The Way Through the Woods

Rudyard Kipling (1865 -1936) was one of the most popular writers in England. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. Rudyard Kipling is best known for The Jungle Book. His books for children are versatile and narrative.

They shut the road through the woods

Seventy years ago.

Weather and rain have undone it again,

And now you would never know

There was once a road through the woods

Before they planted the trees.

It is underneath the coppice and heath,

And the thin anemones

Only the keeper sees

That, where the ring-dove broods,

And the badgers roll at ease,

There was once a road through the woods.

Yet, if you enter the woods

Of a summer evening late,

When the night-air cools on the trout-ringed pools

Where the otter whistles his mate,

(They fear not men in the woods,

Because they see so few)

You will hear the beat of a horse's feet

And the swish of a skirt in the dew,

Steadily cantering through

The misty solitudes,

As though they perfectly knew

The old lost road through the woods.

But there is no road through the woods.

1.
Complete the sentences by choosing the correct options.
1. 'They shut the road through the woods.' By 'They' the poet probably refers to
  1. unknown people.
  2. friends of the poet.
  3. woodkeepers.
  4. the spirits.
2. In the poem, the 'road' present in the woods can be seen by
  1. the poet.
  2. the keeper.
  3. the animals.
  4. the villagers.
3. The animals in the woods do not fear humans because
  1. nobody is allowed in the woods.
  2. the woods are fenced in.
  3. limited number of people venture into the woods.
  4. mysterious beings live in the woods.
4. In the line, 'steadily cantering through,' 'cantering' means
  1. movement of a lady.
  2. movement of a skirt.
  3. movement of a badger.
  4. movement of a horse.
2.
What does the poet mean by the line, 'weather and rain have undone it again'?
3.
Identify the lines in the poem which tell us that the woods are full of life.
4.
In the poem, the poet has described the evening solitude by the lines, 'you will hear the beat of a horse's feet, and the swish of a skirt in the dew.' What do these lines signify?
5.
Describe the scene of a late summer evening in the woods. Do you think the description is an imagination or reality? Give reasons to support your answer.

Add the prefix 'un-' or 'im-' to the words given below to form opposite words.

1. __________ perfect	2. __________ steady
3. __________ fasten	4. __________ possible
5. __________ truthful	6. __________ common
7. __________ polite	8. __________ pure
9. __________ afraid	10. __________ certain

Skywalk Coursebook 6

Sraboni Das, Wordworth

Chapters

The Way Through the Woods

Available Answers