ODE ON SOLITUDE

bihar board 10 english

class – 10

subject – english

lesson 2 – ODE ON SOLITUDE

ODE ON SOLITUDE
                             — Alexander Pope
The poet : Alexander Pope was born in the year 1688 and lived upto the age of 56 years. He died in the year 1744. Apart from being a poet he was also a critic and is remembered as a great Satirist. The Rape of the Lock, ‘ The Duncial ‘ and ‘ The great Satirist’. ‘The Rape of the Lovk’. ‘The Duncial ‘ and The Episttes are some of the examples of Alexander pope’s poetry which are recognized as one of the best satires amongst his Creations.
‘ Ode ‘ is a type of communication in perty which is usually referred to as a cloric song generally accompanied by dance. The term is presently used to refer to long, medicative lyrics poems that in dignified manner address a noble subject.
In the present poem ‘ Ode on Solitude ‘ the poet draws a beautiful pictures of a happy man. What are the fundamentals which can make a man happy

Summary In English : The poet says that if a man is having some acres of land which had come from his parents , he would be considered a happy man as he can breathe in his own native land.
How will it happen ? The poet says that the person can keep his own cattle and cows in the ground and get good milk. His fields wall provide him with crop to manage his food and bread. The trees in the field will give him the necessary shades to pass summer with comforts. When winter comes, he can get fire woods from the trees. So the field will look after him for all his necessities of life .
So he can pass out his days, months and years without any concern. This will give him the peace of mind and  he will be in good health throughout. He can enjoy sound sleep at night, can proceed with his studies well and can have good recreation. The place will give him good opportunity to go for meditation for peace of mind and energy.
The poet wishes to live alone and unnoticed till the time of his death. The world would not know about his death and when he is laid to rest , there would not be a single stone on his grave to identify the place he has been buried.
So this is how the poor wants to live his life, a life in solitude. The poet wishes to lead a noble life.

                कविता का सारांश
कवि कहता है कि अगर किसी व्यक्ति के पास पैतृक संपत्ति के रूप में कोई एकड़ जमीन है तो वह खुशहाल माना जाएगा क्योंकि वह अपने जीवन की खुली हवा में सांस ले सकता है।
कवि फिर आगे अपनी इस मान्यता की व्याख्या करता है । कवि कहता है कि उस जमीन पर उसकी अपनी पशुशाला होगी  जिससे वह दूध को अपनी आवश्यकता की पूर्ति कर सकता है । उस जमीन पर खेत लहर लाएंगे जिससे उसका पेट भरने के लिए रोटी मिलेगी ।भैड़ो एवं अन्य जानवरों के झुंड उसके कपड़े के लिये आवश्यक ऊन और तंतुज  प्रदान करेंगे जिससे वह अपना तन ढँक सकेगा । गर्मि  के मौसम का ताप सहने  के लिए वृक्षों को छाया का आँचल उसे शीतलता प्रदान करेगा । जाड़े के दिनों के लिए वकीलों से मिलेगी जिसे जाकर सुख प्राप्त करेगा।
इस प्रकार वह अपने दिन,माह और वर्ष सुख से काट देगा।ये सारी स्थितियाँ उसे मांसिक शांति देगी और उसका स्वास्थ्य उत्तम रहेगा ।उसे रात को नींद ठीक से आएगी। उसका स्वास्थ्य ठीक -ठाक चलेगा और उसके पास मनोरंजन के साधन होंगे। यह स्थान उसे मासिक शांति और उर्जा प्रदान करेगा। चिंतन मनन और ध्यान हेतु यह संस्थान उत्तम होगा।
कवि अपने जीवन में एकांत की अभिलाषा करता है ताकि वह शांति से मर सके।  उसकी मृत्यु की सूचना संसार को नहीं मिलेगी और जब उसे दफनाया जाएगा तो उसकी कब्र पर पहचान या समिति के रूप में कोई चिन्ह या पत्थर नहीं होगा। विश्व यह नहीं जान पाएगा कि उसे कहाँ मिट्टी के अंदर दफन किया गया है। इस प्रकार का भी एकाकी जीवन की अभिलाषा रखता है — एक एकांत और  सम्भ्रांत जीवन उसके जीवन का लक्ष्य है।

