Tenses

Tense	Structure	Example
Simple Present	S + V¹ (s/es) + O	He drives the car.
Simple Past	S + V² + O	He drove the car.
Simple Future	S + will/shall + V¹ + O	He will drive the car.
Present Continuous	S + am/is/are + V⁴ + O	He is driving the car.
Past Continuous	S + was/were + V⁴ + O	He was driving the car.
Future Continuous	S + will be + V⁴ + O	He will be driving the car.
Present Perfect	S + has/have + V³ + O	He has driven the car.
Past Perfect	S + had + V³ + O	He had driven the car.
Future Perfect	S + will have + V³ + O	He will have driven the car.
Present Perfect Continuous	S + has/have + been + V⁴ + O	He has been driving the car.
Past Perfect Continuous	S + had + been + V⁴ + O	He had been driving the car.
Future Perfect Continuous	S + will have been + V⁴ + O	He will have been driving the car.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village, thoug bhih;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound’s the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

**Stanza 1:**  

*Whose woods these are I think I know.  

His house is in the village though;  

He will not see me stopping here  

To watch his woods fill up with snow.*  

**Meaning:**  

The speaker is stopping near someone's woods (forest) that are covered in snow. He knows who owns these woods, but the owner lives in the village and won’t see him stopping there. The speaker is quietly enjoying the beauty of the snowy woods.

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**Stanza 2:**  

*My little horse must think it queer  

To stop without a farmhouse near  

Between the woods and frozen lake  

The darkest evening of the year.*  

**Meaning:**  

The speaker’s horse finds it strange to stop in such a lonely place, far from any farmhouse. They are standing between the woods and a frozen lake on a very dark winter evening. The horse seems confused because they usually don’t stop in such quiet, empty places.

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**Stanza 3:**  

*He gives his harness bells a shake  

To ask if there is some mistake.  

The only other sound’s the sweep  

Of easy wind and downy flake.*  

**Meaning:**  

The horse shakes its harness bells as if to ask, “Why are we stopping here?” The only other sounds are the soft wind and the gentle falling of snowflakes. It’s very quiet and peaceful.

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**Stanza 4:**  

*The woods are lovely, dark and deep,  

But I have promises to keep,  

And miles to go before I sleep,  

And miles to go before I sleep.*  

**Meaning:**  

The speaker finds the woods beautiful, quiet, and mysterious. But he remembers he has responsibilities and tasks to complete. He still has a long way to travel before he can rest or sleep. The repetition of the last line shows how important his duties are.

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**Summary:**  

The poem is about a man who stops to admire the beauty of snowy woods but realizes he must continue his journey because he has responsibilities to fulfill. It teaches us about balancing the beauty of life with the duties we must carry out.

BRAINSTORMING Song of the open road

BRAINSTORMING

Song of the open road

By

Walt Whitman

BRAINSTORMING

(A1) (i) Pick out the lines showing that the poet is prepared to enjoy every moment of his journey.

Answer – Following lines show that the poet is prepared to enjoy every moment:

Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,

The poet is prepared and glad to start his journey.

The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose

The poet is happy and free to do whatever he wants to do in his journey.

Strong and content I travel the open road.

This line shows that he is very firm and satisfied with no complaints.

(Explanation is not necessary; Students can write only lines from the poem.)

(ii)  By ‘old delicious burdens’ the poet means –

a) the luggage

b) the food he carries

c) the stress he bears during travel

d)  sweet memories of the past

Answer- d) sweet memories of the past

(iii) The poet is the person who is free from all inhibitions. Discuss how the concept of freedom is expressed in the poem.

Answer

In the very first stanza we can see the happy poet is ready to meet the free world, means he wants to meet people who respect human values along with liberty (freedom). He himself is ready to take the path he likes that’s why he says -  

The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

He is not bound by anything like good luck or bad luck; he is fearless and needs nothing. He is strong and firm with his content mind. This shows his optimistic way of life.

The earth is sufficient for me

The poet started his journey to the open road with the open mind that’s why he thinks that the earth or the whole world is sufficient to him, this again tells the value of  not only liberty but for the fraternity also.

(A2) (1) Following are the activities of the poet related to his journey on the road. Divide them into two parts as “activities the poet will practise’ and ‘activities he will not practise’.

