True happiness is to enjoy the present without being too anxious about the future. When it comes to seeking happiness in the present, can nature help us? Here is a poem where the poet urges the reader to experience joy and pleasure that the natural springtime delights offer.
Let’s revisit and enjoy the poem.
A Prayer In Spring Questions And Answers Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 1.
Who does the poet address in the first line?
A Prayer in Spring Questions and Answer:
God
A Prayer In Spring Summary Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 2.
Who are referred to as ‘us’ here?
Answer:
People everywhere
A Prayer In Spring Question Answers Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 3.
Why does the poet use ‘to-day’ instead of ‘today?’
Answer:
to mean every day
Summary of A Prayer in Spring Question 4. Where is the poet and what is happening around him?
Answer:
He is in an orchard. There are trees around him. A bird is darting and there are bees.
A Prayer In Spring Lesson Plan Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 5.
What is the first pleasurable sight?
Answer:
The flowers
A Prayer in Spring Poem Summary Question 6. Which habit of human beings stands as an obstacle in enjoying the pleasures in nature? Pick out the lines that indicate this habit.
Answer:
Thinking too much about the future, “And give us not to think so far away as the uncertain harvest.”
Appreciation Of The Poem A Prayer In Spring Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 7.
Identify the enjoyable sight mentioned in the second stanza. What is it compared to?
Answer:
The white orchard. It is compared to ghosts by night.
A Prayer In Spring Innovative Lesson Plan Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 8.
The poet says that bees are happy. How does the poet justify his claim?
Answer:
The poet justifies his claim by saying that the bees swarm dilating round the perfect trees.
A Prayer In Spring Summary In Malayalam Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 9.
Explain the idea in the line ‘And off a blossom in mid-air stands still’.
Answer:
The ray of the meteor touches the blossom and it stands still in mid-air.
Summary Of The Poem A Prayer In Spring Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 10.
The poet mentions love in the fourth stanza. Is it human love or divine love? Give reasons.
Answer:
It is divine love. Only divine love can bring in such beauty into nature. Such love is reserved for God.
A Prayer In Spring Poem Kerala Syllabus 9th Question 11.
According to Robert Frost, what is man’s duty while living in this world?
Answer:
Man’s duty while living in this world is to enjoy the divine beauty that God provides him with and share the love of God with other fellow-beings.
A Prayer In Spring Summary In English Kerala Syllabus 9th Activity -1
The poem ‘A Prayer in Spring’ depicts the beauty of nature in the Spring season. Fill in the bubbles with the shades of nature that attracted the poet in the Springtime.
Answer:
Words for the Bubbles: Harvesting, white orchard, swarming bees, darting bird.
A Paragraph:
The poet, Robert Frost, has treated nature in an exquisite way in his fine poem “A Prayer in Spring”. It is springtime. There are flowers everywhere. There is the beautiful white orchard. There are many fine-looking trees in it. The bees are swarming about them as if they are singing and dancing in joy. A bird is flying about chirping melodiously as if she is singing a lullaby. There are blossoms all around. God in his divine love has made Nature so beautiful that we can enjoy its beauty to our hearts’ content.
A Prayer In Spring Malayalam Meaning Kerala Syllabus 9th Activity – 2
a) The expression ‘springing of the year’ refers to the beginning of the season of planting and tending- a season of new birth. Robert Frost tells us that we should live in the moment and learn not to focus on the harvest. What message does the poet convey in the first stanza? Express your views.
Answer:
In the first stanza, the poet says that we should enjoy the pleasures of today without worrying about what will happen in the future. It is the beginning of the Spring. It is the time to plant and tend the seedlings. We should be happy at what we are doing now and not worry about the harvest that will come months later. These lines remind me of the famous poet Omar Khayyam who wrote: “Dead yesterday, unborn tomorrow/Why fret about them if today be sweet?” Yes, we should learn to enjoy the present without bothering too much about the unborn tomorrow.
b) The bees play an inevitable role in nature. What function do they perform and how does the poet describe it?
