Notes For All Chapters English Beehive Class 9
Introduction
- This poem tells the story of an old lady who made Saint Peter angry because of her greed.
- It is a legend from the Northland, which is a cold place with few day hours and long winter nights.
- The poem is a ballad, meaning it is a song that narrates a story in short stanzas. Ballads are part of folk or popular culture and are passed on by mouth from one generation to the next.
- Poet: Phoebe Cary.
Summary of the Poem
The poem is set in the Northland, a cold area where days are short, nights are long in winter, and people cannot sleep through them. People use fast reindeer for sledges in snow, and children wear funny furry clothes like bear cubs. The story is about Saint Peter, who was preaching on earth. He came to a cottage where a little woman was baking cakes. He was hungry after fasting and asked for one cake. The woman was greedy and kept making smaller cakes but thought each was too big to give away. Finally, she made a very thin one like a wafer but still refused to give it. Saint Peter got angry and said she was too selfish to live as a human. He changed her into a woodpecker bird. Now, she bores into wood all day for food. She has a red cap, and her body is black like coal. Schoolboys see her in the woods even today.
Stanza-wise Explanation (in Easy English)
Stanza 1-2: Setting of the Northland
- Away, away in the Northland, where days are short, and winter nights are very long, so people can’t sleep through them.
- They tie fast reindeer to sledges when it snows.
- Children look like bear cubs in their funny, furry clothes.
Stanza 3: Introduction to the Story
- People tell a curious story there (poet says she doesn’t believe it’s true, but it teaches a lesson).
Stanza 4-5: Saint Peter Visits the Cottage
- Once, good Saint Peter lived on earth and walked around preaching.
- He came to a cottage door while traveling the earth.
- A little woman was making cakes and baking them on the hearth (fireplace).
Stanza 6: Saint Peter’s Request
- Saint Peter was faint (weak) from fasting as the day was almost over.
- He asked the woman for one cake from her store.
Stanza 7-8: The Woman’s Greed (First Cake)
- She made a very little cake, but while baking, it seemed too large to give away.
- So, she kneaded (mixed) another smaller one, but it looked as large as the first.
Stanza 9: The Woman’s Greed (Tiny Cake)
- She took a tiny scrap of dough, rolled it flat, and baked it thin as a wafer (very thin biscuit).
- But she couldn’t part with (give away) even that.
Stanza 10: Her Excuse
- She said, “My cakes seem too small when I eat them myself, but too large to give away.”
- So, she put them on the shelf.
Stanza 11-12: Saint Peter’s Anger
- Good Saint Peter grew angry because he was hungry and faint.
- Such a woman was enough to provoke (make angry) a saint.
- He said she was too selfish to live in human form, with food, shelter, and fire to keep warm.
Stanza 13: The Punishment
- Now, she must build like birds do and get little food by boring (pecking) all day in hard, dry wood.
Stanza 14-15: The Transformation
- She went up through the chimney without speaking.
- Out flew a woodpecker, as she was changed into a bird.
- She had a scarlet (red) cap on her head (same as before).
- But her clothes burned black as coal in the flame.
Stanza 16: The Woodpecker Today
- Every country schoolboy has seen her in the wood.
- She lives in trees till today, boring for food.
Leave a Reply