TARTARYPoem 6Std X – Chapter 14 English

Author Name: Walter de Ia Mare

Pre-reading task• a) Dreaming is a unique ability of human beings. Find out how

many in the class dream in their sleep. Let them recall their dreams and tell you the wonderful places they visited and the wonderful feelings/experience they had in their dreams.

SUMMARY OF THE POEM• Dreaming is a unique ability of human beings. In our

dreams we visit many strange places and we indulge in wonderful activities, which are really impossible in our real life.

• ‘Tartary’ is a beautiful poem by Walter de la Mare in which he describes himself as the Lord of Tartary.

About the Author• Walter is the author of many poems

in which dreams and reality, fairies and humble natural creatures, are delightfully blended.

• Educated at St. Paul’s Cathedral School, Walter de la Mare was engaged in business in London for some years.

• His early books were published under the name of Walter Ramal. His work includes the Listeners, Peacock Pie, the Veil, The burning Glass, and Winged Chariot.

• He has also written some novels and stories for children.

• Walter de la Mare (1873 - 1956)

For MemorizationIf I were Lord of Tartary,Myself and me alone,

My bed should be of Ivory,Of beaten gold my throne;

And in my court should peacocks flaunt,And in my forests tigers haunt,

And in my pools great fishes slanttheir fins athwart the sun.If I were Lord of Tartary,Trumpeters every day

To every meal summon me,And in my courtyard bray;

And in the evening lamps would shine,Yellow as honey, red as wine,

While harp1, and flute, and mandoline,Made music sweet and gay.

If I were Lord of Tartary,I’d wear a robe of beads,

White, and Gold, and green they’d beAnd cluttered thick as seeds:

And ere should wane3 the morning star,I’d don4 my robe and scimitar.

And zebras seven should draw my car

through Tartary’s dark glade.Lord of the fruits of Tartary,

Her rivers silver-pale!Lord of the hills of Tartary,

Glen, thicket, wood and daleHer flashing stars, her scented breeze,Her trembling lakes,like foamless seas,

Her bird-delighting citron-treesIn every purple vale!

Glossary• 1. flaunt: show of public admiration. • 2. haunt: visit a place often. • 3. slant: go quietly. • 4. fin: a thin flat part of the body of a fish, used for swimming. • 5. athwart: in a sloping direction. • 6. summon: call. • 7. bray (v): make sound.• 8. harp: a stringed musical instrument. • 9. gay: happy. • 10. wane: grow gradually smaller and less bright. • 11. don: put on. • 12. scimitar: a sword. • 13. glade: an open space. • 14. glen: valley. • 15. thicket: a thick growth of bushes. • 16. dale: valley. • 17. vale: valley.

Exercises(I.A Four answers are given below each statement.

Pick out the best answer)

• 1. In Tartary the Lord’s bed would be made ofa. gold, b. silver, c. ivory, d. wood

• 2. The Lord of Taratary would be summoned to meal bya) peacocks, b) trumpeters, c) harp and mandoline, d)

flute• 3. The car of the Lord of Tartary would be drawn by

a. peacocks, b. musicians, c. horses, d. zebras• 4. ‘I’d wear a robe of beads white, and gold, and green they’d

be - and clustered thick as seeds’. The figure of speech employed here is

a. simile, b. metaphor, c. personification, d. irony

Exercises(Answer the following questions in a sentence or two each)

• 1. What does the poet say about his bed and throne in Tartary?• 2. What animals and birds would there be in Tartary?• 3. How would the evenings be in Tartary?• 4. What does the poet say about the robe of the Lord of Tartary?• 5. What does the poet say about the rivers in Tartary?

Exercises(C. Read the following extracts and answer the questions

that follow)

• 1. ‘And in my court should peacocks flaunt’.a. Which poem is the line taken from?b. Who does the word ‘my’ refer to?c. What does ‘flaunt’ mean?

• 2. ‘And ere should wane the morning star, I’d don my robe and scimitar’a. Who does the ‘I’ refer to?b. What time of the day does this line refer to?c. What does ‘ere’ mean?

• 3. ‘Her flashing stars, her scented breeze, Her trembling lakes, like foamless seas’a. Which poem is the line taken from?b. Who does ‘her’ refer to?c. What does ‘flashing stars’ mean?

II Activities

• 1) Pick out the pairs of rhyming words from the poem.

• 2) Pick out the word from the poem, which means ‘valley.’

• 3) Make a list of birds and animals mentioned in the poem.

• 4) There are many word-pictures in the poem.

They bring beautiful pictures to our mind.

• Silver-pale rivers • Trembling Lakes