To the cuckoo-William Wordsworth|Poem Meaning and Question and Answers

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"To the Cuckoo"

by William Wordsworth

Summary of the poem 'To the Cuckoo'

‘To The Cuckoo" by Wordsworth is a poem of joy and happy memories. The little song bird, cuckoo, comes to England in early spring.The poet is welcoming the cuckoo bird with a sense of familiarity, as he had heard its sweet sound in his childhood.While wandering in the valley the poet hears the sweet voice of a Cuckoo and is remembering his childhood. The poet is addressing the bird a blithe or carefree new comer and is saying that hearing the voice of cuckoo bird is making him rejoiced .He is asking cuckoo whether he should call the cuckoo a bird or a wandering voice because cuckoo sings wherever it goes.The poet is saying that when he is lying on the grass he could hear the twofold shout of the cuckoo bird which is echoing as the bird passes from hill to hill, making the effect of sometimes feeling near and sometimes far off.

The poet is saying that though the cuckoo bird is babbling only to the valley about sunshine and flowers, the bird's voice is bringing or narrating to the poet a tale or story of visionary hours. The poet is welcoming the cuckoo thrice and is addressing the cuckoo bird as darling of the spring. Poet is saying that the cuckoo bird is not just a bird to him but an invisible thing , a voice and a mystery.

The poet is saying that the cuckoo bird's sound was the same whom in his school-days he listened to and that same cry had made him look for the bird in a thousand ways in the bush, trees and the sky.The cuckoo bird was still a hope or a love which was still longed for but never seen even in the woods and on the green.The poet is saying that he can still listen to the voice of the cuckoo till he could bring about those golden days of his childhood again.

The poet is again addressing the cuckoo as blessed bird.The poet refers to the earth as unsubstantial ,'faery' place . The poet is using the word 'again' to show that when he was a boy he felt the earth to be unreal like a fairy place and now as a grown up he is having the same feeling It is this unreal earth which the poet feels as the fit home for cuckoo.

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Short answer questions

1.Why did the poet rejoice ?

The poet rejoices when he hears the voice of the cuckoo bird and he has rejoiced as the cuckoo bird’s old familiar cry has filled him with joy. It casts a spell over him and he is back in his childhood.

2.In what different ways the poet wants to address the cuckoo?

The poet addresses the cuckoo in various ways. In the first stanza he calls it as a ‘Blithe Newcomer’ and ‘a wandering voice.” Then he calls it as ‘Darling of the Spring’, ‘an invisible thing’, ‘a voice’, ‘a mystery.’ Last of all he calls it ‘a blessed bird’.

3.What sort of sounds does the poet hear?

Lying on the ground the poet hears the double rising and subsiding sound that seems to be passing from hill to hill.He could also hear the cuckoo babbling to the valley of sunshine and flowers which is taking the poet back to his visionary hours.

4.The cuckoo brings ------- to the poet

Answer.Tale of visionary hours to the poet(His childhood days)

5.Where does the poet look for the bird a thousand ways?

The bird's voice is taking the poet to his childhood days when he used to listen to the cuckoo’s cry and go a thousand ways to locate the source of the bird's voice. The poet left no possible place undiscovered, be it the bushes, the trees, or the sky.The poet wandered constantly, looking for the bird in woods, anywhere, and everywhere.

6.Which is the fit home for the cuckoo?

The poet is saying that this earth we pace, 'again' appears to be an unreal place for him like a fairy place. It is this unreal earth which the poet feels as the fit home for cuckoo.

Paragraph questions

1.How does the bird's song bring out the visionary hours of the poets boyhood ?

Despite singing to the valley and talking about sunshine and flowers, the cuckoo bird’s voice brings many memories to the poet. The cuckoo birds wander about in the valley with flowers and sunshine; thus, the bird’s songs too are an ode to these aspects of nature. But, to Wordsworth, these songs act as an element of nostalgia, transporting the poet to golden days of his childhood. He calls those times “visionary hours” as he cannot go back to them in person and can only envision them from his memory. This indicates that the poet remembers the cuckoo from his childhood, when he says he has heard the cuckoo’s song before, and the cuckoo’s voice now acts as a catalyst in bringing back the poet’s memories of his childhood.

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2.Comment on the wandering voice, a tale of visionary hours and a mystery.

Wandering Voice means independent and free voice. The poet is asking the cuckoo whether he should call the cuckoo 'a bird' or a 'wandering voice'. He calls it a "wandering Voice" because cuckoo sings wherever it goes.The cuckoo is free to wander anywhere as it wishes without any restrictions.The poet implies that the cuckoo is not subject to any restrictions.It also suggest that the poet has never actually seen the bird and knows him only by his voice.

Visionary hours means times from the past. The poet calls those times “visionary hours” as he cannot go back to them in person and can only envision them from his memory.

