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POEM: FROM THE RAILWAY CARRIAGE

BY: ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

CLASS: 5 TH STANDARD

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SUBJECT: ENGLISH

2020 - 2021

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Scope of Syllabus: • To understand the experience of railway journey.

• To know the meanings of the new words from the poem.

• To identify and make use of rhyming words.

• To understand different types of sentences.

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Introduction to the poet Robert Louis Stevenson (13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist and travel writer, most noted for Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and A Child's Garden of Verses.

Born and educated in Edinburgh, Stevenson suffered from serious bronchial trouble for much of his life, but continued to write prolifically and travel widely in defiance of his poor health

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Introduction to the poem In this poem poet shares his experience of a railway journey with us. He describes it’s speed very amazing. He presents natural senses seen from the window of a railway carriage.

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Let’s learn poem stanza by stanza with explanation….

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First Stanza: 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.

Explanation:

Poet says that train runs more quickly than the fairies can fly or the witches can move. When train advances forward it seems as the soldiers are attacking enemy in a battle field. The train rushes on leaving bridges, houses, fences and ditches behind. It also leaves behind the green fields where horses and Cattle are grazing.

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Second Stanza: All of the sights of the hill and plain

Fly as the thick as driving rain;

And ever again, in the wink of an eye,

Painted stations whistle by.

Explanation:

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. Again and again in very short moment train was crossing stations with a whistle. From the window of compartment of train buildings of stations were seemed as painted pictures.

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Third Stanza: 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 green for stringing the daisies.

Explanation:

In these lines poet says that from the window of the compartment of train he sees a child climbing a steep ground by himself with difficulty. The child was also gathering black berries during climbing. Poet sees a homeless person who was looking at the train with amazement. He also sees some ladies in a common village grassy land, they were making garlands of daisy flowers.

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Fourth Stanza: 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

Explanation:

Poet says that he sees a cart moving slowly in the middle of a highway it was full of load and a cart driver was sitting on the top of the load. He sees a water mill and river while travelling in the train. All these objects appeared and then disappeared so quickly that poet looked at them for very brief time and they can never be seen again.

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Now let’s listen to the poem:

Use the link given below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=466cF1d5V_Q

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Meanings:

1) Clambers- to climb or move in a laborious way

2) Scrambles- to move or make one’s way quickly

3) Brambles- prickly shrubs of the rose family

4) Lumping- moving forward with difficulty

5) Glimpse- a brief or a partial view

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Question and Answers: 1. To which super natural creature the speed of the train is being compared?

Ans: The speed of the train is compared to witches and fairies.

2. Name any four sights of the hill and the plain when the train rushes by?

Ans: Painted stations, a tramp standing and gazing, a cart running away in the road, a mill are the four sights of the hill and the plain when the train rushes by

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Continue.. 3. The child all by himself was gathering the brambles. Give one word for ‘all by himself’.

Ans: The one word for ‘all by himself’ is alone.

4. What do you understand by the term ‘stringing the daisies’?

Ans: The phrase ‘stringing the daisies’ means making garlands of daisies.

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Continue… 5. What does the term ‘lumping along’ seem to signify?

Ans: It signifies that the cart was loaded and heavy. As a result it was lumping along, moving with difficulty.

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Fill in the blanks with suitable words:

1. A vagabond is a homeless man. He is often referred to as a .

2. Speedier action would have saved the man’s life, if only the doctor had been in reaching him.

3. The flood waters were seen rushing down towards the unsuspecting villagers asleep in their homes.

4. Like his father , a mountaineer who climbs and scales peaks, he up all possible heights around him.

5. He stares at all new things just as he at Nature’s beauty.

Answers

1. Tramp 2. Faster 3. Charging 4. Clambers 5. Gazes

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Learning the Language: Sentence:

Definition: A sentence is the largest unit of any language. In English, it begins with a capital letter and ends with a full-stop, or a question mark, or an exclamation mark.

Example:

He is a good boy (statement), Is he a good boy? (question), What a nice weather! (exclaiming).

Ideally, a sentence requires at least one subject and one verb. Sometimes the subject of a sentence can be hidden, but the verb must be visible and present in the sentence. Verb is called the heart of a sentence.

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Sentences are of four kinds:

Assertive sentence:

An assertive sentence (a statement): It simply states, asserts or declares something.

Example:

I like eating mangoes.

Imperative sentence:

It express a command, request, desire or wish.

Examples:

Please carry your water bottle to school everyday.

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Continues… Interrogative sentence:

An interrogative sentence asks a question and end with a question mark.

Examples:

What kind of books do you enjoy reading?

Exclamatory sentence.

An exclamatory sentence expresses sudden strong and intense feeling like shock, amazement, joy, grief, pity, sympathy and gratitude. It usually ends with an exclamation mark .

Examples:

What an interesting game!

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Identify the sentence types: 1. Fairies are generally associated with magic.

2. Did the students complete their assignment?

3. Oh no! We lost the match.

4. Maya plays the violin as well as the sitar.

5. ‘Girls, please assemble in the hall,’ said the teacher.

6. Hurray! We are finally going on an excursion.

Answers:

1. Assertive 2. interrogative 3. Exclamatory 4. Assertive 5. Imperative 6. Exclamatory