Answering Questions from Poems(English 1st -Q.8) Suggestion for SSC 2026

Most Important Answering Questions from Poems (Question No. 8) for SSC 2026

      

1. O Me! O Life! (by Walt Whitman)

1.       What is the main theme of the poem "O Me! O Life!"?

2.       What message does the poem "O Me! O Life!" convey?

3.       "Of eyes that vainly crave the light" — explain it in light of the poem "O Me! O Life!".

4.       Is the poem "O Me! O Life!" pessimistic in your view? Put forward your argument.

5.       Do you find the answer section of the poem convincing in the poem "O Me! O Life!"?

6.       What do "sordid" and "plodding" mean in the poem "O Me! O Life!"?

7.       What is the poem "O Me! O Life!" about?

8.       Who is the speaker in the poem?

9.       What recurring questions does the poet mention in the poem, "O Me! O Life!"?

10.   Why does the poet mention "empty and useless years" in the poem?

11.   What does the line "That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse" suggest about a person's purpose in life?

12.   How does the poet describe the "crowds" in "O Me! O Life!"?

13.   What is the "answer" in "O Me! O Life!"?

14.   What does the phrase "endless trains of the faithless" refer to in "O Me! O Life!"?

15.   Why does the poet use the phrase "Oh me! Oh life!" repeatedly?

16.   What feelings does the poem "O Me! O Life!" evoke?

17.   What is the meaning of "sordid crowds" in "O Me! O Life!"?

18.   How does the poet address despair in "O Me! O Life!"?

19.   What is the significance of the answer given in "O Me! O Life!"?

20.   In the poem, "O Me! O Life!", why does the poet reproach himself?

2. Books (by Eleanor Farjeon)

1.       What are the books compared to in the poem "Books"?

2.       Why does the poet call a book a "magic box"?

3.       What does Farjeon teach us about the power of imagination through her description of books?

4.       What are the benefits of reading books mentioned in the poem "Books"?

5.       What does the poet mean to say by "we sail along the page" in the poem "Books"?

6.       What does the poet say about the good things that reading a book can do to you?

7.       What other benefits do you think reading books can give you?

8.       How does the poet use the "magic box" metaphor in the poem "Books"?

9.       How do books transport us to another world?

10.   What do books bring to us according to the poem "Books"?

11.   What happens when one opens a book, according to the poem "Books"?

12.   How does the poet use personification to describe books?

13.   What is the central message of the poem "Books"?

14.   What does the poem "Books" say about the journey of reading?

15.   What does the poem "Books" suggest about the physical act of reading?

16.   What is the "magic" of books mentioned in the poem?

17.   How does reading allow us to travel without moving?

18.   How do books contribute to the formation of new ideas and the introduction to new people?

19.   Why is each book compared with a "magic box"?

20.   What is the "magic box" referred to in the poem "Books"?

3. Two Mothers Remembered (by Joann Snow Duncanson)

1.       Who was the speaker's second mother in "Two Mothers Remembered"? Depict her.

2.       How does the poem show the changes in a mother-daughter relationship as time passes?

3.       What would be the speaker's advice to her own children in the poem "Two Mothers Remembered"?

4.       How are the two mothers different from each other in the poem?

5.       What are the responsibilities of children mentioned in "Two Mothers Remembered"?

6.       What does "full circle" mean in the poem "Two Mothers Remembered"?

7.       How are the two mothers the same in the poem "Two Mothers Remembered"?

8.       Why does the poet refer to herself as the strength of her mother?

9.       Who are the three women referred to in the poem, "Two Mothers Remembered"?

10.   What is the theme of the poem "Two Mothers Remembered"?

11.   What role did the first mother play in the poem "Two Mothers Remembered"?

12.   What was the first mother's contribution in the poem?

13.   What are the two different perspectives on motherhood in "Two Mothers Remembered"?

14.   How does the poem "Two Mothers Remembered" inspire empathy?

15.   What does the poem "Two Mothers Remembered" teach about the passage of time?

16.   Who are the two mothers in the poem "Two Mothers Remembered"?

17.   How does the poet describe the "second mother"?

18.   Why should children love their mothers in their old age according to the poem?

19.   What did the first mother do to the speaker?

20.   How does the poet contrast the two mothers in "Two Mothers Remembered"?

4. The Sands of Dee (by Charles Kingsley)

1.       What is the significance of some repeated words/sentences in "The Sands of Dee"?

2.       What feelings does the poem "The Sands of Dee" create in the mind of the readers?

3.       Who is Mary in the poem "The Sands of Dee"?

4.       What was the weather like when Mary went out?

5.       What lesson or message can readers learn from Mary's tragic story in "The Sands of Dee"?

6.       How has the poet described the sea in the poem "The Sands of Dee"?

7.       How does the poet's repetition of words emphasize the mood and theme of the poem "The Sands of Dee"?

8.       What task was Mary given in the poem "The Sands of Dee"?

9.       How does the poet use "imagery" to describe Mary's hair?

10.   What do the boatmen hear after Mary's death?

11.   What are the metaphors (any two) found in the poem "The Sands of Dee"?

12.   Write an example of personification in the poem "The Sands of Dee".

13.   What is the significance of the last line "Across the sands of Dee"?

