Extract Based Questions: Poem - On the Grasshopper and Cricket | English Class 8 PDF Download

Q1: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions.

The poetry of earth is never dead: 
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun, 
And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run 
From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead, 
That is the grasshopper’s — he takes the lead 
In summer luxury — he has never done 
With his delights, for when tired out with fun 
He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.

(i) What is an ongoing process in nature?
Ans: The poetry or rhythm of nature is an unending and eternal process. It continues to bring life, joy, and harmony to the surroundings, regardless of the season.

(ii) Where do birds go when the heat of the sun rises?
Ans: When the sun’s heat becomes intense, the birds retreat to the cool shade of the trees, seeking refuge among the branches to escape the scorching heat.

(iii) How is the continuity of music maintained?
Ans: During the extreme heat of summer, when birds stop singing, the grasshopper takes over. Its cheerful voice fills the air, delighting listeners and maintaining the continuity of nature’s music.

(iv) Name the figure of speech in the above stanza.
Ans: Metaphor – Poetry of earth.

(v) Describe the beauty of the poem.
Ans: The poem is a 14 line Petrarchan sonnet with a rhyming scheme of abba – abba – cde - cde.

Q2: Read the extract given below and answer the following questions.

The poetry of earth is ceasing never:
On a lone winter evening when the frost
Has wrought a silence, from the stone there shrills
The cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever,
And seems to one in drowsiness half lost;
The grasshopper’s among some grassy hills.

(i) What is ‘ceasing never’?
Ans: The poetry of earth, represented by the continuous sounds of nature,  is never ceasing.

(ii) Who takes up the job of providing rhythm during winters?
Ans: Cricket takes up the job by providing rhythm in extreme cold weather.

(iii) From where do the crickets sing?
Ans: The crickets hide under the stone and sing in its shrill voice.

(iv) What is the impact of cricket and grasshopper's music?
Ans: Crickets and grasshoppers make sounds that soothe the listener even its extreme weathers. The listeners are recovered from their drowsy sleep to listen to the endless fountain of relief with music of the nature.