Magnifying Glass Questions & Answers | Class 8 English | CBSE NCERT

1 marks · mcq

1. Q1. (MCQ) The 'round glass' of the poem is:
(a) a windowpane
(b) a magnifying glass
(c) a telescope lens
(d) a pair of spectacles

With this round glass I can make Magic talk— A myriad shells show In a scrap of chalk; Of but an inch of moss A forest—flowers and trees; A drop of water Like hive of bees.

1 marks · mcq

2. Q2. (MCQ) The line "A myriad shells show / In a scrap of chalk" means that:
(a) the poet collects shells from the seaside
(b) under magnification, a small piece of chalk reveals countless tiny shell-like structures
(c) the chalk has been broken into many pieces
(d) shells are drawn on the chalk with a glass

1 marks · mcq

3. Q3. (MCQ) "Of but an inch of moss / A forest—flowers and trees" is an example of:
(a) simile
(b) metaphor
(c) alliteration
(d) hyperbole

1 marks · direct

4. Q4. (Fill in the blank) "A drop of water / Like hive of bees" — a drop of water appears as busy as a ______.

1 marks · direct

5. Q5. (Short Answer) What is meant by "I can make Magic talk"?

1 marks · direct

6. Q6. (Short Answer — personal response) Which image in this stanza do you find the most striking, and why?

1 marks · mcq

7. Q1. (MCQ) The phrase 'I lie in wait and watch' shows that the speaker is:
(a) hunting the spider
(b) patiently and secretly observing
(c) tired and resting on the grass
(d) waiting for the flies to come

I lie in wait and watch How the deft spider jets The woven web-silk From his spinnerets; The tigerish claws he has! And oh! the silly flies The stumble into his net— With all those eyes!

1 marks · mcq

8. Q2. (MCQ) The word 'deft' describes the spider as:
(a) clumsy and slow
(b) skilful and quick
(c) large and frightening
(d) lazy and idle

1 marks · mcq

9. Q3. (MCQ) 'The tigerish claws he has!' — the word 'tigerish' suggests that under the glass the spider's claws look:
(a) gentle and harmless
(b) fierce and predatory like a tiger's
(c) colourful and striped
(d) too small to see

1 marks · direct

10. Q4. (Fill in the blank) The spider spins its web-silk from its ______.

1 marks · direct

11. Q5. (Short Answer) Why does the poet call the flies 'silly'?

1 marks · direct

12. Q6. (Short Answer) What contrast does the poet draw between the spider and the flies in this stanza?

1 marks · mcq

13. Q1. (MCQ) The line 'Not even the tiniest thing' means:
(a) nothing is tiny enough to escape the glass
(b) even the smallest object becomes marvellous under the glass
(c) tiny things cannot be seen clearly
(d) the glass does not work on very small things

Not even the tiniest thing But this my glass Will make more marvellous And itself surpass.

1 marks · mcq

14. Q2. (MCQ) 'And itself surpass' means the glass can:
(a) magnify things even better than itself
(b) make objects appear more marvellous than the glass is
(c) break if dropped
(d) be replaced by a better glass

1 marks · mcq

15. Q3. (MCQ) The tone of this stanza is:
(a) bored and dull
(b) boastful and full of wonder
(c) sad and regretful
(d) angry and bitter

1 marks · direct

16. Q4. (One word) Which word in the stanza means 'causing wonder/astonishment'? ______

1 marks · direct

17. Q5. (Short Answer) What does 'this my glass' tell us about the speaker's feeling for his magnifying glass?

1 marks · direct

18. Q6. (Short Answer) How does this stanza sum up the idea of the whole poem?

1 marks · mcq

19. Q1. (MCQ) In this stanza, the poet shifts from tiny things on Earth to:
(a) the deep ocean
(b) the Moon and space
(c) the spider's web
(d) the drops of water

Yes, and with lenses like it, Eyeing the moon, 'Twould seem you'd walk there In an afternoon!

