Tamilnadu State Board Class 10 English Solutions Poem Chapter 5 The Secret of the Machines
Chapter 5 The Secret of the Machines Textual Questions
A. Answer the following questions briefly.
1. Who does ‘we’ refer to in first stanza?
(a) Human beings
(b) Machines.
The Secret of the Machines Poem Questions and Answer:
(b) Machines.
2. Who are the speakers and listeners of this poem?
Answer:
The speakers are the Machines and the listeners are the readers.
3. What metals are obtained from ores and mines? Iron ore
Answer:
Steel, Copper, Nickel, Lead, Tin, Aluminum, Gold and Uranium are some of the metals that we obtain from Ores and Mines.
The Secret of the Machines Questions and Answers Class 8 Question 4. Mention a few machines which are hammered to design.
Answer:
The lever, the inclined plane, the wedge, the screw, the wheel, the axle and the pulley.
5. Mention the names of a few machines that run on water, coal or oil.
Answer:
Steam engine, generator, washing machine, and turbine of power plants.
6. Mention a few machines used for pulling, pushing, lifting, driving, printing, ploughing, reading, and writing etc.
Answer:
Crane, printer, car, cycle, computer, telegraph, telephone etc.
7. Are machines humble to accept the evolution of human brain? Why?
Answer:
Yes, Machines are humble to accept the evolution of the human brain. They know that they are nothing more than the creations of the human brain.
8. What feelings are evoked in us by the machines in this poem?
Machine Poem Questions and Answer:
Emotions like love, pity and forgiveness are evoked in us by the machines.
9. ‘And a thousandth of an inch to give us play:’
Which of the following do the machines want to prove from this line?
(a) Once Machines are fed with fuel, they take a very long time to start.
(b) Once Machines are fed with fuel, they start quickly.
Answer:
(b) Once machines are fed with fuel, they start quickly.
10. And now, if you will set us to our task,
We will serve you four and twenty hours a day!
a. Who does the pronoun ‘you’ refer to here?
Answer:
‘You’ refers to the people.
b. Whose task is referred to as ‘our task’ here?
Answer:
‘Our task’ here refers to the work of the machines.
c. Open conditional clause is used in the given line. Why is the future tense ‘will set’ and ‘will serve’ used both in the ‘if clause’ and in the ‘main clause?’
Answer:
The future tense is used both in the ‘If clause’ and in the ‘main clause’ because people don’t make use of the machines in the proper way and maintain them correctly. So the poet stresses that if they are set to their task properly, they will work continuously.
d. Do the machines serve us twenty four hours a day?
Answer:
Yes, they serve us twenty-four hours a day.
e. Rewrite the given lines with the ending ‘365 days a year.’
Answer:
And now if you will set us to our task, We will serve you, three hundred and sixty five days a year!
Poetic Comprehension – Additional
1. We were case and wrought and hammered to designs,
we were cut and filed and tooled and gauged to fit.
(a) Who does ‘we’ refer to in these lines?
(b) What do you mean by ‘wrought’?
Answer:
(a) It refers to the machines.
(b)‘Wrought’ means metals are beaten out of shape by hammering.
2. And now, if you will set us to our task,
We will serve you four and twenty hours a day!
(a) Who will serve us twenty four hours?
(b) What do mean by ‘set us to our task’?
Answer:
(a) The machine will serve us twenty four hours.
(b) It means ‘when we, the human beings, give the machines a task or work’.
Figures of Speech In the Poem Secret of Machines Question 3. We can see and hear and count and read and write.
(a) What is specified here in this line?
(b) Are machines important in our life?
Answer:
(a) The machines can do various tasks like, seeing, hearing, counting, reading and writing.
(b) Yes, machines are important in our life.
The Secret of the Machines Question 4. We can neither love nor pity nor forgive.
If you make a slip in handling us, you die!
(a) Do the machines have emotions?
(b) What happens if you make a slight mistake?
(c) What do you mean by the word ‘slip’ here?
