JKBOSE 9th Class English Solutions chapter – 9 TO BLOSSOMS

In this poem, the poet addresses the lovely blossoms of a tree. He is filled with grief to see how soon the blossoms of the tree fall and fade away. “Were you born to be an hour or half’s delight ?” the poet asks in surprise. He wonders why Nature brought forth such lovely blossoms if they were to fade away so soon. But then he sees a deeper meaning in the fate of the blossoms.

He sees them as a symbol of universal

transience. Nothing in this world lives for ever. All things are short-lived. Even human beings have a short life to live on this earth. Therefore, pride is but a folly. The poet compares the blossoms to the leaves of a book in which one can read the common fate of all things. All things, however big and beautiful, are fated to die in the end. They don’t have a long time to stay on this earth. Thus man should learn a lesson from the fate of blossoms that he, too, like the blossoms will live awhile and then ‘glide into the grave’.

इस कविता में कवि एक पेड़ की सुन्दर कलियों को सम्बोधित करता है। उसे यह देखकर बहुत दुःख होता है कि यह कलियां कितनी जल्दी गिर जाती हैं और मुरझा जाती हैं। “क्या तुम्हारा जन्म केवल एक-आध घण्टे की खुशी के लिए ही हुआ था ?” कवि हैरान हो कर पूछता है । वह चकित हुआ सोचता है कि प्रकृति ने इतनी सुन्दर कलियों को जन्म ही क्यों दिया था यदि उन्हें इतनी जल्दी मुरझा जाना था। किन्तु फिर से उसे कलियों के भाग्य में एक गहरा अर्थ दिखाई देता है । वह उन्हें सर्वव्यापक क्षणभंगुरता के एक प्रतीक चिन्ह के रूप में देखता है। इस संसार में कोई भी चीज़ स्थायी रूप से नहीं रहती है। सभी चीज़ें अल्पकालीन होती है । इस धरती पर मानव-जीवों को भी बहुत थोड़ी देर रहना होता है। इसलिए गर्व करना मात्र एक मूर्खता ही होती हैं । कवि कलियों की तुलना एक पुस्तक के पन्नों के साथ करता है जिनमें व्यक्ति सभी चीज़ों के सांझे भाग्य के बारे में पढ़ कर जान सकता है। सभी चीज़ें, यद्यपि वे कितनी भी बड़ी या सुन्दर क्यों न हों, अन्त में उनके भाग्य में मरना ही लिखा होता है । इस धरती पर उन्हें ज़्यादा देर ठहरना नहीं होता है। इसलिए मनुष्य को कलियों के भाग्य से एक पाठ सीखना चाहिए कि वह भी कलियों की भांति थोड़ी देर जीवित रहेगा और फिर ‘कब्र में चला जाएगा’।

The poet sees in blossoms the fate of all living things. All things have a very short time to stay on this earth, and then they glide into the grave. In short, transience of all life is the central idea of this poem.

EXTRACT-1

                                                              Fair pledges of a fruitful tree,

                                                              Why do ye fall so fast ?

                                                              Your date is not so past,

                                                              But you may stay yet here awhile

                                                              To blush and gently smile;

                                                              And go at last.

Explanation : The poet sees the lovely blossoms of a tree. He calls them the ‘fair pledges of a fruitful tree’. He sees that the blossoms are falling fast. It fills the poet with grief. He asks the blossoms why they are falling so fast. He says that the allotted days of their life haven’t yet passed. So they needn’t hurry away so fast. He says that they have yet time to stay here for a while. They have yet time to bloom and smile. And when they have lived their full life, they can go away at last. The poet here seems to be conscious of the fact that flowers bloom but to fade away, but he doesn’t want them to fall so soon. He wants them to blush and smile before they UPON die. Death is to come when it will come, but before that life must be lived to the full. That is what the poet seems to suggest here.

1. Name the poem from which these lines have been taken. Name the poet also.

2. What are the ‘fair pledges’ that the poet refers to ? Why does he call them ‘fair pledges’ ?

3. What happens to the ‘fair pledges’ ?

4. What does the poet want the ‘fair pledges’ to do and why ?

5. What is it that disturbs the poet ?

6. Explain the last line: ‘And go at last’.

1. These lines have been taken from the poem, “To Blossoms’, written by Robert Herrick.

2. The fair pledges’ are the lovely blossoms of a tree. The word ‘pledges’ here means ‘children’ who are promises (indications) of hope for the parents. The blossoms on a tree are indications of a rich crop of fruit. That is why they have been called ‘fair pledges of a fruitful tree’.

