are you still playing your flute
TRANSCRIPT
ARE YOU STILL PLAYING YOUR FLUTE?
1. In Stanza 1, why is the persona feeling uneasy?She yearns to hear the song again.
2. Which line in stanza 1, indicates that the flute player is more interested in playing the flute than building their love?Line 2
3. Which line in stanza 1 tells us that the persona is deeply affected by the melody of the song? Line 9
4. In stanza 1, what feeling does the persona express?feeling of guilt
5. Where does the melody originate? It is hidden in the slim hollow of a bamboo
6. How does she feel when she longs for the song in stanza 1? She feels guilty
7. Do you feel that the persona is deeply affected by the melody of the song in stanza 1? How do you know? Yes. She writes that the melody is ‘blown by the wind to the depth of my heart’
8. What does the ‘sick rice field’ in stanza 2, line 3 indicate?The rice field is barren and infertile. It does not produce a healthy crop.
9. In stanza 2, what is the persona comparing her village to? She is comparing it to where she is living now, possibly in an urban area
10. What are ‘the evening rays’ referred to in stanza 2? They refer to the sunset.
11. Name one ‘luxury’ that they used to enjoy in the village. It is ‘to spend time watching the rain.”
12. Why is her conscience ‘disturbed’ in stanza 3?One of the reasons is that her younger brothers are unemployed and desperate.
13. Why is the persona feeling guilty in the first stanza?She yearns to listen to her beloved’s song
14. What is the meaning of ‘when there is hardly time for our love’The beloved is more interested in playing the flute than to love
15. Another meaning for the word ‘hazard’ in the third stanza meanswonder
16. Where is the persona’s beloved now?He is in a place where he can spend all his time playing the flute without a care in the world.
17. What are the things the persona enjoys doing in the village?She likes to watch the rain and also the sunset. She loves to collect the dew drops and enjoys the smell of fragrant flowers.
18. What is the atmosphere in the village?It is desolate, quiet and deserted. The paddy fields are empty and almost abandoned.
19. What is the poet trying to tell us about the changes in her life?The persona is now staying in a place where it is difficult to enjoy the simple pleasures of nature as time is very precious. She says it is a ‘luxury’ because people in the city do not have time to watch the sunset or smell the flowers. Moreover, in an urban area, it may be difficult to get a glimpse of nature in the concrete jungle.
20. What is the poem about?A lady is pining for her partner who is more interested in his flute.
21. What type of musical instrument is the flute? A wind instrument
22. What does the lady want of the man?She wants him to spend time with her.
23. What does the persona hear in the depth of her heart?The song played by her life partner
ARE YOU STILL PLAYING YOUR FLUTE?
24. What has happened to the rice field?25. What can the persona do in the early morning?26. Which words tell us that the air has a lovely smell?27. What has happened to the persona’s younger brother?28. What is the persona’s life partner doing most of the time?29. What does line 2 stanza 1 tell us about the relationship between the persona and the flutist?30. What is the persona guilty about31. What words are used to indicate where the melody is? Do you think they are suitable?32. What does the persona long for?33. Write the two words that relate to how a flute is played.34. Why do you think the persona says she feels guilty about longing for the man’s song? In your own words, give a
reason to support your answer.35. Where is the man playing his flute?36. How do we know that the rice fields are not looking good?37. What does the line while here it has become a luxury mean in context?38. What words has the poet used to describe how she enjoys things of nature?39. Do you think they are suitable?40. Explain the phrase disturbs my conscience as used in context.41. Write two words that relate to the feeling helpless when watching something happening.42. Why do you think the persona feels unhappy about her relatives and friend? In your own words, give a reason to
support your answer.43. How does the persona feel about the man playing his flute?44. Write two words that relate to things of nature.45. Why do you think the persona mean by the phrase this world? In your words, give a reason to support your
answer.
Answer
24. They have become dry and cracked or sick25. Collect dew drops26. “Fragrance of flowers”27. They are unemployed and desperate28. Playing his flute29. They are a couple and she feels neglected30. She feels guilty about wanting him to spend time with her.31. ‘Concealed in the slim hollow of the bamboo’. Yes, because the flute can be made from bamboo and the sound
of a song comes from within the hollow in the bamboo.32. She longs for her love to play the melody for her personally rather than hear it in her heart.33. breath and fingers34. She feels guilty about longing for his song because he seems so engrossed in playing his flute and she does not
want to impose on him.35. in the village36. They are described as ‘sick rice fields’.37. It means that the persona cannot do the simple things she used to enjoy doing.38. The words are ‘watching’, ‘gazing’, ‘collecting’ and ‘smelling’39. Yes, they are suitable because they are the actions we carry out when we watch the elements of nature like rain,
sunset, dew and smell the fragrance of flowers40. The phrase means to feel guilty or uneasy about disturbing the man while he is playing the flute.41. mercilessly and bleeding42. She feels unhappy because her brothers have no jobs and are feeling desperate and she has lost her friend who
was murdered.43. She feels that he is spending too much time on his flute and is not paying enough attention to her, his relatives
and friends.44. rain/dew drops and evening rays / flowers (any two)45. I think she means the circumstances she is in, that is, her daily life which she is facing on her own while the
man is in another world of his own, playing his flute.