(a) Walking along the road though he does not know where it reaches

(b) Complaining about the discomforts during the journey

(c) Postponing the journey

(d) Praying for good fortune    

(e) Carrying the fond memories of the good people

(f) Creating contacts with famous and influential people

(9) Striving to achieve high and bright success

(h) Reflecting and developing his own ‘self’

Answer-

Activities the poet will practise	Activities he will not practise
(a) Walking along the road though he does not know where it reaches	(c) Postponing the journey
(e) Carrying the fond memories of the good people	(d) Praying for good fortune
(g) Striving to achieve high and bright success	(b) Complaining about the discomforts during the journey
(h) Reflecting and developing his own ‘self’	(f) Creating contacts with famous and influential people

(ii) Write down the traits the poet exhibit though following lines. One is done for you.

(a)  Henceforth, I ask for no good fortune-l myself am good fortune :       Self-confidence

(b) Henceforth, l whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing:   Strength and optimism

(c)  I do not want the constellations any nearer:           filters and channels anger effectively

(d) I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them:  awareness or consciousness

                                                                                                                  (social consciousness)

(e)  I am Filled with them I will fill them in rectum:       Willingness or conscience

(iii) 'Healthy, free, the world before me'.

      Express your views regarding the above line.

Answer - The poet has started his journey to the road of life and he thinks that the whole world is his. It is healthy and free means the social atmosphere is sound and ideal and values like freedom are respected and practised there. The poet is a glad and free minded person who wants to go in the free world from his surroundings, which is filled with narrow-minded people. He thinks that the world is happily greeting and welcoming him.

(A3) The poet has used many describing words such as 'healthy' in this poem. Make a list and classify them as

(a) For the world - healthy, free

(b) For himself – strong and content

 (c) For the road – open, long, brown (it is used for the path; means road only)

(A4) (i) Read the expression ‘old delicious burdens.’ A burden cannot be delicious. The poet has used this combination of words to express that he has many sweet memories of the people and places which he would like to remember forever. The poet has used seemingly contradictory expressions to convey the meaning that his heart is full of sweet memories of good and kind people. Though he wants to be free from any type of attachment, he wants to cherish these sweet memories in his heart forever.

The expression contains opposite ideas that make it seem absurd or unlikely, although it may be true. This is called ‘Paradox.’

(ii) The road in the poem does not mean only the road to travel.

The poet wants to suggest the road of life. Explain the metaphor with the help of the poem.

Answer  -  ‘The metaphor’ is a figure of speech that is used to in an imaginative way to show someone or something has similar qualities like the other thing. Here the poet has used the metaphor perfectly, to show the road of life as the road to travel.

In our life, we deal with many things and come across many ups and downs, we meet different people and get different experiences. Like that when we travel on the road sometimes we get tough things in our way sometimes we go smoothly on it.  When we start our travel happily like the poet, we expect all good things to happen with us, like the poet says

Healthy, free, the world before me,

But every time we don’t get them, so we need to ignore some of the things on the road and in the life also; just as the poet ignores many things to keep his joy as it is.

The road is leading us to the destination and we are free to choose the way in our life’s road.

(iii) Free Verse: Free Verse is a poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular

rhythm. The features of Free Verse are-

lt is a literary device that is free from limitations of regular metre or rhythm, does not rhyme with fixed forms, and still, it provides an artistic expression. In this way, the poet can give his own shape to a poem as he desires and can use various poetic devices to create the effect he considers suitable for the piece.

As Free Verse gives greater freedom for choosing words and conveying their meanings to readers, it is free from artificiality of a typical poetic expression. This technique is commonly used in modern poetry.

Remember

(a) Although Free Verse requires no metre, rhyme or other traditional poetic techniques, it is the use of an internal pattern of sounds, the choice of exact words and their chosen places are the factors which attribute the Free Verse, its lyrical or rhythmic beauty.

(b) Free Verse is completely different from ‘Blank Verse’ which essentially has to occur in iambic pentameter. Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines. It is described as 'the most common' form of English poetry which has been influential since the 16th century.

(iv) There are certain words that are repeated in the poem.

For example, ‘no more’ (Line 7).

Find out other similar expressions. Explain the effect they have created in the poem.

Answer –‘good fortune’ (line 4)

                 ‘I carry’ (at the end lines of the poem)

Repeating words or phrases are used to have the emphasis or persuasive quality to the poem.

