Asleep in The Valley- Most Important Questions & Answers(WBCHSE)

                    (Poem)

               Chapter:- 02

    ASLEEP IN THE VALLEY 

 * Short name of the poet:- Arthur Rimbaud.

 * Complete name of the poet:- Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud.

 * Source:- This poem was the translation of the French poem "Le Dormeur Le Val".

 * Nature of the poem:- Free verse and a perfect lyric.

 * Types of the poem:- Italian sonnet or Petrarchan sonnet. In the first stanza, 08 lines contain, which is called 'Octave' and second stanza, which contain 06 lines, which is called 'Sestet'.

 * Introduction of the soldier:- A soldier in the Dutch Colonial army in 1876, was killed, when the French were at war with Russia.

 * Introduction of the poet:- The poet was called the 'Boy Poet' because he wrote all his poems between the age of 16 and 20 years old.      

                                              

A. Very short type of questions.

01. Q:- What is the real name of the poet of the poem "Asleep In The Valley"?

Ans:- The real name of the poet is Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud.

02. Q:- Who is called the "Boy Poet"? and why?

Ans:- The poet, Arthur Rimbaud is called the "Boy Poet", because he wrote his best poetry between the age of 16 and 20.

03. Q:- Who dies on the battlefield and when?

Ans:- A young soldier of the Dutch colonial army died on the battlefield during the European war.

04. Q:- How was the young soldier lying?

Ans:- The young soldier lying stretched open mouth with his one hand on his breast and smiling face like an infant.

05. Q:- How did the young soldier die?

Ans:- The young soldier was killed by two bullets on the battlefield.

06. Q:- Why does the poet describe a pillow made of fern?

Ans:- The poet Arthur Rimbaud says about a pillow, which is made of fern to reveal the tragedy of the young soldier's life.

07. Q:- What do the expression 'two red holes' indicate?

Ans:- The expression 'two red holes' indicates that the soldier was killed by two bullets.

08. Q:- What message does the poem "Asleep In The Valley" convey?

Ans:- The poem "Asleep In The Valley" conveys the messages about the futility of war and pity of war, because war always brings death and destruction forever leaving.

09. Q:- In what background is the poem written?

Ans:- The poem is written in the background of the European war of 1870.

10. Q:- What is the brutality of war expressed in the poem?

Ans:- The brutality of war is expressed by describing two bullets wounds in the soldier's body.

11.Q:- On which bed does the soldier lie?

Ans:- The soldier lies on the warm sun-soaked bed among the bushes.

12. Q:- What else is there in the valley other than the soldier's dead body?

Ans:- In the valley there are grass, flowers, bushes, a small river and humming insects.

B. Shot type of lining questions.

01. "Ah, Nature, keep him warm; he may catch a cold."

Q.(a):- What does the poet ask nature to do?

Ans:- The poet, Arthur Rimbaud asks nature to keep the soldier's body warm, because he may catch a cold.

Q.(b):- Why did the poet say the above line?

Ans:- The poet Arthur Rimbaud said the above line to mock(comment) at nature futility to revive the dead soldier. 

02. "He sleeps in sunlight, one hand on his breast, at peace."

Q:- Why does the soldier lie in peace?

Ans:- The soldier lies in peace, as he has no more tension of the war zone because he has been killed by two bullets.

03. "His smile like an infant's."

Q.(a):- Whose smile compared to the smile of an infant's?

Ans:- The smile of a young soldier is compared to the innocent smile of a baby child.

Q.(b):- Which figure of speech is used here?

Ans:- There is an example of a 'smile' in the poem "Asleep In The Valley".

04. "The humming insects don't disturb his rest."

Q:- Why do the insects hum?

Ans:- The humming sound is produced, because of the vibration of the wings of the flying insects.

05. "In his side there are two red holes."

Q:- What do two red holes refer to?

Ans:- Two red holes refer to two bullets marks in the soldier's body.

C. Essay type of questions.

01. Q:- How does this picture of the soldier describe the tragedy of war? Explain.

Ans:- The poet, Arthur Rimbaud as a soldier had experienced the horrors of the war. In this poem, the poet expresses his sympathy for the young soldier, who has been killed in the war and now the young soldier remains lie in the green valley and there is no one to disturb him. The poet draws the picture of war victims in the background of nature perfectly and at end of the poem, the poet sees two bullets marks on the side of his body, the poet tries to describe the tragedy of war. The soldier lies open mouth with an innocent smile, on the warm bed of green grass by keeping his one hand on his breast.

02. Q:- Look at the word "Asleep" what do we normally associate with the word? When does the reader recognize that the soldier is sleeping in a different sense?