1 marks · mcq

20. Q2. (MCQ) "'Twould seem you'd walk there" suggests that through such lenses:
(a) the Moon becomes so clear and near that a visit feels possible
(b) people actually walked on the Moon
(c) the Moon looks farther away than ever
(d) the lenses are too weak to show the Moon

1 marks · mcq

21. Q3. (MCQ) The exclamation mark at the end of the stanza expresses:
(a) anger
(b) fear
(c) excitement and delight
(d) doubt

1 marks · direct

22. Q4. (One word) The contraction ''Twould' stands for ______.

1 marks · direct

23. Q5. (Short Answer) Why does the poem end with the idea of the Moon being within reach?

1 marks · direct

24. Q6. (Short Answer — personal response) Do you think curiosity about small things can lead to great discoveries? Give a reason.

2 marks · short

25. 1. What is the 'round glass' referred to in the poem, and what is its magic?
It is a magnifying glass. Its magic is that it reveals the hidden detail of tiny, everyday things, making a scrap of chalk or an inch of moss look like a world of wonder.

2 marks · short

26. 2. How does a 'scrap of chalk' change when seen through the glass?
Under magnification it shows 'a myriad shells' — countless tiny shell-like structures that the naked eye can never see.

2 marks · short

27. 3. What does the comparison of 'an inch of moss' to 'a forest—flowers and trees' reveal?
It reveals that under the glass, a tiny patch of moss looks as vast and varied as a full forest. Small things hold worlds within them if we observe carefully.

2 marks · short

28. 4. Which two images in the poem compare small things to large, busy ones?
An inch of moss is compared to a forest with flowers and trees, and a drop of water is compared to a hive of bees.

2 marks · short

29. 5. How does the poet watch the spider?
He 'lies in wait and watches' — staying still and patient so he can observe how the spider jets its woven web-silk from its spinnerets.

2 marks · short

30. 6. What work of the spider fascinates the poet?
The poet is fascinated by how the deft spider spins its fine, woven web-silk out of its spinnerets — a process visible in detail only through the magnifying glass.

2 marks · short

31. 7. Why does the poet use the word 'tigerish' for the spider's claws?
Under the glass, the spider's claws look as fierce and powerful as a tiger's. The word shows how magnification changes a common spider into a frightening predator.

2 marks · short

32. 8. Why are the flies described as 'silly'?
Because they 'stumble into his net' — they blunder into the spider's web despite having 'all those eyes' to see with.

2 marks · short

33. 9. What does the poet claim the glass can do to 'the tiniest thing'?
The glass will make even the tiniest thing 'more marvellous and itself surpass' — no object is too small to become wonderful under it.

2 marks · short

34. 10. Who is the speaker of the poem, and what is he doing?
The speaker is a curious observer (the poet himself) who uses a magnifying glass to examine nature closely — chalk, moss, water drops and the spider at its work.

2 marks · short

35. 11. What is the tone of the poem? Pick out words that show it.
The tone is one of wonder and curiosity. Words like 'Magic', 'marvellous' and the exclamations 'The tigerish claws he has!' and 'In an afternoon!' create excitement and delight.

2 marks · short

36. 12. How does the poem connect a simple magnifying glass with the Moon?
The poet says that with lenses 'like it' — much larger and stronger, such as telescopes — the Moon can be viewed so closely that it would seem you could 'walk there in an afternoon'.

2 marks · short

37. 13. What does 'I lie in wait and watch' tell us about the speaker's patience?
It shows the speaker is patient and quietly attentive, willing to stay still for a long time in order to watch the spider spin without disturbing it.

2 marks · short

38. 14. Give the meaning of the word 'myriad' as used in the poem.
'Myriad' means a countless or extremely large number. The scrap of chalk shows countless tiny shells when magnified.

2 marks · short

39. 15. What does the phrase 'make Magic talk' suggest about the speaker's view of observation?
It suggests that close observation gives a voice to the wonder hidden inside ordinary things — the glass lets that hidden magic 'speak' to the viewer.

2 marks · short

40. 16. How does the poem show that small creatures have their own drama?
The spider with its tigerish claws and the silly flies stumbling into its net form a miniature drama of hunter and prey — a whole world of action going on unseen until magnified.

