JK Academy Maharashtra Board Class 7 English Solutions Chapter 2.1 From a Railway Carriage
Balbharti Maharashtra State Board Class 7 English Solutions Chapter 2.1 From a Railway Carriage Notes, Textbook Exercise Important Questions and Answers.
Maharashtra State Board Class 7 English Solutions Chapter 2.1 From a Railway Carriage
From a Railway Carriage
— Robert Louis Stevenson
Faster than fairies,
faster than witches,
Bridges and houses,
hedges and ditches;
And charging along
like troops in a battle,
All through the meadows
the horses and cattle:
All of the sights
of the hill and the plain
Fly as thick
as driving rain;
And ever again,
in the wink of an eye,
Painted stations
whistle by.
Here is a child
who clambers and scrambles,
All by himself
and gathering brambles;
Here is a tramp
who stands and gazes;
And there is the green
for stringing the daisies!
Here is a cart
run away in the road
Lumping along
with man and load;
And here is a mill
and there is a river:
Each a glimpse
and gone for ever!
Meanings:
railway carriage – is a room on a train, coach in a train
a hedge – fence made of a shrub or bush
a ditch – a long low place where water can run off from a
road or field
troops – soldiers
meadow – is a grassy field where you might find cattle grazing
driving rain – heavy or blowing rain as in a storm
ever again – means every now and then
clamber – climb up or down clumsily not easily
scramble – climb quickly especially with both hands
and feet
a bramble – any bush or vine with sharp thorns
tramp – an old-fashioned word for a poor person
without a home one who moves around a lot
to gaze – to stare, to look in one direction for a long time
stringing the daisies – making a chain out of daisies
lumping – to move heavily
a load – anything heavy that is carried
mill – a building where a stream turns a wheel which powers a big heavy machine for grinding grain
a glimpse – a quick look
Summary
Everyone loves to travel and train journeys have a charm and fun of their own. In this poem “From a railway carriage’ the poet R. L. Stevenson describes the sights and scenes that he experiences as he is travelling through a railway carriage.
The poet begins by describing the speed of the train. He says that the train is faster than fairies and witches. He compares the movement of the train to the soldiers charging in a battlefield. As the train moves ahead, it leaves behind bridges, houses, hedges and ditches.
Next the poet can see the beautiful sights of hills and the plains but they move so fast just like the rain moving during a storm. Within a wing of an eye, the train passes the freshly painted stations where the guard is whistling to signal it to move on without fear.
The poet continues describing all that he can see through his train carriage. He says that he can see a child who is all by himself, clambering and scrambling to gather brambles. The poet also sees a tramp, just standing and gazing at the things around him. He sees some creepers that can be used to string the daisies.
In the final stanza, the poet tells us that he can see a loaded cart that is pulled by a man, a mill and a river. All these sights and scenes are just glimpse and they are out of sight forever.
ENGLISH WORKSHOP
1. Read the poem aloud with proper rhythm. What does the rhythm remind you of?
2. Find pairs of rhyming words from the poem.
Answer:
witches – ditches, battle – cattle, plain – rain
– again, eye – by, scrambles – brambles, gazes – daisies, road – load, river –
ever.
3. Write the following:
(1) The sights seen through a railway carriage mentioned in the first stanza.
Answer: The sights seen through a railway carriage mentioned in the first stanza are bridges, houses, hedges, ditches, horses and cattle in the meadows.
(2) The sights mentioned in the second stanza.
Answer: The sights seen in the second stanza are hills, plains and painted stations.
(3) The sights mentioned in the third stanza.
Answer: The sights mentioned in the third stanza are a child clambering and scrambling to gather brambles, a tramp gazing and green creepers for stringing the daisies.
4. Think and answer:
(1) Why are the sights said to ‘fly’?
Ans. The sights are said to fly because the poet is travelling in a railway carriage, and as the train is speeding by, the poet can see the scenes outside moving very fast and they disappear in a wink of an eye.
(2) Does the last line make you happy or sad? Why?
Answer: The last line of the poem, ‘ and gone forever’ makes me happy and said. I feel happy because as the scenes disappear, we can experience new sights. At the same time I also feel said because these sights and scenes are gone forever and I will never see them again.
5. List the lines that begin with ‘Here’ or ‘And here’.
Also list the sentences or phrases that begin with ‘And there’.
These phrases and sentences tell us about things that appear one after the other as the carriage moves. Can we tell which ones are closer to the train and which ones are at a distance ? How?
Answer:
The lines that begin with ‘Here’ or ‘And here’ and with ‘And there’
| Here or And here | And there |
| Here is a child | And there is the green |
| Here is a tramp | And here is a mill |
| Here is a cart | And there is a river. |
Since ‘here’ is an adverb that shows closeness therefore all the above phrases that begin with ‘here’ show closeness and since ‘there’ is an adverb that shows distance, therefore the phrases that begin with ‘there’ tell us of the things that are at a distance.
6. Read the following :
• Charging along like troops in a battle. • Fly as thick as driving rain.
Using your imagination, write one or two comparisons each with –
• like …………. • as …………. as
Answer:
Running like a cheetah in a forest
Her eyes were shinning as stars in the night sky
The water was as clear as crystal.
He is as cool as a cucumber.
7. Write about the sights you may see from a bus or an aeroplane. You may write it in the form of a short poem.
(students should write on their own)
8. Find and read other poems of R. L. Stevenson using the internet. Find other rhythmic poems about trains, in English or other languages.
The Land of Nod
—–Robert Louis Stevenson – 1850-1894
From Breakfast on through all the day
At home among my friends I stay,
But every night I go abroad
Afar into the land of Nod.
All by myself I have to go,
With none to tell me what to do–
All alone beside the streams
And up the mountain-sides of dreams.
The strangest things are there for me,
Both things to eat and things to see,
And many frightening sights abroad
Till morning in the land of Nod.
Try as I like to find the way,
I never can get back by day,
Nor can remember plain and clear
The curious music that I hear.
‘इस रेल ने’
इस रेल ने कितनी कहानियाँ
छिपायी होंगी,
कितने
सफर खूबसूरत बने होंगे,
कितने
मुसाफिरों की मंजिलें मिलायी होंगी,
इस रेल
ने कितनी कहानियाँ छिपायी होंगी,
उस
चायवाले नें कितनों को चाय की आदत लगायी होंगी,
उन
चुस्कियों ने कितनी मुलाक़ातें यादगार बनायी होंगी,
कितने
किस्से बने होंगे स्टेशन में इंतेज़ार के वक़्त,
फिर इस
रेल की आवाज़ ने कितनी यादें दोहरायी होंगी,
इस रेल
ने कितनी कहानियाँ छिपायी होंगी…
कितनों
को घर मिले होंगे, कितने
बेघर हुए होंगे,
इन
दरवाजों ने कितने अजनबियों को अपनायी होंगी,
कितने
मुसाफ़िर गुम हुए होंगे इस भीड़ में,
कितनों
को नई मंज़िलें दिलायी होंगी,
इस रेल
ने कितनी कहानियाँ छिपायी होंगी ।
– जया
पाण्डेय।