Lesson 2.2 From A Railway Carriage
Lesson 2.2 > From A Railway Carriage
GLOSSARY
| Charge | To make a rush at or sudden attack upon a person or thing |
| Clamber | Climb or move in an awkward and laborious way using both hands and feet |
| Brambles | A prickly scrambling shrub of the rose family especially a blackberry |
| Tramp | A person who travels from place to place on foot in search of work or as a beggar |
| Stringing | Hang so that it stretches in a long line |
| Lumping | Carry with difficulty |
| Glimpse | See or perceive briefly or partially |
READ AND UNDERSTAND
A. Read the lines and answer the questions given below
1. Faster than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
a) What is faster than fairies and witches?
The train is faster than fairies and witches.
b) Why does the poet mention ‘bridges and houses, hedges and ditches’?Where are they?
The train rushes on leaving bridges, houses, fences and ditches behind. The poet can see it. So he mentions it. They are near the railway track.
2. Hereisachildwhoclambersand scrambles,
All by himself and gathering brambles;
a) Where do you think the child is?
The child is hanging on a black berry tree.
b) What does ‘gathering brambles’ mean?
‘Gathering brombles’ means collecting black berries.
3. Andeveragain, inthe wink of aneye,
Painted stations whistle by.
a) ‘In the wink of an eye’ means very quickly. Explain ‘painted stations whistle by’.
Again and again in a very short moment, the train was crossing the painted stations with a whistle.
4. Each a glimpse and gone forever;
a) What is ‘each’ over here? Why is it gone forever?
‘Each’ means the objects that can be seen from the train. Because of the train’s speed, the poet cannot look at the objects for very brief time. So it is gone forever.
B. Answer the following questions.
1. What does ‘charges along like troops in a battle’ mean?
‘Charges along like troops in a battle’means, when the train advances forward it seems as the soldiers are attacking enemies in a battle field.
2. What word could best replace ‘charges’ in the poem – marches, rushes or pushes?
‘Charges’ the best replaced the word in the poem is ‘rushes’
3. Why does the child clamber and scramble?
To get black berries from the tree, the child clambers and scrambles.
C. Think and Write.
1. Write a paragraph about 50 words describing the scenes that the poet passed by.
The poet passes by the bridges, houses, fences, ditches, green fields, hill and plain. He sees the railway stations and a child climbing and gathering black berries. He sees a homeless person and some garland making ladies. He sees a cart, a water mill and a river while travelling in the train.
2. There is a connection between the rhyming words and rhythms of the train. Present your views about it.
| The rhyme of the poem echoes the rhythm of the train. (i.e) witches – ditches
The rhythm of the poem and the moving train on its lines is regular and steady. But the view from the window of the train is constantly changing.
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D. Fill in the blanks to complete the summary.
Ever since their introduction, the trains and their unique rhythms have impressed poets. In this poem the poet shares his experience of a train/railway journey with us. He presents natural scenes seen from the window of a railway carriage. The rhythm is regular and steady but the view from the window of the train is constantly changing. The poem’s rhythm and phrases bring joy of a railway journey. The poet looks out of the window at the painted station images outside. Every line we see here is a quick account of something seen for very brief time. The line that best sums up is the final one: “Each a glimpse and gone forever!”
VOCABULARY
E. Find me in the poem.
1. I can help you to cross the river
- bridge
2. I can border your garden
- fence
3. I can alert you
- whistle
4. I can carry you
- train
5. You can ride on me
- horse
6. You can climb on me
- a tree
7. You can lay down on me
- meadow
8. You can play with me
- river
F. Work in pairs.
A simile is a figure of speech that directly compares two things. Similes explicitly use connecting words such as ‘like’ and ‘as’.
eg. ‘as cool as’; ‘like a child’.
1. Discuss with your partner and pick out the similes used in the poem. Which one do you like the most? Why?
| Similies in the poem: “like troops in a battle”, I like the simile “as thick as driving rain;” Because the poet says that all the scenes of hill and plain were being crossed by train as quick as one drop of rain follows another drop in a storm. |
2. Discuss with your partner and pick out the rhyming words from the poem.
- witches – ditches
- battle – cattle
- plain – rain
- eye – by
- scrambles – brambles
- road – load
- gazes – daisies
- river – forever
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