Read the poem carefully:
MY TREE
O tree, so big and stout and strong,
You’ve lived so very, very long;
A hundred years or more, I’m told
And yet you’re not so very old.
A hundred secrets you could tell
Of children whom you love so well,
Who came and sat beneath your shade
Or underneath your branches played.
A hundred birds have built their nest;
Your leaves have softly kissed their breasts;
Your branches seem to touch the sky,
Yet you were once as small as I.
Some day when I have grown up, too,
I’m coming back to visit you;
And changed though other things will be,
I’ll find the same dear friendly tree.
-Garnet Engle
Choose the option you consider the most appropriate.
The speaker in the poem is____
a child
a gardener
an old man
a bird
The poet believes the tree knows children’s secrets because_____
trees can keep secrets
they used to play under it
trees can remember things
they loved him so much
“Yet you were once as small as I” (Stanza 3). This line expresses the poet’s sense of____
envy
pride
pity
surprise
In the last stanza the poet hopes that_________
he will grow up
the tree will remain a friend forever
he will go away
everything will be changed
The speaker has come to know of the tree’s age from________
other people
his own observation
the rings on its trunk
the shape of its trunk and branches
Given below is the summary of the poem. Complete it by writing the missing word against the correct blank.
The speaker in the poem is a young (a) _______________ who is fascinated by the sheer (b) _________ and height of the tree in his neighborhood. He believes it knows many (c) ______________ of children who once used to (d) __________ in its shade and play under its (e) _______. It is home to hundreds of (f) _________ who build their nests in it. It is so tall that its branches seem to be (g) ________ the sky and the speaker is surprised that once upon a time it was just a little sapling. He wishes to (h) _______ tall and strong like the tree and hopes that when he (i) ________ it some years later he would find it as (j) _________ then as it is now.
Read the poem
When Mebula Ramsandra
Was three years old
His mother told him, that if he wanted
To be strong man
He’d have to drink all his milk---
And he did.
When Mebula Ramsandra
Was five years old
His teacher told him
That if he wanted
To go to a grammar school
He’d have to try harder with his homework---
And he did.
When Mebula Ramsandra
Was fifteen years old
His lecturer told him
That if he wanted to be a lab technician
He’d have to go to University---
And he did.
So ten years later
When Mebula Ramsandra
Was twenty-five years old
A big, strong, clever, educated postgraduate-----
The man on the other end of the phone said
If he wanted to work for him,
He’d have to be big, strong, clever, educated postgraduate
---------and White.
A. Read the poem given above and complete the summary based on your reading using suitable words/phrases.
A young Mebula Ramsandra was advised by his (a) _________ to consume (b) _______ if he wanted to be big and strong. At the age of five his (c) ________ warned him that if he didn’t put in (d) ________work, he wouldn’t be able to go to Grammar School. When he was in his teens, he was told that he would have to go to University to be a lab (e) _________. After ten years, is job application was rejected because he was (f) _______. Surely the man on the other side of the telephone was (g) ____________.
B. Find the words from the passage which means the same as:
a. Huge b. intellectual c. sturdy
Read the following poem carefully.
1. Fathers are wonderful people
Too little understood,
And we do not sing their praises
As often as we should
2.For, somehow, Father seems to be
The man who pays the bills,
While Mother binds up little hurts
And nurses all our ills...
3.And Father struggles daily
To live up to "his image"
As protector and provider
And "hero of the scrimmage"...
4.And perhaps that is the reason
We sometimes get the notion,
that Fathers are not subject
to the thing we call emotion,
5.But if you look inside Dad's heart,
Where no one else can see
You'll find he's sentimental
And as "soft" as he can be......
6.But he's so busy every day
In the gruelling race of life,
He leaves the sentimental stuff
To his partner and his wife...
7.But Fathers are just wonderful
In a million different ways,
And they merit loving compliments
And accolades of praise,
8.For the only reason Dad aspires
To fortune and success
Is to make the family proud of him
And to bring them happiness.
