Chapter 6

                                           The Wonder Called Sleep


Short Questions and Answers

  1. Who is the poet of the poem?
    Answer: Edward Thomas.

  2. What is the poem about?
    Answer: The experience of falling asleep.

  3. What has the poet come to?
    Answer: The borders of sleep.

  4. How does the poet describe sleep?
    Answer: As an unfathomable deep forest.

  5. Can people choose their way in sleep according to the poem?
    Answer: No, they cannot choose.

  6. Is the path to sleep straight or winding?
    Answer: It can be straight or winding.

  7. Does it matter how soon or late one falls asleep?
    Answer: No, all must lose their way in sleep sooner or later.

  8. What does the poet say about books and faces?
    Answer: There is not any book or face he would not turn from.

  9. Why does the poet turn from books or faces?
    Answer: To go into the unknown of sleep.

  10. Does the poet know how he will enter sleep?
    Answer: No, he does not know how.

  11. Does the poet describe sleep as known or unknown?
    Answer: Unknown.

  12. What metaphor is used for sleep in the poem?
    Answer: Sleep is compared to a deep forest.

  13. Is sleep depicted as easy to navigate?
    Answer: No, it is a place where all lose their way.

  14. Who must enter sleep alone?
    Answer: Everyone, including the poet.

  15. Does the poem suggest control over sleep?
    Answer: No, sleep is beyond control.

  16. How does the poet feel about leaving familiar things for sleep?
    Answer: He turns away from familiar things to enter the unknown.

  17. What does “borders of sleep” mean?
    Answer: The threshold between wakefulness and sleep.

  18. Is falling asleep depicted as a journey or a destination?
    Answer: A journey into the unknown.

  19. Does the poet express fear about sleep?
    Answer: The poem suggests uncertainty, not fear.

  20. What is the tone of the poem?
    Answer: Calm, reflective, and contemplative.

Long Questions and Answers

  1. Explain what Edward Thomas means by “the borders of sleep.”
    Answer: The “borders of sleep” refers to the threshold between being awake and entering sleep, a transition into an unknown and mysterious state.

  2. How does the poet describe sleep as a forest?
    Answer: He compares sleep to an unfathomable deep forest where everyone loses their way, suggesting it is mysterious, vast, and beyond control.

  3. Why does the poet turn from books or faces?
    Answer: He turns from familiar things to venture into the unknown world of sleep, leaving the familiar behind.

  4. How does the poem describe the inevitability of sleep?
    Answer: Everyone must enter sleep eventually, and all lose their way regardless of the path or timing.

  5. What is the significance of saying sleep is “unfathomable”?
    Answer: It emphasizes that sleep is mysterious and beyond human understanding.

  6. How does the poem depict the process of falling asleep?
    Answer: As a journey into an unknown forest where guidance is not possible and everyone must enter alone.

  7. What does the poet mean by “I must enter and leave alone”?
    Answer: Sleep is a personal experience that each individual must undergo by themselves.

  8. How does the poem convey the uncertainty of sleep?
    Answer: By describing it as an unknown forest where no one can choose their way or predict the experience.

  9. Explain the metaphor of sleep as a journey in the poem.
    Answer: Sleep is likened to a journey into a mysterious forest, where one cannot control the path, representing the unpredictability of dreams and unconsciousness.

  10. How does the poet balance calmness and mystery in the poem?
    Answer: Through reflective language and metaphors, the poet calmly acknowledges the mystery of sleep without fear or anxiety.

  11. What does the poem suggest about the relationship between wakefulness and sleep?
    Answer: Sleep is a threshold one must cross, leaving behind the familiar world of wakefulness.

  12. How does the poet express the inevitability of leaving familiar things?
    Answer: By stating that he turns from books and faces to enter the unknown, showing that sleep requires detachment.

  13. In what way does the poem highlight solitude in sleep?
    Answer: By saying that one must enter and leave sleep alone, the poet emphasizes its solitary nature.

  14. How does the imagery of a forest help convey the poem’s theme?
    Answer: The forest symbolizes mystery, depth, and the unknowable, paralleling the hidden workings of sleep and dreams.

  15. How does Edward Thomas create a contemplative tone?
    Answer: Through careful word choice, metaphors, and reflective observations about the experience of sleep.

  16. What does the phrase “lose their way” signify in the context of sleep?
    Answer: It signifies that once asleep, one cannot consciously control their journey; the mind wanders into dreams.

  17. Why does the poet describe sleep as “unknown”?
    Answer: Because sleep is a state of unconscious rest, and its inner workings, including dreams, are mysterious and unpredictable.

  18. How is the theme of mystery portrayed in the poem?
    Answer: Through metaphors like the forest, the border of sleep, and the idea of losing one’s way, emphasizing uncertainty.

  19. How does the poem reflect the human experience of sleep?
    Answer: It captures the transition, solitude, and unpredictability that everyone experiences when falling asleep.

  20. Summarize the poet’s message about sleep.
    Answer: Sleep is a mysterious, inevitable journey into the unknown, a personal and solitary experience that one must undertake, leaving behind the familiar world.

Answer by Mrinmoee