Riddles 5

1. EASYViolent outburst unexpected,Travels fast and I close my eyes,Bow head to chest -- a pause -- I'm blessed,And then clean-up. No big surprise.ANSWER: A sneezeThe sneeze is a violent outburst which comes unexpectedly. The sneeze travels quickly. At the moment of eruption one closes one's eyes and bows one's head to one's chest. After a pause someone else typically says, "God bless you." Then the sneezer cleans up. A sneeze is not a big surprise.2. INTERMEDIATEYellow fellow dried and jarred.Plucked away from rows of more.Under heat explosive feat:Inside bursts from hardened core.ANSWER: PopcornThe yellow corn kernel is plucked away from rows of other kernels, dried and then put into a jar. Under intense heat the inside of the kernel explodes out.3. DIFFICULTFour snakes have circled round and round.Each next, in turn, consumes the last.One sleeps, one wakes, one lives, one makesOf death immense, a sleep less vast.ANSWER: The four seasonsThe four seasons work in a cyclical pattern. Each new season merges with and eventually overcomes its predecessor. Metaphorically speaking, the world sleeps in winter, awakens in the spring, lives and grows in the summer and then recedes into a death-like hibernation in the autumn.