Welcome to “When Great Trees Fall Workbook Solution: ICSE Treasure Chest,” where we embark on a journey through the captivating narrative of ICSE English Literature Treasure Chest Part 2. Within these pages, we meticulously unravel the essence of “When Great Trees Fall” through comprehensive workbook solutions. This post offers comprehensive answers to multiple-choice and contextual questions, deepening your understanding of the timeless tale. Meet the characters and delve into the nuances of character development and thematic exploration. Each question serves as a gateway to dissecting the text, urging readers to analyze subtle nuances and extract deeper meanings. Contextual inquiries broaden our canvas for exploration, encouraging critical engagement with socio-cultural backdrops and universal themes. Through this examination, readers sharpen analytical skills and develop a profound appreciation for literary craftsmanship. Whether a student navigating ICSE English Literature or an avid reader unraveling beloved stories, “When Great Trees Fall Workbook Solutions” promises valuable companionship. Join us on this literary journey as we illuminate the path to understanding, one workbook solution at a time.
Table of Contents
Poem Summary :
The Poem in Detail
Stanza 1
When big trees in the forest fall their impact is felt far and wide. The rocks on distant hills feel the vibrations and ‘shudder’. It suggests that landscape itself trembles with fear. Similarly, lions crouch low’ and even elephants move slowly in search of ‘safety.’
All the three things mentioned above, i.e., rocks, lions, elephants—are associated with steadfastness and strength. Large rocks on the hill tops are heavy and immobile; lions are supposed to be fearsome predators, the kings of the jungle; whereas, elephants are enormous, slow-moving creatures. Yet all these figures feel the impact of the falling trees with fear. Thus, the falling of ‘great trees,’ the poem conveys, shakes up everything around them.
Stanza 2
In this stanza, the speaker says that not only huge animals but also smaller creatures, are impacted by the fall of the big trees in the woods. They recoil into total silence and are so shaken and shocked that they can not feel anything at all, let alone fear.
Stanza 3
This stanza reveals the speaker’s shift from the use of metaphor of trees to directly talk about the death of great people or ‘great souls’.
When great people die, it leaves a vacuum in the lives of the bereaved, i.e. it appears as if all the air has been sucked out of a room and it becomes hard to breathe. In other words, they (the bereaved) take small, shallow breaths; they feel they are not really living but only surviving.
The speaker has used the plural pronoun ‘us’ here. This suggests the fact that these ‘great souls’ touched the lives of many people, and so their loss is felt widely. The use of such pronouns throughout the poem also implies that the loss of ‘great souls’ affects entire humanity.
The speaker suggests that the bereaved find their ‘senses’ overwhelmed by the loss of their loved ones. Their eyes see only briefly.” These short bursts of sight are tinged by ‘a hurtful clarity.” Here, it is suggested that most of the time, after the death of a loved one, the bereaved seem to see nothing at all; and when they do see, it becomes too painfully clear to them that the world has changed forever, that things will never be the same without the ‘great soul’ they are grieving.
The speaker then goes on to say that mourning seems to intensify ‘memory’ by making recollections ‘suddenly sharper’. The bereaved remember the moments spent with their loved one, whom they have lost. In fact, their memory ‘gnaws’ on missed opportunities, suggesting that people find themselves unable to stop themselves from thinking about all the things they should have said to and the time they should have spent with the recently deceased.
The word ‘gnaws’ here is suggestive of the fact that with loss comes a terrible emptiness and the grieving allows the bereaved to keep this emptiness at bay by ‘gnawing’ on what could have been. The speaker is referring to the feelings of regret that often plague a person who has lost someone dear. This regret may be due to the kind words unsaid’ or the ‘promised walks never taken.’ Having never fulfilled these intentions leaves the bereaved person with a gnawing pain of despair and regret.
Stanza 4
This stanza begin with the words—‘Great souls die,” suggesting that death is an inarguable fact of life. The loss of these souls truly alters a person’s ‘reality’. This is because their ‘reality’ was ‘bound’ to these souls. When such souls are gone, the world appears unrecognisable, turned upside down.
