Lesson 9

I Will Go With My Father A-ploughing

-Joseph Campbell

Let's start: 🚀

Joseph John Campbell (1879–1944) was a famous Irish poet and lyricist. He was born in Belfast in an Irish family. His literary activities began with songs. In 1905 he moved to London. His famous poems include At Harvest, On Waking, The Blind Man at the Fair, The Old Woman etc.

Let's share: 🤝

1. Match column A with column B:

A	B
(i) blacksmith	works with iron
(ii) hawker	sells wares
(iii) nurse	looks after sick people
(iv) pilot	flies aeroplanes

2. Suppose you have accompanied your father/mother/guardian to his/her workplace. Tell the class what you have seen and whether you liked the place. 💬

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📖 Let's read:

I will go with my father a-ploughing To the green field by the sea, And the rooks and the crows and the seagull Will come flocking after me. I will sing to the patient horses With the lark in the while of the air, And my father will sing the plough-song That blesses the cleaving share.

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I will go with my father a-sowing To the red field by the sea, And the rooks and the crows and the starlings Will come blocking after me. I will sing to the striding sowers With the finch on the greening slow, And my father will sing the seed-song That only the wise men know. I will go with my father a-reaping To the brown field by the sea, And the geese and the crows and the children Will come blocking after me. I will sing to the tan-faced reapers With the wren in the heat of the sun, And my father will sing the scythe-song That joys for the harvest done.

💡 Note: ‘—a’ form of verbing is a hold-over from earlier varieties of English, but it is familiar to modern readers from nursery rhymes both old and modern. The prefixed ‘a’ emphasizes the duration of an action. ‘I will go for ploughing with my father’ means that he is engaged in a relatively short-term task. ‘I will go with my father a-ploughing’ means that the task is of a longer duration.

Word Nest 📚

• cleaving: cutting something into two
• a-sowing: planting seeds
• striding: working hard
• finch: a kind of a singing bird

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Let's do: 📝

Activity 1 💡

Choose the correct answer from the given alternatives and fill in the blanks:

• (a) The child will go with his father to the ______ for ploughing. (field/sea/hills)
• (b) The child will sing to the horses along with the ______. (lark/wren/gull)
• (c) The father sings the seed-song while ______. (reaping/sowing/harvesting)
• (d) Reaping will be done by the father when the field is ______. (red/brown/green)

Activity 2 ✍️

Complete the following sentences with information from the text:

• (a) ______ will come flocking after the child.
• (b) The plough song will ______.
• (c) The child will go ______ for sowing.
• (d) The reapers are tan-faced because ______.

Activity 3 🤔

Answer the following question:

• Why will the father and the child sing while ploughing, sowing and reaping?

Activity 4 📊

Fill in the chart with information from the text:

Names of birds	Actions
(a)	flocking
(b)	blocking
(c)	singing

Activity 5 📚

Answer the following questions in complete sentences:

• (a) What are the three stages of farming?
• (b) What are the different colours of the field at different stages of farming?

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(c) What song do the wise men know?

(d) At what stage of farming is the scythe required?

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📝 Activity 6 (a)

Fill in the blanks with suitable articles and prepositions:

• We went ___ the park and had ___ picnic. I played ___ a slide and had ___ chocolate. Then we took ___ walk.

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💡 Activity 6 (b)

Identify the types of sentences given below:

1. Can we go there? (Interrogative Sentence)
2. What fun they had! (Exclamatory Sentence)
3. She was not well. (Declarative/Assertive Sentence)
4. Sit down. (Imperative Sentence)

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🔍 Activity 7 (a)

Find the synonyms of the following words or expressions from the poem:

1. gathering in a group
2. not foolish
3. persons who plant seeds
4. thing used to reap corn

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🎯 Activity 7 (b)

Match the following words in column A with their opposites in column B:

A	B
(i) patient	sorrows
(ii) wise	fast
(iii) slow	impatient
(iv) joys	unwise

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Let's talk: 🗣️

Different crops and vegetables are cultivated in different seasons. Discuss in groups which crops are cultivated in which seasons.

