Explanation of the Poem : The Road Not Taken

Stanza 1
The poet has come to a forest in the autumn season when the leaves have turned
yellow. He reaches a point where the two roads separated into two directions. The
roads symbolise the two ways of life. The poet, as a traveller, knew that he had to make
a choice as he cannot travel both the roads at the same time. So, he stood there for a
long time and looked down on both the roads. The poet looked at the first road and
found that it has a bend which was covered with small plants and bushes. Just like the
poet, we also take decisions and make choices everyday. Thus, we must analyse the
situation to make the correct choice.

Stanza 2
The poet looked at the other road. According to him, this road seemed better and more
impressive as it was covered with grass. It was not walked over by many people.
However, as the poet walked on the road for some distance he realised that both the
roads have been walked over equally.

Stanza 3
The poet now says that both the roads were similar on that morning as no one had
travelled on any of the roads. The leaves were still green and fresh as they had not
been crushed by anyone while walking. The poet decides to travel the second road and
keeps the first one for some other days. However, the poet had a doubt if he could ever
come back again to walk on the first road. As the poet knew that once he made a
choice, he would move and take many more decisions and would not be able to come
back to change his choice.

Stanza 4
In these lines, the poet talks about the consequences of the choice. The poet states that
sometime in future, he will remember the day he made the choice. He would be telling
about his decision with a sigh either with relief or regret (relief of making the right choice
or regret of making the wrong choice). He would tell that from the two roads that went
into the forest, he took the less travelled one and the choice had made a significant
impact on his life.
 Explanation of the Poem : Wind

Stanza 1
In these lines, the poet requests the wind to blow gently and not destroy anything with
its force. He asks the wind not to break the shutters of the windows and scatter the
papers here and there. He also asks the wind not to throw down the books from the
shelf. The repetition of the word 'don't' in these lines highlights the requests of mercy.

Stanza 2
In these lines, as the wind had not paid any attention to the poet's request, the poet
says that the wind has thrown down the books from the shelf and torn the pages of the
books. The poet also accuses that the wind has brought rain with it.

Stanza 3
In these lines, the poet seems to be a little sad as well as accusatory (critical tone). The
poet calls the wind clever as it makes fun of all weak things. The strong wind represents
all the difficulties and struggles that an individual faces in life. The poet says that the
wind destroys all weak things such as houses, doors, rafters and wood. It even destroys
people, their lives and their hearts with its mighty power. The wind God continues
destroying or separating the weak until only the strong people (who can go through
hardships and face challenges) remain.

Stanza 4
In these lines, the poet addresses the readers and asks them to make themselves
strong as the wind will not listen to them. The poet asks the readers to build strong
houses and to close/fix the doors tightly so that the wind cannot harm them. He
encourages his readers to become bold and strong so as to face all the troubles in life.
The poet asks the readers to practise hard to get a firm mind as well as a strong body
so that they can face the wind and any challenge in life. If they are able to do so, the
wind will become their friend and will not harm them.

Stanza 5
In these lines, the poet describes wind as both a destroyer and a creator. As a
destroyer, the wind blows out the weak fires. As a creator, it encourages and nurtures
strong fires. In other words, wind can destroy all weak things and can also flourish a
thing which is already strong. The poet states that if we are strong, then the wind is a
good friend to us and nothing can harm us. We will praise the wind God everyday for
building our strength. Thus, we should make ourselves physically and mentally ready to
accept all challenges. Once we are strong, we will easily overcome the challenges and
live our lives comfortably.
 Explanation of the Poem : Rain on the Roof

Stanza 1
In these lines, the poet describes a rainy night. The poet says that the stars in the sky
are not visible as they are covered by the dark rainy clouds. The sky looks sad and the
rain looks like tears. This weather represents the poet's sorrowful mood. In such a
mood, the only thing that can bring joy in the poet's heart is to lay his head down on the
pillow of his bed in his cottage and listen to the soft sound of the rain falling on the roof.

Stanza 2
In these lines, the poet now describes how the raindrops make a tinkling sound as they
fall on the tiled rooftop of his cottage. According to the poet, each sound made by the
rain affects the poet's heart deeply. As he is listening to the sound, many images
(dreamy fancies) come into his mind. He starts recollecting many memories of his
childhood. These memories appear to be interwoven together to form a beautiful
picture.

