CLASS 11 · WOVEN WORDS · CHAPTER 11
Original student-friendly answers to Philip Larkin's poem activities.
8 worked answers · short steps first, explanations when you need them
Textbook pages Understanding the Poem
Question Understanding the Poem 1
Link the thrush's song and longer evenings to the approaching spring.
The bird's song announces spring, which is the season and fresh mood that are coming.
Question Understanding the Poem 2
Contrast the speaker's dull memory of childhood with the happiness he feels now.
He remembers childhood as dull, so his present childlike happiness is a fresh feeling.
Question Understanding the Poem 3
Explain that the child cannot understand the adults' private feelings but recognises their laughter.
The child does not understand the reconciliation, but the adults' happy laughter is clear and contagious.
Question Understanding the Poem 4
Name the spring scene and the child witnessing adults reconcile.
The poem links spring's arrival with a child seeing adults reconcile and feeling happy.
Question Understanding the Poem 5
Describe the soft yellow light and the personification of the houses.
The soft yellow light makes the houses seem like calm faces and gives the scene a peaceful mood.
Question Understanding the Poem 6
Explain 'fresh-peeled' as clear, new, and vivid, matching spring's renewal.
The phrase makes the thrush's song sound clear and newly fresh, like spring itself.
Textbook pages Try This Out
Question Try This Out 1
Give a regional example and note that local answers can differ.
Sample: The koel is often associated with spring or warmer weather; local answers may vary.
Question Try This Out 2
Compare the quiet garden and emotional response with poems focused on bright seasonal scenery.
It is quiet and reflective, linking a bird's song and spring to a small, renewed happiness.