Category 1
Who is the poet of the poem 'On the Grasshopper and Cricket'?
John Keats
Who 'has never done with his delights'?
The grasshopper
Who has created silence in winter?
Frost
From where does the cricket shrill in winter?
From the stove
Name the two seasons that Keats has mentioned in the poem.
Summer and Winter
"A voice will run from hedge to hedge...." Whose voice is mentioned here?
The Grasshopper's
When does the grasshopper take rest and where?
When he is tired of his fun, he rests under some pleasant weed
What happens to birds during summer?
They become faint and quiet
Who are half lost in drowsiness and why?
People are half lost in drowsiness due to the extreme cold
How is the winter's silence broken?
The winter silence is broken by a shrill sound of the cricket
What is ‘ceasing never’?
The poetry of earth is never ceasing.
From where do the cricket sing?
The crickets hide under the stone and sing in its shrill voice
What is the impact of cricket and grasshopper music?
Crickets and grasshoppers make sounds that soothes the listener even its extreme weathers
'The poetry of earth is never dead'. Name the figure of speech used in this line and explain the same.
Metaphor; poetry and the voice of earth are always alive
How has the continuity of music been maintained?
During the extreme heat when birds stop singing, voice of grasshopper delights with its music
What type of poem is 'On the Grasshopper and Cricket'?
The poem is a 14 line Petrarchan sonnet with a rhyming scheme of abba – abba – cdecde
Why does the cricket's song sound like the grasshopper's?
When one is feeling sleepy on a winter night, one is not alert and so is not able to differentiate the sound.
Which words or phrases suggest a sense of relief from the heat of summer in stanza 1?
'cooling trees' and 'pleasant weeds'
Explain “wrought a silence” meaning
Wrought means to exert (force upon) something. Here the winter has forced the humans as well as animals to seek shelter and remain silent
What does the line “in warmth increasing ever” mean?
The cricket's song reminds us of summer and its warmth during the winter when it's cold.
What does the poet say about the poetry of earth?
According to the poet, the poetry (singing and merry-making) of earth never ends though it may be summer or winter. Her merry-making is not limited to spring. During the hot summer, grasshopper sings while in the winters, cricket sings. So the nature is always alive and merry-making.
‘The poetry of earth’ is not made
of words. What is it made of, as suggested in the poem?
‘The poetry of earth’ is not made of words, but of the song and the rhythm produced by birds, grasshoppers and crickets in various seasons.
What does the poet mean by “take the lead in summer luxury”?
The phrase "take the lead in summer luxury" is used for the grasshopper's singing. According to the poet, when the sun heats up during the summer, all the birds hide themselves and their chirping is heard no more. At such a time, the grasshopper appears and takes the lead of keeping the nature alive
Why does John Keats make the voices of the grasshopper and the cricket follow each other?
John Keats makes the voices of the grasshopper and the cricket follow each other in order to prove that music never ceases.
What similarity do you find in the octave and the sestet of the poem?
Both in octave and sestet, the music of earth continues playing.