( Updated For ICSE 2026 Session )
Welcome to “The Power Of Music Workbook Ans: ICSE Treasure Chest (Evergreen),” your guide to unraveling the mysteries of the poem “The Power Of Music,” featured in the ICSE English Literature Treasure Chest by Evergreen Publications. In this post, we provide comprehensive answers to the workbook questions, helping you delve into the evocative imagery and themes of the poem.
Explore each line and stanza with meticulous answers to multiple-choice and contextual questions that deepen your understanding of the poem’s exploration of the unseen and the supernatural. Through these solutions, we dissect the poet’s use of language, symbolism, and mood to evoke a sense of mystery and introspection.
The contextual inquiries encourage you to engage critically with the poem, prompting a closer look at the broader implications of its themes, such as the presence of spirits and the intersection between the physical and spiritual realms. This analysis sharpens your literary skills and appreciation for the craftsmanship behind the poem.
Whether you’re a student navigating ICSE English Literature or a poetry enthusiast drawn to the spectral world of “The Power Of Music,” this workbook answer guide serves as a valuable companion. Join us on this literary journey as we shed light on the poem’s intricate details, one answer at a time.
Table of Contents
Poem In Details :
The speaker tells us that when summer comes they hear the loud singing of Bhisma Lochan Sharma. His loud discordant voice is heard on the hills and in the valleys from Delhi to Burma. He is determined to sing as if he had bet his life on it. The people rattled by his harsh voice run in panic and get trampled or become pale and sick. They plead with him to stop singing, but their words fall on deaf ears.
Bullock-carts are overturned. Horses whine and raise their legs in the air in protest. The fishes dive deep in water in search of silence. Even the trees collapse so loudly that their sounds can be heard far away. In the sky the birds lose control over their wings and turn turtle. The sky weeps to hear his harsh notes. But Bhisma’s voice continues to rattle all.
At last a wise male goat comes, chases the singer and hits him hard bellowing loudly. Bhisma’s song at last comes to an end and the world gets ‘the golden gift of silence’,The poet decided not to kill the tiny creature, thinking that the mite had its own mind. He refrained from killing it not because he believed in indiscriminate love for all human beings but because the mite being an intelligent creature deserves an opportunity to live. He is happy to find on his paper the least display of mind (by the mite). So he allowed the mite to lie there till it slept.
Line Wise Explanation :
Lines 1-12
(When summer quickly!)
The poet describes humorously as to how bad and loud music has an adverse impact on the listeners. During summer Bhisma Lochan Sharma sings so loudly and discordantly that his voice resounds in the hills and in valleys from Delhi to Burma. He is a stubborn fellow. He continues to sing as if he has bet his life on his singing. The people are so dazed that they run away in panic though they know that the singer has no bad intention. A stampede is thus caused and people get trampled. Else they become pale and sick on listening to his raucous sound continuously. They plead with him to stop singing for they can bear no more, but to no avail.
Words and phrases used here are unusual. The situation is fantastic. The use of hyperbole is in consonant with the form of the poem. The intended effect is comical.
Lines 13-20
(The bullock-carts confounded)
Not only humans but animals also get badly affected by Bhisma’s singing. We cannot help laughing at the exaggeration. On hearing Bhisma’s voice the bullock-carts are overturned. Horses refuse to work and stand along the road. The moment they hear the blast of Bhisma’s singing they cry out in pain, stare and raise their feet in the air. They wonder what is happening.
The whole situation is made-up and the exaggeration adds to the humour.
Lines 21-32
(The fish tumble)
The poet skilfully builds up a humorous atmosphere to appeal to our minds. We are told that even fishes, troubled by Bhisma’s loud, irritating voice, dive in the lake in search of silence. The trees collapse with such a sound as can be heard a mile away. In the sky birds lose control over their wings and turn turtle.
The human listeners plead with the eccentric singer to stop singing. But the singer pays no heed to their requests and complaints. His voice soars higher and higher. Even the sky weeps to hear his loud, unpleasant noise. Mighty buildings also get affected and collapse.
Lines 33-40
(But now silence)
A miracle happens. It is quite amusing nonetheless. A wise male goat appears on the scene. Bending his head he chases and hits the singer with his horns. His loud noise (bellowing) matches the singer’s. The singer is tossed up in the air by the violent blow of the goat’s horns. His song comes to an end and the listeners heave a sigh of relief.