Answer:
(a) No, they do not have emotions or feelings.
(b) If you make a simple mistake in handling the machines, it can lead to big disasters
(c) It means a wrong step in handling the machines.
Poetic Devices – Additional
1. “We were taken from the ore-bed and the mine,
we were melted in the furnace and the pit”.
a. Pick out the alliterated words in these lines.
Answer:
we – were; the – the are the alliterated words.
2. ‘We will serve you four and twenty hours a day?’
a. What is the poetic device used here?
Answer:
Hyperbole is used here. The poet exaggerates the use of machines.
3. ‘We can see, and run and hear and count and read and write.
a. Name the figure of speech used here?
Answer:
Personification.
a. Bring out the rhyme scheme of these lines?
Answer:
The rhyming scheme, of these lines are ‘ababa’
Though Our Smoke May Hide the Heavens from your Eyes Question 4. Though our smoke may hide the Heavens from your eyes,
It will vanish and the stars will shine again,
Because, for all our power and weight and size,
We are nothing more than children of your brain!
(a) Pick out the rhyming words in these lines.
Answer:
The rhyming words are ‘eyes-size’ and ‘again-brain’.
(a) Bring out the rhyming scheme of the lines.
Answer:
The rhyming scheme: a b a b.
Activity
B. Write your favourite stanza from the poem and find the rhyming scheme.
Answer:
But remember, please, the Law by which we live,
We are not built to comprehend a lie,
We can neither love nor pity nor forgive,
If you make a slip in handling us you die!
Rhyming scheme: a b a b.
C. Read the poem and find the lines for the following poetic devices or write your own example.
Alliteration
Answer:
“We can pull and haul and push and lift and drive”
pull, push – are the alliterated words.
Assonance
Answer:
“Some water, coal, and oil is all we ask”
all, ask – Repetition of two vowel sounds.
Personification
The Pulley Poem Questions and Answer:
“We can pull and haul and push and lift and drive”
Here, a machine is given human attributes.
Paragraph Question & Answer – Additional
The Secret Poem Question 1. What is the importance of machines in our life?
Answer:
Min We can rely upon machines in transport and communication, which are getting more complicated all the time. This is unavoidable as we move further into the technological age of computers and increasing automation. We must accept the fact that our life depends on machines more and more. But then, some simple apparatus fails. The ballpoint pen won’t function; the computer will not be ready to execute your orders. It can be irritating. If the machine is faulty, the simple job of mowing the lawn, turns into a battle of you and the mower. It prevents your efforts and refuses to co-operate. The once efficient machine, your friend and servant, has become your enemy. It is very important not to cross the limits and rational about machinery.
10th English Poem the Secret of Machines Question 2. What are the poetic devices used in this poem?
Answer:
There are many poetic devices used in this poem like symbolism, imagery, personification, hyperbole, alliteration, assonance, rhythm and rhyme.
Symbolism: The title symbolises that machines also have secrets.
Imagery: It is a description that creates a picture in the readers mind. It is used by the poet in the lines, “we can see and hear and count and read and write!
Personification: A thing, idea or an animal is given human qualities. We can pull and haul and push and lift and drive’. The machine is given human attributes.
Hyperbole: When a poet exaggerates in the poem, it is a hyperbole. “We will serve you four and twenty hours a day”.
Assonance: It is a repetition of two or more vowel sounds. Example: “all we ask”. Further, there are alliteration and rhyming words in this poem.
The Secret of the Machines By Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling (1865 – 1936) was born on 30th December, 1865 in Bombay, but educated in England at the United Services College, Westward Ho, England. In 1882, he returned to India, where he worked for a ‘The Pioneer’ in Allahabad. His literary career began with ‘Departmental Ditties’ (1886) but subsequently he became chiefly known as a writer of short stories. His works of fiction include ‘The Jungle Book’( 1894), ‘Kim (1901) and many short stories, including ‘The Man who would be King’ (1888). His poems include ‘The White Man’s Burden (1899), ‘If’ (1910). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 41. Kipling died on 18th January 1936.
