Read the poem and answer the questions given below it.
The Morning Fish Market
The town is still asleep when they arrive,
their baskets heavy from the early van.
They take their places on the wet cement:
a crate, a knife, a scale, a dented pan.
Rani sorts the prawns in heaps of ten.
Lata breaks the ice with a wooden pin.
Silver sardines slide across the slab,
and Mariamma dresses them, fin by fin.
By seven the market fills. The buyers come
with cloth bags and a frown at every rate.
They poke a gill and argue for a rupee.
The women laugh, and add one to the weight.
By ten the baskets hold just melting ice.
They hose the floor and count the coins again,
then stretch their aching backs, tie up their hair,
and walk home, side by side, down the sunlit lane.
Which of the following best describes the tone of the poem?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Lively and appreciative
The poem is full of quick movement, and the speaker values the women’s work.
- Short lines show one busy action after another: sorting prawns, breaking ice, sliding sardines, buyers poking a gill. This makes the poem lively.
- The speaker names each woman and shows her skill, “in heaps of ten” and “fin by fin”. Appreciative means showing that you value someone or something.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: Sorrowful and grave — Incorrect. Only partly true: Grave means serious and heavy. The women do have “aching backs”, but they laugh and walk home down a “sunlit lane”. Example: The doctor came out of the room with a grave face.
Option 3: Mocking and amused — Incorrect. Misread: Mocking means laughing at someone to make them look foolish. The speaker never laughs at the women or the buyers. Example: He gave a mocking bow when his brother came late.
Option 4: Weary and complaining — Incorrect. Contradicted: Weary means very tired. The work is tiring, but no one in the poem complains about it. Example: After the long train journey, we were too weary to talk.