Stanza 3
In these lines, the poet says that out of the many memories the poet recollects, he
identifies one fond memory of his mother. He remembers how, many years ago, his
mother used to look at him and his siblings lovingly while they slept and used to dream.
She would look at her sleeping children every night because she knew she won't see
them till the next morning. The poet can still feel the look of his mother while he lays on
his bed and listens to the soft musical sound of the rain falling on the roof.

Explanation of the Poem : The Lake Isle of Innisfree

Stanza 1
The poem begins with the poet saying that he will wake up and go to the island of
Innisfree. On the island, he would build a small house from clay and wattles (fences).
He would grow nine rows of beans and would also have a hive for honey bees. The
honeybees residing (living in the hive) will fill the place with a buzzing sound. The poet
here intends to live alone on the island full of natural beauty.

Stanza 2
The poet states that in the countryside, peace can be found at every location. It comes
as naturally as the morning sun comes in the sky. It comes slowly just like how the
morning drops the veil of darkness.
In the morning, the poet would hear the crickets singing. At noon, he would see the
purple sky and at midnight he would look at the shining sky. In the evening, the poet
would hear the sound of linnet flapping its wings.

Stanza 3
In these lines, the poet takes a resolution to wake up and go to Innisfree right now. He
decides so because, in his mind, he hears all day and night, the low and soft sound of
the water reaching the shore of the island. He hears this sound even when he is
standing on a road or a pavement in the city. The poet can hear the sound of the lake
which leaves a deep effect on his heart.

Explanation of the Poem : A Legend of the Northland

Stanza 1&2
In the first two stanzas, the poet describes the place from where the story had
originated. The story originated in the cold region of Northland where the days are short
and nights are very long. The people of the Northland can't sleep due to extreme cold
conditions in the night at this place. When the snow falls in Northland, the people living
there tie their reindeers to sledges to travel (reindeer pull the sledges). The children
wear warm furry clothes which make them look like bear cubs.

Stanza 3&4
In Northland, parents tell their children a story. The poet does not think that the story is
true but still tells the tale. The poet believes that it contains an important lesson which
we all must learn.
The poet, then, begins the tale. Once, Saint Peter lived on Earth as a human. He
travelled the world teaching about God.

Stanza 5&6
While travelling round the Earth, Saint Peter came to a cottage door. In the cottage, a
little woman was baking cakes in the fireplace. Saint Peter had been fasting for the
whole day and was hungry as well as weak. The day was almost over. So, Saint Peter
asked the woman to give him a cake from her store of cakes.

Stanza 7&8
So, the woman started baking a small cake for Saint Peter. However, before she could
give it to him, she felt that it was too big to give away. So, the woman went to make
another small cake but when she turned it over, the cake looked as big as the first one.
Stanza 9&10
Then, the woman took a small piece of dough and rolled it as thin as she could. The
cake baked from it was as thin as wafer but the woman could not give that one to Saint
Peter as well. She said that her cakes seemed too small when she would eat them.
However, those cakes became too large to give away for free. Consequently, she put all
the cakes on the shelf and did not give any cake to Saint Peter.

Stanza 11&12
The selfish behaviour of the woman made Saint Peter angry. He was very weak and
hungry. It is not easy for a compassionate and kind saint like Saint Peter to become
angry but the actions of the woman had been able to do so.
Hence, Saint Peter told her that she was very selfish. She did not deserve to be a
human being and live a comfortable life with good food to eat and a house to live in with
fire to keep her warm.

Stanza 13&14
Saint Peter cursed the woman and transformed her into a bird. As a bird, the woman
could now have to build her own nest and get her own food. To get food, she must dig
holes into the hard dry wood. As a result, the woman went out through the chimney of
her house without speaking a word. She then changed into a woodpecker.

Stanza 15&16
As a human, the little woman wore a red cap. When she was converted into a
woodpecker, only her red cap remained and all her clothes had burned. In other words,
the woodpecker had a red head but the rest of its body was black. The poet, then, says
that since then every school boy has seen the woodpecker (the little woman) in the
forest. She still lives there digging into the dry and hard wood (bark of trees) to look for
her food.