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Chapter 19 – A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal (Poem) Solutions

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 bitter grief? Or does he feel a great peace?

Answer - 1 : -

Though his loved one's death has left the poet numb and the “common human fears” no longer affected him, his reaction cannot be labelled as “bitter grief”. This is because by the end of the poem, we come to know that the poet imagines her to be a part of nature, rotating with the earth on its axis. He takes consolation from the fact that she is still alive in the nature and is beyond life's trials. This promotes the idea that he feels a “great peace” of mind. Thus, we can conclude that the poet's feelings are ambiguous.

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

Answer - 2 : -

The lines of the poem that show that the passing of time will no longer affect her are as follows:

“She seemed a thing that could not feel

The touch of earthy 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 - 3 : -

The poet's imagination does not allow him to think of his dead loved one as a person living in a very happy state or in heaven. Rather he imagines her to be a part of nature, being buried under the earth. She rotates with the earth, along with the stones, rocks and trees.

 The lines in the poem which show this are as follows:

“Rolled round in earth’s diurnal course

With rocks and stones and trees.”

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