Exploring Poetry — Important Questions

John Keats

Step 1: The poem 'On The Grasshopper and The Cricket' is clearly attributed at the end of the poem. Step 2: The poet's name given is John Keats. Step 3: John Keats was a famous English Romantic poet known for his nature poetry. Step 4: Ms. Esther Samuel wrote 'Life', not this poem. Step 5: Wordsworth and Frost are also famous poets but did not write this poem.

Nature's sounds and beauty never stop, in all seasons

Step 1: The word 'poetry of earth' refers to the natural sounds and beauty found in nature. Step 2: 'Never dead' means it continues without stopping. Step 3: In summer, the grasshopper sings; in winter, the cricket sings. Step 4: Together, they show that nature always has a voice, no matter the season. Step 5: This is the core message of the poem — nature's song is eternal and never-ending.

It rests beneath some pleasant weed

Step 1: Find the lines in the poem about the grasshopper being tired. Step 2: Keats writes: 'for when tired out with fun / He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.' Step 3: This shows the grasshopper rests under a weed, not in trees. Step 4: The birds hide in cooling trees — students often confuse this with the grasshopper. Step 5: The grasshopper and birds behave differently in the poem.

Winter

Step 1: Read the second stanza carefully. Step 2: Keats mentions 'a lone winter evening when the frost / Has wrought a silence.' Step 3: The word 'frost' and 'winter evening' clearly tell us it is the winter season. Step 4: The first stanza talks about summer with the hot sun and the grasshopper. Step 5: Therefore, the second stanza describes a cold, frosty winter evening.