Chapter 2 -Song of Myself

Song of Myself

Check out the topics covered in Chapter before you start your preparation. Improve your grammar skills with the help of Bihar Board Class 12 English Poem 2 Song of Myself pdf links. The solutions for Bihar State Board Class 12 English Textbook are prepared by the English experts. So, if you follow Bihar Board Class 12 English Textbook Solutions you can cover all the topics in Poem 2 Song of Myself. This helps to improve your communication skills.

A. Work in small groups and discuss these questions

Question 1.
How will you express your feeling when you feel delighted?
Answer:
I laugh and sing.

Question 2.
Which type of song do you like to sing?
Answer:
I like to sing a song that appeals to my heart.

Very Short Type Questions and Answer

B. 1. 1. Read the following sentences and write ‘T’ for true and ‘F’ for false statements

(a) The poet enjoys himself and sings for the self.
(b) The speaker is different from others.
(c) The poet discards nature’s beauty.
(d) Every atom of blood is the same in all human beings.
(e) The poet is associated with a particular school of thought.
(f) The poet has overcome his greed.
Answer:
(a) T, (b) T, (c) F, (d) T, (e) T, (f) T.

B. 1.2. Answer the following questions briefly

Question 1.
Who is the speaker in this poem?
Answer:
Walt Whitman is the speaker of this poem.

Question 2.
How old is he?
Answer:
He is thirty-seven years old.

Question 3.
Why does the speaker use ‘you’ twice?
Answer.
The speaker uses ‘you’ twice to press on a similarity of blood in all human beings.

Question 4.
What is meant by ‘Nature without check with original energy’?
Answer:
Harbour and Hazard are meant by Nature without check with original energy.

Question 5.
What is the theme of the poem?
Answer:
The theme of the poem is a reflection of individualistic thought. It gives the message of the oneness of human beings.

Question 6.
How does the speaker establish a relation between ‘me’ and ‘you’?
Answer:
The speaker establishes the relation between ‘me’ and ‘you’. He says that our parents are the same and our blood is similar.

Question 7.
What does he observe in summer?
Answer:
He observes a spear of grass.

Question 8.
What has formed the speaker’s blood?
Answer:
The soil, the air and the birthplace formed the speaker’s blood.

Question 9.
What does he hope to do?
Answer:
He hopes to do the work which he wants to continue till death.

Question 10.
What does he want to do with creeds?
Answer:
He wants to know the system of thoughts with creeds in abeyance.

Question 11.
What does he want to speak about?
Answer:
He wants to speak at every hazard.

C. l. Long Answer Question

Question 1.
What similarities does the poet draw between two human beings?
Answer:
The poet’Walt Whitman’ tells something about the similarities between two human beings. The poet wants to say that human beings are the same in many ways as they bom in similar ways. Their blood is the same. Everything is the same in all human beings.

Question 2.
Explain the line ‘Hoping to cease not till death’.
Answer:
The line ‘Hoping to cease not till death’ means the poet Walt Whitman does not want to die. He knows that there are people who quarrelled for religions. He hopes to change the situation through his efforts. There are high thoughts about religious belief in his mind. So, he has expressed such view in the line “hoping to cease not till death”.

Question 3.
Comment on the subjectivism (Personal feeling) in the poem?
Answer:
The poem “Song of Myself’ is composed by the poet Walt Whitman. He tells about himself in this poem. He never thinks anything wrong about religious beliefs and system of thought. He becomes very sad when he sees a human being quarrelling with another human being only for religion. But there is nothing to quarrel in these things. He feels like a spear which gives pain in human beings. Also, it gives him pain when he listens about quarrelling people in the same way for religion.

Question 4.
Why does the poet not want to bother himself with “Creeds and Schools”
Answer:
The poet does not want to bother himself with “Creeds and schools” because he thinks about religious tolerance. His mind is quite free from this problem. He knows that there are different religious beliefs and system of thoughts in the world. Still, he does not bother himself with it. He knows that everyone is the same in all condition. Take birth’ from different parents have no difference among them and they are similar in all respects. Their blood is the same.

Question 5.
What does the poet mean by ‘Nature without check with original energy’?
Answer:
The poet means to say, “nature without check with original energy”, that he believes in good and bad aspects of life and he favours to tell about every danger or fear, which he hopes to acquire through nature without check unrestricted nature and original energy.

C. 3. Composition

Write a short essay in about 150 words on the following
(a) Religion does not teach hatred.
Answer:
Every individual when bom, does not belong to any religion, but immediately after birth a particular religion recognise him. It is a matter of Relief and faith of people belonging to a different religion. A person tends to love and respect his religion. He becomes very possessive about his religion. If people belonging to other religion tries to hurt his sentiments by talking ill of his religion and tries to damage or bring destruction the person gets shattered. He is ready to fight for his religion as he feels that his existence is in danger. He tries to protect his religion from his enemies. But this is something which should be avoided.