Write the option you consider the most appropriate:-
1.Which of the following ideas is conveyed in the first stanza?
(a) Fathers have to struggle every day
(b) Fathers are not understood or praised enough
(c) Father are believed to have no emotions
(d) Father want fortune and success
2.According to stanza 2, a father is someone who
(a) seeks a lot of praise
(b) pays all the bills
(c) is an amazing person
(d) nurses hurts and ills
3.'We sometimes get the notion' (stanza 4). The ‘notion' the poet refers to is that
(a) Fathers have to provide for and protect their families
(b) Fathers are often very sentimental
(c) Fathers often lack emotions
(d) Fathers are wonderful in a million ways
4.Fathers seek fortune and success so that they
(a) avoid being sentimental
(b) remain as busy as they can be
(c) prove that they are wonderful people
(d) make their families happy & proud of them
5.A stanza that repeats the main idea of the first stanza is
(a) stanza 5
(b) stanza 6
(c) stanza 7
(d) stanza 8
TYPE II (Short Answer Questions)
Answer the following questions as briefly as possible. Write the answers in the space provided.
- What image does a father have to live up to?
- What kind of heart do most dads have?
- Why do fathers often have no time for sentiments?
- What should children do to make their father feel that he is valued and wanted?
Suggested answer of the above questions
Type I (Multiple Choice Questions):-
- (b)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (c)
Type II (Short answer question):-
- A father has to live up to as protector and provider.
- Dads have soft kind of heart.
- Fathers are busy every day in the gruelling race of life.
- Children should give respect and love to their father.
Read the following poem carefully.
MONSOON
Where do the fish go
When the monsoon
Thunders on the water
And the foam churns
Like milk?
Where do the birds hide
When the trees fall
In high winds
And all the fruit
Lies everywhere
On field and ground?
Where do people run
When the rain comes through
The thatch,
And the floods creep in on them
Like thieves?
Alfreda De Silva
Choose the option you consider the most appropriate.
In the first stanza the poet compares water to milk because _________
it is full of white foam
it is full of fish
it reflects the lightning
it reflects the monsoon clouds
The fruit lies everywhere on field and ground because _______
no one has picked it up
it has been plucked and scattered by strong winds
birds have thrown it here and there after pecking at it
it has fallen from the farmer’s cart
In the third stanza the poet compares the movement of flood to that of ___
rain
people
thieves
running
The poem describes____________
some observation the poet has made about monsoon scenes
some sounds and scenes of rains
some advantages of monsoon rains
some problems caused by monsoon rains
Monsoon can force fish, birds and people to seek alternative __________
seasons
shelters
food
weather
Given below is the summary of the poem. Complete it by writing the missing word against the correct blank.
The poem describes the different sounds and movements of the (a) _________ season and how it affects (b) _________, birds, trees and (c) __________. The poet wonders where these creatures go when (d) _________ strikes. The monsoon winds (e) _____ the seawater and makes it full of (f) _________. They fell (g) _________ and scatter (h) ____________ everywhere. The rains cause the (i) ___________ roofs of huts to leak forcing people to (j) __________ away from their homes in search of safe, dry places.
Read the following poem carefully.
1. Fathers are wonderful people
Too little understood,
And we do not sing their praises
As often as we should
2.For, somehow, Father seems to be
The man who pays the bills,
While Mother binds up little hurts
And nurses all our ills...
3.And Father struggles daily
To live up to "his image"
As protector and provider
And "hero of the scrimmage"...
4.And perhaps that is the reason
We sometimes get the notion,
that Fathers are not subject
to the thing we call emotion,
5.But if you look inside Dad's heart,
Where no one else can see
You'll find he's sentimental
And as "soft" as he can be......
6.But he's so busy every day
In the gruelling race of life,
He leaves the sentimental stuff
To his partner and his wife...
7.But Fathers are just wonderful
In a million different ways,
And they merit loving compliments
And accolades of praise,
8.For the only reason Dad aspires
To fortune and success
Is to make the family proud of him
And to bring them happiness.