(V) The use of personal pronoun 'l' is evident and prominent in this poem. Give reasons.

The personal pronoun ‘I’ used for the poet himself. The poet is pouring his thoughts through words in the poem. He is indirectly telling about the Democratic Values of freedom, self-awareness and self-respect. He is open-hearted and optimistic towards the future.

When it comes to the reader and the reader too can feel it. And the pronoun ‘I’ becomes universal with the readers.

(5) (i) With the help of the following points, write a poetic appreciation of the poem ‘Song of the Open Road’.

About the poem/poet and the title- ‘Song of the Open Road’.

The theme-

Poetic style -

Free The verse is a poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular

rhythm. This is an example of modern poetry. The poet has used imagery and different words to convey the meaning and message. 

The language-

The simple and effective language is easy to understand.

Walt Whitman has used the free verse in this poem. – so it does not have any rhyme or have a regular rhythm.

 Poetic devices used in the poem ~

 Metaphor – road is compared to the life

 Paradox- two opposite ideas are combined together 

  ‘old delicious burdens’

 Repetition – The word good-fortune is repeated

 Henceforth I ask not good-fortune; I myself am good-fortune,

‘No more’ is repeated in the following line

Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,

Special features-

The language is very simple but effective; the poem is written in free verse so we don’t get any rhyme scheme. The poem has three stanzas. The first stanza contains three lines and the remaining two contain four lines each. Use of figures of speech like metaphor and paradox is influential. Besides these, we get alliteration and repetition also.

The message, values, morals in the poem-

Democratic values like freedom and its importance can be seen in the poem. The poet gives the message of his liberal thoughts and wants to live in a healthy free world.

Your opinion about the poem –

The poet is giving the message to be free as a social animal and as an individual. While enjoying the freedom he doesn’t forget about his responsibilities towards society. He wants us to go out and see the world, meet people and get the experiences of life because these things won’t be taught in any school or university.

 (Students can have their own opinion or changes in the above opinion)

(ii) Write four to six lines of Free Verse on the topic ‘The road that leads to my college’. Express that it is the road to knowledge and a bright future. You may begin like this: Everyday l tread with the bag of books

Every day l tread with the bag of books

To get myself enlightened in the college of life

Different days give different lessons to learn.

Lessons to earn and lessons to learn

to have fun with friends

Lessons to struggle and cope with the life

Libraries and Mentors fill us with knowledge inside the walls

Out we go implementing them

Poet -Vinayak Patil

(Students can write it on their own or can make changes in the above lines)

(iii) Write a blog on the following topic.

(a) Man is free by birth.

We the people of this globe are free. Free to do anything, free to think, free to do what we want or choose. Our government gives the right to freedom.

 Man is born free, but he is everywhere in chains. The so-called government gives people freedom but it is not natural freedom and when freedom is forced, it always hinders the growth of the human to be human. By birth a human is free but as he grows he gets restrictions. As he grows he gets many restrictions sometimes from the home and society, and he has to follow them because everyone does. Theses invisible chains bind or hinder him to develop according to his natural talent. Very few remain firm on their determination and do what they like to do even in all difficult situation.

 We will not talk about Rousseau’s age when his writing revolutionized the state and the world to spread democracy. We will talk about the modern age where foundations of democracy are so concrete. Still, the question arises, ‘Is the man really free in this world?’

He has got the rights to express and even the right to protest. And in this age, it is not the physical freedom of a man but it is the freedom of his soul and mind where he can create something, change something maybe his world or the world before his eyes.

It is not the freedom of individual but social and intellectual freedom.

How true is this expression by Rousseau! Today the child needs the freedom to live his childhood. The young needs freedom to know, what he is?  And why he is? Because he gets this great concept at old age where and when he remains the silent spectator.

(iv)  Expand the ideas suggested in the following lines:

(a) All roads lead to Rome.

(b) A man without liberty is a body without a soul.

A6) (i) Take help from the sources available on the internet and make a list of proverbs and quotations about ‘road.’

1.    The road leading to a goal does not separate you from the destination; it is essentially a part of it.

2.    “My life is the road, man. ...

3.     Hard roads require will of steel!”

4.     “It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.”

5.    “The road is hard, and you have to get accustomed to it.”

6.    “If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one.”

7.    “Nobody travels on the road to success without a puncture or two.”

(ii) Read the poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveller, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves, no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference

-         by Robert Frost.