Lesson : 10

The Echoing Green

William Blake

Let's start : 📌

William Blake (1757-1827) was one of the greatest poets of the Romantic age. Blake's poetry was published in a manner most unusual in literary and art history. He set up a print shop and engraved and published his own poems. Some of his well-known works are Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience and The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.

Let's share : 💬

Look at the picture.

• What do you see in the picture?
• What are the children doing?
• What are the old men doing?

Let's read : 📖

The sun does arise, And make happy the skies. The merry bells ring To welcome the spring. The skylark and thrush, The birds of the bush, Sing louder around, To the bells' cheerful sound, While our sports shall be seen On the echoing green.

Old John with white hair Does laugh away care, Sitting under the oak, Among the old folk. They laugh at our play, And soon they all say: 'Such, such were the joys When we all, girls and boys, In our youth-time were seen On the echoing green.'

Till the little ones weary No more can be merry; The sun does descend, And our sports have an end. Round the laps of their mother Many sisters and brothers, Like birds in their nest, Are ready for rest; And sport no more seen On the darkening green.

Word Nest 💡

cheerful: pleasant; folk: people; weary: very tired; descend: go down

Let's do : ✅

Activity 1

Put a tick mark to choose the correct word/expression from the given alternatives:

(a) The sun makes the sky * (i) sad * (ii) happy * (iii) excited

(b) The merry bells welcome the * (i) spring * (ii) autumn * (iii) winter

(c) Old John has * (i) black hair * (ii) brown hair * (iii) white hair

(d) The old men are sitting under * (i) a tree * (ii) an umbrella * (iii) a canopy

(e) In the evening the children come to the laps of their * (iv) mother * (v) father * (vi) aunt

Activity 2

Complete the following sentences with information from the poem :

(a) The birds of the bush sing to the ___________________________________. (b) Old John sits among ___________________________________________. (c) The sport of the children reminds the old men of their ____________________. (d) The children are tired when ______________________________________. (e) In the evening the sports of the children ____________________________.

Activity 3

Answer the following questions :

(a) Which are the two birds mentioned in the poem ? (b) Who is sitting under the oak ? (c) Pick out an expression from the poem to show that the old men are happy to see the children playing. (d) What do the children do when evening descends?

Activity 4

Use can, could, should, would and might to fill in the blanks :

(a) _______________ I use your phone ? (b) She _______________ be in her bedroom. (c) The programme _______________ be finished by now. (d) She _______________ spend hours in the library. (e) He _______________ run fast.

Activity 5

There are certain qualities you want your best friend to have. Among these, there would be some qualities he/she must have and some would be qualities he/she may have. Make a list of qualities which he/she must have and which he/she may have.

must	may
(1) He must be an honest person.	(1) He may be a great sports lover.

Activity 6

There are some habits which people can stop if they wish. Mention four such habits in the given space. Use the word 'can' while writing each sentence. One is done for you.

(1) People can stop smoking if they make a firm decision to do so. (2) _________________________________________________________________. (3) _________________________________________________________________. (4) _________________________________________________________________.

Activity 7 (a)

Fill in the blanks with the words given below :

therefore, here, carefully, fluently, tomorrow

1. He crossed the road __________________________________________.
2. My uncle will arrive _________________________________________.
3. Wait _________________________________ for sometimes.
4. She speaks _________________________________.
5. He is _________________________________ unhappy.

Activity 7 (b)

Some more words are given below. Fill in the blanks choosing appropriate words from these. Note that some extra words are given.

completely, happily, quite, closely, partly, rather, deeply

(1) Her words are _________________________________ true. (2) The man is _________________________________ ruined. (3) The old man walks _________________________________ slowly. (4) He was _________________________________ moved by the incident. (5) The girl is _________________________________ lovable.

Activity 8

There are two blanks in each sentence. There are some words given in the list of words. Use the same word to fill both blanks of a sentence.

friendly, early, fast

(a) Though he is an __________ riser, he never starts __________ for the station. (b) He likes __________ cars, but he never drives __________. (c) Though he has a __________ smile, he doesn't always behave in a __________ manner.

Activity 9

Fill in the blanks with words from the given list of words:

loud, cheerful, joy, weary, lap

(a) She made the announcement in a very ____________________ manner (b) The champion team was overwhelmed with ____________________. (c) A mother's ____________________ is the best shelter in the world . (d) He spoke in a ____________________ voice so that everyone could hear him . (e) The man looked ____________________ at the end of the day.

Let's talk : 🗣️

What is your favourite sport? Discuss with your friends. Tell the class why you are so fond of this particular sport.

Let's do : ✍️

Activity 10

Write a short rhyme expressing your love for nature. Work in pairs.

Let's work together : 🤝

Stick pictures of various trees in your scrap book. Under each picture write the name of the tree.