JKBOSE 10th Class English Solutions chapter – 9 Last Lesson of the Afternoon

This poem reflects the mental state of a teacher who finds his students unwilling to learn in spite of all his efforts. The teacher has come to the conclusion that he is engaged in a futile activity. When the learner is not willing to learn, there remains no point in forcing him to learn. So the teacher has lost all interest in his teaching. He is sitting in the class with sixty indifferent students in front of him. The only thing he can do is to wait for the last bell to go. The teacher compares himself to a hunter and his students to hounds. If the hounds are unwilling to hunt, what can the poor hunter do? Similarly, if the students are unwilling to hunt for knowledge, what can the poor teacher do ? He can simply wait for the last bell to go and run back home.

Last Lesson of the Afternoon Summary in English

यह कविता एक ऐसे अध्यापक की मनोस्थिति को व्यक्त करती है जो अपने सभी यत्नों के बावजूद अपने विद्यार्थियों को सीखने के लिए अनिच्छुक देखता है। अध्यापक इस निष्कर्ष पर पहुंचा है कि वह एक निरर्थक-से काम में लगा हुआ है। जब सीखने वाला सीखने की इच्छा न रखता हो, तो उसे सीखने के लिए मजबूर करने में कोई तुक नहीं रहती है। इसलिए अध्यापक अपने पढ़ाने के काम में सब रुचि खो बैठा है। वह कक्षा में अपने सामने साठ बेपरवाह विद्यार्थी लिए बैठा हुआ है। केवल एक काम जो वह कर सकता है, वह यह है कि अन्तिम घंटी के बजने की प्रतीक्षा करे । अध्यापक अपनी तुलना एक शिकारी से और अपने विद्यार्थियों की तुलना शिकारी कुत्तों से करता है। यदि शिकारी कुत्ते शिकार करने को अनिच्छुक हों, तो बेचारा शिकारी क्या कर सकता है ? इसी तरह यदि विद्यार्थी ज्ञान की खोज में न लगना चाहते हों तो बेचारा अध्यापक क्या कर सकता है ? वह केवल अन्तिम घण्टी के बजने की और घर वापस भागने की प्रतीक्षा कर सकता है।

When will the bell ring, and end this weariness?

How long have they tugged the leash, and strained apart

My pack of unruly hounds! I cannot start

Them again on a quarry of knowledge they hate to hunt,

I can haul them and urge them no more.

Word-meanings: 1 weariness — थकान; 2. tugged— कस कर खींचना; 3. leash — पट्टा; 4. strained apart — ज़ोर से खींच कर तोड़ना; 5. unruly– बेकाबू 6. hounds — शिकारी कुत्ते; 7. quarry – शिकार किया जाने वाला पशु; 8. haul — बहुत मेहनत या कठिनाई से किसी चीज़ को खींचना।

Explanation: A teacher is sitting in front of his students in the class. He is feeling very weary. He is anxiously waiting for the bell to ring. The teacher compares himself to a hunter and his students to the hounds. The hounds have been tugging the leash for a long time and trying to break free. The teacher calls his students a pack of unruly hounds. He finds it impossible to set them on a quarry because they hate to hunt. The word quarry’ has here a double meaning. It means an animal that is being hunted. It also means a place from where large amounts of marble, etc. can be dug out. The teacher means to say that his students hate to hunt in the quarry of knowledge in the same way as some unruly hounds might refuse to hunt an animal, The teacher says that he can no longer force or coax them.

एक अध्यापक कक्षा में अपने विद्यार्थियों के सामने बैठा हुआ है। वह बहुत थकान महसूस कर रहा है। वह घण्टी के बजने की बेसब्री से प्रतीक्षा कर रहा है। अध्यापक अपनी तुलना एक शिकारी से तथा अपने विद्यार्थियों की तुलना शिकारी कुत्तों से करता है। शिकारी कुत्ते बहुत समय से अपने पट्टे को खींच रहे हैं और इसे तोड़कर मुक्त होने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं। अध्यापक अपने विद्यार्थियों को अनियन्त्रित शिकारी कुत्तों की संज्ञा देता है। उसके लिए उन्हें एक शिकार (quarry) के पीछे छोड़ना असम्भव प्रतीत होता है क्योंकि उन्हें शिकार करने से घृणा है। यहां ‘quarry’ शब्द को दोहरे अर्थों में इस्तेमाल किया गया है। इसका अर्थ एक ऐसा जानवर होता है जिसका शिकार किया जा रहा हो । इसका अर्थ एक ऐसी जगह भी होता है जहां से संगमरमर, आदि जैसी चीजें भारी मात्रा में खोदी जा सकें। अध्यापक के कहने का भाव यह है कि उसके विद्यार्थी ज्ञानरूपी खदान में टटोलने से वैसे ही घृणा करते हैं जैसे कुछ बेकाबू शिकारी कुत्ते किसी जानवर का शिकार करने से इन्कार कर दें। अध्यापक कहता है कि अब वह उन्हें और अधिक बाध्य करने या फुसलाने का काम नहीं कर सकता।

No longer now can I endure the brunt

Of the books that lie out on the desks; a full threescore

Of slovenly work that they have offered me.