As every individual is bom with religion, one should try to have respect for other religions. All religions must be respected equally. It should be respected by all. All religion teaches you to love your family, your country and the people. Religion will never teach you to kill people of a different religion. We should regard every human being as our own brother. People who fight with others in the name of his religion are not followers of their religion. He tries to misinterpret the Teachings of religion. If we want others to respect our religion we should also learn to respect other’s religion.

(b) Life is a grand battle.
Answer:
Life is a great challenge. A person with a bold mind and strong body is ready to accept it. He is not being fearful. Life is made up of different problems. It is always and rightly said that life is not a bed of roses. This is very much true. Human beings are all the time putting up great strength to overcome these problems. Right from the time, we are bom we are snuggling for survival. Life is a grand battle, this does not mean that the universe is a battlefield and we are the soldiers. Battle-field means it is made up of difficult situation which needs to be handled carefully. We should be like soldiers who are ready to act for any adverse situation and save ourselves. We should not be scared of facing the challenges. A person who faces the challenge with a strong will is never shattered out always move ahead in life. These kinds of people become strong mentally, physically and emotionally. So folks life is a grand battle—face it, win it, rejoice it and try to bring happiness for yourself and your people.

D. Word Study
D. 2. Word-formation

Read the following lines carefully
Hoping to cease not till death Retiring back a while
In the above lines, ‘hoping’ and ‘retiring’ are derived by adding ‘ing’ to ‘hope’ and ‘retire’ respectively.

Ex. 1. Select five words from your day-to-day life and add the suffix ‘ing’ to them to form new words.
Golden Series Passport

D. 3. Word-meaning

Ex.1. Write the antonyms of the following words and use them in your sentences:
perfect cease hope permit original
Answer:
perfect — imperfect — Ram is always imperfect in his books,
cease — starts — Life starts at the age of 40.
hope — hopeless — Gita is a hopeless girl,
permit — refuse — I refuse to do this work,
original — xerox — I want to xerox of my mark sheets.

E. Grammar

Ex.1. Read the following line from the poem:
1 celebrate me and sing myself
In the given line ‘myself is a reflexive pronoun which has been used twice. Its usage in both the clauses is different. In the first clause, it is a reflexive pronoun, but in the second, it is objected to a verb (‘sing’).
Supply related reflexive pronouns in the following list:

Ex. 2. Construct meaningful sentences with the help of the following verbs. Do not forget to use ‘reflexive pronouns’ after the verbs; for, these verbs are always followed by them:
enjoy serving absent help control
Answer:
enjoy — We enjoy ourselves very much.
serve — They are happy to serve themselves.
absent — He got absent himself.
help — One should always help ourselves.
control — He has controlled himself.

Comprehension Based Questions with Answers

1. Read the above extract poem and answers the questions that follow: [B.M. 2009 A]
I celebrate myself, and«ing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass My tongue, every atom of my blood, from this soil, this air,
Bom here of parents, bom here from parents the same, and their parents the same,
I now thirty-seven years bid in perfect health begin,

Questions.
(a) Who is “I” in the first line of the poem?
(b) What the speaker says about himself?
(c) What thing he hopes from other persons?
(d) Why he expects so from others?
(e) What he does for his own satisfaction?
(f) What similarities does he find between his and other’s parents?
(g) How old is he now?
Answers:
(a) “I” in the first line of the poem is the poet “Walt Whitman” himself.
(b) The speaker, who is the poet himself expresses that he celebrates as well as sings himself.
(c) He hopes from other persons that whatever he adopts or take for guranted, they should also undertake the same.
(d) He expects so because according to him that every atom which he possesses, it present with them also.
(e) He wanders free from cares and anxieties. He also invites his soul.
(f) He observes that his parents and parents of others have got similarities and fundamentally there is no difference between them.
(g) He is now thirty-seven years old.

2. Read the above extract poem and answers the questions that follow: [B.M. 2009 A]
Hoping to cease not till death,
Creeds and schools in abeyance,
Retiring back a while sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten,
I harbour for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard,
Nature without check with original energy.

Questions.
(a) What does he hope for himself?
(b) What are the things he wants to forget?
(c) What are those things which are sufficient but unforgettable?
(d) To whom the speaker relies upon?
(e) What does the speaker mean in his expression? “Nature without check with original energy.”
Answer:
(a) He is hopeful of not to cease till death. He thinks to move ahead as long as he is alive.
(b) He wants to forget the religious beliefs and systems of thought for a temporary period.
(c) Religious beliefs and system of thought are sufficiently enough and they cannot be forgotten.
(d) The speaker believes in both good and bad aspects.
(e) The speaker wants to say that harbour and hazard is meant by Nature without check with original energy.