Let's do: 📝

Activity 8(a) 📖

Write a story in about sixty words based on the following hints:

• An old farmer calls his lazy sons.
• Asks them to dig up treasure stored in the field.
• Sons dig up the field but find no treasure.
• Farmer asks them to sow seeds.
• A rich harvest.
• Sons understand the value of hard work.

Activity 8(b) ✍️

Write a short paragraph in about sixty words describing your favourite season. Use the following hints:

• Name of the season.
• Flowers and fruits.
• Vegetables.
• Festivals.
• Why you enjoy it.

Let's work together: 🤝

• Collect seeds or leaves of any three important crops that are grown in West Bengal.
• Take a large outline map of West Bengal.
• Stick them on the map based on their area of cultivation.
• Tell the class about the usefulness of any one such crop.

Here are the answers and suggested completions for the activities based on the provided text. 📝 Let's do: Activity 1 💡 Choose the correct answer from the given alternatives and fill in the blanks:

• (a) The child will go with his father to the field for ploughing. (field/sea/hills)
• (b) The child will sing to the horses along with the lark. (lark/wren/gull)
• (c) The father sings the seed-song while sowing. (reaping/sowing/harvesting)
• (d) Reaping will be done by the father when the field is brown. (red/brown/green) Activity 2 ✍️ Complete the following sentences with information from the text:
• (a) The rooks and the crows and the seagull/starlings/children will come flocking after the child.
• (b) The plough song will bless the cleaving share.
• (c) The child will go to the red field by the sea for sowing.
• (d) The reapers are tan-faced because they work in the heat of the sun. Activity 3 🤔 Answer the following question: The father and the child will sing while ploughing, sowing, and reaping because singing makes the hard work joyous and passes on the traditional 'plough-song,' 'seed-song,' and 'scythe-song' that are a part of their work and celebrate nature's cycle and the successful harvest. Activity 4 📊 Fill in the chart with information from the text: | Names of birds | Actions | |---|---| | (a) Rooks, crows, seagull/starlings/geese | flocking/blocking | | (b) Rooks, crows, starlings/geese | flocking/blocking | | (c) Lark, finch, wren | singing | Activity 5 📚 Answer the following questions in complete sentences:
• (a) The three stages of farming mentioned in the poem are ploughing, sowing, and reaping.
• (b) The field is green during ploughing, red during sowing, and brown during reaping.
• (c) The song that the wise men know is the seed-song that the father sings while sowing.
• (d) The scythe is required at the stage of farming called reaping, which is when the harvest is done. 📝 Activity 6 (a) Fill in the blanks with suitable articles and prepositions: We went to the park and had a picnic. I played on a slide and had a chocolate. Then we took a walk. 💡 Activity 6 (b) Identify the types of sentences given below:
• Can we go there? (Interrogative Sentence)
• What fun they had! (Exclamatory Sentence)
• She was not well. (Declarative/Assertive Sentence)
• Sit down. (Imperative Sentence) 🔍 Activity 7 (a) Find the synonyms of the following words or expressions from the poem:
• gathering in a group: flocking/blocking
• not foolish: wise
• persons who plant seeds: sowers
• thing used to reap corn: scythe 🎯 Activity 7 (b) Match the following words in column A with their opposites in column B: | A | B | |---|---| | (i) patient | impatient | | (ii) wise | unwise | | (iii) slow | fast | | (iv) joys | sorrows | 📝 Let's do: Activity 8(a) 📖 Write a story in about sixty words based on the following hints: An old farmer, worried about his lazy sons, told them of a treasure hidden deep in the family field. Eagerly, the sons dug up the entire field, but found nothing. The farmer then asked them to sow seeds in the turned earth. In time, the field yielded a rich harvest. Seeing the abundance, the sons finally understood the value of hard work; the harvest was the real treasure. Activity 8(b) ✍️ Write a short paragraph in about sixty words describing your favourite season. Use the following hints: My favourite time of year is monsoon, the season of rains. It brings life to the earth, making the trees and plants a lush, vibrant green. Delicious mangoes and jackfruits are abundant, and the markets are filled with fresh green vegetables. I especially love celebrating Raksha Bandhan and Janmashtami during this time. I enjoy it because the cool, refreshing showers offer a great relief from the summer heat and make the world feel new again. Would you like me to find out about the main crops grown in West Bengal for your Let's work together activity?