1. Read the poem aloud with proper pace and rhythm.

Ans: (Students must do this on their own.)

2. Find the meaning of the following words or phrases:

ridges 

Ans: high edges along a mountain

brimming 

Ans: full of something

eddying 

Ans: moving fast in circles

babble 

Ans: to make a noise as if talking too much

fallow 

Ans: land that is not planted with crops

trout 

Ans: a brown fish that lives in rivers or lakes

netted

Ans: like a net

3. Answer the following :

(1) Who is the speaker in this poem?

Ans: The brook is the speaker in the poem.

(2) Which lines are repeated in the poem? What do they mean?

Ans: Repeated lines are:

For men may come and men may go. 

But I go on for forever. 

These lines indicate that the river lives much longer than human beings.

(3) Where does the brook join the river ?

Ans: The brook joins the river by Philip’s farm.

(4) Mention the various places that the brook flows past.

Ans: The brook flows past the haunts of coot and hern, the valley, hills. ridges, lages, bridges. Philip’s farm, stony ways, eddying bays, fields and fallows and brambly wildernesses. 

(5) Often the brook speaks of itself as if it is human. 

For example, ‘I bicker down a valley.’ 

Find two other examples of the human activities of the brook.

Ans: 

(i) chatter over stony ways. 

(ii) And murmur under moon and stars.

4. Spot and write any three alliterative phrases or sentences from the poem. (Alliterative phrases/sentences are those in which the same sound is repeated.)

Ans: 

(i) by many a field and fallow 

(ii) And here and there a foamy flake 

(iii) Above the golden gravel 

(iv) I slip. I slide. I gloom, I glance.

5. List the prepositions you find in this poem.

Ans: from, of, among, down, between, by, over, into, on, with, upon, above, for, against, under, round

6. List the phrases which have the expression ‘many a _____’.

Ans: many a curve, many a field and fallow, many a fairy foreland, many a silvery waterbreak

7. The poet uses words to create pictures or ‘images’ in the reader’s mind. 

For example, ‘ And sparkle out among the fern.’ 

Write down other lines that create images or pictures in your mind. (Any 3)

Ans: 

(i) By thirty hills I hurry down

(ii) I wind about, and in and out, with here a blossom sailing 

(iii) I make the netted sunbeam dance against my sandy shallows.

8. Write a short autobiography of a brook. (20 to 30 lines)

Ans: I am a brook. I begin to flow from the hills. I don’t know when I was born. I feel as if I have always been there. I flow across hills and valleys, plains, and ridges. I flow under bridges. I flow past farms. As I flow, I make many sounds depending on the type of ground I am flowing over. Sometimes I flow straight. I occasionally flow in a curved path. I pass many trees and bushes. I see many birds and animals along the way. Many fish swim along with me. I draw them all along with me until I reach the river. Many people will see me flow, but I will have no end. I will flow forever.

9. Which other things in nature can say –

‘For men may come and men may go, 

But I go on for ever.’ 

Ans: hills, valleys, plains, plateaus

10. Use the internet, your school library or other sources for the following activities.

(1) Try to find other nature poems.

Ans: (Students must do this on their own.)

(2) Draw or collect landscapes that can be used as illustrations for this poem.

Ans: (Students must do this on their own.)