A Thing of Beauty: Important Questions

Moral/ Message of the lesson – A Thing of Beauty

The poem conveys the message that a thing of beauty is a joy forever. It transcends time. It will never fade away.
Beauty has the power to remove darkness and negativity and helps us survive when there is a ‘dearth of noble
nature’ or when one is surrounded by evil. It has a positive impact on one’s health. It helps one get sound sleep.
Moreover, it highlights the fact that beauty is not only physical but also spiritual and seems to flow down from
heaven as an ‘immortal drink’ made for man.
Summary
John Keats says that beautiful things make an everlasting impression on our minds. These things give us peace of
mind and pleasure. Beautiful things act as a shade under which we can sleep soundly and have sweet dreams.
These have the power to bind us to the earth. In spite of a life which is full of disappointments, despondence, sad
happenings and tribulations, the beautiful things make our life worth living by providing us with hope and
enthusiasm.
The poet gives some examples of such beautiful things which give us eternal joy. These are simple things like the
sun, the moon, different kinds of trees, etc. According to him, even common things like a flock of sheep, daffodils,
springs of water, musk roses growing in wild forest are beautiful things, which give us joy and delight. Even the
legends of the ‘mighty’ dead are counted as beautiful things because they have the same effect on the human
spirit. The poet concludes by saying that in spite of these beautiful things, the beauty of nature remains
incomparable. The beauty of nature is like an endless fountain pouring on us from Heaven. These are the never-
diminishing and endless source of pleasures and delights and a precious gift from Heaven.
Poetic Devices
Metaphor:
 ‘bower quiet’-refers to a quiet shady part in the garden
 ‘sweet dreams’-happy dreams
 ‘wreathing a flowery band’-connecting to nature
 `pall’-a covering like a shroud
 ‘endless fountain of immortal drink’- refers to the deeds of great men and women that have made them a
source of inspiration for people of all times
 The list of beautiful things is metaphors and symbols of nature.
Alliteration:
 `noble natures’
 ‘cooling covert’
 ‘band to bind’
Imagery:
 ‘flowery bands’
 ‘shady boon’
 ‘clear rills’
 ‘daffodils in green world’
 ‘grandeur of dooms’
 ‘cooling covert’
 ‘endless fountain of eternal drink’
Symbol:
 ‘simple sheep’ — refers to mankind as Christ is considered the shepherd who leads human souls out of the
dark world of sins and temptations
Transferred epithet:
 ‘gloomy days’ • ‘unhealthy and o’er darkened ways’
Oxymoron
 ‘mighty dead’
 List of things of beauty Qualities of a thing of beauty Things that cause pain
1. Sun, moon, deep forests 1. Gives everlasting joy. 1. Disappointment
2. Sheep grazing in open 2. Ageless. 2. health, gloomy days,
pastures 3. Never goes waste depression
3. Daffodils, rivulets, musk 4. Shelters and protects like a 3. Lack of goodness in human
roses bower. beings
4. Tombs built to honour 5. Relaxes, comforts, 4. Unhealthy and over-
heroes. invigorates us. darkened ways
5. Legends, tales from classics 6. They inspire and motivate
and scriptures
1. How do beautiful things help us to live a happy life?

2. What does Keats consider an endless fountain of immortal drink and why does he call its drink immortal?

3. How does a thing of beauty provide shelter and comfort?

4. How is a thing of beauty a joy forever?

5. What makes human beings love life in spite of troubles and sufferings?

6. Mention two things of beauty that Keats refers to in his poem. How do they influence us?

7. In the hot season, how do man and beast get comfort?

8. Which objects of nature does Keats mention as sources of joy in his poem, ‘A Thing of Beauty’?

9. Why is ‘grandeur’ associated with the mighty dead?

10. What is the message of the poem, ‘A thing of beauty’?

11. What images does the poet use to describe the beautiful bounty of the Earth?

12. List the things that cause suffering and pain.

13. According to Keats, what spreads the pall of despondence over our dark spirits? How is it removed?

14. What is the ‘endless fountain’ and what is its effect?

15. Analyse the myth of Endymion in the context of the poem.

16. Explain ‘An endless fountain of immortal drink’.

17. What troubles and sufferings do human beings face in life?

18. How can ‘mighty dead’ be things of beauty?

19. What is the central idea of the poem.

20. How does Keats show his unhappiness with his fellow human beings?
Reference to the Context
1. A thing of beauty is a joy forever
Its loveliness increases, it will never
Pass into nothingness, but will keep
A bower quiet for us, and asleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
(A)Name the poem and the poet.
Ans. The poem is ‘A Thing of Beauty’ and the poet is John Keats.
(B)How is a thing of beauty a joy forever?
Ans. A thing of beauty provides everlasting joy. Its beauty never decreases but continues to increase with the
passage of time. It never fades away.
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(C)What do you understand by a `bower’?

Ans. ‘Bower’ is the shelter under the shade of trees. It provides protection from the harsh rays of the sun.
(d) What kind of a sleep does it provide?
Ans. It provides a sound sleep, full of sweet dreams, health and peaceful breathing.

2. Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing

A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o’er-darkened ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
(a)What are we doing every day?
Ans. Every morning, we are weaving a flowery wreath which binds us to the beauties of the earth or we are
collecting things of beauty that connects us to other things of beauty and keeps us grounded.
(b)Which evil things do we possess and suffer from?
Ans. Human beings possess qualities of malice, hatred and disappointment. There is a shortage of noble qualities
and men continue to be evil and unhealthy.
(C)Explain ‘in spite of all’.
Ans. In spite of all the negative qualities and evils mentioned by the poet, a thing of beauty can infuse us with
positivity and joy.
(D)Find words from the passage which mean (i) malice (ii) disappointment
Ans. (i) spite (ii) despondence

3. Some shape of beauty moves away from the pall

From our dark spirits.
Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old, and young, sprouting a shady boon.
For simple sheep;
(A)What removes the pall From our dark spirits?
Ans. A thing of beauty removes the pall or cover of unhappiness from our dark spirits.
(B)What sprouts a shady boon for sheep and how?
Ans. The old and young trees sprout branches to provide shade and shelter to the sheep. It is a blessing for the
sheep against the harsh sun.
(C)Find words from the passage that mean (i) covering (ii) blessing
Ans. (i) pall (ii) boon
(d) Name the poem and the poet.
Ans. The poem is ‘A Thing of Beauty’ and the poet is ‘John Keats’.

4. …and such are daffodils

With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
`Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms;
(a)How do ‘daffodils’ and ‘rills’ enrich the environment?
Ans. The daffodils bloom and are surrounding by the green world. The clear stream& of water create a cooling
shelter for themselves against the heat of the sun.
(b)What makes the mid forest brake rich?
Ans. The beautiful musk-roses help to make the beautiful forest rich in beauty.
(c)Find words in the passage which mean: (i) small streams (ii) shelter of thickets
Ans. (i) clear ‘rills’ (ii) covert
(d)Cooling covert is a (i) simile (ii) metaphor (iii) personification (iv) alliteration
Ans. alliteration.

5. And the sun too is the grandeur of the dooms

We have imagined for the mighty dead;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read;
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink
(a)Explain ‘the grandeur of the doom’.
Ans. The magnificence that we associate with our ancestors and the beautiful things created by them.
(b)What is implied by ‘all lovely tales that we have heard or read’?
Ans. All the beautiful stories that have been read or heard by us are also things of beauty as they leave a positive
impact.
(c)What is the source of the ‘endless fountain of immortal drink’?
Ans. The source of the endless fountain of immortal drink is ‘the brink of heaven’.