Besides the poet, who will badly miss the company of the pines?

Besides the poet, the wind and the rain will badly miss the company of the pines.

What picture of the rain do the words “its silver blind is down” give you?

It gives us a picture of the rain when it’s raining heavily and continuously.

Unit 12 They have cut down the pines Mary Lisle

Q: Pick out the lines having personification?

In the first stanza , the poet has personified the sun that plays hide and seek with the shadows

Unit 12 They have cut down the pines Mary Lisle English Class 10 Notes

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They have cut down

A. Answer the following questions.

Why were the pines cut down?

The pines were cut down to make a fence by the creek.
Besides the poet, who will badly miss the company of the pines?

Besides the poet, the wind and the rain will badly miss the company of the pines.
Pick out the lines having personification?

In the first stanza, the poet has personified the sun that plays hide and seek with the shadows
How has the cutting down of the trees affected nature?

The cutting down of the trees badly affected nature. The beauty and charm of the pines have now ended. Trunks are lying naked and yellow. Forest gives a deserted look and birds are restless.
What picture of the rain do the words “its silver blind is down” give you?

It gives us a picture of the rain when it’s raining heavily and continuously.
The poet mourns the cutting down of pines in a way as if she has lost her near and dear mate; why?

The poet mourns the cutting down of pines trees because she considered all pines trees as her near and dear friends.
What is the mood of the poem and what effect does it has on you?

The mood of the poem is gloomy and sad. It makes us feel sad and disturb us as we know that pine trees have been ruthlessly cut. We are unhappy to know that twinges and nuts are lying scattered on the ground. We see the naked trunks and the restless birds with an aching heart.
What is the central idea of the poem?

The central idea of the poem is to show the importance of trees for our health and national development. According to the poet, the trees should be preserved because they are vital for life on this planet.
What are the effects of deforestation on the environment?

Deforestation has bad effects on the environment. It destroys the animal’s habitats. It leads to pollution and soil erosion causing harm to our agriculture.
What is the central idea of the poem?

The central idea of the poem is to show the importance of trees for our health and national development. According to the poet, the trees should be preserved because they are vital for life on this planet.
What are the effects of deforestation on the environment?

Deforestation has bad effects on the environment. It destroys the animal’s habitats. It leads to pollution and soil erosion causing harm to our agriculture.

Choose the correct options.
1. (c) Personification 2. (a) Trampled 3. (c) Personification
4. (a) Metaphor 5. (a) Sorrowful

Chapter 12 They have cut down the pines Mary Lisle Newly updated Class 10 English Notes 2021

Comprehension

Q.1) Why were the pines cut down?

Answer:
The pines were cut down by the insensitive people for their personal needs i.e. for making fence and posts.

Q.2) Beside the poetess, who will badly miss the company of the pines?

Answer:
Beside the poetess, the elements of nature the rain, the sun, and the wind will badly miss the company of the pines.

Q.3) Pick out the lines having personification.

Answer:
The lines of the poem that represent personification are:
(1) And all day long the sun
Plays hide and seek with shadows.
(2) The kind, the friendly trees,
(3) The gentle colloquy of bough and bough.

Q.4) How has the cutting down of the trees affected nature?

Answer:
The cutting down of the trees has affected nature in a negative manner. According to the poetess, the wind and rain will miss the pine trees as they will not find them standing steadfast at their place. The sun will be going to miss their absence as it will not play hide and seek under the shadows. The birds are the ones who greatly suffer due to the cutting down of the trees because they will not find trees to build their nests for their families.

Q.5) What picture of the rain does the words “its silver blind is down’ give you?

Answer:
This phrase means the moment when the rain falls heavily to the ground, it makes everything silver and one can find it difficult to see clearly through the rain as the heavy rainfall covers the whole scene just like a blind.

Q.6) The poetess mourns the cutting down of pines in a way as if she has lost her near and dear mate; why?

Answer:
The reason for the mourning of the poetess due to the cutting of pines is that she is a nature-lover and she likes to have a clean and green environment. That’s why she is in a state of grief as she does not want the pine trees to be cut down and the elements of nature to be affected due to this ruthless act of humans.

Q.7) What is the mood of the poem and what effect does it has on you? Describe in detail.

Answer:
The mood of the poem is gloomy and sorrowful. It cast a feeling of sadness and grief on the reader because the trees and other elements of nature are personified in the poem by the poetess thus giving a human element to them. If we are kind-hearted individuals then we would definitely feel the pain of the wind, rain, sun, and birds from which they pass through in the absence of pine trees.

Q.8) What is the central idea of the poem?

Answer:
The central idea of the poem is about the importance of trees and the positive effect they cast on wind, sun, rain, and birds. If people cut down the trees for their use, they directly become a source of disturbing and affecting nature in a negative way.

Q.9) What are the effects of deforestation on the environment?

