TS 9th Class English Guide Unit 1B The Duck and the Kangaroo (Poem)
Said the Duck to the Kangaroo,
"Good gracious! How you hop!
Over the fields and the water too,
As if you never would stop!
My life is a bore in this nasty pond,
And I long to go out in the world beyond!
I wish I could hop like you!"
Said the Duck to the Kangaroo
"Please give me a ride on your back!"
Said the Duck to the Kangaroo.
"I would sit quite still, and say nothing but QUACK,
The whole of the long day through!
And wed go to the Dee and the Jelly Bo Lee,
Over the land, and over the sea;
Please take me a ride! O do!"
Said the Duck to the Kangaroo
Said the Kangaroo to the Duck,
"This requires some little reflection;
Perhaps on the whole it might bring me LUCK,
And there seems but one objection
Which is, if youll let me speak so bold,
Your feet are unpleasantly wet and cold,
And would probably give me the roo-
Matiz!" said the Kangaroo
Said the Duck, "As I sat on the rocks,
I have thought over that completely.
And I bought four pairs of worsted socks
Which fit my web feet neatly.
And to keep out the cold Ive bought a cloak,
And everyday a cigar Ill smoke,
AH to follow my own dear true
Love of a Kangaroo!"
Said the Kangaroo, "Im ready!
All in the moonlight pale;
But to balance me well, dear Duck, sit steady!
And quite at the end of my tail!"
So away they went with a hop and a bound,
And they hopped the whole world three times round;
And who so happy - O who,
As the Duck and the Kangaro
Questions and Answers:
Answer the following Questions
Question 1.
Why did the Duck get bored in life? What did it want to do?
Answer:
The Duck lived in a nasty pond. The pond was its whole world. It got bored to have been in that small world. It wanted to see the places beyond its nasty pond. So it wanted to have a ride on the Kangaroos back to see wonderful places in the world
Question 2.
What problem did the Kangaroo find with the Duck? How was it solved?
Answer:
The Kangaroo felt that giving a ride to the Duck was a pleasure (luck). But it felt that the . unpleasantly wet and cold web feet might give it roo-matiz. To solve this problem the Duck bought four pairs of worsted socks for its web feet neatly. It bought a coat and would smoke a cigar to keep out the cold
Question 3.
Who was happy in the end? Why?
Answer:
Both the Duck and the Kangaroo were happy in the end. Because..
- The Duck, in the nasty pond had an opportunity to see the world beyond its pond with the help of the Kangaroo
- The Kangaroo with her loving nature felt that it was pleasure to it giving a ride to the Duck. But logically the Duck was happier than the Kangaroo as it was impossible to see the wonderful world without the help of the Kangaroo
Question 4.
What is the underlying message in the poem?
Answer:
The underlying message in the poem The Duck and the Kangaroo is universal brotherhood and true friendship. This poem shows the true love of two friends, the Duck and the Kangaroo. True friends help one another. The Kangaroo in this poem helped the Duck to see the world. Helping others gives pleasure
II. Read the above poem once again and choreograph it as described here under
CHOREOGRAPHY
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements or actions for a script or a poem with a voice or a song in background.
Do you know how to process choreography?
Here is the process
Think of the following:
- How do we begin the poem?
(Sing the poem three or four times to register the tune and rhythm.)
- What are the characters in the poem?
(The Duck and the Kangaroo)
- What is the theme of the poem?
(Wish of the Duck to go round the world)
- What is the theme of each stanza? (sub themes)
| Stanza |
Theme |
| 1. First |
Wish of the Duck to hop and go round the world |
| 2. Second |
Requesting the Kangaroo to take her for a ride |
| 3. Third |
Conditional acceptance of the Kangaroo |
| 4. Fourth |
Assurance of comfort from the Ducks side |
| 5. Fifth |
Fulfilment of desire |
- Convert the themes into incidents and performable actions
- What are the actions involved in the poem
- Boredom with present life (feelings of boredom, pain)
- Desire to go round the world (miming)
- Wearing socks and smoking cigarettes (jotj)
- Displeasure due to wet and cold feet (gestures)
- Sitting on Kangaroo at the end of the tail (miming)
- Joy (facial expression and gestures)
- Who are the characters involved in ?
(The Duck, the Kangaroo and other creatures in the pond like frogs, fish, etc.)
- Where does the incident take place (location)?
(By the side of the pond)
- Presentation of the choreography on the stage:
- The chorus team sings the poem
- The characters perform their actions
- The action of the Duck and the Kangaroo- expressing boredom, wish, discomfort, joy, etc
- The actions related to miming, facial expressions and gestures
- Actions related to hopping, sitting, walking, jumping, etc
The Duck and the Kangaroo (Poem) Summary in English
This poem shows the true love of two friends, the Duck and the Kangaroo. True friends help one another. The Duck thinks that her life is boring as she always lives in a dirty pond. She likes to go out and see the world. She says that the Kangaroo is lucky who can jump or spring. The Duck also likes to have the same quality
The Duck requests the Kangaroo to give her a ride on his back. They will go over the land and the sea. The Kangaroo agrees but he complains that her wet and cold feet will trouble him. The Duck replies that she has four pairs of woolen socks and these fit her feet neatly. She has also bought a cloak to keep out the cold. She will also smoke a cigar daily. The Kangaroo gets ready and advises the Duck to sit steady to keep his balance. She should sit on the tip of his tail. In this way, they hop the whole world round three times and both become happy
About the Poet:
Edward Lear (12 May 1812-29 January 1888) was a British artist, illustrator, author, and poet, renowned today primarily for his literary nonsense, in poetry and prose. In his childhood he suffered from ill health. After a long decline in health, he died of heart disease
His principal areas of work as an artist were threefold: as a draughtsman employed to illustrate birds and animals; making coloured drawings dur¬ing his journeys; as an author, Lear is principally known for his popular nonsense works, rather than as a travel writer. These show a great ability to use with relish the sound of real and invented English words. The poem The Duck and the Kangaroo is a poem with a touch of light humour
Glossary:
Good gracious! (phr) : It expresses the feeling of exclamation.
long (v) : want/wish very much
hop (v) : jump/leap/move by jumping
nasty (adj) : very bad/unpleasant
ride (n) : a short journey
QUACK (n) : the usual sound made by the duck
The Dee and the Jelly Bo Lee (n) : wonderful places imagined by the poet
reflection (n) : thought/careful thought
bold (adj) : (here) frank
roo-matiz (n) : a disease that makes the muscles and joints painful
worsted socks : woolen socks
web feet (n) : feet that have toes connected by membrane
cloak (n) : a coat that protects from cold
cigar (n) : a roll of dried tobacco leaves without paper around it that people smoke like a cigarette
pale (adj) : dim
bound (n) : a high or long jump