Class English Chapter 4B The River Textbook Questions and

Answers

I. Answer the following questions.

Question 1.
Is the river like a child? Why?
Answer:
Yes, the river is like a child. At the place of its birth, it dances and
sparkles as if a child is playing.

Question 2.
Why does the poet call it ‘swelling river’?
Answer:
As the river move along, it keeps getting merged with other streams and
becomes wider. As it keep on becoming larger, the poet calls it ‘swelling
river.

Question 3.
‘Seeming still yet still in motion.’ What does the word ‘still’ mean in either
case?
Answer:
’Still’ when used first in the sentence means ‘at rest’ or ‘motionless’. It is
used as an adjective here. ‘Still’ in the second place means ‘even though’.
Here it is used as an adverb.

Question 4.
How does the sea remind you of eternity?
Answer:
The sea is vast and when we see it, it is looks almost endless. This
vastness of see reminds us of eternity.

Question 5.
What do the river and the sea remind the poet of?
Answer:
The river reminds the poet of the various stages in our life. The sea
reminds the poet of the life continuing without end after death or
immortality.

II. Read the poem once again and list the words in the poem which show
the movement of the river at various stages.
Answer:
dancing, rush, sweeping, in motion, tending, dash.

III. What are the word pictures used in the poem? How do they add to the
beauty of the poem?

Answer:
 Little river

Dancing

a child at play

by rose – banks

impetuous youth

mortal prime still in motion

All the above word pictures create beautiful impressions in our mind and
help us visualize the river and the meanings suggested. Hence they add
to the beauty of the poem.

IV. Read the following comparisons:

‘She skims like a bird.’
‘Her face shines as the moon in the sky.’

Pick out similar expressions from the poem ‘The River’. Say why the poet
has made these comparisons. What would you compare them to?

Answer:

Poet’s idea What is the river Similarities

compared to?
Young river Child They both dance and
sparkle.
The river’s energetic youth Young people are
course rash. Both are louder,
faster and leap over
obstacles (rocks).
The river’s widest The middle years or The middle aged
stage the prime age persons are thoughtful
and deep. They may
appear to be still but
are always thinking
and at work just like a
river in its widest
stage.
The river in its final When a man is close Both lose to exist and
stage. to his end or near are available only
death. available in memory.
They become timeless
and in a way attain
eternity.
1. Now, read the last line of each stanza. What do these lines say about
the river?
Answer:
The last line of the stanzas tell us about the various the stages in the
journey of the river. They also compare the river to the life of a man and
its various ages.

2. Do the river and its movement suggest something else to you?

Answer:

Yes, the river and its movement suggests many different things.

It suggests:

The continuous movement of time.

Gradual progress.

The different stage in our life (human life).

3. Attempt an appreciation of the poem comparing and contrasting your

experience of a river with that of the poet.

Answer:

In this poem, the poet has described the journey of a river and compared
it with our life. I see the river as a nature’s paintbrush sketching and
drawing on the surface of earth that it uses a as canvas. In its youthful
energetic face, it is finding new paths and crushing boulders that will
bring fertile sand to the plains. During floods, the fertile sand is spread in
the plains to make the land fertile. I think of a river as a natural painter
that brings variety, beauty and wealth along its path.