Step into the intriguing world of "A Legend of the Northland", a fascinating poem included in the Class 9th English syllabus. This captivating narrative poem, often simply referred to as "A Legend of Northland", takes students on an unforgettable journey into the heart of Northern legends. Parents, teachers, and students alike will find the summary of A Legend of the Northland class 9 to be an enriching experience, unveiling the mysteries and morals of the tale.
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Furthermore, the A Legend of the Northland Class 9 summary offers a concise yet thorough exploration of the poem's themes and messages. This summary of A Legend of the Northland is crafted to provide a quick and comprehensive understanding, perfect for revising or gaining a quick grasp of the poem's essence.
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The A Legend of the Northland poem is not just a part of the curriculum; it's a journey into a world of legend and moral lessons. The A Legend of the Northland question answers and summary are crucial tools for any Class 9 student seeking to thoroughly understand and appreciate this timeless piece of literature. Whether for exam preparation or for a love of poetry, these resources simplify learning and bring the magic of A Legend of the Northland to life.
CHAPTER 5: A LEGEND OF THE NORTHLAND
SUMMARY OF A LEGEND OF THE NORTHLAND
-by Phoebe Cary
Stanza- 1 &
2
Away, away in the Northland,
Where the hours of the day are few,
And the nights are so long in
winter
That they cannot sleep them through;
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:
Explanation: Here the poet introduces the place from which
her story is derived, which is the 'Northland where the days are short, and
nights are long in winter. It is so cold in that season that people cannot
sleep comfortably the whole night, and often woke up. As the nights are very
long, they are also not able to sleep the entire night. When the snow falls,
people like to go sledging by tying reindeers to their sledges to pull them.
Because of the cold, children wear heavy woollen and fur clothes that cover
them up fully and make them look like bear cubs.
Stanza- 3 &
4
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.
Once, when the good Saint Peter
Lived in the world below,
And walked about it, preaching,
Just as he did, you know,
Explanation: Parents in the Northland tell their children a story. Although, the
poet does not think the story is true, it should be told, nonetheless, because
it teaches children an important lesson. Then the poet begins to tell the
story. The story is about Saint Peter as he travelled around the world
preaching the word of God.
Stanza- 5 &
6
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;
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.
Explanation: Saint Peter came to a woman's house in the
Northland just when she was baking cakes in her fireplace for herself. Saint
Peter's body was pale and tired at the end of a long day, during which he had
been fasting. To sustain himself, he asked the woman to give him only one of
the many cakes that she was baking.
Stanza- 7 &
8
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.
Therefore she kneaded another,
And still a smaller one;
But it looked, when she turned it over,
As large as the first had done.
Explanation: So the woman baked a very small cake, but before she could give it to
Saint Peter, she started thinking that it was too big to just be given away
like that. So the woman went on to make an even smaller cake, but this also
looked as big as the first one to her.
Stanza- 9 &
10
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.
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.
Explanation: In her third attempt to make a cake so small that she wouldn't mind
giving it away, she took an extremely small lump of dough, and when she rolled
out the dough, her cake was as flat and thin as a wafer. However, she couldn't
even bear to give that small cake away. The woman said that the cakes that
seemed small when she herself ate them, were all too big to be donated for
free. As a result, she ended up keeping all the cakes on the shelf and not
giving any to Saint Peter.
Stanza- 11
& 12
Then good Saint Peter grew angry,
For he was hungry and faint;
And surely such a woman
Was enough to provoke a saint.
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.
Explanation: This angered Saint Peter because he was hungry and weak and needed
some food. It is not easy to anger a saint, but the selfish woman had been able
to do so. So, Saint Peter put a curse on the selfish woman, telling her she did
not deserve to have such comforts of human life like a warm fire, a house to
live in and good food to eat whenever she wanted.
Stanza- 13
& 14
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."
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.
Explanation: Saint Peter cursed the woman that she would have to build her own
nest like birds do, and must dig holes into hard, dry wood to get food to feed
herself. The woman went up the chimney of her house, being speechless, and had
turned into a woodpecker. This woodpecker could be seen flying out of the top
of the chimney.
Stanza- 15
& 16
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.
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.
Explanation: As the woman had been wearing a red cap in human form, as a
woodpecker her head was still the same shade of red in colour However, all the
clothes she had been wearing seemed to have been burnt and had become black,
and that is what the colour of the woodpecker's body was. The poet says that
every schoolboy living in the villages had seen this woodpecker and that she
still digs into the bark of trees looking for worms and insects to feed on.
Conclusion of A Legend of the Northland CLASS 9th
By, a legend of the Northland summary the poet wants to say that when
you have something then share it with others. And don’t be selfish and greedy.
NCERT SOLUTIONS FOR CLASS 9 POEM 5 ENGLISH
Questions (Page No. 67)
(Thinking about the Poem)
A legend Of The Northland Question And Answers
I. Question 1. Which country or countries do you
think “the Northland” refers to?
Answer: The “Northland” may refer to any of
the countries among Greenland, Norway, Russia, Canada, etc.
Question 2. What did Saint Peter ask the old
lady for? What was the lady’s reaction?
Answer: Saint Peter asked the old lady for a
piece of cake.
She was very selfish and kept reducing the size of
the cake as to her it seemed too big to give away.
Question 3. How did he punish her?
Answer: He cursed her to become a woodpecker
as a punishment for being so selfish.
Question 4. How does the woodpecker get her
food?
Answer: The woodpecker needs to bore all day
in the hard, dry wood to get itself some food.
Question 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?
Answer: I don’t think the old lady would have
been so ungenerous if she had known who Saint Peter really was. She would have
given him as large a piece of cake so that she could please him in order to get
rewarded.
Question 6. Is this a true story? Which part
of this poem do you feel is the most important?
Answer: No, this is not a true story. It is a
legend.
The part of the poem that, according to me, is the
most important is:
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.
This shows that we must do go things for humanity
as we are capable of doing so in our human form. We should have gratitude for
having food, shelter and fire. We should be generous to people.
Question 7. What is a legend? Why is this poem
called a legend?
Answer: A legend is a folklore that is
believed to be true by tellers and listeners but it has not been proven to have
happened. It usually imparts some morals or message.
This poem is called a legend because it also
imparts the message of generosity.
Question 8. Write the story of ‘A Legend of the
Northland’ in about ten sentences.
Answer: A Legend of the Northland
Once, Saint Peter was feeling very hungry and he
asked for alms from an old lady. He asked if she could give him a piece of cake
to eat. The lady was very selfish. She kept reducing the size of the cake as
she felt that the size of the cake was too big to be given away as alms. At
last she did not give him any cake.
Saint Peter grew angry and cursed her to become a
woodpecker. He said that from now on, she will have to bore dry, hard wood in
order to get food. All her clothes got burnt in the chimney and till this day,
woodpeckers bore all day long for food and water.
II. Question 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’.
Find more such rhyming words.
Answer: Here are more such rhyming words from
the poem:
earth-hearth, done-one, lay-away, flat-that,
myself-shelf, faint-saint, form-warm, food-wood, word-bird and same-flame.
Question 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: Do it yourself.
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