The Power of Music - Question Answers|

Summary

Sukumar Ray's "The Power of Music" isn't your typical love letter
to music. This witty poem takes a humorous jab at the power of
truly terrible singing. The poem centers around Bhisma Lochan
Sharma, a character with a voice that could shatter glass and a
complete disregard for the misery he inflicts on his audience. His
singing, described as booming and forceful, reaches from Delhi to
Burma, leaving a trail of discomfort in its wake. People plead
with him to stop, but Bhisma, oblivious or determined, continues
his excruciating performance. The poem's humor comes from its
exaggeration. The sheer distance Bhisma's voice travels and its
effect on everyone from humans to plants and animals paint a
picture of a truly awful singer. Ray's use of metaphors and similes
further emphasizes the unpleasantness, comparing Bhisma's
singing to torture and punishment.

The poem's climax arrives with a rather unexpected hero: a goat.

Unable to bear the torment any longer, the goat delivers a
well-placed kick, silencing Bhisma and bringing much-needed
relief to the poem's world. "The Power of Music" is a delightful
example of satire. While it highlights the joy music can bring, it
also reminds us that music, much like power, can be misused. The
poem is great for those looking for a funny and
thought-provoking read, especially if you've ever been subjected
to ear-splitting singing!
The Theme of the Poem

Music Versus Noise

In consonance with its humour, stone and nonsense rhyme form,

the poet has used the theme of the power of music in its negative
form to highlight its actual power. Music has traditionally been
defined as a divine gift from God that touches our hearts and
souls. However, if this divine give turns out to be harsh, loud and
irritating, like the singing of Bhisma Lochan Sharma in the poem,
it turns into unbearable noise and becomes a curse.

The speaker says that Bhisma Lochan continues to sing without a

pause as if he has bet his life on it, and his hell-bent to draw to
attention of the people, perhaps to seek their appreciation for his
singing. On the contrary, on hearing his irritated, singing, people
run for days and a Time get trampled or become pale
and sick. The listener continuously pleads with him to stop
singing and spare them from the torture of listening to his music.

Just to prove the effect of bad music, the poet exaggerates and
uses hyperbolic expression to describe its effect on animals, birds
and plants. He says that on hearing Bhisma Lochan's music. The
bullock cart gets overturned, and the horse refuses to move and
stands in a line on the road in protest. Sometimes on hearing him
sing, the animals cry out in pain, raise their feet in the air and look
confused. The fishes dive deep into the lake to search for a place
where they cannot hear Bhisma Lochan's voice. The bird lose
their direction and turned upside down, whereas the tree collapsed
with such a sound that it could be heard even at a distance of a
mile. Even the sky weeps and the mighty mansions collapse.
People beg him to stop singing, but he remains unfazed and
unconcerned. But what people could not do, a goat does. The goat
pays him back in his own coin; it bellows on hearing him sing,
attacks him with its horns, and thus puts an end to his music and
the word, 'The Golden Gift of silence', the poet, humorous and
strategically says if one get unpleasant noise in the name of
music, it is better to get silence steel.

Comprehension Passages

PASSAGE - 1
When summer comes, we hear the hums|
Bhisma Lochan Sharma
You catch his strain a 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) Who is Bishma Lochan Sharma? How does he sing?

Ans: Bhisma Lochan Sharma is a singer. His songs are unpleasant
and irritating. He sings with great
passion and intensity as if his life depends on it.

(ii) In Lines 3-4 the poet uses a hyperbole. What is its purpose?
Ans: The poet in lines 3-4 uses hyperbole, exaggerating the reach
of Bhisma Lochan Sharma's singing
from "Delhi down to Burma." Its purpose is to amuse the readers
and indicate how this person's songs spread far and wide. It
highlights the idea that Sharma's music is not confined to a
specific location but resonates across vast distances, showcasing
music's power and universal appeal.

(iii) What kind of person is Bhisma?

Ans: Bhisma is a stubborn and irritating person. He is described

as someone who experiences intense emotions and is deeply
connected to the music he listens to. Bhisma seems to be
passionate about music, and it has a profound impact on his soul.
(iv) How are people affected by his song, as revealed later in
the context?
Ans: People are adversely affected by his songs. They feel dazed
and have turned pale.

(v) What do they plead with Bhisma? Does he listen to them?

If not, why not?
Ans: They plead with Bhisma to stop singing because they find
his singing irritating and disruptive.
However, Bhisma does not listen to them because he is so
absorbed in his singing and passionate about
it that he is oblivious to their pleas.

PASSAGE - 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 stinging quickly !"
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(i) What has confounded the people?

Ans: The people are confounded by Bhisma's shrill and
unpleasant song, which causes them distress and
discomfort. They are amazed and bewildered by his persistence
despite their pleas for him to stop.
(ii) What do they plead to Bhisma?
Ans: They plead to Bhisma to stop singing as his song is causing
much trouble to them, expressing that
they are near their breaking point and cannot endure his singing
any longer.
(iii) How does Bhisma's music affect them?
Ans: Bhisma's music affects them negatively, causing them
distress, panic, and sickness. They feel dazed and confounded due
to the impact of his relentless singing.

(iv) What do they want?

Ans: They want Bhisma to stop singing immediately to relieve
them from the distress and discomfort caused by his music.
(v) Who else besides humans are affected by Bhisma's
singing?
How?
Ans: Besides humans the others affected by Bhisma’s singing are
animals, fish and birds. Their behaviour has undergone a change
because of Bhisma’s singing.

