Thursday, 3 July 2025

The Country Without a Post Office by Agha Shahid Ali


The Country Without a Post Office 


 …letters sent

To dearest him that lives alas! away. 

—GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS 



Again I've returned to this country 

where a minaret has been entombed.

Someone soaks the wicks of clay lamps 

in mustard oil, each night climbs its steps 

to read messages scratched on planets. 

His fingerprints cancel blank stamps 

in that archive for letters with doomed 

addresses, each house buried or empty. 


Empty? Because so many fled, ran away, 

and became refugees there, in the plains, 

where they must now will a final dewfall 

to turn the mountains to glass. They'll see 

us through them—see us frantically bury 

houses to save them from fire that, like a wall, 

caves in. The soldiers light it, hone the flames, 

burn our world to sudden papier-maché 


inlaid with gold, then ash. When the muezzin 

died, the city was robbed of every Call. 

The houses were swept about like leaves 

for burning. Now every night we bury 

our houses—and theirs, the ones left empty. 

We are faithful. On their doors we hang wreaths. 

More faithful each night fire again is a wall 

and we look for the dark as it caves in. 




"We're inside the fire, looking for the dark,” 

one card lying on the street says. “I want 

to be he who pours blood. To soak your hands. 

Or I'll leave mine in the cold till the rain 

is ink, and my fingers, at the edge of pain, 

are seals all night to cancel the stamps.” 

The mad guide! The lost speak like this. They haunt 

a country when it is ash. Phantom heart, 


pray he's alive. I have returned in rain 

to find him, to learn why he never wrote. 

I've brought cash, a currency of paisleys 

to buy the new stamps, rare already, blank, 

no nation named on them. Without a lamp 

I look for him in houses buried, empty—

He may be alive, opening doors of smoke, 

breathing in the dark his ash-refrain: 


“Everything is finished, nothing remains.” 

I must force silence to be a mirror 

to see his voice again for directions. 

Fire runs in waves. Should I cross that river? 

Each post office is boarded up. Who will deliver 

parchment cut in paisleys, my news to prisons? 

Only silence can now trace my letters 

to him. Or in a dead office the dark panes. 




“The entire map of the lost will be candled. 

I'm keeper of the minaret since the muezzin died. 

Come soon, I'm alive. There's almost a paisley 

against the light, sometimes white, then black. 

The glutinous wash is wet on its back 

as it blossoms into autumn’s final country—

Buy it, I issue it only once, at night. 

Come before I'm killed, my voice canceled.” 


In this dark rain, be faithful, Phantom heart, 

this is your pain. Feel it. You must feel it. 

“Nothing will remain, everything's finished,” 

I see his voice again: “This is a shrine 

of words. You'll find your letters to me. And mine 

to you. Come soon and tear open these vanished 

envelopes.” And I reach the minaret: 

I'm inside the fire. I have found the dark. 


This is your pain. You must feel it. Feel it, 

Heart, be faithful to his mad refrain

For he soaked the wicks of clay lamps, 

lit them each night as he climbed these steps 

to read messages scratched on planets. 

His hands were seals to cancel the stamps. 

This is an archive. I've found the remains 

of his voice, that map of longings with no limit. 




I read them, letters of lovers, the mad ones, 

and mine to him from whom no answers came. 

I light lamps, send my answers, Calls to Prayer 

to deaf worlds across continents. And my lament 

is cries countless, cries like dead letters sent 

to this world whose end was near, always near. 

My words go out in huge packages of rain, 

go there, to addresses, across the oceans. 


It's raining as I write this. I have no prayer. 

It's just a shout, held in, It's Us! It's Us! 

whose letters are cries that break like bodies 

in prisons. Now each night in the minaret 

I guide myself up the steps. Mad silhouette, 

I throw paisleys to clouds. The lost are like this: 

They bribe the air for dawn, this their dark purpose. 

But there's no sun here. There is no sun here. 


Then be pitiless you whom I could not save—

Send your cries to me, if only in this way: 

I've found a prisoner's letters to a lover—

One begins: “These words may never reach you." 

Another ends: “The skin dissolves in dew 

without your touch.” And I want to answer: 

I want to live forever. What else can I say? 

It rains as I write this. Mad heart, be brave. 


(for James Merrill) 


Tuesday, 1 July 2025

KPSC HSA English - Summary and Model Objective Questions of "The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde

Summary of The Importance of Being Earnest

Act I: The Drawing-Room in Algernon Moncrieff's Flat, Half-Moon Street, W.

