SHANTI ASIATIC SCHOOL, JAIPUR

English Notebook Work

Class:-VIII

Poem – Marshlands
By Emily Pauline Johnson

New words
1. rim 11. swale
2. brim 12. sedges
3. dank 13. marshes
4. mildews 14. creep
5. lagoon 15. twilight
6. monotone
7. rushes
8. homing
9. lichens
10. swathed
Word meanings
1. marshlands- areas of low and flat land that are flooded in wet seasons
and covered with patches of water at all times
2. rim- the edge of the sky- where it meets land
3. brim- the top edge of the marsh- where it seems to meet the sky
4. dank- unpleasantly wet and cold
5. mildews- type of fungus
6. lagoon- lake of sea water that is partly separated from the sea by rocks
or sand
7. monotone- sound that continues on the same note without getting any
louder or softer
8. homing- returning home after a long journey
9. swathed- covered
10. swale- marsh
11. sedges- grass-like plants

Question & Answers

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Q1.The speaker refers to the edge of the sky as its ‘lip’.
(a) Why has she described the lip as ‘sun-lost’? How has it lost the sun?
Ans. Marshlands by Emily Pauline Johnson, portrays a pristine picture of
marshlands untouched by the human activities. Silence characterizes
the marshlands, making the imagery more vivid. The first stanza
describes the sky that is looking down at the marshes. The lip is “sun-
lost” because the sun has almost vanished from the sky. It is cloudy with
an impending storm.

(b) What does the ‘sun-lost lip’ meeting the ‘brim’ of the marsh look like?
Ans. ‘The thin wet sky yellows at the “rim” when the sun-lost lip touches the
brim.’ The poet here is talking about the horizon which is reflecting
some sunlight in contrast to the overcast sky above the marshlands.

Q2. What in the marsh look like ‘large cups of gold’? Can you explain why
they have been described like that?
Ans. The low lying pools of mud in the swamps are filled with moss and
mould. They look like ‘large cups of gold’.
There are mildews growing in these low-lying pools. The waning
sunlight reflects in these pools, making them resemble large cups of
gold.

Q3. Why has the wild goose come to the marsh? Where is it going?
Ans. The wild goose has come to the marsh looking for shelter, for the night.
The goose knows that somewhere amongst the “rushes” and “oozing
lichens” it can find its home.

Q4. Which words from the poem tell us how big the crane is and how fast it
is flying?
Ans. The word, “heavy wing” tells us that the crane is quite big. Its flight
has been described as “lazy”. This means that the crane was probably
not flying very fast.

Q5. How is the fog that comes over the marshes described? Do we know
what time of day it is when the fog arrives?
Ans. The fog that comes over the marshes has been described as “thick, grey
and humid.”
It is almost night when the fog creeps up around the marshes. We can
deduce this from the phrase, “while the marshes sleep”.

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Q6. The poem describes what the marshlands are like during a shift in time
in the day? What shift is this?
Ans. The poem describes the appearance of the marshlands during sunset.

Q7. What breaks the silence of the marshlands? What do you think is the
effect of one lone sound in the expanding stillness of the marshes?
Ans. In a nagging monotony, the lizard shrills his tune from among the
marshlands. This tune breaks the silence of the swamps.
The effect of one lone sound in the infinity of stillness makes the impact
of silence profound. It in fact, magnifies the silence and eventually gets
engulfed by it.

Q8. Have the marshlands changed from the first stanza to the last?
Compare how different they look and feel.
Ans. The transformation of the marshlands takes place in a short time-span,
between sunset and nightfall. The poet has experimented with the
colours of the marshlands which turn from yellow to golden and finally
to shadowy grey when fog enshrouds the wetlands at night.

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