Write the option you consider the most appropriate:-
1.Which of the following ideas is conveyed in the first stanza?
(a) Fathers have to struggle every day
(b) Fathers are not understood or praised enough
(c) Father are believed to have no emotions
(d) Father want fortune and success
2.According to stanza 2, a father is someone who
(a) seeks a lot of praise
(b) pays all the bills
(c) is an amazing person
(d) nurses hurts and ills
3.'We sometimes get the notion' (stanza 4). The ‘notion' the poet refers to is that
(a) Fathers have to provide for and protect their families
(b) Fathers are often very sentimental
(c) Fathers often lack emotions
(d) Fathers are wonderful in a million ways
4.Fathers seek fortune and success so that they
(a) avoid being sentimental
(b) remain as busy as they can be
(c) prove that they are wonderful people
(d) make their families happy & proud of them
5.A stanza that repeats the main idea of the first stanza is
(a) stanza 5
(b) stanza 6
(c) stanza 7
(d) stanza 8
TYPE II (Short Answer Questions)
Answer the following questions as briefly as possible. Write the answers in the space provided.
- What image does a father have to live up to?
- What kind of heart do most dads have?
- Why do fathers often have no time for sentiments?
- What should children do to make their father feel that he is valued and wanted?
Suggested answer of the above questions
Type I (Multiple Choice Questions):-
- (b)
- (b)
- (c)
- (d)
- (c)
Type II (Short answer question):-
- A father has to live up to as protector and provider.
- Dads have soft kind of heart.
- Fathers are busy every day in the gruelling race of life.
- Children should give respect and love to their father.
Read the following poem carefully.
MOONLIGHT
Deep in the night
When all is still
A moon beam climbs the window-sill.
Over your bed
It softly flies
To see if sleep has closed your eyes.
A pinch of gold
Some fairy sand
It clasped within that moonbeam's hand
And if by chance
You're not asleep
It comes tip-toe on gentle feet.
To touch your eyes
With golden beams
And take you to the land of dreams.
TYPE I (Multiple Choice Questions]
Write the option you consider the most appropriate
1.The poet speaks of the moonlight as if it were
(a) a watchman
(b) a thief
(c) a shadow
(d) a fairy
2."A pinch of gold/ Some fairy sand"(lines 7 -8). The poet has used this expression to describe
(a) the colour of the moonlight
(b) a child's dream world
(c) the face of the moon
(d) the face of an innocent child
3.A soothing effect of the moonlight is that
(a) it climbs the window-sill
(b) it tip-toes on gentle feet
(c) it puts a child to sleep
(a) it rubs a pinch of golden sand on eyes
4.The "you" in the poem most probably is
(a) the poet himself
(b) a little child
(c) a mother
(d) a golden fairy
5.Which of the following expressions best describes the silent movement of the moonlight?
(a) Deep in the night
(b) All is still
(c) Climbs the window-sill
(d) Comes tip-toe on gentle feet
TYPE -II (Gap Filing & Sentence Completion Questions)
Given below is the summary of the poem. Complete it by writing the missing word against the correct blank number in the space provided.
During the night, rays of (a).......... slowly come inside rooms through the (b)..........over your (c)............ . It appears (d)............ in colour and comes to check if you are (e)........... or not. In case you are not asleep, it (f).......... on its feet and touches your (g)........... . Then you are taken to the world of (h)............
TYPE -III
Complete the following statement as briefly as possible.
A word in the poem that means the same as 'held tightly' is...........
Suggested Answer of the above passages:-
Type I (Multiple Choice Questions):-
- (d)
- (a)
- (b)
- (b)
- (c)
Type II (Gap Filling & Sentence Completing Questions):-
- Moon
- Window-sill
- Bed
- Golden
- Sleeping
- Tip-toe
- Eyes
- Dreams
Type III Complete the following statement as briefly as possible.
- Clasped
Read the poem carefully and answer the questions that follow Subjective.
