Class 11 English Elective · Woven Words · Poetry
This study guide explains Sujata Bhatt’s poem The Peacock in simple language. It includes a summary, themes, imagery, poetic devices, answers to the textbook questions and an interactive quiz.
About the poem
The Peacock by Sujata Bhatt describes the difficulty and delight of seeing a peacock in its natural surroundings. The poem begins with sounds and brief glimpses, then describes a way of waiting quietly until the bird appears. Its striking colours and eye-like tail patterns make the encounter memorable.
Reading note: The poem encourages close attention to the natural world. Some details are presented as signs of the bird’s presence; they should not automatically be treated as scientific claims about animal behaviour.
Summary of “The Peacock”
The poem opens with the peacock’s loud, sharp call. The sound seems to come from nowhere, and the bird is first seen as a flash of turquoise in a pipal tree. It moves away quickly, leaving the observer with only a brief glimpse of its tail.
The speaker then shares advice about how to see a peacock. A person should sit on a veranda and become absorbed in a favourite book. When the reader is deeply engaged, a blue shadow may fall across them. The wind changes, the hum of bees stops, and the cat wakes and stretches. These details suggest that something has disturbed the quiet surroundings.
If the reader looks up at the right moment, the peacock may be seen turning away and gathering in its tail. The feathers have dark, glowing, eye-like patterns, coloured violet and golden amber. The final lines play with the idea of blinking: the tail seems to close the many eyes on its feathers, while the eyes themselves appear always open.
Explanation and key images
1. The call and the flash of turquoise
The bird is heard before it is clearly seen. The phrase “a flash of turquoise” creates a quick, bright visual image. The peacock is elusive because it moves away before the observer can study it for long.
2. Reading on the veranda
The advice to read with concentration creates an unexpected way of waiting for nature. The reader is not shown chasing the bird. Instead, the encounter happens when attention is absorbed elsewhere and the surroundings are allowed to remain quiet.
3. The blue shadow and the change in the surroundings
The blue shadow is a sign that the peacock may be nearby. The change in the wind, the silence of the bees and the cat’s movement build anticipation. These details make the reader notice small changes in the setting.
4. The tail’s “eyes”
The feather patterns resemble eyes. When the peacock gathers its tail, the movement is described as if the tail were blinking. This striking image turns an ordinary movement into something vivid and memorable.
Themes and central ideas
- Nature and observation: The poem asks readers to notice sounds, colours and movements in their surroundings.
- The elusive beauty of nature: The peacock appears only briefly and may disappear before it can be fully observed.
- Attention and patience: Quiet observation makes the encounter possible.
- Visual wonder: The colours and eye-like markings of the tail make the bird seem extraordinary.
Poetic devices
| Device | Example or feature | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Visual imagery | “a flash of turquoise”; “violet fringed with golden amber” | Helps readers picture the bird’s colours. |
| Metaphor | “live inside the book” | Suggests deep absorption in reading. |
| Personification / figurative description | “It is the tail that has to blink” | Describes the tail’s movement as if it were blinking. |
| Sound imagery | The “loud sharp call” and the hum of bees | Lets readers imagine the soundscape of the scene. |
| Contrast | The sharp call and movement set against a quiet moment | Builds anticipation around the brief sighting. |
| Enjambment | Sentences continue across line breaks | Helps the description flow with the bird’s quick movement. |
Literary-device labels can sometimes overlap. In an exam answer, explain how a quoted phrase works rather than naming a device without explanation.
NCERT textbook questions and answers
Q1. Comment on the lines that make you visualise the colourful image of the peacock.
Answer: The expressions “a flash of turquoise,” “a blue shadow,” and “violet fringed with golden amber” create a colourful picture of the peacock. The details help readers imagine the bird’s blue-green body and the rich colours of its tail feathers.
Q2. What are the cues that signal the presence of the peacock in the vicinity?
Answer: The peacock’s loud, sharp call is the first cue. A flash of turquoise, a glimpse of its tail, a blue shadow and changes in the surroundings also suggest that the bird is nearby. The poem mentions the wind changing direction, the bees’ hum stopping and the cat waking and stretching.
Q3. How does the connection drawn between the tail and the eyes add to the descriptive detail of the poem?
Answer: The patterns on the peacock’s feathers look like eyes. When the bird gathers its tail, the movement is compared to blinking. This imaginative description makes the tail seem alive and draws attention to its unusual patterns.
Q4. How does the poem capture the elusive nature of the peacock?
Answer: The peacock is heard before it is seen, and its appearance is brief. It moves away quickly, leaving only a flash of colour or the end of its tail. Even when the reader follows the advice to wait quietly, the bird may be seen only for a moment as it turns away and gathers its tail.
Q5. The peacock is a colourful bird. How does the poem capture the various colours that its plumage displays?
Answer: The poem uses colour words such as “turquoise,” “blue,” “violet” and “golden amber.” These details allow readers to imagine the rich colours of the peacock’s body and tail. The eye-like patterns make the plumage appear especially striking.
Interactive MCQ quiz
Choose one answer for each question, then select Check my answers. The quiz gives immediate feedback and a final score.
Revision tips
- Remember the sequence: call, flash of colour, advice to read, signs in the surroundings, and the tail’s eye-like patterns.
- Use short quotations to support answers about imagery and colour.
- For a question on the peacock’s elusive nature, refer to its quick movement and the brief glimpses described in the poem.
- For poetic devices, name the device and explain its effect in the context of the poem.
About the author
Sujata Bhatt is an Indian poet whose writing often explores language, memory, place and identity. In The Peacock, close observation and vivid colour imagery bring a brief encounter with nature to life.
Further reading
- NCERT textbook PDF: Woven Words poetry section
- CBSE Academic website — check the current syllabus for the applicable academic session.
Prepared for learning and revision by Malik Mohd Arshad, AMU faculty. Use the prescribed textbook as the primary source and follow your teacher’s guidance on the current syllabus.
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