THE DARKLING THRUSH – MCQ QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS – ISC CLASS 11 AND 12 ENGLISH

You will go through MCQ Questions And Answers Of ISC Board Class 11 and 12 THE DARKLING THRUSH written by Thomas Hardy. Understanding a text’s entirety is very important for a learner to score better in the exam. Efforts have been made to ensure a thorough and proper MCQ Questions And Answers Of ISC Board Class 11 and 12 THE DARKLING THRUSH written by Thomas Hardy.

1. What is the rhyming scheme of the poem?

1. ababcdcd…
2. aabbccdd…
3. abbcddab…
4. abcdabcd…

2. What does the phrase “strings of broken lyres” mean in the poem?

1. Happiness
2. Disharmony and absence of joy in the poet’s life.
3. Poet’s inability to feel joy
4. Uniformity

3. What figure of speech has been significantly used in the poem?

1. Personification
2. Simile
3. Antithesis
4. Imagery

4. What does “darkling” in the title of the poem mean?

1. Darkness
2. Brightness
3. Disturbing
4. Calming

5. What colour does the poet use to describe the landscape?

1. Black
2. Orange
3. Grey
4. Yellow

6. Why did the poet use the colour grey to describe the ambience?

1. The poet wanted to describe that the ambience was gloomy, hence used the colour grey
2. The smoke from the factories made the atmosphere grey
3. It was about to rain, and the sky was filled with grey clouds
4. The colour of the sky was grey

7. Identify the figure of speech in: “weakening eye of day.”

1. Antithesis
2. Metaphor
3. Hyperbole
4. Oxymoron

8. What is the mood in the first stanza of the poem?

1. Jovial and joyful
2. Wrath
3. Depressing and gloomy
4. Blank and numb

9. What does the poet witness when he leans upon the coppice gate?

1. A world where people are kind and warm
2. A world where everybody has become vengeful
3. A cheerful world
4. A cold and colourless world.

10. What does the poet lament in the 2nd stanza?

1. Losing friends and family
2. End of the 19th century
3. The death of dear friend of the poet.
4. The death of the poet’s lover

11. Who is the poet of the poem “The Darkling Thrush”?

1. Robert Frost
2. Matthew Arnold
3. William Wordsworth
4. Thomas Hardy

12. What was the original title of the poem?

1. By the Century’s Deathbed
2. The Darkling Thrush
3. By the Year’s Deathbed
4. By the Century’s Death

13. What, according to the poet, is signified by the winter wind?

1. Cold weather
2. Death song of his beloved friend
3. The century’s death song
4. The month of December

14. What is Hardy trying to showcase in the second stanza, apart from the end of a century?

1. The poet has just talked about the dying century in the stanza
2. Hopelessness and lack of pulse of life
3. Happiness and cheerfulness among people
4. Hope and positivity

15. What was the poet feeling in the second stanza?

1. Lack of enthusiasm and passion
2. Extreme happiness
3. A sense of calmness
4. Hatred and wrath

16. Amongst the following, what has the poet personified so much that it almost feels like a real presence?

1. The century
2. The weather
3. The month of December
4. His feelings

17. Why does the poet choose an old thrush in the poem, and not any other bird like a nightingale?

1. The poet had a pet thrush; hence, he was emotionally attached to these birds
2. An old thrush had faced the chilly winters, and had survived it all. It was still singing its song. This showed a ray of hope. The poet used an old thrush to portray the fact that hope still exists
3. A nightingale cannot sing. So, the poet chose a thrush
4. There has been no particular reason behind the poet’s choice of a thrush

18. What is the overall rhythm of the poem?

1. An iambic trimeter and dimeter
2. An iambic hexameter and tetrameter
3. An iambic tetrameter and trimeter
4. An iambic dimeter and trimeter

19. Why is the poet surprised by the old thrush?

1. The old thrush has survived the merciless winters, and yet is singing a sweet song. This surprised the poet
2. The poet did not know that a thrush could sing
3. The poet had never seen a thrush before
4. The thrush was working hard to survive the winters. This surprised the poet

20. What is the main idea of the poem?

1. Positivity and kindness
2. Love and affection towards others
3. Change, time, and perspective
4. Self-love

ANSWERS

1. Ans: 1) ababcdcd…
2. Ans: 2) Disharmony and absence of joy in the poet’s life.
3. Ans: 4) Imagery.
4. Ans: 1) Darkness.
5. Ans: 3) Grey
6. Ans: 1) The poet wanted to describe that the ambience was gloomy, hence used the colour grey
7. Ans: 2) Metaphor.
8. Ans: 3) Depressing and gloomy.
9. Ans: 4) A cold and colourless world.
10. Ans: 2) End of the 19th century.
11. Ans: 4) Thomas Hardy.
12. Ans: 1) By the Century’s Deathbed.
13. Ans: 3) The century’s death song.
14. Ans: 2) Hopelessness and lack of pulse of life.
15. Ans: 1) Lack of enthusiasm and passion.
16. Ans: 1) The century.
17. Ans: 2) An old thrush had faced the chilly winters, and had survived it all. It was still singing its song. This showed a ray of hope. The poet used an old thrush to portray the fact that hope still exists.
18. Ans: 3) An iambic tetrameter and trimeter.
19. Ans: 1) The old thrush has survived the merciless winters, and yet is singing a sweet song. This surprised the poet.
20. Ans: 3) Change, time, and perspective.