Unit-1(The Wind and the Leaves)-Grade- IX- English

The Wind and the Leaves 

About the Poet:

George Cooper (1840-1927) was an American poet. He is best remembered for song lyrics. He translated the lyrics of different languages into English. He also wrote songs for various famous composers. Since his childhood, he loved to write about nature. Before he was sixteen years old, he had begun to write for several magazines. His poems for children were published in a collection called ‘School and Home Melodies’, and his hymns were published in a collection entitled ‘The Chaplet’.

About the Poem:

The poem ‘The Wind and the Leaves’ is a lyric and melodious poem. Literally, it is about a natural interplay between the autumn leaves and the wind. In other words, the poem presents a very common natural happening in different seasons of the year.  But the poem through this general event carries an underlying meaning which supports an idea that change is inevitable and certain. This is the rule of nature which everything should follow.  

In the poem, the technique of personification has been used. A personification is a figure of speech that is used to offer human qualities to non-human objects in literary works. In the poem, wind, leaves, winter, snow, etc. are personified. For example, ……..said the wind one day, the leaves heard the wind’s loud call, winter had called them, the snow laid a coverlet, etc. ……. are the lines in which non-human objects are given human qualities. The poem has the AABB rhyme scheme. The word ‘day’ of the first line rhymes with ‘play’ of the second one. Similarly, ‘gold’ rhymes with cold. The tone of the poem is happy.

Summary of the Poem:

The poem talks about how the leaves fall from the trees when the wind blows in autumn and gets covered in snow in winter. In the poem, the wind talks to the leaves. The wind asks the leaves to come over the meadows to play and have fun. The wind also tells the leaves that summer has gone, autumn has started and winter is about to start. The leaves hear the wind’s call and begin to come down to the brown field. The leaves enjoy flying, dancing and singing over the ground with the wind. Time passes and the winter starts. The leaves lie quietly on their earthly beds covered in snow like a bedspread on a bed.

This lyric poem has been formed as songs by different music composers. It is popular among children with its musical quality.

Exercise (Questions and Answers):

A. Find the words that rhyme with the following words.

a.    day- play

b.    cold- gold

c.    call- all

d.    flew- knew

e.    beds- heads

B. Find the words that are similar in meaning to the following words.

a.    Breeze- wind

b.    Grasslands- meadows

c.    Wear- put on

d.    Chilly- cold

e.    Shortly- soon

f.     Satisfied- content

g.    Bedspread- coverlet

C. From the above poem, find the words for the following definitions.

a.    Moving lightly and quickly – fluttering

b.    To move or make somebody/ something move in a circular way- whirling

c.    Of or like earth or soil- earthy

d.    A type of bedspread to cover a bed- bedspread

D. Respond the following questions.

a.      What did the wind ask the leaves to do?

Ans- The wind asked the leaves to come over the meadows with him and play, wearing their dresses of red and gold.

b.      How do the leaves look when they are old and ready to drop?

Ans- The leaves look red and gold when they are old and ready to drop.

c.      Why were the leaves so satisfied to come down?

Ans- The leaves were so satisfied to come down because they heard the wind’s loud call.

d.      When did the snow lay the bedspread over them?

Ans- The snow laid the bedspread over them in winter.