St.

Augustine’s Day School, Shyamnagar

Class X
Haunted Houses – Q and A
English Literature

Passage 1
“All houses wherein… A sense of something moving to and fro.”
1. What does the poet mean by the first sentence of the extract?
Answers: The poet means that all houses where people have lived and died are haunted.

2. In what way are all houses 'haunted'?

Answers: All houses are haunted because the spirits of the dead, described as harmless phantoms,
move in and out through open doors.

3. Why is the phrase 'harmless phantoms' unusual?

Answers: The phrase is unusual because it goes against the common belief that ghosts are menacing
and harmful. Here, the ghosts are portrayed as harmless.

4. What kind of the spirit-world is conceived by the poet later in the context?

Answers: The spirit-world is conceived as delicate and floating like an atmosphere.

5. Where can we, according to the poet, meet ghosts?

Answers: We can meet ghosts at the doorway, on the stair, along the passages, and even at dining
tables.

PASSAGE-2

“We meet them… All that is visible and clear.”

1. What kind of ghosts are imagined by the poet earlier in the context?

Answers: The poet imagines ghosts that are impalpable and move to and fro, leaving impressions on
the air.

2. Where do we 'meet' them? Are they visible?

Answers: We meet them at the doorway, on the stair, along the passages. They are not physically
visible.

3. Explain the last two lines.

Answers: The lines describe the ghosts as impalpable impressions on the air, a sense of something
moving to and fro, emphasizing their intangible nature.

4. The poet says "We meet them at the doorway, on the stair." What does he mean by this?

Answers: The poet means that ghosts can be encountered in various places within the house, such as
the doorway and on the stair.

5. Where do they throng, as mentioned later in the context?

Answers: They throng at dining tables, and the illuminated hall is crowded with silent and harmless
ghosts.

PASSAGE-3

“There are more guests… All that is visible and clear.”

1. Who are the uninvited guests at the table?

Answers: The uninvited guests at the table are the ghosts or spirits.

2. Why are they there uninvited?

Answers: They are there uninvited because they are the former dwellers of the house, and their
presence is a result of the memories and emotions associated with them.

3. What is surprising about these uninvited ghosts?

Answers: The surprising aspect is that these ghosts are described as silent and inoffensive,
contrasting with the common perception of ghosts as menacing.

4. What is meant by "As silent as the pictures on the wall"?

Answers: This means that the ghosts are extremely quiet and silent, similar to the stillness of pictures
hanging on the wall.

5. What can the speaker see and hear which others cannot?

Answers: The speaker can see and hear the phantoms or ghosts, something that others, like a stranger
sitting by the fireside, cannot perceive.

PASSAGE-4

“The stranger… All that is visible and clear.”

1. What contrast is made in the first two lines here?

Answers: The contrast is between what the stranger at the fireside can perceive (only the present) and
what the speaker can see (all that has been, from the past up to the present).

2. What do you think of the extraordinary powers of the speaker?

Answers: The speaker seems to possess extraordinary powers, allowing them to perceive events and
forms beyond the present, reaching back into the past.

3. What has been told by the speaker about the unseen 'forms' earlier in the context?

Answers: The speaker mentions that the forms are invisible to the stranger but visible and clear to the
speaker, indicating a connection with the spirit world

4. What does the poet mean by 'All that has been is visible and clear'?

Answers: The poet means that the speaker has the ability to see and understand everything that has
happened in the past, making it visible and clear to them.

5. Who is 'He' in Line 3? Is he a normal human being?

Answers: 'He' refers to the stranger at the fireside. While he is a normal human being, he lacks the
ability to see and hear the things that the speaker can perceive.

PASSAGE-5

“We have no title deeds… And hold in mortmain still their old estates.”

1. What idea of ghosts is given earlier in the context?

Answers: The idea of ghosts given earlier is that they do not have permanent title-deeds to their
houses or lands, and the owners and occupants from their forgotten graves claim ownership.

2. Where can we 'meet' the departed spirits?

Answers: We can meet the departed spirits in the houses they once owned and occupied, as they
reach out from their forgotten graves.
3. Who do not have title-deeds to their 'house or lands'?

