Samacheer Kalvi 9th English Solutions Poem 5 The River

Samacheer Kalvi 9th English Solutions Poem 5 The River

Poem 5 The River

Tamilnadu Samacheer Kalvi 9th English Solutions Poem 5 The River Textbook Questions and Answers

B. Read the following lines and answer the questions given below:

1. O’er the yellow pebbles dancing
through the flowers and foliage glancing.

Question (a)
How does the river flow?
Answer:
The river flows over the yellow pebbles dancing through the flowers and leaves in a playful manner.

Question (b)
What is meant by ‘foliage’?
Answer:
Foliage means a cluster of leaves and branches of a tree or plant.

Additional:

Question (a).
What is a pebble?
Answer:
A Pebble is usually a small rounded stone found in water bodies like river.

Question (b).
What is the poetic device employed in the first line.
Answer:
Imagery is the poetic device employed in the first line.

Question (c).
What is the poetic device employed in the second line.
Answer:
Alliteration is the poetic device employed in the second line.

Question (d).
Give the rhyming word for ‘dancing’.
Answer:
The rhyming word for ‘dancing’ is glancing.

Question (e).
Is the river like a child? Why?
Answer:
Yes the river is like a child. The river like a child is bright and sparkling on its way. It dances and plays behind flowers and leaves of trees like a child playing hide and seek.

2. River; river! Swelling river!
On you rush through rough and smooth.

Question (a).
Why does the poet mention the river to be swelling?
Answer:
There is a lot of water flowing heavily in the river. So the poet mentions the river to be swelling.

Question (b).
What are the surfaces the river flows through?
Answer:
The surfaces the river flows through are the rough rocks and smooth places like rose banks where the roses grow.

Additional:

Question (a).
What does the word ‘swelling’ indicate?
Answer:
The word ‘swelling’ indicates the ebb and flow of the river.

Question (b).
Which word is the antonym for ‘rough’?
Answer:
The antonym for the word rough is smooth.

3. Over rocks, by rose – banks, sweeping
like impetuous youth.

Question (a).
Where does the rose grow?
Answer:
The rose grows by rose-banks

Question (b).
Which stage of men is compared here?
Answer:
The youth of men is compared here.

Additional:

Question (a).
Where does it spend its younger days?
Answer:
It spends younger days through rocks and woods.

Question (b).
What is sweeping?
Answer:
The river is sweeping.

Question (c).
Identify the figure of speech.
Answer:
Simile is the figure of speech.

Question (d).
What is meant by ‘impetuous’?
Answer:
‘Impetuous’ means reckless or hasty.

Question (e).
Why is the river compared to an ‘impetuous youth’?
Answer:
The river is compared to an impetuous youth because of its reckless and hasty movements over rocks and rose-banks.

4. Broad and deep, and still as time Seeming still, yet still in motion.

Question (a).
What is broad and deep?
Answer:
The river is broad and deep.

Question (b).
Is time still?
Answer:
No, the time is not still, yet it seems to be still.

Additional:

(a) Which words describe the river?
Answer:
Broad, deep and still describe the river.

Question (b).
What is the figure of speech in the second line?
Answer:
The figure of speech is alliteration.

Question (c).
Explain ‘still in motion’.
Answer:
Though the river seems to be quiet and motionless, it is always in motion.

5. Tending onward to the ocean,
Just like a mortal prime.

Question (a).
Where is the river flowing to?
Answer:
The river is flowing to the ocean.

Question (b).
What does the poet mean by ‘mortal prime’?
Answer:
Mortal prime means a man in the best of his life.

Additional:

Question (a).
Explain ‘Tending’.
Answer:
‘Tending’ here means inclining towards a habitual action.

Question (b).
What is the figure of speech employed here?
Answer:
The figure of speech is a simile.

Poetic Devices:

C. Road the following lines and answer the questions.

1. Bright you sparkle on your way;
O’er the yellow pebbles dancing.
Through the flowers and foliage glancing Like a child at play.
Pick out the rhyming words,
Answer:
Dancing and glancing; way and play are the rhyming words.

2. Mention the rhyme scheme of the poem.
Answer:
The rhyme scheme of the poem is abba.

3. Through the flowers and foliage glancing like a child at play.
Mention the figure of speech used in the above line.
Give various other examples from the poem.
The figure of speech used is “simile”
Other examples of the simile in this poem.
Answer:

1. “Like impetuous youth”
2. Just like mortal prime
3. Still as time
4. Like eternity”.

4. Seeming still, yet still in motion.
Question (a).
Pick out the words in alliteration from the above lines.
Answer:
The alliterated words are seeming, still, and still.

Question (b).
Identify other examples from the poem for alliteration.
Answer:
Other examples for alliteration from this poem:

1. On you rush through rough and smooth
2. Over rocks, by rose-banks
3. Seeming still, yet still in motion
4. Tending onward to the ocean
5. Down you dash into the sea
6. Sea that line hath never sounded
7. Sea that sail hath never rounded

5. Pick out the examples for epithet from the poem.
Answer:

Little river!
Swelling river!
Brimming river!
Headlong river!

6. Pick out the examples for imagery from the poem.
Answer:

Yellow pebbles
dancing Brawling, leaping
dash into the sea

Additional Questions And Answers

1. River, river, little river!
Bright you sparkle on your way.

Question (a).
What sort of river is it?
Answer:
It is a little river.

Question (b).
How does the river look?
Answer:
The river looks bright and it sparkles on its way.

2. O’er the yellow pebbles dancing Like a child at play

Question (a).
What are the pebbles?
Answer:
The pebbles are small smooth and round stones.

