The Shed Summary Class 7 English Honeycomb

Introduction

This tutorial consists of the summary of the poem written by Frank Flynn named “The Shed”, a detailed explanation, and the meaning of difficult words to clearly understand the meaning of the poem. We have also given a short description of the author and answered the questions from the text so that students might not have a problem during their exam preparation.

Summary

Stanza 1

There’s a shed at the bottom of our garden

With a spider’s web hanging across the door,

The hinges are rusty and creak in the wind.

When I’m in bed I lie and I listen,

I’ll open that door one day.

Explanation:  At the bottom of the garden, there is a shed. Hardly anybody goes inside the shed, therefore, the hinges or the door joints have become rusty and make a lot of noise whenever the wind makes them move. When the poet is peacefully lying in the bed, he sometimes hears noises from the shed. The poet wishes to be able to open the door of the shed some day.

Stanza 2

There’s a dusty old window around at the side

With three cracked panes of glass,

I often think there’s someone staring at me Each time that I pass,

I’ll peep through that window one day.

Explanation:  The shed has a dusty old window on its side. Three glass panes of the window are broken. Whenever, the poet passes through the shed, he gets the feeling as if someone was staring at him. To find out, the poet wishes to peep inside the shed.

Stanza 3

My brother says there’s a ghost in the shed

Who hides under the rotten floorboards,

And if I ever dare to set foot inside

He’ll jump out and chop off my head,

But I’ll take a peek one day.

Explanation:  The poet’s brother talks about the presence of the ghost inside the shed and warns the poet that if he went inside the shed, the ghost would chop off his head. However, this does not much frighten the poet. He still wished to one day step inside the shed and see for himself.

Stanza 4

I know that there isn’t really a ghost,

My brother tells lies to keep the shed for his den;

There isn’t anyone staring or making strange noises

And the spider has been gone from his web since I don’t know when,

I’ll go into that shed one day soon, But not just yet……..

Explanation:  The poet is able to overcome his fears. He is able to understand that there is no ghost inside the shed. He understands that there is actually nobody inside the shed, who stares at him or makes those strange noises. The spider, too, is no longer there. His brother had been telling him lies because he wanted to retain the shed for his own self. Therefore, very soon the poet would be able to set in foot inside the shed. However, he says that this can’t happen immediately.

Theme

The theme of this poem appears to be about overcoming fear and curiosity. The speaker is intrigued by the shed at the bottom of the garden, but they are hesitant to explore it due to various fears instilled by their surroundings, such as the rusty hinges, cracked window panes, and their brother's tales of a ghost. Despite these fears, there is a growing desire within the speaker to overcome them and explore the shed. The poem reflects on the tension between fear and curiosity, as well as the eventual triumph of curiosity over fear as the speaker resolves to explore the shed "one day soon." Overall, it explores themes of bravery, curiosity, and the unknown.

List of Difficult Words With Meaning

Hinge – Joint

Pane – Glass Sheet

Rotten – Decayed

Peek – Look

Floorboards – Floor Tiles