O Where are You Going | 1st Year English Book 3 Notes

Here are the notes of the poem “O Where Are You Going” for the students of 1st year. 11th class students belong to all Boards of Punjab can read these “O Where Are You Going” book-3 notes online or they can also download them by clicking on the download button below.

Reference to the Context

These lines have been taken from the poem ” O Where Are You Going” by W. H Auden. This poem is in the form of a dialogue between two imaginary persons. One of them is Reader and the other is Rider. The rider is a brave traveller. The reader is a cowardly person. He frightens the traveller of the dangers and hardships of the way.

Explanation

In the given lines, the poet presents a dialogue between the reader and the rider. The reader warns the rider of the dangers of the way. He says that there are a burning heat, stinking dunghill and a deadly valley on the way. He says that all travellers lose their might and the valley becomes their grave. He asks the rider to give up his journey and stay with him. The rider replies that hurdles and hardships of the way cannot prevent us from reaching our destination. The poet wants to give us a moral lesson that we should never lose hope and heart in life because fortune always smiles on the brave.

Questions and Answers

Q. Who are the rider and the reader?
Ans. The rider and the reader are two imaginary persons. The rider is a bold and brave traveller. The reader shows a lack of courage and warns him of the dangers of the way.

Q. What did the reader tell the rider about the valley?
Ans. The reader told the rider that there was a deadly valley on the way. The travelers were unable to cross it because furnaces were burning in it.

Q. What is the moral lesson of the poem?
Ans. The poet wants to give us a moral lesson that we should never lose hope and heart in life because fortune always smiles on the brave.

Q. How does the horror try to frighten the hearer in the poem, “O Where Are You Going”?
Ans. The horror tries to frighten the hearer. He tells him that there was a dreadful shape in the twisted trees. He also tells him that the same dreadful shape is appearing behind him silently. He says that the spot on his skin was the symptom of a serious disease.

Q. What do think after reading the poem “O Where Are You Going”? “OR” What is the moral lesson of the poem? “OR” What kind of feelings does the poet create in the minds of the readers?
Ans. The pet wants to give us a moral lesson that fortune always smiles on the brave. After reading this poem, I feel that we should never lose hope and heart in life.

Synonyms

1. Who is the poet of the poem? (Wystan Hugh Auden/W. H. Auden)
2. The valley is fatal when furnaces burn (deadly, causing, death, lethal, mortal)
3. The valley is fatal when furnaces burn (kilns, founders, ovens)
4. Yonder’s the midden whose odours will madden (dunghill, heap of refuge)
5. Yonder’s the midden whose odours will madden (that)
6. O, do you imagine? said fearer to farer (traveller, passenger)
7. That dusk will delay on your path to the pass (evening, twilight, sunset)
8. Your footsteps feel from granite to grass (kind of hard stone)
9. Behind you swiftly the figure comes softly (fast, quickly, rapidly)