NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Chapter 19 – A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal (Poem)
Page No: 136
Thinking about the Poem
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
The poet’s reaction to his loved one’s death is not of bitter grief that he could shed out in the form
of tears. On her death, he did not experience any human fears. He just looked at her and wondered how
she looked and what she would experience later. He did not feel any fear. Therefore, it is difficult to say
whether he is experiencing bitter grief or is in a peaceful state of mind.
“She seemed a thing that could not feel
The touch of earthy years.”
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
The poet thinks that she is now a part of nature. After her death, he imagines her buried inside the
earth with other rocks, stones, and trees and rolling around with the earth in its daily rotation. The
following lines express this idea-
Rolled round in earth’s diurnal course
With rocks and stones and trees.
she looked and what she would experience later. He did not feel any fear. Therefore, it is difficult to say
whether he is experiencing bitter grief or is in a peaceful state of mind.
2. The passing of time will no longer affect her, says the poet. Which lines of the poem say this?
Answer
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.”
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
The poet thinks that she is now a part of nature. After her death, he imagines her buried inside the
earth with other rocks, stones, and trees and rolling around with the earth in its daily rotation. The
following lines express this idea-
Rolled round in earth’s diurnal course
With rocks and stones and trees.
