Chapter-3
Now
the Leaves Are Falling Fast
-W.H.
Auden
Biography
·
Wystan Hugh Auden was born in 1907 in England and died in 1973.
·
He was a poet, verse dramatist, critic, translator, and editor.
·
He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for his collection The
Age of Anxiety.
·
Poetry to him was a ‘serious game’.
·
He left England as early as 1939 to settle permanently in the
United States.
·
Auden’s works is dived into the British and American phases.
·
The notable works of the English phase are The Orators, The Dance
of Death, Look Stranger, Spain and Another Time.
·
The notable works of the American phase are New Year Letter, For
the Time Being, The Age of Anxiety, and The Shield of Achilles.
Summary: “Now the leaves are
falling fast” is one of the finest lyric poems which has been composed by
the modern poet W.H Auden. The title of this poem suggests us about the death
of human beings like the falling fast of leaves.
Human beings are going to their grave very fast due
to suffering and diseases. In this poem, the poet tries to expose the
frustration and crisis in modern life. The poet says that all fake love to one
another. The messenger of death is present to snatch the real delight of people.
People who are alive today will die tomorrow. This
expression suggests that human life is no better than death. The underlying
idea in this poem is that death is certain. Like tree man also has to meet his
end someday.
Objective Type Question
1. “Now the Leaves Are Falling Fast” is
written by…………..
a)John Keats
b)John Donne
c)W.H. Auden
2. W.H Auden was born in………
a)1907
B)1910
C)1930
3. W.H. Auden died in…………….
a)1973
b)1970
c)1980
4. W.H Auden won the Pulitzer Prize in…
a)1950
b)1948
c)1960
5. W.H Auden won Pulitzer Prize for……………
a)New Year Letter
b)The Orators
c)The Age of Anxiety
6. In the second line of the poem, ‘Now the
Leaves are falling Fast’ ‘Nurse’ stands…….
a)a mango
b)a fruit
c)a tree
7. “Whispering neighbours, left and right’
is a line from the poem…………
a)An Epitaph
b)Song of Myself
c)Now the leaves are falling fast
8. W.H Auden left England in…….
a)1935
b)1939
c)1945
9. The………….of death are the whispering
neighbor.
a)friends
b)enemies
c)messenger
10. Auden’s work is divided into…………………..phases.
a)4
b)3
c)2
11. ‘Nurse’s flowers will not last’ is a
line written by……………
a) John Donne
b)John Keats
c)W H Auden
12. Auden’s work is divided into the British
and ………..phase.
A)Indian
b)Russian
c)American
13. New year letter by W.H Auden is…….
a)Indian phase
b)American Phase
c)British phase
14. Look Stranger, Spain, Another Time by
Auden is………………phase
a)Indian
b)American
c)British
15. The orators, the dance of death by Auden
is…….......
a)Russian phase
b)American phase
c)British phase
16. The age of anxiety, For the time Being,
The Sheild of Achilles by Auden is………..
a)British Phase
b)American Phase
c)Indian Phase
17. Now the leaves are falling fast is……..
a)song
b)sonnets
c)lyric
18. ………………..persons are travelers.
a)young
b)new
c)dull
19. Trees shed their leaves in……………….
a)winter
b)autumn
c)summer
20. ………….waterfall could bless the travelers
passing through that way.
a)white
b)yellow
c)red
21. The leaves are falling…………………
a)slow
b)good
c)fast
22. The ………has become dumb to see the
leafless trees.
a)hen
b)sparrow
c)nightingale
23. ‘Now the leaves are falling fast’ is……….
a)a sonnet
b)a lyric
c)an ode
24. The prams are……..
a)running
b)standing
c)rolling
25. The travelers are we………………..beings,
moving towards our death.
a)angel
b)human
c)urban
26. The
falling of…………………refer to the speedy arrival of death.
a)leaves
b)rain
c)dust
Short Answer Type Questions
1. What
does the poet mean when he says “Now the leaves are falling fast”?
Ans. The
leaves are symbolic of old people. As leaves fall fast in winter, so are the
people dying in their old age.
2. How
do we complete our last journey to the grave?
Ans. The
grave brings peace to our sufferings.
3. Who
are the ‘whispering neighbours’?
Ans. The
agents of death are the whispering agents. In old age people are always
obsessed by thoughts of death.
4. How
does human life become miserable?
Ans. Humans
grow old. In old age they become inactive and weak. They are cut off from
society. They are lonely and miserable.
5. In
what way will the travelers be blessed?
Ans. The
white waterfall or the cold hand of death will bless them. it will rescue them
from their miseries.
6. What
do ‘Trolls’ do in the ‘leafless wood’?
Ans. Trolls
look angrily for food in leafless wood.
7. Who
are the ‘travellers’ and how will they be ‘blessed’?
Ans. The
aged are the travelers. They will be blessed by the white cold waterfall of the
mountain head. That is death.
8. How
do old people think about their own life and age when they see a child?
Ans. They
are reminded of their own childhood. They think of their past with nostalgia.
Explanation
1. “Now
the leaves are falling fast
Nurse’s flower will not last
Nurses to the graves are gone
And the proms go rolling on”
Ans. The poet means that the leaves of the branches of the free are falling and
the frees are becoming leafless. It depicts that a person is slowly moving to
its death and atleast in grave. Everything perishes.
जिस poem
के लाइन में White, mountain, nurse, false left right, food,
freeze, cold, nightingale, wooden, reprove रहे तो वह line
Now the leaves are falling fast का होगा|
Summary
in Hindi
पेड़ों के पत्ते झड़
रहे हैं और नर्सों के फूल भी
शीघ्र ही गिर जाएँगे । नर्सें मर गई हैं परन्तु जीवन चल रहा है । वृद्ध लोगों का
जीवन दुख भरा है । उनमें फुर्ती नहीं रही । उनके अंग अकड़ गए हैं । वे अकेले और
दुखी हैं ।
मृत्यु का कोई अन्त नहीं । प्रक्रिया चलती रहती है । प्यार झूठा और दिखावा है ।
वृद्ध लोगों के जीवन में कोई आनन्द नहीं है । परन्तु मृत्यु शेष है । मृत्यु
सुन्दर है । वह मनुष्य को कष्टों से मुक्ति देती है ।
