Question

A slumber did my spirit seal-
I had no human fears.
She seemed a thing that could not feel
The touch of earthly years.
No motion has she now, no force –
She neither hears nor sees,
Rolled round in earth’s diurnal course
With rocks and stones and trees.

Questions :

(1) What kind of poem is this?
(2) ‘She seemed a thing’ what do these words suggest?
(3) Identify the Figure of Speech in the following line :
‘She neither hears nor sees.’

Answer 1

(1) This poem is an ‘elegy’ written on the death of the poet’s beloved.

(2) This words suggest that the poet’s beloved has died and now she is a thing, i.e., an inanimate object.

(3) The Figure of Speech in the line – ‘She neither hears nor sees’ is Litotes. With two negative words, it is emphasised that she is no more a living human being.