Hi Everyone!! This article will share Brueghel’s Winter Questions & Answers.
This poem is written by Walter de la Mare. In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of Battling Boats, Finding My Way and Advia so, you can check these posts as well.
Brueghel’s Winter Questions & Answers
Word Galaxy
- Copse – a small dense forest
- Gobed tavern – an inn wit gables
- In sharp perspective – here, noticeably looking bigger
- Snuffling – (of animals) breathing noisily while sniffing something
- Athwart – (old-fashioned) across
Question 1: What do these phrases refer to?
(a) Wall in the wild
Answer: The mountains in the valley are like a wall.
(b) Bare copse
Answer: It is winter and all the trees have shed their leaves.
(c) Ink black shapes
Answer: Silhouettes or the dark black outlines of the people in the distance.
(d) Fields in flood
Answer: Fields filled with snow – the land and lake are frozen.
Question 2: Beneath naked trees – in sharp perspective set a-row – trudge huntsmen
(a) Where are the hunters?
Answer: The hunters are walking under the trees in the valley.
(b) What does set a-row mean?
Answer: Set a-row means arranged in a line.
(c) Why are they walking in a row?
Answer: They are walking one behind the other because they are walking back home after a tiring and unsuccessful hunt. Also, while walking on snow it is always advisable to walk in a row because people walking behind one person will come to know if there are any hidden holes in snow. Further, it will be easy for them to walk if snow path is set by first person.
Question 3: Lo is used to call attention, usually to something sudden or surprising.
(a) What is surprising about the hunters?
Answer: The overall description is happy but the hunters are sad in contrast.
(b) Have the hunters had a successful hunt?
Answer: No, the hunters have not had a successful hunt as no dead animal is seen in picture and not mentioned in poem also. The word trudge hunstmen means they were sad which indicated they haven’t had successful hunt.
(c) When do you trudge – when you are cheerful or sad?
Answer: The word ‘trudge’ means to walk slowly with heavy steps. We trudge when we are sad.
Question 4: When the poet describes the painting which way does his eye move? What does he describe first – image from far background to images in the foreground or the other round?
Answer: The poet describes the images from the background to those in the foreground.
Question 5: The poet describes some of the landscape and fallen activities in the painting in short, quick phrases. Can you spot the images he has not included?
Answer: The images the poet has not included are fallen branches, woman walking in the snow, snow covered roofs, two birds sitting on the tree, a bridge and a person walking across it carrying firewood and a horse cart.
So, these were Brueghel’s Winter Questions & Answers.