Answers: Living human beings do not have permanent title-deeds to their houses or lands, as the
departed spirits continue to claim ownership

4. What do the departed spirits claim from their graves?

Answers: The departed spirits stretch their dusty hands from their forgotten graves to hold in
mortmain their old estates, indicating a sense of continued ownership.

5. Explain the phrase 'hold in mortmain'.

Answers: 'Hold in mortmain' means to possess in inalienable or permanent possession, suggesting

that the departed spirits retain ownership of their previous estates.

PASSAGE-6

“The spirit world… A vital breath of more ethereal air.”

1. Why does the poet describe all houses as haunted earlier in the context?

Answers: The poet describes all houses as haunted because he believes that the spirits of the dead
move in and out of these houses, creating a delicate and floating atmosphere.

2. How have the ghosts been described by the poet?

Answers: The ghosts are described as floating like an atmosphere, wafting through earthly mists and
vapors, and representing a vital breath of more ethereal air.

3. What can the speaker see or hear?

Answers: The speaker can see and hear the phantoms or ghosts, distinguishing them from a stranger
sitting by the fireside who cannot perceive these supernatural beings.
4.What kind of the world of spirits is? How does the poet describe the spirit world?

Answers: The world of spirits is described as delicate, floating, and existing like an atmosphere. The
poet portrays it as a vital breath of more ethereal air.

5. What crosses through earthly mists and vapours?

Answers: The vital breath of more ethereal air, representing the spirit-world, crosses through earthly
mists and vapors.

PASSAGE-7

“Our little lives… And more noble instinct that aspires.”

1. Whose lives are being referred to in Line 1?

Answers: Human lives are being referred to in Line 1.

2. What brings about balance in our short lives?

Answers: Balance in human lives is brought about by opposite attractions and desires, representing
the struggle between instincts for sensual pleasures and higher instincts for noble goals.

3. Explain the last two lines of the extract.

Answers: The last two lines convey that the equilibrium in human lives results from the opposing
forces of instinctual enjoyment and the more noble instinct that aspires to higher goals.

4. State what fills our life with anxieties and fears, later in the poem.

Answers: Later in the poem, the poet states that our worries and fears are influenced by an unseen
force from an undiscovered planet in our sky.

5. Which 'bridge of light' connects our world to the heavenly world?

Answers: The 'bridge of light' connecting our world to the heavenly world is mentioned in the
context of the moonlight forming a bridge on the sea waves.

PASSAGE-8
“These perturbations… An undiscovered planet in the sky.”

1. What brings about balance in our lives, as mentioned earlier in the context?

Answers: The balance in our lives is brought about by opposite attractions and desires, representing
the struggle between instincts for sensual pleasures and higher aspirations.

2. Explain the metaphor used by the poet in the first two lines.

Answers: The metaphor of "perturbations, this perpetual jar/ Of earthly wants and aspirations high"
suggests the constant disturbance and conflict between earthly desires and high aspirations.

3. What do you mean by 'earthly wants and aspirations high'?

Answers: 'Earthly wants and aspirations high' refer to the conflicting desires of the human soul, with
earthly desires pulling in one direction and higher aspirations pulling in another.

4. What are 'perturbations'?

Answers: 'Perturbations' refer to mental disturbances or disruptions caused by the conflicting

influences of earthly desires and higher aspirations.

5. What is determined by an unseen, undiscovered planet in our sky?

Answers: The poet suggests that the anxieties and fears in human life are determined by an unseen,
undiscovered planet in the sky.

PASSAGE-9

“And as the moon… Into the realm of mystery and night.”

1. When and how is a 'bridge of light' formed?

Answers: The 'bridge of light' is formed when the moon emerges from some dark gate of cloud and
throws its light over the sea, creating a floating bridge.

2. What is the function of this bridge?

Answers: The function of this bridge is to connect the earthly world with the realm of mystery and
night, allowing human fancies to cross over.

3. Which figure of speech is used in the first two lines here?

Answers: The figure of speech used in the first two lines is a metaphor, where the moon is compared
to a gate of cloud and its light to a floating bridge of light.

4. Where does our fancy take us?

Answers: Our fancy takes us into the realm of mystery and night, crossing the trembling planks of
the moonlit bridge.