The play opens in Algernon Moncrieff’s fashionable London flat, where he is entertaining his friend, Ernest Worthing. Algernon questions "Ernest" about a cigarette case inscribed "From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack."  This immediately reveals a discrepancy, as Algernon knows his friend as Ernest. Jack confesses that his real name is Jack Worthing and that "Ernest" is a fictional younger brother he invented to justify his visits to London from the country. 

Algernon, in turn, reveals his own deception: he has invented an invalid friend named Bunbury, whom he uses as an excuse to escape tedious social engagements in the city. This practice, dubbed "Bunburying," is a central theme, highlighting the hypocrisy of Victorian society. Jack has come to town to propose to Algernon's cousin, Gwendolen Fairfax, who is deeply in love with the name Ernest. Jack plans to "kill off" his brother Ernest. 

Gwendolen arrives with her formidable mother, Lady Bracknell. Jack proposes to Gwendolen, and she accepts, but Lady Bracknell insists on interviewing Jack to determine his suitability as a husband. During the interview, Lady Bracknell discovers Jack was found in a handbag at Victoria Station, an origin she finds wholly unacceptable. She forbids the engagement, stating he must acquire some relations before she consents. 

Act II: The Garden at the Manor House, Woolton (Jack’s Country House)

The scene shifts to Jack's country house, where his ward, Cecily Cardew, is studying with her governess, Miss Prism. Cecily is imaginative and bored with her lessons, preferring to record her romantic fantasies in her diary. Algernon arrives unexpectedly, pretending to be Jack's wicked brother, Ernest. Cecily, who has long been fascinated by the tales of Ernest, immediately falls in love with him. 

Meanwhile, Jack returns to the country dressed in mourning clothes, intending to announce Ernest's death. He is shocked to find Algernon already there, claiming to be Ernest.  A humorous confrontation ensues, as both men attempt to justify their presence. Soon after, Gwendolen arrives, believing Jack is Ernest. Both Gwendolen and Cecily discover they are engaged to a man named Ernest Worthing, leading to a highly amusing conflict between them. They realize they have been deceived and form a united front against Jack and Algernon, refusing to speak to either until the matter is clarified. 

Act III: The Drawing-Room at the Manor House

Lady Bracknell arrives in the country, having followed Gwendolen. She immediately interrogates Cecily about her suitability as a match for Algernon. Unlike her interview with Jack, Lady Bracknell finds Cecily's fortune and connections quite satisfactory. However, she objects to Algernon's engagement to Cecily because he has no income. 

Jack refuses to consent to Cecily's marriage to Algernon unless Lady Bracknell allows his marriage to Gwendolen. He also reveals that Cecily will not come into her fortune until she is thirty-five, or without his permission. Lady Bracknell is initially dismayed but then shifts her attention to Jack's true parentage, which remains a sticking point.

Lady Bracknell recognizes Miss Prism, Cecily's governess, from the past. She reveals that Miss Prism, twenty-eight years ago, lost a baby entrusted to her care. Miss Prism confesses that she inadvertently placed the baby in her handbag and her three-volume novel in the perambulator, leaving the bag at Victoria Station. 

Jack produces the very handbag Miss Prism describes, confirming he is the lost baby. Lady Bracknell reveals that he is the son of her late sister, Mrs. Moncrieff, and thus Algernon's elder brother. They then discover that his father was a General Moncrieff, and his Christian name, as the eldest son, was Ernest, fulfilling both Gwendolen's and Cecily's desires. The play concludes with all three couples happily engaged, highlighting the triumph of superficiality and the "importance of being earnest," both literally and figuratively. 

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where does Algernon Moncrieff live at the beginning of the play?

