An April Day : Henry Wadsworth Longfellow/CLASS8/BLOSSOM

 

    

When the warm sun, that brings

Seed-time and harvest, has returned again,

‘T is sweet to visit the still wood, where springs

 The first flower of the plain.

 I love the season well,

When forest glades are teeming with bright forms,

Nor dark and many-folded clouds foretell

 The coming-on of storms.

 From the earth’s loosened mould

The sapling draws its sustenance, and thrives;

Though stricken to the heart with winter’s cold,

 The drooping tree revives.

 The softly-warbled song

Comes from the pleasant woods, and colored wings

Glance quick in the bright sun, that moves along

 The forest openings.

When the bright sunset fills

The silver woods with light, the green slope throws

Its shadows in the hollows of the hills,

 And wide the upland glows. 

[And when the eve is born,

In the blue lake the sky, o’er-reaching far,

Is hollowed out and the moon dips her horn,

 And twinkles many a star.

 Inverted in the tide

Stand the gray rocks, and trembling shadows throw,

And the fair trees look over, side by side,

 And see themselves below.

 Sweet April! many a thought

Is wedded unto thee, as hearts are wed;

Nor shall they fail, till, to its autumn brought,

 Life’s golden fruit is shed.]-not given in BLOSSOM

 

“An April Day” written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, draws a pen picture of  a day in April in detail. The poem is composed of eight stanzas with (abab) rhyming scheme, but in Blossoms full poem is not given. It is a romantic  poem describing - “An April Day” while celebrating its arrival joyfully.The theme revolves around the mesmerizing beauty of Nature in Spring.

 

Stanza 1:

When the warm sun, that brings

Seed-time and harvest, has returned again,

'T is sweet to visit the still wood, where springs

The first flower of the plain.

The poem begins with the description of the month of April which brings Spring. He simply describes how the warmth of sun gives life to this season and helps the growth of plants and flowers. He also announces how charming is the time to wander about in the beautiful forest and the plains to witness the first flower of the season.

Stanza 2:

I love the season well

When forest glades are teeming with bright forms,

Nor dark and many-folded clouds foretell

The coming-in of storms.

In this stanza, the poet expresses his love for this season. He uninterruptedly utters how he loves the lively and sunny forest  without any mark of  dark, stormy clouds to tell us why Spring is so lovable.

Stanza 3:

From the earth's loosened mould

The sapling draws its sustenance, and thrives;

Though stricken to the heart with winter's cold,

The drooping tree revives.

The third stanza boldly declares how life finds its space in this season. Spring provides the Saplings that is needed to live and grow or thrive. The warmth of  sun after the freezing winter revives the drooping and bending  trees in the April, the Spring time.

Stanza 4:

The softly-warbled song

Comes through the pleasant woods, and coloured wings

Glance quick in the bright sun, that moves along

The forest openings.

Now, the poet describes the singing and the  twittering of variety of birds. Moreover, they all have colourful wings and they are staring at the bright sun in joy and bathing in the April sun.

Stanza 5:

When the bright sunset fills

The silver woods with light, the green slope throws

Its shadows in the hollows of the hills,

And wide the upland glows.

The last  stanza  describes  of the beauty of the mesmerizing sunset in Spring. It is really a heavenly beauty. The silver woods, the green slope,the shadows in the hollows of the hills and the wide  upland captivate the heart of all readers.It is a carnival of Nature.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

1.    Why do you think the poet ’loves the season well’?

2.    Why is it sweet to visit the wood during the spring time?

3.    What time of the day do you think it is when “the green slope throws its shadows in the hollows of the hill”?

4.    Why do you think the poem is titled An April Day? Suggest an alternate title.

5.    What has returned again?

6.    What is sweet to visit?

7.    Why is it sweet to visit?

8.    ‘I love the season well’. Who is ‘I’?

9.    When he  loves  the season well?

10.  Where does the sapling draw  its sustenance and thrives?

11.  How does the drooping tree revive?

12.  What comes  through the pleasant woods ?

13.  What are the colourful winged birds doing?

14.  What does the bright sunset feel ?

COMPLETE THE FOLLOEING WITH INFORMATION FROM THE TEXT

1.   When do  the warm sun, brings Seed-time and harvest ______________

2.   ________________________________________has returned again.

3.   'T is sweet to visit ________________________________

4.   I love the ____________________________________

5.   From the earth's loosened mould____________________________

6.   ___________________________ tree revives.

_____________________ comes through the pleasant woods