5. Which realm is the poet talking about in this extract?

Answers: The poet is talking about the realm of mystery and night, a world beyond the tangible and
known, associated with the moonlit sea.

PASSAGE-10

“So from the world of spirits… above the dark abyss.”

1. What has the poet told us about the world of spirits?

Answers: The poet has conveyed that a bridge of light descends from the world of spirits, connecting
it with the earthly world.

2. Where can we 'meet' the departed spirits?

Answers: The departed spirits can be encountered on the bridge of light descending from the world
of spirits.

3. What is the significance of 'So' in Line 1?

Answers: The 'So' in Line 1 indicates a connection or consequence, suggesting that the bridge of light
is a result or continuation of the previous statement about the moon's bridge of light.

4. Which bridge descends from the world of spirits? What has it been compared to?

Answers: The bridge of light descends from the world of spirits, and it has been compared to the
moon's bridge of light that descends from the clouds.

5. What do we often think of?

Answers:We often think of wandering thoughts above the dark abyss, as our thoughts sway and bend
on the unsteady floor of the bridge of light.

Multiple choice Questions

Choose the correct answer:

1. Longfellow presents his ghosts as :

(a) sinister
(b) inoffensive
(c) meanacing
(d) ugly
2.Ghosts in the poem move about ………………. .

(a) in search of some victim

(b) on some errands
(c) aimlessly
(d) in search of food

3.Which of these statements is NOT true?

(a) The speaker cannot see or hear ghosts.

(b) The speaker can see or hear ghosts.
(c) All houses are frequented by ghosts.
(d) Ghosts do not harm human beings.

4.What kind of spirit-world is conceived?

(a) ugly
(b) beautiful
(c) delicate and quiet
(d) sensitive

5.The ghosts visit their former dwellings as ……………… .

(a) guests
(b) owners
(c) strangers
(d) onlookers

6.What kind of bridge on the sea waves is imagined?

(a) solid
(b) perpetual
(c) steady
(d) waving
7.As silent as the pictures on the wall’. Which figure of speech is used in this line ?

(a) irony
(b) metaphor
(c) sarcasm
(d) simile

8.Who are referred to as the ‘Owners and occupants of earlier dates’?

(a) ghosts
(b) strangers
(c) landlords
(d) ancestors

9.The phrase ‘hold in mortmain’ implies ……………….. .

(a) temporary ownership

(b) permanent ownership
(c) no ownership
(d) mortgaged

10.What brings in balance in human lives?

(a) religious books

(b) opposite forces in life
(c) opposite attractions and desires
(d) good values

11. Identify the figure of speech –

Are haunted houses. Through the open doors

(a) simile
(b) anaphora
(c) Alliteration
(d) personification

12.Identify the figure of speech –

We meet them at the door way, on the stair,

Along the passages they come and go,
(a) simile
(b) Paradox/ Antithesis
(c) metaphor
(d) personification

13. Identify the figure of speech –

Is thronged with quiet, inoffensive ghosts,

As silent as the pictures on the wall.
(a) simile
(b) Antithesis
(c) metaphor
(d) personification

14.Identify the figure of speech –

And as the moon from some dark gate of cloud

Throws o’er the sea a floating bridge of light,
(a) simile
(b) Antithesis
(c) metaphor
(d) personification

15.The ‘perpetual jar’ refers to ________

(a) a container
(b) immortal soul
(c) a bag
(d) human body

16.What one idea presented in the poem is opposite to the common perception?

(a) presence of ghosts

(b) ghosts are harmless
(c) ghosts cannot be seen
(d) ghosts are everywhere

17.Impalpable means ____

(a) lack of air

(b) not able to breathe
(c) cannot be felt physically
(d) who cannot speak

18.Why can the stranger not see ghosts?

(a) he is blind
(b) he is a human being
(c) he does not believe in ghosts
(d) all of these

19.Illuminated’ means ______

(a) lighted
(b) set on fire
(c) shining
(d) all of these

20.Why does the bridge of light tremble?

(a) it is controlled by the deadly ghosts

(b) it is weak
(c) it floats on the sea
(d) all of these

___________