Poem - A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal Class 9 Worksheet English Chapter 1

Q.1. Read the following passages and answer the questions
“No motion has she now, no force.
She neither hears nor sees
Rolled round in earth’s diurnal course
With rocks and stones and trees.”
(i) Name the poem and the poet.

The poem is ‘ A Slumber did my spirit seal’ and the poet is William Wordsworth.

(ii) Why does the beloved has no motion and no force?

The beloved has no motion and no force because she is dead and no more alive.

(iii) What kind of motion does his beloved have now?

She seemed a thing that could not feel any touch.

(iv) What changes have come in his beloved now?

His beloved has become eternal now, nothing can affect her in any way.

Q.2. How much does the poet love his beloved? How can we say that?

The poet loves his beloved a lot because he is filled with grief after her death and he has written a poem in the memory of his beloved.

Q.3. What does the poet feel about his beloved? Is he contented?

The poet has a great love for his beloved. He feels great peace that she has been taken care by the nature. He knows that the world is selfish, so he is contented with the situation.

Q.4. What is the state of mind of the poet when he comes to know that his beloved is no more?

When the poet comes to know that his beloved one has died , he was filled with grief and pain. He loved her so much that he lost his state of mind, he was in a state of extreme loss where he could not feel anything except the company of the nature.

Q.5. How does the poet imagine his beloved to be, after death?

The poet knows that his beloved has died and is no more with him. He is a nature lover and so believes that his beloved has not died but has become immortal and has immersed in the nature. He feels her presence around himself. He could not separate himself from her but feels that she has got relieved from the selfish world. He is in a deep grief and he thinks that she has become immortal because she has not got affected with the passage of time.

Q.6. Read the following passages and answer the questions
“A slumber did my spirit seal.
I had no human fears.
She seemed a thing that could not feel
The touch of earthly years.”
(i) What is the poet talking about in these lines?

The poet is talking about his beloved who has died.

(ii) What does the poet mean by slumber?

The poet means in a deep sleep by slumber.

(iii) Who is she in the above lines?

She is the poet’s beloved in the above lines.

(iv) Why does the poet have no fears?

The poet has no fears now because he feels that his beloved has become immortal.

Q.7. What does William Wordsworth talking about in the poem?

William Wordsworth is talking about his beloved who has died. He is a nature lover, who finds relief in the company of nature. But his heart is filled with grief.

Q.8. How does the poet react to his beloved one’s death?

He says that a slumber did his spirit seal, which means that the death of his beloved one has closed his soul. So he has become busy with the nature and thinks that she is still alive.

Q.9. Which lines of the poem shows that the beloved is no more with the poet?

The beloved has died. This is evident from the following lines, “No motion has she now, no force. She neither hears nor sees.” She shows no movement.

Q.10. The poet has lost his beloved because of which he feels lonely and a great shock. Explain his state of mind.

The poet is a nature lover, he finds relief in the company of nature. Here, in the poem, he is talking about his beloved and her death has filled him with grief and pain. He considers the world as selfish and so he feels contented that his beloved has gone in the lap of nature. He thinks that she is busy with the nature and she is surrounding him. He finds her dead as she is not moving and she can not hear or see anything. He is in a lost state of mind. He feels that she is rather busy in movement with the earth like rocks, stones and trees. He misses her but feels her presence.

Reference to Context Questions

Q1: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
A slumber did my spirit seal
I had no human fears.
She seemed a thing that could not feel
The touch of earthly years.
(a) What was the poet’s state of mind when Lucy was alive?
Ans: When Lucy was alive the poet was in a state of spiritual peace as he did not even think about her aging or dying.

(b) What was the ‘human fear’ he did not have?
Ans: It blinded him to the reality that eventually all things that are born perish or die one day.

(c) Why did he not have this fear?
Ans: The poet could not imagine that she was a human being and subject to suffering and death.

(d) How does the poet imagine her to be, after death?
Ans: The poet imagines her to now be a part of nature.

Q2: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
A slumber did my spirit seal-
I had no human fears.
She seemed a thing that could not feel
The touch of earthly years.
(a) Who does ‘she’ refer to?
Ans: The poet does not disclose in the poem the identity of the girl. But because the poem is one of the Lucy Poems, she refers to Lucy, the girl Wordsworth loved.

(b) What could she not feel?
Ans: She could not feel the touch of earthly years.

(c) Explain “the touch of earthly years”.
Ans: By “the touch of earthly years”, the poet means the ravages of time or the process of aging.

(d) Why does the poet say that his loved one is rolling round in the way of the earth?
Ans: The poet says that his beloved is a part of Nature she is also moving round with the earth.

Q3: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
No motion has she now, no force –
She neither hears nor sees,
Rolled round in earth’s diurnal course
With rocks and stones and trees.
(a) What happened to the poet’s beloved?
Ans: The poet’s beloved was dead.

(b) Where is she now?
Ans: After her death she has become one with Nature.

(c) How does she become an inseparable part of nature?
Ans: She has become an integral part of nature as she is buried and has become one with the earth.

(d) Explain: she is in “earth’s diurnal course with rocks and stones and trees”?
Ans: She is now a participant in the daily routine of the earth and rolls with it along with the rocks and trees and other things of Nature.

Q4: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
No motion has she now, no force –
She neither hears nor sees,
Rolled round in earth’s diurnal course
With rocks and stones and trees.
(a) What does the word ‘slumber’ refer to?
Ans: The word ‘slumber’ refers to a deep sleep. Here it refers to death.

(b) How will time not affect the poet’s beloved?
Ans: The poet’s beloved is dead and therefore has become immortal.

(c) ‘No motion has she now, no force.’ Why is ‘she’ motionless?
Ans: ‘She’ is the poet’s beloved who is no longer alive. Therefore she is motionless.

(d) What is the central theme of the poem?
Ans: The poet wants to convey the idea that though death separates our loved ones from us but they always remain around us in the form of nature.