Chapter 1 Corona Says

Chapter 1 Corona Says 

Class 11 English 

Exercise 

Vishnu S. Rai 

Summary 

The poem “Corona Says” is written by a Nepali poet Vishnu S. Rai
who was educated in India, Nepal and UK. He is a retired professor
of TU who taught English Language Education. In this poem the
poet has taught about a pandemic (Covid-19) which has its
devastating impact on human life. 

This poem is written about the current issue of the Corona world
crisis and its devastating impact on human life. This is a subtle
satire about human behavior and attitudes. This poem considers
Covid-19 as a by-product of human treatment of nature.
The speaker asks man not to cry and curses him for the damage. 

He
claimed that the irrational behavior of humans had invited him
(corona) and he had no choice but to let people suffer and die. For
speakers, the number of deaths caused by war is higher than that of
a pandemic. The so-called superiority of man over other creatures is
criticized in the poem.
The pandemic questions us about our indifference to the living
organisms that fly in the sky, live in the oceans and crawl on land,
and the trees that provide oxygen. These organisms are considered
as slaves. As per our wish, we will either kill them or sell them. The poem mentions the positive effects of the disease too.

During
the pandemic, the sky is clear without dust and smoke because
there is no human activity. People feel like animals locked up in a
zoo. The pandemic has allowed the earth to rest.
The speaker wants humans to know themselves at first even if they
claim to have control over everything. He says people should realize
that the earth is a common home for all creatures. The speaker raised us by saying that the disease can be eradicated, and at the
same time reminded us that there are still many other diseases that
we can suffer from. It warns us that if we continue our immoral
activities, we may incur irreparable harm and our civilization may
be in danger.

Corona Says – Complete Exercise 

Understanding the text 

Answer the following questions. 

a. Who is the speaker in the poem? 

Answer: The speaker in the poem is Corona. 

b. Who claims that they are superior to all? 

Answer: The humans of this modern world claim that they are
superior to all. 

c. Why has the speaker come to the Earth? 

Answer: The speaker has come to Earth as a result of the abuse of
nature by people. 

d. What positive changes have occurred on Earth after the speaker’s
visit? 

Answer: After the speaker’s visit, the sky has been clean without
dust and smoke. People have felt like caged animals do in a zoo.
The disease has allowed the earth to have a little rest. 

Reference to the context 

a. What does the speaker mean when he says:
But have you ever counted
How many have died so far
Because of you and your wars? 

Answer: In the given lines, the speaker blames that the human
beings themselves are responsible for wars and loss of their lives. The consequences and effects caused by wars is more terrible than
the pandemic has done. Wars are the result of disputes over
resources and land, or of a government’s will to increase its
influence, power and authority. The parties or government
involving in wars never think of the consequences people have to
face. Millions of people have lost their lives and properties because
of wars. Aftereffects of wars is also causing them to suffer physically
and psychologically.

b. Explain the following: 

I will depart one day. 

But remember 

There’re many others like me. 

They’ll come too. 

If you don’t get rid of your inflated ego, 

You’ll be back to your cave time 

That you endured
Long, long, long ago … 

Answer: In the given extract, the speaker warns us to terminate our
egoistic behaviour. No matter who we are, we have to preserve the
nature and shouldn’t go against the law of nature. By saying the
above line the poet awares us that the pandemic can be controlled
but they may suffer from other fatal diseases due to their own
behaviours, and finally they can be the cause of the extinction of
human civilization.

c. What does the speaker mean in the following lines? Explain. 

The earth is not your property alone – 

It’s as much ours as yours. 

Answer: In the given lines, the speaker denotes that the earth is the
common habitat of all the living creatures. All of them have an
equal right to use the resources available on earth, to sustain their
lives. But we human beings are ruling over others thinking
ourselves as superior and depriving them of using resources. The
speaker is worried about growing human pressure on natural world.
They have controlled all the natural resources for their own benefits
though the earth is the common home for all the living organisms.
In the name of development and progress, humans are destroying
the sources of food and habitats of other creatures. In this way,
slowly and slowly entire ecosystem is being destroyed.

Reference beyond the text 

a. What human behaviours are responsible for suffering in people’s
lives? 

Answer: The human behaviours are the main cause behind all these
sufferings of the people. Due to human egos, their greediness and
bad deeds, the present world is facing a lot of crisis. Many people
have lost their lives during this critical period. Due to their selfish
nature, the earth have faced numerous problems of diseases. Their
so-called egos and wars have snatched the lives of many people.
Hence, human beings themselves are responsible for suffering in
people’s lives. 

b. How does an epidemic differ from a pandemic? Briefly explain
the impact of Corona Virus on human life and environment. 

Answer: An epidemic is a widespread disease that affects many
people in a population whereas pandemic is a disease that affects a
wide geographical area and a large proportion of the population.
Epidemics occurs when an agent and susceptible hosts are present
in adequate number and the agent can be effectively conveyed from
a source to the susceptible hosts.
Coronavirus is one of the greatest threat of the twenty-first century. 

This disease has taken away the lives of numerous number of
people. People in the world are panic-stricken and living their life in
mental fear. Businesses are down and economic crisis is seen all
over the world. Many peoples are jobless, homeless and due to the
scarcity of food also many peoples are dying. But due to the impact
of Corona Virus, environment is clean and pollution free than
before. As peoples are caged inside their houses, many of the
industries are closed and the numbers of vehicles on the road is
also decreased. Due to this the environment is cleaner and fresher
than before.