The Brook - English Literature

Summary
The poet has realistically drawn a parallelism between the journey of the brook with the life of a man. The poet says as in the childhood a child is very agile, energetic and lively , like that the brook in the beginning stage of its life is very powerful, enhancing and it keeps on flowing with a great rush and enthusiasm through out its life .It falls from great heights and menders around the wavy path, and when it approaches on plain it becomes very slow and continues to flow eternally .Like the brook a man toward the end of his life he becomes slow in his moves and ultimately meets the horns of death and also emerges with its final destination but it never ends to flow.

Sample Q's And A's
Question (1): Where does the brook begin?
Answer: Place frequented by coots and herns.

Question (2): Which is the last place to be visited by the brook?
Answer: Philip's farm is the last place to be visited by the brook.

Question (3): When is the brook specially noisy?
Answer: When it flows over stones.

Question (4): What are the two things the brook is always doing?
Answer: Moving and making sounds are the two things the brook is always doing.

Question (5): Name some things that float down all streams (Use your imagination).
Answer: Flowers, leaves, twigs, insects, fishes.

Question (6): Why is the water described as silvery?
Answer: The sun shines on the water making it sparkle like white silver.

Question (7): Why is gravel said to be golden?
Answer: It is yellow and brown in colour.

Question (8): Read the extracts given below and answer the Questions that follow

I come from haunts of coot and tern,
I make a sudden sally,
And sparkle out among the fern,
To bicker down a valley.

a) What is the birth place of the Brook?

b) How does the Brook emerge after its birth?

c) Why does it 'bicker down a valley'?

Answer: a)The birth place of the Brook is actually the haunt of water birds like the coot and the tern.

b)The Brook gushes out in a sudden sally after its birth.

c) It (the Brook) seems to bicker down a valley because it flows down a hilly terrain. When the water flows over such a terrain, it creates a lot of noise. This noise is described as 'bicker'.

Question (9): By thirty hills I hurry down,
Or ship between the ridges
By twenty thropes, a little town,
And half a hundred bridges.

a) How does the Brook seem to move?

b) What are the things that the Brook passes by before it joins the brimming river?

Answer: a) The Brook seems to move very hurriedly by hills and seems to slip between the ridges as it flows.

b) It passes hills, thropes, a little town, several bridges and Philip's farm before it joins the brimming river.

Question (10): I chatter over stony ways,
In little sharps and trebles,
I bubble into eddying bays,
I babble on the pebbles.

a) How does the brook flow on a stony path?

b) What is the figure of speech used in the last two lines?

Answer: a) The Brook creates a chattering sound when it flows on a stony path.

b) The poet has used alliteration with the use of the consonant sound 'b'. This produces a musical sound effect.

Question (11): With many a curve my banks I fret,
By many a field and fallow,
And many a fairy foreland set,
With willow- weed and mallow.

a) How does the brook behave when it has curves on its banks?

b) What is the figure of speech need in the last two lines of the above stanza?

Answer: a) The brook behaves 'angrily' when it faces curves on its banks. It is clear because the poet has used the work 'fret' to explain the brook's feeling.

b) The figure of speech used in 'Alliteration" using the consonant sounds "f" and "w". this creates a musical sound.

Question (12): I chatter, chatter as I flow,
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.

a) What does the poet want to say in "I chatter, chatter as I flow"?

b) What are the important aspects of land which have been covered by the Brook?

c) Explain the last two lines "men many come and men may go, But I go on forever".

Answer: a) The poet wants to say that the brook flows creating short repeated high pitched noises while flowing. It is a continuous rapid talk and it appears to be communicating something to all the things that it passes by.

b) The important aspects of land covered by the Brook till now are the hilly range and the plains comprising Philip's farm, field and fallow as it goes on its journey.

c) This constitutes a refrain. These strike the keynote of the poem - the brook's eternity and man's mortality.

Question (13): I wind about, and in and out
With here a blossom sailing,
And here and there, a busty trout,
And here and there a grayling.

a) Explain "I wind about and in and out".

b) Name the different things that are carried by the brook?

c) Where does the brook carry all, these things?

Answer: a) The picture imagined here is of rivulet flowing in a zig-zag manner. Sometimes this enters underground and then it bubbles out into the open.

b) The different things that are carried by the brook are flowers that have fallen into it, fishes, foam and flakes.

c) The Brook carries all these things to the brimming river which it joins.

Question (14): And here and there a foamy flake,
Upon me, as I travel,
With many a silvery water break,
Above the golden gravel.

a) What occurs when the brook flows over "the golden gravel"

b) What unique quality of the brook can be imagined in it carrying so many things to the brimming river?

Answer: a) When the brook flows over "the golden gravel" there is a break in the flow of water which appears silvery.

b) The unique quality of the brook that can be imagined is its parental nature, that is, the brook is the home of fishes, flowers that get carried by it which grows close to its banks. In a way, it is a life sustaining agent of nature.

Question (15): I steal by lawns and grassy plots,
I slide by hazel covers
I move the sweet forget-me-nots,
That grow for happy lovers.

a) What does the poet want to convey by using the words "steal" and "slide"?

b) Identify the rhyme scheme in the above stanza.

Answer: a) The poet wants to convey the brook's movements in the use of these words. It moves silently without being seen when it passes by lawns and grassy plots.

b) The rhyme scheme is abab.

Question (16): How is the poem a symbol of life? Pick out examples of parallelism between man's life and the brook.

Answer: The Poem is a symbol of life. The brook's journey from its origin till its joining the brimming river is man's journey of life from birth to death. Whatever happens to it on the way is similar to what man encounters through his life. The brook's noisy flow is similar to mans struggling and fretting and fuming against the odds of life. The brook slips, slides, glooms and glances. So does man. It makes its way forcefully against odds, so does man as he struggles through many problems. The brook carries many things with it as it flows. So does man-he meets people - builds relationships - carries memories, collects materialistic things as he goes through life.

The only difference between man and the brook is that man's life comes to an end. Where as the brook lives on and on forever.