Hi Everyone!! This article will share The Light of Other Days Questions & Answers.
This poem is written by Thomas Moore. In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of The Pageant of Fireflies, The Listeners and The Life of John Smith so, you can check these posts as well.
The Light of Other Days Questions & Answers
Question 1: In the beginning of the poem, the poet says, ‘Fond memories brings the light…..’. But later on, he says, ‘Sad memories bring the light….’. Why is there a change in the mood?
Answer: The fond memories of his childhood bring the smile on his face. In his boyhood days, he had gone through different situations some made him sad and some made him smile with shine in his eyes. It was the time when his friends were there and he was cared by everyone. Now, he is feeling abandoned and lonely and this makes him feel depressed.
Question 2: Before falling asleep, what does the poet remember?
Answer: Before falling asleep, the poet remembers both the fond memories and sad memories of his youth. He remembers the joys, the sorrow and the words of love spoken during his boy hood days . He also remembers how one by one his friends have left him and have gone to another world and how the cheerful hearts of their young age have broken as they have sometimes failed to achieve their aim or goal in their lives.
Question 3: Read and answer the questions:
(a) When does this happen?
Answer: In the stilly night when the poet is about to sleep.
(b) What do the ‘other days’ refer to?
Answer: The other days refer to his boyhood days.
(c) Why does the poet use the word ‘fond’ for memory?
Answer: The poet uses the word fond for memory because it was his best phase of life.
The Light of Other Days Questions & Answers
Question 4: Why is the poet sad?
Answer: The poet is sad on remembering how he has missed his friend one by one as they have left the world leaving him behind. He also feels sad to remember how the cheerful hearts of their young age have broken as they have sometimes failed to achieve their aim or goal in their lives.
Question 5: Read and answer the questions:
(a) What does the poet mean by ‘fall’? Whom has he seen falling?
Answer: The poet means death when he uses the word fall. He has seen the death of his loved ones.
(b) What mood of the poet do these lines convey?
Answer: The mood of the poet is depressed.
(c) Point out the simile in these lines and explain it.
Answer: The simile in these lines is ‘like leaves in wintry weather’. The poet is comparing the lives of the people to the leaves. As the leaves fall in the winter season from the trees in the same way death also takes our loved ones.
Question 6: To what does the poet compare his friends as well as himself?
Answer: The poet compares himself to the one who works alone in a banquet hall and his friends to leaves which have fallen in winter around him.
Question 7: Read and answer the questions:
(a) Explain ‘slumber’s chain’.
Answer: By Slumber’s chain the poet refers the way sleep hold us in place and controls our thoughts.
(b) Why is memory referred to as ‘sad’?
Answer: The memory is referred to as sad because he is missing his friends and his golden days.
(c) What do you think the poet means when he says ‘brings the light of other days’?
Answer: By this, the poet means fond memories of his boyhood years and the lovely world he was living in.
Question 8: What is the theme of the poem?
Answer: The poet has portraited the theme of friendship in the poem through reminiscing and through bringing fond memories of friendship to the forefront of his mind. He looks back on the good and not so good times in youth-his boyhood time. There are two period of memories. Death is first presented here in shinning wyes that are now dimmed and gone. The cheerful heart is now broken. The second stanza brings near present memories of friends so linked together. Death is presented here as a friend who falls like leaves in wintry weather. Death is again presented in a personal connection and in a threatening way.
So, these were The Light of Other Days Questions & Answers.