With the help of your partner, try to rewrite some lines in the poem, or add new ones of your own as in the following examples. Trees are for birds to build nests in. Trees are for people to sit under. Now try to compose a similar poem about Water or air.

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Solution

Trees are for birds to build nests in. Trees are for people to sit under. Trees are for those leisurely hours to enjoy the beauty of nature, Trees are for the homemakers to beautify their house. Trees are for the sick ones to derive their medicine from. Trees are for everyone because to every person a tree has some gift to offer.

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Similar questions

How does Frost present nature in this poem? The following questions may help you to think of an answer.

(i) What are the birds that are usually named in poems? Do you think a crow is often mentioned in poems? What images come to your mind when you think of a crow?

(ii) Again, what is “a hemlock tree”? Why doesn’t the poet write about a more ‘beautiful’ tree such as a maple, or an oak, or a pine?

(iii) What do the ‘crow’ and ‘hemlock’ represent − joy or sorrow? What does the dust of snow that the crow shakes off a hemlock tree stand for?

Read the following line.

Some Whatifs crawled inside my ear

Can words crawl into your ear? This is an image. The poet is trying to make an image of what she/he experiences. Now with your partner try and list out some more images from the poem.

Now try to build your own similes for the following:

1. The rock stood…

2. The waves leapt…

3. the sea shone…

4. the sun set…

5. the rain fell…

6. the bird soared…

7. dawn broke…

8. the stars…

9. the wind shook the trees…

The poems and the song in this Unit allow you to see the range of ways in which individuals and communities express their opinions, their anger and their sorrow. In class, do the following two exercises:

(a) Bring to class a poem that discusses a social issue. Share this with your classmates. Work in small groups with two or more poems to discuss their meaning as well as what the poet is trying to communicate.

(b) Identify a marginalised community in your locality. Write a poem, or song, or draw a poster etc to express your feelings as a member of this community.

A sparrow is a small bird which is found throughout the world. There are many different species of sparrows. Sparrows are only about four to six inches in length. Many people appreciate their beautiful song. Sparrows prefer to build their nests in low places-usually on the ground, clumps of grass, low trees and low bushes. In cities they build their nests in nooks or holes. They rarely build their nests in high places. They build their nests out of twigs, grasses and plant fibres. Their nests are usually small and well-built structures.Female sparrows lay four to six eggs at a time. The eggs are white with reddish brown spots. They hatch between eleven to fourteen days. Both the male and female parents care for the young. Insects are fed to the young after hatching. The large feet of the sparrows are used for scratching seeds. Adult sparrows mainly eat seeds. Sparrows can be found almost everywhere, where there are humans. Many people throughout the world enjoy these delightful birds.

The sparrows are some of the few birds that engage in dust bathing. Sparrows first scratch a hole in the ground with their feet, then lie in it and fling dirt or sand over their bodies with flicks of their winds. They also bathe in water, or in dry or melting snow. Water bathing is similar to dust bathing, with the sparrow standing in shallow water and flicking water over its back with its wings, also ducking its head under the water. Both activities are social, with up to a hundred birds participating at once, and is followed by preening and sometimes group singing.

Q. What is not true with reference to sparrows?

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