Workbook MCQs :
Read the following questions and select the correct option:
1. Which of the following lines contains the same literary device as the one in this line in the poem – The welkin weeps to hear his screech’?
(a) A fair breeze blow, the white foam flow
(b) Frail as a dragon – fly’s wing
(c) Ten thousand saw I at a glance
(d) Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me.
Answer:- (d) Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me.
2. Select the option that shows the correct relationship between these two statements.
Statement 1: Bhisma sang very loudly and discordantly.
Statement 2: All were highly upset with his singing.
(a) 1 is the cause for 2.
(b) 1 is an example of 2.
(c) 1 is independent of 2.
(d) 1 is a contradiction of 2.
Answer:- (a) 1 is the cause for 2.
3. ‘And Bhisma Lochan grants the world the golden/gift of silence’. What does this line convey?
(a) fear
(b) joy
(c) sense of relief
(d) indifference
Answer:- (c) sense of relief
4. Which poetic device used repeatedly in the poem creates humour?
(a) simile
(b) hyperbole
(c) metaphor
(d) alliteration
Answer:- (b) hyperbole
5. Select the option that shows the most funny event in the poem.
(a) collapsing of the trees
(b) turning turtle of the flies
(c) whining of the horses
(d) diving down of the fishes
Answer:- (b) turning turtle of the flies
6. What kind of poem is “The Power of Music’?
(a) serious
(b) light-hearted
(c) ironical
(d) elegiac
Answer:- (b) light-hearted
7. What kind of person was Bhisma Lochan Sharma ?
(a) pleasant
(b) stubborn
(c) gentle
(d) arrogant
Answer:- (b) stubborn
8. Which of these statements is NOT true?
(a) Human listeners cannot tolerate Bhisma’s noisy singing.
(b) Animals too protest against Bhisma’s noisy singing.
(c) Only the sky remains watching carelessly.
(d) Big trees and buildings collapse under the impact of Bhisma’s loud voice.
Answer:- (c) Only the sky remains watching carelessly.
9. Which of these animals are pitied?
(a) horses
(b) goats
(c) fishes
(d) flies
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10. In what state of mind are the human listeners?
(a) cheerful
(b) dazed
(c) indifferent
(d) sullen
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11. Which of these collapse on hearing Bhisma’s voice?
(a) roads
(b) building and trees
(c) bridges
(d) none of the above
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12. The satire in the poem is directed against
(a) bad, loud singing
(b) human listeners
(c) fishes
(d) horses
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13. The welkin weeps to hear his screech.’ Which literary device is used here?
(a) simile
(b) metaphor
(c) hyperbole
(d) personification
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14. How is the billy goat described in the poem ?
(a) foolish
(b) intelligent
(c) silly
(d) eccentric
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15. Despite their irritation people agree that the song is .
(a) harmful
(b) well-meant
(c) moralistic
(d) sensuous
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Comprehension Passages :
Passage – 1
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
When summer comes, we hear the hums
Bhisma Lochan Sharma
You catch his strain on hill and plain from Delhi down to Burma
He sings as though he’s staked his life, he sings
as though he’s hell-bent;
(I) Who is Bhisma Lochan Sharma? How does he sing?
Answer:- Bhisma Lochan Sharma is a singer. His songs are unpleasant and irritating.
(II) In Lines 3-4 the poet uses a hyperbole. What is its purpose?
Answer:- The poet in lines 3-4 uses hyperbole and says that the songs of Bhisma Lochan Sharma can be heard from Delhi to Goa. Its purpose is to amuse the readers and also to indicate how the songs of this person spread far and wide.
(III) What kind of person is Bhisma?
Answer:- Bhisma is a stubborn and irritating person.
(IV) How are people affected by his song, as revealed later in the context?
Answer:- People are adversely affected by his songs. They feel dazed and have turned pale.
(V) What do they plead with Bhisma? Does he listen to them? If not, why not?
Answer:- They plead him to stop singing. No, he does not listen to them because he is stubborn and is fully involved in his singing.
Passage – 2
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
The people, dazed, retire amazed although they
know it’s well-meant.
They’re trampled in the panic rout or languish pale and sickly,
And plead, ‘My friend, we’re near our end, oh
stop your singing quickly!’