PASSAGE - 3

The bullock-carts are overturned, and horses

line the roadside;
But Bhisma Lochan, unconcerned, goes
booming out his broadside.
The wretched brutes resent the blare the hour
they hear it sounded,
They whine and stare with feet in air or wonder
quite confounded.

(I) How are people affected by Bhism's singing?

Ans: People are dazed by Bhisma’s singing. They feel sick and
confounded because of his songs.
(ii) What happens to bullock carts and horses?
Ans: The bullock carts are overturned, and horses line the
roadside due to the disruptive effect of
Bhisma's singing.
(iii) Who are wretched brutes? Why do they behave
abnormally?
Ans: The ‘wretched brutes’ are the animals affected by the song
of Bhisma Sharma. They behave abnormally because of the
impact of the singing by Bhisma.

(iv) Explain the last two lines.

Ans: The last two lines present an amusing scene created because
of the impact of Bhisma’s singing on the animals. The horses
whine and look confounded. Their feet are turned upwards in the
air and they look wonderstruck.
(v) Even fishes in the lake are affected by Bhisma's singing?
What do they do?
Ans: The fishes are so affected by Bhisma’s singing that they
dived into the deep waters of the lake in search for silence.

PASSAGE - 4
The fishes dived below the lake in frantic search
for silence,
The very trees collapse and shake you hear the
crash a mile hence.
And in the sky the feathered fly turn turtle while
they're winging.

(i) What exaggerated situations has the poet depicted earlier

in the context? What effect do they create?
Ans: The exaggerated situations depicted by the poet are of the
animals turning their feet upwards in the air, and fishes diving
into the lake in search of silence. They create a comic and
amusing effect.
(ii) Why do the fishes dive below the lake?
Ans: The fishes dive below the lake in search of silence as the
singing of Bhisma has troubled them also.

(iii) What happens to trees?

Ans: The trees fall on the ground or shake violently because of

the effect of the unpleasant singing by Bhisma Lochan Sharma.

(iv) What is amusing about the images of the flying birds in

Lines 5-6 here?

Ans: What is amusing about the images of the flying birds in lines
5-6 is the depiction of them turning turtles while they're winging.
This imagery is humorous because it portrays the birds flipping
upside down in mid-flight, which is an unnatural and comical
sight.

(v) Which, according to you, is the most absurd situation

depicted in the poem?
Ans: The most absurd situation depicted in the poem is fish
diving below the lake in a frantic search for silence. Fishes, being
aquatic creatures, cannot perceive sound in the same way as
land-dwelling creatures do. Therefore, the idea of fishes diving
underwater to escape from noise is quite absurd and fantastical.
Moreover, horses whining with their feet turned upward in the air.
The cart they are yoked to is also upside down. are also absurd
situations in the poem.

PASSAGE - 5
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 tuble.

(i) Who are 'we'? Why have they pleaded repeatedly with
Bhisma
to stop singing?
Ans: The word ‘we’ here refers to the people who are forced to
hear Bhisma’s singing. They have to plead
Bhisma to stop singing as his singing is unmusical, irritating and
unpleasant.

(ii) Who are badly affected by Bhisma's singing?

Ans: People in general and the sick people in particular are badly
affected by his singing. Even the sky seems to be weeping due to
the screeching sound of his songs.
(iii) What is personified in the extract? What is the purpose?
Ans: In the extract, the welkin (sky) is personified. The purpose
of personifying the sky is to emphasize the magnitude of
Bhisma's singing and its disruptive impact. It has been done to
show how adversely the shrill sound of the songs has spread and
created an amusing effect.
(iv) In what way are you affected when you read about the
fate of humans, animals and even non-living things impacted
by the unpleasant voice of the singer?
Ans: Reading about the fate of humans, animals, and even
non-living things impacted by the unpleasant voice of the singer
can evoke empathy and discomfort. We feel amused and happy on
reading about the way the unpleasant songs of the singer have
affected humans and animals.
(v) Who ultimately stops Bhisma from singing and how?
Ans: A billy goat stops Bhisma from singing by producing an
equally discordant sound. This clash of sounds, described as a
"blast of brutal violence," forces Bhisma to stop singing, thus
granting the world the golden gift of silence.
PASSAGE - 5

But now there comes a billy goat, a most

sagacious fellow,
he downs his horns and change 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) Who has failed to stop Bhisma's song? Why are they
unhappy?
Ans: The people suffering due to the screeching and shrill singing
of Bhisma try to make him stop singing. But they do not succeed.
They are unhappy as Bhisma does not relent and continues
troubling them with his unpleasant singing.

(ii) How is the billy goat presented here?

Ans: The billy goat is presented here as a welcome power that
forcibly stops Bhisma’s irritating and shrill singing. The goat has
been called ‘sagacious’.

(iii) In what way does the goat hit the singer, and to what
effect?

Ans: The goat hit the singer with his strong horns and brutal
force. The result of this hitting was that Bhisma Lochan’s singing
stopped altogether.

(iv) What do you mean by the 'golden gift of silence'?

Ans: The golden gift of silence here implies a release from
Bhisma’s singing that was causing havoc to the people. The
silence here is highly valuable for the poor victims of Bhisma’s
incessant singing.

(v) What is meant by, "bellow answering bellow”

Ans: "Bellow answering bellow" refers to the exchange of sounds
between Bhisma Lochan's singing and the bellowing of the billy
goat. Bellow answering bellow means that the goat responded to
Bhisma’s loud singing by producing equally raucous and loud
sounds.