Question 1.
What does the expression “I sate reclined” indicate about the poet’s state of mind.
Answer:
It indicates that the poet was quite relaxed.
Question 2.
Why does the poet feel sad while reclining in the grove?
Answer:
He feels sad because sad thoughts come to his mind. He thinks how man mistreats man and brings unhappiness around.
Question 3.
How does the poet associate himself with nature?
Answer:
He associates himself with nature by thinking that his soul is linked with Nature. Nature and man share the same soul and they are connected.
Question 4.
‘And much it grieved my heart to think/What man has made of man.” What do these lines convey?
Answer:
These lines convey the sadness of the poet who sees . how man mistreats his fellow beings. The wars and bloodshed that man makes is against the principle of nature. Nature asks us to enjoy the peace and beauty that God has given us. But we quarrel and fight making us unhappy all the time.
Question 5.
What makes the poet think that every flower enjoys its existence?
Answer:
When the flower blooms it is like smiling. Naturally, the flower is enjoying its time on earth. It will not last long, but when it is alive it enjoys its time and that is why it opens its petals and gives a broad smile to all.
Question 6.
What is the nature’s holy plan? How does man work against it?
Answer:
Nature’s holy plan is to make everything and everybody happy, enjoying the good things that Gpd has created. But man works against this and spends his time quarreling and fighting. He is greedy and often spends his life getting and spending money without enjoying the beauty of nature.
Question 7.
Suggest an alternative title for the poem.
Answer:
The Beauty Of Nature
Lines Written in Early Spring Textual Activities and Answers
Activity -1
Question 1.
What man has made of man’ is one of the most sinking expressions in the peom ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’. It describes the feelings of Wordsworth, the poet and his thoughts about human actiyities against nature. What made the poet think so?
Answer:
Wordsworth’s thoughts about the human werid.
- The human world is full of quarrels and fights.
- It is full of pain and misery, disease and death.
- The misery is caused by man himself as he does not love his fellow beings and help others.
Activity – 2
Question 2.
William Wordsworth’s poem ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’ is appealing to the readers because of its poetic devices. Fill in the boxes with suitable examples from the poem.
Answer:
Personification
Examples:
- To her fair works (Nature is personified as a woman).
- The periwinkle trailed (periwinkle is personified as a follower)
- The flower enjoys the air (The flower is treated as a person.)
Imagery:
- The birds around me hopped and played (visual).
- I heard a thousand blended notes (auditory).
- Through primrose tufts, in ttjat green bower, the periwinkle trailed its wreaths, (visual)
- The budding twigs spread out their fan to catch the breezy air (visual) Rhyme scheme: abab
Activity – 3
Question 3.
To her fair works did nature link The human soul that through me ran’
These lines speak about man’s vital relationship with nature. Discuss and write an appreciation of the poem.
Answer:
An appreciation of the poem:
The poet says that while sitting reclined on a woodland grove, his mind was filled with several thoughts. While he finds solace in the nature’s beauty, the same beauty also reminds him of sad thoughts, The speaker appreciates the nature for her god like abilities of linking a human soul to herself but he also feels grief while thinking about how cruelly man has separated himself from mother nature. The poet is highly appreciative of nature’s beauty. He finds delight in the green bowers and has faith that the beautiful flowers enjoy every ounce of the air they breathe and they are thankful for living beside the nature. The speaker observes the birds which sing and hop around him. He is in awe of these creatures.
Though the speaker does not understand their language and ways, he does recognize that the birds are creating all these movements out of sheer pleasure and joy. The breeze blowing is sweet and light, the twigs are spreading out as if to catch the sweet air and ail the poet can do is gather pleasure in their existence. The speaker questions that if this is heaven and this is the holy plan of nature then what man has done to himself is really bad. Man has separated himself from such joy and is spending his time hating one another and fighting wars.
The poem has 6 quatrains and the rhyming scheme is abab. There are examples of personification. There is fine visual and auditory imagery. We too feel like the poet reclining in the grove watching the flowers and listening to the music of,the birds. Nature is really beautiful.
