NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Woven Words – Chapter 9 – The Peacock
Word meaningsunderstanding the poem : Solutions of Questions on Page Number : 108
Q1 :Notice these words in the poem and guess their meaning from the context
| turquoise | darts |
Answer :
Turquoise: A greenish-blue colour
Dart: To move suddenly and quickly in a particular direction
Q2 :Comment on the lines that make you visualise the colourful image of the peacock.
Answer : Below are listed the lines that create a vivid image of the peacock in the mind of a reader.
The poet, when calls the peacock, “a flash of turquoise”, the mind of the reader is filled with colourful image of the peacock.
The phrase “the slender neck” portrays the sleek figure of the peacock and the grace with which it poses.
“A blue shadow” again casts a wonderful image of peacock.
The poet talks about the beautiful eyes of the peacock, “Those dark glowing eyes violet fringed with golden amber”.
Q3 :What are the cues that signal the presence of the peacock in the vicinity?
Answer : There are many cues in the poem that signal the presence of the peacock in the vicinity.
In the beginning of the poem, the poet tells says that one can make out that there is a peacock around on hearing its loud sharp call, which seems to come from nowhere.
Then there is flash of turquoise in the peepal tree, which is another indication that a peacock is present.
The impression of its slender ached neck as he descends, and a glimpse of the very end of its tail as he swiftly darts away.
As one reads a book with great concentration out in the veranda, a blue shadow falls over. The wind then changes the direction, the steady hum of bees in the bushes nearby will stop, all suggesting the presence of the peacock.
Q4 :How does the connection drawn between the tail and the eyes add to the descriptive detail of the poem?
Answer : Sujata details the plumage of the peacock with finesse. The whole poem is a celebration of the beauty of the peacock. The vivid impressions on the feathers, the eyes of the peacock, are best seen when it fans its tail. The pattern actually resembles an eye, which she is appreciates immensely. The poet when tries to get a glimpse of the peacock, alert, it gathers its tail and eludes. Then the poet praises these eye impressions and calls that these violet fringed with golden amber, dark glowing eyes are always open, of course as they can not have eyelids. The poet calls them the ‘eyes of the peacock’. She describes them violet fringed with golden amber. The shaking of the feathers is compared to the blinking of eyes as the eyes on the feathers will not blink any other way but by the shaking of the feathers.
Q5 :How does the poem capture the elusive nature of the peacock?
Answer : The peacock, as the poet narrates, is not so easy to find. Its elusive nature makes one work really hard to get a glimpse of it. The poet says that she was told that one has to sit in the veranda and read a book, preferably a favourite one, with great concentration. The moment the person begins to live inside the book and forgets about the surroundings, the peacock descends casting a blue shadow over the person. The steady humming of the bees in the nearby bushes will stop, the cat will awaken and stretch. The attention will brake and then one has to look up in time else the peacock will disappear again somewhere for the it is evanescent. Even when one gets to see it once, the peacock runs out of sight quickly gathering its tail.
Q6 :The peacock is a colourful bird. How does the poem capture the various colours that its plumage displays?
Answer : An Asian bird, peacock is one of the most colourful known birds. Its plumage is a myriad of colours. Sujata Bhatt has detailed the tail of numerous colours with such finesse that it is not hard to visualise the blue and golden of the peacock. In the very beginning when she tells the reader of the presence of a peacock in the vicinity she talks of the turquoise flashed in the peepal tree, a vibrant reflection of the turquoise colour, which is most dominating in its feathers, forms an image in the reader’s mind. Even when the peacock makes a spectacle, the poet talks of its dark glowing eyes (in feathers), describing them “violet fringed with golden amber”. It creates a vivid imagery of a wide spread plumage of the peacock with all the vibrant colours reflecting the flamboyance.