        GLOSSARY AND NOTES
Paternal (Adj): पैतृक। Content (adj.): संतुष्ट। Native air (Noun): पैतृक भूमि की हवा। Herds (noun): पशु। Attire (noun): पोशाक। Recreation (noun): मनोरंजन। Meditation (noun): ध्यान ।
Unlamented (Adj.): शोकरहित। Lie (verb): दफनाया ।
                    EXERCISE
A. Answer the following questions very briefly :
Q.1. How many of you want to be happy? What constitutes happiness.
Ans. Everybody on this earth aspires for happiness in life. Our efforts since very beginning are directed towards achieving that goal. Happiness comes from satisfaction and satisfaction is attained it one is self sufficient in the basic needs of life bread, clothing and housing. The other requirements can be earned.
Q.2. What makes our like happy – money or contentment or both. Discuss.
Ans. This has already been answers above in question no.1.
Q.3. Have you never ever visited a remote village adorned with natural and a capital town full of sky – sarappers . Which one would you like and why ?
Ans. Yes, I had the opportunity of seeing both — a remote village with natural beauty and capital town with high sky scrappers. I think both have get their advantages and disadvantages. Capital towns Provide more opportunities for progress in life while in remote village one can live in peace and harmony which are rarely found in big cities.
B.1. Answer the following questions very briefly.
Q.1. Who is happy man ?
Ans. A happy man is he whose wish and care are fulfilled through land  inherited from father- mother.
Q.2. Who (m) does the pronoun ‘ his ‘ in the third line of the 1st stanza refer to ?
Ans. It refer to man in general and then to the poet himself in particular.
Q.3. Who gives him milk ?
Ans. The heards kept in this native land will gave him milk.
Q.4. What gives him bread ?
Ans. The paddy and wheat grown in his filed will give him breed.
Q.5. From where does he get his clothes?
Ans. This blocks reared in his native field will provide clothes to him.
Q.6. How do trees help him ?
Ans. The trees in summer will help him by their shades. Shades will protect him from the scorcling sun. When winter comes, he can use woods of the trees to make fire to protect himself from cold.
B.2. Answer the following questions very briefly :
Q.1. Name the poem and the poet ?
Ans. The title of the poem is ‘ Ode to Solitude ‘ and the name of the poet is Alexander Pope.
Q.2. Who is blessed man ?
Ans. A blessed man is he who has get a piece of land from his parents where he can breather air during directly from his native land.
Q.3. How does a happy man spend his time ?
Ans. A happy man spends his time with sound sleep at night, gets nice recreation with innocence during day and can have meditation as per his wish.
Q.4. Who does ‘ me ‘ refer to in the last stanza ?
Ans. ‘ Me ‘ in the poem again stands for the poet himself .
Q.5. What do you mean by ‘ slide soft away ‘ ?
Ans. Here it refers to the passing of days, months and years smoothly.
Q.6. What does the poet wish after the death ?
Ans. The poet does not like that his death is noticed by any body and then again there should not be any sign or mark of identification on his grave.
Q.7. How does the poet want to live ?
Ans. He wants to live unseen and unknown.
Q.8. How does the poet want to die ?
Ans. The poet wants to die unlamented without any grievance of his any wish left unfulfilled.
Q.9. What are the features of happy man ?
Ans. The main features of a happy man are :
(a) The one who has some acres of parental land.
(b) The one who can breath in his native in his own ground.
(c) The one who has sound sleep at night.
(d) The one who can study well with good recreation and meditation at times.
C.1. Long Answer Questions :
Q.1. The poet thinks that those who are connected with what they have are happy men. Do you agree ? Give reasons.
Ans . It is difficult to define happiness. Happiness is an individual thing. It is the sate of mind which established happiness in a person. Some may be having crores and crores at their disposal and still be unhappy .
The philosophy of being content on what one has and be happy at the same time is also a way of looking at the aim of ones life. But for achieving some goal, one has to earn more and more and there the contenent part may be bringing adverse results in his achievements. So in my opinion one should go in life by maintaining a balance between the two.
Q.2. What does the speaker mean by ‘ Together mixt recreation. Can these things be mixed ? Have you ever tried to do so ?
Ans. When one studies without any tension in mind -it gives a lot of pleasure because one is not reading under pressure. The pressure starts when one is reading from the point of view of examination, Hence the study can be combined with pleasure for recreation. This is also a way to lead a tension free life. A life of peace.
Q.3. Why does the poet want to live and die stealthily from the world. How many of you would like to do so and why ?
Ans. The poet’s philosophy is that of a nobal soul. He is not interested in any publicity for himself during life and even on his death.
Every few people would like to go the poets way because everybody wants to be known in the world by their virtue during the period they are alive and even after death. Name and fame is a part of man’s visions and goal.
Q.4. How do you think the title of the poem is justified ? Can you suggest any other title ? Give reasons for your choice.
Ans. I think the title given by the poet as ‘ Ode to Solitude ‘ for his poem is quite appropriate as the poem revolves round the philosophy of contentment and achieving that contentment by passing life in solitude.
G. Group Discussion :
Discuss the following in groups or pairs.
Q.1. Are we happier than our forefathers ?
Ans. The answer may be ‘ yes’ and ‘ no’ at the same time. We can only imagine the situation during the period of our forefathers and then analyze the subject.
But one thing can be said without doubt that we are citizens of a free country with more rights and opportunities to lead a letter and modern life than our forefathers. But there are so many things in which our forefathers excelled like their truthfulness their integrity, their human approach towards life which we find is lacking today.
C.2. Is village life better than city life ?
Ans. The city life of today are definitely better than the village life because the cities of today have more basic facilities to land a good healthy and happy life. There are good hospitals and doctors to look after your health, better education.
The villages in India are not equipped still with the basic necessities of life. Hence the position as it stands today the cities are better to live in but in villages Pollution is less than the cities and one can enjoy the natural sorrounding of the village life.
One can analyze the things themselves and take a decision keeping in view the plus and minus points of both.
C.3. Composition :
Q.1. Write a letter to your younger brother /sister living in Patna suggesting him / her ( the ill effects of noise polusion due to congested traffic.
Ans.