Answer:
The bees do play an inevitable role in nature. It is they who help in the pollination process. They drink the honey and eat the pollen from the flowers and in the process, they help in the pollination without which there will be no fruits of grains. The poet says the happy bees hover, about the trees as if they are intoxicated by the drink they had and are dancing in joy. This sight makes us also happy. In addition to helping with the pollination, the bees supply us with their delicious honey. The buzzing of the bees is like sweet music. Thus the bees produce a feast for our eyes, ears and tongue – our senses of sight, sound, and taste.
Activity 3
In the first stanza, Robert Frost tells us that we should learn to get rid of our anxieties about future and enjoy living in the moment gifted to us. How does the poet reinforce this message in the last stanza? Explain.
Answer:
In the first stanza, Robert Frost tells us that we should learn to get rid of our anxieties about future and enjoy living in the moment gifted to us. The poet reinforces this message in the last stanza by saying that what we see in nature is the reflection of God’s love. Only God can give love in such abundance. Our duty is to enjoy the feast he has supplied and by doing that we will be fulfilling his desires. God gives us all this beauty to make us happy and if we refuse to enjoy it, we are actually insulting God. Not enjoying it would be like not tasting the delicious dishes our host has lovingly prepared for us.
Activity – 4 (Page 181)
Read the lines and identify the poetic device from the box given below. Briefly describe the idea conveyed by these lines.
[alliteration, simile, metaphor]
A Prayer In Spring by Robert Frost Question 1. And off a blossom in mid-air stands still
Poetic device -…….…………………………………………..
Explanation: …….……………………………………………..
Answer:
1. Alliteration: Alliteration is the use of words starting with the same sound close to one another, stands – still.
The line shows that the ray from the meteor touches the flower, as if kissing it, and it is so happy that it stands still in midair.
A Prayer in Spring Lesson Plan Question 2. Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night
Poetic device -…….……………………………………………
Explanation: …….……………………………………………..
Answer:
2. Simile: It is a poetic device in which you compare two different things which have at least one quality in common. Similes are often introduced by the words ‘like’ or ‘as’, as in “like ghosts by night. The white orchard is so beautiful that nothing can compare with it during the daytime, but the trees look like ghosts by night time as they shine because of their white color.
A Prayer in Spring Summary Question 3. The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill
Poetic device -…….………………………………………………………………………….
Explanation: …….…………………………………………………………………………..
Find more examples for each from the poem, if any.
Answer:
Metaphor: It is a figure of speech very much like a simile. But in a metaphor, we don’t use the introducing words ‘like’ and ‘as’. We say A is B. If we say A is like B, it is a Simile, but when we say A is B, it is a metaphor. Any simile can be changed into a metaphor and any metaphor into a simile. The meteor, using its ray, thrusts into the flower as if pricked by the sharp bill of a little bird.
More examples:
Alliteration: it is
Metaphor: The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill – the meteor is considered a bird.
Simile: Orchard white like nothing else by day
Activity – 5
Robert Frost mentions the enjoyable sights in nature in the Spring season. However, he understands that there are several factors that prevent man from enjoying the simple pleasures of life. The poet’s pleasure and its sources are quite different from those of modern man. What gives pleasure to man in the modern world? Do these pleasures satisfy him? Express your views in a paragraph.
Answer:
The poet’s pleasure and. its sources are quite different from those of modem man. The poet finds pleasure in the flowers that bloom, in the beautiful white orchard, in the fine-looking trees and the bees swarming about them as if they are singing and dancing in joy. The poet finds joy in the bird flying about chirping melodiously. God in his divine love has made Nature so beautiful that the poet enjoys its beauty to his heart’s content.
But modern man is not pleased with these things. He needs money. He needs material pleasures. He finds his pleasure in his mobile phone, in his television set, in the theatres, in the bars, in football and cricket and in amassing wealth. I am reminded of William Wordsworth who lamented the modern man’s fascination for money. He said, “The world is too much with us late and soon/Getting and spending we lay waste our powers/ Nothing we see in Nature is ours/We’ve given our hearts away, a sordid boon.” Yes, we have made a bad bargain by loving money more than we love Nature and its beauty.
