphor
3. personification
4. alliteration
Answer:
- Simile – a direct comparison of two unlike things using ‘like’ or ‘as’. Soul-deep visions that poppy-like sprang.
- Metaphor- – a direct comparison between unlike things stating that one is the other or does the action of the other. And spirits of Truth were the birds that sang.
- Alliteration – repeated consonant sounds at the beginning of words in the same line. Gather and gleam.
- Personification – Giving human traits and qualities to an inanimate object. I heard the song of the spirits of Truth.
Activity – 5
a) Answer the following questions.
1) Do you like the poem? Why?
2) What is the theme of the poem? Pick out a line in support of your answer.
3) What, in your opinion, is the dramatic situation of the poem?
4) Which line do you like the most? Why?
5) What messages does the poem convey?
6) How is the title of the poem related to its theme?
7) What attitude of the poet is revealed in the poem?
Answer:
- Yes, I do like the poem. The poet expresses her desire in the form of a dream and describes the idealized place as the “magical wood in the land of sleep.” I would also like to be there.
- The theme of the poem is the poet’s longing to dwell in an idyllic place devoid of evil or vice, ‘To quench my longing I bent low by the streams of the spirits of Peace that flow in that magical wood in the land of sleep’.
- ‘Soul-deep in visions that poppy-like sprang’. This line brings a strong sensual imagery.
- I like the last line most. I like it most because I like to imagine myself “standing in the light of the magical grove feeling stars of the spirits of love gather and gleam around my youth”.
- The message the poem conveys is that we should have a world with spirits of Truth and Love and Peace all the time.
- The title of the poem is related to its theme. The poet tells us about an idyllic place where she finds love, peace, and serenity. Such a place can exist only in one’s dream.
- The poet longs to dwell in an idyllic place marked by the absence of any evil or vice. Moreover, she considers truth, love, and peace as the key ingredients of a peaceful world.
b) Now, write an appreciation of the poem. You may get ideas from the sample guidelines below
Answer:
‘Song of a Dream’ is a beautiful lyric written by Sarojini Naidu. It illustrates the poet’s longing to dwell in an idyllic place marked by the absence of any evil or vice. She expresses her desire in the form of a dream and describes the idealized place as the “magical wood in the land of sleep.” In her imaginative world, the abstract ideas of truth, love, and peace are clearly noticeable.
Inthe poets dream, “Truth” is transformed into singing birds, “Love” into glowing stars and “Peace” into flowing streams. We see that the poet perceives the abstract ideas of love, truth, and peace through her senses. The poem brings the auditory image, ‘birds that sang’ as well as visual image ‘stars that glowed and the streams of peace flowed through the land’. The poet brings in strong sensual imagery throughout the poem.
The use of the Simile – ‘poppy-like sprang’, is quite interesting. The poet also uses metaphors, ‘heard the song of the spirits of Truth’, ‘land of sleep’ to enrich the beauty of the poem. ‘Song of the spirits of Truth’ is an instance of personification. The alliterative lines ‘Lone in the light’, ‘Gather and gleam’, etc. bring a sense of rhythm in the poem.
So, we see that through her brilliant imagination, Naidu lends tangibility to abstract ideas. A reader enjoys the walk through the paradisiacal world as imagined by the poet. The poem shouldn’t, however, be read merely as an expression of a random dream or thought. It can also be interpreted as the poet’s vision for her motherland. In 1905, when the poem first appeared in the collection of songs and poems published as “The Golden Threshold’, India was a British colony. Naidu was not only a poet but also an active participant in the Indian Freedom Movement. Therefore, the place imagined in the poem can also be described as Naidu’s vision of India. She wants to dwell in an India that is ruled by the ideals of love, peace, and truth, and that’s free from hatred, oppression and violence.
Tips for writing an appreciation of a poem
Subject Matter:
1. Who wrote the poem?
2. What is the poem about?
Theme:
What was the poet’s purpose or motive in writing the poem? (What is the central idea of the poem?)
Moods. Emotions and Experiences:
1. What is the predominant mood of the poem? Is the poet flippant, sad, happy, dignified, angry, contemplative, or satirical?
2. Does the mood change?
3. What are some of the feelings expressed by the poet?
4. What feelings does the poet arouse in you?
5. Does the poet succeed in conveying his emotions to you?
Techniques
Language:
- Are the poet’s words appropriate and valid?
- What emotions are built up around certain words?
Imagery:
What is the effect produced by the use of metaphors, similes, personification, symbolism, striking description?
Sounds:
- What about the sounds in the poem?
- Are the sounds in harmony with the thought and imagery?
- Do the sounds suggest pictures, arouse emotions or bring out quality of the character?
- Are the musical qualities of the poem outstanding?
Rhyme:
- What use is made of rhyme in the poem?
- Is the movement slow, steady, or fast?
- Is the rhyme constant or does it vary?
- Is the rhyme appropriate to the mood and thought of the poem?
Form:
- How is the poem structured?
- How are the stanzas organised?
- Is the structure itself conventional, such as sonnet, ode, elegy, ballad, epic, etc. ?
