The Patriot Question and Answers RTCs :

The Patriot Question and Answers RTCs :

Q1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

It was roses, roses, all the way,

With myrtle mixed in my path like mad: The house-roofs seemed to heave and sway,

The church-spires flamed, such flags they had, A year ago on this very day.

i. Who is the speaker in these lines? What is he describing? What do the flowers

symbolise? 

The speaker in these lines is the patriot.

He is describing the hero's welcome he received a year earlier from the public..

The roses and myrtle symbolise the love and admiration people had for the speaker.

ii. Why were the roofs swaying? What literary device has the poet used here? 

In these lines, the speaker describes the grand welcome he received. So many people had assembled on rooftops to cheer him on, that it seemed as if the buildings were swaying in joy like the people.

The poet has used personification here. He has given the human quality of heaving and swaying to inanimate houses/buildings.

iii. What else do we learn about the extent of the speaker's popularity?

 We further learn that the whole atmosphere was filled with people's cheers and the sound of ringing bells. The extent of the speaker's popularity was such that had he made any demands of the people, they would have gladly fulfilled those demands. They would have even gone to the extent of plucking the sun out of the sky for him.

iv. What was the situation 'on this very day'? 

'On this very day' things were completely different from the situation described in the stanza. Whilst the people showed love and admiration for the speaker a year ago, they now showed complete disdain. Instead of showering the speaker with flowers and love, they pelted stones at him.

v. What is the tone in these lines? Does this tone continue throughout the poem? Why/Why not? 

The tone in these lines is that of joy and enthusiasm.

This, however, changes in later stanzas where the speaker describes his fall from glory. While in the initial two stanzas he is seen as a great hero, from the third to the fifth stanza, the speaker is looked upon in disdain. The tone is these stanzas is that of regret and despair. The tone changes again in the final stanza to hope, as the speaker firmly believes that he would be judged fairly by God.

Q2. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

Alack, it was I who leaped at the sun To give it my loving friends to keep!

Nought man could do, have I left undone:

And you see my harvest, what I reap This very day, now a year is run.

i. What does the speaker mean when he claims that he leaped at the sun'? Explain the allusion in this line. The speaker means that he was overambitious and arrogant. For the sake of his friends, he did some things that were beyond his reach without thinking about the consequences of his actions. He ended up getting burnt in the process.

Here, the poet is alluding or referring to the story of Icarus from Greek mythology. Icarus's father fashioned wings for himself and his son. Icarus, joyous at his newfound power, flew close to the sun and ended up losing the wings because the wax holding the feathers together melted in the sun's heat. As a result, he fell into the sea.

ii. What changed for the speaker in these lines? In the previous stanzas, the rise of the speaker as a hero is highlighted. He is admired and loved by all those around him. However, from this stanza onwards, the patriot's fall from grace is described. Due to his actions, he is seen as a traitor and a criminal by the same people who adored him.

iii. Explain the line 'And you see my harvest, what I reap: Who is 'you' here? 

The term 'harvest here acts as a metaphor for consequences of the patriot's actions. The patriot explains that he took some overambitious steps, but also did everything in his power to set things in order. Yet, the harvest' or consequence was his downfall.

Here, 'you' is the reader. Since the poem is a dramatic monologue, the speaker is directly addressing the reader.

iv. What punishment had the speaker been given? How do we know this? 

The speaker had been sentenced to death and was being led to the gallows.

This is clear from the fact that no one was around to watch the speaker being led to the gallows. The speaker guesses that everyone must be at Shambles gate, that is, the hanging grounds. The speaker even thinks that people would have tried to gather at the foot of the scaffold to get the best view of his end.

v. Is the speaker really a hero? Justify your answer. 

The speaker believes himself to be a hero and is bitter that the people around him are so fickle minded, both forgetting and misunderstanding his sacrifices. In his mind, he tried to do everything in his power. However, as readers we only get to see one side of the story-that of the speaker's. It is not clear what the speaker's misdeeds were. Hence, we cannot truly say whether the speaker really was a hero.

