NCERT Solutions for Class VIII : Chapter 5 School Boy (Poem) Honeydew English

William Blake

Page No: 85

Working with Poem

1. Find three or four words/phrases in stanza 1 that reflect the child’s happiness and joy.

Answer

The phrases that reflect the child’s joy and happiness are ‘love to rise in a summer morn’, ‘birds sing on every tree’, ‘the skylark sings with me’, and ‘sweet company’.

2. In stanza 2, the mood changes. Which words/phrases reflect the changed mood?

Answer

The phrases that reflect the changed mood are ‘it drives all joy away’ and ‘spend the day in sighing and dismay’.

3. ‘A cruel eye outworn’ (stanza 2) refers to
(i) the classroom which is shabby/noisy.
(ii) the lessons which are difficult/uninteresting.
(iii) the dull/uninspiring life at school with lots of work and no play.
Mark the answer that you consider right.
► (iii) the dull/uninspiring life at school with lots of work and no play.

4. ‘Nor sit in learning’s bower
Worn thro’ with the dreary shower’
Which of the following is a close paraphrase of the lines above?
(i) Nor can I sit in a roofless classroom when it is raining.
(ii) Nor can I learn anything at school though teachers go on lecturing and explaining.
(iii) Nor can I sit in the school garden for fear of getting wet in the rain.
► (ii) Nor can I learn anything at school though teachers go on lecturing and explaining.