🐾 Class 10 English Poem 7 – Animals Notes

Book: First Flight
Poem: Animals
Poet: Walt Whitman
Chapter: 7
Board: CBSE Class 10 (2025)

✍️ Introduction

“Animals” by Walt Whitman is a reflective and philosophical poem that compares the behavior of animals to that of human beings. The poet admires the simplicity, honesty, and calm nature of animals and expresses his disappointment with the greed, hypocrisy, and restlessness of modern humans.

📖 Summary of the Poem

In the poem, Walt Whitman expresses his desire to live with animals because they are more content, peaceful, and emotionally balanced than humans. He observes that animals do not complain, cry about their condition, or chase materialistic goals like humans do. They are self-contained, free of guilt and sins, and do not lie awake worrying about their duties.

The poet feels that animals are more straightforward and display qualities like kindness, patience, and equality. They do not show false respect for others, nor do they suffer from the emotional turmoil seen in humans. He feels that humans have lost these natural qualities in their pursuit of wealth, status, and societal norms.

In the final lines, the poet wonders where animals got these wonderful values from. He suspects that humans once had them too, but lost them along the way due to modernization and greed.

🌟 Central Idea

The poem highlights the superiority of animals over humans in terms of behavior, peace, and honesty. It shows how humans have drifted away from basic moral values and how animals continue to live with contentment and balance.

🎨 Poetic Devices Used

• Repetition: “They do not…” used repeatedly for emphasis.
• Enjambment: Sentences continue across multiple lines.
• Alliteration: “They do not sweat and whine” – repetition of ‘w’ sound.
• Contrast: Between human and animal behavior.
• Symbolism: Animals symbolize innocence and moral purity.

📚 Word Meanings

Word	Meaning
Whine	Complain in a sad voice
Kneel	To bend down as a sign of respect
Evince	To show or reveal
Possessions	Things owned by someone
Token	A symbol or sign

❓ Important Questions and Answers

1. Q1. Why does the poet want to live with animals?
   Ans: Because animals are peaceful, self-satisfied, and live without complaints or false values, unlike humans.
2. Q2. What human traits does the poet dislike?
   Ans: The poet dislikes greed, hypocrisy, false pride, dissatisfaction, and the habit of complaining in humans.
3. Q3. What does the poet mean by “I wonder where they got those tokens”?
   Ans: The poet is curious how animals possess such pure qualities. He feels that humans once had them but lost them over time.
4. Q4. How do animals show better moral values than humans?
   Ans: Animals don’t lie, don’t show fake emotions, don’t worship others blindly, and are emotionally balanced, unlike humans.

📥 Download PDF Notes

👉 Click here to download PDF of Animals Poem Notes

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📌 Tags: Class 10 English Poem 7, Animals Poem Summary, Walt Whitman, First Flight Notes, CBSE 2025, ToppersNoteHub

Posted by ToppersNoteHub Team