English X - Chapter No.7 - Reference To Context

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FROM A RAILWAY CARRIAGE (POEM)
Reference To Context

Note : Students are advised to read whole chapters and poems thoroughly for reference to context.

Text Book Name: Secondary Stage English Book Two For Class X 
Explain With Reference To Context (Poem)
Poem: From a railway carriage
Poet: A Scottish poet  Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

1. Faster than fairies, Faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
And charging along like troops in a battle,
All through the meadows the horses and cattle.
(i) Name the poem and the poet / poetess.
(ii) From where and what did the poet see?
(iii) What type of experience has been described in this poem?
Ans:
(i)Poem: From A Railway Carriage.
Poet: Robert Louis Stevenson
(ii) The poet saw a variety of charming sights while travelling by a railway carriage, He saw houses, bridges, ditches, hedges, meadows, a cart, a child, a tramp, the cattle, mills, rivers, the railway station, hills and mountains etc. He carried a lot of pride by travelling through a speedy train.
(iii) In this poem, the poet has described a very exciting experience when he was travelling by a train. Whatever the objects passing so quickly in front of his eyes, he expressed it in a poetic form. Overall it was a tremendous journey for the poet.

Words/Meanings:
1. Fairies: beautiful imaginary beings who have magical power.
2. witches: wicked old women who could work magic and fly through the air.
3. hedge: a row of bushes or tall plants, forming a boundary.
4. ditch: a narrow channel dug in or between fields, or at the side of a road, to hold or carry off water.
5. charge: to attack; here if means to rush forward, move fast.
6. meadow: a grassy field.

Reference to context:
These lines have been taken from the poem “From a Railway Carriage” written by Robert Louis Stevenson. In this poem poet shares his experience of a railway journey with us. He describes it’s speed very amazing. He presents natural senses seen from the window of a railway carriage.

Explanation:
Poet says that train runs more quickly than the fairies can fly or the witches can move. When train advances forward it seems as the soldiers are attacking enemy in a battle field. The train rushes on leaving bridges, houses, fences and ditches behind. It also leaves behind the green fields where horses and Cattle are grazing.


2. All of the sights of the hill and plain
Fly as the thick as driving rain;
And ever again, in the wink of an eye,
Painted stations whistle by.
(i) Name the poem and the poet / poetess.
(ii)  What pleasures does the railway journey give to the poet?
(iii) What does " in the wink of an eye" mean?
Ans:
(i)Poem: From A Railway Carriage.
Poet: Robert Louis Stevenson
(ii) The railway journey brings a lot of joy and pleasure to the post. Natural beauty provides him an everlasting joy which includes the sights of meadows, daisies, mill, river, hill plain etc. He is pleased because 'a thing of beauty is a joy forever'.
(iii) In the wink of an eye means the time it takes to shut one eye for a very short time.

Words/Meanings:
1. fly as thick: pass so quickly as if there was no distance between them.
2. driving rain: hard, slanting rain.
3. the wink of an eye: the time it takes to shut one eye for a very short time.
4. whistle by: when the fast train goes past a station, a whistling sound is produced.

Reference to context:
These lines have been taken from the poem “From a Railway Carriage” written by Robert Louis Stevenson. In this poem poet shares his experience of a railway journey with us. He describes its speed very amazing. He presents natural scenes seen from the window of a railway carriage.

Explanation:
Poet says that all the scenes of hill and plain were being crossed by train as quick as one drop of rain follows another drop in a storm. Again and again in very short moment train was crossing stations with a whistle. From the window of compartment of train buildings of stations were seemed as painted pictures.

3. Here is a child who clambers and scrambles;
All by himself and gathering brambles;
Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;
And there is green for stringing the daisies.
(i) Name the poem and the poet / poetess.
(ii) What was child doing?
(iii) Who is a tramp? What was tramp doing?
Ans:
(i) Poem: From A Railway Carriage.
Poet: Robert Louis Stevenson
(ii) A child was climbing a steep ground by himself with difficulty. The child was also gathering black berries during climbing.
(iii) A person who goes from one place to another place without any aim.  He was staring at the carriage as he was looking for some one to come.

Words/Meanings:
1. to clamber: to climb with some difficulty.
2. to scramble: to move with difficulty over rough or steep ground.
3. brambles: thorny bushes which bear the fruit called black berries.
4. tramp: a homeless person who goes from place to place and does no regular work.
5. to string: to make a garland of
6. daisy: it is one of the commonest wild flowers in Britain. the green: a grassy common land in a village.

Reference to context:
These lines have been taken from the poem “From a Railway Carriage” written by Robert Louis Stevenson. In this poem poet shares his experience of a railway journey with us. He describes its speed very amazing. He presents natural scenes seen from the window of a railway carriage.

Explanation:
In these lines poet says that from the window of the compartment of train he sees a child climbing a steep ground by himself with difficulty. The child was also gathering black berries during climbing. Poet sees a homeless person who was looking at the train with amazement. He also sees some ladies in a common village grassy land, they were making garlands of daisy flowers.


4. Here is a cart run away in the road,
Lumping along with man and load;
And here is a mill and there is a river;
Each a glimpse and gone for ever!
(i) Name the poem and the poet / poetess.
(ii) What does the word glimpse mean?
(iii) What is the relation between the mill and the river?
(iv) What is the message of the poem?
(v) What was the cart's scene?
Ans:
(i)Poem: From A Railway Carriage.
Poet: Robert Louis Stevenson
(ii) Glimpse means a brief look
(iii)  The poet saw mill and river while travelling in the train. Both are very huge in size but the speed of train is very fast that these objects even appeared and disappeared so quickly. Poet looked at them for very brief time and they can never be seen again.
(iv) The message of the poem is that a railway journey is a source of happiness as it provides a chance to enjoy the natural beauty.

 " A thing of  beauty is a joy for ever."

(v) The cart was running away on the road. It had a load and a man was also sitting in the cart. The cart was lumping along due to heavy load on it.

Words/Meanings:
1. to lump: to move heavily and awkwardly.
2. a glimpse: a brief look.

Reference to context:
These lines have been taken from the poem “From a Railway Carriage” written by Robert Louis Stevenson. In this poem poet shares his experience of a railway journey with us. He describes its speed very amazing. He presents natural scenes seen from the window of a railway carriage.

Explanation:
Poet says that he sees a cart moving slowly in the middle of a highway it was full of load and a cart driver was sitting on the top of the load. He sees a water mill and river while travelling in the train. All these objects appeared and then disappeared so quickly that poet looked at them for very brief time and they can never be seen again.

About The Poet:
The poem " From a railway carriage" is written by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894). He is a Scottish novelist, poet, and essayist He was born in Edinburgh. His formal education was greatly interrupted by illness, and was frequently taken for holidays. He tried to study engineering, then law. But in 1873, he decided to embark upon a literary career. His novels "Treasure Island" and "Kidnapped" are well known. In another one, "Dr. Jekytt and Mr. Hyde," he shows how every individual has tendencies to do both good and evil He really loved children and understood them. This poem shows his skill as a poet.