Activity – 4
→ To be done individually by the students. Listen and enjoy as suggested in the Text.
Lines Written in Early Spring Language Activities
Activity -1
Question 1.
Read the following sentences and punctuate them.
Answer:
- The tree was older than the house.
- I saw a cobra and a mongoose fighting.
- What a spectacular sight!
- Will the mongoose kill the snake?
- Son, get down from the tree.
- Please answer me.
- Oh! What happy times those had been!
- What did man do to nature?
Question 2.
Discuss:
a. Based on the punctuations marks how many sentence types can you identify?
Answer:
I can identify 4 sentence types.
b. Are there two types of sentences in the above set that end in a full stop?
Answer:
Yes, there are.
c. What difference do you notice between these sentences?
Answer:
The difference is they are statements and imperatives.
d. Based on yourdiscussion, how many sentence types you can identify.
Answer:
Four types.
e. Which are the types of sentences you have identified?
Answer:
Statements, questions, imperatives and exclamations.
Statements: 1 and 2.
Command/Request: 5 and 6 Questions: 4 and 8 Exclamations: 3 and 7
- Statement sentences are called Assertive.
- Sentences that express command, order, request are called imperatives.
- Sentences that ask questions are called Interrogatives.
- Sentences that express emotions and feelings are called Exclamations.
Now, wnte two examples each for the sentence types you have identified.
1. Assertive:
a) MyfatherworksinDubai.
b) Our teacher teaches well.
2. Imperatives:
a) Open the window.
b) Please give me that book.
3. Interrogatives:
a) Where are you going?
b) Why do you sleep in the class?
4. Exclamatory:
a) What a beautiful girl!
b) How nicely he sings!
Activity – 2
Question 3.
Read the following sentences.
1) I had built a small platform on the tree.
2) I was not afraid.
3) Grandfather had a very beautiful garden.
4) The combatants were not aware of my presence in the banyan tree.
5) I don’t get any sleep at all.
6) My first friend was a small grey squirrel.
7) The house was not electrified.
8) The snake slithered along my shoulder.
9) I was no mere image cut in granite.
10) The snake looked into the mirror and saw its reflection.
Categorise the above sentences into affirmative and negative and complete the following table.
Answer:
| Affirmative (Positive) | Negative |
| I had built a small platform on the tree. | I was not afraid. |
| Grandfather had a very beautiful garden. | The combatants were not aware of my presence in the banyan tree. |
| My best friend was a small grey squirrel. | I don’t get any sleep at all. |
| The snake slithered among my shoulder. | The house was not electrified. |
| The snake looked into the mirror and saw its reflection. | I was no mere image cut in granite. |
Question 4.
Sentences Which State Positve Facts Are Called Affirmative Or Positive Sentences.
Sentences That Express Negative Ideas Are Called Negative Sentences.
Now look at the following sentences:
1. Grandfather rarely smoked a pipe.
2. The maid would hardly clean the garden
3. He could scarcely control his joy.
4. I will seldom pray for you.
5. There are few snakes in the garden.
6. There is little water in the pond.
Identify the words that make the sentences negative.
Answer:
1. rarely
2. hardly
3. scarcely
4. seldom
5. few
6. little
Question 5.
Rewrite the given sentences into negative sentences using the words you have identified.
1. Most of the students read their textbooks at home.
2. The boys do daring tasks.
3. It rains heavily.
4. The students have completed their work.
5. The boys play on the ground.
6. I write letters to my friends.
Answer:
1. Most of the students hardly read textbooks at home.
2. The boys rarely do daring tasks.
3. It seldom rains heavily.
4. Few students have completed their work.
5. The boys seldom play on the ground.
6. I scarcely write letters to my friends.
Question 5.
Rewrite the following affirmative sentences as negative sentences without changing their meaning. (Note that this might involve replacing a word with its antonym.)
(Note: Sentences containing ‘never’ are treated as negative sentences.)