Answer:
Deforestation or cutting of trees has a negative impact on the environment. This process disturbs nature quite badly. The destruction of trees increases the rate of global warming as less number of trees are there to absorb carbon dioxide and other harmful and greenhouse gases from the environment. Due to this, the temperature alters that affect the ecosystem. Deforestation becomes a cause of floods in any area as their presence soaks up and store excess water in the surrounding soil. Birds and animals also lose their natural habitat and in this way, various species of birds and animals become extinct from the environment. Cutting of trees definitely has an impact on the food supply, the lesser the trees, the lesser the availability of fruits and grass/leaves for the animals and birds. With the cruel process of deforestation, the ground will not get the shade and in turn, the ground becomes drier at the fast pace and there is a shortage of nutrients in the soil. Deforestation also creates an increase in air and water pollution.

Vocabulary

The following words/group of words set the tone of the poem. Consult a dictionary (if required) and analyze these words and phrases to know the tone of the poem.

Cut down the pines wind will miss
stripped the bark trodden into the ground
the kind, the friendly tree ended now
wan seek in vain

Answer:
From the words mentioned above and used by the poetess Mary Lisle in the poem ‘They have cut down the pines,’ we can easily understand the tone of the poem that is full of sorrow and grief over the ruthless cutting of the pine trees by humans for their personal or professional needs and demands. The cutting of pine trees affected and disturbed the various elements of nature such as wind, the rain that would also miss the absence of the pine trees. The birds would also suffer as they lost their homes with the cutting down of the pine trees.

Writing

A. Paraphrase the second stanza of the poem.

Answer:
Paraphrase of Second Stanza:
The cruel people have cut down the trees. With the cutting down of trees, the charming sound that was produced by the blowing wind through the branches was just like a conversation between boughs had also come to an end. Now there were no more boughs to have a gentle conversation. From the wood that they get from cutting down the trees, people were busy in making fence by the creek and with the bark of the pine trees that they have cut down, they were making posts for their use. The naked trunks of the pine trees in the sunlight were lying on the ground looking like ghosts with pale and weak faces. The birds would search for their nests but all in vain they would never find their nests as people have cut down the trees.

B. Write the summary of the poem ”They Have Cut Down the Pines.”

Answer:
Summary:
Mary Lisle has written the poem ‘They have cut down the pines.’ In this poem, the poetess was showing her grief over the ruthless act of people who cut the pine trees just to meet their own needs. The elements of nature the wind, the rain would be going to miss them when they would not find the pines trees at their place. The boughs and knobbly nuts were down on the ground.

The sun and the wind enjoyed under the shadows of the pine trees until the end of the day. Once the pine trees stood in the forest and welcome the gentle breeze which seemed that the boughs were having a conversation between them but now there was no more charming sound to be heard. People were making a fence and posts from the bark of the trees. The trunks of pine trees were lying lifelessly on the ground looking like pale, weak ghosts. As people had cut down the trees, the nests of the birds were also lost. When the birds would come in the evening, they would search for their homes but all their searching would be in vain.

C. Write an expository essay on ”Importance of Planting Trees.”

Answer:
Importance of Planting Trees
Trees play a vital role not only in increasing the natural beauty of the land but they offer innumerable advantages to mankind as well. The survival of human beings and animals is directly dependent on plants and trees. Without the existence of trees, this survival would face serious challenges. The importance of planting trees is not an issue of present times but it is something if done wholeheartedly then it would be an act of charity as it is proved by the Hadith of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.W):

“If any Muslim plants any plant and a human being or an animal eat of it, he will be rewarded as if he had given that much in charity”.
The first and the foremost benefit that the trees offer to mankind is in the form of availability of fresh and pure oxygen. The more trees we have, the better the oxygen that we will be having to breathe. Apart from this, trees inhale carbon dioxide and other harmful gases thus making the environment fresh and clean.

The population is increasing at a fast pace and natural resources are decreasing too creating one of the biggest burning issue of present time i.e. pollution. Tree plantation helps to resolve that dilemma to a great extent. Trees are the best source that helps us to get rid of the polluted air and have a clean environment to cherish.

Nowadays, global warming is an alarming issue, if we plant more trees that would help us to beat the heat from the atmosphere. Trees make the environment cool with their presence. Their cooling is so much so that it can reduce the requirement of air conditioners in the nearby places up to 50%.

Trees are also important with respect to earning local and foreign cash. The fruits they produce in bulk are sold in the local and international markets not only to meet the need and demand of people but it also becomes a source of income for the nations. The more trees we plant, the more wood we would be getting that is significant for the production of furniture, doors, windows, etc. Timber and rubber from the trees are also helpful in generating revenue for the countries.

Trees are the homes of various flora and fauna of any land. They provide food (in the form of fruits) and shelter to birds and animals. If more trees are planted, the natural habitats of birds and animals can be saved which in turn help in reducing the rate of extinction of various species of birds and animals from this world. Trees are also the food supplier to a number of herbivores.

Planting of trees helps in controlling air and water pollution. They save water as well. When it rain, they soak up and stores excess water in the surrounding soil preventing water runoff. In this way, they provide sufficient water.

In the nutshell, planting trees hold vital importance in present times that would be beneficial for the coming generations as well. Keeping in view the importance of planting trees, we all should try to plant at least one tree in our area in a lifetime. It would be better to plant a fruit tree to enjoy the individual benefit (in the form of a charitable act) as well as it would serve as a shelter to birds and animals and provide shade and fruit to humans and becomes a source of gaining jaza in this world and also in the life hereafter.

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Sunday, January 31, 2021