Tell me, tell me, smiling child, What the past is like to thee? 'An autumn evening soft and mild With a wind that sighs mournfully.' Tell me, what is the present hour? 'A green and flowery spray Where a young bird sits gathering its power To mount and fly away.' And what is the futher, happy one? 'A sea beneath a cloudnesssun; A mighty , glorious , dazzling sea Stretching into infinity.' --- Emily Bŕonte answer the following questions: a. what does the poetess ask the little child in the opening lines of the poem? b. Is the child happy or sad? how do you know? c. How does the child describe her past? d. What does the wind do? e. What is the young bird doing? f. How does the child describe the sea?
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Notes
In this poem, the poet addresses a child and asks him to tell her about the past, the present and the future. The child responds in childlike terms, but his simple words convey deep meanings about what the past, the present and the future are to human beings. The poem is written in three stanzas of four lines each. The rhyme scheme of each stanza is abab.