Class 11 & 12 Reading Poem No-22 Ars Poetica (150 Words Subjective/Objective Solved)

Read the poem and answer the questions that follow:

Ars Poetica

Archibald MacLeish

A poem should be palpable and mute

As a globed fruit,

Dumb

As old medallions to the thumb,

Silent as the sleeve-worn stone

Of casement ledges where the moss has grown—

A poem should be wordless

As the flight of birds.

A poem should be motionless in time

As the moon climbs,

Leaving, as the moon releases

Twig by twig the night-entangled trees,

Leaving, as the moon behind the winter leaves,

Memory by memory the mind—

A poem should be motionless in time

As the moon climbs.

A poem should be equal to:

Not true.

For all the history of grief

An empty doorway and a maple leaf.

For love

The leaning grasses and two lights above the sea—

A poem should not mean

But be.

Choose the correct alternatives from the options given below:

 (a) ‘A poem should be palpable and mute /As a globed fruit,’ means-

(i) a good poem should convey feelings and emotions in the fewest possible words

(ii) a good poem should be able to touch the hearts of the readers

 (iii) a good poem should have very few words

 (iv) none of the above

 (b) A poem should not mean/But be.

(i)a good poem does not have to have profound meaning

(ii) reading a good poem should be an experience in itself

(iii) a good poem should be true to the poet’s feelings

 (iv) all of the above

Answer the following questions briefly in your own words:

(c) What is the poet trying to convey by comparing a poem to an old medallion to the thumb?

 (d) What is the similarity between a flight of birds and a poem?

 (e) What does the poet mean by comparing a poem to the movement of the moon?

 (i) What does the poet imply by the term night-entangled trees?

 (g) How does the poet symbolize sorrow?

(h) How does he denote love?

Find words from the passage which mean the same as each of the following:

 (i) tangible/intense (line 1-4)

 (j) window sill (line 5-7)

ANSWERS:-

 (a) (i)              (b) (iv)

 (c) By comparing a poem to an old medallion, the poet is suggesting that like an old medallion, a poem should last or endure for a long time. Also, just as a medallion can reveal many things about the age when it was created, so should a poem, without using too many words.

(d) A flight of birds suggests freedom. A poem should not be burdened with the task of proclaiming meanings and truths to readers through too many words and noises.

(e) The moon climbs slowly, yet seems to be motionless. We also think of it as always having existed. Just so, the poet says that a poem should endure the passing of time and yet reach greater heights. It should not be bound to the transient things on earth.

 (f) As the moon climbs higher, it goes beyond the reach of the tangles of trees. A poem, like a moon, should move away from the tangles of the world to a higher realm of meaning.

(g) The poet says that a poem should not prescribe what truth is; only suggest it through images. Likewise, the poet suggests that a poem can speak of a shared history of grief through images such as an empty doorway and a maple leaf.

(h) Instead of traditional descriptions, the poet here denotes love through modern and minimal imagery: leaning grasses and two lights above the sea.

 (i) Palpable.

(j) Casement ledge.

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