Read the poem and answer the questions given below it.
The Last Bus
At ten our shop pulls down its iron shutter,
and I run for the bus stand through the crowd.
The last bus out of the city is waiting,
its engine coughing, its old horn too loud.
A watchman sleeps, his cap upon his knees.
Two nurses share a samosa from one bag.
A mason holds his trowel in his lap
and wipes his hands on a cement-grey rag.
The city’s lights fall back behind the glass,
and then there are only the fields and the night.
Our bus is a lamp carried through the dark,
with sleepy faces in its yellow light.
I hear the windows rattle in their frames,
the brakes that hiss at every sleeping town,
the coins that clink in the conductor’s pouch,
his short, sharp whistle when someone gets down.
At the canal bridge I ring the bell and rise,
and step into the cool and quiet air.
A bulb is burning at our gate far off,
and Amma, still awake, is sitting there.
Which kind of imagery is used in the following lines?
“I hear the windows rattle in their frames,
the brakes that hiss at every sleeping town,
the coins that clink in the conductor’s pouch”
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Auditory imagery (sound)
Auditory imagery uses words that help us hear a scene.
- The lines begin with “I hear”.
- Each line gives a sound of the bus: windows that “rattle”, brakes that “hiss” and coins that “clink”. Example: We heard the hum of the fan and the tick of the clock in the silent room.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Visual imagery (sight) — Incorrect. Visual imagery helps us see colours, shapes and light. Example: Red and yellow kites filled the blue sky.
Option 2: Tactile imagery (touch) — Incorrect. Tactile imagery helps us feel something on the skin, such as heat, cold or roughness. Example: The rough wool scratched my neck.
Option 3: Olfactory imagery (smell) — Incorrect. Olfactory imagery helps us smell something. Example: The smell of wet earth came in with the first rain.