Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkened ways
Made for our searching: yes in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits.
(a) Name the poem and the poet.
(b) Why are we 'despondent'?
(c) What removes 'the pall from our dark spirits'?
Why were the elders of the village sitting in the classroom?
The elders of the village were sitting in the classroom to attend the last French lesson by M. Hamel. They realised the worth of their native language when they came to know that they had lost it. They were there to pay their tribute to the language and respect to M. Hamel.