First Day at School: English-6th - Poem 5 - Tulip Series

Poem 5: First Day at School (Roger McGough)

A million billion willion miles from home

Waiting for the bell to go. (To go where?)

Why are they so big, other children?

So noisy? So much at home they

must have been born in uniform.

Lived all their lives in playgrounds,

Spent the years inventing games

that don’t let me in. Games that are rough,

that swallow you up.

And the railings.

All around, the railings.

Are they to keep over wolves and monsters?

Things that carry off and eat children?

Things you don’t take sweets from?

Perhaps they’re to stop us getting out

Running away from the lesson,

What does a lesson look like?

Sound small and slimy.

They keep them in classrooms,

Whole rooms made out of glass. Imagine.

I wish I could remember my name.

Mummy said it would come in useful,

Like wellies. When there’s puddles.

Yellow wellies. I wish she was here.

I think my name is sewn on somewhere

Perhaps the teacher will read it for me.

Teacher, The one who makes tea.

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THINKING ABOUT THE POEM

Answer these questions:

Q1. Who do you think is the speaker of the poem?

Ans. The schoolboy is the speaker of the poem.

Q2. What does the speaker feel about other boys in the school?

Ans. The speaker feels that the other boys are big, noisy, born in uniform, lived their lives in playgrounds and spent years in inventing the games.

Q3. Who, according to the speaker, are the ‘things you don’t take sweets from’?

Ans. According to the speaker, wolves and monsters are the things from which we don’t take sweets.

(According to the speaker, we don’t take sweets from wolves and monsters)

Q4. What ‘glass rooms’ does the speaker talk about? What does he imagine people do there?

Ans. Glass rooms are the classrooms made of glass. People take lessons there.

Q5. What would the teacher read for the boy? Why do you think the speaker’s name has been sewn on to him?

Ans. The teacher would read the name of the boy. The speaker’s name has been sewn on to him because he himself thinks about it.

Q6. ‘Sewn’ is the past participle form of ‘sew’ (=to stitch). It is an irregular verb. Find out the past participle form of the following verbs:

Go, keep, eat, make, carry, come, think, run, write, feel

Ans.

Verb	Past Participle
Go Keep Eat Make Carry Come Think Run Write Feel	Gone Kept Eaten Made Carried Come Thought Run Written Felt

Q7. Did you like the above poem? Why? Talk to a partner about it. Ask him/her about his/her views about the poem.

Ans. Yes, I like the poem very much, because it is about the ‘first day at school’. Every child feels the same on the first day at school.

Q8. Write a paragraph of 100 words on, 'Your School'. You may write:

·         About the building.

·         How far it is from your home?

·         What facilities you have and you don’t have?

·         What is the school timing?

·         How many friends you have?

·         Are there enough plants and trees in and around your school?

·         What do you do to keep your school and classroom clean?

·         School library.

·         Any other.

Ans. For Grammar and Composition, Kindly click here. Click on My School to Read the Paragraph.   My School