CLASS VII   Friends and Flatterers

Read the extracts and answer the qs.:

Stanza 1

Every one that flatters thee
Is no friend in misery.
Words are easy, like the wind;
Faithful friends are hard to find:

Meaning

·         Flatter – Praise

·         Thee – You

·         Misery – Struggle; trouble; pain; difficulty

·         Faithful – Committed; loyal

Questions

1.   Name the poem and the poet.

     The poem is ‘Friends and Flatterers.’and the poet is William Shakespeare.

2.   Why shouldn’t we trust a flattering friend like a real friend?

We should not trust a flattering friend because they always leave us in our misery.These friends are only for good times.

3.   Why are words compared to wind?

Words are compared to wind as flattering friends use them quickly and easily.Their words

            meaningless and directionless   just like the wind.

4.   .What do you mean by ‘a friend in misery?’

A friend in misery is a real friend who will be with us in our good and bad times alike.

      5.   Name the poetic device in line-3.

 Simile.

Stanza 2

Every man will be thy friend
Whilst thou hast wherewith to spend;
But if store of crowns be scant,
No man will supply thy want.

Meaning

·         Thy – Your

·         Whilst – While

·         Hast – Has

·         Wherewith – Money

·         Store of crowns – Money

·         Scant – Low

·         Supply – Give

·         Thy want – Your need

1.   When do we find ourselves surrounded by friends?
We find ourselves surrounded by friends when we have wealth and money to spend for them.

2.   When do flattering friends abandon us?
Flattering friends abandon us when we have less money to spend on them.

Stanza 3

If that one be prodigal,
Bountiful they will him call,
And with such-like flattering,
‘Pity but he were a king;’

Meaning

·         Prodigal – Spendthrift; over-spending;

·         Bountiful – Abundant

·         Such-like – As if

·         Pity – Sympathy

·         But he were a king – As if he were a king

1.   What does prodigal mean? OR Who is a prodigal person?
Prodigal is one who wastes money without giving any thought to the future.

2.   Whose company do people generally like?
People generally like the company of those who are prodigal and generously on them.

3.   How do people flatter a prodigal friend?

People flatter their prodigal friends by saying that they are sorry he is not a king. They repeatedly say that such qualities as his could  only be found in kings.

Stanza 4

But if Fortune once do frown,
Then farewell his great renown
They that fawn’d on him before
Use his company no more.

Meaning

·         Fortune – Luck

·         Frown – Be angry

·         Farewell – Depart, lose

·         Renown – Fame

·         Fawn’d – Flattered

1.   What happens to your flatterers when your luck turns bad?
When luck turns bad, our flatterers will bid farewell to us. They will not stay with us any more.

2.   What does the frown of fortune indicate?
Frown of fortune means bad luck.

3.   What does farewell his great renown mean?
It means losing all fame due to bad fortune. Fame here signifies being famous for spending money lavishly.

4.   Why do they fawn on him before?
They fawn on him before because earlier he had sufficient money to spend on them.

Stanza 5

He that is thy friend indeed,
He will help thee in thy need:
If thou sorrow, he will weep;
If thou wake, he cannot sleep;

Meaning

·         Sorrow – Worry

·         Weep – Cry

1.   What are the qualities of real friends according to the stanza?
The real friend is the one who cannot watch his friend go through trouble. He shares his friend’s worries and suffers as if it is his own worry.

Stanza 6
Thus of every grief in heart
He with thee doth bear a part.
These are certain signs to know
Faithful friend from flattering foe.

Meaning

·         Grief – Sadness

·         Doth – Does

·         Bear – Suffer

·         Foe – Enemy

1.   What does ‘every grief in heart mean?’

It means that everylittle sadness that we may have in our heart.

2.   Who is ‘he’ in the above lines?

‘He’ in the above lines refers to a real friend.

3.   Explain  the  term ‘flattering foe’?

A ‘flattering foe ’means a person who flatters you for his selfish needs. Such a person is not a friend but an enemy.

4.   Who according the poet is a true friend?

A true friend is someone who helps you in your need. He will be sad if you are in sorrow. He will not be able to sleep when you are awake.A true friend will ba a part of your grief and sadness.

HOTS

II. In  the  III stanza,the poet says, ‘Pity but he were a king,’ if a person is a  king, why is he to be pitied ?

If a person is a king, , he is to be pitied because he oes not realise that he is not a king in real sense .but he is being addressed so by the flatterers for their selfish motives as he has surplus money to

spend on them. The moment he loses money ,they will also leave his company and disappear.

IV. Values

Ther is a marked difference between the sincere appreciation of a faithful friend and the artificial flattery of a flattering foe. Discuss.

A true friend is like a solitaire. It is not easy to find a true friend because in this world we come across many people who pretend to be nice to us .By flattering us , they  remain our friend till we have money and leave us as soon as our treasures are over. But a true friend is like a shadow of our own. He will be always with us through our thick and thin. He will be happy when we are happy and depressed when we are sad. He will share the pain but never flatter us. He will tell our mistake in a fearless but decent manner. He will always be with us in our times of need. These are the qualities of a true friend  which we should   remember while choosing a friend. We should treasure our true friends as they are hard to find.