KSEEB 8th English Leisure Poem Lesson Notes Summary Questions and Answers
Pre-reading task:
(a) What do you call these activities?
Answer:
Such activities are called as hobbies.
(b) When do you think they do these activities?
Answer:
Those activities are done by them during their leisure.
(c) Do you think it is important to have leisure activities? Why?
Answer:
Yes, it is necessary to have a hobby. It enhances ones knowledge as well as talent, depending on the hobby that is adopted. It is always better to be busy than idle because an idle mind becomes a devil’s workshop.
(d) Do you have any activities like this? Which one do you like the best? Why?
Answer:
Reading, painting, stitching, knitting, fabric painting, ikebana, philately, numismatics, dancing, listening to music, playing musical instruments, etc are some of the common hobbies. I like most of them because they develop my personality in general, and refresh me when I am stressed out.
(e) When would you like to do these activities? In your leisure time or all the time? Why?
Answer:
I prefer to enjoy my hobby during my leisure because if I engage my self in my hobby all the time, then all my other important works will be neglected.
I. Comprehension
Answer the following questions in a sentence.
Question 1.
What do squirrels hide in the grass?
Answer:
Squirrels hide nuts in the grass.
Question 2.
What are we missing in broad daylight?
Answer:
We are missing the opportunity to admire the beautiful nature.
Question 3.
How long do we stare?
Answer:
We have no time to stand and stare.
Question 4.
What do beauty’s feet do?
Answer:
Beauty’s feet dances to the rhythm of nature’s music.
Question 5.
What are the night skies compared to?
Answer:
The night skies are compared to streams full of stars in broad daylight.
II. Answer the following questions in four-six sentences each.
Question 1.
How have we made our life ‘poor’, according to the poet?
Answer:
We have made our lives poor by losing the opportunities to observe the beautiful nature. Nature with its immense beauty is a treasure trove of wisdom, peace and of love. It has plenty to teach us, if only we care and find time to observe them. Hence by being blind to this exuberant wealth and vibrant nature,we are making ourselves poor.
Question 2.
Write the substance of the poem ‘Leisure’.
Answer:
In this poem leisure, the poet W. H. Davies brings out very vividly the incredible beauty of nature. The poet highlights certain trivial, simple beauties of nature which we fail to. observe; such as a squirrel hiding the nuts in the grass and the sheep and the cattle staring at nature. If we only care to observe this nature for a few seconds, we can cherish its aesthetic beauty and become richer.
Standing under the shade of the bough, staring at nature’s beauty, observing the sparkling waters and learning from its wisdom is awe inspiring. It is also heartwarming to watch nature swaying and dancing to the rhythm of the breeze At the end of the poem, the poet is sad. because he feels that our lives will be ‘poor’ because we don’t find time to enrich it with the wealth and wisdom of nature.
III. Appreciation:
Answer the following questions in three or four sentences each:
Question 1.
What do you see in a garden?
Answer:
A variety of plants such as grass, shrubs, and trees with or without flowers are generally found in a garden. It is also dotted with some birds and animals.
Question 2.
The poet has used the words ‘no time’ in each line. The title of the poem is ‘Leisure’. Is the title appropriate? Comment on the title of the poem.
Answer:
There is a contrast in the title of the poem and the first few words in every line of the poem. The poet has deliberately adopted this technique and style of writing to grab the attention of the reader to the fact that none of us have time to spare for anything or for anybody. This contrast enhances the beauty of the poem as well as making it thought provoking.
Question 3.
Pick out the rhyming words from the poem and supply another rhyming word of your own for each.
Answer:
| Rhyming terms | example |
| care | stare flare |
| bough | cows ploughs |
| pass | grass class |
| day light | night fight |
| glance | Dance prance |
| can | began fan |
Question 4.
How is our life today very different from the life visualized in the poem? What must we do to get more free time for ourselves?
Answer:
There is a deep contrast between our lives and the one mentioned in the poem. We lead a fast, active and busy life. Our days are packed with chores, appointments and socializing, that we can’t slow down it’s pace to even glance at nature which is brimming and teeming with life The life portrayed in the poem is a perfect contrast to the bustling life in towns and cities.
In the poem, life moves at a very slow pace; animals such as sheep or cows stare at nature while they graze. The streams glisten in the bright sunshine just like stars in a night sky and the beautiful nature sways to its own rhythm, in perfect harmony.
Question 5.
“No time to turn at Beauty’s glance”. What do you think ‘Beauty’ here means?
Answer:
The term beauty’s glance here refers to the beautiful nature with its varied, vibrant colours, shapes and sizes that can bring feast to the eyes that beholds it.
Question 6.
How have we failed to appreciate the beauty of nature?
Answer:
We have miserably failed to appreciate the’ beauty of nature because we are too busy with our daily mundane activities,
Question 7.
There is more in life than rushing and working. Do you agree with the statement? If yes, explain.
Answer:
Yes, there is more in life than rushing and working. We pass by this world only once and God has surrounded us with such a vibrant, active, wise and a colourful nature. If we only took a minute to observe it, we would never destroy it but would leave it better than when we received it. We would also become wiser and develop qualities . such as. love, compassion, team spirit, sharing and selfless attitude which is very necessary to lead a meaningful life.
