Wednesday 19 September 2018
Introduction to the poem
‘A legend of the Northland’ is a ballad. A ballad is a poem narrating a story in short stanzas. Ballad is such kind of poem which tells a story in short stanzas and in the poem all the stanzas comprise four lines. In total, there are 16 stanzas in this poem and these stanzas will tell us a story. Ballads are a part of folk culture or popular culture and are passed on orally from one generation to the next. (Folk culture is a story of any area and is known as ballad). Folk culture comprises of traditional stories which are passed on from one generation to next generation.
This story is of the Northland area, the area which is near the North Pole. This exact place is not specified but ‘Northland’ means the area in the northernmost part of the earth i.e., near the North Pole. ‘Legend’ means a historical story, one which is very old and has been passed on from generation to generation.
Poem and Explanation
Away, away in the Northland,Stanza 1
Where the hours of the day are few,
And the nights are so long in winter
That they cannot sleep them through;
In the region around the North Pole (Northland), the duration of the day is very less because its position is such that the Sun’s rays reach for a very less time. When this area is experiencing winter season, the duration of night is very long, and the day time hours are very less. In line 4, ‘they’ refers to the people who live in this region. The poet says that the duration of the night time is so long that the people cannot sleep them through. If they go to bed, take a few hours of sleep and then, they wake up, it is still night time. He wants to emphasize on the fact that the duration of the night is very long.
Stanza 2
Where they harness the swift reindeer
To the sledges, when it snows;
And the children look like bear’s cubs
In their funny, furry clothes:
Sledges: a vehicle on runners for conveying loads or passengers over snow or ice, often pulled by draught animals.
To harness means to tie the reindeers with a rope to a sledge so that it can be used for transportation.
Swift: something which runs very fast
The Northland region experiences severe cold conditions. It is a snowy area. The reindeer is an animal which is found in this polar region. People tie the reindeers to sledges and then the reindeers pull the sledges. He adds that the children look like young ones of a bear because they wear funny looking clothes made of fur which is like the furry skin of a bear.
Stanza 3
They tell them a curious story —
I don’t believe ’tis true;
And yet you may learn a lesson
If I tell the tale to you.
Curious: strange
In line 1 ‘they’ refers to the parents or elders and ‘them’ refers to the children or the younger generation. The elders of the Northland region tell a strange and interesting story to the younger generation. The poet says that he doesn’t think that the story is true, but if he tells the story to the reader, maybe the reader could learn a lesson from it. The story gives an important message.
Stanza 4
Once, when the good Saint Peter
Lived in the world below,
And walked about it, preaching,
Just as he did, you know,
Saint Peter: an apostle of Christ, a disciple or follower of Jesus Christ
Preaching: to give a religious talk
The story is about Saint Peter. When Saint Peter used to live in the world and went around, giving religious lectures to the people just like all saints do, then an incident happened.
Stanza 5
He came to the door of a cottage,
In travelling round the earth,
Where a little woman was making cakes,
And baking them on the hearth;
hearth: fire place where you do cooking
When Saint Peter was moving around the world, giving religious lectures to the people, he reached the door of a cottage where a small woman was making cakes. She was baking the cakes in the fireplace.
Stanza 6
And being faint with fasting,
For the day was almost done,
He asked her, from her store of cakes,
To give him a single one.
faint: to be weak, famished
As Saint Peter had not eaten anything the entire day, he was very hungry and was feeling weak. So, he went to this woman who was baking cakes and he asked for one cake out of the many cakes that she had baked.
Stanza 7
So she made a very little cake,
But as it baking lay,
She looked at it, and thought it seemed
Too large to give away.
The woman was selfish. She did not give cake from her store. Instead, she started making a very small cake for Saint Peter. She did not want to share her things. But, when she put the cake for baking, she looked at it and thought that this cake was too big to be given to someone.
Stanza 8
Therefore she kneaded another,
And still a smaller one;
But it looked, when she turned it over,
As large as the first had done.
kneaded – to make dough from flour.
The little miser woman thought that the cake was too big to be given away. So, she started making another smaller cake. When she looked at that cake, she again felt that it was as big as the previous one. Again, she was not ready to give this smaller cake to Saint Peter.
