Small Towns and Rivers – Activity sheet
A1) Global Understanding
A)
Find out the expression used by the poetess to describe her town
Ans: They are
It is always the same in summer and winter
The wind is howling down the gorge
My hometown lies calmly amidst the trees
2) State the expression used for the river by the poetess
Ans: They are
The river has a soul
In the summer it cuts through the land
It holds its breath seeking a land of fish and stars
A2) Interpretation or Inference
The dead are placed pointing to the west – Explain
Ans: In Arunachal Pradesh, it is believed that when a dead body is placed pointing its feet to the west, the soul will enter the house of God or the golden east or the house of the sun.
A2) Extra question
List the natural elements mentioned in the poem
A3) The river has a soul – Explain the concept
Ans; Here the river is personified offering it a soul but it plays a great role to enrich many souls. With its water cycle, the river plays a great role in evaporation of water providing treasure of water to the clouds which later pours on the earth providing a new life to many living things.
A 3) What is the poet’s anxiety?
Ans: The poet is anxious that nowadays small towns are changing into big towns or cities inviting great disaster for us in future. Small towns are full of natural beauty but in urbanization they will lose their beauty and spoil natural life.
A 4) Is it a free verse poem? why?
A4) Pick out the lines from the poem that show immortality of water
Ans: The concerned lines are –
- The river has a soul
- the immortality of water
- from the first drop of rain to dry earth
- mist on the mountaintops A5) compose a four line poem on – Rivers our life
