The Brook | Poem 5 | English 8th | Tulip Series | (Alfred Tennyson)

Poems – Tulip Series | jandkncert |

The Brook | Poem 5 | English 8th | Tulip Series |
(Alfred Tennyson)

The Brook

I come from haunts of coot and hern;

I make a sudden sally,

Ant sparkle out among the tern,

To bicker down a valley.

By thirty hills I hurry down,

Or slip between the ridges,

By twenty thorps, a little town,

And half a hundred bridges.

Till last by Philip's farm, I flow

To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go,

But l go on for ever.

I chatter over stony ways,

In little sharps and trebles.

I bubble into eddying bays,

I babble on the pebbles.

With many a curve my banks I fret

By many a field and fallow,

And many a fairy foreland set

With willow weed and mallow.

I chatter, chatter as I flow

To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go,

But I go On

I wind about, and in and out,

With here a blossom sailing.

And here and there a lusty trout.

And here and there a grayling

And here and there a foamy flake

Upon me, as I travel

With many a silvery water break

Above the golden gravel.

And draw them all along, and flow

To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go,

But I go on for ever.

I steal by lawns and grassy plots,

I slide by hazel covers;

I move the sweet forget-me-nots

That grow for happy lovers.

I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance,

Among my skimming swallows;

I make the netted sunbeam dance

Against my sandy shallows.

I murmur under moon and stars

In brambly wildernesses;

I linger by my shingly bars;

I loiter round my cresses

And out again I curve and flow

To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go.

But I go on for ever.

(Alfred Tennyson)

Short Summary

"The Brook" by Alfred Lord Tennyson is a picturesque poem that personifies a brook, depicting its journey from its source to its destination. The brook describes its meandering path through various landscapes, such as fields, meadows, and rocks. Along the way, it encounters obstacles like stones and fallen branches, but it continues to flow steadily, persistently, and cheerfully. The brook reflects on its timeless existence, contrasting the fleeting nature of human life with its own continuous movement. Overall, the poem celebrates the beauty, vitality, and resilience of nature, as embodied by the lively and enduring brook.

THINKING ABOUT THE POEM

Q1. Who is “I” referred to as in the poem?

Ans. “I” in the poem is referred to as “The Brook”. Although the writer of the poem is Alfred Tennyson. But he has made the brook as the speaker of the poem.

Q2. Trace the journey of the brook.

Ans. The journey of the brook starts from the haunts of coot and hern, then it runs down to villages and town through hundreds of bridges and at last reach Philips farmland to join the river.

Q3. Explain the following lines:

            “For men may come and men may go

            But I go on forever.”

What purpose do these lines serve?

Ans. These lines have been taken from the poem “The Brook” written by Alfred Tennyson. The brook is the speaker in the poem. These lines serve in two ways;

In one way, the speaker says that the man is mortal and dies at last, and his journey ends at his death, but it still keeps on running.

In the second sense, we can say that the men come to see it, take the taste of it and go home but it still remains there to make its journey.

Q4. Alliteration is the repetition of the initial consonant sounds in verse such as “I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance”. Pick out more examples of alliteration from the poem.

Ans. I chatter, I flow, and here, and there, are some more alliteration used in the poem.

Q5. Can the journey of the brook, be compared to human life? How?

Ans. The journey of the brook can be compared to human life. In the poem, the journey of the brook passes through different stages, and on the other hand, human life also passes through different stages, that is, infancy, adulthood age, and old age.

LANGUAGE WORK

1. Some sound images used in the poem areas:

Sparkle, bicker, chatter, babble, babble, murmur, etc.,

2. Some of Visual Images used in the poem areas:

Haunts, sally, fern, hills, ridges, thorps (villages), bridges, mallow (wild plant), foamy flake, moon, and stars, etc.