IV Activities.
Question 1.
“All work and no play make Jack a dull boy”. Write a paragraph of about one hundred words on this proverb.
Answer:
Imagine a world without leisure and enjoyment! We would all be drudges and consequently would be no better than animals. I can only imagine people with bowed shoulders and lowered eyes, people who have no light in their eyes and no hope in their world. People are always busy – busy with work and busy with idleness. I’m not trying to be witty but people are busy with nothing to do because they do not know how to make use of their leisure time productively.
Man has always been busy with the effort of fulfilling his needs. In the olden days, man spent his time hunting and then ploughing, but these activities did not fill up his. whole day. Today, man is busy keeping up with the others. It is no longer a question of survival but a question of acquisition – acquiring more worldly goods, having more money to hoard and to spend. Most of us do not feel happy when there is nothing to do.
Those who are able to enjoy what they do and those who are able to do what they enjoy are indeed very lucky. But even these people need a change. A person who is doing an office job or busy with books, welcomes a walk in the evening, half an hour in the garden, a drink with a friend. And a person who has been working in a factory or in a field, would definitely enjoy a visit to a restaurant, an hour, to go through the newspaper or watch television.
It is not only the nature of one’s work which conditions one’s choice of recreative activity. Intellectual and cultural development is also an important factor. Those people who do not know how to enjoy their leisure and do not allow themselves to recoup, lose their efficiency. No one can continue at the same rate of efficiency over an indefinite period.
Just as the body needs sleep, the mind needs rest and change. That is why the hobbies which one cultivates and. the activities which keep one busy are referred to as recreative; they help to recreate something which has been spent and utilized People who only know about their work and are perpetually engrossed in it do not recreate that part of themselves which is spent. Thus they either break down under the strain or merely tag along like automatons. They make very poor conversationalists and do not have well-integrated
personalities. Over the years, they lose their mental alertness and become confined to the narrow limits of their jobs. This is not to decry hard work. Work is necessary and only those who work hard are able to achieve something. But at the same time, one must know how to relax, no matter for how short a period. Relaxation does not mean only sleeping or idling; it also means finding something satisfying and meaningful to do. Otherwise life becomes monotonous and dull
2. Student’s activity:
(a) Reading, painting, stitching, knitting, fabric painting, ikebana, philately, numismatics, dancing, listening to music, playing musical instruments, doing cross-words, writing, singing, drama etc are some of the common hobbies.
(b) Visit to national parks and historical places. Go for boating in lakes. Visit Amusement parks, Go on trekking, Mountaineering, visit old forts, visit water falls.
3. Read the poems:
(a)’ ‘Daffodils’ by William Wordsworth Daffodils:
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed-and gazed-but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
– William Wordsworth
b. ‘The Lamb’ by William Blake.
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice!
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Little Lamb, I’ll tell thee,
Little Lamb, I’ 11 tell thee:
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb ;
He is meek, and he is mild;
He became a little child ;
I a child, and thou a lamb.
We are called by His name.
Little Lamb, God bless thee!
Little Lamb, God bless thee!
– William Blake
Appreciation:
Complete the poem:
Lo! The sun is rising
Now its time to wake, the birds are singing.
The gentle breeze touches the blooming flower
Patter, patter, gently the dew gives them a shower
Sways nature by light
And also in the light
Additional Questions and Answers
I. Answer the following questions :
Question 1.
‘What is life if, full of care”. What does the word care mean?
Answer:
The word ‘care’ refers to all our duties and responsibilities that we ought to fulfill.
Question 2.
A poor life this if full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare. Explain the meaning of the lines.
Answer:
It means that if we spend our whole life immersed only in our daily routine and find
I no time to enjoy the beauty of nature, we lead a poor life.
II. Identify the figures of speech:
1. We have no time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as log as sheep or cows Simile
2. Streams full of stars like skies at night. Simile.
3. No time to turn to Beauty’s glance
And watch her feet how, they can dance Personification
4. No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began Personification
III. Multiple Choice Question:
Choose the correct answer from the four options given and fill in the blanks:
Question 1.
the poem ‘Leisure’ is speaking about
(a) standing beneath a bough
(b) our leisure activities
(c) the beauty of nature that we are missing to observe
(d) poet’s leisure.
Answer:
(c) the beauty of nature that we are missing to observe
Leisure Poem Summary in English
We humans lead poor lives because in our busy schedule, we don’t find time to enrich our lives with the wealth of beauty and wisdom that nature has to offer.
The poet states that our lives become meaningless if we don’t lay aside some time to admire the ‘beauty of nature. Nature with its vibrant colours, fragrance and exuberant flora and fauna is brimming with love and wisdom They are at our disposal and will belong to us, only if we care to admire their beauty and enrich our lives.
Life is indeed beautiful, to stand under the boughs and stare at nature as sheep or cows. We are too busy to see a squirrel hide nuts in the grass or to see the gleaming stream which looks like the starlit night sky or to observe the beauty of nature as she sways and dances to the rhythm of nature’s music. We have no time to enjoy such beauty, which not only brings a smile on our face but is also a feast to the eyes. Without this quality of appreciation, of the incredible beauty of nature, we are poor says the poet W.H. Davies.