3. The fair pledges’, i.e. the lovely blossoms fall and fade away too soon.

4. The poet says that the allotted days of the fair pledges’ are not over yet. So he wants the fair pledges’ to stay awhile and to blush and smile.

5. It disturbs the poet to see how soon the lovely blossoms of a tree fall and fade away.

6. The poet is conscious of the fact that the lovely blossoms of a tree are to go at last. But he doesn’t want them to go so soon and so fast. He wants them to stay here awhile and to blush and smile. No doubt, they are to go at last, but before going away, they must blush and smile to the full.

                                                                 What! were ye born to be

                                                                 An hour or half’s delight,

                                                                 And so to bid good night ?

                                                                 ‘Twas pity Nature brought ye forth

                                                                 Merely to show your worth

                                                                 And lost you quite.

Explanation : The poet is filled with shock and surprise to see how soon the blossoms of a tree fall and fade away. He wonders if the blossoms were born merely for an hour or half’s delight and then to go away for ever. He calls it a pity that Nature brought them forth merely to show their beauty for a while and then lose them for ever. Here the poet expresses his grief that such lovely things as blossoms have so short a life to live.

(A) (i) Who are these lines addressed to?

(ii) What is it that fills the poet with grief?

(iii) What does he call a pity ?

(B) Choose the most appropriate options:

(i) The word ‘ye’ here means ……….  .

(a) lovely blossoms (b) a pretty tree (c) the nature (d) ‘you’.

(ii) The word ‘merely’ here is used as ………..  .

(a) an adverb (b) a conjunction (c) an exclamation (d) an interjection.

(iii) What was it that brought forth the blossoms ?

(a) The tall tree. (b) The sky overhead. (c) The wind. (d) The Nature.

(C) How is the mood of the poet in this extract ?

(A) (i) These lines are addressed to the lovely blossoms of a tree.

(ii) The poet is filled with grief when the blossoms of a tree fall and fade away.

(iii) The poet calls it a pity that Nature brought forth the lovely blossoms merely to show their beauty for a short time before fading away for ever.

(B) (i) (d) ‘you’ (ii) (a) an adverb (iii) (d) The Nature.

(C) The poet’s mood in this extract is one of grief and dejection.

But you are lovely leaves, where we

May read how soon things have

Their end, though ne’er so brave ;

And after they have shown their pride

Like you awhile, they glide

Into the grave.

Explanation : Here the poet compares the lovely blossoms of a tree to the leaves of a book. He says that in these leaves, we can read how soon things have their end. The poet pays a tribute to the beauty of the blossoms by saying that no other thing can ever be as bright and colourful as the blossoms. But all things of beauty have the same fate. After they have shown their beauty for a while, they glide into the grave. Like the lovely blossoms of a tree, they fall and wither away for ever. Thus the poet brings out the transience of all life on this earth.

1. Who does the word ‘you’ in the first line refer to ?

2. What can we read in the lovely leaves’?

3. Explain the words: ‘though ne’er so brave’.

4. What happens to the beautiful things of the world ?

5. What is the underlying thought of these lines ?

6. What words in these lines suggest the shortness of life?

1. The word ‘you’ here refers to the lovely blossoms of a tree.

2. We can read in the lovely leaves’ that things in this world have a very short life.

3. The word ‘brave’ here means bright and colourful’. The poet means to say that no other thing of the world can ever be so beautiful and lovely as the blossoms of a tree are.

4. They show their beauty awhile and then glide into the grave.

5. The transience of all life is the underlying thought of these lines.

6. The words how soon things have their end’ suggest the shortness of life.

Ans.— The blossoms have been called ‘fair pledges’ of the fruitful tree because they are indications of a rich crop that the tree is going to have. They have the same relationship with the tree as the children have with a parent.

Ans.— The poet wishes that the blossoms should not fade away so fast. He says that their allotted days are not yet over. So they should stay here awhile so that they can blush and gently smile.

Ans.— The poet is conscious of the fact that the lovely blossoms of a tree fall and fade away. But he doesn’t want them to go so soon and so fast. He wants  them to stay here awhile and to blush and smile.

Ans.— Like blossoms, human beings also have a short life to stay on this earth. That is why the poet compares human life to blossoms.

Ans.— Chinar, cypress, poplar, chestnut and oak.

Ans.— According to the poet, it is a pity that Nature brought forth lovely blossoms merely to show their worth for a short while and then fade away for ever.

Ans.— Lovely blossoms have been personified in this poem. They have been shown to live and die like human beings.

Ans.— In blossoms, the poet sees the fate of all living things. All things have a very short time to stay on this earth. Then they glide into the grave. In short, universal transience is the theme of the poem.