Answer the questions - The Secret of the Machines | by Rudyard Kipling | Poem
A. Answer the following questions briefly.
1. Who does ‘we’ refer to in first stanza?
a. Human beings b. Machines
Ans: Machines
2. Who are the speakers and listeners of this poem?
Machines are the speakers and human beings are the listeners in the poem.
3. What metals are obtained from ores and mines?
Metals like iron, copper, lead, gold, and silver are obtained from ores and mines.
4. Mention a few machines which are hammered to design.
Machines namely steam engine, the locomotive and iron clad ships were hammered to design.
5. Mention the names of a few machines that run on water, coal or oil.
Machines that run on water, coal, oil, include the Floating grain mill, water powered fire alarm, steam engines, modern diesel engines and container ships.
6. Mention a few machines used for pulling, pushing, lifting, driving, printing, ploughing, reading, and writing etc.
Farm tractor, crane, fork lift, cass, trucks, printer are few machines used for pulling, pushing, lifting, driving, etc.
7. Are machines humble to accept the evolution of human brain? Why?
Yes. Machines accept that they are the children of human brain. They have to work as per the instructions of human brain. So they humbly accept it.
8. What feelings are evoked in us by the machines in this poem?
We can feel that the machines have no feelings like human beings. So we should handle them with care.
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.
Ans: 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?
The pronoun ‘you’ refers to human beings in the above lines.
b) Whose task is referred to as ‘our task’ here?
‘Our task’ is referred to the task 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?’
Future tense is used in both the ‘if ’ clause and the ‘main clause’ for two reasons. The first reason is that the machines are expressing a definite truth. Machines themselves say that they do not lie. When they are given a task they will perform no matter what they are instructed. The second reason is that the choice is given to us. If we choose to give them a task, they will do it. If we don’t, they don’t do it. Unless they are given a task, they will not perform it.
d) Do the machines serve us twenty four hours a day?
Yes, the machines serve us, for twenty four hours a day, as they can never get tired. They keep running as long as they are fed with water, coal and oil.
e) Rewrite the given lines with the ending ‘365 days a year.’
“And now, if you will set us to our task, we will serve you sixty five and three hundred days a year!”
Additional Questions:
1.
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.
a. What are obtained from the ore-bed and the mine?
Ores of Metals are obtained from the ore-bed and the mine.
b. Where are the ores metals obtained from?
The ores of metals are obtained from the ore-bed and the mine.
c. Where are the metals melted?
The metals are melted in the blast furnaces.
d. Who is the speaker here?
The machine is the speaker here.
e. How are the machines designed?
The machines are designed by casting and hammering.
f. How do the machines become fit?
The machines become fit by cutting, filing, assembling and gauging.
g. What does ‘filed’ mean?
‘Filed’ means rubbed down.
h. Find out the rhyming words in the above lines.
Rhyming words: mine-design, pit-fit
i. What is the rhyme scheme of the above lines?
Rhyme scheme: a b a b
2.
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!
a. Are machines more efficient than human beings?
Yes, machines are more efficient compared with human beings. One machine can do several men’s task very fast.
b. What does the second line mean?
Once Machines are fed with fuel, they start quickly.
c. Who will set the task?
Human beings will set the task.
d. Who allots tasks to the machines?
Human beings allocate tasks to the machines.
e. How many hours is “four and twenty hours”?
Four and twenty hours make twenty four hours.
f. What do the machines need to run?
The machines need water, coal, and oil to run.
g. Find out the rhyming words in the above lines.
Rhyming words: ask-task, play-day
h. What is the rhyme scheme of the above lines?
Rhyme scheme: a b a b
i. What is the figure of speech employed in the last line?
Figure of speech: Hyperbole
3.
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!
a. What works can the machines do?
The machines can pull, haul, push, lift, drive, print, plough, weave, heat, light, run, race, swim, fly, dive, see, hear, count, read and write.
b. Can a machine read? Name such a machine.
Yes. Robots and computers can read.
c. Find out the rhyming words in the above lines.
Rhyming words: drive-dive, light-write
d. What is the rhyme scheme of the above lines?
Rhyme scheme: a b a b
e. Pick out the words that are alliterated in the first line.
pull-push
f. What is the figure of speech employed in the above lines?
Figure of speech: Personification
4.
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!
a) What does the machine ask us to remember?
The machine asks us to remember that they are operated according to the laws of Physics.
b. Do machines purposefully harm us?
No, machines have no feelings like us. So they never purposefully harm us.
c. If machines do not harm us on purpose, then what does this line mean?
This can be taken as a warning from the machines. If they are handled in a careless manner, the results can be fatal. Thus they must be operated with utmost caution.
d. What are the rhyming words given in the above lines?
Rhyming words: live-forgive, lie-die
e. What is the rhyme scheme of the above lines?
Rhyme scheme: a b a b
f. What is the figure of speech employed in the third line?
Figure of speech: Personification
5.
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. Who is the speaker of these lines?
The machines are the speakers of these lines.
b. Whom does ‘children’ refer to?
The word ‘children’ refers to the machines.
c. Why do the machines call themselves children of the human brain?
Because they are the products of the creative ideas of men’s brain.
d. Mention the major themes of the poem.
The important themes dealt in the poem are
i. Significance of machines
ii. Advancement of technology and
iii. Machines cannot replace human beings.
e. Are machines important in our lives? why?