(A) Belgrave Square

(B) Half-Moon Street

(C) Grosvenor Square

(D) Victoria Station

Answer: (B) 

2. What is the inscription on the cigarette case that Algernon finds?

(A) "To my dearest Uncle Jack"

(B) "From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack"

(C) "Ernest, with love from Gwendolen"

(D) "For a truly earnest man"

Answer: (B) 

3. What false identity does Jack use in London?

(A) Bunbury

(B) Algernon

(C) Ernest

(D) Moncrieff

Answer: (C) 

4. What is the name of Algernon's invented invalid friend?

(A) Jack

(B) Ernest

(C) Bunbury

(D) Worthing

Answer: (C) 

5. Why has Jack come to London in Act I?

(A) To meet Bunbury

(B) To propose to Gwendolen

(C) To kill off his brother Ernest

(D) To visit his aunt

Answer: (B) 

6. Who is Gwendolen Fairfax's mother?

(A) Miss Prism

(B) Cecily Cardew

(C) Lady Bracknell

(D) Mrs. Moncrieff

Answer: (C) 

7. What is Lady Bracknell's main objection to Jack's suitability as a husband?

(A) He is too old

(B) He has no title

(C) He was found in a handbag at a railway station

(D) He lacks a fortune

Answer: (C) 

8. What does Jack plan to do with his fictional brother Ernest in Act I?

(A) Introduce him to Cecily

(B) Bring him to London

(C) "Kill him off"

(D) Have him marry Gwendolen

Answer: (C) 

9. Where does Act II take place?

(A) Algernon's flat in London

(B) Lady Bracknell's house

(C) The garden at the Manor House, Woolton

(D) Victoria Station

Answer: (C) 

10. Who is Cecily Cardew's governess?

(A) Gwendolen Fairfax

(B) Lady Bracknell

(C) Miss Prism

(D) Merriman

Answer: (C) 

11. What does Cecily prefer to do instead of her lessons?

(A) Play piano

(B) Study Latin

(C) Record her romantic fantasies in her diary

(D) Garden

Answer: (C) 

12. How does Algernon introduce himself to Cecily?

(A) As Jack's cousin

(B) As Algernon Moncrieff

(C) As Jack's wicked brother, Ernest

(D) As a gardener

Answer: (C) 

13. What is the immediate reaction of Gwendolen and Cecily when they realize they are both engaged to an "Ernest Worthing"?

(A) They become fast friends.

(B) They confront Jack and Algernon with anger.

(C) They decide to share "Ernest."

(D) They cry together.

Answer: (B) 

14. What do Gwendolen and Cecily share a common fascination with?

(A) Art

(B) The name Ernest

(C) Travel

(D) Cooking

Answer: (B) 

15. How does Jack arrive back at his country house in Act II?

(A) In a carriage, dressed in regular clothes

(B) Dressed in mourning clothes

(C) With Gwendolen

(D) By train

Answer: (B) 

16. What is Lady Bracknell's initial reaction to Cecily's financial prospects?

(A) She finds them unsatisfactory.

(B) She is indifferent.

(C) She finds them highly satisfactory.

(D) She wants more details.

Answer: (C) 

17. What condition does Jack place on consenting to Cecily's marriage to Algernon?

(A) That Algernon gets a job

(B) That Lady Bracknell allows his marriage to Gwendolen

(C) That Cecily gets her fortune immediately

(D) That Algernon moves to the country

Answer: (B) 

18. What is Miss Prism's crucial confession in Act III?

(A) She ran away from a convent.

(B) She lost a baby in a handbag at Victoria Station.

(C) She secretly married Algernon's father.

(D) She wrote a scandalous novel.

Answer: (B) 

19. What did Miss Prism famously confuse in the perambulator?

(A) A baby and a doll

(B) A baby and a three-volume novel

(C) Her handbag and a book

(D) Her novel and a blanket

Answer: (B) 

20. Who is revealed to be Jack's biological mother?

(A) Lady Bracknell

(B) Miss Prism

(C) Lady Bracknell's late sister, Mrs. Moncrieff

(D) Cecily Cardew

Answer: (C) 

21. What is Jack's actual relationship to Algernon?

(A) They are cousins.

(B) They are unrelated friends.

(C) They are brothers.

(D) They are distant relatives.

Answer: (C) 

22. What was Jack's true Christian name, as discovered at the end of the play?

(A) Jack

(B) Algernon

(C) Thomas

(D) Ernest

Answer: (D) 

23. Which character remarks, "I've now realized for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest"?

(A) Algernon

(B) Jack

(C) Gwendolen

(D) Lady Bracknell

Answer: (B) 

24. The play primarily satirizes which aspect of Victorian society?

(A) Working-class struggles

(B) Aristocratic hypocrisy and social conventions

(C) Scientific advancements

(D) Industrialization

Answer: (B)

25. At what age is Cecily due to come into her fortune?

(A) Twenty-one

(B) Thirty

(C) Thirty-five

(D) Twenty-five

Answer: (C)