The Secret of the Machines Key Points
- This poem deals with the problems of modern technology and automation.
- The poet informs how the machines are produced and what kind of treatment they need.
- Then the machines explain how they can serve humanity.
- Although machines are useful, they can lead to big disasters, if they aren’t used in the right way.
- Machines are emotionless. They have no feelings. If you make a simple mistake in handling the machines, you could even die.
- Machines are not perfect after all and nature always wins over.
- They are not miraculous creations. They are nothing more than creations of the human brain.
The Secret of the Machines Summary
The poem “The Secret of machines” deals with the problems of modern technology and automation. In the beginning, the poet informs about how the machines are produced and what kind of treatment they need. Afterwards, in the second and third stanzas, the machines explain how they can serve humanity. All the work what was done by the humans earlier is taken up by the machines at present. They pull, haul, push, lift, drive, print, plough, weave, heat, light, run, race, swim, fly, and dive. They can also see, hear, count, read and write like human beings. Even though machines are useful, they can also lead to big disasters, if they aren’t used in the right way. They have no emotions or feeling for anyone. In the last stanza, the dream of the “perfect machinery” suddenly seems to fade away. Machines aren’t miraculous creations. They are nothing more than the creations of the human brain.
The Secret of the Machines Glossary
cast – throw
comprehend (v) – grasp, understand
filed – categorized
furnace (n) – an enclosed structure in which material is heated to very high temperatures
gauge(n) – an instrument that measures perfection in appearance and quality
haul (v) – pull or drag with effort or force
pit – hole
melted – having become liquefied by heating
slip – mis step
thousandth (adv.) – a fraction of thousand
tooled – shaped
vanish – disappear
vanish (v) – disappear suddenly and completely
wrought (adj.) – beaten out of shape by hammering
The Secret of the Machines Explanation Of Poetic Lines
Line No. 1 – 4
We were taken from the ore-bed and the mine,
We were melted in the furnace and the pit
We were cast and wrought and hammered to design,
We were cut and filed and tooled and gauged to fit.
Explanation:
The poet informs about how the machines are produced and what kind of treatment they need. The machines tell us that they were taken from the ore-bed and mined in the furnace. They were cast in the pit. They were beaten out of shape by hammering. They were cut and filed. Then they were tooled and gauged to fit.
Line No. 5 – 8
Some water, coal, and oil is all we ask,
And a thousandth of an inch to give us play:
And now, if you will set us to our task,
We will serve you four and twenty hours a day!
Explanation:
The machines ask only for some water, coal and oil. It takes only a fraction of a thousand to make them work. If we set them on task, they will serve us twenty-four hours a day.
Line No. 9 – 12
We can pull and haul and push and lift and drive,
We can print and plough and weave and heat and light,
We can run and race and swim and fly and dive,
We can see and hear and count and read and write!
Explanation:
In this stanza, the poet says that the machines can do all sorts of work. They can pull, drag, push, lift and drive. They can also print, plough, weave, heat and light. Further they can run, race, swim, fly and dive. They can also see, hear, count, read and write. All these tasks were done earlier by the humans. Now these machines have made their work easier.
Line No. 12 – 16
Bat remember; please, the Law by which we live,
We are not built to comprehend a lie,
We can neither love nor pity nor forgive,
If you make a slip in handling us you die!
Explanation:
But we have to remember the law by which we live. Machines are built to grasp a lie. They have no emotions or feelings. They don’t pity anyone or forgive them. If we make a slight mistake in handling them, you could even die.
Line No. 17 – 20
Though our smoke may hide the Heavens from your eyes,
It will vanish and the stars will shine again,
Because, for all our power and weight and size,
We are nothing more than children of your brain!
Explanation:
Machines aren’t perfect after all and Nature always wins over. Machines aren’t miraculous creations. They are nothing more than the creations of the human brain.