Class 12 English Previous Year: Short Questions With Answers (Part - 1) - A Thing of Beauty

Short Answer Questions (2025)

Q1: ‘And such too is the grandeur of dooms’. How can ‘grandeur of dooms’ be impressive and inspiring according to Keats?

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​Ans: According to Keats, the ‘grandeur of dooms’ is impressive and inspiring because the heroic legacies of the mighty dead, like beautiful tales, endure as a source of eternal joy and inspiration, uplifting human spirits.

Q2: What is the importance of beauty in a man’s life?

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​Ans: Beauty, as per Keats, is vital in man’s life as it provides enduring joy, emotional solace, and mental strength, countering despair and connecting humanity to life’s essence through nature and art.

Q3: How is beauty seen in the ‘grandeur of the dooms’?

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​Ans: Beauty in the ‘grandeur of the dooms’ is seen in the heroic legacies of the mighty dead, whose inspiring tales and achievements, like nature’s beauty, eternally uplift and console the human spirit.

Q4: According to the poet, beauty is everlasting. Explain.

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Ans: Keats describes beauty as everlasting because it, like nature and heroic tales, never fades into nothingness, continuously providing joy, solace, and inspiration, binding humanity to life despite challenges.

Previous Year Short Answer Questions 

Q. 1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
‘Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,
Rich with the sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms; .......... [Delhi /O.D, 2018]
(a) Identify the poem and the poet.
Ans. Value Points: A Thing of Beauty ; John Keats.
(b) What is the role of the clear rills?
Ans. To create a cooling covert/ to cool the area/ provide cooling shelter.
Detailed Answer: The clear rills cool the surrounding area and provide cooling shelter to everyone passing.
(c) How has the mid forest brake become rich?
Ans. With a sprinkling of fair musk rose blooms/ due to the presence of musk roses blooming in the forest.
Detailed Answer: The mid forest brake has become rich due to the presence of musk roses which are blooming in the forest.
(d) Name the figure of speech in ‘cooling covert.’
Ans. Alliteration/ Imagery.

Q. 2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
“A thing of beauty is a joy forever
Its loveliness increases, it will never pass into nothingness; but will keep
a bower quiet for us,”
(a) ‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever’. Explain.
Ans. Beauty has a long lasting impact on us. It never moves into emptiness. It leaves a lasting impression and always rescues us from our miseries.
(b) Why does a beautiful thing never ‘pass into nothingness’?
Ans. Beauty has a long standing impression on us. It is not subject to time. It will continue forever.
(c) What does the poet mean by ‘a bower quiet for us’?
Ans. A bower means a shady place for us to ponder and dream.
(d) Mention any two sources of joy which a thing of beauty provides to us.
Ans. A thing of beauty gives us a quiet bower to rest peacefully and blissful sleep full of pleasant dreams.

Q. 3. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Its loveliness increases, it will never
pass into nothingness; but will keep
a bower quiet for us, and a sleep
full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
(a) Whose loveliness will keep on increasing?
Ans. Value Points: A thing of beauty.
Detailed Answer: The loveliness of beautiful things will keep on increasing.
(b) Identify the phrase which says that ‘it’ is immortal.
Ans. Value Points: Pass into nothingness.
Detailed Answer: The phrase – “it will never pass into nothingness” says that ‘it’ is immortal.
(c) What is a ‘bower’?
Ans. Value Points: A pleasant shady place under a tree / a place that offers protection.
Detailed Answer: A bower is a shady place under a tree to ponder and dream and also offers protection.
(d) Why do we need sweet dreams, health and quiet breathing in our lives?
Ans. Value Points: To bear the problems of life / remove the gloom / uplift the mood / remove the sufferings / refresh ourselves.
Detailed Answer: We need them in order to realize and bear the problems in life.

Q. 4. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
 “Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing a flowery band to bind us to the earth,
spite of despondence of the inhuman dearth of noble natures, of the gloomy days.
Of all the unhealthy and over-darkened ways. Made for our searching.”
(a) What for do we wreathe a garland of flowers every morning?
OR
What are we doing every day?
Ans. We weave a garland of flowers every morning to bind us to the beauties of the earth.
(b) What makes human beings live life in spite of all sufferings?
Ans. Objects of beauty, some noble deed and some powerful narratives remove our tension and sadness.
(c) What are the things that cause pain and the suffering?
OR
What are the circumstances that contribute towards making humans unhappy and disillusioned with life?
Ans. The ingratitude and wickedness of man, the misfortunes and the diseases cause us mental and physical suffering.
(d) Explain: Over-darkened ways made for our searching.
Ans. It refers to sorrow, grief and physical pain which are there to test a man’s stamina.

Q. 5. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
In spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
of all the unhealthy and o’er-darkened ways made for our searching : “yes, in spite of all, some shape of beauty moves away the pall from our dark spirits.”
(a) Name the poem.
Ans. A Thing of Beauty.
(b) Give one cause of human suffering.
Ans. Lack of noble natures.
(c) What moves away the pall from our lives?
Ans. A thing of beauty moves away the pall from our lives.
(d) What does the word, ‘gloomy’ mean?
Ans. The word ‘gloomy’ means sad.
OR
(a) Name the poem and the poet.
Ans. The name of the poem is ‘A Thing of Beauty’ and its poet is John Keats.
(b) Why are we ‘despondent’?
Ans. We are despondent because of our unhealthy desires and our lack of nobility in human beings.
(c) What removes ‘the pall from our dark spirits’?
Ans. Value Points: Any shape of beauty / a thing of beauty / any manifestation of beauty.
Detailed Answer: The objects of beauty remove the pall from our dark spirits.
(d) Explain the ‘inhuman dearth of noble natures’.
Ans. The poet here means that the world lacks men of noble nature of qualities.

Q. 6. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
“Yes inspite of all,
some shape of beauty moves away the pall
from our dark spirits, such the Sun, the Moon, Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon.
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
with the green world they live in; and clear rills. That for themselves a cooling covert make
‘Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake. Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms.”
(a) Explain ‘some shape of beauty’.
Ans. Beauty is an abstract idea and has no specific shape.
(b) What do the above lines tell us about the conviction of the poet?
Ans. Keats looks to the brighter side of every situation.
(c) What are the objects or things that dispel the darkness from our spirit and cheer us up
Ans. The objects of beauty cheer up our spirit.
(d) Why are our spirits referred as ‘dark’?
Ans. Our spirits are dejected due to extreme sadness and disappointment.

Q. 7. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read;
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink.
(a) Name the poem. 
Ans. ‘A Thing of Beauty’
(b) Who are the ‘mighty dead’ referred to here?
Ans. The ‘mighty dead’ are the great people, warriors and heroes.
(c) What is the endless fountain of immortal drink?
Ans. The endless fountain is the joy that we experience from beautiful things.
(d) What does the word, ‘brink’ mean?
Ans. The word ‘Brink’ means edge.
OR
(a) Name the poem and the poet.
Ans. ‘A Thing of Beauty’ by John Keats.
(b) Who are the ‘mighty dead’?
Ans. Those martyrs who have died bravely for a cause.
(c) Why is ‘grandeur’ associated with the ‘mighty dead’?
Ans. They will always be remembered for their noble and splendid deeds and creations.
(d) Identify and explain the poetic device used in the last two lines.
Ans. Metaphor:
- Endless fountain is indirectly compared to love
Hyperbole:
It is an exaggerated statement.
An endless fountain of immortal drink........... Heaven’s brink.