Worksheet 1

Level: Primary School

From a Railway Carriage

By Robert Louis Stevenson 

Faster than fairies, faster than witches,

 

Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches,

 

Charging along like troops in a battle

 

All through the meadows the horses and cattle:

 

All of the sights of the hill and the plain

 

Fly as thick as driving rain;

 

And ever again, in the wink of an eye

 

Painted stations whistle by.

 

Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,

 

All by himself and gathering brambles;

 

Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;

 

And here is the green for stringing the daisies!

 

Here is a cart run away in the road

 

Lumping along with man and load;

 

And here is a mill, and there is a river:

 

Each a glimpse and gone forever!

Word meanings

hedge: a solid row of bushes, used as a kind of fence.

There is a hedge between our house and the neighbour's house.

ditch: a long narrow opening in the ground used to drain away or supply water.

When it rains hard, the ditch next to the road fills up with water.

troops: a group or gathering of people, animals, or things.

A troop of workers crossed the road.

(plural) soldiers.

We sent thousands of troops to war.

meadow: an open field of grass that is growing wild or is used for pasture or to grow hay.

The sheep grazed in the meadow.

clamber: to climb with difficulty or in an awkward way, using hands and feet.

The scouts clambered up the steep, rocky slope.

scramble:
to move quickly using both the hands and feet.

We scrambled over the rocks and up the hill.

bramble: a kind of berry bush with thorns on its stems. Raspberry and blackberry plants are brambles.

tramp: a person who travels on foot from town to town and who lives by begging or doing odd jobs.

daisy: a plant that has flowers with white, pink, or yellow petals around a yellow center.

lumping:

inflections:

lumps, lumping, lumped

definition 1:

to gather into or consider as a single whole (often followed by "together").

He lumps girls together as if they were all the same.

mill: a place where raw grains are crushed and ground to make flour.

The farmers brought their wheat to the mill.

glimpse: a quick look.

I caught a glimpse of him before he vanished in the crowd.

https://kids.wordsmyth.net/we/: Courtesy

Please make original sentences with any of the five of the above words.

1.    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

2.    ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3.    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

4.    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

5.    …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

What is your favourite mode of transportation? Why?

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How many of you have travelled on long distance train?

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Did you like the experience? Why/ why not?

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Did you get the window seat on train? Do you prefer to sit by the window during train travel? Why/ why not?

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What did you see from the train window? Mention the first five views that you can recall.

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Which view did you like the most? Why?

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Read the poem twice. What does the poet see from the train window?

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Did you see similar/ different views from the train window?

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Did you read the poem quickly, or slowly? Why?

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Read the poem fast, and then slowly. How do you think it makes a difference?

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Do you think the train in this poem is moving fast, or slowly? Why?

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Do you think the poet is travelling by train at day, or night? Please give reasons for your answer.

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List at least five pairs of rhyming words in this poem.

hedges	ditches

 

Do you think fairies, and witches are believed to travel fast? What can you recall about their speed of travel in the storybooks you’ve read, and the films and plays you may have watched?

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How does the scenery gradually change as the poet travels by train? Is what he sees when he gazes out of the window, similar to what you may have had seen from a train starting off from a city, or town, and moving on into the countryside?

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Please write in chronological order what the poet sees from the window.

1.    bridges

2.    houses

3.    hedges

4.    ditches

5.    …………..

6.    ……………………

7.    ……………………

8.    …………………….

9.    …………………….

10.……………….

11.………………….

12.……………………..

13.………………….

14.…………………..

15.…………………….

16.……………………

Mention the colours of five different things that you think this poem may be describing.

THING	COLOUR
meadows	green, yellow
painted stations (please fill in your favourite colours for these)

 

Notice different sounds that you think this poem may be describing. Write two more of them.

1.    chugging of the train

2.    the train whistle

3.    cart rolling down the road

4.    ……………………………………………………………….

5.    ……………………………………………………………..

 

This poem has lovely similes.

simile noun

sim·​i·​le | \ ˈsi-mə-ˌlē  \

Kids Definition of simile

:a figure of speech comparing two unlike things using ‘like’ or ‘as’

“Their cheeks are like roses” is a simile. “Their cheeks are roses” is a metaphor.

Courtesy:https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/simile#:~:text=Kids%20Definition%20of%20simile,are%20roses”%20is%20a%20metaphor.

An example of the usage of simile in this poem is: ‘Charging along like troops in a battle.’

Do you remember seeing a battle scene in any film, wherein the soldiers rush ahead to attack? What does the poet compare to them?

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Please mention another simile in this poem.

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Do you think the poet can enjoy the sights from the train window for a short, or long time? Do sceneries fly past when you are on train, or can you enjoy them for long?

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“Painted stations whistle by.”

Have you been on a train journey in which it hasn’t pulled over at many stations? What have you thought, or felt on seeing those stations speed past you both during the day, and night?

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“Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,

 

All by himself and gathering brambles”

Do you think this little boy is noticing the train well? Please give reasons for your answer.

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“Here is a tramp who stands and gazes”

Do you think the tramp is noticing the train? What do you think he/ she may be thinking if he/ she does take a good look at the passing train?

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“And here is the green for stringing the daisies!”

Close your eyes, and imagine that you are inhaling the fragrance of fresh daisies. This means a garland of daisies is being woven. Have you seen people making flower garlands before? Do you think they have fun doing that?

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“Here is a cart run away in the road

 

Lumping along with man and load”

 

Comparing the fast train to the slow moving cart, how do you feel? Which would you prefer to ride, the train, or the cart?

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“Each a glimpse and gone forever!”

What do you think is going on in the poet’s heart when these beautiful sights from the window simply whizz past him?

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The poet Robert Louis Stevenson spent much of his childhood in bed as he had lung problems. His mother would read to him, and he’d make up stories on his own. At times he was well enough to travel with his father, who was a civil engineer by profession. During that time he’d inspect harbours, and lighthouses along with his dad. Though he battled illnesses throughout his life, he loved to travel, and he penned many interesting travelogues (travel description of the places he visited).  

 

Imagine yourself as the poet. He is sick most of the time. His bedroom is the zone he is most familiar with. Nevertheless, he travels whenever possible, which is likely to be immense relief from the drudgery of being ill on his bed.

 

When this poet is looking at so many different views of the open-air world outside from his train bogey, how do you think he is feeling?

 

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Can you think of a similar poem in English, or in any other language?

 

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Essay

 

The poem has a series of delightful visuals:

 

·      bridges and houses

·      hedges and ditches

·      meadows with horses and cattle

·      hills and plains

·      painted stations 

·      child gathering brambles

·      tramp who stands and gazes

·      daisies being garlanded

·      cart with load being driven by a man

·      a mill

·      river

 

Word limit:

 

100 to 150 words: for younger kids in primary school

 

200 to 250 words: for older children in primary school

 

Choose any one of these scenes, and add your imagination to describe it in vivid detail. Think deeper on the living beings which are a part of the scene as well.

 

E.g.

 

Hills and plains

 

·      What colours are they?

·      Do people live there?

·      Do animals, and birds live there?

·      What kind of lives do they live out there?

 

Picture courtesy: pixabay.com