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 right for him to stand on his head constantly.

Read More>>