Asleep In The Valley SAQ (Short Questions and Answers) - Arthur Rimbaud - WB H.S

Class-XII

Poetry

Asleep In The Valley

-Arthur Rimbaud

Asleep In The Valley SAQ

Short Questions and Answers (SAQ)

1 Who is the poet?

Ans : Arthur Rimbaud is the poet.

2. How does the slow stream look like?

Ans : The slow stream looks like long strands of silver. 

3. Where does the slow stream flow?

Ans : The slow stream flows through the small green valley in the poem.

4. What was Rimbaud’s nationality?

Ans: Rimbaud was a French poet.

5. What type of poem is “Asleep in the Valley”?

Ans : This is a sonnet.

6.What is the theme of the poem?

Ans : The theme of the poem is war/futility of war.

7. What are the two adjectives used to describe the valley?

Ans : The two adjectives used to describe the valley are ‘small’ and ‘green’.

8. How does the stream flow through the valley?

Ans : The stream flows in slow pace through the valley.

9. What does the first line of the poem tell us?

Ans : The first line of the poem tells us that a stream close slowly through a green hollow.

10. Who sleeps in the valley?

Ans : A young soldier is asleep in the valley.

11. Where from does the stream of the sun-rays come?

Ans : The stream of sun-rays comes from the mountaintop.

12. How old is the soldier who is asleep in the valley?

Ans : The soldier is very young.

13. Where do the soldier’s feet lie?

Ans : The soldier’s feet are among the flowers.

14. What plays the role of pillow of the soldier?

Ans : Ferns are used as the pillow under the head of the sleeping soldier.

15. What has nature served to the feet of the soldier?

Ans : Nature has given some wild flowers to the feet of the soldier.

16. What is the soldier’s pillow made of?

Ans : The soldier’s pillow is made of fern.

17. How does the soldier lie?

Ans : The soldier lies open-mouthed.

18. Where is the soldier sleeping?

Ans : The soldier is sleeping in a beautiful sunlit valley.

19. What does the expression ‘heavy undergrowth’ refer to?

Ans : The expression ‘heavy undergrowth’ refers to the bushes and plants among which the soldier is asleep.

20. How does the poet bring out the innocence of the soldier in “Asleep in the Valley”? 

Ans: The poet brings out the innocence of the soldier by describing the soldier’s smile which is like an infant’s – gentle, without guile.

21. Why is the soldier pale?

Ans: The soldier is dead because he is dead lying in green, sun-soaked bed in the valley.

22.”He sleeps in sunlight.” – Mention the figure of speech used here.

Ans: The figure of speech alliteration is used here because the same consonants ‘S’ and ‘L’ have been reportedly used in nearly two successive words.

23. Where does the soldier lie stretched?

Ans: The soldier lies stretched in the heavy undergrowth of the small green valley.

24. Where does the stream leave “long strands of silver”? 

Ans: The stream leaves “long strands of silver” on the bright grass of the small valley where a soldier lies dead.

25. What are the sun rays compared to in the poem “Asleep in the Valley”?

Ans: In the poem “Asleep in the Valley”, the sun rays are compared to a stream gliding from the mountaintop.

26. Why does the poet Arthur Rimbaud apprehend that the soldier may catch cold?

Ans: The poet Arthur Rimbaud apprehends that the soldier may catch cold because he is lying out in the open sky in the green valley.

27. What is the smile of the dead soldier compared to in the poem “Asleep in the Valley”?

Ans: The smile of the dead soldier is compared to the gentle and innocent smile of a little child.

28. What is the original title of the poem “Asleep in the Valley “?

Ans: The original title of the poem “Asleep in the Valley” is  “Le Dormeur du Val”. It means “The Sleeper of the Valley”.

29. What do the ‘two red holes’ in the poem “Asleep in the Valley” signify?

Ans: The ‘two read holes’ in the poem “Asleep in the Valley” signify that the soldier has been dead.

30. What is described as ‘gentle, without guile’?

Ans: The smile of the dead soldier is described as ‘gentle, without guile’.

31. How is the bed of the dead soldier?

Ans: The bed of the dead soldier is warm, green and sun-soaked.

32. What type of sonnet is “Asleep in the Valley”?

Ans: “Asleep in the Valley” is an Italian sonnet.

33. Mention the background that the poet uses in “Asleep in the Valley”?

Ans: The Franco Prussian War is used as the background for the poem “Asleep in the Valley”.

34. Why has the poet capitalised the ‘Sun’ in the expression “Sun’s rays”?

Ans: The poet has capitalised ‘Sun’ in the expression “Sun’s rays” in order to personify the sun as a human being.

35. What fills the hollow with light?

Ans: The sun rays fill the hollow with light.

36. Who wrote “Le Dormeur du Val”?

Ans: Jean Nicholas Arthur Rimbaud wrote “Le Dormeur du Val”.

37. What do the ‘two red holes’ depict?

Ans: The ‘two red holes’ depict the wounds of bullets marked by blood.

38. What comes from the mountain top?

Ans: The sun’s rays come from the mountain top.

39. What does the poet apprehend?

Ans: The poet apprehends that the soldier may catch cold.

40. How is the valley in the “Asleep in the Valley”?

Ans: The valley is green and small where a slow stream is flowing.

41. What kind of bed did the soldier lie on?

Ans: The soldier lay on a green, warm, sun-soaked bed in the poem “Asleep in the Valley”.

42. Who only can smile like the soldier in the poem “Asleep in the Valley “?

Ans: Only an infant can smile like the soldier in the poem “Asleep in the Valley”.