Question (b).
What is dancing over the yellow pebbles?
Answer:
The river is dancing ever the yellow pebbles.

Question (c)
How does the river dance?
Answer:
The river dances like a child at play.

3. River, river! Headlong river!
Down you dash into the sea,

Question (a).
What is meant by ‘Headlong’?
Answer:
Headlong means with the head first and the rest of the body following.

Question (b).
Where does the river dash into?
Answer:
The river dashes into the sea.

Question (c).
Who does ‘you’ refer to?
Answer:
You refer to the (little) river.

4. Sea that line hath never – sounded Sea that sail hath never rounded,
Like eternity.

Question (a).
What is meant by ‘line’ here?
Answer:
Here, the line means a long rope used for a particular purpose.

Question (b).
What is meant by ‘sail’ here?
Answer:
Sail means a trip in a boat or ship.

Question (c).
What is ‘eternity’?
Answer:
Eternity is life continuing without end after death.

Question (d).
Pick out the rhyming words in these lines.
Answer:
The rhyming words are sounded and rounded,

D. Answer the following in a paragraph of about 120 – 150 words.

Question 1.
How does the poet bring about the comparison of life with the river? Explain it with reference to the poem.
Answer:

Title: The River
Poet: Caroline Ann Bowles (1786 -1854)
Theme: The journey of life to eternity.

In the poem “The River”, the poet Caroline Ann Bowles compares river with various stages in a person’s life. The river sparkles brightly. It dances over the yellow pebbles. It glances through the flowers and foliage. The river swells and rushes through rough and smooth places.’ It also brawls and leaps. It goes by rough rocks and rose – banks. The river is like a reckless youth. The river is full, wide, and deep. It is motionless like time.

Though it seems to be still, moves towards the ocean. It is like a man in his prime. The river moves down quickly into .1 *. -ea. The sea is very deep down quickly into the sea. The sea is very deep and its depth lias never been measured by a line. None has gone by ship completely around the sea which is like an eternity.
“It the earth is the mother, the rivers are her veins”

Question 2.
Describe how the poem clearly describes the features, functions, and destructive power of the river.

Answer:
The River is little. It is sprightly and it sparkles on its way. It dances over the yellow pebbles and plays hide and seek through the flowers and foliage. This poem describes the beauty of a river, in all its glory.

The river swells and rushes through rough and smooth paths. It moves with speed and fights and jumps over rocks and rose banks as they sweep across like the reckless youth. When the river brims, it appears broad and deep yet still as time. It seems to be still but it is always in motion. The final stage is the headlong river that dashes into the sea. Thus, the flow of the river shows the journey of life to eternity.

The different stages of life are brought in through the various imageries used in the poem. As the human life passes through childhood, youth, old age and eternity, likewise the river also undergoes changes in its own way. At first it is gentle, sparkling and dancing, moves faster, fights and leaps showing the destructive power of the river. However it gets subdued, becomes still and merges with the sea.

E. Based on your understanding of the poem, complete the summary of the poem by choosing the words/phrases given below :

(prime phase, the yellow pebbles, motionless, stages of human life, sweeping, child, journey, reckless youth.)

In the poem ‘The River’, the poet compares the flow of the river with different (1)……………….. The first stanza explains how the sparkling river goes dancing over (2)……………….. and glancing through the flowers and leaves. These acts of the river is compared to a curious and innocent (3)……………….. at play. The second stanza compares the river to a (4)……………….. who goes through rough and smooth patches of life. Like a youth, here the river becomes louder, faster, and (5)……………….. everything all along the way. In the third stanza, the river becomes like a hard-working man who is at the (6)……………….. of life. Here the deep and broad river seems (7)……………….. but it keeps moving towards the sea like a matured man who silently marches towards the goal. In the last stanza, the long (8)……………….. of the river reaches the endless sea like a human life attains eternity
Answer:

1. Stages of human life.
2. The yellow pebbles
3. Child.
4. Reckless youth
5. Sweeping
6. Prime phase
7. Motionless
8. Journey

The River by About Caroline Ann Bowles The Poet:

Caroline Ann Bowles (1786-1854), the British poet and writer were married to Robert Southey who was the poet laureate of Britain. She wrote various other works including Chapter On Churchyard and Tales Of The Factories. The River is a poem that describes a river in all its vitality and splendour.

The Little River Poem Summary By Caroline Ann Bowles

Oh! Little River – you sparkle brightly as you move along your way. As you move on, you go dancing over the yellow pebbles. You glance through the flowers and leaves of trees, dancing throughout like a child who is at play.
Oh! the river that ebbs and flows – you rush through rough and smooth pathways. You are louder, faster, clashing, and hurdling. You go past rough rocks and banks where roses grow. This movement of yours is very similar to a hasty youth.
Oh! River, which is overflowing – you are broad and deep and silent as time. Though you seem motionless, you are inclining towards the ocean just like a man in the best age of his lifespan.
Oh! River, you are so reckless and you rush down into the sea. That sea’s depth has never been measured by a weighted line. None has gone by ship completely around the sea to-be compared to eternity.

The River Glossary:

Textual:
eternity – life continuing without end after death foliage – a cluster of leaves, flowers, and branches
glancing – touching or hitting something lightly from the side, without causing much damage
hath – in the past, the third person singular form of the word ‘have’
headlong – with the head first and the rest of the body following
impetuous – acting quickly and without thought or care
rose-banks – riverbanks where roses (flowers) appear along
swelling – becoming greater in intensity or volume
tending – going in a particular way