Animals
INTRODUCTION—
The poet Walt Whitman praises animals for being better than human beings and for possessing all such qualities that humans lack or have forgotten. Those qualities are calmness, the lack of greed and the ability to stay happy and contented among others.
SUMMARY—
In this poem, Walt Whitman has beautifully brought out the contrast between animals and human beings. Animals are generally simple in nature whereas human beings are generally greedy, selfish and very complicated. He is very happy with the easy going nature of animals and he wants to follow them. The poet is desirous to live among the animals as he thinks that they are contented and serene. They are wise and this is the reason why they never bewail of their lot and condition. They do not weep for their sins and they have no care to worship even God. They are always satisfied and do not need to possess things. They respect none including their ancestors and they remain indifferent in their pleasure and pain. For this very reason, the poet wishes to learn from animals. They do not have any kind of falsehood. They are free from all types of trivial anxieties, so they are still living their natural life.
Explanation of the Poem
1. I think I could turn and live with animals, they are
So placid and self-contain’d
I stand and look at them long and long.
Explanation: The poet here desires to turn into an animal and live with them as he is impressed by their calmness and the purity of their mind. Animals appear to be contented with their lives. The poet stands and looks at them for a long time.
2. They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God.
Explanation: The poet is quite impressed by the animals that they do not complaint and cry about their conditions like human. They eat and sleep they have nothing to worry about peacefully. The animals are pure and they do not pray to God for forgiveness or ask God to fulfil their desires like humAnswer.
3. Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with
the mania of owning things,
Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that
lived thousands of years ago,
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.
Explanation: Animals do ot possess material things like humans and they are happy and satisfied without all the worldly items. Animals are free from the habit of praying to their ancestors. When the poet says ‘not one is respectable’ he means that since all of them are equal, there is no question of respect for some and insult to other. Thus animals are happy and uncomplaining.
4. They bring me tokens of myself, they evince
them plainly in their possession
I wonder where they get those tokens,
Did I pass that way huge times ago and
negligently drop them ?
Explanation: The poet feels that animals represent human beings in some way. This means that animals seem to have virtues, like kindness and innocence, which humans once had. They symbolise the lost values of human race. The poet believes that humans dropped these virtues a long time ago and have forgotten them.
Extract Based Questions
Read the lines given below and answer the questions that follow :
1. They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God.
Question. Who weeps for their sins ?
(i) human beings
(ii) animals
(iii) birds
(iv) trees
Answer.(i) human beings
Question. Who does the pronoun 'they' stand for ?
(i) human beings
(ii) birds
(iii) animals
(iv) trees
Answer.(iii) animals
Question. Who do not discuss their duty to God ?
(i) trees
(ii) birds
(iii) human-beings
(iv) animals
Answer.(iv) animals
Question. They do not ...................... and whine about their condition.
(i) sweet
(ii) sweat
(iii) complain
(iv) discuss
Answer.(ii) sweat
2. They bring me tokens of myself, they evince
them plainly in their possession
I wondered where they get those tokens,
Did I pass that way huge times ago and
negligently drop them ?
Question. Who wonders how animals got those tokens ?
(i) the poet
(ii) an old man
(iii) poetess
(iv) trees
Answer.(i) the poet
Question. Which word in the passage refers to ‘carelessly’ ?
(i) evince
(ii) possession
(iii) tokens
(iv) negligently
Answer.(iv) negligently
Question. Who brings the poet tokens of himself ?
(i) birds
(ii) animals
(iii) trees
(iv) people
Answer.(ii) animals
Question. In the passage what is meant by the word ‘token’ ?
(i) morals
(ii) virtues
(iii) speciality
(iv) consideration
Answer.(ii) virtues
Short Answer Type Questions
Question. In the first line of the poem, ‘I think I could turn and live with the animals’, What is the poet turning from ?
Answer. The poet Walt Whitman says that he can identify himself better with the animals, for their qualities of serenity and calm composure. So he intends turning towards them, away from his human companions.
Question. What do humans do to other human beings who lived thousands of years ago
Answer.Human beings hold their ancestors in great respect.
Question. What are the ‘tokens’ that the poet says he may have dropped long ago and which the animals have kept for
him ?
Answer. Humans and animals have similar basic instincts. While civilization has changed the man, these basic instincts are preserved in the animals and they help the humans to reconnect to their true self; so man seeks comfort in the company of animals.
Long Answer Type Question
Question. Mention three things that humans do and animals do not do ?
Answer.The poet Walt Whitman in his poem ‘Animals’ compares animals to human beings and differentiates between them on the basis of their characteristics. According to the poet’s perception, animals are ranked much higher than humAnswer. Animals do not complain about their situation and are much happier than humAnswer. Animals live in natural surroundings, they accept nature. Human beings on the other hand, do not accept nature i.e., they complain about it and try to change it leading an unhappy life. According to the poet, animals possess many qualities which humans don’t. Some of these are calmness, lack of greed and the ability to stay happy and contented among others. Animals never weep for their sins, they never sweat and whine about their condition. They do not make anybody sick discussing their duty to God. Above all, human beings suffer from the mania of possessing things which animals do not.
