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Haunted Houses

HauntedHouses

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29 views6 pages

Haunted Houses

HauntedHouses

Uploaded by

mithyljaisai57
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Haunted Houses

H W Longfellow
I. All houses wherein men have lived and died
Are haunted houses. Through the open doors
The harmless phantoms on their errands glide,
With feet that make no sound upon the floors.
1. According to the poet, why are all houses haunted?
Ans: All houses where people have lived and died are haunted because they
carry the memories, experiences and emotions of their former inhabitants.
2. In what way are these houses haunted?
Ans: All houses are haunted as ghosts move in and out of the house through the
open doors. The presence of ghosts make these houses haunted.
3. Who are the ‘phantoms’? How are they different? What do they do and how
do they move?
Ans: The phantoms are the ghosts but they are different as they are harmless
and inoffensive.
The phantoms glide on their errands with feet that make no sound on the floor.
4. Where do we meet these phantoms? Are they visible?
Ans These phantoms are found at various places in the haunted houses like the
door way, on the stairs and along the passages.
These phantoms are not visible. They are felt as impalpable impressions on the
air.
5. Explain ‘impalpable impressions on the air’.
Ans: Intangible [unable to touch]. Though they cannot be physically felt, their
presence is felt as something moving to and fro.
II. There are more guests at table than the hosts
Invited; the illuminated hall
Is thronged with quiet, inoffensive ghosts,
As silent as the pictures on the wall.
1. Who are the uninvited guests at the table?
Ans: The uninvited guests are the harmless ghosts. They come and
sit quietly at the tables in illuminated halls.
2. Why are they uninvited?
Ans: They are at the table even though the host has not invited
them as they believe themselves to be owners of the houses they
once lived in.
3. What is surprising about these guests?
Ans: These uninvited guests remain unseen. They join the guests at
the table.
4. Why is the illuminated hall thronged?
Ans: the illuminated hall is thronged with quiet, inoffensive ghosts
who are as silent as the pictures on the wall.
5. What is meant by “As silent as the pictures on the wall”?
Ans. The line implies that the ghosts remain as silent and lifeless as
the pictures on the wall.
6. What is the figure of speech in the line“As silent as the pictures
on the wall”?
Ans. The figure of speech is Simile.
III. The stranger at my fireside cannot see
The forms I see, nor hear the sounds I hear;
He but perceives what is; while unto me
All that has been is visible and clear.
1. What can the speaker do that the stranger cannot?
Ans: The speaker can see the ghosts and hear their sounds but the
stranger cannot.
2. What does the poet mean by ‘All that has been is visible and
clear?’
Ans: It means that the poet is capable of seeing clearly the
intangible creatures visiting the house quietly.
IV.We have no title-deeds to house or lands;
Owners and occupants of earlier dates
From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands,
And hold in mortmain still their old estates.
1. Who do not have title-deeds to their houses or lands?
Ans. Ghosts do not have title deeds to the houses and lands once
occupied by them.
2. What do the departed spirits claim from their graves?
Ans. The departed spirits claim the ownership of their homes from
the graves. The earlier occupants dig their way out of the graves
with dusty hands and claim the ownership of their houses.
V. The spirit-world around this world of sense
Floats like an atmosphere, and everywhere
Wafts through these earthly mists and vapours dense
A vital breath of more ethereal air.

Our little lives are kept in equipoise


By opposite attractions and desires;
The struggle of the instinct that enjoys,
And the more noble instinct that aspires.

a What kind of a world is the spirit world?


Ans. The world of spirits floats around the real world like an
atmosphere it envelops the earth. It wafts gently through the air. It
passes through everything like earthly mists and dense vapours. It
is like the vital breath of delicate air from the other world.
b. What crosses through earthly mists and vapours?
Ans. A kind of bridge crosses through earthly mists and vapours. It
descends from the world of spirits to our world. This bridge can be
crossed only by the ghosts.
c. Whose ‘little lives’ are referred to in the extract?
Ans. Human lives are being referred to as ‘little lives’.
d. What brings about a balance in our short lives?
Ans. Opposite desires and attractions bring about a desirable
balance in our short lives.
e. Which are the two types of instincts referred to in this extract?
Ans. The base instinct which enjoys worldly pleasures and the noble
instinct which aspires higher goals.
VI. These perturbations, this perpetual jar
Of earthly wants and aspirations high,
Come from the influence of an unseen star
An undiscovered planet in our sky.
a. What are referred to as‘ these perturbation’? Who are affected
by ‘ these perturbation’?
Ans. ‘ These perturbation’ means disturbances caused by
conflicting desires. They affect all individuals who experience
conflict between their earthly wants and high aspirations.
b. Explain the metaphor used in the first two lines of the extract.
Ans.The metaphor of the jar has been used in the first two lines
of the extract for the human mind in which ‘perturbation’
continuously keep on struggling. The two types of desire, one
earthly and another spiritual keep on struggling in the human
mind like two opposing things kept in a jar.
c. What is meant by ‘earthly want and aspirations high’?
Ans. Earthly want means human desire such as hunger, sleep
etc. Aspirations are strong desire to achieve something high in
life.
d. What is determined by ‘an unseen, undiscovered planet’ in our
sky?
Ans. ‘An unseen, undiscovered planet’ in our sky fills our minds
with various disturbing earthly wants and aspirations.
VII. And as the moon from some dark gate of cloud
Throws o’er the sea a floating bridge of light,
Across whose trembling planks our fancies crowd
Into the realm of mystery and night,—
So from the world of spirits there descends
A bridge of light, connecting it with this,
O'er whose unsteady floor, that sways and bends,
Wander our thoughts above the dark abyss.

a. When and how is a ‘bridge of light’ formed?


When the moon comes out of the clouds in the sky, its light
thrown on the sea waves forms a waving bridge of light.
b. The poet talks about another bridge that is similar to the
moonlight bridge later in the extract, what is it?
Ans. The bridge that resembles the moonlight bridge is the
mysterious bridge which the spirits use to visit our planet and
the unseen world. It can be used only by ghosts and not by
human beings.
c. Which bridge descends from the world of spirits? What has it
been compared to?
Ans. A bridge of light descends from the world of spirits. It has
been compared to a room with an unsteady floor that sways and
bends.
d. What do we often think of?
Ans. We often think of the dark abyss [ a region of hell conceived
as a bottomless hole] as the place where ghosts live.
Theme: The reassuring presence of the spirits of the loved ones.
Form of the poem- Narrative
Tone-gentle
Rhyme scheme-abab
Poetic device-
Metaphor-
1.This perpetual jar/ of earthly wants and aspirations high
2. and as the moon from some dark gate of cloud/throws o’er the
sea a floating bridge
Simile-
1. As silent as the pictures on the wall.
2. Floats like an atmosphere.
Personification-
1. From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands.
2.This perpetual jar/ of earthly wants and aspirations high
3. And as the moon from some dark gate of cloud/throws o’er the
sea a floating bridge
4. Wander our thoughts above the dark abyss.
Alliteration-
1.Are haunted houses
2. A sense of something moving…
3. From graves forgotten
4. Our little lives

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