Welcome to “Small Towns & The River Workbook Answer : ISC Rhapsody (Evergreen),” where we dive into the profound and evocative poem “Small Towns & The River” featured in the ISC English Literature Rhapsody by Evergreen Publications. In this post, we provide comprehensive answers to multiple-choice and contextual questions, deepening your understanding of this richly textured poem. We meticulously explore the themes of nostalgia, the passage of time, and the intricate relationship between small towns and the life-giving river. Each question serves as a gateway to dissecting the poem, encouraging readers to analyze its vivid imagery, subtle nuances, and the underlying emotions it evokes. Contextual inquiries broaden our canvas for exploration, prompting critical engagement with the socio-cultural backdrop and universal themes reflected in the poem. Through this examination, readers enhance their analytical skills and cultivate a profound appreciation for the poetic artistry and thematic depth. Whether you are a student navigating ISC English Literature or an avid reader exploring the confluence of human life and nature, “ISC Rhapsody: Small Towns & The River Workbook Solutions” promises valuable insights and companionship. Join us on this poetic journey as we illuminate the path to understanding, one workbook solution at a time.
Table of Contents
Poem In Details :
The poem opens with the reference to small towns. The life in smal towns remain unchanging, whether it is summer or winter. It is dull and monotonous. Every other day the news of someone’s death comes and all the people of the town grieve over it. It indicates the closeness of people in small towns. The circle of life and death is continuous. However, the rituals performed by generations are permanent.
In contrast, the river flowing by the towns is permanent. The water flowing in it does not cease. It is another symbal of peace.
In human life, childhood is a carefree period of innocence Children enjoy the present moments and are free from all tensions and worries. Their growing up changes everything. The grown-up people, representing the whole town, become apprehensive about future, about what happnes after death. The dead, according to a ritual observed in the north-east, are placed in the west in the belief that the soul rises out of the body in the east where the sun rises, and ‘walks with the gods.’ The soul’s rebirth is Indicative of its immortality.
Life, according to the poet, despite its impermanence, is beautiful. The sunlight warms the cool bamboo. The cool bamboo’ refers to the human body whereas the sunlight refers to the soul. As the sunlight in vital for any plant, so is life important to keep our soul alive.
Line Wise Explanation :
Lines 1-6
The poem opens on a dramatic statement. Small towns remind the poet of death. We begin to wonder as to what is the relationship between small towns and death This is inate wondery as particular reference to the poet’s own small hometown situated among the trees. The life of this town, as in all other towns, is dull, lifeless both in summer and winter, with the flying dust and howling wind down the gorge. The death- like scene of the small towns is constant.
From this description it is evident that death is the main theme of the poem. The poet also makes us conscious of the duality of life and death. Nature, of which the trees surrounding the town are part, symbolises life, while the town itself symbolises death. Life and death and inextricable.
Lines 7-11
The stanza underlines human mortality and the continueous circle of life and death. It also brings home the closeness of the people in small towns. The poet mentions how the whole town shows the grief and sorrow of the family suffering a death. She tells us how they all wept on hearing the news of a death the other day. Looking at the sad wreath of tuberoses (white flowers) on the bosom of a dead person the poet is reminded of the circle of life and death. The repetition of life and death in Line 4 raiterates that the circle of life and death is continuous. Human life is transient, though the rituals connected with death, observed by generations, are permanent.
Lines 12-16
In the previous two stanzas, the poet reflects on mortality of human life. Here she presents the immortality of nature, of which the river flowing by many small towns, is a small part. The poet personifies the river as a living being with a soul. In summer it flows across lands ‘like a torrent of grief, that is, suddenly and abruptly. As a living person it seems to ‘hold its breath’ looking for ‘a land of fish and stars.’ The whole image is quite complex. The river cutting through the land seeking a land of fish and stars is suggestive of nature (‘river’) having an overwhelming power over everything (land, water and sky).
Lines 17-22
Here the line The river has a soul’ becomes a refrain, as the same has already been used to open the previous stanza. It highlights the importance of the river. personified as a living being with an immortal soul. As it flows throughout the land. by many towns, it is aware of the first drops of rain, touching its surface, drought-like condition on the earth, and mist on the mountaintops. It knows the immortality of water in it-water does not completely dry out. Its presence is permanent, though it is always on the move.
Here the poet seems to contrast the constancy of the town-dull and sadentary with the constancy of nature (river) which is vibrant.
Lines 23-30
The poet here again reverts to human life. The happy pictures of one’s childhood reveal the purity of soul. Children are free from all worries and anxieties about the unknown-death and life after death. Only when they grow up, they begin to be apprehensive and restless about what will happen when they die. ‘Small towns’ here refer to the people living in small towns. They remain tense with the thoughts of mortality.
With reference to a local ritual when one passas away, there is a sudden shift in the mood. The dead are placed towards the west in the belief that the soul will rise from the body and go towards the house of the sun (the east). The rising sun represents a new day, a new beginning and rebirth.
Thus the post conveys the idea of the immortality of human soul.
Lines 31-33
Here the poet compares ‘cool bamboo’ to the human body and the sunlight to human soul (the source of life). Just as the sunlight restores the ‘cool’ bamboo, so does soul to human body. Only when the soul enters the body, the body comes to life.
The poet here admits the importance of life.
Lines 34-35
The poet here says that in small towns people want to live peacefully in the afterlife (all want to walk with gods.) The poet reiterates the fact that there is life beyond death. The soul, instead of entering a new body, may go to the heavens and enjoy the company of gods there. This is a positive idea, which is relished by the people in small towns.
Workbook MCQs :
(i) What kind of poem is ‘Small Towns and the River’?
