Quality of Mercy

UNDERSTAND THE POEM

1. Mercy is compared to something in

the first two lines of the poem. What

is it? How is this comparison apt?

Justify your answer.

Ans: Mercy should drop like the

gentle rain from heaven. It is very apt.

Gentle rain cannot be created artificially.

Mercy is already in man. It should come

forth. It cannot be forced.

2. The speaker says that mercy is twice

blessed. What does she mean by

this?

Ans: Mercy is reciprocal. It brings

good things to both the person who shows

mercy and who takes mercy. It is divine

quality. The person who shows mercy is

happy because of his act. The person

who receives mercy is also benefitted,

because he is saved or helped.

3. 'Sceptre shows the force of temporal

power'. In contrast, what or whose

quality does mercy stand for?

Ans: When the monarch has mercy,

it is better than his crown. Mercy is

above the sceptered sway.

4. Some traits or qualities are

mentioned below. Classify them into

two categories of temporal power and

divine (Godly) attributes.

(love, revenge, sympathy, tyranny,

cruelty, miserliness, mercy, hatred, tit-

for-tat attitude, compassion)

Ans:

temporal

revenge,

tyranny

miserliness,

hatred, tit-for-tat

attitude.

cruelty,

divine attributes

love, sympathy.

mercy, compassion

READ AND APPRECIATE

Work in pairs/groups and answer

the following questions.

1. Read the first two lines. Explain

the simile (comparison) briefly.

Ans: Mercy is a divine quality. It

is already in man given by God. It is in

his heart. Whenever we want to show

mercy, it should spring out from the heart

Hke the gentle rain from heaven. Gentle

rain cannot be forced. It rains naturally.

So Mercy cannot be forced. The figure of

speech employed here is 'simile'.

2. How do you interpret the speaker's

interpretation of mercy as twice

blessed?

Ans: When we show mercy, we

have the satisfaction that we have shown

the divine trait. When the person receives

mercy, he feels that he is helped, saved

or rescued. It is in pardoning others

that we are pardoned.

3. The speaker compares the power of

the king with the power of mercy,

saying that mercy is the mightiest

of the mightiest. How does she

justify this? (Read the last part of the

text carefully)

Ans: Mercy is enthroned in the

heart of the Kings. The quality of mercy

is an attribute to God himself. When the

monarch or the King tempers mercy with

justice he becomes the mightiest of the

mightiest.

4. Can you think of any story wherein

such virtues as mercy, compassion

or sacrifice are highlighted? If so,

narrate them in the class.

Ans: We remember and can narrate

the story of 'Punyakoti cow.

5. This text has fourteen lines. But it

is not a sonnet. Look at the ending

of the lines and justify the above

statement.

Ans: Though the text has fourteen

lines, it is not a sonnet. Because

Shakespeare's Sonnet form has an octave,

quartrain and a couplet. This is taken

from his play "The Merchant of Venice".

Shakespeare tells the quality of Mercy

through Portia.