What does the colour ‘blue’ suggest in the poem? Make a list of other colours and the emotions and moods they carry.

The peacock is the national bird of India. Why do you think the peacock has been chosen?

Consult a dictionary or an encyclopedia to differentiate between the following birds

Eagle, hawk, kite, vulture

What does the line ‘I never writ, nor no man ever loved’ imply?

You know what ‘hide-and-seek’ is. What would ‘hide-and-speak’ mean?

What quality of ‘beauty’ and ‘love’ does the poem highlight?

Find out the odes written by Shelley and read them.

What are the cues that signal the presence of the peacock in the vicinity?

Most of us have had this experience of seeing trees in our neighborhood being mercilessly cut down in order to build a house or a public building or to widen a road. Describe any such experience you have had of the felling of a tree you were attached to, with reasons for your special attachment to the tree.

The power of poetry lies in suggestion and understatement. Discuss this with reference to the poem.

‘Now I hold Creation in my foot’—explain the centrality of this assertion in the poem. What makes the hawk’s assertion of its invincibility so categorical?