You Are Old, Father William | Poem 4 | English | Class 5th | Questions and Answers |

JANDKNCERT |Tulip Series | English 5th |

You Are Old, Father William | Poem 4 | English | Class 5th | Questions and Answers |

 

Poem 4: You Are Old, Father William

"You are old, Father William," the young man said,

"And your hair has become very white;

And yet you incessantly stand on your head –

Do you think, at your age, it is right?"

 

"In my youth," Father William replied to his son,

"I feared it might injure the brain;

But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,

Why, I do it again and again."

 

"You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before,

And have grown most uncommonly fat;

Yet you turned a back somersault in at the door –

Pray, what is the reason of that?"

 

"In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,

"I kept all my limbs very supple

By the use of this ointment – one shilling the box –

Allow me to sell you a couple?"

 

"You are old," said the youth, "and your jaws are too weak

For anything tougher than suet;

Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak –

Pray, how did you manage to do it?"

 

"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law,

And argued each case with my wife;

And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,

Has lasted the rest of my life."

 

"You are old," said the youth, "one would hardly suppose

That your eye was steady as ever;

Yet, you balanced an eel on the end of your nose –

What made you so awfully clever?"

 

"I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"

Said his father. "Don't give yourself airs!

Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?

Be off, or I'll kick you downstairs!"

(From Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol)

 Read More Stories From the Below Book

Words to Remember

incessantly: without interruption; constantly متواتر

lock: hair بال

supple: flexible; easy to bend نرم

suet: a kind of fat which old men with weak jaws can eat without much difficulty چربیلے ریشے

to give oneself airs: to think high of oneself; to be too proud خود کو ترجیح دینا

such stuff: a matter of this kind, i.e., such nonsense مذاق

 

Reading Is Fun

Q1. What did the young man say to Father William?

Ans. The young man told Father William that he was old and his hair had become white and advised that it was not right for him to stand on his head constantly.

Q2. What was Father William’s reply?

Ans. Father William replied that in his youth age he feared it might hurt his brain. But then he was sure it didn’t hurt him so he did it again and again.

Q3. What was the funny thing Father William did in his old age?

Ans. The funny thing that Father William did in his old age was that he used to stand on his head, turning his back at the door.

Q4. How did Father William keep his limbs flexible in his youth?

Ans. In his youth age, Father William kept his limbs flexible by rubbing an ointment on them.

Q5. What advice did the young man give to Father William?

Ans. The young man advised Father William that he should not stand on his head it might hurt him because he had been getting old and fatty day by day. He should avoid such funny tricks in that old age.

Q6. The poem is full of humourous expressions like – ‘And yet you incessantly stand on your head.’ Write down the other humourous expressions/lines from the poem.

Ans. ‘Allow me to sell you a couple’, ‘yet you finished the goose’, ‘and argued each case with my wife’, ‘you balance an eel on the end of your nose’, ‘be off’, ‘sage’, etc.

 

 Also Read: Easy Learn | The Cell and its Types

Language Work

1. ‘Downstairs’ is a compound word used in the last line of the poem which is made up of ‘down’ + ‘stairs’ = ‘downstairs’. Now consult a dictionary and find at least ten more words that end or start with ‘stair’ or ‘stairs’. Before consulting the dictionary, you may do this exercise in the class with your friends.

Ans. 1. Staircase, 2. Upstairs, 3. Stairwell, 4. Stairway, 5. Stairhead, 6. Stairless, 7. Backstairs, 8. Stairsteps, 9. Belowstairs, 10. Stairmaster

 

2. In the first four lines of the poem, the last four words, i.e., ‘said’ and ‘head’ and ‘white’ and ‘right’ rhyme with each other alternately (that is, they end in similar sounds). Now find the other rhyming words used in the poem.

Ans. Other rhyming words used in the poem are:

Son – None

Brain – Again

Supple – Couple

Weak – Beak

Law – Jaw

Wife – Life

 

 

Let’s Talk

In the poem, we find that Father William’s son seemed to be inquisitive and caring. Do you think we should also be inquisitive and caring towards our elders in our families? Discuss this in your class.

 

Let’s Write

Write a short paragraph on Father William.

    Father William, in the poem, is a funny character. He an old fat man having a conversation with his son while he is taking his exercise. He is making some funny tricks to impress his son. He answers all the questions of his son in a funny manner. He has got a fatty belly. His hair is grey. He used to rub ointment on his legs to make them flexible when he was a youth. His jaws are weak but still, he eats hard fat. He stands on his head-turning his back at the door. His sight is just like an eel.