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Appreciation of the poem : (5 marks)Read the following poem and write an appreciation of it with the help of the points given below :The TwinsIn form and feature, face and limb,I grew so like my brother,That folks got taking me for him,And each for o…

Q.3 (B) Appreciation of the poem : (5 marks)

Read the following poem and write an appreciation of it with the help of the points given below :

The Twins

In form and feature, face and limb,
I grew so like my brother,
That folks got taking me for him,
And each for one another.
It puzzled all our kith and kin,
It reached a fearful pitch;
For one of us was born a twin,
Yet not a soul knew which.

One day, to make the matter worse,
Before our names were fixed,
As we were being washed by nurse,
We got completely mixed;
And thus, you see, by fate’s decree,
Or rather nurse’s whim,
My brother John got christened me,
And I got christened him.

This fatal likeness even dogged
My footsteps, when at school,
And I was always getting flogged,
For John turned out a fool.
I put this question, fruitlessly,
To everyone I knew,
‘What would you do, if you were me,
To prove that you were you?’

Our close resemblance turned the tide
Of my domestic life,
For somehow, my intended bride
Became my brother’s wife.
In fact, year after year the same
Absurd mistakes went on,
And when I died, the neighbours came
And buried brother John.
— Henry Sambrooke Leigh

Points : Title (½) • Name of the poet (½) • Rhyme scheme (1) • Figure of speech (any one) (1) • Theme/Central idea (in 2/3 lines) (2).

1 answer

Best answer

Appreciation : The poem ‘The Twins’ is a humorous poem written by Henry Sambrooke Leigh. The title tells us that the poem is about two twin brothers who look exactly alike. The poem has four eight-line stanzas and the rhyme scheme is abab cdcd in each stanza (limb/him, brother/another; kin/twin, pitch/which), which gives it a light, singing rhythm. The poet uses hyperbole (the likeness is stretched to an absurd degree), pun and irony (“My brother John got christened me, / And I got christened him”), and the poem is full of comic exaggeration. The central idea is that such a perfect likeness is not a blessing but a nuisance : the brothers are mixed up at their christening, at school and even in marriage, and in the end the neighbours bury the wrong brother. The poem therefore makes us laugh at the absurd situations that mistaken identity can create.

Doubtly AI · 25 Oct 2026 AI-verified · Oct 2026 Report
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