Answer Key

I. Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

1. 1. c
2. 2. b
3. 3. b
4. 4. b
5. 5. b
6. 6. c
7. 7. c
8. 8. c
9. 9. b
10. 10. b
11. 11. c
12. 12. c
13. 13. a
14. 14. c
15. 15. c

II. Fill in the Blanks

1. 16. shot
2. 17. crying
3. 18. coarse
4. 19. Morse
5. 20. feathers
6. 21. toddling
7. 22. necked
8. 23. Hume’s

III. Match the Following

1. 24. c
2. 25. a
3. 26. b
4. 27. e
5. 28. f
6. 29. d
7. 30. g
8. 31. h

IV. Complete the Lines of the Poem

1. 32. horizon
2. 33. dirty linen
3. 34. disgraceful
4. 35. toddling
5. 36. Morse code
6. 37. legends

V. Answer in One Sentence

1. 38. The male crane was stretching its neck as if to pull the sun out from the horizon.
2. 39. The male crane’s body was picked up callously by “hands and jaws,” implying the hunters.
3. 40. After the killers left, the female crane kissed a few feathers and picked up those not taken by the wind.
4. 41. The sun is described as ‘reluctant’ because the male crane’s action of stretching its neck suggests an impatience for the sun to rise, making it seem as if the sun itself was hesitant.
5. 42. “A proud neck was humbled” means the once majestic and dignified male crane was reduced to an undignified state after being shot, lying lifeless.
6. 43. The “Morse code of bird’s sorrow” refers to the female crane’s short and long cries (dots and pits) expressing her intense grief and sorrow, which she transmitted into the air.
7. 44. The “wave of the seas” symbolizes death or the overwhelming force that ultimately carried the female crane away to join her deceased mate.
8. 45. By saying her love went “beyond Hume’s words,” the poet suggests that the female crane’s devotion and grief were far deeper and more profound than any documented or theorized human or animal expressions of love.

VI. Answer in Two-Three Sentences

1. 46. The callousness of the bird-killers is shown by their act of shooting the male crane when it was engaged in a serene morning ritual. Their further disrespect is highlighted by how they “picked him up hands and jaws” and let his “proud neck was humbled / to lie like dirty linen in a coarse washing bag.” This shows a lack of empathy and a crude approach towards a majestic creature.
2. 47. As the male crane was picked up, the female crane immediately reacted by flying around him, crying. She then “circled the sky in movements of grace,” showing her profound grief but also retaining her inherent elegance, even “over his disgraceful end.” Her circling was a mournful farewell.
3. 48. The female crane trying to ‘hatch the blood-stained feathers into a toddling chick’ signifies her overwhelming grief, intense love, and desperate, irrational attempt to bring her mate back to life. It highlights the depth of her sorrow and her inability to accept his death, clinging to any remnant of him with a futile hope.
4. 49. The figure of speech used in “to pull the reluctant sun out from the rim of horizon” is **Personification**. The sun is given human-like qualities of being “reluctant” or unwilling to rise, and the crane is depicted as actively “pulling” it out. This enhances the poem’s meaning by portraying the crane’s natural morning ritual as a powerful, almost mythical act, making its subsequent death even more tragic and disrespectful.
5. 50. The poem brings out the intensity of the female crane’s grief in several ways. She flew “crying” immediately after the shooting. She circled the sky “in movements of grace / over his disgraceful end,” indicating profound sorrow despite her dignity. Most powerfully, her grief “inscribed its intensity / in dots and pits / like the Morse code of bird’s sorrow,” showing a deep, almost coded expression of pain that transcends simple cries.

VII. Answer in Four-Five Sentences

1. 51. The poet uses vivid imagery to depict the tragic end of the male sarus crane. He describes the male “neck[ing] to pull the reluctant sun out,” creating an image of a majestic creature engaged in a beautiful morning ritual. This peace is shattered when “he was shot.” The indignity of his death is emphasized by “picked up hands and jaws,” showing the hunters’ roughness, and how his “proud neck was humbled / to lie like dirty linen in a coarse washing bag,” reducing a noble bird to a mere object of discard. This stark contrast highlights the brutality of the act.
2. 52. The poem powerfully portrays the depth of the female crane’s love and grief. Immediately upon her mate’s death, she “flew crying” and “circled the sky in movements of grace over his disgraceful end,” demonstrating her profound sorrow. Her attempt to “hatch the blood stained feathers into a toddling chick” is a poignant image of desperate, futile love, showing her inability to accept his loss. Ultimately, her love transcends even “Hume’s words” and “legends and fables of human love,” culminating in her own death (“A wave of the seas… carried her to him”), indicating a bond so deep it led to her pining away.
3. 53. Two significant figures of speech used are **Personification** and **Simile**. * **Personification**: In “to pull the reluctant sun out from the rim of horizon,” the sun is personified as being “reluctant,” implying it’s unwilling to rise. This elevates the crane’s action, making its morning ritual seem like a grand, vital task, thus intensifying the tragedy of its sudden demise. * **Simile**: The line “and a proud neck was humbled / to lie like dirty linen in a coarse washing bag” uses a simile. The majestic crane’s neck is compared to “dirty linen,” which evokes an image of something discarded, disrespected, and unclean. This comparison effectively conveys the degradation and indignity inflicted upon the once proud bird by its killers, adding to the poem’s emotional impact.

VIII. Grammar Exercises

A) Identify the figure of speech in the following lines:

1. 54. Simile (comparison using ‘like’)
2. 55. Simile (comparison using ‘like’)
3. 56. Personification (sun given human quality of ‘reluctant’)
4. 57. Metaphor (death is implicitly compared to ‘a wave of the seas’)

B) Rewrite the following sentences in the passive voice:

1. 58. The male was shot.
2. 59. He was picked up by hands and jaws.

C) Use the given words in sentences of your own:

1. 60. Humbled: The rich man was **humbled** by his sudden loss of wealth.
2. 61. Disgraceful: Cheating in an exam is a **disgraceful** act.
3. 62. Intensity: The **intensity** of her pain was visible in her eyes.