NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English How to Tell Wild Animals Poem

NCERT Solutions for CBSE Class 10 English Poem How to Tell Wild Animals are provided here. This poem is written by Carolyn Wells and includes many questions that are important for exams. We have solved all the NCERT questions of the lesson with a detailed explanation that help students to complete their assignments & homework. We have provided NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Poem How to Tell Wild Animals in PDF format so that you can download them for offline use.

Class 10 English Poem How to Tell Wild Animals NCERT Questions and Answers

Thinking about the Poem

Question 1. Does ‘Dyin’ really rhyme with ‘lion’ ? Can you say it in such a way that it does?

Answer: No, ‘Dyin’ does not rhyme with ‘lion’. If we change the pronunciation of lion by speaking it as ‘lying’ then it may rhyme with the word ‘dyin’.

Question 2. How does the poet suggest that you identify the lion and the tiger? When can you do so according to him?

Answer: The poet suggests that if a large and tawny beast in the jungle in the east advances towards us, then it is an Asian lion. We can identify the lion when it roars at us while we are dying with fear. When while roaming, we come across a wild beast that is yellow in colour with black stripes, it is a Bengal tiger. We can identify it when it eats us.

Question 3. Do you think the words ‘lept’ and ‘lep’ in the third stanza are spelt correctly? Why does the poet spell them like this?

Answer: No, the words ‘lept’ and ‘lep’ are spelt incorrectly. The poet has spelled them like this in order to maintain the rhythm of the poem. When spelled this way, they rhyme with the first part of ‘leopard’, thus giving emphasis to ‘leopard’ in each line.

Question 4. Do you know what a ‘bearhug’ is? It’s a friendly and strong hug-such as bears are thought to give, as they attack you! Again, hyenas are thought to laugh and crocodiles to weep (‘crocodile tears’) as they swallow their victims. Are there similar expressions and popular ideas about wild animals in your own language (s)?

Answer: A bearhug is when the bear hugs his prey tightly with both hands and presses him to death.

There are indeed similar expressions and popular ideas about wild animals in every language. For example, in Hindi, we say ‘Magarmach ke aansu aaana’ (Crocodile tears) ‘Haathi ke daant dikhane ke aur, khane ke aur’, ‘Ab pachtaye hot kya jab chidiya chug gai khet’, ‘Girgit ke tarah rang badalna’.

Question 5. Look at the line ‘A novice might nonplus.” How would you write this ‘correctly’? Why is the poet’s ‘incorrect’ line better in the poem?

Answer: The line “A novice might nonplus” can be correctly written as “A novice might be nonplussed”. However, the usage of incorrect line is in sync with the poem as it helps in maintaining the rhyme scheme of the poem. By using the incorrect word ‘nonplus’, it rhymes with ‘thus’.

Question 6. Can you find other examples of poets taking liberties with language, either in English or in your own language? Can you find examples of humorous poems in your own language(s)?

Answer: One can find plenty of examples in poetry where poets take liberties with language. This is called ‘poetic licence’. Poets take such liberties in order to create proper rhyming and rhythm. For example, in the following lines the word ‘prest’ is used instead of ‘pressed’ so that it may rhyme with ‘breast’.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth’s sweat flowing breast

Question 7. Much of the humour in the poem arisesfrom the way language is used. Although the ideas are funny as well. If there are particular lines in the poem that you especially like, share these lines with the class, speaking briefly about what it is about the ideas or the language that you like or find funny.

Answer: The way the poet has used language and ideas in the poem is indeed humourous. The lines from the poem that appears to be funny are “A noble wild beast greets you”. The idea that a wild beast is going to welcome you is quite funny. The language in the line, “He’ll only lep and lep again” is also very humorous. The concept of ‘lep’ from the word ‘leopard’ generates humour