First Flight
Poem- The ball poem
To be continued…….
Thinking about the Poem
Q.1. Why does the poet say, “I would not intrude on him”? Why doesn’t he offer him money to buy
another ball?
Ans. The poet says, “I would not intrude on him” because he wants the boy to learn from the
experience of loss. This will teach the boy that loss is also an important part of life, hence the poet
does not intervene in the boy’s natural process of learning. He also doesn’t offer the boy money to buy
another ball because the lesson of loss learnt from this experience would become worthless and
wouldn’t teach the little one to learn the lesson of responsibility from this situation.
Q.2. “… staring down/All his young days into the harbour where/His ball went …” Do you think the
boy has had the ball for a long time? Is it linked to the memories of days when he played with it?
Ans. Yes, it appears that the boy has had the ball for a long time. When it bounced and fell into the
water, all his childhood memories of wonderful days flashed in front of his eyes. He realised that
those moments would never come back, just as the ball. He felt that he can buy new balls and those
would create new memories or moments for him, but those that are gone with the ball into the water
would never ever return.
Q.3. What does “in the world of possessions” mean?
Ans. “In the world of possessions” refers to the world consisting of materialistic things. Different
people possess different things such as land, property, money, or any other valuable thing. In the
poem, the poet indicates that losing of the ball by the boy may be a very small thing, but this would
give him a realization of loss and the experience of losing memories associated with it.
Q.4. Do you think the boy has lost anything earlier? Pick out the words that suggest the answer.
Ans. No, it seems that the boy did not lose anything earlier. It is evident from the words ‘He senses
first responsibility in a world of possessions. This line suggests that the sense of loss gave him an
experience of understanding how several precious moments are lost with the loss of a particular
object.
Q.5. What does the poet say the boy is learning from the loss of the ball? Try to explain this in your
own words.
Ans. The poet tries to convey through his poem that the boy has learnt an important lesson to cope up
with the loss of his ball. He is experiencing grief and sadness while he grows up in this world full of
possessions. He learns that there are several important things in life that are lost and cannot be
brought back. He also senses his first sense of responsibility as he loses the ball. The boy learns to
stand up and leave the loss behind as he moves ahead in his life and understands the true meaning and
nature of loss.
_____*****_____*****______
Poem- How to Tell Wild Animals
, Literary Elements
1. Rhyme Scheme- The rhyme scheme of the poem is ‘ababcc’.
2. Tone- The poet narrates the poem in a humorous tone.
3. Imagery- The use of descriptive language by a poet or an author that helps the reader to visualise
the pictures in one’s mind.
Eg- The image of the Bengal tiger is created when we read the lines ‘A noble beast greets you, with
black stripes with a yellow background.
4. Oxymoron- An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines contradictory or opposite terms to
create a new phrase that expresses a paradoxical idea.
The oxymoron is used in “noble wild beast”. The word “noble” implies a sense of honour, dignity, and
grace, while “wild beast” suggests an untamed, savage animal. These two terms are contradictory and
create a paradoxical expression, making it an oxymoron.
The same can be found in the phrase ‘true Chameleon’.
5. Metaphor- This poetic device is used when a covert comparison is made between two different
things or ideas. In the poem, the metaphors have been used in an ironical way.
Eg- A noble wild beast – Ironically leopard is shown here as a noble one
the term ‘caress’ is used ironically for a bear’s claw attack.
6. Alliteration- Alliteration is the repetition of the same sound that is used in the beginning of the
closely placed words.
Eg-The phrases ‘lep and lep again’, ‘roaming round’, ‘very, very hard’ and ‘novice might nonplus’
7. Repetition- Repetition is a poetic device that is used to repeat single words, phrases or even stanzas
at intervals.
Eg. He’ll only lep and lep again.
Who hugs you very, very hard
8. Personification-This poetic device is used to bestow human qualities on something that is not
human.
Eg- The poet refers to the tiger not as ‘it’ but as ‘he’. The ‘hyena’ and ‘crocodile’ have been
personified. The human qualities of ‘smiling’ and ‘weeping’ have been given to the hyena and
crocodile respectively.
9. Irony – It is a poetic device that is used by the poets to bring humour or satire on somebody or
something. It is done by giving two meanings to a word or a phrase, i.e., surface meaning and
underlying meaning.
Eg- A noble wild beast greets you.
He’ll give you just one more caress.
10. Poetic Licence- With the use of poetic licence, the poet not only maintains the rhyme scheme but
also creates a humorous effect in the poem. The poet has employed poetic licence in her use of
language in the poem. In some stanzas, she has shortened words like ‘lept’, ‘lep’, and ‘dyin’.
Also, certain sentences are framed differently in the poem like ‘novice might nonplus’ and ‘if strolling
forth, a beast you view’.
Thinking about the poem-
Q.2 How does the poet suggest that you identify the lion and the tiger? When can you do so,
according to him? Answer: The poet suggests that if a large and tawny beast roams in the jungle in the
east and roars towards us, then it is the Asian Lion. On the contrary, if a noble wild beast with black
stripes on a yellow coat roam about the jungle freely, it must be the Bengal Tiger. Besides, the poet
also mentions that a lion usually roars loudly when it attacks its prey, while a tiger attacks its prey
silently.
Q.3. Do you think the words ‘lept ‘and ‘lep’ in the third stanza are spelt correctly? Why does the poet
spell them like this?
Ans. The words ‘lept’ and ‘lep’ are spelt incorrectly in the poem. The poet has spelt them in such a
way to maintain the rhythm of the poem. The correct spelling of the words, ‘lept’ is leapt and ‘lep’ is
Poem- The ball poem
To be continued…….
