Tithonus – ISC Rhapsody Short Answer Questions

 Tithonus by Lord Tennyson : Short Answer Questions 

Question 1 : Why does Tithonus call the boon of his immortality cruel ?

  Answer:  Tithonus considers his immortality cruel because he has got only the immortality without eternal youth. The gift of immortality does not allow him to die but he is getting old and weak day by day. He is trapped in an aged body, unable to enjoy life. While his wife, the goddess of dawn – Eos remains youthful always. Therefore the gift of immortality has left him old and aged “to dwell in presence of immortal youth / Immortal age beside immortal youth.”

     This way Tithonus feels that the boon of his immortality cruel.

 Question 2 : Describe the place where Tithonus lives with Aurora, the goddess of dawn.

   Answer : Tithonus lives with the goddess of dawn – Aurora, in the East, above the clouds, far away from this mortal world. He describes this place as – 

  “The ever silent spaces of the East /

   Far – folded mists and gleaming halls of morn”.

    Tithonus lives in the place of goddess Aurora, where he roams around like a ghost as the place remains “ever silent” – quiet and cold, far away from his land Troy. The place is always covered with mist and shinning halls of morning. This suggests that the place has an unattainable beauty and renewal like the goddess of dawn.

  Question 3 : Explain the circumstances under which Tithonus was granted immortality. 

  Answer : Tithonus was granted immortality by  the goddess Aurora. In his youth, Tithonus was a very handsome and glorious man that Aurora fall for him, rather than any other god. This made him feel like he was a special person. Tithonus himself describes it as – 

  “Who madest him thy chosen, that he seem’d /

  To his great heart none other than a God !”

      Inflated with the pleasure of being  “chosen” by the gorgeous goddess, Tithonus saw himself as better than human being, like a god. This feeling evoked his desire to become immortal like a god.

    He wanted to become immortal like a God to fulfill his desire for her forever. So he asked the goddess Aurora to give him immortality. 

    Eos granted his desire happily in response to her own desire for him, without thinking of the consequences.

 Question 4 : What similarity is mentioned between the grant of immortality to Tithonus and the way wealthy people give money to someone ? 

  Answer  : Tithonus compared the grant of  immortality to him, with the way rich people give away money to someone without even thinking for a while. He says – 

  “Then didst thou grant mine asking with a smile/

   Like wealthy men, who care not how they give”.

     Tithonus critisizes the goddess Aurora for behaving in an arrogant manner for granting his wish so readily without considering the consequences of his wish. He says just as rich or wealthy people give away their money without much thought, Aurora granted Tithonus immortality so readily and happily without considering the consequences of eternal life without eternal youth.

  Question 5 : Why does the speaker want the goddess to rectify the error she has made ?

   Answer : The speaker – Tithonus wants the goddess Aurora to rectify her error of granting him immortality without eternal youth. He says that her  “strong  Hours” – time has worked against Tithonus and  “beat (him) down” and  “marr’d  and  wasted” him. He has become old and withered away with time. 

    He further says – 

   “…………left me maim’d /

     To dwell in presence of immortal youth /

   Immortal age beside immortal youth”.

     Time has ruined his youthful beauty and grow him old while his beloved goddess of dawn remains young and beautiful. There is no match of his immortal age with her immortal youth. He wants to ask if she can make amends to her error of giving him gift of immortality without eternal youth. So he asks Aurora, the Goddess of dawn, if she can take back the gift of eternal life given to him.

    Question 6 : Give a description of the appearance of dawn on her chariot.

   Answer:  Tithonus describes the ethereal beauty of Goddess of dawn Eos on her transformation at dawn and says  that at every morning he sees the  “old mysterious glimmer” on her lovely forehead and her lovely shoulders and feels her  “bossom beating with a heart renew’d”. Here the word  “heart renew’d” refers to the goddess’s ever fresh beauty which she renews it every morning.

    He describes the appearance of dawn on her chariot as – 

   “Thy cheek begins to redden thro’ the gloom /

    Thy sweet eyes brighten slowly close to mine”.

     Tithonus says to Aurora that her cheek starts to blush and turn red through the darkness, her beautiful eyes looking into his eyes, slowly brighten with light. As her arrival marks the end of the darkness of the night.

    He further says that the  “wild team” of white horses of her chariot are eagerly waiting  for her to hitch them to start pulling her chariot again. He says – 

   “And shake the darkness from their loosen’d manes /

   And beat the twilight into flakes of fire”.

    As the chariot starts its journey the horses shake off the darkness of night from their  “loosen’d manes” and charge through the twilight, fanning its faded coals into the fresh flames of sunrise.

   Question 7 : What is the limitation of the gods that Tithonus points out ? When does he realise this ? 

   Answer :  Tithonus found that even gods have some limitations. They can not take back the gifts they have granted to someone. He realises this when he makes a request to the goddess of dawn  to take back the boon of immortality that she had granted to him. Instead of giving any answer the goddess turns away with tears in eyes and disappears. This makes him recall an old saying that  “The Gods themselves can not recall their gifts”.