They tell them a curious story —
I don’t believe ’tis true;
And yet you may learn a lesson
If I tell the tale to you.
(a)Who is the story teller in the above? Who does he narrate the tale to?
(b) Does the poet believe the story? How can you tell?
(c) What ‘lesson’ does the poet wish to teach from the above?
(d) What does the ‘tale’ mean here?
Answers
Answer:
A Legend of Northland, Class 9 English Explanation, Summary
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A Legend of Northland - Poem Class 9 CBSE English Explanation, Summary, Question Answers, Difficult words
A Legend of Northland- CBSE class 9 English Poem - detailed explanation of the poem along with meanings of difficult words and literary devices used in the poem. Given here is the complete explanation of the Poems, along with summary. All the exercises and Question and Answers given at the back of the lesson.
A Legend of Northland by Phoebe Cary
Introduction to the poem
‘A legend of the Northland’ is a ballad. A ballad is a poem narrating a story in short stanzas. Ballad is such kind of poem which tells a story in short stanzas and in the poem all the stanzas comprise four lines. In total, there are 16 stanzas in this poem and these stanzas will tell us a story. Ballads are a part of folk culture or popular culture and are passed on orally from one generation to the next. (Folk culture is a story of any area and is known as ballad). Folk culture comprises of traditional stories which are passed on from one generation to next generation.
This story is of the Northland area, the area which is near the North Pole. This exact place is not specified but ‘Northland’ means the area in the northernmost part of the earth i.e., near the North Pole. ‘Legend’ means a historical story, one which is very old and has been passed on from generation to generation.
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Poem and Explanation
Stanza 1
Away, away in the Northland,
Where the hours of the day are few,
And the nights are so long in winter
That they cannot sleep them through;
In the region around the North Pole (Northland), the duration of the day is very less because its position is such that the Sun’s rays reach for a very less time. When this area is experiencing winter season, the duration of night is very long, and the day time hours are very less. In line 4, ‘they’ refers to the people who live in this region. The poet says that the duration of the night time is so long that the people cannot sleep them through. If they go to bed, take a few hours of sleep and then, they wake up, it is still night time. He wants to emphasize on the fact that the duration of the night is very long.
Stanza 2
Where they harness the swift reindeer
To the sledges, when it snows;
And the children look like bear’s cubs
In their funny, furry clothes:
Sledges: a vehicle on runners for conveying loads or passengers over snow or ice, often pulled by draught animals.
To harness means to tie the reindeers with a rope to a sledge so that it can be used for transportation.
Swift: something which runs very fast
The Northland region experiences severe cold conditions. It is a snowy area. The reindeer is an animal which is found in this polar region. People tie the reindeers to sledges and then the reindeers pull the sledges. He adds that the children look like young ones of a bear because they wear funny looking clothes made of fur which is like the furry skin of a bear.
Stanza 3