TEACHER’S SUPPORT DOCUMENT

Subject: English Topic: The Vagabond Std: VII

Textual Answers:
1. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow
a) Give to me the life I love,
Let the lave go by me,
Give the jolly heaven above
And the byway nigh me.
i. The poet is asking for the life he loves.

ii. The poet wants his bed in the bush so that he can see the stars.

iii. The poet wants to lead a humble life and is happy to dip the bread in the river
instead of a cup of tea.
iv. night

b) Let the blow fall soon or late.

Let what will be o’er me;
Give the face of earth round
And the road before me.
i. The line ‘let the blow fall soon or late’ means let death come whenever it has to
come.
ii. The poet wants to live the life of a vagabond wandering to different places as he
wishes. He only wants the face of earth and the road before him.
iii. The vagabond does not wish for wealth, hope, love or a friend.

iv. under/below

2. Answer the following questions in 30-40 words.

a) The poet chooses to be a vagabond because by being a vagabond he will be
completely free and not have any restrictions. It is this care free life, without any
aim or worries that makes him feel happy.
b) The poet speaks of harsh conditions in autumn and winter that the vagabond may
have to face while living in the open. However, the poet further states that even

CB/VII/2022 The Vagabond Page 1 of 2

 TEACHER’S SUPPORT DOCUMENT

these harsh conditions will not stop a vagabond from living in the open because all
he yearns for is freedom above everything else.
c) The vagabond evokes images of clear skies, starry nights, dipping bread in the
river, a long lengthy unending road, autumn leaves falling, vast open fields covered
with leaves in autumn and snow in winter, fireside in some lonesome hut.

3. Answer the following questions in 80-100 words.

a) Robert Louis Stevenson's poem ‘The Vagabond’ represents the kind of life that the
poet would love to live. All the narrator wants is, to live a life amidst nature
surrounded by the heaven, the land, the birds and the river. A vagabond is a
traveller and this poem describes a man filled with wanderlust for the open road.
We know this through the lines that quote the poet’s thirst for travel.
b) The poem celebrates a vagabond’s love for freedom and his love for outdoors. The
vagabond loves his independence and is more than happy to spend his life in the
open with grass for his bed and the stars for a roof. He is not interested in material
possessions nor does he seek friends and family. The vagabond is aware of the
harsh conditions in autumn and winter but that does not deter him from being out
in the open. He knows that at some point of time he will have to face his Maker.
But till then, all he asks is to be out in the open with the sky above him and the
road ahead of him.

CB/VII/2022 The Vagabond Page 2 of 2