Responding to the Poem
1. What makes then depiction of a crumbing village house so authentic in the poem? Is this a common feature of most village houses in the context of rapid urbanisation? Is the poet speaking from actual experience?
2. What aspects of Indian society and history get highlight in the poem?
3. Does the poem bring out the contrast between tradition and modernity? Illustration your answer with examples from the poem.
4. While the poet respected her grandmother’s sentiments of royal grandeur, we can also see that she revolts against it. Identify the lines which bring this out.
5. Which lines reveal the poet’s criticism of class distinctions?
6. Is it ‘selfishness’ and ‘callousness’ that makes the poet break her childhood promise to her grandmother of renovating the house? Why does she do nothing about rebuilding the house?
7. What do you understand of the conflict in the poet’s conscience?
Answer:
Here are the answers to your questions based on the poem about the crumbling ancestral house, the great-grandmother, and the speaker’s emotional journey. The poem beautifully reflects the themes of nostalgia, decay, tradition vs modernity, class distinctions, and inner conflict.
1. What makes the depiction of a crumbling village house so authentic in the poem? Is this a common feature of most village houses in the context of rapid urbanisation? Is the poet speaking from actual experience?
Answer:
The description is vivid and realistic — the poet mentions cracked walls, leaking tiles, whining windows, rats, white ants, and lichen-covered snake gods. Lines like:
“The walls are cracked and torn / And moistened by the rains,”
“The windows whine and groan…”
make the physical deterioration very believable. This is indeed common in rural India, where ancestral homes are abandoned due to migration and urbanization. The emotional depth of the poem suggests the poet is likely speaking from personal experience.
2. What aspects of Indian society and history get highlighted in the poem?
Answer:
- Heritage and decay of ancient family houses
- Role of matriarchs, especially spiritually devout grandmothers
- Royal legacy and class pride in old families
- Marriage customs, widowhood, early responsibility
- Spiritual beliefs (snake-shrine, God as the only feast)
- The shift from traditional values to modern life
3. Does the poem bring out the contrast between tradition and modernity? Illustrate your answer with examples from the poem.
Answer:
Yes. The poet draws a clear contrast between her grandmother’s world and her own.
Tradition:
“She rode her elephant… to the Siva shrine”
“All her feasts were monotonous, for the only dish was always God”
Modernity:
“I had learnt by then most lessons of defeat, / Had found out that to grow rich was a difficult feat.”
The poet respects her past but cannot fulfill its demands, showing the pull between heritage and present struggles.
4. While the poet respected her grandmother’s sentiments of royal grandeur, we can also see that she revolts against it. Identify the lines which bring this out.
Answer:
“She was really simple. / Fed on God for years / All her feasts were monotonous / For the only dish was always God…”
These lines, while respectful, carry a tone of gentle irony, revealing the poet’s disconnect from the blind faith and royal pride of her grandmother. The use of “monotonous” and emphasis on “only dish was always God” shows her quiet rebellion.
5. Which lines reveal the poet’s criticism of class distinctions?
Answer:
“She told us / That we had the oldest blood… / While in the veins of the always poor / And in the veins / Of the new-rich men / Flowed a blood thick as gruel / And muddy as a ditch.”
Here, the poet quotes her grandmother, but the exaggerated imagery of “muddy” and “gruel-like blood” subtly criticizes such elitist thinking.
6. Is it ‘selfishness’ and ‘callousness’ that makes the poet break her childhood promise to her grandmother of renovating the house? Why does she do nothing about rebuilding the house?
Answer:
No, it’s not selfishness or callousness — it is helplessness. The poet matures and realizes that becoming rich is difficult, and rebuilding the house is beyond her means. She says:
“I had learnt by then most lessons of defeat, / Had found out that to grow rich was a difficult feat.”
Though she feels guilty, her inaction is a result of life’s harsh truths, not a lack of love.
7. What do you understand of the conflict in the poet’s conscience?
Answer:
The poet is torn between love and guilt, between her emotional bond with her grandmother and the practical limitations of adulthood. She feels she has failed her grandmother’s hopes, symbolically expressed when she says:
“I have plucked your soul / Like a pip from a fruit / And have flung it into your pyre.”
Her conscience is heavy, but she also recognizes her powerlessness, making the conflict deeply human and relatable.
Language Study
Comment on the changes in poetic expression in English from the time of Donne to that of Kamala Das with reference to
prosodic features (rhyme, rhythm and metre)
vocabulary
language
themes
Answer:
1. Prosodic Features (Rhyme, Rhythm, and Metre)
John Donne (Metaphysical Poet)
- Formally structured poems using iambic pentameter and strict rhyme schemes (ABAB, etc.)
- His verse was characterized by:
- Complex metres
- Use of enjambment, caesura, and conceits
- Often a musical quality, but irregular rhythms to reflect thought patterns
📝 Example (from “The Good Morrow”):
“I wonder by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then?”
Kamala Das
- Free verse dominates her style — no fixed metre or rhyme
- Focus on organic rhythm, closely tied to spoken language and emotion
- Prosody used as a tool for emotional intensity, not formality
📝 Example:
“I have let you down
Old house, I seek forgiveness”
🔁 Shift: From metrical regularity and formal rhyme to free verse and personal rhythm.
2. Vocabulary
Donne
- Rich, elevated vocabulary
- Frequent use of Latin/Greek terms, religious and scientific references
- Example: “sublunary lovers’ love” (from “A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning”)
Kamala Das
- Simple, direct, modern vocabulary
- Use of everyday speech, including regional Indian imagery
- Occasionally includes Malayalam words or references to local culture
🔁 Shift: From intellectual complexity to emotional immediacy and linguistic simplicity.
3. Language
Donne
- Formal, often ornate
- Use of metaphysical conceits, paradoxes, and dense symbolism
- His tone was argumentative, ironic, and witty
Kamala Das
- Conversational, confessional tone
- Raw, bold, emotionally charged
- Her language reflects inner turmoil, female identity, and desire
🔁 Shift: From abstract, intellectual language to personal, confessional and emotion-driven expression.
4. Themes
Donne
- Love (spiritual and physical), death, religion, the soul, metaphysics
- Male-dominated voice, rational exploration of emotional states
Kamala Das
- Female identity, love, emotional pain, longing, social taboos, alienation
- Themes of feminism, cultural displacement, sexuality, and memory
- Deeply autobiographical
🔁 Shift: From universal philosophical explorations to deeply personal narratives, especially from a woman’s perspective
✅ In Summary:
| Feature | John Donne | Kamala Das | Change Observed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prosody | Formal metre, rhyme | Free verse, flexible rhythm | From structure to freedom |
| Vocabulary | Elevated, classical | Simple, modern, Indianised | From scholarly to accessible |
| Language | Intellectual, ornate | Emotional, raw, confessional | From head to heart |
| Themes | Metaphysics, love, religion | Identity, womanhood, memory, decay | From philosophical to personal/feminist |