2 marks · short

41. 17. Name any two objects from the poem that the speaker magnifies, besides the spider.
A scrap of chalk, an inch of moss, and a drop of water (any two).

2 marks · short

42. 18. What is a 'spinneret'?
A spinneret is the organ on a spider's body through which it spins and ejects its silk thread.

2 marks · short

43. 19. Why do you think the poet calls the glass 'this my glass'?
The phrasing shows pride of ownership and affection — the glass is his prized tool of discovery, almost like a companion.

2 marks · short

44. 20. What is the rhyme scheme pattern followed in the poem's stanzas?
The stanzas rhyme in an alternating/second-and-fourth-line pattern such as ABCB — e.g. 'talk/chalk' and 'trees/bees' in the first stanza.

3 marks · short

45. 1. How does the magnifying glass transform the ordinary into the extraordinary in the poem? Support your answer with examples.
The glass reveals what the naked eye misses. A 'scrap of chalk' becomes a display of 'a myriad shells'; 'but an inch of moss' swells into 'a forest—flowers and trees'; a 'drop of water' bustles 'like hive of bees'; a common spider shows off 'tigerish claws'. The poet's point is that the ordinary world is secretly extraordinary — the glass simply lets us see it.

3 marks · short

46. 2. Describe the spider as portrayed in the second stanza.
The spider is presented as a skilful craftsman and a fierce hunter. It is 'deft' — quick and expert — as it 'jets' its woven web-silk from its spinnerets. Its claws look 'tigerish' through the lens, giving it the menace of a big cat in miniature. Around it, the drama of the web unfolds: 'the silly flies' stumble into the net 'with all those eyes', showing the spider as the clever master of its tiny world.

3 marks · short

47. 3. What is the significance of the spider in the poem?
The spider represents the hidden complexity of everyday nature. Most of us ignore it, but under the glass it becomes an object of awe — its expert silk-spinning and fierce claws make it seem marvellous. Through the spider, the poet shows that even the smallest, most familiar creatures are worth deep observation, and that a whole dramatic world of hunter and prey exists in miniature.

3 marks · short

48. 4. How might the speaker's view of the natural world change if there were no magnifying glass?
Without the glass, the speaker would see only smooth chalk, plain moss, a silent drop of water and an unremarkable spider. The wonder lying inside these things — the shells, the forest, the hive of bees, the tigerish claws — would stay invisible. He would judge the world by its surface and miss the marvels of the minute; his sense of nature's richness would be far poorer and his curiosity less fed.

3 marks · short

49. 5. Explain how the poem moves from the very small to the very large. What does this movement suggest?
The poem begins with the tiniest things — chalk, moss, a water drop, a spider — and ends with the Moon. The poet says that with 'lenses like it', eyeing the moon, it would seem you could 'walk there in an afternoon'. This movement from the minute to the cosmic suggests that curiosity is a single continuous impulse: the same spirit of close looking that reveals a world in a drop of water ultimately carries humanity to the stars.

3 marks · short

50. 6. How does Walter de la Mare use imagery to create wonder in the poem?
The poem is rich in visual imagery: 'myriad shells' glittering in a scrap of chalk; an inch of moss grown into 'a forest—flowers and trees'; a drop of water swarming 'like hive of bees'; the deft spider jetting silk from its spinnerets with 'tigerish claws'. Each image magnifies a familiar object into something vast or fierce, so the reader literally 'sees' the hidden world. The final image — the Moon close enough to walk to in an afternoon — stretches the imagery from microscopy to astronomy.

3 marks · short

51. 7. Discuss the use of simile, metaphor and personification in the poem with examples.
Simile appears in 'A drop of water like hive of bees' — a comparison using 'like'. Metaphor appears where an inch of moss is directly called 'a forest—flowers and trees', with no comparing word. Personification appears in 'I can make Magic talk', where magic is given the human ability of speech; the exclamation 'The tigerish claws he has!' also treats the spider almost like a person being described. These devices turn small observations into vivid, living pictures.

