(1) Why does the boy sit drooping in the classroom?

Question

Read the following stanzas and answer the questions given below them:

Ah! then at times I drooping sit,

And spend many an anxious hour.

Nor in my book can I take delight,

Nor sit in learning’s bower,

Worn thro’ with the dreary shower.

How can the bird that is born for joy,

Sit in a cage and sing.

How can a child when fears annoy,

But droop his tender wing,

And forget his youthful spring.

(1) Why does the boy sit drooping in the classroom?

(2) What does the boy not find any delight in?

(3) What comparison is made in the second stanza?

Answer 1

The boy sits drooping in the classroom because he cannot enjoy the learning in an enclosed space when the spring is in full bloom outside.

2. The boy does not find any delight in studying books and listening to the boring lectures of his teachers.

3. As a bird in a cage cannot enjoy singing, a child cannot enjoy learning being confined in a classroom when there is much to enjoy outside when spring is in full bloom.