My Own True Family
Edward James 'Ted' Hughes was a noted poet of English
Literature and had been the Poet Laureate of Great Britain from 1984 till his
death. His famous works include 'Birthday Letters', 'The Hawk in the Rain', and
'Tales from Ovid'
[The British Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom on the advice of the Prime Minister. The role does not entail any specific duties, but there is an expectation that the holder will write verse for significant national occasions. The origins of the laureateship date back to 1616 when a pension was provided to Ben Jonson, but the first official holder of the position was John Dryden, appointed in 1668 by Charles II. source - wikipedia]
The poem describes the magical experience of a young child in
an Oakwood, and indicates that human beings and trees should thrive as a single
family. It focuses strongly on the need to protect our natural environment for
the welfare of mankind.
EXPLANATION: “Once I
crept in …to a stake”
The poet once went to an oakwood in search of a deer. There he
met with a very weak and feeble old woman. She showed a bag to the poet and
said that she knew his secret which perhaps made the poet very curious.
Then the old woman began to shake her bag in a magical way and
suddenly the poet found himself surrounded by a tribe and he was tied to a
stake.
EXPLANATION: “They Said…but never grew”
The tribes were nothing but the oak trees and they said to the
poet that they are his own true family. They expressed their unhappiness saying
that human beings chop them down, they torn them up. They threatened the poet
that they would kill him unless he made a promise to stop this.
They made the poet to make promise that from now on he would
plant more trees whenever one tree is cut. If the poet would not make the
promise then the old oak tree would devour him.
EXPLANATION: “This was my dream…heart was a tree”
But this incident is not a real incident. It is happening in
the dreams of the poet. But when the
poet wakes up his inner conscience has already transformed. He feels sorry for
the trees. He on behalf of mankind realizes his mistake and his heart is filled
with compassion for the trees.
Comprehension Exercises
1. Choose the correct
alternative to complete the following sentences:
a) Creeping in an Oakwood, the poet was looking for a
iii) Stag
b) Whenever an Oak tree is felled, the number of trees the
poet must plant is
ii) two
c) When the poet came out of the Oakwood, his heart was that
of a
ii)tree
2. State whether the
following sentences are True or False. Provide sentences phrases / words in
support of your answer.
a) True
S.S – “I have your secret in my little bag”
b) False
S.S – “we are chopped down, we are torn up, you do not blink
an eye.”
c) False
S.S – “When I came out of the oakwood, back to human
company.”
3. Answer the
following questions:
a) When did the poet come twice awake?
Ans- When the old woman whom the poet met in an oakwood
opened the bag to show a magic, the poet came twice awake.
b) What would happen to the poet if he failed to make the
promise?
Ans – If the poet failed to make the promise, the black oak
tree would wrinkle over him and rooted him among the oak trees. This way he
would die.
c) What was it that altered the poet?
Ans –The dream which the poet saw about the ill fate of oak
trees has altered the poet completely. When he awoke from his dream he felt
compassionate with the trees.
4. Change the
following into indirect speech:
a) Rahul asked
Dipa,”Will you go to school today?”
Ans – Rahul asked Dipa if she would go to school that day.
RULE : 1. Look
at the Reporting Verb. here it is ‘asked’, it is in past form.
2. If Reported speech (the portin in
inverted comma) is a yes/no question, then to remove the inverted comma we
should use if/whether.
3. If Reported
speech is in Future Indefinite Tense, then shall/will is changed to should/would
according to subject.
4. The Reported speech should be rewritten as a Statement.
b) Rita said to Ayesha, “Please give me a glass of water.”
Ans - Rita requested Ayesha to give her a
glass of water.
RULE : 1. If
Reported Speech is a request then in Indirect Speech we must use ‘requested’ or
‘request’ according to the form of Reporting
Verb.
2. To
remove inverted comma we use ‘to’ here and not ‘That’ or ‘If’.
c) The old man told
the little girl, ”May you be happy”
Ans - The old man wished that the little girl might be
happy.
RULE: 1. If the
Reported speech is an Optative Sentence, we should use the word ‘Wished’ in
place of the Reporting Verb.
2. Here
‘that’ is used to remove inverted comma.
3. The Reported speech is rewritten as
Statement.
SOME MORE EXAMPLES:
1. He asked me, “ Will
you come tomorrow?”
He asked me if I would come the next day.
2. The receptionist
said to me, “Please sign the register.”
The receptionist requested me to sign the register.
3. He said, “May God
bless you”.
He prayed that God might bless him.
5. Do as directed:
a) Ranjan said, “who does not know the name of
Rabindranath?” (Change into affirmative sentence)
Ans - Ranjan said that everybody knows the name of
Rabindranath.
b) Sangeeta runs faster than any other girl in her class.
(Rewrite using the positive degree of ‘faster’)
Ans - No other girl in the class runs as fast as
Sangeeta.
7. Your school is
going to organize the Inter-school District Sports Competition. Suppose you are
the secretary of the Sports Club of your school. Write a notice (within 100
words) calling students to participate in the competition. Mention the time,
date and venue of the competition. Your notice should be countersigned by the
Headmaster/Headmistress of your school.
NAWAB BAHADUR’S
INSTITUTION
NOTICE 19/11/2016
It is hereby notified
that the school is going to host the Inter - school District Sports Competition
from 1st December 2016 to 7th December 2016 in our school
premises. Teams from different schools in our district will participate in the
sports competition. Many events will be there details of which will be
announced later. The willing students are requested to submit their names to
the game’s teacher. One candidate can participate maximum in three events. Honourable Sports Minister of the state will
inaugurate the programme. The students are asked to maintain discipline throughout
the programme.
Secreetary
Counter
signed by Sports Club
Headmaster