Thinking about the Poem
Q.1. Why does the poet say, “I would not intrude on him”? Why doesn’t he offer him money to buy
another ball?
Ans. The poet says, “I would not intrude on him” because he wants the boy to learn from the
experience of loss. This will teach the boy that loss is also an important part of life, hence the poet
does not intervene in the boy’s natural process of learning. He also doesn’t offer the boy money to buy
another ball because the lesson of loss learnt from this experience would become worthless and
wouldn’t teach the little one to learn the lesson of responsibility from this situation.
Q.2. “… staring down/All his young days into the harbour where/His ball went …” Do you think the
boy has had the ball for a long time? Is it linked to the memories of days when he played with it?
Ans. Yes, it appears that the boy has had the ball for a long time. When it bounced and fell into the
water, all his childhood memories of wonderful days flashed in front of his eyes. He realised that
those moments would never come back, just as the ball. He felt that he can buy new balls and those
would create new memories or moments for him, but those that are gone with the ball into the water
would never ever return.
Q.3. What does “in the world of possessions” mean?
Ans. “In the world of possessions” refers to the world consisting of materialistic things. Different
people possess different things such as land, property, money, or any other valuable thing. In the
poem, the poet indicates that losing of the ball by the boy may be a very small thing, but this would
give him a realization of loss and the experience of losing memories associated with it.
Q.4. Do you think the boy has lost anything earlier? Pick out the words that suggest the answer.
Ans. No, it seems that the boy did not lose anything earlier. It is evident from the words ‘He senses
first responsibility in a world of possessions. This line suggests that the sense of loss gave him an
experience of understanding how several precious moments are lost with the loss of a particular
object.
Q.5. What does the poet say the boy is learning from the loss of the ball? Try to explain this in your
own words.
Ans. The poet tries to convey through his poem that the boy has learnt an important lesson to cope up
with the loss of his ball. He is experiencing grief and sadness while he grows up in this world full of
possessions. He learns that there are several important things in life that are lost and cannot be
brought back. He also senses his first sense of responsibility as he loses the ball. The boy learns to
stand up and leave the loss behind as he moves ahead in his life and understands the true meaning and
nature of loss.
_____*****_____*****______
Poem- How to Tell Wild Animals
, Literary Elements
1. Rhyme Scheme- The rhyme scheme of the poem is ‘ababcc’.
2. Tone- The poet narrates the poem in a humorous tone.
3. Imagery- The use of descriptive language by a poet or an author that helps the reader to visualise
the pictures in one’s mind.
Eg- The image of the Bengal tiger is created when we read the lines ‘A noble beast greets you, with
black stripes with a yellow background.
4. Oxymoron- An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines contradictory or opposite terms to
create a new phrase that expresses a paradoxical idea.
The oxymoron is used in “noble wild beast”. The word “noble” implies a sense of honour, dignity, and
grace, while “wild beast” suggests an untamed, savage animal. These two terms are contradictory and
create a paradoxical expression, making it an oxymoron.
The same can be found in the phrase ‘true Chameleon’.
5. Metaphor- This poetic device is used when a covert comparison is made between two different
things or ideas. In the poem, the metaphors have been used in an ironical way.
Eg- A noble wild beast – Ironically leopard is shown here as a noble one
the term ‘caress’ is used ironically for a bear’s claw attack.
6. Alliteration- Alliteration is the repetition of the same sound that is used in the beginning of the
closely placed words.
Eg-The phrases ‘lep and lep again’, ‘roaming round’, ‘very, very hard’ and ‘novice might nonplus’
7. Repetition- Repetition is a poetic device that is used to repeat single words, phrases or even stanzas
at intervals.
Eg. He’ll only lep and lep again.
Who hugs you very, very hard
8. Personification-This poetic device is used to bestow human qualities on something that is not
human.
Eg- The poet refers to the tiger not as ‘it’ but as ‘he’. The ‘hyena’ and ‘crocodile’ have been
personified. The human qualities of ‘smiling’ and ‘weeping’ have been given to the hyena and
crocodile respectively.
9. Irony – It is a poetic device that is used by the poets to bring humour or satire on somebody or
something. It is done by giving two meanings to a word or a phrase, i.e., surface meaning and
underlying meaning.
Eg- A noble wild beast greets you.
He’ll give you just one more caress.
10. Poetic Licence- With the use of poetic licence, the poet not only maintains the rhyme scheme but
also creates a humorous effect in the poem. The poet has employed poetic licence in her use of
language in the poem. In some stanzas, she has shortened words like ‘lept’, ‘lep’, and ‘dyin’.
Also, certain sentences are framed differently in the poem like ‘novice might nonplus’ and ‘if strolling
forth, a beast you view’.
Thinking about the poem-
Q.2 How does the poet suggest that you identify the lion and the tiger? When can you do so,
according to him? Answer: The poet suggests that if a large and tawny beast roams in the jungle in the
east and roars towards us, then it is the Asian Lion. On the contrary, if a noble wild beast with black
stripes on a yellow coat roam about the jungle freely, it must be the Bengal Tiger. Besides, the poet
also mentions that a lion usually roars loudly when it attacks its prey, while a tiger attacks its prey
silently.
Q.3. Do you think the words ‘lept ‘and ‘lep’ in the third stanza are spelt correctly? Why does the poet
spell them like this?
Ans. The words ‘lept’ and ‘lep’ are spelt incorrectly in the poem. The poet has spelt them in such a
way to maintain the rhythm of the poem. The correct spelling of the words, ‘lept’ is leapt and ‘lep’ is
