Class 9 English — Chapter 16: A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal

What you'll learn

• ▸The Poet's 'Slumber' and Perception
• ▸The Idealized Beloved
• ▸The Reality of Death
• ▸Assimilation into Nature
• ▸Poem's Tone and Mood
• ▸Structure and Rhyme Scheme
• ▸Comparative Theme: Death in Shakespeare's Poem

Chapter Summary

--- PAGE 1 --- A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal This poem is about the death of a loved one. How does the poet feel when he thinks about her death? How does he imagine her to be, after death? A slumber did my spirit seal— I had no human fears. She seemed a thing that could not feel The touch of earthly years. No motion has she now, no force— She neither hears nor sees, Rolled round in earth's diurnal course With rocks and stones and trees. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH GLOSSARY diurnal: daily ("Earth's diurnal course" is earth's daily rotation on its axis.) Thinking about the Poem 1. "A slumber did my spirit seal," says the poet. That is, a deep sleep 'closed off' his soul (or mind). How does the poet react to his loved one's death? Does he feel bitter grief? Or does he feel a great peace? 2. The passing of time will no longer affect her, says the poet. Which lines of the poem say this? 3. How does the poet imagine her to be, after death? Does he th…

Practice Questions from this Chapter

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1. Explain Earth's rotation simply. Get Solution →
2. Define poetic meter easily. Get Solution →
3. Describe nature's decomposition process. Get Solution →
4. Who is the author of the poem 'A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal'? Get Solution →
5. In the glossary for 'A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal,' what does the word 'diurnal' mean? Get Solution →
6. According to the first line of Wordsworth's poem, what 'did my spirit seal'? Get Solution →
7. In Wordsworth's poem, the deceased woman is now rolled round with what three things? Get Solution →
8. Who is the author of the poem 'Fear No More'? Get Solution →

Did you know?

• 💡 A dead leaf can feed billions of microscopic organisms in the soil.
• 💡 Your body replaces most of its cells every seven to fifteen years.
• 💡 The Earth travels around the sun at about 67,000 miles per hour.
• 💡 Some ancient cultures buried their dead with coins for an afterlife ferryman.
• 💡 All living things eventually return nutrients to the soil for new life.

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