Yes. Machines have made our lives easier, as they take all the hard works of human beings.
f. What are the rhyming words given in the above lines?
Rhyming words: eyes-size, again-brain
g. What is the rhyme scheme of the above lines?
Rhyme scheme: a b a b
h. What is the figure of speech employed in the first line?
Figure of speech: Metaphor
i. What is the figure of speech employed in the last line?
Figure of speech: Personification
POETIC DEVICES
1) Rhythm and rhyme:
Rhyme Scheme
Rhyme scheme is a poet’s deliberate pattern of lines that rhyme with other lines in a poem or a stanza. The rhyme scheme, or pattern, can be identified by giving end words that rhyme.
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It has a clear rhyming words with a,b,a,b so the rhyming scheme is a,b,a,b. The rhyme is also clear with the same sound. E.g. pit-fit, ask-task, play-day
2) Imagery:
E.g. The descriptions create a picture in the reader's mind We can see and hear and count and read and write!
The example explains to us the many tasks that could be completed by the machine.
3) Personification:
Personification is a figure of speech in which a thing – an idea or an animal – is given human attributes.
E.g. We can pull and haul and push and lift and drive
4) Hyperbole:
A figure of speech using exaggeration
E.g. We are greater than the Peoples and the Kings.
5) Assonance:
Repetition of two or more vowel sounds
E.g. all we ask
6) Simile:
Compare things alike
E.g. Greater than the people of the Kings
7) Connotation:
Suggests beyond what it expresses
E.g. Though our smoke may hide the Heavens from your eyes,
8) Alliteration:
Repetition of two or more consonant sounds
E.g. We can print and plough and weave and heat and light,
Activity
B. Write your favourite stanza from the poem and find the rhyming scheme.
Though our smoke may hide the Heavens from your eyes, - a
It will vanish and the stars will shine again, - b
Because, for all our power and weight and size, - a
We are nothing more than children of your brain! - b
The rhyme scheme is a b a b. The whole poem employs this rhyme scheme. This type of rhyme scheme is called an alternate rhyme.
C. Read the poem and find the lines for the following poetic devices or write your own example.
Alliteration
i. Eric cooked cupcakes in the kitchen,
ii. we can print and plough and weave and heat and light (from the poem)
Assonance
i. run and jump (u- sound)
ii. Hear the mellow wedding bells’ (e- sound)
iii. The crumbling thunder of seas (u - sound)
iv. The light of the fire is a sight (i - sound)
Personification
i. Lightening danced across the sky.
ii. My alarm clock yells at me every morning.
Simile
i. They fought like cats and dogs.
ii. You were as brave as a lion.
iii. “Twinkle, twinkle little star,
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky.”
PARAGRAPH QUESTION
Write the outline of the poem “THE SECRET OF THE MACHINES”.
Poem : THE SECRET OF THE MACHINES
Poet : Rudyard Kipling
Theme : Importance of machines, machines cannot replace humans
Outline : Machines speak - how they created - melted in furnace - need fuel- serve twenty four hours - do all sorts of work - neither love nor forgive - handled carelessly - results fatal - children of human brain.
In this poem, machines speak about themselves to human beings. They tell us, how they are created from the metals that are taken from the ore-bed. The ores of metals are taken from the ore-bed and mines. They are further melted in the furnace and hammered to design as machines. The machines need water, coal, and oil to run. They are ready to serve us twenty four hours a day. Like human beings, they can do all sorts of work. They ask us to remember that they are operated according to the laws of Physics. They reveal a harsh truth that they neither love nor forgive and cannot comprehend a lie. They have no feelings like us. If they are handled in a careless manner, the results can be fatal. They agree to the fact that they are not superior to mankind. Finally they humbly state that they are only the children of the human brain.
ESSAY
- Introduction
- Processes Machines undergo
- Energy they need
- Tasks they perform
- Feelings they lack
- Truth they agree
- Conclusion
Introduction:
Rudyard kipling, in his poem ‘The Secret of the machines’, attempts to show that machines are not greater than human. They are only the children of human brain.
Processes Machines undergo:
In this poem, machines speak about themselves to human beings. They tell us how they are created from the metals that are taken from the ore-bed. The ores of metals are taken from the ore-bed and mines. They are further melted in the furnace and hammered to design as machines.
Energy they need:
The machines need water, coal, and oil to run. Once Machines are fed with fuel, they start quickly. They are ready to serve us twenty four hours a day.
Tasks they perform:
Like human beings, they can pull, haul, push, lift, drive, print, plough, weave, heat, light, run, race, swim, fly, dive, see, hear, count, read and write.
Feelings they lack:
They ask us to remember that they are operated according to the laws of Physics. Though they are active, they cannot understand the sympathy, joy and sorrow of men and women. They reveal a harsh truth that they neither love nor forgive and cannot comprehend a lie. Machines have no feelings like us. If they are handled in a careless manner, the results can be fatal. So they must be operated with utmost caution.
Truth they agree:
Machines accept to the fact that they are not superior to mankind. Finally they humbly states that they are only the children of the human brain.
Conclusion:
Machines cannot replace humans. Though they are powerful and efficient, they lack feelings like love, pity and forgiveness.
Moral: You can’t make a machine in the likeliness of a human mind
