ARE YOU STILL PLAYING YOUR FLUTE?

1.
2.

In Stanza 1, why is the persona feeling uneasy?

Which line in stanza 1, indicates that the flute player is more
interested in playing the flute than building their love?
3.
Which line in stanza 1 tells us that the persona is deeply affected by
the melody of the song?
4.
In stanza 1, what feeling does the persona express?
5.
Where does the melody originate?
6.
How does she feel when she longs for the song in stanza 1?
7.
Do you feel that the persona is deeply affected by the melody of the
song in stanza 1? How do you know?
8.
What does the sick rice field in stanza 2, line 3 indicate?
9.
In stanza 2, what is the persona comparing her village to?
10. What are the evening rays referred to in stanza 2?
11. Name one luxury that they used to enjoy in the village.
12. Why is her conscience disturbed in stanza 3?
13. Why is the persona feeling guilty in the first stanza?
14. What is the meaning of when there is hardly time for our love
15. Another meaning for the word hazard in the third stanza means
16. Where is the personas beloved now?
17. What are the things the persona enjoys doing in the village?
18. What is the atmosphere in the village?
19. What is the poet trying to tell us about the changes in her life?
20. What is the poem about?
21. What type of musical instrument is the flute?
22. What does the lady want of the man?
23. What does the persona hear in the depth of her heart?

ANSWER
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

She yearns to hear the song again.

line 2
Line 9
feeling of guilt
It is hidden in the slim hollow of a bamboo
She feels guilty
Yes. She writes that the melody is blown by the wind to the depth
of my heart.
8.
The rice field is barren and infertile. It does not produce a healthy
crop.
9.
She is comparing it to where she is living now, possibly in an urban
area.
10. They refer to the sunset.
11. It is to spend time watching the rain.
12. One of the reasons is that her younger brothers are unemployed and
desperate.
13. She yearns to listen to her beloveds song
14. The beloved is more interested in playing the flute than to love
15. wonder
16. He is in a place where he can spend all his time playing the flute
without a care in the world.
17. She likes to watch the rain and also the sunset. She loves to collect
the dew drops and enjoys the smell of fragrant flowers.
18. It is desolate, quiet and deserted. The paddy fields are empty and
almost abandoned.
19. The persona is now staying in a place where it is difficult to enjoy
the simple pleasures of nature as time is very precious. She says it is a
luxury because people in the city do not have time to watch the
sunset or smell the flowers. Moreover, in an urban area, it may be
difficult to get a glimpse of nature in the concrete jungle.
20. A lady is pining for her partner who is more interested in his flute.
21. A wind instrument
22. She wants him to spend time with her.
23. The song played by her life partner

ARE YOU STILL PLAYING YOUR FLUTE?

24. What has happened to the rice field?
25. What can the persona do in the early morning?
26. Which words tell us that the air has a lovely smell?
27. What has happened to the personas younger brother?
28. What is the personas life partner doing most of the time?
29. What does line 2 stanza 1 tell us about the relationship between the
persona and the flutist?
30. What is the persona guilty about
31. What words are used to indicate where the melody is? Do you think
they are suitable?
32. What does the persona long for?
33. Write the two words that relate to how a flute is played.
34. Why do you think the persona says she feels guilty about longing for
the mans song? In your own words, give a reason to support your
answer.
35. Where is the man playing his flute?
36. How do we know that the rice fields are not looking good?
37. What does the line while here it has become a luxury mean in
context?
38. What words has the poet used to describe how she enjoys things of
nature?
39. Do you think they are suitable?
40. Explain the phrase disturbs my conscience as used in context.
41. Write two words that relate to the feeling helpless when watching
something happening.
42. Why do you think the persona feels unhappy about her relatives and
friend? In your own words, give a reason to support your answer.
43. How does the persona feel about the man playing his flute?
44. Write two words that relate to things of nature.
45. Why do you think the persona mean by the phrase this world? In your
words, give a reason to support your answer.

Answer
24. They have become dry and cracked or sick
25. Collect dew drops
26. Fragrance of flowers
27. They are unemployed and desperate
28. Playing his flute
29. They are a couple and she feels neglected
30. She feels guilty about wanting him to spend time with her.
31. Concealed in the slim hollow of the bamboo. Yes, because the flute
can be made from bamboo and the sound of a song comes from within
the hollow in the bamboo.
32. She longs for her love to play the melody for her personally rather
than hear it in her heart.
33. breath and fingers
34. She feels guilty about longing for his song because he seems so
engrossed in playing his flute and she does not want to impose on him.
35. in the village
36. They are described as sick rice fields.
37. It means that the persona cannot do the simple things she used to
enjoy doing.
38. The words are watching, gazing, collecting and smelling
39. Yes, they are suitable because they are the actions we carry out
when we watch the elements of nature like rain, sunset, dew and smell
the fragrance of flowers
40. The phrase means to feel guilty or uneasy about disturbing the man
while he is playing the flute.
41. mercilessly and bleeding
42. She feels unhappy because her brothers have no jobs and are
feeling desperate and she has lost her friend who was murdered.
43. She feels that he is spending too much time on his flute and is not
paying enough attention to her, his relatives and friends.
44. rain/dew drops and evening rays / flowers (any two)
45. I think she means the circumstances she is in, that is, her daily life
which she is facing on her own while the man is in another world of his
own, playing his flute.