Read the poem carefully and do the activities that follow.
The Rivals
I heard a bird at dawn
Singing sweetly on a tree,
That the dew was on the lawn,
And the wind was on the lea;
But I didn‟t listen to him,
For he didn‟t sing for me!
I didn‟t listen to him,
For he didn‟t sing to me
That the dew was on the lawn
And the wind was on the lea!
I was singing at that time,
Just as prettily as he!
I was singing at that time,
As prettily as he,
About the dew upon the lawn,
And the wind upon the lea!
So I didn‟t listen to him
As he sang upon the tree!
James Stephens
A. From the above poem, find the words that are opposite in meaning to the following words.
i. desert ii. dusk iii. bitterly iv. told
B. Answer the following questions: [3×1=3]
i. Who are the rivals?
ii. Why doesn‟t the person in the poem like the bird‟s song?
iii. What is the poem actually about?
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Answer:
A]. i]. lawn
ii]. dawn
iii]. coldly
iv]. listen
_________________________________________
B]. i].Both the speaker and the bird are singing sweetly as if they are competing to praise the beauty of nature. So, they are competitors or rivals.
ii].he speaker's not listening to the bird, because the bird isn't singing to him. At the same time, the speaker's also singing, which would make it difficult for him to listen to the bird even if the bird actually were singing to him.
iii].he poem 'The Rivals' is about the description of one of the ugliest states of the human mind i.e. rivalry. People are the victim of this wrong emotion when they feel the circumstances are not in their favor.
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