14.   What does the poet mean by "cruel crawling foam" in "The Sands of Dee"?

15.   What do the sands symbolize in "The Sands of Dee"?

16.   What is the "refrain" in "The Sands of Dee"?

17.   Who is "Mary" calling for in "The Sands of Dee"?

18.   What happened to Mary in the sands of Dee?

19.   How does the poet describe Mary's fate?

20.   What tragic event is described in "The Sands of Dee"?

5. Time, You Old Gypsy Man (by Ralph Hodgson)

1.       What lesson does "Time, You Old Gipsy Man" teach about life?

2.       Why does the poet plead with time to stay in "Time, You Old Gipsy Man"?

3.       What does the poet suggest about human helplessness in "Time, You Old Gipsy Man"?

4.       Why does the poet call time an "old gipsy man"?

5.       What is the main theme of the poem "Time, You Old Gypsy Man"?

6.       What does the speaker ask Time to do?

7.       Why does the poet compare time to a "gipsy man", and what does this image tell us about life?

8.       What feelings or emotions does the speaker express towards Time in the poem?

9.       What request does the poet make to time and what does it suggest in the poem?

10.   Make a list of things the poet will offer time if it stays just for a day.

11.   What does the poet mean by "Put up your caravan / Just for a day?"

12.   Which cities are mentioned in the poem "Time, You Old Gipsy Man"?

13.   What is the significance of "Last week in Babylon, / Last night in Rome"?

14.   How does the poet personify time in "Time, You Old Gipsy Man"?

15.   How does the poet's portrayal of time affect the mood of the poem "Time, You Old Gypsy Man"?

16.   How does the poet describe the movement of time in "Time, You Old Gipsy Man"?

17.   What gifts does the poet offer to Time?

18.   What does "time" symbolize in the poem?

19.   What will the poet offer time if it stays just for a day?

20.   Why does the poet mention Babylon and Rome in "Time, You Old Gipsy Man"?

6. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (by Robert Frost)

1.       How does "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" explore the theme of mortality?

2.       What does the repetition of the last line in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" emphasize?

3.       Why does the poet admire the woods in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"?

4.       Clarify the central message of the poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening".

5.       What do "promises" and "sleep" mean in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"?

6.       What is the main theme of the poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"?

7.       Where does the speaker stop?

8.       Why does the speaker stop to watch the woods, and what might the woods symbolize?

9.       How does the line "And miles to go before I sleep" reflect the speaker's thoughts about life and responsibility?

10.   Why does the poet describe the evening as the darkest of the year in the poem?

11.   Why did the poet stop by the woods though it was dark and he was alone?

12.   What are the promises hinted in the poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"?

13.   What does the poem want to mean by the expression "The woods are lovely, dark and deep"?

14.   How does the poet describe the woods in the last stanza in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"?

15.   What might the poet mean by "promises to keep" in the poem?

16.   What does the poet's horse symbolize in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"?

17.   Why does the poet mention the village in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"?

18.   Whose woods does the speaker stop by?

19.   What time of year is described in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"?

20.   Why does the speaker in "Stopping by Woods" decide to leave?

7. Solitude (by Ella Wheeler Wilcox)

1.       What does "Fast, and the world goes by" suggest in "Solitude"?

2.       What is the poet's view on shared happiness in "Solitude"?

3.       What does the poem "Solitude" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox teach us about how people react to others' happiness and sadness?

4.       Explain — "Laugh, and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone;"

5.       Explain — "Succeed and give, and it helps you live, But no man can help you die."

6.       Why does the earth borrow happiness but not sadness in the poem "Solitude"?

7.       What does the poem "Solitude" say about walking "through the narrow aisles of pain"?

8.       What does the poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox mean by "the sad old earth must borrow its mirth"?

9.       According to the poet, how do people behave when you rejoice in the poem "Solitude"?

10.   What is the poet's perspective on the human tendency to avoid pain in "Solitude"?

11.   How does the poem "Solitude" describe the world's reaction to sadness?

12.   According to the poem "Solitude", when do you have many friends and when do they leave you?

13.   How does the poem "Solitude" depict the relationship between joy and sorrow?

14.   What truth about life and death does the poet express in the line "But no man can help you die"?

15.   How does the poem "Solitude" reflect the poet's view of society?

16.   What emotion is primarily expressed in the poem "Solitude"?

17.   Why do the mountains echo the songs that we sing but not our sighs according to the poem?

18.   What does the poet mean by "Laugh, and the world laughs with you"?

19.   According to "Solitude," what happens during a feast versus a fast?

20.   What is the poet's view on society as reflected in "Solitude"?