The Flower-School Poem Summary and Question Answer

The Flower-School Poem Summary and Question Answer

ABOUT THE POET : Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore (7 May 1861 - 7 August 1941), also known as Rabi Thakur, was a Bengali philosopher, poet, and winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913 for his book Gitanjali, Song Offerings. A man of prodigious literary and artistic accomplishments, Tagore played a leading role in Indian cultural renaissance and came to be recognised, along with Mohandas Gandhi, as one of the architects of modern India. He was highly influential in introducing Indian culture to the West and is generally regarded as the outstanding creative artist of modern India. He was hailed by W.B Yeats and Andre Gide, This poem, The Flower School is taken from 'The Crescent Moon' by Tagore. The Flower-School Poem Summary and Question Answer

ABOUT THE POEM The Flower-School :

Rabindranath Tagore is the iconic Bengali writer who brought India its first (only, so far) Nobel Prize in Literature. Through the innocent eyes of a school-going child, the poet captures the thrill and excitement of the blossoming of flowers with the onset of rains. The childlike description of the seasonal appearance and departure of flowers on and from the face of the earth touches everyone's heart. A child's fascination with flowers, her dread of the school, and love for her mother are depicted in this short poem with remarkable vividness. This is why this small poem has such time-less abiding appeal. 

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The Text Poem The Flower-School The Flower-School Poem Summary and Question Answer

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When storm-clouds rumble in the sky and June showers come down, 

The moist east wind comes marching over the heath to blow its bagpipes among the bamboos. 

Then crowds of flowers come out of a sudden, 

from nobody knows where, and dance upon the grass in wild glee. 

Mother; I really think the flowers go to school underground. 

They do their lessons with doors shut, and if 

they want to come out to play before it is time, 

their master makes them stand in a corner. 

When the rains come they have their holidays. 

Branches clash together in the forest, and the 

leaves rustle in the wild wind, the thunder-clouds 

clap their giant hands and the flower children 

rush out in dresses of pink and yellow and white. 

Do you know, Mother, their home is in the sky, where the stars are. 

Haven't you seen how eager they are to get there? Don't you know why they are in such a hurry? 

Of course, I can guess to whom they raise their arms; 

they have their mother as I have my own. 

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Summary of the poem The Flower-School

"The Flower-School" is a poem by Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. It is narrated in the third person, but includes elements of a child speaking to a mother. When storm clouds burst and rains begin to fall from the sky in June, moisture-laden winds from the east brush past the bushes with great speed. A shrill sound emanates from the bamboo bushes. A huge carpet of yellow-coloured tiny flowers seems to descend down on the grass, as the seasonal flowers erupt with astounding glee. Prior to appearing on the grasses, the tiny flowers seem to go underground to finish their home tasks. Only after they finish the tasks, they venture to come to the open. Just as a child is pulled up for coming to class with incomplete homework, the same way the flowers do not dare to prematurely blossom on the earth. Such likening of the wild flowers with school-going youngsters is nothing but a figment of imagination conjured up by the poet, but it is so apt and enjoyable. The rain's arrival brings some respite from studies. The flowers come out to the open with frenzied excitement, the same way students welcome the start of the holidays. 

The Flower-School Poem Summary and Question Answer

      As the winds sway the trees, the branches rub against one another and the leaves flutter filling the air with strange sounds. The clouds roar with vigour and flowers of myriad hues make their appearance in unison. The child is bewildered to see all these. He imagines that the abode of the flowers is in the starry sky, and they come to the earth on annual sojourns. In his innocence, the child imagines that the flowers are keen to go back to their homes. The flowers' mothers are there in the sky and the flowers cannot remain away from their mothers for too long. So, they come, but go back hurriedly. The child's innocence is so endearing. The flowers grow up towards the sky, and the speaker refers to this as "their home." The speaker then admits that flowers "raise their arms" towards their own mother, just like the speaker raises his arms to his mother. This poem, then, is a beautiful rendition of spring through vivid imagery and personification.

Question Answer of the poem the flower school

Read the poem silently and answer the following questions. 

Question.1. What Is the poem about ?

Answer. The poem is about the flowers being the beautiful creation of God. This poem is a vivid description of budding flowers and their growth in Spring.

Question.2. What rumbles in the sky ? 

Answer. The storm clouds rumble in the sky. 

Question.3. What comes marching over the heath?

Answer. The moist east wind comes marching over the health. 

Question.4. Which word tells that the east wind is not dry ? 

Answer. Moist 

Question.5. How does the moist east wind come ? 

Answer. The moist east wind comes by marching. 

Question.6. How do the crowds of flowers come out? 

Answer. The crowds of flowers come out all of a sudden.  

Question.7. Where do the flowers dance and how? 

Answer. The flowers dance upon the grass in wild glee.

Question.8. Which season is described in the poem? 

Answer. The spring season has been described in the poem. 

