On the Grasshopper and Cricket Poem Summary Class 8 | John Keats |

On the Grasshopper and Cricket Poem Summary Class 8, John Keats

On the Grasshopper and Cricket (Poem)

The poetry of earth is never dead:

When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,

And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run

From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead,

That is the grasshopper’s — he takes the lead

In summer luxury — he has never done

With his delights, for when tired out with fun

He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.

The poetry of earth is ceasing never:

On a lone winter evening when the frost

Has wrought a silence, from the stone there shrills

The cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever,

And seems to one in drowsiness half lost;

The grasshopper’s among some grassy hills.

Brief Summary of On the Grasshopper and Cricket

‘On the Grasshopper and the Cricket’ is a poem that revolves around nature. In the poem, the poet talks about two animals wherein one called the grasshopper symbolises hot summer whereas the cricket symbolises cold winter. The grasshopper is for hot summer and the crickets are for cold winter. They sing songs because there is joy in nature. Nature always sings but during summer it sings more because of the joy of hot weather and during cold winter, it sings less because of its sadness.

Explanation of On the Grasshopper and Cricket

In this poem, the poet talks about nature. According to him, the earth is always alive with music. During the summer, all of the birds stop singing because it’s too hot outside. They take shelter under trees and then they can’t sing songs anymore. But there is still a song you can hear in that time when the grasshopper sings songs from one garden to another and leads everyone else to sing at night when it gets cooler again. He enjoys singing in summertime when he doesn’t get tired from singing so much. When he does get tired, he takes a break below some weeds so he can keep his song going for everybody else to enjoy!

The poet says that the poem of earth never ends. The song of the birds stops in winter because it is cold. But then, at that time, crickets start to sing and spread the joy everywhere. People who are half-asleep feel like it is grasshoppers singing on their hills.

This poem tells you that nature is beautiful all the time, no matter what the season. That is like our life. We should be happy in all situations, whether they are good or bad.

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NCERT Solutions of On the Grasshopper and Cricket

Working with the poem (Page 119)

Question 1: Discuss with your partner the following definition of a poem.

A poem is made of words arranged in a beautiful order. These words, when read aloud with feeling, have a music and meaning of their own.

Answer: A poem is a piece of music with words. The poet arranges the words in different ways to sound like a song. There are musical elements in a poem, and the poet is imaginative. A poem can be interesting and have a lasting effect on readers.

Question 2: ‘The poetry of earth’ is not made of words. What is it made of, as suggested in the poem?

Answer: The poetry of earth is not just made up of words. Rather, it is made from the beautiful songs from nature’s creatures. Nature has a musical element that never ceases to enchant us with its changes in seasons. Winter and summer are the hardest seasons for many animals, such as a cricket or a grasshopper. The grasshopper hops around happily during the summer, but when he gets tired he rests under a weed. On the other hand, a cricket sings with a high-pitched sound during the cold and dark nights of winter.

Question 3: Find in the poem lines that match the following.

(i) The grasshopper’s happiness never comes to an end.

(ii) The cricket’s song has a warmth that never decreases.

Answer: (i) In summer luxury — he has never done

With his delights,

(ii) The cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever

Question 4: Which word in stanza 2 is opposite in meaning to ‘the frost’?

Answer: In stanza 2, the word that means the opposite from frost is warmth. Frost means a cold or chill experience. On the other hand, warmth in the poem refers to a cricket’s song which brings in warm feelings and can make one feel sleepy and drowsy.

Question 5: The poetry of earth continues round the year through a cycle of two seasons. Mention each with its representative voice.

Answer: In summer, grasshoppers are joyful and keep hopping. They show how beautiful it is on earth. In winter, the song of the cricket is mesmerizing because it’s so different from summer. The poem takes two creatures to show how different seasons are.

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