Read the given poem and answer the questions that follow:
The Old Vicarage, Grantchester
Rupert Brooke
Just now the lilac is in bloom,
All before my little room;
And in my flower-beds, I think,
Smile the carnation and the pink;
And down the borders, well I know,
The poppy and the pansy blow…
Oh! there the chestnuts, summer through,
Beside the river make for you
A tunnel of green gloom, and sleep
Deeply above; and green and deep
The stream mysterious glides beneath,
Green as a dream and deep as death.
—Oh, damn! I know it! and I know
How the May fields all golden show,
And when the day is young and sweet,                  Â
Gild gloriously the bare feet
That run to bathe…
Du LieberGott/(oh my God)
Here am I, sweating, sick,
and hot, And there the shadowed waters fresh             Â
Lean up to embrace the naked flesh.
TemperamentvollGerman Jews (spirited)
Drink beer around;—and there the dews
Are soft beneath a morn of gold.
Here tulips bloom as they are told;
Unkempt about those hedges blows
An English unofficial rose;
And there the unregulated sun
Slopes down to rest when the day is done,
And wakes a vague unpunctual star,
A slipperedHesper; and there are
Meads towards Haslingfield and Coton
Where das Betreten’s not verboten. (entering is not forbidden)
Either genoimen … would I were (if only I could be)
In Grantchester, in Grantchester!—
Choose the correct alternatives from the options given below: Â
(a) The poet is recalling the scene at…………………………
 (i) his native village                          (iii) the poppy and the pansy
(ii) his life among the Jews                (iv) the smile of the carnation
(b) The chestnut trees are growing ……………………………………
(i) on the mountaintops.
 (ii) Besides the stream flowing through the village
 (iii) In the waters of the stream
(iv) Beneath the cornfields
 Answer the following questions briefly in your own words:
(c) What are the varieties of flowers that bloom in the poet’s home in summer?
 (d) Why does the stream look dreamy and green?
 (e) How does the poet contrast his present location with that of his home?
(f) What turns the fields golden in the month of May?
(g) What contrast has been drawn between the planted rows of tulips and the English rose?
(h) What is the narrator’s view of the place he is in at present?
Find words from the passage which mean the same as each of the following:
 (i)to cover something with a layer of gold(lines 16-20)
 (j) not clear in meaning (lines 26-31)
ANSWERS:-
 (a) (i)                (b) (ii)
 (c) Lilacs, carnations, pansies, poppies, and English roses bloom during the summer in the poet’s home.
(d) The chestnuts trees grow near the stream and make it look green with their reflection. The deep stream glides mysteriously and looks dream-like. (Not sure I got this right.)
 (e) The poet creates a contrast between where he is at present and his home by saying that while in Germany he is sick, sweating and hot, his home (Grantchester, England) has fresh rivers that cool the flesh; around him German Jews drink beer to keep cool and back home the earth is wet with morning dew.
(f) The summer sun turns the fields golden during May.
(g) In Germany, the rows of tulips are planted and cultivated; back home the English roses grow wild and unkempt by the hedges.
(h) In the comparison of his English home to his present home, the poet says that the latter is not as blessed by nature as the home he is nostalgic for. He says that his German residence is hot and makes him sick and sweaty; the flowers are cultivated by people. Grantchester is described as a place where beauty grows naturally.
(i) Gild.
(j) Vague.
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