Any Woman - Previous Years' Examination Questions

“Thou whom a woman laid in a manger” – who is the woman referred to here ?
Score: 1
June 2023

I am their wall against all danger,
Their door against the wind and snow,
Thou whom a woman laid in a manger,
Take me not till the children grow !
1. Identify the figure of speech used in these lines.
1. Who is the person referred to as ‘Thou’ in the third line ?
Score: 2
July 2022
 

Read the poem given below and make a comparative appreciation with "Any Woman"

My Mother's Garden

My mother kept a garden,
A garden of the heart,
She planted all the good things
That gave my life its start
She turned me to the sunshine
And encouraged me to dream,
Fostering and nurturing
The seeds of self-esteem
Her constant good example
Always taught me right from wrong
Markers for my path way
That will last a lifetime long
I am my mother's garden
I am her legacy
And I hope today she feels the love
Reflected back from me.
(*foster=encourage; nurture=care for; legacy=property left by will)
Score: 8
March 2020

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Read the poem carefully. Compare the poem with ‘Any Woman.

The Heart of a Woman

The heart of a woman goes forth with the dawn
As a lone bird, soft winging, so restlessly on
A far o’er life’s turrets and values do it roam
In the wake of those echoes, the heart calls home.
The heart of a woman falls back with the night,
And enters some alien cage in its plight,
And tries to forget it has dreamed of the stars
While it breaks, breaks, breaks on the sheltering bars.

Georgia Douglas Johnson
Score: 8
March 2018

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Read the poem given below. Compare the poem with ‘Any Woman’ written by
Katharine Tynan.
 Clear as sunshine,
 Sweet as nectar;
 One who gets mother’s love
 Is the true victor.
 ‘Tis mystic yet unmisted
 Pristine and pure;
 None can deny this,
 I resolutely assure.
 Her tears flow
 For my slightest pain;
 Her smiles and joy
 For my smallest triumph.
 She starves for me
 And feeds me well;
 Gives me heaven
 And accepts hell.
 The showers of her love
 Bring joy in my way,
 This unselfishness
 I can never repay.
 I can never repay,
 This I assure;
 For her love is godly,
 Pristine and pure. 


 Debasish Mishra
 (nectar=honey, pristine=pure, resolutely=firmly).

Score: 8
March 2021

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Read the lines from ‘Any Woman’ and answer the questions that follow :
 I am the fire upon the hearth,
 I am the light of the good sun,
 I am the heat that warms the earth,
 Which else were colder than a stone.
1. Who is the speaker of these lines ? (1)
2. Identify the figure of speech used in the first line of the stanza. (1)
3. Find the image / phrase that conveys the idea of lifelessness and inactivity. (1)
4. Elaborate on the main ideas conveyed in these lines. (2)

March 2021

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 In the first stanza of the poem “Any Woman”, the woman is considered as the fire, the light and the heat. In the absence of the woman, a house will be as cold as a stone. Do you agree with this statement? Write your opinion in a paragraph. 

Score: 4
March 2021 

I am the twist that holds together 

The children in its sacred ring,

Their knot of love, from whose close tether

No lost child goes a-wandering.

    1. Who is referred to as 'I' in the passage?

    2. Which word in the lines means 'rope'?

Score: 1+1

March 2022



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