Class 10 Literature Reader Chapter 9 Question Answers - Chapter 9 - Not Marbles, Nor the Gilded Monuments (Sonnet 55)

Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow.

1. Not marble, nor the gilded monuments
 of princes, shall outlive this powerful rhyme
 (a) What are gilded monuments?

Ans : The monuments that are decorated and embellished with gold.

(b) What purpose do the monuments serve?

Ans : They are symbols of power and riches toremember the dead and the mighty.

(c) What will powerful rhyme achieve?

Ans : The powerful rhyme will immortalise the person in whose memory it is written.

2. But you shall shine more brightly in these contents
 Than unswept stone, besmeared with sluttish time

(a) Identify ‘you’
Ans : The subject of the poet’s peom (it is notclearly indicated)

(b) Explain – ‘‘sluttish time’’

Ans : Time is known to bring great changes. Similarly, the beauty of a slut also undergoes changes.

(c) Who shall shine more brightly?

Ans : The subject of the poet’s poem will be remembered forever and its worth will not diminish with the passage of time.

3. Nor Mars his sword nor war’s quick fire shall burn
 The living record of your memory.
 [C.B.S.E., 2011 (T-1)]

(a) Who is ‘Mars’ ?

Ans : In Greek mythology, he is the ‘god of war’.

(b) How will ‘living record’ survive the test of time?

Ans : The written words of the poet will never be destroyed by nature or time.

(c) How are other things destroyed with time?

Ans : Other things, like monuments, statues will be destroyed by nature-made or man-made disasters or war.

4. Shall you pace forth, your praise shall find room
 Even in the eyes of all posterity
 That wear this world out to the ending doom

(a) What will happen to the praise of the poet’s friend?

Ans : The poet’s friend will be remembered even by the coming generations.

(b) What is the future of the world predicted?

Ans : The physical world is doomed, it will be destroyed.

(c) What do the above lines reflect about the poet’s personality?

Ans : The poet is too concerned and loves his friend too much.

5. So till the judgement, that yourself arise You live in this and dwell in lover’s eyes

(a) What is ‘judgement’? Who delivers it?

Ans : Judgement Day or Doomsday is when everyone is rewarded or punished for their deeds by God.

(b) Who will survive? How?

Ans : All else will be destroyed but poet’s love for his friend will survive.

(c) Explain — ‘‘dwell in lover’s eyes’’.

Ans : Poet’s love for his friend will survive because it will live on in the eyes of the lovers.

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

1. How does the poet compare ‘gilded monuments’ with ‘powerful rhyme’?

Ans : Both gilded ‘monuments’ and ‘rhyme’ are for someone’s memory. But all kinds of monuments will never stand the test of time, they all will be destroyed with time. But the poet’s love for his friend will survive and be immortalised.

2. What happens to monuments with time?

Ans : The monuments are erected to honour someone or to show one’s wealth or power. Any man-made disaster like war or natural calamities can destroy these physical signs of mermory. They can be razed to the ground.

3. Explain – ‘‘Nor Mars his sword nor wars’ quick fire shall burn the living record of your memory.’’

Ans : The poet says that no kind of wars and even the God of war with his powerful sword can ever destroy the poems the poet has written for his friend. He means to say that written words are immortal and cannot be destroyed by anyone.

4. How will ‘posterity’ react to the verses that are written?

Ans : ‘Posterity’ means ‘coming generations’. Writing is a permanent record of memory. Since the poems written for the poet’s friend will live forever, so future generations will remember and revere them.

5. Explain – ‘‘You live in this, and dwell in lover’s eyes’’

Ans : The poet’s friend will live forever for he is immortalised in the verses written by the poet. Everything else will perish on the Judgement Day. But the poet’s love for his friend will not perish, it will live in the eyes of the lovers forever.

6. How has the poet eternalised the subject of his attention in the poem, 'Not Marble Nor the Gilded Monuments'?

Ans : In this poem, the poet has eternalised his subject i.e. love. The poem reveals poet's extreme optimism and deep faith in the power of love. According to him, Love is beyond all barriers whether materialistic or physical. All other things are doomed for destruction but love will stand the test of time. Since there is no end to love, it will exist forever in the eyes of the lovers.

7. Explain in your words how his 'poetry' has been glorified by the poet, in the poem, 'Not Marble, Nor the Gilded Monuments.'

Ans : In the very beginning of the poem, the poet talks about how time will not destroy the poem, though it will destory the world's most powerful structures. He glorifies his poetry by saying that all the marble or gold plated monuments of the princes will get destroyed but the magnificence his poetry will live. The subject of poetry will remain bright and will shine forever in comparison to a neglected stone monument which is spoilt with time.