3 marks · short

52. 8. What does the poem suggest about the relationship between observation and knowledge?
The poem suggests that true knowledge begins with patient, close observation. The speaker 'lies in wait and watches' the spider; only through his glass does he learn how silk is spun from spinnerets and how flies are trapped. The chalk yields 'a myriad shells' only to the careful viewer. Without observation, things remain mute; with it, 'Magic talks'. Knowledge, the poem shows, is simply wonder that has been looked at long enough.

3 marks · short

53. 9. 'In an afternoon!' — why does the poet make walking on the Moon sound so easy?
The poet deliberately makes it sound effortless — as easy as an afternoon stroll — to stress the power of lenses. If a small glass can turn chalk into shells and moss into a forest, then great lenses trained on the Moon bring it so near that the impossible feels casual. The light, playful exaggeration also captures a child's confidence that with the right instrument, no distance is too far for curiosity.

3 marks · short

54. 10. How is the poem a celebration of curiosity and the scientific spirit?
The poem celebrates the same qualities that drive science: looking closely, asking 'what is really there?', and letting wonder lead to exploration. The speaker does not just glance — he waits, watches and marvels at chalk, moss, water and spider. He then reasons outward: if a small lens reveals such worlds, larger lenses would bring the Moon within reach. Curiosity about the minute thus grows naturally into the scientific ambition to explore the universe.

5 marks · broad

55. 1. Write a critical appreciation of the poem 'Magnifying Glass', referring to its theme, tone and imagery.
'Magnifying Glass' by Walter de la Mare is a short lyric that celebrates the wonder hidden in ordinary things. Its theme is the transformative power of close observation: through the 'round glass', a scrap of chalk shows 'a myriad shells', an inch of moss becomes 'a forest—flowers and trees', a drop of water bustles 'like hive of bees', and a common spider displays 'deft' silk-spinning and 'tigerish claws'. The tone is one of delighted curiosity — the speaker is proud ('this my glass'), exclamatory ('In an afternoon!') and endlessly fascinated. The imagery is almost entirely visual and works by magnification: small things are imaged as large ones (moss as forest, water drop as hive), so the reader feels the same surprise as the viewer. Simile, metaphor and personification ('make Magic talk') enliven the lines, while the loose rhyme pattern gives the stanzas a conversational ease. The final leap from the minute to the Moon crowns the poem: the same curiosity that examines chalk and spiders points towards the stars. The poem's message is simple and lasting — nothing is ordinary if we truly look at it.

5 marks · broad

56. 2. 'The poem shows that wonder lies not in things but in the way we see them.' Discuss with examples from the poem.
A scrap of chalk, an inch of moss, a drop of water and a garden spider are among the most commonplace objects imaginable — we pass them daily without a glance. Yet through the speaker's glass they become astonishing: the chalk opens into 'a myriad shells', the moss swells into 'a forest—flowers and trees', the drop of water is as busy as 'a hive of bees', and the spider — 'deft', silk-jetting, 'tigerish' — becomes a figure of both skill and terror. Nothing about the objects themselves changed; only the seeing changed. The poem insists that wonder is a discipline of attention: 'I lie in wait and watch' is hard, patient work. This is why the poet can move from a moss-forest to the Moon in a single poem — once the habit of looking closely is formed, everything, from the tiniest thing to 'eyeing the moon', becomes marvellous. The glass is only a tool; the wonder comes from the watching mind.

5 marks · broad

57. 3. Describe the speaker of the poem. What qualities of character does he reveal?
The speaker is a keen, patient and imaginative observer of nature — very likely the poet himself, speaking directly of his own delight. His patience shows in the second stanza: he 'lies in wait and watches' the spider, keeping still so long that he sees exactly how the 'deft' creature jets 'the woven web-silk from his spinnerets'. His sense of wonder is boundless: ordinary chalk, moss and water leave him exclaiming over 'tigerish claws' and 'silly flies'. He is proud and affectionate about his instrument, calling it 'this my glass', as if it were a friend. He is also imaginative and ambitious: from small lenses his mind leaps to 'lenses like it' that would make the Moon so close that 'you'd walk there in an afternoon'. Above all, he is curious — the quality the poem quietly celebrates. Through him, de la Mare models what a true observer and scientist should be: humble enough to study a drop of water, and bold enough to dream of the Moon.