Question.9. Where are the flowers all the year round? 

Answer. The flowers are present underground in their school. 

Question.10. Who are the flowers compared to ? 

Answer. The flowers are compared with little school-going children.

Question.11. How do they do their lessons ? Why ?

 Answer. The flowers learn their lesson with the doors shut. It is because they lead a disciplined life.

Question.12. Who does 'their master' refer to?

Answer. Their master' refers to the teacher of the little flowers. 

Question.13. Their master is strict or lenient? Which line in the poem tells us so? 

Answer. Their master is strict. The line 'master makes them stand in a comer' tells us so. 

Question.14. When are they made to stand in a corner? 

Answer. When the flowers come out to play before it is time, they are made to stand in a corner.

Question.15. When do the flowers have their holidays? 

Answer. The flowers have their holidays when the rains come. 

Question.16. What changes take place in nature when the rain comes ? 

Answer. When the rains come, the branches of trees clash together, the leaves rustle in the wind and there are thunderstorms. The colourful little flowers also come out to play. 

Question.17. How do the flower children enjoy their holidays ?

Answer. The colourful little flowers come out to play in dresses of pink, yellow and white. 

Question.18. Who is the speaker sharing his thoughts with ? 

Answer. The speaker is sharing his thoughts with his beloved mother. 

Question.19. Where is the home of the flower children? 

Answer. The home of the flower children is in the sky. 

Question.20. Why are they eager to go to the sky ?

Answer. They are so eager to go to the sky because they want to meet their mother who lives there. 

Question.21. What does the speaker guess ? 

Answer. The speaker guesses that the flower children have their mother in the sky. 

Question.22. Why are the flower children raising their arms ?

Answer. The flower children are raising their arms towards the sky because they want to embrace their mother.

Question.23.  Why are they in a hurry ?

Answer. They are tired of their school life and now they are very eager to meet their mother. So they are in a hurry. 

question.24. Which line tells that the speaker also longs for his mother? 

Answer. The line, 'they have their mother as I have my own' tells us that the speaker also longs for his mother. 

Short Question Answer of the poem the flower school

Question.1. Why do you think the flowers dance upon the grass in wild glee ? 

Answer. The storm clouds build up in the sky and the moist east wind blows bringing the first showers of rain. The flowers have been compared to little school going children and the rainy season happens to be the season of holidays from them. So, they dance upon the grass in wild glee. 

Question.2. Do you think the speaker feels that holidays are funnier than school days ? 

Answer. Yes, the speaker feels that holidays are funnier than school days. It is because the bn school children who live in boarding schools come back to their home and meet their family members. They also meet their beloved mother. 

Question.3. Why does the speaker think that the flowers go to school underground ?

Answer. The speaker thinks that the flowers go to school under-ground because their beautiful eruption above ground is similar to children being let out of school into playgrounds and rainstorms are similar to school holidays. 

Question.4. How does the speaker describe the storm? 

Answer. The speaker describes the storm as being the mother of the flowers. When the stormy winds begin to blow and the showers begin to rain down, crowds of flowers come out to "dance" in the grass. The storm makes the tree branches clash against one another with the rustling of the leaves and is accompanied by thunderstorms. 

Question.5. Do you think that the speaker's description about the flowers and their school has any reality in real life? 

Answer. The title of the poem is almost paradoxical in that flowers do not actually attend school. But the flowers' underground life can be compared to the life of humans living in mortal bodies, and like the flowers bursting into bloom above ground, so the human soul eventually departs the body to its true home. 

Question.6. Which elements of nature celebrate holidays with the flower children and how ? 

Answer. The branches, the leaves and the thunder clouds celebrate the holidays with the flower children by clashing together in the forest, by rustling and by clapping their giant hands respectively. 

Question.7. Identify the lines and phrases in the poem which indicate that the flower children have a strict system of schooling?

Answer. "They do their lessons with doors shut, and if they want to come out to play before it is time, their master makes them stand in a corner." These lines tell us that they have a strict system of schooling. 

Letter to mother

1. Imagine that you are a child of Flower school. Write a letter to your mother describing your experiences and feelings in the school.

                                      Flower School 

                                      Date 25/4/2020

Dear Mother,               

               How are you ? You will be glad to know that I go to school every day. Do you know how and where our school is? The school is situated underground. We have our lessons with the doors shut. We have a lot of fun but our class teacher is very strict. If we come out to play before it is time, he makes us stand in a corner. We have our holidays during the rainy season. We leave the school in our colourful dresses. Most of my friends live in the sky. I will also be coming home during the holidays. 

I am looking forward to the holidays. 

I miss you a lot , Mom. 

                                     Yours lovingly, 

                                              Raj 

The Flower-School Poem Summary and Question Answer The Flower-School Poem Summary and Question Answer The Flower-School Poem Summary and Question Answer The Flower-School Poem The Flower-School Poem

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