Question
Answer the following questions:
- What did the poet do after he heard the knocking on the door?
- What was the night like?
- Name the insect mentioned in the poem.
- Why does the poet use the expression ‘at all’ thrice in the last line of the poem?
Answer
- After hearing the knocking on the door, the poet listened, opened the door, and looked to the left and right to see who was there. However, the poet found no one stirring.
- The night described in the poem is still and dark. There is no activity or movement except for the sounds of nature, such as the beetle tap-tapping in the wall, the screech-owl’s call from the forest, and the cricket whistling while the dewdrops fall.
- The insect mentioned in the poem is the beetle. It is described as being busy tap-tapping in the wall.
- The poet uses the expression ‘at all’ thrice in the last line of the poem to emphasize the uncertainty and lack of knowledge about who came knocking. It adds to the sense of mystery and leaves the question unanswered. The repetition of ‘at all’ reinforces the poet’s confusion and indicates a complete absence of information about the identity of the person who knocked on the door.