Stanza 9
Then she took a tiny scrap of dough,
And rolled and rolled it flat;
And baked it thin as a wafer —
But she couldn’t part with that.
scrap: small amount
The third time, she took a very small amount of dough and rolled it. The poet says that she rolled and rolled to lay emphasis on the fact that she rolled the dough and made it very thin like a wafer and baked it. But she was so greedy that she couldn’t give that thin piece of bread to the saint.
Stanza 10
For she said, “My cakes that seem too small
When I eat of them myself
Are yet too large to give away.”
So she put them on the shelf.
The woman reasoned that, when she ate the cakes, she felt that they were very small but if she had to give them to someone, she felt that they were too big to be given away. She put all the cakes on the shelf of her kitchen and she did not give any cake to Saint Peter.
Stanza 11
Then good Saint Peter grew angry,
For he was hungry and faint;
And surely such a woman
Was enough to provoke a saint.
provoke: cause to get angry
Saint Peter became angry. He was very hungry, he was feeling very weak and the selfish woman was not ready to give him even a small cake. This behavior of the greedy woman angered the saint.
Stanza 12
And he said, “You are far too selfish
To dwell in a human form,
To have both food and shelter,
And fire to keep you warm.
dwell: to live
Saint Peter cursed the woman and said that she was very selfish. She did not deserve to live like a human being. He added that God had given her food, shelter, fire to keep warm but she had become selfish for all the resources she had. She did not want to share them with anybody.
Stanza 13
Now, you shall build as the birds do,
And shall get your scanty food
By boring, and boring, and boring,
All day in the hard, dry wood.”
scanty: very little
boring: make a hole in something with a tool or by digging.
Saint Peter cursed the woman that hence, she would become a bird because she did not deserve the human form. She shall become a bird and just like birds build their houses by boring into the wood and collect very little food by working hard the entire day, similarly, she would also work hard in the dry wood, all day and get little food and make a small place for herself to live in.
Stanza 14
Then up she went through the chimney,
Then up she went through the chimney,
Never speaking a word,
And out of the top flew a woodpecker,
For she was changed to a bird.
As soon as Saint Peter cursed the woman, she did not get a chance to speak for herself because that very moment, she flew up to the roof through the chimney and flew out in the form of a bird. Saint Peter’s curse had converted the woman into a bird.
Stanza 15
She had a scarlet cap on her head,
And that was left the same;
But all the rest of her clothes were burned
Black as a coal in the flame.
scarlet: brilliant red colour
When the woman turned into a bird, at that time she was wearing a red - coloured cap on her head. This cap was there on the bird’s head also, but the woman’s remaining clothes had burned and turned black in colour just like coal.
Stanza 16
And every country schoolboy
Has seen her in the wood,
Where she lives in the trees till this very day,
Boring and boring for food.
country: belonging to the countryside i.e. rural areas
People who live in the countryside, even the small children who go to school, seen this kind of bird in the woods. They see that she stays there all day and keeps on digging the wood with her beak, to collect her food. Whenever any child sees this kind of bird, then his elders tell him this story. They say that the bird used to be a woman earlier. She was very greedy and so, she was cursed by Saint Peter and turned into a bird. They get a teaching that they should not be greedy.
Summary
The poem is a legend about an old lady who angered Saint Peter because of her greed. The story goes’ on like this. One day, Saint Peter was preaching around the world and reached the door of a cottage where this woman lived. She was making cakes and baking them on a hearth. St. Peter was fainting with hunger. He asked the lady to give him a piece of cake. The cake that she was baking then appeared to be too big, so she did not give him that and instead, she baked another smaller one. That also appeared to be big so she did not give him that also. The second time she baked yet another smaller cake but found it too big to give away. In the third attempt, she took an extremely little scrap of dough and rolled it flat. She had it as thin as a wafer but was unable to part with that also. This angered St. Peter a lot. He said that she was not fit to live in human form and enjoy food and warmth. He cursed her and transformed her into a woodpecker bird who had to bore in hard, dry wood to get its scanty food. She can be seen in the trees all day boring and boring for food.
NCERT QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
Page No: 67
Thinking about the Poem
I.
1. Which country or countries do you think “the Northland” refers to?
2. What did Saint Peter ask the old lady for? What was the lady’s reaction?
3. How did he punish her?
4. How does the woodpecker get her food?
5. Do you think that the old lady would have been so ungenerous if she had known who Saint Peter really was? What would she have done then?
