The Glove and the Lions Extract-Based Questions

PASSAGE-1
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
King Francis was a hearty King, and loved a royal sport,
And one day as his lions fought, sat looking on the court;
The nobles filled the benches, and the ladies in their pride,
And ‘mongst them sat the Count de Lorge, with one for whom he sighed:
And truly ‘twas a gallant thing to see that crowning show,
Valour and love, and a king above, and the royal beasts below.

(i) Where was the king sitting? What was going on?
Ans. The king was sitting outside the arena, watching his lions fight inside.
(ii) For whom did the king ‘sigh’, and why?
Ans. He sighed for the beloved of Count de Lorge because he also liked her.
(iii) Who are referred to as “valour and love”?
Ans. The brave men represent valour and their beloved ladies are love.
(iv) What picture of De Lorge’s beloved has the poet given later in the
context?
Ans. He was proud of her beauty and did not love the Count.
(v) Why did De Lorge’s beloved think of testing his valour?
Ans. She wanted to prove that the Count was the bravest man. She did so to
prove that the king’s statement that they were better outside the arena was
wrong.
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i) Where was King Francis? Why was he there? Which characteristic
traits of Francis are described in this stanza?

King Francis was at his court. He was there to watch the royal sport of a fight between
two lions in an arena. King Francis was an enthusiastic, good-hearted, kind, and just ruler.

(ii) Who all were present in the audience, besides King Francis? Who
sighed and for whom?What is suggested by the phrase the ladies in
their pride?

Besides King Francis, his courtiers, aristocrats, lords and ladies were present there. Count de
Lorge, being a true lover, sighed his love for his lady. Besides him, King Francis, who was
quite infatuated and attracted by the beauty of Count de Lorge’s beloved, sighed for her. The
ladies in their pride' suggests that the ladies present there in a group were perhaps as
vicious as the pride of lions fighting below in the pit.
(iii) What is 'it' referred to as 'a gallant thing? Why is it so?

It refers to the fight between the two lions in the arena. It is described as a gallant thing
because the lions were ferocious and were biting, roaring, and tearing into one another.

(iv) Explain in your own words the last line of the given extract.

The last line of the extract means that King Francis, who was sitting on the top of the
stadium-like setup in his court, was looking down at the beasts below. His court was filled
with brave nobles and their lady loves, one of them being Count de Lorge. There
was love in the air as King Francis sighed for Count de Lorge's beloved.

(v) Explain briefly how is this poem a ballad.

A ballad is a poem that narrates a story in short stanzas and has a bouncy rhythm. The
poem The Glove and the Lions is a ballad because it narrates the story at King Francis'
court, where he and his courtiers, nobles, lords, and ladies watched the royal sport
of a fight between two ferocious lions in the arena below. The lady-love of Count de Lorge
threw her glove in the arena in the hope that the latter would pick up the glove and prove his
courage and love for her. Count de Lorge did the same, retrieved her glove from the arena,
and threw it on her face. King Francis approved Count de Lorge's act by saying that his
beloved did so out of vanity and not true love. The poem consists of four stanzas, and
each stanza consists of six lines. It has a rhyming scheme aa bb cc and internal
rhyme, which gives this poem a sing-songlike melody, befitting a ballad.
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PASSAGE-2
Ramped and roared the lions, with horrid laughing jaws;
They bit, they glared, gave blows like beams, a wind went with their paws;
With wallowing might and stifled roar, they rolled on one another;
Till all the pit with sand and mane was in a thunderous smother;
The bloody foam above the bars came whisking through the air;|
Said Francis then, “Faith, gentlemen, we’re better here than there.”

(i) What kind of royal sport was in progress? Who were watching it?
Ans. Lion fighting was in progress. The king and his noblemen, with their ladies
were watching it.
(ii) Who stole the heart of King Francis? In what state of mind was he?
Ans. He sighed for the lover of Count de Lorge. He was wise when he said that
they were better outside the arena.
(iii) Briefly describe the lion’s fight.
Ans. They roared and glared at each other. They bit each other and hit with
force.
(iv) What did the air carry afar? What did it reveal?
Ans. The air carried the blood of the lions. It revealed that they were powerful
and ferocious.
(v) Comment on the king’s remark. Who was attracted by his comment?
Ans. The king said that the men were better outside the arena because the lions
were very ferocious. The Count’s lover was attracted by his comment.