1. Jack always agrees to help his friends.
2. He drivers his car very carefully.
3. Stella is prettier than Mary.
4. They have accepted the invitation.
5. A fox is cleverer than a jackal.
6. This shop sells expensive articles.
7. She always keeps her room tidy.
8. He is polite to everyone.
9. He is very industrious.
10. He is always late for his class.
Answer:
1. Jack seldom agrees to help his friends.
2. He hardly drives his car very carefully.
3. Stella is not prettier than Mary.
4. They have not accepted the invitation.
5. Afoxisnotclevererthanajackal.
6. This shop never sells expensive articles.
7. She never keeps her room tidy.
8. He is never polite to everyone.
9. He is rarely very industrious.
10. He is never late for his class.
Activity – 3
Question 6.
Let’s consider the following sentences:
1. The boys are playing in the ground.
2. The old grandfather was helpless.
Question 7.
A noun phrase can either be a single word (head noun) or more than one word (head noun + modifier).
Identify the Noun Phrase and its modifiers from the following sentences:
1. The magnificent old banyan tree was mine.
2. An old tree was the centre of attraction.
3. The cobra was a skilful and experienced fighter.
4. The small rented room was not electrified.
5. A long supporting gable rested on the beam over the wall.
Answer:
1. The magnificent old banyan tree. The (article) magnificent, old (adjective) banyan tree (Noun)
2. An old tree: (An – article), old (adjective), tree (noun). Centre of attraction (centre – noun, of-particle, attraction – noun).
3. The cobra (The – article), cobra (noun) a skilful and experienced fighter (a – article, skilful – adjective, and – conjunction, experienced – participle, fighter – noun)
4. The small rented room: The -article, small – adjective, rented – participle, room-noun).
5. A long supporting gable: (A – article, long, . adjective, supporting – participle, gable – noun). on the beam over the wall (on – preposition, the – article, beam – noun, over – preposition, the – article, wall – noun).
Question 8.
Words that can modify a noun are as follows:
Answer:
1. Articles (a, an, the)
2. Possessives (Grandfather’s, teachers’s, my, his, her, your, their, etc.)
3. Demonstratives (this, that, these, those)
4. Adjectives (old, long, smart, beautiful, etc.)
5. Numerals (three, five, twelve, etc.)
6. Ordinals (first, second, last, etc.)
7. Quantifiers (all, some, few, many, etc.)
Articles, Possessives and Demonstratives are called Determiners.
Sometimes a quantifier can appear before a determiner. In that case, we call it a pre-determiner.
E.g.
- All the students…
- Some of the books…
Lines Written In Early Spring About the author:
– William Wordsworth – 1770-1850
William Wordsworth (1770-1850) is a major English Romantic poet. The collection of poems called “Lyrical Ballads” written by him and Samuel Taylor Coleridge made him a great figure in the literary circle. He was made the poet Laureate in 1843. Some of his famous poems are “Daffodils”, “Lucy Gray” and the “The Prelude”.
To him Nature was a guru, a philosopher and a nurse. He is known as the High Priest of nature. In simple language, he extolled the beauty of Nature and asked his readers to enjoy that beauty. His poems are about simple people and simple things.
Lines Written in Early Spring Summary in English
Stanza 1: The poet is sitting in a small woodland grove. He hears the birdsong around him. Although happy thoughts are prompted by the birdsong, sad thoughts also come to his mind.
Stanza 2: Nature has forged a strong connection between itself and the soul of mankind, but man has repaid the favour by making a mess of his relations with his fellow man.
Stanza 3: The poet admires the flowers-the primrose, the blue of the periwinkle, the greenness of the woodland area in which he sits. He is very sure that every flower enjoys the air it breathes. Man must do the same.
Stanza 4: Birds hopped and played around him. The poet is not able to guess what they are thinking. But their movements showed they were very happy and enjoying their time.
Stanza 5: The twigs of the trees spread out as if to catch the breezy air. The poet thinks they too were happy and contented with the enjoyment they had.
Stanza 6: This belief is sent from heaven. This is the way nature is and nature is the work of God. Nature wants us to be happy. The poet laments at the sad state of man who spends his time in quarrelling and fighting instead of enjoying the blissful things God has given him.
Lines Written in Early Spring Summary in Malayalam
Lines Written in Early Spring Glossary