5 marks · broad

58. 4. How does the poem 'Magnifying Glass' reflect the spirit of science? Support your answer with textual evidence.
The poem is a portrait of the scientific spirit in miniature. Science begins with observation, and the speaker is an observer par excellence: he 'lies in wait and watches' rather than merely glancing, and his glass — a genuine scientific instrument — extends his senses. He is fascinated by process and structure: how the spider 'jets the woven web-silk from his spinnerets', what 'myriad shells' make up a 'scrap of chalk', how a whole 'forest—flowers and trees' lives in 'but an inch of moss'. Science also demands that curiosity scale up: the speaker reasons that 'with lenses like it', 'eyeing the moon', the heavens themselves would seem reachable — 'you'd walk there in an afternoon'. This is exactly how science has progressed, from Leeuwenhoek's tiny magnifying lenses revealing microorganisms to the great telescopes of today. The poem also shows the scientist's emotional reward: not cold analysis but 'Magic', marvel and exclamation. Curiosity, careful looking, and the joy of discovery — the poem contains all the ingredients of the scientific temper.

5 marks · broad

59. 5. What is the central idea of the poem? How does the poet develop it through the stanzas?
The central idea is that magnified observation turns the smallest things into marvels — that the world is far richer than our unaided eyes report. The poet develops the idea stanza by stanza. Stanza 1 introduces the magic of the glass through three quick transformations: chalk to 'a myriad shells', moss to 'a forest', a water drop to 'a hive of bees'. Stanza 2 slows down and focuses on one small drama — the 'deft' spider spinning from its spinnerets, armed with 'tigerish claws', and the 'silly flies' that stumble into the net 'with all those eyes'. Stanza 3 generalises the idea: 'not even the tiniest thing' but the glass will 'make more marvellous and itself surpass'. Stanza 4 then expands the idea to its limit — with greater lenses even the Moon can be brought near enough to 'walk there in an afternoon'. The development moves from example, to drama, to principle, to cosmic possibility — a small masterclass in how curiosity grows.

5 marks · broad

60. 6. Imagine you are the speaker of the poem. Write a paragraph describing a morning spent with your magnifying glass.
(Imaginative response, grounded in the poem.) This morning I took my round glass out to the garden again. First I picked up a scrap of chalk from the path — and there, as always, it happened: a myriad shells showed in that little white fragment, a whole fossil beach in my palm. I moved to the old wall, laid the glass over but an inch of moss, and it rose into a forest — flowers and trees where there had been only green dust. A drop of dew on a leaf, tilted to the light, was a hive of bees, swarming with restless life. Then I lay down by the ivy and waited. Sure enough, the deft spider came out and began jetting his woven web-silk from his spinnerets — and those claws! Tigerish, I tell you, quite tigerish. A fly blundered into the net and struggled, silly creature, with all those eyes of his. And I thought: if this small glass can show me all this, what would great lenses show? I looked up at the morning moon, pale in the sky, and it seemed with lenses like mine I might walk there — in an afternoon!

5 marks · broad

61. 7. How does the poem's ending connect with the human desire for exploration? Discuss with reference to the last stanza and your own knowledge.
The last stanza — 'Yes, and with lenses like it, / Eyeing the moon, / 'Twould seem you'd walk there / In an afternoon!' — lifts the poem from the garden to the sky. Having shown that a small lens reveals whole worlds in chalk, moss, water and spiders, the poet suggests that lenses 'like it', only greater, would bring the Moon so close that visiting it feels as easy as an afternoon stroll. The connection with exploration is direct: lenses are humanity's oldest instruments of discovery. Galileo's telescope first showed the Moon's mountains and Jupiter's moons; microscope lenses revealed cells and germs; and centuries of such looking eventually carried real people to the Moon. The poem captures this continuum — the same curiosity that examines a drop of water dreams of walking on the Moon. Human exploration, the poem suggests, does not start with rockets; it starts with an eye and a lens, and the refusal to believe that anything is 'just' small or ordinary.
End of Chapter 2 Question Bank — Magnifying Glass