Ans:- Normally we use the word "Asleep" to mean the sleeping condition of a living being. It seems to the poet that a young soldier, who enjoys deep sleep in a green valley by keeping his mouth open with a gentle and innocent smile on his face and his one hand on his chest. But in the last three lines, it is said that the rest of the sleeping soldier is not vexed(disturb) by the humming insect. The young soldier sleeps in the peaceful atmosphere of nature by keeping his head on the pillow of the fern plants, but it seems that there are two red holes at his side. This position emotionally points out that this sleep of the soldier is the death sleep. The soldier is in his eternal sleep with two bullets injuries at the side of the body.

D. Questions of ABTA. 

01. Q:- Give the significant of the title of the poem "Asleep In The Valley".

Ans:- The title of the poem "Asleep In The Valley" by Arthur Rimbaud is significant as it almost directly holds a mirror to the theme of the poem. The poem is about a young soldier, who lies asleep in a green valley lighted with rays of the rising sun. The soldier is seemed to enjoy deep sleep with an open mouth and a smiling face in the lap of beautiful nature. A river flows slowly in the valley and its sandy banks look like the belt of silver under the sun's rays. The soldier is enjoying deep sleep by keeping his head on the pillow of fern plants and one hand on his chest on the warm sun-soaked bed of green grass. The soldier having sustained two bullets injuries lies dead peacefully in the valley. So, the word "Asleep" in the title hints at the tragic death of the soldier. 

             Thus the description of a beautiful valley with a dead soldier asleep in it well justifies its title.

02. Q:- What attitude of the poet to war is revealed in this poem "Asleep In The Valley"?

Ans:- Arthur Rimbaud himself was a soldier in the Dutch colonial army, he was an anti-war poet. He understood the futility of was. He believes that war brings death and destruction for human beings and war can never solve any problem for citizens as well as a nation. War is the Massa care of young soldiers in the poem "Asleep In The Valley". It seems to us that a young soldier, who enjoying deep sleep on the warm bed of green grass with an open mouth and innocent smile on his face by keeping his head on a ferny pillow and one hand on his chest peacefully, but the poet finally sees two red holes beside the soldier's body, which indicates that the young soldier was killed by two bullets in the battlefield. The merciless brutality of war easily snatched away the young life of the soldier. Destruction, horror and merciless killing of youths are results of war.

E. Essay type of lining question.

01. "A soldier, very young lies open-mouthed."

Q.(a):- Which soldier is referred to here?

Ans:-  A young soldier of Dutch colonial army, lies dead in green and lighted valleys with sunlight is referred.

Q.(b):- Why does the soldier lies open-mouthed?

Ans:- The young soldier is open-mouthed because he is killed by two bullets on the battlefield during the war. He was the victim of the merciless brutality of war.

02. "Ah, Nature, keep him warm; he may catch a cold."

Q.(a):- Who addresses nature and why?

Ans:- The poet Artur Rimbaud addresses nature and asks nature to keep the young soldier warm because the poet was captivated by the innocent and gentle smile of the soldier.

Q.(b):- What note of irony do you find reflected here?

Ans:- The poet Arthur Rimbaud makes an ironic remark here. He requests nature to keep the soldier's body warm, otherwise, he may catch a cold. The poet knows very well that after the death, the young soldier, has become cold forever and nothing in the world can make him warm now. The poet says so, perhaps to mock at the futility of nature to revive life to the dead soldier. This proves that death and destruction in war can not be revived by any powerful thing.

03. "His smile like an infant's, gentle, without guile."

Q.(a):- Explain the comparison implied here?

Ans:- The extract from Arthur Rimbaud's famous poem "Asleep In The Valley" expresses a comparison between the innocent smile of a young soldier and the smile of a baby child during sleeping. The poet makes this comparison to highlight pity and sympathy contained in the tragic west of young soldier's life and the brutality of the war.

Q.(b):- What is the inner significance of the comparison?

Ans:- The extract has the inner significance of the comparison. The artless smile and the guilelessness of the dead young soldier reveal the appearance of innocence and honesty on the face of the dead soldier and on the other hand, it also expresses the dishonesty and cruelty of politicians and warmongers. 

04. "They fill the hollow full of light."

Q:- Write in brief about the role of the sun in the poem "Asleep In The Valley".

Ans:- In Arthur Rimbaud's poem "Asleep In The Valley" the sun has played an ambivalent role. The sun is described here as showering its bright rays on the valley on the surface of the stream, on the sandy banks and the green grass and looked bright and silver due to sunlight. The bright rays of the sun also make the green grassy bed of the young soldier, warm to help the soldier sleep in peace and protect him from the shivering cold in the hilly region.

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