6. Is this a true story? Which part of this poem do you feel is the most important?
7. What is a legend? Why is this poem called a legend?
8. Write the story of ‘A Legend of the Northland’ in about ten sentences.
Answer 1. “The Northland” could refer to any extremely cold country in the Earth's north polar region, such as Greenland, the northern regions of Russia, Canada, Norway etc.
2. Saint Peter asked the old lady for one of her baked cakes to satisfy his hunger. The lady tried to bake a small cake for the saint.
3. He punished the lady by changing her into a woodpecker that built “as birds do” and gathered scanty food by boring in the “hard, dry wood” all day long.
4. The woodpecker gets her food by boring holes into trees.
5. No, the old lady would not have been so ungenerous if she had known who Saint Peter really was. Instead, she would have tried to please him with her cakes for the fulfillment of her greedy desires.
6. No, this not a true story; it is a legend. I feel that the point in the story where the old lady is changed into a woodpecker is the most important. This is because the punishment meted out to the lady teaches us the value of generosity and charity.
7. A 'legend' is a popular story from the past which is believed by many but one cannot prove whether it is true or not. It usually contains a message or a moral and is narrated to children. The poet himself says that he doesn't believe this tale to be true. This poem is called a 'legend' because it preaches generosity towards fellow beings.
8. Once Saint Peter stopped by an old lady's cottage because he was feeling hungry and weak after the day's fasting. The lady was baking cakes on the hearth. Since he was weak with fasting, he asked her for a cake from her store of cakes. The selfish lady tried to bake small cakes but each time they seemed too big for her to give away. Finally, she baked one that was as thin as a wafer. Unable to part with it too, she put it on a shelf and did not give any cake to the Saint. Saint Peter was very angry with her behaviour and said she was too selfish to live as a human and have food, shelter and a fire to keep her warm. He punished her by changing her into a woodpecker that would have to build a nest to live in, bore for food in the trunks of trees. Her clothes were burned and she was left with her scarlet cap on her head as she flew out through the chimney. Even today she still lives in the woods and is seen by all the country school boys.
1. 1. Let’s look at the words at the end of the second and fourth lines, viz., ‘snows’ and ‘clothes’, true’ and ‘you’, ‘below’ and ‘know’. We find that ‘snows’ rhymes with ‘clothes’, ‘true’ rhymes with ‘you’ and ‘below’ rhymes with ‘know’.
Answer
The rhyming words are: 'Few' and 'through' 'Earth' and 'hearth' 'Done' and 'one' 'Lay' and 'away' 'One' and 'done' 'Flat' and 'that' Myself and 'shelf' 'Faint' and 'saint' 'Form' and 'warm' 'Food' and 'wood' 'Word' and 'bird' 'Same' and 'flame' 'Wood' and 'food'
2. Go to the local library or talk to older persons in your locality and find legends in your own language. Tell the class these legends.
Answer
Echo was a nymph who talked too much. She was very fond of having the last word. One day she spoke rudely to the great Juno, who said that for this offence Echo should never use her voice again, unless to repeat what she had just heard, but since she was so very fond of last words, she might repeat the last words of others. This was almost as bad as if Juno had changed her into a parrot. Echo was very much ashamed, and hid herself in the forest. Narcissus, a young man who had hair as yellow as gold and eyes as blue as the sky, - a very rare thing in Greece, where most people were very dark, - used to hunt in the forest where Echo was hiding. As she was peeping out shyly from some cave or from behind a great tree, Echo often saw Narcissus, and she admired him very much. One day Narcissus became separated from his friends, and hearing something rustle among the leaves, he called out, "Who's here?" "Here," answered Echo. "Here I am. Come!" said Narcissus. "I am come," said Echo; and, as she spoke, she came out from among the trees. When Narcissus saw a stranger, instead of one of his friends as he had expected, he looked surprised and walked quickly away. After this, Echo never came out and allowed herself to be seen again, and in time she faded away till she became only a voice. This voice was heard for many, many years in forests and among mountains, particularly in caves. In their solitary walks, hunters often heard it. Sometimes it mocked the barking of their dogs; sometimes it repeated
Reference:
https://www.successcds.net/learn-english/class-9/a-legend-of-the-northland-class-9-cbse-english.html
