Poem 1

Books
By Eleanor Farjeon
I Meanings
1. fancies – imagination
2. melts away - disappears
3. before the end - soon
II Answer the following
1.‘ The room…….. away.’
Why does the room ‘melt away’?
Ans. It feels as though the room is melting
away because when we read a book, we forget
everything around us.
2.‘ And we find……….chosen friend’.
a. Where does the chosen friend come from?
Ans. The friend is a character from the book
that seems to come alive.
b.How does this person or thing become a
special friend?
Ans. While reading the story, the reader may
begin to like certain qualities of the character
 so much that the reader may make this person
a special friend.
3.‘Or we sail……..or age’.
a. What is the feeling conveyed when the
speaker uses the word ‘sail’?
Ans. The feeling we get when we read the word
‘sail’ is a feeling of ease and smoothness. It is a
soft and gentle movement. When we read a
book we get transported into the age and land of
the story as easily as sailing on water.
4. ‘Here’s our body……over there’.
a.Where is the mind at this point?
Ans. The mind is in the land at the time of the
story that we are reading.
b. Why there is a distance between the mind and
the body?
Ans. There is a distance between the mind and
the body because the body is in the room but the
mind is far away in another age and another
land.
C. What kind of feeling is this? Does it make you
uncomfortable or happy?
Ans. This is a dreamy feeling and all book-lovers
enjoy this feeling. It makes us happy.
5.‘Each book ….. magic box’.
a.Why does the speaker refer to a book a ‘magic
box’?
Ans. A book takes the reader into the wondrous
world of surprises and exciting events, just like a
magic box that brings out a whole load of
exciting things, taking us by surprise.

6. How does the speaker convince us that

reading books is a magical experience?
Ans. Reading a book is a magical experience,
according to the speaker because it introduces
the reader to new ideas and experiences. It
sparks our imagination. It takes us to new lands
and makes us meet new people while being
seated in our own homes. Just like how a magic
box brings out exciting things, a book can also
bring surprises for a book lover.
7.What words and images does the speaker use
to suggest that books can take their readers on a
journey ?
Ans. The speaker uses lines like “New ideas and
people rise...in our eyes” and “we sail along the
page to some other land or age”. These lines give
us a feeling of a journey, where we see different
places and people.
8. Why do you think the speaker uses the words
‘we’ and ‘our and not ‘me’ am ‘my’?
Ans. The speaker knows that like her, there are
many other people who love books. She is
speaking not only for herself but for all book-
lovers across the world. Therefore, she uses
words like ‘us’ and ‘we’.
9.Write the rhyming words from the poem.
a. books - looks b. rise – eyes c.away – play
d. end – friend e. page – age f. chair – there
g. box – unlocks h. covers – lovers.