I am sick, and what on earth is the good of it all?

What good of them or me, I cannot see.

Word-meanings : 1. endure — सहन करना; 2. brunt — झटका, धक्का; 3. threescore—तीन कोड़ी अर्थात् साठ; 4. slovenly—गन्दा, भद्दा; 5. work – होमवर्क; 6. offered — दिखाया, दिया; 7. sickतंग आना; 8. what on earth — भला क्या !

Explanation: The teacher sees books opened out on the desks in front of him. He knows that the students have no interest in them. So the sight of these books gives him an irritation. He says that he can no longer bear their brunt. He also sees before him sixty homework notebooks. He has been given these to check and correct. The students have done their homework in a very dirty and untidy manner. The teacher is sick of all this. He finds no good in what he is doing. It has no good for him or for the students. The teacher fails to understand what good there could be in their futile teaching and learning.

अध्यापक अपने सामने डेस्कों पर किताबें खुली पड़ी हुई देखता है। वह जानता है कि विद्यार्थियों को उनमें कोई रुचि नहीं है। इसलिए इन पुस्तकों को देखने से उसमें क्रोध पैदा होता है। वह कहता है कि अब वह उनके झटके को और ज़्यादा सहन नहीं कर सकता। वह अपने सामने होमवर्क की साठ कापियां भी देखता है। ये उसे जांचने और ठीक करने को दी गई हैं। विद्यार्थियों ने अपना होमवर्क बहुत गन्दे और भद्दे ढंग से किया हुआ है। अध्यापक इस सबसे तंग आ चुका है। जो काम वह कर रहा है, उसे उसमें कुछ अच्छा प्रतीत नहीं हो रहा है। इससे उसे या उसके विद्यार्थियों को कोई लाभ नहीं है। अध्यापक को समझ नहीं आता कि इस बेकार के पढ़ाने या सीखने का क्या लाभ हो सकता था ।

So shall I take

My last dear fuel of life to heap on my soul

And kindle my will to a flame that shall consume

Their dross of indifference, and take the toll

Of their insults in punishments ? – I will not –

I will not waste my soul and my strength for this

What do I care for all that they do amiss ?

Word-meanings : 1. fuel — शक्ति और ऊर्जा; 2. kindle — प्रज्वलित करना; 3. dross—धातुमल, कूड़ा  करकट; 4. indifference— लापरवाही; 5. toll—मार्ग कर, राहदारी; 6. take the toll of their insults in punishments — उनके अपमानों की राहदारी को दण्ड के रूप में वसूल करना ; 7. amiss ग़लत ।

Explanation: In these lines, the poet expresses the firm decision that he has taken. He says that he will no longer waste the fuel (i.e. energy) of his life which he values so much. He will use this fuel to kindle a flame in his soul. This flame will consume or burn down all the dross of indifference he has received from his students. On the road of his life, he will no longer give passage to their insults and receive the toll in the form of punishments. In other words, he will no longer bear their insults and give them punishments in return. The poet expresses a firm resolve that he will bear all this no longer. He will no longer waste his soul and strength for this futile exercise. Now he doesn’t care a fig for all the wrong things that they do.

इन पंक्तियों में कवि उस दृढ़ निर्णय को व्यक्त करता है जो उसने ले लिया है। वह कहता है कि वह अब अपने जीवन की ऊर्जा या शक्ति को और अधिक नष्ट नहीं करेगा जिसे वह बहुत महत्त्व देता है । वह उस ऊर्जा का इस्तेमाल अपनी आत्मा में एक ज्वाला को प्रज्वलित करने में लगाएगा। यह ज्वाला खा जाएगी या जलाकर समाप्त कर देगी, बेरुखी के उस पूरे कूड़ा-करकट को जो उसे अपने विद्यार्थियों से प्राप्त हुआ है। अपने जीवन-रूपी सड़क के ऊपर से वह अब उनके अपमानों को नहीं गुजरने देगा और न ही दण्ड के रूप में उनसे राहदारी वसूल करेगा। अन्य शब्दों में, वह अब के बाद उनके अपमान सहन नहीं करेगा और बदले में उन्हें दण्ड नहीं देगा । कवि दृढ़ निश्चय व्यक्त करता है कि वह इस सबको और अधिक सहन नहीं करेगा। वह अपनी आत्मा और अपनी शक्ति को इस बेकार की क्रिया में व्यर्थ नहीं गंवाएगा। अब वह उन सब गलत कामों की तनिक भी परवाह नहीं करता है जो वे करते हैं ।