When I sailed out of Baltimore,
With twice a thousand head of sheep,
They would not eat, they would not drink,
But bleated over the deep.
Inside the pens we crawled each day, 5
To sort the living from the dead;
And when we reached the Mersey’s mouth,
Had lost five hundred head,
That had no fear of man or sea,
Struck through the bars its pleading face, 10
And I stroked it.
And to the sheep-men standing near,
“You see”, I said, “this one tame sheep ?“
It seems a child has lost her pet,
“And cried herself to sleep.” 15
And every time we passed it by,
Sailing to England’s Slaughter-house;
Eight ragged sheep – men – tramps
training and thieves
Would stroke that sheep’s black nose. 20
— William H. Davis
1.Given below is a summary of the poem. Complete it by writing the missing words/phrases against the correct blank numbers :
When the narrator started from Baltimore with (a) ___________thousand sheep, they would neither (b) ___________nor drink. When they (c) ___________the Mersey’s mouth, five hundred sheep had died. There was one wailing sheep that had (d) ___________its little one.
2 Complete the following statements:
(a) ___________ that had no fear of man or sea.
(b) The narrator stroked _____________
3 Find words/phrases from the poem which mean the same as the following:
(a) a place where sheep are kept (line 5)
(b) shepherds (line 12)
Read the following poem carefully.
It crept forward.
A spark first.
Growing into a flame
Then brightening into a blaze.
It crept forward.
Like a panther, stealthily stalking his prey.
Slowly,now,then leaping
Like a beast gone mad.
Leaping, and being doused with water.
Still, relentlessly, on and on it went.
Tearing through, with lightening speed.
It spread.
Its petals fanned out, yellow and orange
And red. The greedy-rage-flower.
Advancing its tendrils, announcing their arrival
With a crackle, a hiss, a sizzle and spit.
Tearing along with bliding fury.
Destroying everything in its path.
Hurrying through.
Feeding on dried-up wood and brittle screams
Fire!
Given below is the summary of the poem. Complete it by writing the missing word against the correct blank.
It takes only a a) ______ to start a fire which soon b) ______ into a flame and becomes a c) ______. It leaps like a d) _______ beast and e) ______ its helpless preys. It f) _____ with lightning speed defying all efforts to g) ____ it. Ignoring its screaming victims, it h) _____ everything on its way.
Read the following poem carefully and answer the questions that follow:
INDIAN WEAVERS
Weavers, weaving at break of day,
Why do you weave a garment so gay?
Blue as the wing of a bluebird wild,
We weave the robes of a new-born child.
Weavers, weaving at fall of night,
Why do you weave a garment so bright?
Like the plumes of a peacock, purple and green,
We weave the marriage-veils of a queen.
Weavers, weaving solemn and still,
What do you weave in the moonlight chill?
White as a feather and white as a cloud,
We weave a dead man's funeral shroud.
Sarojini Naidu
Ques.1Read the questions given below and write the option you consider the most appropriate:-
(a) What do the weavers weave in the early morning?
(i) a bright blue cloth
(ii) a dull grey cloth
(iii) a soft white cloth
(iv) a red coloured veil
(b) The __________ is purple and green coloured.
(i) dress of the weavers
(ii) dress of a new born child
(iii) the queen's marriage veil
(iv) the robe of a king
(c) Whom does the poet address in the poem?
(i) weavers
(ii) children
(iii) queens
(iv) all the above
(d) What do the weavers weave in the chilly moonlight?
(i) a garment light as a feather
(ii) a garment meant to cover a dead man
(iii) a garment to keep away the chill
(iv) a garment to wrap a new born child in
(e) The three stages of life mentioned in the poem are _____________________
(i) infancy, childhood and senility
(ii) infancy, youth and death
(iii) infancy, adolescence, middle age
(iv) childhood, adulthood and senility
Read the following poem carefully and answer the questions that follow:
WE GO THIS WAY BUT ONCE
We go this way but once, oh heart of mine.
