NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English: A Slumber did my spirit seal

Class 9 is the first stepping stone for a student in the competitive world. With the introduction of the CBSE Board Exam for class 10 a few years back, this has become an important gateway for a student. Based on the results of class 9th a student selects his future stream of Science, Commerce or Arts suiting his interest.

Takshila Learning is providing NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English as per the latest syllabus by CBSE. Class 9 is the building block for the CBSE Class 10 Board Exams, not only for your exams but also for your higher studies and career. English is the most essential subject and the knowledge in this field opens up wider career opportunities for the students.

Below you can find the NCERT solution for Class 9th English. You can get a Solution for the all-important question of ” The Fun they Had”

Question 1. “A slumber did my spirit seal”, says the poet. That is, a deep sleep ‘closed off’ his soul (or mind). How does the poet react to his loved one’s death? Does he feel a deep sense of grief? Or does he feel a great peace?

Answer: The poet is shocked and amazed at the death of his loved one. It feels painful and sad. Death does not make anyone feel nice. It is always correlated with sorrow.

Question 2. The passing of time will no longer affect her, says the poet. Which lines of the poem say this?

Answer. “She appeared stuff that could not feel the touch of worldly years”.

Question 3. How does the poet imagine her to be, after death? Does he think of her as a person living in a very happy state (a ‘heaven’)? Or does he see her now as a part of nature? In which lines of the poem do you find your answer?

Answer: The poet visualizes her to be a joined part of nature. No, he does not think so because ‘heaven’ is not a lifeless thing. It is indicated in the line ‘Rolled round in earth’s diurnal course/With rocks and stones and trees’.

Additional questions solved

Short answer type questions

Question 1. What happened to the poet’s beloved?

Answer: The poet’s beloved was dead. The poet recalls her beloved through poetry. Her death has closed or made her soul peaceful. Her death has ceased all human suspicions. She was no more and was beyond the fatal worldly touch.

Question 2. How does she become an inseparable part of nature?

Answer: She becomes a vital part of nature. She is tangled under the surface of the planet and is rolled round in earth’s course with rocks, stones, and trees. She is rolling round in the planet ’s diurnal course. Actually, she has become one with nature or joined part of it.

Question 3. Is she visible? If not, why not?

Answer: No, she is not noticeable or visible because she is no more. She cannot be anticipated with eyes. The poet can imagine her through his soul. She has become a facet of the earth’s diurnal course. She has now become one with rocks, stones, and trees.

Question 4. How will time not affect the poet’s beloved?

Answer: The poet’s beloved is dead and a dead thing becomes eternal. It is a universally conventional fact that eternity is not affected by time or the material world. She cannot hear or feel. She has gone beyond the material world. She is beyond the sense of worldly years now. She has become a component of nature’s diurnal course.

Question 5. How does the poet react to his beloved’s death?

Answer: The loss of the poet’s beloved is so immediate and shocking that his mind, as well as his body, appears to be closed off. A deep slumber has seized hold over him. His spirit seems to be shut. He has lost a sense of worldly consciousness. Her death has cut him off from all worldly fears. A deep slumber has absorbed all his worldly emotions.

Question 6. How does the poet imagine her beloved after her sudden and untimely death?

Answer: Now his beloved is no more a facet of this fatal world. She would be beyond the touch of worldly years. She is beyond the movement and outcome of all five senses, feelings and the earthly body. However, she will become a joined part of nature. She will be rolling round in earth’s diurnal course. She will become one with rocks, stones, and trees.

Long answer type questions

Question 1. Give a brief analysis of the poem ‘A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal’ in your own words.

Answer: In the poem, ‘A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal’ the poet interprets his beloved after her passing. In the first stanza, the poet explains that the death of his beloved made him very depressed and sad. He says that his beloved has now become a non-living thing that cannot feel, sense the touch of anything on the planet earth. In the second stanza, he says that his beloved has no motion and movement. She can neither listen to any sound nor can she see anything. She is tangled under the planet earth and revolves around rocks, stones, and trees.

Question 2. How does the poet react to the untimely, sudden and shocking death of his beloved? What does he imagine her to be after her death?

Answer: The immediate and untimely death of his beloved leaves the poet terrified. It is not easy to portray the poet’s feelings and emotions in words. Actually, a deep slumber ‘sealed’ his heart and soul. He drops as if he were in deep sleep. This deep sleep seems to have shut off his body and spirit. She is no more and will not be dominated by the earthly years as well as by the touch of five material senses. She will feel no action, workout or force. Nor will be able to listen to or see. Yet she will become a joined part of nature. Physical death doesn’t mean that it will be denounced to everlasting death. No, she will roll round in earth’s diurnal course. She will become one with rocks, stones, and trees.

Value-based questions

Question 1. All of us know that nothing is ours permanently, then why do we suffer so much to have more and more?

Answer: It is true that nothing belongs to us forever because one day we have to relinquish all the things on the earth. Nevertheless, people seek for more wealth, fame, knowledge, beauty and even commit a crime, because this is human nature. We cannot distinguish ourselves from such things. If we abandon our greed to have more and more, the world would be a largely better place to live in. People would not go to extremes to accomplish something.