Animals – Important Questions

In the poem Animals, poet Walt Whitman praises animals for being better than human beings and for possessing all such qualities that humans lack or have forgotten. Those qualities are calmness, the lack of greed and the ability to stay happy and contented among others.

Important Question and Answer

Q. Read the lines given below and answer the questions that follow:

I think I could turn and live with animals, they are
So placid and self-contain’d
I stand and look at them long and long.

1. Name the poet.
   1. Walt Whitman
   2. Carolyn Wells
   3. Leslie Norris
   4. Adrienne Rich
2. Who are placid, self-contained, calm and peaceful?
   1. trees
   2. human being
   3. animals
   4. birds
3. Find the word from the passage which means same as ‘Serene’.
   1. self-contained
   2. placid
   3. whine
   4. demented
4. Who looks at the animals for a long time?
   1. zoo keeper
   2. hunter
   3. the poet
   4. all of them
5. The poet wants to live with animals because of their _____________ nature.
   1. wild
   2. peaceful
   3. co-operative
   4. adjusting
6. The poet wishes to live with animals because they are _____________ .
   1. happy
   2. friendly
   3. contended
   4. mean
7. Animals are peaceful and _____________.
   1. satisfied
   2. placid
   3. intelligent
   4. harmless
8. Who seem to be self-contained?
   1. animals
   2. human-beings
   3. birds
   4. trees

Answer

1. Walt Whitman
2. animals
3. placid
4. the poet
5. co-operative
6. contended
7. placid
8. animals

Q. Read the lines given below and answer the questions that follow:

They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God.

1. Who does the pronoun ‘they’ stand for?
   1. human beings
   2. birds
   3. animals
   4. trees
2. Who weeps for their sins?
   1. human beings
   2. animals
   3. birds
   4. trees
3. They do not ____________ and whine about their condition.
   1. sweet
   2. sweat
   3. complain
   4. discuss
4. Who do not discuss their duty to God?
   1. trees
   2. birds
   3. human-beings
   4. animals

Answer

1. animals
2. human beings
3. sweat
4. animals

Q. Read the lines given below and answer the questions that follow:

They bring me tokens of myself, they evince
them plainly in their possession
I wondered where they get those tokens,
Did I pass that way huge times ago
and negligently drop them?

1. Who brings the poet tokens of himself?
   1. birds
   2. animals
   3. trees
   4. people
2. Who wonders how animals got those tokens?
   1. the poet
   2. an old man
   3. poetess
   4. trees
3. In the passage what is meant by the word ‘token’?
   1. morals
   2. virtues
   3. speciality
   4. consideration
4. Which word in the passage refers to ‘carelessly’?
   1. evince
   2. possession
   3. tokens
   4. negligently

Answer

1. animals
2. the poet
3. virtues
4. negligently

Q. Why does the poet want to ‘turn and live’ with animals?

Ans. Animals are satisfied and self-contained. They have better values than those of the humans. The poet finds animals more comfortable than humans.

Q. In the first line of the poem, ‘I think I could turn and live with the animals’, What is the poet turning from?

Ans. The poet Walt Whitman says that he can identify himself better with the animals, for their qualities of serenity and calm composure. So he intends turning towards them, away from his human companions.

Q. Do humans kneel to other humans who lived thousands of years ago?

Ans. Yes, many communities of humans follow the practice of worshipping saints and sages, who lived thousand of years, and led an exemplary life of high moral values and therefore reflect the image of ‘God Almighty’ and are worshipped by generations of humans.

Q. What are the ‘tokens’ that the poet says he may have dropped long ago and which the animals have kept for him?

Ans. Humans and animals have similar basic instincts. While civilization has changed the man, these basic instincts are preserved in the animals and they help the humans to reconnect to their true self; so man seeks comfort in the company of animals.