Read the poem and answer the questions given below it.
The Kite on the Wire
Munna’s kite was the best on our roof that day,
green paper, with a tail of yellow thread,
till a sharper string came cutting through the sky,
and it fell, and caught on the wires overhead.
Now it hangs above the lane by the tea stall,
between two poles, too high for any hand.
Munna threw stones at it all evening long.
The shopkeeper laughed. The kite would not land.
Each morning the wind stops by to coax it,
tugs at its tail and whispers, “Fly.”
The kite shivers, lifts one paper corner,
and stays where it is, against the sky.
The rains have washed its green to grey.
Its tail is now a knot of string.
Munna has two new kites this year,
but he still looks up when the wires sing.
Someday a storm will take it, or the rain,
and the lane will forget it was ever there.
But for now it holds on, a scrap of green,
still flying, in its fashion, in the air.
Identify the figure of speech used in the lines:
“Each morning the wind stops by to coax it,
tugs at its tail and whispers, ‘Fly.’”
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Personification
Personification:
- Personification gives human actions or feelings to a thing.
- The wind is not a person. But here it “stops by” like a visitor, tries to “coax” (gently persuade) the kite, and “whispers” to it. These are things only people do. Example: The tired old fan complained all night.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Simile — Incorrect. A simile compares two different things using “like” or “as”. Example: The baby’s cheeks were as soft as cotton.
Option 2: Hyperbole — Incorrect. Hyperbole is a big exaggeration that is not meant to be taken as true. Example: I have told you a million times to shut the door.
Option 3: Metaphor — Incorrect. A metaphor calls one thing another, without “like” or “as”. Example: Her smile was sunshine on a dull day.