CLASS 11 · WOVEN WORDS · CHAPTER 17
Original student-friendly answers to W. H. Auden's poem activities.
7 worked answers · short steps first, explanations when you need them
Textbook pages Understanding the Poem
Question Understanding the Poem 1
Link refugee status with the poem's repeated, sorrowful song-like mood.
The title combines the couple's displacement with the poem's sad, repeating song of rejection.
Question Understanding the Poem 2
Mention the ballad rhythm and repeated refrain, and explain their emotional effect.
A ballad-like rhythm and repeated refrain make the couple's sorrow and rejection sound ongoing.
Question Understanding the Poem 3
Contrast animals' shelter or freedom with the refugees' rejection and restrictions.
Animals have shelter or freedom, while the refugees are denied a home and movement.
Question Understanding the Poem 4
Contrast bureaucratic delay and hostile speeches with the couple's urgent need for safety.
Officials delay or reject help, and public speakers portray refugees as threats instead of people in danger.
Question Understanding the Poem 5
Explain happiness as safety and belonging that the couple cannot reach.
The tickets symbolise their wish for a safe, peaceful home and a future together.
Textbook pages Try This Out
Question Try This Out 1
Give one clear explanation for each device and connect it to the couple's experience.
Refrain repeats rejection; pathos creates pity; irony contrasts animal freedom with human exclusion; sarcasm criticises unfair systems.
Question Try This Out 2
Explain blue as sadness and give a few colour-mood associations with a note that context matters.
Blue suggests sadness; red may suggest danger, green hope, yellow warmth, and black grief, depending on context.