What is the point of their teaching of mine, and of this

Learning of theirs ? It all goes down the same abyss.

What does it matter to me, if they can write

A description of a dog, or if they can’t ?

What is the point ? To us both, it is all my aunt !

And yet I’m supposed to care, with all my might.

I do not, and will not, they won’t and they don’t and that’s all !

I shall keep my strength for myself; they can keep theirs as well

Why should we beat our heads against the wall

Of each other ? I shall sit and wait for the bell.

Word-meanings: 1 point — अर्थ, प्रभाव, उद्देश्य; 2. abyss – अथाह गड्ढा ।

Explanation: The teacher finds that his students have no interest at all learning. So he sees mo no point in his teaching or in their learning. It is all a waste of time and energy for both of them. All such teaching and learning is going into a bottomless pit. So the teacher has taken a decision. He has stopped worrying Now he doesn’t care whether the students can write a few lines on a topic (e.g. a dog) or not. In fact it doesn’t matter both to the teacher and the students also. And yet the teacher is supposed to give his best care to the students. But how can one take care of someone who doesn’t want to be cared for ?

So the teacher has taken his final decision. He doesn’t want to teach such students and will not teach them. The students don’t want to learn and will not learn. This is all very clear. So the teacher decides to keep his strength for himself He will use it the way he likes to. The students can keep their strength to themselves. They can use it the way they like to. There is no need for the teacher or the students to beat their heads against the wall of each other. Having made this decision, the teacher sits down in the class and waits for the last bell to go.

i अध्यापक देखता है कि उसके विद्यार्थियों को सीखने में बिल्कुल कोई रुचि नहीं है। इसलिए उसे अपने पढ़ाने या उनके सीखने में कोई तुक दिखाई नहीं देती है। यह उन दोनों के लिए समय और शक्ति की पूरी बर्बादी है। इस तरह का सब पढ़ना और पढ़ाना एक अथाह गड्ढे में जा रहा है। इसलिए अध्यापक ने एक निर्णय ले लिया है। उसने चिन्ता करनी बन्द कर दी है। अब उसे इस बात की परवाह नहीं है कि विद्यार्थी किसी विषय (उदाहरण के रूप में एक कुत्ते) पर कुछ पंक्तियां लिख सकते हैं अथवा नहीं । वास्तव में इससे अध्यापक और विद्यार्थियों में से किसी को भी कोई अन्तर नहीं पड़ता है। और फिर भी अध्यापक से आशा की जाती है कि वह विद्यार्थियों पर अपना पूरा ध्यान लगाए । किन्तु ऐसे व्यक्ति का कोई कैसे ध्यान रख सकता है जो ध्यान रखवाना ही न चाहता हो ?

इसलिए अध्यापक ने अपना अन्तिम निर्णय ले लिया है । वह ऐसे विद्यार्थियों को पढ़ाना नहीं चाहता और न ही उन्हें पढ़ाएगा। विद्यार्थी सीखना नहीं चाहते और न ही सीखेंगे । यह सब बिल्कुल स्पष्ट है । इसलिए अध्यापक अपनी शक्ति अपने लिए संभाल कर रखना चाहता है। वह इसे उसी तरह इस्तेमाल करेगा जैसा वह चाहेगा । विद्यार्थी अपनी शक्ति अपने लिए संभाल कर रख सकते हैं। वे इसे जैसे वे चाहें, इस्तेमाल कर सकते हैं। अध्यापक या विद्यार्थियों में किसी को भी ज़रूरत नहीं है कि वे अपने सिर एक-दूसरे की दीवार के साथ पटकें । यह निर्णय करने के बाद अध्यापक कक्षा में बैठ जाता है और अन्तिम घण्टी के बजने की प्रतीक्षा करने लगता है ।

Ans. Here the tone is that of tiredness, boredom and weariness. The poet has been doing something which he thinks is all futile. He has been doing it for long and has become sick of it. This gives him a feeling of weariness.