(I) What has confounded the people?
Answer:- People are confounded by the shril and unpleasant song of Bhisma Lochan Sharma.
(II) What do they plead to Bhisma?
Answer:- They plead to Bhisma to stop singing as his song is causing much trouble to them.
(III) How does Bhisma’s music affect them?
Answer:- Bhisma’s music has turned them sick. They feel dazed and confounded.
(IV) What do they want?
Answer:- They want Bhisma to stop singing immediately.
(V) Who else besides humans are affected by Bhisma’s singing? How?
Answer:- Besides humans the others affected by Bhisma’s singing are animals, fish and birds. Their behaviour has undergone a change because of Bhisma’s singing.
Passage – 3
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
The bullock-carts are overturned, and horses
line the roadside;
But Bhisma Lochan, unconcerned, goes
booming out his broadside.
The wretched brutes resent the blare the hour
they hear it sounded,
They whine and stare with feet in air or wonder
quite confounded.
(I) How are people affected by Bhisma’s singing?
Answer:- People are dazed by Bhisma’’s singing. They feel sick and confounded because of his songs.
(II) What happens to bullock-carts and horses?
Answer:- The bullock-carts are turned upside down. The horses line up the roadside in surprise.
(III) Who are wretched brutes? Why do they behave abnormally?
Answer:- The “wretched brutes’ are the animals affected by the song of Bhisma Sharma. They behave abnormally because of the impact of the singing by Bhisma.
(IV) Explain the last two lines.
Answer:- The last two lines present an amusing scene created because of the impact of Bhisma’s singing on the animals. The horses whine and look confounded. Their feet are turned upwards in air and they look wonderstruck.
(V) Even fishes in the lake are affected by Bhisma’s singing? What do they do? .
Answer:- The fishes are so affected by Bhisma’’s singing that they dived into the deep waters of the lake in search for silence.
Passage – 4
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
The fishes dived below the lake in frantic search
for silence,
The very trees collapse and shake – you hear the
crash a mile hence –
And in the sky the feathered fly turn turtle while
they’re winging.
(I) What exaggerated situations has the poet depicted earlier in the context ? What affect do they create?
Answer:- The exaggerated situations depicted by the poet are of the animals turning their feet upwards in air, fishes diving into the lake in search for silence. They create a comic and amusing effect.
(II) Why do the fishes dive below the lake?
Answer:- The fishes dive below the lake in search for silence as the singing of Bhisma has troubled them also.
(III) What happens to trees?
Answer:- The trees fall down on the ground or shake violently because of the effect of the unpleasant singing by Bhisma Lochan Sharma.
(IV) What is amusing about the image of the flying birds in Lines 5-6 here?
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(V) Which, according to you, is the most absurd situation depicted in the poem?
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Passage – 5
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
Again we cry. “We’re going to die, oh won’t you
stop your singing?”
But Bhisma’s soared beyond our reach, howe’er
we plead and grumble;
The welkin weeps to hear his screech, and mighty
mansions tumble.
(I) Who are we? Why have they to plead repeatedly with Bhisma to stop singing?
Answer:- The word ‘we’ here refers to the people who are forced to hear Bhisma’s singing. They have to plead Bhisma to stop singing as his singing is unmusical, irritating and unpleasant.
(II) Who are badly affected by Bhisma’s singing?
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(III) What is personified in this extract? What is the purpose?
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(IV) In what way are you affected when you read about the fate of humans, animals and even non-living things impacted by unpleasant voice of the singer?
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(V) Who ultimately stops Bhisma from singing and how?
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Passage – 6
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :
But now there comes a billy goat, a most
sagacious fellow,
He downs his horns and charges straight, with
bellow answ’ring bellow.
The strains of song are tossed and whirled by
blast of brutal violence,
And Bhisma Lochan grants the world the golden
gift of silence.
(I) Who have failed to stop Bhisma’s song? Why are they unhappy?
Answer:- The people suffering due to the screeching and shrill singing of Bhisma try to make him stop singing. But they do not succeed. They are unhappy as Bhisma does not relent and continues troubling them with his unpleasant singing.
(II) How is the billy goat presented here ?
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(III) In what way does the goat hit the singer, and to what effect ?
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(IV) What do you mean by the ‘golden gift of silence’?
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(V) What is meant by, ‘bellow answering bellow’.
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