In this poetic riddle, "It cannot be seen or felt, cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, lies behind stars and under hills, and ends life and kills laughter" – what is being described?

Introduction / Context:
This riddle is a well known poetic description of darkness, often attributed to fantasy literature but now widely quoted in puzzle collections. The lines say that the thing "cannot be seen, cannot be felt, cannot be heard, cannot be smelt", that it "lies behind stars and under hills" and "ends life" and "kills laughter". All of these clues point to darkness, understood both as the absence of light and as a symbol of death, fear and the end of joy. This question helps students practise interpreting figurative language that combines physical and emotional imagery.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The subject cannot be seen, felt, heard or smelt, which suggests an absence rather than a solid object.
• It exists "behind stars and under hills", hinting at cosmic and underground spaces.
• It "fills empty holes" and "ends life", implying the spread of darkness when light and life are gone.
• The riddle mixes physical description with symbolic meaning.

Concept / Approach:
Darkness is not a physical object but the absence of visible light. Because it is an absence, we cannot see it directly as a substance, nor can we touch, hear or smell it. Wherever light does not reach, such as underground caves or the space between stars, darkness is present. In literature and everyday speech, darkness is also used as a metaphor for death, sorrow and the end of happiness, which matches the phrases about ending life and killing laughter. While other abstract ideas like time or fear also have no smell or touch, they do not fit as nicely with the detailed spatial imagery of the riddle.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Note that the thing described cannot be detected by any of the usual senses, which rules out ordinary physical objects. Step 2: Focus on the idea that it lies behind stars and under hills, which suggests regions where light is absent. Step 3: Recall that darkness naturally appears wherever light does not fall, such as underground or in deep space. Step 4: Consider the symbolic lines about ending life and killing laughter, which are commonly associated with death and complete darkness. Step 5: Compare the fit of darkness with other abstract ideas like time, silence or fear, and recognise that darkness matches every clue most directly.

Verification / Alternative check:
Let us test each option. Silence cannot be heard and is associated with the absence of sound, but it does not lie behind stars as a primary idea, and it is not specifically linked with shadows or light. Time is abstract and unstoppable, yet it is not described as lying under hills or filling empty holes. The wind can be felt and heard, which contradicts the riddle. Fear is an emotion that can be felt in a psychological sense, again contradicting the statement that it cannot be felt. Only darkness is both undetectable as a substance and closely associated with the imagery of hidden places and the end of life and laughter, confirming it as the correct answer.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Silence: Absence of sound, not of light, and can be strongly associated with peaceful or tense scenes, but the star and hill imagery suits darkness better.
Time: Abstract and real but not primarily described in terms of light, stars and underground regions.
The wind: Can be felt on the skin and heard as it blows, which directly clashes with the riddle's first lines.
Fear: An emotion that can be felt very strongly, so it clearly fails the "cannot be felt" condition.

Common Pitfalls:
A frequent pitfall is to seize on just one or two phrases, such as "kills laughter", and conclude that fear is the answer. Another mistake is to over focus on silence because of the "cannot be heard" part, while ignoring the rest of the description. Successful riddle solving requires checking every clue against a candidate answer. When all lines of the poem are considered together, darkness stands out as the only option that matches both the physical absence of light and the symbolic end of life and joy.

Final Answer:
The poetic riddle is describing darkness, the absence of light and a symbol of death and the end of joy.