THE POEM LINES WITH APT IMAGES, APPRECIATION QUESTIONS, ERC CLUES AND LITERARY DEVICES WERE GIVEN IN LUCID STYLE.

2. Stormed –
sudden violent
attack
Ratisbon – German city
synecdoche

3. mound – hillock
Out-thrust –
extended forward
Fancy - imagine
Napoleon – French Army Chief

4. Legs wide, arms locked behind,
As if to balance the prone brow
Oppressive with its mind.
prone– inclined
down
brow – eyebrow
oppressive - harsh

5. Just as perhaps he mused, ‘My plans
That soar, to earth may fall,
Let once my army leader Lannes
Waver at yonder wall’,-
mused– thought
deeply
soar – rise high
waver - sway

6. Out ‘twixt the battery –smokes there flew
A rider, bound and bound
Full –galloping; nor bridle drew
Until he reached the mound.

7. Then off there flung in
smiling joy
And held himself erect
By just his horse’s
mane, a boy;
You hardly could
suspect-

8. ( so tight he kept his lips compressed,
Scarce any blood came through)
You looked twice ere you saw his breast
Was all but shot in two.
Compressed –
pressed
together

9. ‘well’, cried he, ‘Emperor, by God’s grace
We’ve got you Ratisbon!
The Marshal’s in the market place
And you’ll be there anon

10. To see your flag-bird
flap his plans
Where I, to heart’s
desire
Perched him! The
chief’s eye flashed; his
plans
Soared up again like
fire.
Flag bird – the
imperial eagle on
the French flag
Perched -rested

11. The chief’s eye flashed; but presently
Softened itself, as sheathes
A film the mother – eagle’s eye
When her bruised eaglet breathes:
sheathes– covers
Bruised - injury

12. ‘you’re wounded!’
‘Nay’, his soldier’s
pride
Touched to the
quick, he said:
‘I’m killed, sire!
And, his chief
beside,

13. Smiling, the boy fell dead.

15. 1. Whose action is described here? Napoleon’s action is described
here.
2. What is meant by prone brow? ‘Prone brow’ means inclined brow
as he was seriously thinking.
3. What is his state of mind? He was seriously thinking of
capturing Ratisbon.
4. Why did the boy contradict
Napoleon’s words?
Napoleon’s words underrated his
valour. So the boy contradicted
Napoleon’s words.

16. 5. Why was his pride touched? His pride was touched because
Napoleon asked him if he was
wounded.
6. Who is compared to the mother
eagle in the above lines?
Napoleon is compared to the
mother eagle.
7. Explain the comparison. On seeing the boy, Napoleon felt
like a mother eagle which looked at
its eaglet in a helpless manner.

17. Napoleon was standing
on a little mound
eagerly looking
towards Ratisbon.

18. He was seriously
thinking of capturing
Ratisbon. Suddenly
he saw a rider
galloping his horse
towards him.

19. The rider was mortally
wounded yet he conveyed
the news of victory.

20. When Napoleon heard
the news, his plans soared
up like fire. Suddenly his
eyes are softened when
he saw the soldier
severely wounded.

21. He felt like a mother eagle
which looked at its
wounded eaglet
in a helpless manner.
He asked the soldier
if he was wounded.

22. The soldier replied that
he was killed
and fell beside
the emperor.

24. You know, we French stormed Ratisbon.
(French refers to the country,
not the army)