Core9X: MBOSE Class 10 (SSLC) lessons, past papers and mock tests

The translation is in copyright, so this list explains words useful for discussing the poem, including the specimen's phrases.

Word / phrase	Meaning
power	strength, force
hum	a low continuous sound
dazed	stunned, unable to think clearly
amazed	greatly astonished
trampled	crushed under feet
pale	having lost colour (from illness or fear)
plead / beg	ask desperately
bullock-cart	a cart pulled by bullocks
overturn	turn upside down
stunned	shocked into stillness
whine	make a long, high-pitched complaining sound
confounded	confused, bewildered
feathered	having feathers (here, "the feathered fly" = the birds that fly)
turn turtle	overturn, flip upside down
winging	flying
mansion	a large, grand house
tumble	fall down suddenly
sagacious	wise, shrewd
billy goat	a male goat
charge	rush forward to attack
bellow	a loud, deep roar
strains	(of music) sounds, melodies
silence	complete quiet
nonsense verse	humorous poetry that delights in absurd ideas and sounds
mock-heroic	treating a trivial subject in a grand, heroic style for comic effect
hyperbole	deliberate exaggeration

Phrase	Meaning
the feathered fly turn turtle while they're winging	birds flip upside down in mid-flight
the sky weeps tears	even the sky seems to cry
the trees shake and crash	trees tremble and fall
the people retire amazed	people withdraw, astonished

Device	Example
hyperbole	a voice heard from Delhi to Burma; mansions tumbling; the sky weeping
alliteration	"feathered fly"; "turn turtle"; "while they're winging"
onomatopoeia	sound words such as hum, whine, crash, bellow
personification	the sky weeps; fish searching for silence
imagery	animals with feet in the air; birds flipping over
irony	the "power of music" destroys rather than delights; the wisest creature is a goat
mock-heroic	a grand name (Bhishma) and grand style for a comic disaster
rhyme and rhythm	lively rhymed lines that sound noisy and comic