The speaker then makes a comparison between ‘great trees’ and ‘great souls’ by saying that like ‘great trees’ in the forest provide shelter and sustenance for many creatures, great people support and nourish those around them. When such people leave the world, those left behind are robbed of this nourishment that they (the great souls) provided. They feel their ‘souls’ are suddenly starving and have shrunk to become shrivelled up. Similarly, they lose their ‘minds,’ which were formed/and informed’ by the ‘radiance’ of those they have lost.
Here the terms formed’ and ‘informed’ emphasise the immense influence these great souls had; they did not simply inform the people but shaped their way of thinking, forming’ their very minds. Here, it is worth remembering that Maya Angelou wrote this poem in response to the death of James Baldwin, whose writing and ideas certainly shaped the way many, including her, saw the world.
The speaker says that despite the loss due to the death of a loved one, the bereaved ‘are not so much maddened’ to have been reduced to the unutterable ignorance of dark cold caves. In other words, the despair felt by the bereaved person is described as a ‘cold dark cave.’ The feeling of despair is so strong that it seems unutterable. Another connotation of ‘dark, cold/caves’ is the loneliness and incomprehension that accompany such a loss.
Stanza 5
The last stanza, like all the stanzas before it, begins with anaphora-this time with an ‘And’ placed in front of the repeated phrase : ‘And when great souls die This ‘And’ conveys that the speaker is finally winding up things. Here, the speaker instead of talking about the immense grief at the loss of ‘great souls’ talks about what eventually fills in the empty spaces left behind by the great souls.
The speaker seems to suggest that time allows healing to occur and ‘a period of peace blooms’ eventually. The use of the word ‘blooms’ suggests that healing follows grief just as spring flowers inevitably follow the emptiness of winter. So ‘peace’ comes ‘slowly and always/irregularly.’ The speaker then goes onto say, ‘Spaces fill/with a kind of/soothing electric vibration’ suggesting that there exists a comforting feeling, a new spark of something coming to life.
When the loved one departs from this world, there appear to be gaping holes in the world. However, these holes do not last forever. The speaker says grief, fear and despair do not last forever and eventually, ‘Our senses’ are restored. This allows people to think, feel, and perceive the world again, although the perception I will never be the same’ as it was earlier.
But they feel their ‘senses’ ‘whisper’ to them to remind them that those ‘great souls’ who died ‘existed.’ Although they are gone now, nothing can change the fact that those souls once were here and that they inspired those who knew them. The living, the speaker says, can continue to Be’ and ‘be/better’ knowing that the great souls were with them at one point of time.
The repetition of They existed’ emphasises that death does not change the fact that these people lived and shed their ‘radiance’ all around them. And their existence will continue to inspire the bereaved to keep on living and try to make the world a better place in spite of the pain they suffered after losing the ‘great souls’.
Workbook MCQs :
1. Which of the following poetic devices is used in the title of the poem?
(a) Simile
(b) Metaphor
(c) Personification
(d) Metonymy
Answer :- (b) Metaphor
2. What happens to the ‘small things’ when great trees fall?
(a) They die due to shock
(b) They look up to large things for shelter
(c) They curl up in silence
(d) None of the above.
Answer :- (c) They curl up in silence
3. Which figure of speech is used in the line given below?
‘the air around us becomes light, rare, sterile.”
(a) Asyndeton
(b) Anaphora
(c) Refrain
(d) Polyptoton
Answer :- (a) Asyndeton
4. Which of the following poetic devices is used in the lines given below?
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,/see with
(a) Anaphora
(b) Polyptoton
(c) Epizeuxis
(d) Epistrophe
Answer :- (d) Epistrophe
5. What is suggested by the phrase-memory ‘gnaws on?
(a) The phase of forgetfulness
(b) Time spent on grieving for the dead
(c) Unsaid words and unkept promises
(d) None of the above.
Answer :- (c) Unsaid words and unkept promises
6. How do the survivors see the world after the departure of the great souls from this world?
(a) The world becomes unrecognisable
(b) The world remains the same
(c) The world loses its beauty
(d) All of the above.
