The Little River poem workshop class 8

The Little River

Our little river, it meanders along;
In summer, the water is only knee-deep,
And cows and carts can cross it with ease,
For the banks, though high, are not too steep.
 No sign of slime, the sands shine bright,
 On one shore, kash fields blossom white.
 Chirping mynahs through that site,
 The jackal’s howl is heard there at night.
Across lie groves of mango and palm;
The village priests dwell in their cool shade,
Girls and boys bathe close to the bank,
Splashing with their gamchhas as they wade.
At dusk and dawn, once their bath is done,
They dip washcloths to trap small fish.
To their household tasks the wives return,
Having used river-sand to scour each dish.
In Ashadh, clouds gather, the waters rise;
The river’s in spate, the current grows strong.
The air is rife with babbling sounds,
As the muddy torrent swirls along.
The woods onshore stir to life again,
And our village wakens to celebrate the rain.
                                   - Rabindranath Tagore

Workshop

The Little River poem workshop class 8

English workshop of poem the little river standard 8th

1. (A) Name the following from the poem.

(1) Two trees : Mango and Palm

 (2) Two animals : Mynah and Jackal

 (3) Two seasons : Summer and Rain

 (4) Two non-English words : Gamchhas and Ashadh

 (5) Two different timings of the day : Night and Dawn

(B) Pick from the poem words that describe sounds.

 (1)           (3)
 (2)           (4)
(C) Pick out words that describe the flow of the river-water.
 (1)           (3)
 (2)           (4)

2. (A) Find out five lines from the poem that contain the Figure of Speech -
Alliteration. Underline the initial sound of words, repeated in each of
 the lines.
 (1)
 (2)
 (3)
 (4)
 (5)
(B) Pick out 4 lines that contain the Figure of Speech ‘Onomatopoeia’.
 (1)
 (2)
 (3)
 (4)

3. Rearrange the words in Alphabetical order.
 (1) summer, sign, slime, sand, shade, stir, scour, sound, swirl, strong


(2) banks, blossom, boys, bathe, babbling

(3) these, though, too, throng, there, their, they, trap, torrent

4. What aspects from the poem do the following phrases describe?
(a) their cool shade
(b) only knee deep
(c) not too steep
(d) housework on the river bank
(e) in spate
(f) rife with sounds
5. The poem describes two different pictures of the river in summer and in
rainy season.
Write down four points of contrast in the changing scene of the river.
In Summer In Monsoon
1.
2.
3.
4.
6. Guess who I am.
I always run, I never walk.
I often murmur, but never talk.
I have a bed, but never sleep.
I have a mouth, but hardly eat.
I love to fall, but can’t climb up.
Guess who I am. Please don’t give up.
Try to translate the above riddle in your medium of instruction, in a poetic form.
7. Imagine you were at a river-side class picnic and slipped and fell into the
river, while playing games. Write in about 12 - 15 lines how your classmates
saved you.