Ans.The speaker is the poet himself. It is D.H. Lawrence.

Ans.The pupils are regarded as unruly hounds. These hounds don’t want to hunt in the quarry of knowledge. They keep tugging the leash, trying to break free. In other words, they are wild, rude and indisciplined. For all his efforts, the teacher has failed to compel or coax them to learn.

Ans. The words and phrases that convey the mood of the speaker are : (i) No longer now can I endure the brunt. (ii) I am sick.

Ans. By ‘fuel’, the speaker means his energy. He has realised that he has been wasting his energy so far on a fruitless exercise. Now he doesn’t want to do so any more. He wants to keep his energy for himself and use it the way he likes to. He doesn’t want to consume it uselessly the way he has been doing so far.

Ans. The poet has used here a figurative language. Toll is a kind of tax that has to be paid for using a road. The teacher here projects himself as a road on which the students ferried their insults. And for ferrying these insults, they had to pay the toll in the form of punishments. In simple words, the students used to insult the teacher and the teacher would punish them in return.

Ans. The teacher finds that the students have no interest in learning. So he loses interest in teaching also. Teaching becomes a futile exercise the learner is not willing to learn. Finding the students indifferent to learning, the teacher becomes indifferent to teaching also. This common indifference is clear from such lines as I do not, and will not; they won’t and they don’t and that’s all.’

Ans. The beginning of the poem shows the poet’s weariness. He is sick of doing something which he feels is all futile. There is a streak of agony also in his expression. But by the end of the poem, the poet is all calm and resolute. He has resolved not to waste his time and energy on a useless exercise. He has decided to keep it for himself and use it in his own way.

Ans. This poem records the honest feelings of a teacher about his job. A teacher is supposed to give his best to his students. But there is also another point to be considered. Teaching can never be a one-way affair. There can be no teaching if the learner is not willing to learn. You can take the horse to the pond, but you can’t make it drink. You can send a student to school, but you can’t make him learn. A student will learn if and only if he wants to learn. And what will the poor teacher do if the student is not willing to learn ? He will simply sit down and wait for the bell to go. And this is what the teacher in the poem decides to do. And he goes even a step further. He decides to keep his energy for himself and use it in his own way. He will give up the futile and thankless job of teaching and do something worthwhile.

When will the bell ring, and end this weariness?

How long have they tugged the leash, and strained apart

My pack of unruly hounds! I cannot start

Them again on a quarry of knowlege they hate to hunt,

I can haul them and urge them no more.

Ans. A metaphor is comparison between two unlike things. In stanza 1, the metaphor of hunting has been used to describe the job of a teacher. The teacher has been compared to hunter and the students have been compared to hounds. But here the hounds are unruly and refuse to follow the direction of the hunter. They tug at the leash and try to break free.

Ans. Here the poet uses the metaphor of toll to describe how the teacher deals with his unruly students. Toll is a kind of tax that has to be paid for using a particular road. The students come to the class with insults for the teacher. And the teacher, after receiving these insults, gives them punishment as a receipt of the toll he has received from them. The other metaphor used here has been taken from metallurgy. The teacher uses the fuel of his life to mould his students, but what he gets from the furnace is just the dross of indifference.

Ans. The speaker in the poem is a teacher. He has tried his best to teach his students. But the students have no interest in learning. They are very unruly. They even insult their teacher. They have done their homework in a very dirty and untidy manner. The teacher has become sick of all this. In spite of all his efforts, he finds his students unwilling to learn. He realizes that he is engaged in a futile activity. He sees no point in forcing his students to learn. That is why he has become so disheartened and passive. He has resolved not to waste his time and energy in teaching. And he is simply waiting for the last bell to go.

Ans. In this poem the poet has used the poetic device metaphor at many places. In stanza 1, the metaphor of hunting has been used to describe the job of a teacher. In stanza 3, the poet uses the metaphor of toll to describe how the teacher deals with his unruly students. The students come to the class with insults for the teacher. And the teacher, after receiving these insults, gives them punishment as a receipt of the toll he has received from them. The other metaphor used here has been taken from metallurgy. The teacher uses the fuel of his life to mould his students, but what he gets from the furnace is just the dross of indifference.

When will the bell ring, and end this weariness ?

How long have they tugged the leash, and strained apart

My pack of unruly hounds! I cannot start

Them again on a quarry of knowledge they hate to hunt,

I can haul them and urge them no more.

