Page 139 - Lavender-B-6

4. In what state was the lady who fed the sparrows?
5. What did the sparrows lady give the beggar?

6. When did the poet feel compassion? Whom did he help and how?

Reference to context
Read these lines from the poem and answer the questions that follow.

1. And then I watched a working wife

Who bore the bitter load of life,

With lagging limb;
A penny from her purse she took,

And with sweet pity in her look

Gave it to him.
a. What does the poet imply by the second line of the stanza?

i. The working wife had a lot of leisure time.

ii. The working wife had a lot of laundry work.
iii. The working wife was burdened with a lot of household work.

iv. The working wife led a very comfortable life.

b. Who is ‘him’ being referred to in the above lines?

c. Why did the lady give ‘him’ a penny?

d. Complete the analogy with a suitable word from the above lines:

cruelty : spite :: compassion :

e. Which poetic device is used in most of the lines in the poem?
i. alliteration ii. simile
iii. onomatopoeia iv. personification

2. For God knows it is good to give;

We may not have so long to live,

So if we can,

Let’s do each day a kindly deed,
And stretch a hand to those in need,

Bird, beast or man.

a. According to the poet, why should we do good?
i. to make ourselves feel better ii. to make others feel better

iii. to make God feel better iv. to make the narrator feels better
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