So why not make the journey well worthwhile,
Giving to those who travel with us
A helping hand, a word of cheer, a smile?
We go this way but once. Ah, never more
Can we go back along the self same way?
To get more out of life, undo the wrongs,
Or speak love’s words we knew but did not say.
We go this way but once. Then let us make
The road we travel blossomy and sweet
With helpful, kindly deeds and tender words
Smoothing the path of bruised and stumbling feet.
Anon.
I. On the basis of your reading of the above poem, answer the following questions:
- We go this way but once. What does ‘this way’ refer to here? _______________
- So why not make the journey well worthwhile. Why should we make this journey ‘worthwhile’?________________________________________________________________
- According to the poet, we can make this journey worthwhile in the following ways: ……………….. (ii) ………………. (iii) …………… (iv) ……………... Complete the following table by matching the suitable line number(s) given in circles below with the correct meanings they convey. Write only the answers against the correct blank numbers in your answer sheet.
Read the poem carefully:
I shan’t stop and wait
My path is rough, my goal is far,
And mishappenings my pathway bar,
I have been made for such a fate,
But I shan’t stop and wait!
At me people laugh and jeer,
But I shove away all fear!
In reaching my goal i may be late,
But I shan’t stop and wait!
Let the hills block my path:
Let the sea rage its wrath!
And try to make me hesitate,
But I shan’t stop and wait!
Let the lightning strike me down!
Let the rains also me drown!
And reduce me to the saddest state ---
But I shan’t stop and wait!
O comes troubles! I shall you face!
In me fears you cannot raise!
Trap me in whatever bait.
But I shan’t stop and wait!
On the basis of your understanding of the poem, complete the summary with one word in each blank:
The poet says that he shall not 1.__________and 2.__________ even if his path is 3.__________and his goal is far. He is firm that he is made for such a fate. People may 4._________and jeer at him for making vain attempts to achieve, yet he will remove all his fear and reach his goal, probably 5.___________. Even when the hills of troubles block his path and the sea of hatred show its wrath and try to make him 6.______________ in reaching his goal, he will not give up. Nor will he give in even when the 7._____________of obstacles strikes him down or rain of miseries drown him in to the deep waters of trouble to reduce him to the 8.__________state. With great poise, the poet resolves to remain fearless in the face all the troubles that may trap him in the bait of misery and distress as he is determined not to allow them to bog him down from reaching his goal.
Important Unseen Poem for class 8 English
Read the poem carefully:
I shan’t stop and wait
My path is rough, my goal is far,
And mishappenings my pathway bar,
I have been made for such a fate,
But I shan’t stop and wait!
At me people laugh and jeer,
But I shove away all fear!
In reaching my goal i may be late,
But I shan’t stop and wait!
Let the hills block my path:
Let the sea rage its wrath!
And try to make me hesitate,
But I shan’t stop and wait!
Let the lightning strike me down!
Let the rains also me drown!
And reduce me to the saddest state ---
But I shan’t stop and wait!
O comes troubles! I shall you face!
In me fears you cannot raise!
Trap me in whatever bait.
But I shan’t stop and wait!
On the basis of your understanding of the poem, complete the summary with one word in each blank:
The poet says that he shall not 1.__________and 2.__________ even if his path is 3.__________and his goal is far. He is firm that he is made for such a fate. People may 4._________and jeer at him for making vain attempts to achieve, yet he will remove all his fear and reach his goal, probably 5.___________. Even when the hills of troubles block his path and the sea of hatred show its wrath and try to make him 6.______________ in reaching his goal, he will not give up. Nor will he give in even when the 7._____________of obstacles strikes him down or rain of miseries drown him in to the deep waters of trouble to reduce him to the 8.__________state. With great poise, the poet resolves to remain fearless in the face all the troubles that may trap him in the bait of misery and distress as he is determined not to allow them to bog him down from reaching his goal.
Important Unseen Poem for class 8 English
Read the following poem carefully and answer the questions that follow:
WE GO THIS WAY BUT ONCE
We go this way but once, oh heart of mine.
