JK Academy 1.1 Past, Present, Future
Tell me, tell me, smiling child,
What the past is like to thee?
‘An Autumn evening soft and mild
With a wind that sighs mournfully.’
Tell me, what is the present hour?
‘A green and flowery spray
Where a young bird sits gathering its power
To mount and fly away.’
And what is the future, happy one?
‘A sea beneath a cloudless sun;
A mighty, glorious, dazzling sea
Stretching into infinity.’
– Emily Bronte
Summary:
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ENGLISH WORKSHOP
1. Read the poem aloud using proper rhythm and intonation.
2. Link the items in the three columns properly
3. Find the meaning of the following words.
thee mournfully spray mighty
4. Write the adjectives that are used to describe the following.
evening spray sea
5. Write one line about each of the following with the help of the poem.
(i) wind in the autumn evening (ii) young bird on the spray (iii) the sea
6. Language Study :
A simile:
A simile is an imaginative comparison of two different things which have something in common. A simile always includes the words ‘as’ or ‘like’.
For example : as tall as a tree, as lovely as a flower
A metaphor :
A metaphor is an imaginative expression that refers to someone/something as another person/thing. It shows that the person or thing has some quality of that other person or thing. The words ‘as’ or ‘like’ are not used in a metaphor.
For example : He is a gem of a person. Time is money. Books are our friends. The clouds are white sheep.
There are three metaphors in the poem. Can you find them?
Q List out rhyming words from the poem.
Answer the following questions:
1st Stanza
Q1. What question does the poetess put forward to the little child?
Q2. Is the child happy or sad? How do you know?
Q3. How does the child describe its past?
Q4. What are autumn and wind compared to?
Q5. What does the wind do?
Q6. Why does the child say that the wind is sighing mournfully?
Q7. What meaning can we derive from the child’s comparison of his past to the autumn?
Q8. What does the child want to convey when it compares the wind to its past?
Q9. To which time period in a person’s life can we relate this stanza to?
Q10. Which season is mentioned in the 1st stanza?
Q11. What is the rhyming scheme in the 1st stanza?
2nd Stanza
Q1. What does the poetess wants to know in the 2nd stanza?
Q2. What is the child comparing its present hour to?
Q3. What is the young bird doing?
Q4. Which season can we relate this stanza to? Why?
Q5. What does the phrase ‘gathering its power’ mean?
Q6. To which time period in a person’s life can we relate this stanza to?
Q7. Why is the boy comparing his present time to the spring season?
Q8. Why is the child comparing its present hour to the young bird?
Q9. Write the rhyming words from this stanza?
3rd stanza
Q1. What does the poetess want to know from the child?
Q2. What does the child want to be?
Q3. How does the poetess address the child?
Q4. Which season can we relate this stanza to? Why?
Q5. How does the child describe the sea?
Q6. Why is the child comparing its future to the sea?
Q7. List out the adjectives used in this stanza.
Q8. What is the rhyming scheme of this stanza?
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For the answer sheet : Answers