Class 12 English — Chapter 12: Time and Time Again

What you'll learn

• ▸Author's Context: A.K. Ramanujan
• ▸The Clocktowers as a Central Metaphor
• ▸Sources of Imperfection and Diversity
• ▸Theme of Communal Disharmony
• ▸Transient Disruptions to Order
• ▸The Violent Destruction of Time and Order
• ▸Human Violence vs. Nature's 'Precise' Act

Chapter Summary

--- PAGE 1 --- 12076CH12 7 Time and Time Again A.K. Ramanujan is one of India's finest English- language poets. He is best known for his pioneering translations of ancient Tamil poetry into modern English. At the time of his death he was professor of linguistics at the University of Chicago and was recognised as the world's most profound scholar of South Indian languages and culture. His interests included anthropology and folklore. These influenced his work as a craftsman of English. This poem represents the complex distillation of a lifetime of unusual thought and feeling. A.K. Ramanujan 1929-1993 Or listen to the clocktowers of any old well-managed city beating their gongs round the clock, each slightly off the others' time, deeper or lighter in its bronze, beating out a different sequence e…

Practice Questions from this Chapter

Tap "Get Solution" on any question to ask our AI tutor.

1. Explain how sundials work. Get Solution →
2. Describe the history of clock invention. Get Solution →
3. Compare different types of timekeeping devices. Get Solution →
4. Who is the author of the poem 'Time and Time Again'? Get Solution →
5. According to the text, A.K. Ramanujan was a professor of what subject at the University of Chicago? Get Solution →
6. What two interests, besides his main field, influenced A.K. Ramanujan's work? Get Solution →
7. The poem mentions a clock maker's 'shaking hand' in which country? Get Solution →
8. What three religious communities are mentioned in the poem in relation to their feuds and alliances? Get Solution →

Did you know?

• 💡 Atomic clocks are so accurate they lose just one second every 300 million years.
• 💡 Ancient Egyptians used special stars called "decans" to tell time at night.
• 💡 Big Ben is the name of the huge bell inside London's famous clock tower.
• 💡 Before railroads, many towns had their own unique local time, not shared with neighbors.
• 💡 A "leap second" is sometimes added to clocks to match Earth's slightly slowing rotation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Chapters