Q3. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

I go in the rain, and, more than needs,

A rope cuts both my wrists behind; And I think, by the feel, my forehead bleeds,

For they fling, whoever has a mind, Stones at me for my year's misdeeds.

i. Where is the speaker going? Why?

The speaker is walking in the rain towards the gallows.

He had been sentenced to death for his wrongdoings of the past year..

ii. How was the crowd's behaviour different that day? 

A year earlier, the crowd gave the speaker a hero's welcome. Rooftops were crowded, cheers rang in the air and flower petals were showered on the speaker.

In contrast, the streets and rooftops were empty that day. The only people who watched him were ill people who were confined to their homes. Instead of flowers, stones were being flung at him. There was so much disdain for the speaker that everyone had already gathered at the hanging grounds to get the best view of his end.

iii. What message does the poet convey through the crowd's actions? 

Through the crowd, the poet is giving the message that fame and glory are impermanent. While you may be a hero one day, you may be considered a villain the very next day. The poet also comments on the human tendency to be fickle minded and forget a person's good deeds if s/he commits a mistake. The public seems to have forgotten the speaker's achievements entirely, and seems to be singularly focused on seeing him punished.

iv. Explain the symbolism in "I go in the rain". 

The line I go in the rain' acts as a symbol for several different elements in the poem. It symbolises the speaker's tense frame of mind as he walks to the gallows. Rain could also be said to wash away the speaker's fame, pride, and dignity or cleanse his soul before his journey to God. Thus, the poet has used the symbol of rain to portray the tense as well as the hopeful elements in the poem.

v. Do you feel the public's anger is justified? Why/Why not?

 It is difficult to judge the public on the basis of what is presented in the poem.

Despite the speaker believing that he had done no wrong and that he had tried his best, it might not be the exact or complete truth. Since the poem is written entirely from the perspective of the speaker, we do not know the nature of the speaker's actions and whether the public's anger was justified.

Q4. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.

Thus I entered, and thus I go!

In triumphs, people have dropped down dead. Paid by the world, what dost thou owe

Me?"God might question; now instead,

Tis God shall repay: I am safer so.

i. What does the speaker mean by the line 'Thus I entered, and thus I go!?

There are two possible interpretations of this line. First, it can be seen as a comparison between the two times the speaker walked through the town. The first time he was treated as a hero and welcomed, and the second time he was punished and being banished from the place.

On a philosophical level, the speaker could be comparing his birth and death. The speaker's entrance in this life as a baby was innocent and uncorrupted. On his exit, too, he would be innocent, as the rain would wash away his sins.

ii. Who are the 'people' the speaker is referring to in these lines?

The speaker is not referring to anyone specific here. He could be referring to other 'heroes' not unlike him who have either given their lives for their country or have fallen from grace in the eyes of the world through no apparent fault of their own.

iii. What has been 'paid by the world?

The debts that the patriot owed for his actions towards his fellow human beings has been paid by the world. By sending him to the gallows and humiliating and hurting him, the public made the patriot face the consequences of his actions.

iv. Why does the speaker think that God would 'repay' him? 

The speaker believes that though he paid for his sins, his good deeds and courage were not given the right recognition. He believes that now that he is in heaven, deservedly so. There, God would judge him justly and reward him for his actions. God would erase the humiliation he suffered at the hands of those on Earth.

v. What kind of poem is this? Give reasons.

The poem The Patriot' is a dramatic monologue. This is clearly seen as there is only one person speaking throughout the poem. We only get the perspective of the patriot in the entire poem and have only his opinions to rely upon to understand all the events described in the poem.

The Patriot by Robert Browning. :-

1. Question and Answers RTCs: http://the-patriot-question-and-answers

2. Context and Summary: http://the-patriot-context-and-summary

3. Themes, Setting, Form and Structure: http://the-patriot-themes-setting-form

4. Literary Devices and Literary Style (Figures of Speech): http://the-patriot-figures-of-speech

5. Character Analysis: http://the-patriot-character-analysis