Answer :- (a) The world becomes unrecognisable
7. Which figure of speech is used in the line given below? ‘Our minds, formed and informed by their radiance,…..’
(a) Alliteration
(c) Metaphor
(b) Simile
(d) Polyptoton
Answer :- (d) Polyptoton
8. What is suggested by the line- ‘Our minds, formed and informed?
(a) The great souls remain in our mind
(b) The great souls shape the way people think
(c) The great souls have great minds
(d) The great souls cannot touch the minds of people.
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
9. The image of ‘dark, cold caves’ conveys which of the following?
(a) Loneliness and incomprehension that accompanies the loss of great souls.
(b) The feeling of despair felt by the bereaved.
(c) The world after the departure of great souls.
(d) Both (a) and (b)
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
10. What is suggested by Maya Angelou when she says, ‘after a period peace blooms?
(a) Healing follows grief
(b) Peace occurs while remembering the great souls
(c) People remain silent during the period of mourning
(d) None of the above.
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
11. How does the speaker think that the bereaved can continue to ‘Be and be better?
(a) By forgetting the departed souls after sometime
(b) By the inspiration provided by the great souls
(c) By accepting the fact that they are gone forever
(d) None of the above.
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
12. Which of the following lines contains the same literary device as the one in the, title, When Great Trees Fall?
(a) Were gathered there for vengeance and I knew
That if I dipped my hand the spawn would clutch it.
(b) The woods decay, the woods decay and fall
The vapours weep their burden to the ground.
(C) Admit impediments, love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
(d) In small towns by the river
We all want to walk with the gods.
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
Workbook Questions :
Extract 1
When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.
(i) State three effects of the fall of great trees in the forest?
Answer :- Three effects of the fall of great trees in the forest are:
- Rocks on distant hills shudder.
- Lions hunker down in tall grasses.
- Even elephants lumber after safety.
(iI) Why do the ‘Rocks on distant hills shudder What is suggested by their shuddering?
Answer :- The rocks on distant hills shudder because they are impacted by the reverberations caused by the fall of great trees. Their shuddering suggests the magnitude of the event and its effect on the surrounding environment.
(iII) Lions are regarded as fearsome predators. Still they ‘hunker down in tall grasses”? Why? What does their fear symbolise?
Answer :- Lions, despite being fearsome predators, hunker down in tall grasses as a response to the disturbance caused by the fall of great trees. Their fear symbolizes the disruption of their natural habitat and the instinctual need to seek safety and protection.
(iV) (a) Explain briefly the meaning of the line : “…..and even elephants lumber after safety.”
(b) Which figure of speech is used in the above line?
Answer :- (a) The line “even elephants lumber after safety” means that even elephants, which are typically considered large and powerful animals, move slowly and cautiously in search of safety after the fall of great trees. They are concerned about their well-being and seek refuge from the potential dangers posed by the disturbance.
(b) The figure of speech used in the line is a metaphor, where the movement of elephants is compared to “lumbering,” indicating their slow and heavy gait as they move cautiously.
(v) Explain with examples the metaphoric use of ‘trees’ in the poem.
Answer :- The metaphorical use of “trees” in the poem represents individuals or entities that are significant, influential, or powerful in society. Just as trees provide shelter, stability, and protection in a forest, these “great trees” symbolize figures of authority, leadership, or inspiration whose presence is fundamental to the well-being and security of others. Their fall represents the loss of such figures and the subsequent impact on the surrounding environment, causing upheaval and uncertainty.
Extract 2
When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.
(i) What are the ‘small things’ referred to in this extract? What happen to them when great trees fall?
Answer :- The “small things” referred to in this extract are likely the smaller organisms, creatures, or elements present in the forest ecosystem. When great trees fall, these small things recoil into silence, suggesting a reaction of retreat or withdrawal from the disturbance caused by the falling trees.
(iI) What are the ‘small things’ contrasted with in the previous extract of the poem?
