Summary & Question-answers of The Poem : 8- On the Grasshopper & the Cricket with the concerned video

On the Grasshopper and Cricket Summary in English

In the poem ‘On the Grasshopper and Cricket’, the poet John Keats celebrates the music of the Earth. He finds beauty in hot summer as well as in the cold winter. Here, in this poem, the grasshopper is a symbol of hot summer and cricket is a symbol of cold winter. The poet says that the music of nature or earth is always alive whether it is hot summer or cold and bleak winter.

During the hot summer, all the singing birds are tired and take rest under the shady branches of trees. But even if they don’t sing the song of nature goes on. We can still hear the voice of the grasshopper who runs from hedge to hedge. He keeps singing tirelessly and when tired rests beneath some weed.

A grasshopper carries on the duty of singing the everlasting song of nature. During summers, he is a fun-loving and cheerful creature and is never done with his delights.

During the cold winter season also, the birds are silent. There is utter silence on the frosty winter days. But the earth has its own way of expressing pleasure and joys. The song of a cricket can be heard which breaks this silence.

He sings from the stones but not from the trees. His song appears to be increasing the warmth every moment. People are able to hear it sitting in their houses. However, the poet says that to a person who is half-asleep, it may appear to be a grasshopper’s song coming from the grassy hills.

Thus, we can say that the grasshopper and the cricket, two tiny insects, perform a big responsibility. They carry on with nature’s continuous and everlasting music irrespective of the extreme climates. The poet has thus personified them. It is thus a symbolic poem. Here, the grasshopper and the cricket are a symbol of the constant joyous mood of nature.

Working with the poem (Page 119)

Question 

Discuss with your partner the following definition of a poe

A poem is made of words arranged in a beautiful order. These words, when read aloud with feeling, have a music and meaning of their ow

Answer

A poem is an artistic piece of speech or a few lines which is expressed by the poet like a song with rhythms and metaphors. There is a musical element in the arrangement of words in a poem. The beautifully arranged words in a poem enhance the essence and meaning of the poem. The rhythmic expressions in it carry several ideas and reflect the imaginative power of the poet. An interesting and musical poem has a lasting impact in the minds of the readers as it gives an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the lines in the poe

Question 

‘The poetry of earth’ is not made of words. What is it made of, as suggested in the poe

Answer

The poetry of earth is not just made of words, rather it is composed of the rhythmic songs produced by nature’s beautiful creatures. The musical element of nature never ceases to mesmerize us with its ever changing seasons. Summer and winter are considered to be the most difficult seasons for many creatures such as the grasshopper and cricket. These seasons bring it a lot of joy, sorrow and excitement to such creatures. During summer, the grasshopper excitedly hops around tirelessly in joy and when he is tired, he rests beneath a pleasant weed. On the other hand, a cricket sings with a shrill voice during the dark and lonely nights of the winter seaso

Question 

Find in the poem lines that match the followin

(i) The grasshopper’s happiness never comes to an en

(ii) The cricket’s song has a warmth that never decrease

Answer

(i) In summer luxury — he has never do

With his delight

(ii) The cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ev

Question 

Which word in stanza 2 is opposite in meaning to ‘the frost

Answer

In stanza 2, the word that is opposite in meaning to ‘the frost’ is ‘warmth’. The word frost indicates a cold or chill experience. On the other hand, warmth in the poem refers to the cricket’s song which brings in warm feelings and can make one feel drowsy and sleep

Question 

The poetry of earth continues round the year through a cycle of two seasons. Mention each with its representative voic

Answer

The poetry of earth continues round the year through summer and winter. During summer season, the grasshopper hops with joy tirelessly depicting the beautiful poetry of earth. While in the winter season, the cricket’s song is like a mesmerizing poetry of earth. Hence, in the poem two different creatures are used as a reference to wisely explain the difference of the two seasonsr:e.5:y.r:’?4:ers,ner:s.d.g.3:n.r:m?2:m.r:n.m.1: