Unit -3(The Fooslish Fish)-Grade-IX-English

The Foolish Fish

About the Poet:

Ann Taylor (1782-1866) was an English poet and literary critic. She was popular as a writer of verse for children. She was the elder sister of Jane Taylor, a famous English novelist, and poet. The Taylor sisters contributed a lot to children’s literature in their lifetime and their works for children were published together in different magazines, periodicals and books. Their works for children brought them long-lasting popularity.

About the Poem:

‘The Foolish Fish’ is a beautiful poem for kids. The poem is about a little arrogant fish and its helpless death. The poet includes a moral theme i.e. disobedience and its harmful consequence in the poem.

This poem is a straightforward narrative and tells a story of son and mother fish. As the poem in the narrative form, it offers a voice describing the action of two fish with the technique of personification. The story of the poem is provided from the narrator’s perspective. The narrator is an observer of the entire action and offers the exposition. The exposition sets the scene and explains what is happening in the poem.  

There are three stanzas in the poem. Each stanza contains four lines. The poem has the ABAB rhyme scheme. For example, the word ‘fish’ rhymes with ‘wish’ of the third line. Likewise, ‘see’ of the second line and ‘me’ of the third line are the rhyming pair.

In short, the poem has simple narration, common rhyming scheme and moral theme. These qualities make the readers interest it.

Summary of the Poem:

A hungry baby fish saw a worm and asked his mother to get it for him. The mother fish observed the worm and told the baby fish that he had no knowledge what it was. She warned him that the worm was covering a sharp hook to trap the fish. In spite of his mother’s warning, the little foolish fish swam to the worm and looked around it. He didn’t see the hook and gave a bite. He lost his life as he did what his mother had told him not to do.

Exercise (Questions and Answers):

A.   From the poem, find the words that are similar in meaning to the following words.

a.      starving- hungry

b.      corner- nook

c.      conceal- hide

d.      silly- foolish

e.      shortly- presently

B.   From the poem, find the correct words for the given definitions.

a.      A common river fish- trout

b.      Unlucky or unfortunate- hapless

c.      A bad or difficult situation- plight

d.      Having no knowledge of the unpleasant and evil things- innocent

e.      A small curved piece of metal used for catching fish- hook

f.       A strong feeling of wanting something- longing

C.   Write True or False.

a.      The little fish was very hungry. True

b.      The mother fish saw the word first. False

c.      The little fish knew the worm was covering a hook. False

d.      The mother did not know about the hook. False

e.      The little fish ate the worm at the end. True

D.   Respond the given questions.

a.      What does the baby fish want the mother fish to do?

Ans- The baby fish wants the mother fish to get a worm for him.

b.      Why does the baby fish want to get the worm?

Ans- The baby fish wants to get the worm because he was hungry.

c.      Does the mother fish get the worm for her young one? Why? Why not?

Ans- No, the mother fish doesn’t get the worm for her young one because the sharpness of the hook is hidden with the worm.

d.      Why was the young trout foolish?

Ans- The young trout was foolish because he ventured out to learn what might be true.

e.      What lesson does the poem teach us?

Ans We must obey our seniors as they have better understanding of life.