The sage was upset, as his pigtail hung behind him.
The sage spun all day in an attempt to change the pigtail's position. He believed that by constantly spinning and twirling around, he could somehow move the pigtail from behind him to a different location. His persistent spinning was driven by his desire to solve this problem that troubled him so much.
The solution he arrived at for the mystery was to turn himself around. He thought that if he could spin and turn himself round continuously, he would be able to change the position of his pigtail and move it away from behind him. This logical reasoning, though flawed, drove him to keep spinning throughout the day.
No, he was not finally successful in changing his pigtail's position. Despite all his efforts and continuous spinning, the pigtail remained exactly where it was. The poem clearly states 'The Pigtail hangs behind him,' which shows that his attempts were futile and the pigtail stayed in its original position throughout.
No, nothing dreadful happened. The events in the poem are humorous. The illogical behaviour of the sage creates humour throughout the poem.
He was wondering about the pigtail.b) What does the word ’it’ refer to here?
‘It’ refers to the Pigtail here.
The rhyming words from the given lines are slack, tack, and back. The rhyme scheme for these lines is AAAB. The words slack, tack, and back all rhyme with each other, creating a consistent rhyming pattern in the first three lines. No, he did not quit his trying. The lines 'And though his efforts never slack. And though he twists and twirls and tacks' clearly show that he did not stop his attempts. The phrase 'efforts never slack' indicates that his efforts remained constant and undiminished, and the description of his continuous twisting and twirling demonstrates his persistent and relentless pursuit of his goal.
The figure of speech used in the line 'He mused upon this curious case' is personification. The word 'case' is used to describe the situation of the pigtail as if it were a legal or investigative matter that requires careful thought and consideration, giving human qualities to an abstract situation.
He thought upon 'this curious case', which was the problem of how to change the pigtail's place. He swore that he would change the pigtail's place and have it hanging at his face instead of dangling behind him. This shows that the sage was deeply pondering over this strange and peculiar problem that had caught his attention.
The alliterated words in these lines are pigtail's and place, which both begin with the 'p' sound. Additionally, have, hanging, and his all begin with the 'h' sound, creating another set of alliterated words. Alliteration is the repetition of the same beginning sound in words that are close to each other in a sentence or line of poetry, and it is used here to create a rhythmic and musical effect in the verse.
The sage speaks here, declaring that he has found the mystery. The mystery he had found was the solution to how to change the pigtail's place from hanging behind him to hanging at his face. The sage believed he had discovered the answer to this curious problem that had been puzzling him, and he was eager to share his finding with others.
The sage spent all day spinning round and round and out and in, trying to solve the mystery of changing the pigtail's place. Despite all his efforts and continuous spinning throughout the day, he did not succeed in his attempt. The phrase 'in vain' emphasizes that all his hard work and struggle proved to be futile and unsuccessful, showing that some problems cannot be solved through mere physical effort and determination.
The pigtail hangs behind him.
b) Who is faithful?
The pigtail remains faithful to his back.