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ActiveTeach Lighthouse Coursebook 5

ActiveTeach Lighthouse Coursebook 5

Sandra Alice, Aparna Sethuraman, Pearson

ICSEClass 5
English

The Skylark

Christina Georgina Rossetti

About Christina Georgina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti was an English poet who wrote a variety of romantic, devotional, and children's poems. She was born on December 5, 1830 in London and was educated entirely at home. She began writing  poetry when she was a teenager. Rossetti published some of her first poems in her grandfather's private press and under a pseudonym. She is best known for her ballads and religious poetry. She died on December 29, 1894 in Torrington Square, London. 

The earth was green, the sky was blue:
I saw and heard one sunny morn,
A skylark hang between the two,
A singing speck above the corn;

A stage below, in gay accord,
White butterflies danced on the wing,
And still the singing skylark soared,
And silent sank and soared to sing.

The cornfield stretched a tender green
To right and left beside my walks;
I knew he had a nest unseen
Somewhere among the million stalks.

And as I paused to hear his song,
While swift the sunny moments slid,
Perhaps his mate sat listening long,
And listened longer that i did.

Available Answers

  1. 1.

    Are the following statements about the poem you read true or false?

    1. It was on a summer evening that the poet saw the skylark.
    2. The poet calls the skylark a musical dot in the skylark.
    3. The skylark seems to hover and stop between the green earth and the blue sky.
    4. The butterflies look sad.
    5. The poet felt that the skylark's mate could hear it sing its joyful song.
    6. The butterflies probably had a nest hidden in the cornfield.
    7. The cornfield looked a lovely-green.
    8. Time seemed to have passed very quickly when the poet was listening to the song.
  2. 2.

    "And still the singing skylark soared,
    and silent sank and soared to sink."

    1. Describe the flight of skylark.
    2. What is similar to the song and the flight?
    3. Where is the skylark?
  3. 3.

    "And listened longer than I did."

    1. Who does the poet refer to?
    2. How does she know about the listener?
    3. Who might be the other audience for the skylark's song? 
  4. 4.

    Would you call this poem a happy one? Give reasons to justify your answer.

  5. 5.

    Indicate any three clues from the poem which indicate it is springtime.

  6. 6.

    Alliteration is a literary device used by poets to emphasize a word picture by using a repitition of consonant sounds. For example:

    Peter Piper Picked a Pickled Peppers.

    Can you find an example of alliteration in the poem?

3 more answer(s) available.

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