THE WAY THROUGH THE WOODS, Rudyard Kipling
WORD MEANING
1. shut –
close
2. woods –
forest
3. underneath
– beneath, below
4. ease –
comfortable
5.
steadily – continuously
6.
coppice – an area from where plants, bush, grass is cut quite often as firewood
7. heath –
an area where small plants grow
8.
anemones – small plants that have white, purple, of red flowers
9. broods
– (here) breeds
10.
badgers – s small nocturnal animal
11. a
four – legger mammal
12. swish
– quick movement in the air making a soft sound
13.
cantering – if a horse is cantering, is I moving fast but at a comfortable speed
14. misty solitude – lonely a foggy place
A. READ THE POEM AND COMPLETE THE SUMMARY.
____Seventy years____ ago the way through the forest was shut for the ____people____. Now the ____weather____ and rains have opened it again. Now it is overgrown with wild flowers, grass and trees. Only the ____keepers____ sees the bird and animal life there. Yet once in a while on a late ____summer evening____ you can hear horses ____beat their feet____ and the ____swish____ of the skirts. The riders confidently ride on the lost ____road____ as if they know it perfectly.
B. ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS.
1. When did they shut the road through the woods?
Seventy years ago, they shut the road through the woods.
2. What is the condition of the road now?
The road is now shut and underneath the coppice and heath.
3. What can be heard in the woods late on a summer evening?
On a summer evening the beat of a horse’s feet, the swish of a skirt can be heard in the woods.
C. READ THE LINES FROM THE POEM AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW.
1. It is underneath the coppice and heath
And the thin anemones.
a. What was under the coppice and heath?
The road was under the coppice and heath.
b. Why was it hidden there?
The road had been shut seventy years ago and now it is underneath the coppice and heath. Hence it cannot be seen.
2. You will hear the beat of a horse’s feet,
And the swish of a skirt in the dew.
a. To whom do you think this horse belonged?
The horse belonged ‘they’, most probably the keeper of nature.
b. Why does the poet refer to it?
The poet refers to it in order to bring about the mystery of solitude and silence of nature.
c. Does its presence appear natural to you?
No, this presence does not appear to be natural. The poet reveals the presence of supernatural element.
3. As though they perfectly knew
a. Who do you think ‘they’ are?
‘They’ refers to the otter and the horses.
b. Why do you think so?
The horses and the otter must have been alive before the road was shut and therefore, they knew perfectly about it.
4. There was once a road through the woods.
a. What happened to the road that once ran through the woods?
The road that ran through the woods was shut.
b. How long ago did it exist?
It existed seventy years ago.
c. How did it disappear?
The road had been shut seventy years ago.
D. THINK AND ANSWER.
1. Describe the present state of the ‘old lost road’.
The road had been shut seventy years ago. Now, it cannot be seen as it is covered by trees and plants that have grown over it. The weather and rains have added to the covering of the road. It is now fully covered by coppice and heath.
2. Why is the last line an effective end to the poem?
Since the road is completely covered with coppice and heath, there is no trace of there being any road, no one can see it. Thus, last line acts as an effective ending to the poem.
E. DISCUSS IN DETAIL.
How would you feel if old and familiar places disappear and make way for something new?
We tend to bond with places that we are familiar with and if such places disappear, then I would feel sad. The connection that one felt with that place will be lost, it will get hard to adjust to whatever new thing that is brought in place of the familiar old place.
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