The Power of Music – Contextual Q&A

Question 1

"When summer comes, we hear the hums / Bhisma Lochan Sharma.
You catch his strain on hill and plain from Delhi down to Burma.
He sings as though he's staked his life, he sings as though he's hell-bent;"

(i) What is the significance of "When summer comes"? (3)
(ii) What does "You catch his strain on hill and plain from Delhi down to Burma" reveal about Bhisma's voice? (3)
(iii) How do the phrases "staked his life" and "hell-bent" characterize Bhisma's singing? (3)
(iv) Why is this introduction important to the poem's satirical purpose? (3)
(v) How do these opening lines establish the poem's tone and central conflict? (4)

Answer:

(i) Summer is a season of outdoor activity and when people are more exposed to the elements. The mention of summer suggests that Bhisma's terrible singing becomes an inescapable seasonal phenomenon—an annual torment that plagues the region.

(ii) The phrase "You catch his strain on hill and plain from Delhi down to Burma" emphasizes the extraordinary geographical reach and power of Bhisma's voice. It travels across vast distances and varied terrain, heard everywhere from north to south India. This exaggeration underscores how loud, penetrating and inescapable his terrible singing is.

(iii) "He sings as though he's staked his life" means he sings with total commitment and intensity, as if his life depends on it. "Hell-bent" means absolutely determined and relentless. Together, these phrases show Bhisma is completely absorbed in his singing, singing with desperate intensity and commitment, oblivious to any negative effects on others.

(iv) This introduction is satirically important because it sets up irony: Bhisma sings with such passion and commitment that one would expect him to be a magnificent singer. Instead, the poem will reveal his singing causes absolute chaos. The contrast between his passionate commitment and the disastrous results creates the poem's satirical humor.

(v) The opening lines establish a humorous, satirical tone that gradually shifts toward the grotesque and absurd. The central conflict is immediately established: Bhisma's intense, committed singing versus the suffering it causes. The poem plays with expectation—we anticipate that such passionate singing might be beautiful, but the poem will subvert this expectation by showing it causes catastrophe.

Question 2

"The people, dazed, retire amazed although they know it's well-meant.
They're trampled in the panic rout or languish pale and sickly,
And plead 'My friend, we're near our end, oh stop your singing quickly!'"

(i) What is the paradox in "they know it's well-meant" despite its negative effects? (3)
(ii) What do "trampled in the panic rout" and "languish pale and sickly" suggest about the impact? (3)
(iii) Why is the people's desperate plea to "stop your singing quickly" significant? (3)
(iv) How does this stanza use exaggeration for satirical effect? (3)
(v) What does the people's response reveal about the contrast between intention and effect? (4)

Answer:

Question 3

"The wretched brutes resent the blare the hour they hear it sounded,
They whine and stare with feet in air or wonder quite confounded.
The fishes dived below the lake in frantic search for silence,
The very trees collapse and shake – you hear the crash a mile hence –"

(i) What does the personification of animals reveal about the poem's perspective? (3)
(ii) How do different creatures react differently to the singing? (3)
(iii) What is ironic about "the fishes dived below the lake in frantic search for silence"? (3)
(iv) What does the destruction to nature and environment suggest? (3)
(v) How does this stanza extend the poem's scope from human suffering to universal chaos? (4)

Answer:

(i) The personification of animals—showing them whining, staring, wondering confounded (confused)—reveals the poem's perspective that animals experience genuine suffering and emotional distress. The poet grants animals consciousness and feelings, suggesting that Bhisma's singing affects not just humans but all sentient beings universally.

(ii) Different creatures react according to their nature: Land animals whine and are confused; fish seek refuge below the water; trees collapse physically. The varied reactions suggest the singing penetrates all environments and affects all creatures in ways natural to them. No creature escapes its effects, whether they flee, hide, or are destroyed.

(iii) The irony is that fishes, living in water, are seeking silence by diving deeper into the water. Yet water itself might carry sound, making their search futile. The desperation of their "frantic search" emphasizes how inescapable the sound is—even the natural refuge of water offers no safety. It's a darkly humorous image of impossible escape.

(iv) The destruction to nature—trees collapsing with crashes heard a mile away—suggests that Bhisma's singing has catastrophic environmental effects. What is normally stable and enduring (trees) collapses. This expands the harm from local (people) to regional (entire forests) to universal (even the sky), showing the cosmic scope of the disaster.

(v) By moving from human suffering to animal distress to environmental destruction, the stanza expands the poem's scope from a local social problem to a universal catastrophe. The singing doesn't merely annoy people; it disrupts the entire natural order. Every creature and every element of nature suffers. This universal chaos is what makes the poem absurdist satire—the situation is so extreme and all-encompassing that it becomes surreal and darkly comic.

Question 4

"And in the sky the feathered fly turn turtle while they're winging,
Again we cry, 'We're going to die, oh won't you stop your singing?
But Bhisma's soared beyond our reach, howe'er we plead and grumble;
The welkin weeps to hear his screech, and mighty mansions tumble"

(i) What does "feathered fly turn turtle" mean and what is its effect? (3)
(ii) What is Bhisma's response to people's desperate pleas and complaints? (3)
(iii) What does "The welkin weeps" suggest through personification? (3)
(iv) How is the destruction escalating through the poem? (3)
(v) How does this stanza represent the climax of the chaos before resolution? (4)

Answer:

Question 5

"But now there comes a billy goat, a most sagacious fellow,
He downs his horns and charges straight, with bellow answ'ring bellow.
The strains of song are tossed and whirled by blast of brutal violence,
And Bhisma Lochan grants the world the golden gift of silence."

(i) Why is the billy goat described as "sagacious"? (3)
(ii) What does the billy goat's action accomplish that humans could not? (3)
(iii) What is the significance of "bellow answ'ring bellow"? (3)
(iv) What does "tossed and whirled by blast of brutal violence" suggest about the destruction of the singing? (3)
(v) How does the "golden gift of silence" represent the poem's resolution and its underlying message? (4)

Answer:

(i) The billy goat is called "sagacious" (wise and intelligent) because while all others suffered and pleaded uselessly, he alone understood that only decisive action could stop the chaos. His wisdom lies in recognizing when words fail and when direct confrontation is necessary. He acts where others merely complained.

(ii) Humans failed because they used only words—pleas, begging, reasoning. The billy goat succeeds through action—physical force. What humans could not accomplish through rational persuasion or emotional appeal, the goat achieves through determined action. This suggests that sometimes force is necessary when all other methods fail.

(iii) "Bellow answ'ring bellow" creates a poetic image of two forces in opposition—the goat's powerful bellow matching and answering Bhisma's screech. It is not one overwhelming the other but rather a direct confrontation of equal intensity. The repetition emphasizes the clash between two powerful forces.

(iv) The singing is not merely silenced but completely scattered and destroyed by "blast of brutal violence." The word "tossed and whirled" suggests the strains of song are broken apart, scattered to the winds, obliterated. The force is so violent that it doesn't just stop the singing—it annihilates it, leaving nothing.

(v) The "golden gift of silence" is the poem's central metaphor and resolution. After pages of chaos and suffering, silence becomes precious—more valuable than anything ("golden gift"). The resolution suggests that silence itself is golden, that peace and quiet are treasures to be valued. It implies that sometimes relief from chaos is the greatest blessing. The underlying message is that while music (art, passion, expression) has power, unbridled and unconscious use of that power requires intervention, and the restoration of peace/silence is society's paramount need.