EXTRACT 2
(i) Where were the lions? Who all were watching them? Explain
briefly the lions' fight as described in the first line of the extract

The lions were fighting ferociously at the sandpit in the arena below. The king, courtiers,
nobles, lords, and their ladies were sitting above in a stadium-like setup and
were watching the royal sport – the fight between the two lions. The lions were engaged in a
ferocious fight in which they were treading on the ramp, biting, glaring and giving quick,
powerful ‘blows like beams', rolling on one another and roaring with their horrible-
looking jaws. They raised a thunderous bloody foam(smother) in the air with their fierce
battle.

(ii) How can you say that the fight between the two lions was quite
ferocious and brutal?

The fight between the lions was quite ferocious as they were engaged in a vicious battle.
They were fighting, treading on the ramp, biting, glaring, tearing into one another and giving
quick, powerful ‘blows like beam' that it appeared as the wind was moving in step with
them.

(iii) Give two poetic devices used in this extract with one example of
each

The Figures of Speech used in this extract are given below:(a) Alliteration: Ramped and
roared the lions. gave blows like beams wind went with their paws(b) Simile: gave
blow like beams. (c) Paradox: with horrid laughing jaws horrid and laughing are two
contradictory terms.

(iv) What did King Francis tell the audience? What is revealed about
the king by his remark?

The king told the audience that they were better seated above in the court rather than in
the sandpit where a bloody battle was being fought between the two lions. This
suggests that the king, being a human, considered himself superior to the lions, the king of
the jungle.

(v) Explain briefly the imagery used in this extract

The poet has used both visual and auditory imagery in this extract.

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PASSAGE-3
De Lorge’s love overheard the King, a beauteous lively dame
With smiling lips and sharp bright eyes, which always seemed the same;
She thought the Count my lover is brave as brave can be;
He surely would do wondrous things to show his love of me;
King, ladies, lovers, all look on; the occasion is divine;
I’ll drop my glove, to prove his love; great glory will be mine.

(i) What kind of show was witnessed by the king and his courtiers?
What had distracted the king’s attention
Ans. They had witnessed the fight between extremely violent lions. The king was
distracted by the lover of Count de Lorge. She called upon everyone to witness a
rare scene.
(ii) What did De Lorge’s beloved think about him? What was she sure
of?
Ans. She thought that the Count was the bravest of all. She was sure that he
would jump into the arena and get her glove back.
(iii) What thought struck her? What was her real intention?
Ans. She thought that her beloved, the Count de Lorge was the bravest man and
that he would do anything to prove his love. Her intention was to show off her
beauty.
(iv) What happened when the lady threw her glove into the pit and
smiled at her lover?
Ans. The lover bowed to her. The next moment he jumped inside the arena, got
the glove, and returned much too fast for the lions to react.
(v) Find a synonym of ‘rare’ from the extract.
Ans. Divine

PASSAGE-4
She dropped her glove, to prove his love, then looked at him and smiled;
He bowed, and in a moment leaped among the lions wild:
The leap was quick, return was quick, he has regained his place,
Then threw the glove, but not with love, right in the lady’s face.
“By God!” said Francis, “rightly done!” and he rose from where he sat:|
“No love,” quoth he, “but vanity, sets love a task like that.”

(i) Who were watching the lion fight? How was the fight progressing?
Ans. The king, the noblemen, and their ladies were watching the fight. The fight
was a ferocious one.
(ii) What idea struck De Lorge’s beloved? How did she put it into
practice?
Ans. She thought of proving the Count’s bravery by setting him a task to prove
his love for her. She dropped her glove in the arena where the lions were fighting
and asked the Count to get it back for her.
(iii) What could have happened to De Lorge?
Ans. He could have been attacked by the lions.
(iv) What was De Lorge’s reaction when he came back safe from the
pit?
Ans. He was angry and threw the glove at the beloved’s face.
(v) What did no one else but De Lorge understand at the end?
Ans. He understood that the lady did not love him but she was proud of her
beauty. That is why she put the Count’s life in danger. She wanted to prove that
the man loved her so much that he could do anything for her. She was full of
vanity and lacked true love.