Read the following lines and answer the question that follows by choosing the correct option :
'My father lived at Blenheim then,
Yon little stream hard by;
They burnt his dwelling to the ground,
And he was forced to fly;
So with his wife and child he fled,
Nor had he where to rest his head.
'With fire and sword the country round
Was wasted far and wide,
And many a childing mother then,
And new-born baby died;
But things like that, you know, must be
At every famous victory.
The phrase 'childing mother' in the poem means :
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → pregnant woman
Childing is an old word meaning bearing a child, pregnant, so a "childing mother" is a woman expecting a baby.
Example: The old ballad mourns the childing women who perished in the famine.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: mother holding the child — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: the child is not yet born; "childing" refers to carrying a baby in the womb, not in the arms.
Option 3: new born baby — Incorrect. Misread: the new-born baby is named separately in the next line; "childing mother" is a woman.
Option 4: a young mother — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: "Childing" says nothing about age; it means expecting a child.