Hi Everyone!! This article will share Death The Leveller Questions & Answers.
The poem is written by James Shirley. In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of Secret of Happiness, Where Is Science Taking Us and Character of a Happy Man so, you can check these posts as well.
Death The Leveller Questions & Answers
Question 1: Choose the correct option:
1. The glories of blood and state are just _________.
(a) things
(b) shadows
(c) useless
(d) great
2. What is the meaning of substantial things?
(a) important things
(b) small quantity
(c) large quantity
(d) immovable things
3. The ultimate fate of all human beings is _________.
(a) birth
(b) death
(c) life
(d) money
4. Death treats everyone __________.
(a) differently
(b) specially
(c) unequally
(d) equally
5. Death makes no difference between:
(a) a king or a pauper
(b) the mighty or the weak
(c) the rich or the poor
(d) all of the above
7. ‘Scythe and Spade’ means _______
(a) tools
(b) poor peasants and labourers
(c) crooked person
(d) hard workers
8. ________ have to stoop to fate.
(a) The mighty
(b) The weak
(c) The Kings
(d) All men
9. Death reduces everyone to:
(a) flower
(b) shadow
(c) dust
(d) garland
10. The phrase “Pale captives” stands for the:
(a) sick people
(b) weaker section of society
(c) people near death
(d) none of the above
11. What lives after death?
(a) name
(b) good deeds
(c) fame
(d) glory
12. What is the idea of the poem?
(a) Death does not spare anyone.
(b) Death spares the mighty but punishes the weak.
(c) Death spares the powerful and the wealthy.
(d) none of the above
13. What are not substantial things?
(a) the glories of our blood and state
(b) money
(c) palaces
(d) wealth
14. What are sceptre and crown symbol of?
(a) kings and rulers
(b) kings and beggars
(c) kings and soldiers
(d) common man
15. What happens to the sceptre and the crown?
(a) They mix with the snow in the end.
(b) They mix with the dust in the end.
(c) They mix with the colours in the end.
(d) They mix with the oil in the end.
16. The ______ are made equal with the______ in the dust.
(a) kings, poor
(b) kings, rich
(c) kings, engineers
(d) kings, painters
17. What do some men do with swords?
(a) win battles
(b) win painting competition
(c) win friends
(d) none the above
18. What is ‘cold tomb’ a symbol of?
(a) glory
(b) death
(c) wealth
(d) sadness
19. There is no________ against fate.
(a) armour
(b) fine
(c) revolt
(d) weapon
Death The Leveller Questions & Answers
Question 2: Write the central idea, theme, summary or lesson that we learn from the poem – ‘Death The Leveller’.
Answer: The central idea, theme, summary or lesson that we learn from the poem is that death is certain and all powerful. It makes no discrimination between the rich and the poor or the powerful and the weak. Sooner or later, everyone has to bow before the power of death as death spares none. As death reduces everyone to dust so, there is no point to boast of one’s power or wealth. Death eliminates all distinctions and works as the leveller. After death, only our good deeds are remembered so, it is must to be noble in our actions.
Question 3: What does the expression ‘scythe and spade’ stand for in the line 8?
Answer: The expression ‘scythe and spade’ stand for the ordinary hardworking people like peasants and labourers. After death, these people become equal with the king’s as death makes no distinctions.
Question 4: Do conquerors tame death or the dead?
Answer: Conquerors can tame only the dead and can exercise no power over death. It is the death that overpowers them and reduces them to dust.
Question 5: Explain the lines:
“Only the actions of the just
Smell sweet and blossom in their dust”.
Answer: The above lines mean that the actions of the righteous escape death. Such people are remembered even after their death with respect and admiration. Their good deeds are never forgotten and they inspire many generations to follow their footsteps.
Question 6: Write true or false against the following sentences:
1. There is no armour against fate – True
2. Death spares the mighty but punishes the weak – False
3. Death can even kill good deeds – False
4. Death lays his icy hands only on kings – False
Question 7: This poem highlights the uselessness of human power and might. What is that cannot be snatched by death?
Answer: The actions of the righteous escape death and cannot be snatched away. Such people are remembered even after their death with respect and admiration. Their good deeds are never forgotten and continue to blossom and spread fragrance.
Death The Leveller Questions & Answers
Question 8: Why does the poet say that ‘there is no armour against fate’?
Answer: The poet says so because death is certain. Sooner or later, everyone has to bow before the power of death as death spares none. No armour can protect anyone from death.
Question 9: Why does the poet think that the glories of our blood and state are shadows?
Answer: The poet thinks so because the glories of our blood and state are nor concrete things and they don’t last.
Question 10: ‘Some men with swords may reap the field’- What does this mean?
Answer: This means that the conquerors who are mighty and with their power, they can capture other lands and rule them.
Question 11: Why death is called the Leveller?
Answer: Death is called the Leveller because it makes no discrimination between the rich and the poor or the powerful and the weak. Sooner or later, everyone has to bow before the power of death as death spares none. It reduces everyone to dust.
Question 12: What does ‘Death’s purple altar’ refer to?
Answer: An altar is a death bed where a dead body is kept before sacrifice or burial. A dead body has lost its colour and is blue-black without the flow of blood. This purple colour of death is transferred to the altar. So, the figure of speech applied here is ‘transferred epithet’.
Question 13: Some men with swords may reap the field. What does this mean?
Answer: ‘To reap the fields’ is associated with framing and sowing. It means sowing on a large scale. When the word ‘sword’ is used, it represents the battlefield. ‘To reap the fields’ here refers to reaping the battlefield. It clearly means to kill thousands in battle. Men with swords are soldiers and kings and they kill millions in war.
Question 14: What does the phrase ‘victor-victim’ mean?
Answer: Victor means the person who wins and victim means the person who is killed by the victor. Be it victor or victim, death is common to everyone and it will reduce them to dust.
Question 15: What is the fate of the men with swords who hope to reap the field?
Answer: These brave men who won laurels on the battlefields cannot escape from death. They will have to stoop their head to death just like any other common man. Their strength and bravery cannot save them from death as it is inevitable.
So, these were Death The Leveller Questions & Answers.