Answer :- In the previous extract, the “small things” are contrasted with large, powerful entities like rocks on distant hills, lions, and elephants.
(iII) What happens to the ‘senses’ of small things when great trees fall? How can this be compared with those of the human beings?
Answer :- When great trees fall, the senses of small things are eroded beyond fear, indicating a state of shock or trauma. This can be compared to the numbing effect of trauma on human beings, where extreme events can overwhelm the senses to the point where fear is surpassed, and a sense of numbness or detachment prevails.
(iV) State two poetic devices used in this extract. Give an example of each.
Answer :- Two poetic devices used in this extract are:
- Personification: The personification of “small things” recoiling into silence suggests a human-like response to the event, attributing human qualities to non-human entities.
- Metaphor: The metaphorical use of “senses eroded beyond fear” compares the impact of the fall of great trees on the senses of small things to erosion, implying a gradual wearing away or degradation beyond the capacity for fear.
(v) Explain briefly how do the fall of great trees impact both big and small things.
Answer :- The fall of great trees impacts both big and small things by disrupting the natural balance and harmony of the forest ecosystem. Large entities like rocks, lions, and elephants react to the physical disturbance caused by the falling trees, while smaller organisms and creatures retreat into silence, experiencing a numbing effect on their senses. Overall, the event creates a sense of upheaval and vulnerability for all elements of the forest ecosystem.
Extract 3
When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.
(i) What is the effect of the death of great souls on the air around us? What does it suggest?
Answer :- The death of great souls has an effect on the air around us, making it “light, rare, sterile.” This suggests a profound change in the atmosphere, indicating a sense of loss, emptiness, and absence left behind by the departed souls.
(iI) Which figure of speech is used in the lines given below? What does it suggest?
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,/see
Answer :- The figure of speech used in the lines “We breathe, briefly. Our eyes, briefly, see” is anaphora. It emphasizes the brevity and fleeting nature of life, highlighting the transient moments experienced after the death of great souls.
(iII) What do our eyes see with ‘hurtful clarity’? Why?
Answer :- Our eyes see with “hurtful clarity,” suggesting that in the wake of loss, our perception becomes sharper and more acute. We become acutely aware of the absence of the departed soul, as well as the things left unsaid and the promises unfulfilled.
(iV) What happens to ‘Our memory’ after the death of a loved one?
Answer :- After the death of a loved one, “Our memory” becomes suddenly sharpened, examining and gnawing on kind words unsaid and promised walks never taken. This indicates a heightened awareness of missed opportunities and unfulfilled connections, as well as a deep sense of regret and longing for what could have been.
(v) Explain how does this extract portray the feelings of despair and regret felt by the bereaved person after the loss of someone close.
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
Extract 4
Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance, fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance of
dark, cold
caves.
(i) What happens to ‘our reality’ when great souls die?
Answer :- When great souls die, “our reality” takes leave of us. This suggests a profound disruption and disorientation in our understanding of the world, as the departure of great souls fundamentally alters our perception of reality.
(iI) Explain how do our souls depend on great souls for their nurture. What happens when these great souls depart?
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
(iII) (a) Which figure of speech is used in the line given below:
Our minds formed/and informed…
(b) How do the great souls impact our minds?
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
(iV) Why does the speaker say that ‘we are not so much maddened?
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
(v) Explain the connotations associated with the phrase ‘dark, cold caves.”
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
Extract 5
And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.
(i) How does peace bloom after a period?
Answer :- Peace blooms after a period slowly and always irregularly, indicating that the process of healing and reconciliation takes time and occurs in an unpredictable manner. It suggests that the restoration of peace is gradual and may not follow a linear trajectory.
(iI) Which ‘Spaces’ is the speaker talking about? How are these spaces filled?
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
(iII) How are our senses restored? What do they whisper to us?
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
(iV) Which poetic device is used in—They existed. They existed.” What is suggested by this repetition?
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
(v) Explain how does this extract signify the role played by ‘great souls’ or immensely talented people to bring about massive cultural change.
Answer :- ( For Full Answers Get The Workbook Answers PDF – View )