A	B
(a) tugged (b) hounds (c) weariness	(i) hunting dogs (ii) fatigue (iii) pulled

1. The speaker in these lines is a teacher.

2. Here the tone is that of tiredness, boredom and weariness.

3. his students hate to hunt in the quarry of knowledge.

4. (i) tugged = pulled (ii) hounds = hunting dogs (iii) weariness = fatigue.

5. The name of the poem is Last Lesson Of The Afternoon’ and the poet is D.H. Lawrence.

A teacher is feeling very (a) ……………….. . He is anxiously waiting for the (b) …………….. to ring. The teacher compares himself to a (c) …………… and his students to the hounds. The hounds have been tugging the (d) ……………… for a long time and trying to break free. The teacher finds it impossible to set them on a (e) ……………. because they hate to hunt. The teacher means to say that his (f) ………………. hate to hunt in the quarry of knowledge.

Expressions from the poem	To suggest that
(a) leash (b) tug (c) hound	(i) ………………… (ii) ……………….. (iii) ………………

(i) leather strap for holding

(ii) to pull

(iii) speak Softly

(iv) hunting dogs.

(v) amiss

1. (a) weary (b) bell (c) hunter (d) leash (e) quarry (f) students.

2. (a) leather strap for holding (b) to pull (c) hunting dogs.

3. In these lines, the metaphor of hunting has been used to describe the job of a teacher. The teacher has been compared to a hunter and the students have been compared to hounds. But here the hounds are unruly and refuse to follow the direction of the hunter. They tug at the leash and try to break free.

No longer now can I endure the brunt

Of the books that lie out on the desks; a full threescore

Of slovenly work that they have offered me.

I am sick, and what on earth is the good of it all?

What good of them or me, I cannot see!

Expressions used in the poem	To suggest that
(a) brunt (b) offered (c) slovenly (d) endure	(i) resented (ii) untidy (iii) bear (iv) shock

1. He see books opened out on the desks in front of him.

2. The sight of books irritates him

3. what he is doing

4. (a) brunt = shock (b) offered = presented (c) slovenly = untily (d) endure = bear.

5. The name of the poem is ‘Last Lesson Of The Afternoon’ and the poet is D.H. Lawrence.

The teacher sees (a) ………… opened out on the desks in front of him. He knows that the students have no (b) …………… in them. So the sight of these books gives him an irritation. He also sees before him (c).………… homework notebooks. He has been given these to (d) ………………….. and correct. The students have done their homework in a very (e) ……………….. manner. The teacher is (f) ……………… of all this. He finds no good in what he is doing.

(a ) books (b) interest (c) sixty (d) check (e) untidy / dirty (f) sick.

So shall I take

My last dear fuel of life to heap on my soul

And kindle my will to a flame that shall consume

Their dross of indifference, and take the toll

Of their insults in punishments ? – I will not –

I will not waste my soul and my strength for this

What do I care for all that they do amiss ?

The teacher says that he will no longer waste his (a) …………………. . He will use this fuel to kindle a flame in his soul. This flame will (b) ………………… all the dross of indifference he has received from his students. He will no longer give passage to their (c) ………………  and receive the toll in the form of (d) ……………………. . The (e) ………………….. expresses a firm resolve that he will no longer waste his soul and (f) ………………… for this futile exercise of teaching unwilling students.

I. (a) fuel / energy (b) consume (c) insults (d) punishments (e) teacher (f) strength.

II. Refer to Q. 11 under Textual Questions.

What is the point of their teaching of mine, and of this

Learning of theirs? It all goes down the same abyss.

What does it matter to me, if they can write

A description of a dog, or if they can’t ?

What is the point? To us both, it is all my aunt !

And yet I’m supposed to care, with all my might.

I do not, and will not, they won’t and they don’t and that’s all !

A	B
(a) abyss (b) matter (c) description (d) might	(i) to be important (ii) strength (iii) a bottomless hole (iv) account.

1. Here the speaker is a teacher.

2. He is a sad and weary mood.

3. The teacher finds that the students have no interest in learning. So he loses his interest in teaching also. This is the reason that he feels that his teaching and the pupils’ learning are both purposeless.

4. if his students can write a description of a dog or not.

5. (a) abyss = a bottomless hole (b) matter = to be important (c) description = account (d) might = strength.

And yet I’m supposed to care, with all my might.

I do not, and will not, they won’t and they don’t and that’s all !

I shall keep my strength for myself; they can keep theirs as well

Why should we beat our heads against the wall

Of each other? I shall sit and wait for the bell.

A	B
(a) might (b) beat heads against the wall (c) supposed	(i) expected (ii) strength (iii) make useless efforts