So why not make the journey well worthwhile,
Giving to those who travel with us
A helping hand, a word of cheer, a smile?
We go this way but once. Ah, never more
Can we go back along the self same way?
To get more out of life, undo the wrongs,
Or speak love’s words we knew but did not say.
We go this way but once. Then let us make
The road we travel blossomy and sweet
With helpful, kindly deeds and tender words
Smoothing the path of bruised and stumbling feet.
1. On the basis of your reading of the above poem, answer the following questions:
(a) We go this way but once. What does ‘this way’ refer to here? _______________
(b) So why not make the journey well worthwhile. Why should we make this journey ‘worthwhile’?
_________________________________________________________________
(i) According to the poet, we can make this journey worthwhile in the following ways:
……………….. (ii) ………………. (iii) …………… (iv) ……………...
c) Complete the following table by matching the suitable line number(s) given in circles below with the correct meanings they convey. Write only the answers against the correct blank numbers in your answer sheet.
Important Unseen Poem for class 8 English
Read the following poem carefully and answer the questions that follow:
INDIAN WEAVERS
Weavers, weaving at break of day,
Why do you weave a garment so gay?
Blue as the wing of a bluebird wild,
We weave the robes of a new-born child.
Weavers, weaving at fall of night,
Why do you weave a garment so bright?
Like the plumes of a peacock, purple and green,
We weave the marriage-veils of a queen.
Weavers, weaving solemn and still,
What do you weave in the moonlight chill?
White as a feather and white as a cloud,
We weave a dead man's funeral shroud.
Sarojini Naidu
Ques.1Read the questions given below and write the option you consider the most appropriate:-
(a) What do the weavers weave in the early morning?
(i) a bright blue cloth
(ii) a dull grey cloth
(iii) a soft white cloth
(iv) a red coloured veil
(b) The __________ is purple and green coloured.
(i) dress of the weavers
(ii) dress of a newborn child
(iii) the queen's marriage veil
(iv) the robe of a king
(c) Whom does the poet address in the poem?
(i) weavers
(ii) children
(iii) queens
(iv) all the above
(d) What do the weavers weave in the chilly moonlight?
(i) a garment light as a feather
(ii) a garment meant to cover a dead man
(iii) a garment to keep away the chill
(iv) a garment to wrap a newborn child in
(e) The three stages of life mentioned in the poem are ___________
(i) infancy, childhood and senility
(ii) infancy, youth and death
(iii) infancy, adolescence, middle age
(iv) childhood, adulthood and senility
Important Unseen Poem for class 8 English
Read the poem carefully and answer the questions that follow Subjective.
When I sailed out of Baltimore,
With twice a thousand head of sheep,
They would not eat, they would not drink,
But bleated over the deep.
Inside the pens we crawled each day, 5
To sort the living from the dead;
And when we reached the Mersey’s mouth,
Had lost five hundred head,
That had no fear of man or sea,
Struck through the bars its pleading face, 10
And I stroked it.
And to the sheep-men standing near,
“You see”, I said, “this one tame sheep ?“
It seems a child has lost her pet,
“And cried herself to sleep.” 15
And every time we passed it by,
Sailing to England’s Slaughter-house;
Eight ragged sheep – men – tramps
training and thieves
Would stroke that sheep’s black nose. 20
— William H. Davis
I. Given below is a summary of the poem. Complete it by writing the missing words/phrases against the correct blank numbers :
When the narrator started from Baltimore with (a) ___________thousand sheep, they would neither (b) ___________nor drink. When they (c) ___________the Mersey’s mouth, five hundred sheep had died. There was one wailing sheep that had (d) ___________its little one.
2 Complete the following statements:
(a) ___________ that had no fear of man or sea.
(b) The narrator stroked _____________
3 Find words/phrases from the poem which mean the same as the following:
(a) a place where sheep are kept (line 5)
(b) shepherds (line 12)
| CBSE Class 8 English Unseen Poem |