NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English - The Brook

TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS (SOLVED)

Q1. The poet has used a number of words which indicate ‘movement’ and ‘sound’. Make a list of these words from the poem and complete the web-chart.

Ans :

Q2. The following is a flow chart showing the course of the brook. Can you fill in the blank spaces with the help from the phrases given below?

Ans,

 Q3. On the basis of your understanding of the poem, answer the following questions by ticking the correct choice.

(a) The message of the poem is that the life of a brook is __________.
(i) temporary
(ii) short-lived
(iii) eternal
(iv) momentary

Ans : (a) (iii) eternal

(b) The poet draws a parallelism between the journey of the brook with  __________.
(i) the life of a man
(ii) the death of a man
(iii) the difficulties in a man’s life
(iv) the endless talking of human beings

Ans : (a) (i) the life of a man

(d) In the poem, below mentioned lines: “And here and there a lusty trout, And here and there a grayling” suggest that __________.
(i) the brook is a source of life.
(ii) people enjoy the brook.
(iii) fishes survive because of water.
(iv) the brook witnesses all kinds of scenes.

Ans : (a) (i) the brook is a source of life.

(d) Select the option that matches the given words/phrases with the appropriate literary device used by the poet.

 (i) i-2, ii-1, iii-4 
(ii) i-4, ii-2, iii-3
(iii) I-2, ii-4, iii-1 
(iv) i-1, ii-2, iii-3

Ans. (iii) i-2, ii-4, iii-1

 (e) The first-person narration of the brook allows the reader to

(i) appreciate Tennyson’s use of symbols.
(ii) realize the ultimate goal of the brook.
(iii) experience the soothing effect of the sound of water.
(iv) understand the brook’s experience as a living organism

Ans. (iv) understand the brook’s experience as a living organism

Read the given extracts and answer the questions that follow by selecting the correct options.

(A) 

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.

(i) Choose the option that best describes the brook’s journey in the given stanza. It is a journey full of__________ .

a) comfort and luxury
b) trials and tribulations
c) sorrow and misery
d) joy and laughter

Ans. b) trials and tribulations

 (ii) The poet has used the pronoun ‘I’ to refer to the brook and thus employed a literary device in his depiction. Choose the option that uses the same literary device as used in the first line.

a) The magnitude of the bottomless ocean was divine.
b) The angry walls echoed his fury.
c) A mother is like a lioness protecting her cubs.
d) I felt the power of the gushing stream.

Ans. d) I felt the power of the gushing stream.

 (iii) The brook seems to be fretting in the given stanza. This word has been used by the poet to depict the ________ of the flowing brook.

a) force
b) kindness
c) silence
d) beauty

Ans. a) force

(B) 

I linger by my shingly bars;

I loiter round my cresses;

And out again I curve and flow

To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go,

But I go on forever.

 (i) Choose the option that includes words that best describe the characteristics of the brook, as revealed in the given extract.

1. perpetual 
2. silent 
3. twisted
4. unbound 
5. interrupted

a) 1, 3 and 4
b) 1, 2, 4 and 5
c) 1, 2, and 3
d) 1, 2 and 4

Ans. a) 1, 3 and 4

 (ii) The line, ‘men may come and men may go’

a) mocks the shortness of the brook’s life as it goes through its journey.

b) highlights the eternal nature of human life as opposed to its own.

c) contrasts the eternal nature of brook against short-lived human life-span.

d) highlights the eternal story of men that the brook comes across during its journey.

Ans. c) contrasts the eternal nature of brook against short-lived human life-span.

 (iii) What do the words, ‘linger and loiter’ show about the brook?

a) Its continuity
b) Its slow movement
c) Its powerful force
d) Its ultimate purpose

Ans. b) Its slow movement

Q4. Answer the following questions briefly :

(a) How does the brook ‘sparkle’?

Ans : The brook shines as the sunlight gets reflected in its splashing water.

(b) ‘Bicker’ means, to quarrel. Why does the poet use this word here?

Ans : The brook makes loud noise as it falls down. It sounds like a quarrel.

(c) Why has the word ‘chatter’ been repeated in the poem?

Ans : The poem is written in the first person and since the brook is narrating the story, the word ‘chatter’ is used. It is to heighten the autobiographical element and make it look personal.

(d) ‘I wind about, and in and out’. What kind of picture does this line create in your mind?

Ans : A picture of a whirlpool.

(e) What does the poet want to convey by using the words ‘steal’ and ‘slide’?

Ans : It refers to the smooth and noiseless movement of the brook.

(f) ‘I make the netted sunbeam dance.’ What does ‘netted sunbeam’ mean? How does it dance?

Ans : The sunrays filtering through the leaves and bushes make a net-like pattern on shallow water-pools. They are reflected on the surface of water and appear to be dancing as the water flows.

(g) What is the ‘refrain’ in the poem? What effect does it create?

Ans : The ‘refrain’ in the poem is ‘for men may come and men may go, But I go on forever.’ The repetition of the refrain emphasises the transitory nature of man and the eternal nature of the brook.

(h)Why has the poet used the word ‘brimming’ in the line, ‘to join the brimming river?

Ans. The word ‘brimming’ means full to the top. It gives the image of a river which is full of water.

Q6. Identify the rhyme scheme of the poem.

Ans : The rhyme scheme is ab ab cd cd .....

Q7. The poem is full of images that come alive through skillful use of words. List out any two images that appeal to you the most, quoting the lines from the poem.

Ans : The first vivid image created by the poet is that of the brook flowing through hills and valleys, under the bridges and by the villages.
By thirty hills I hurry down Or slip between the ridges By twenty thorpes, a little town, And half a hundred bridges.
The second striking image is that of the serpent. Like the flow of the brook, with flowers and fish floating on it. This image is most appealing because it is apt, colourful and poetic.

Q8. The brook appears to be a symbol of life. Pick out examples of a parallel drawn between life and the brook.

Ans. The brook is a small stream that is born in some mountain. It grows bigger and stronger in the course of its journey. It makes so many types of sounds as it flows through the pebbles. Its movements are also varied. It slips and slides; it steals and winds its curves and flows. It chatters and babbles, it makes musical as well as harsh sounds. The brook’s birth and growth, chattering and babbling are very much similar to the activities of a human being. The brook represents life in general. Both have an origin, a middle stage, and an end. Both struggle against various adversities, odds and keep moving towards their goal. Above all, the brook represents life. Men may come and men may go, but life goes on forever. The same rule applies in the case of the brook. It keeps flowing eternally, like life.