(a) lyric
(b) reflective
(c) elegy
(d) narrative
Answer :- (c) elegy
(iI) Which of these statements is true?
(a) The poem deals with the immortality of human soul and nature.
(b) The poem deals with only human life.
(c) Nature is the only theme of this poem.
(d) Human beings like to live like gods on the earth.
Answer :- (c) Nature is the only theme of this poem.
(iII) Which of these is personified in the poem?
(a) summer
(b) rain
(c) river
(d) earth
Answer :- (b) rain
(iV) What kind of picture of the poet’s hometown is presented in the poem?
(a) happy
(b) idyllic
(c) gloomy
(d) heavenly
Answer :- (b) idyllic
(v) What does line ‘Life and death, life and death’ indicate?
(a) that people make a lot of fuss about life and death
(b) that life and death are significant
(c) that life and death is an ever-moving cycle
(d) that both life and death are meaningless
Answer :- (a) that people make a lot of fuss about life and death
(vI) The wind howling down the gorge.’ What kind of feeling about the town does this line convey?
(a) of loneliness
(b) of restlessness
(c) of death
(d) of life
Answer :- [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(vII) Which of these is considered to be unchanging by the poet? Select the correct option:
1. towns
2. water in the river
3. rituals
4. life
5. dust
6. wind
(a) 1, 2 and 3
(b) 2, 4 and 6
(c) 2, 3 and 4
(d) 4, 5 and 6
Answer :- [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(vIII) What is ‘cool bamboo’ a metaphor for?
(a) the soul
(b) the wood
(c) the body
(d) nature
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(iX) ‘We all want to walk with the gods. What does it signify?
(a) We want to leave this earth as soon as possible.
(b) We want to compete with gods.
(c) We want to be equal to gods.
(d) We want to live peacefully and happily in after-life.
Answer :- [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(x) Which is the ‘house of the sun’?
(a) the west
(b) the east
(c) the north
(d) the south
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Logic Based Questions :
(i) In a town any death is mourned by all the people because people feel closely related to one another.
(iI) The poet views rituals as permanent because they never change
(iII) The poet repeats ‘life and death’ in the second stanza because it signifies cycle of life and death
(iV) The river to the poet seems to be immortal as it continues flowing
(v) The poet talks of the ‘immortality of water’ as water is a part of nature that never dies
(vI) The poet talks of a ‘shrine of happy pictures’ of childhood because [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(vII) Childhood is the golden period of life because [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(vIII) The dead are placed towards the west because [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(iX) The ‘cool’ bamboo is placed in the sunlight because [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
(x) In small towns people do not want re-birth as [ For Full Workbook Answers , Get The Full E-Book Access – View ]
Short Answer Questions :
(i) How does the poet picture her hometown in the poem?
Answer :- The poet pictures her hometown as a calm place surrounded by trees. It remains unchanged. The wind howls in the valley where the village is located on the banks of a river. The people of the village have a close association with each other and share their grief with others. They believe in certain rituals related to death. They, for example, place their dead pointing west. These people do not want to be reborn. They desire to go to heaven after death.
(iI) What, according to the poet, is transient and what is permanent ?
Answer :- According to the poet human life on this Earth is transient. People take birth and meet death in the end. On the other hand, human soul is permanent. It does not perish. It takes birth again. The poet considers the river, soul and rituals as something permanent. He believes that natural phenomena also remain unchanged and remain forever.
(iII) How does the poet show nature to be immortal ?
Answer :- The poet says that her hometown in the lap of nature does not change. She says, “My hometown lies calmly amidst the trees it is always the same.” The river flowing in the valley knows immortality of water. And the rituals indicating cyclic nature of life are referred to through the words, ‘Life and death life and death’. The poet uses these elements to emphasize that nature is immortal.
(iV) Contrast the period of childhood with that of adulthood in the context of the poem.
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(v) Comment on the use of imagery in the poem.
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Long Answer Questions :
(i) ‘Small Towns and the River’ is essentially a reflective poem.’ Discuss.
Answer :- Mamang Dai’s poem ‘Small Towns and the River,’ concentrates on philosophical ideas concerning life and death. It discusses the questions of immortality and transience in a highly serious manner. The poet talks about these basic issues concerning life in a way that makes this poem her reflection on these matters.
As a reflective poem, it carries clear generalizations about human existence on earth. The poet emphasizes that nature and rituals concerning life are everlasting. On the other hand, human existence on this earth is transient. In order to support these ideas, the poet explains the way a river is something permanent. It keeps on flowing despite the changes around it. In the same way rituals too gain a permanent status because of their repetition like the circle of life.
The thoughtful ideas concerning significant aspects of life presented in a highly serious way make this poem an example of reflective poetry.
(iI) ‘In what way does the poem reflect the Indian way of life and Indian mode of thinking?
Answer :- The poet talks about some important universal aspects of human life. The poemrelates these ideas to the Indian way of life and Indian mode of thinking. It makes the poem have local and global significance.
In the poem, the Indian way is reflected upon through people’s sense of belonging with others. In the Indian villages and small towns, people feel closely associated. The poet mentions how the people, of her town mourned the death of the residents of the town together. She says, “Just the other day someone died. In the dreadful silence we wept.” It shows the emotional nature of these people also. The poem brings out the philosophical views of these people and expresses their way of thinking. These people believe in certain rituals related to death. they keep their dead pointing to the west. According to the Indian belief system life moves in a cyclical way. They believe in life after death. But these people do not like to have rebirth. They want to lead a happy life after death in the company of Gods. All these ideas finding expression in this poem are a part of Indian way of thinking
(iII) In what way does the poet use river as a metaphor in the poem ?
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(iV) The poet is concerned about life, death and spirituality in the poem. Discuss with close reference to the text.
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