At+ P.O. : Mansurganj
Distt. : Samastipur
Dear sumit,
I am writing this to you after time. Hope this will find you in good health and happiness. Sumit ! this is the second year of your stay in Patna and I thought to share some of your experiences of a city life. How is Patna ? I have come to know that the city has become too much crowded now a days.
Then again there is a lot of noise on the roads due to multiplict of vehicles moving on road. The cars blow homs it they do not find way to go ached, the auto rickshaw driver starts pressing the futton of his whirling system which produced noise of very high degree. The loudspeakers from some houses start pounding sound of music at a very high pitch. Really, how do you feel about this ? These sounds are amoying and are creating sound pollution which is not good for human health.
Yours affectionately
     Mohan
Q.2. Write a Paragraph in about 100 wards.
(a) The importance of trees.
Ans. Trees are essential part of human life. Trees provide us fruit, timber, wood and oxygen for survival. The tree save us from the fury of flood. They redirect erosion of earth or soil from the surface of land and thereby protect the earth from becoming barren or unproductive. It provides us shades from the scorcling sun.
Coal which is the main source of energy is the main source of energy is the by – Product of trees. Hence we must save trees at all cost and should try to grow more trees around us.
D. Word Study :
Dictionary use,
1. Correct the spellings of the following words :
Incorrect                        Correct
Patternal                         Paternal
Unconcemadly       Unconcemadly
Breath                               Breathe
Atire                                  Attire
Inocence                       Innocence
Unlemented                Unlamented
D.2. Find out from the poem words the meaning of which have been given on the right hand side.
1. A measurement unit  = Acre
2. Dressing clothes = Attire
3. Holy or Lucky = Blessed
4. Inherited from father = Paternal
5. Indifferently = Unconcemadly
E. Grammar :
Look at the following examples:
(a) He lives in his own ground.
(b) Can you finish the work by day ?
Her words ‘ in ‘ and ‘ by ‘ used above to show relationship.
Such words are called Preposition.
Find out five prepositions from the poem and frame sentences of your own.
In : The milk is in the glass.
With : He is going with his friend.
By : The tree is by the side of the river.
To :  He has gone to the market.
From : I have taken this from my book.
Ex. 2. Insert suitable prepositions in the following sentences :
1. He was knocked down by bus.
2. She saved him from drowing.
3. What is it made of ?
4. Yesterday I had an argument with Mr. Avkash.
5. It took us an hour to complete this assignment.
F. Activity :
Study the following : Care – air, Bound – ground.
These are called rhyming words, A word that has the same sound or ends with the same letter as another words is called rhyme.
Can you think of a rhyme for the words ” beauty ” ?
Ans. Yes the word may be ” duty “.
Ex.1. Make a list of four pairs of rhyming words used in the poem:
Care – air, Bound – ground, Attire – fire , Find – mind, Away – day  , Die – lie.
Ex.2. Work in pair and take about the things which make you happy or unhappy.
Ans. To be organized by the teacher of the class.
G. Translation :
Translate the poem into your mother language.
Ans. The translation of the poem in Hindi has been given in the earlier page. Please see.