A mystery The poet addresses the cuckoo bird as a mystery. This is where the poet clearly states that he has never seen the cuckoo in reality. He recognises the bird by its voice. Thus, to the poet the cuckoo is more of a mysterious voice the poet wants to see . The bird has been visually hidden from the poet through all these years, yet bird's song strikes such emotions in poet that the poet remembers the cuckoo bird by its voice.

3.How are the following expressions significant in the poem

a. o'blessed bird

“Blessed” encompasses the poet’s love and devotion towards the cuckoo. Wordsworth calls the cuckoo a blessed bird as it is the presence of cuckoo that has turned the ‘unreal’ earth into a fairy place.This could be because the earth has mesmerising elements of nature, like the sky, woods, rivers, valleys, but at the same time is plagued by restrictions of industrial life which curbs the freedom of an individual. A place with such enchanting contradictions is a place that is fit for the cuckoo.

b. faery place

faery place- The poet refers to the earth, calling it mystical, a place of fairies as the earth has mesmerising elements of nature, like the sky, woods, rivers, valleys.It is the presence of cuckoo that has turned the ‘unreal’ earth into a fairy place.

c.Fit home for thee

A home fit for Thee means a home that cuckoo deserves, which is the earth of. Earth has mesmerising elements of nature, like the sky, woods, rivers, valleys, but at the same time is plagued by restrictions of industrial life which curbs the freedom of an individual. A place with such enchanting contradictions is a place that is fit for the cuckoo. The poet says that the earth, which is so versatile, is the perfect dwelling for the cuckoo.

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Essay answer questions

1.Describe "To the Cuckoo" in your own words.

'To the Cuckoo', written by William Wordsworth is a lyrical pastoral poem with a quatrain consisting of eight stanzas The poet has directly addressed this poem to the cuckoo and expresses his love, devotion, and desire to visually glimpse the cuckoo throughout the poem. The poet is in awe and wonder when he hears the cuckoo and feels that that it is something more than a winged animal. The voice of cuckoo opens up the universe of creative energy to the poet. The poet addresses the cuckoo bird in so many ways in the poem which shows his love and devotion to the bird.

In the first stanzas we can see that the poet is filled with joy on hearing the voice of the cuckoo.In the first stanza poet calls the cuckoo bird a blithe or carefree new comer.The poet is saying that hearing the voice of cuckoo bird is making him rejoiced and is filling him with pure joy.He is asking cuckoo whether he should call the cuckoo a bird or a wandering voice. He calls it a "wandering Voice" because cuckoo sings wherever it goes.The cuckoo is free to wander anywhere as it wishes without any restrictions.

In the second stanza the poet is saying that when he is lying on the grass he could hear the twofold shout of the cuckoo bird which is echoing as the bird passes from hill to hill, making the effect of sometimes feeling near and sometimes far off. By twofold the poet is explaining the echoing effect of the bird's sound as it is passing from one hill to another.Cuckoo flies from hills to hills mesmerising the landscape with its song.

In the third stanza the poet is saying that though the cuckoo bird is babbling only to the valley about sunshine and flowers, the bird's voice is bringing or narrating to the poet a tale or story of visionary hours. By visionary hours poet means times from the past.The sound of the bird is taking the poet to his past times.The babbling of the cuckoo make him reminisce his childhood

The poet is welcoming the cuckoo thrice and is addressing the cuckoo bird as darling of the spring. Poet is saying that the cuckoo bird is not just a bird to him but an invisible thing , a voice and a mystery.The poet is saying so because he has not seen the bird and had only heard its voice which makes the bird a mystery for him.For the poet , the cuckoo is not just an ordinary bird, he finds something mysterious in the bird

The poet is saying that the cuckoo bird's sound was the same whom in his school-days he listened to and that same cry had made him look for the bird in a thousand ways in the bush, trees and the sky.The bird's voice is taking the poet to his childhood days when he used to listen to the cuckoo’s cry and go a thousand ways to locate the source of the bird's voice. The poet left no possible place undiscovered, be it the bushes, the trees, or the sky.In other words the poet is saying that the beautiful voice of the cuckoo made him see and understand different perspectives of ordinary things in nature

The poet is saying that to find the cuckoo he had frequently wandered through woods and the green.The cuckoo bird was still a hope or a love which was still longed for but never seen even in the woods and on the green. Here the poet is comparing the invisibility of the bird to hope and love which is a feeling or emotion that can only be experienced or longed for.The poet was searching for the cuckoo bird from his childhood but could only hear the bird's voice and never able to see it.So he is feeling it was still a hope or a love which is longed for but not seen.

The poet is saying that he can still listen to the voice of the cuckoo.He can lie upon the plain and still continue listening to the bird's voice till he could bring about those golden days of his childhood again.

In the last stanza the poet is addressing the cuckoo as blessed bird. “Blessed” encompasses the poet’s love and devotion towards the cuckoo.and he is saying that this earth we pace, 'again' appears to be an unreal place for him like a fairy place.The poet refers to the earth as unsubstantial ,'faery' place . The poet is using the word 'again' to show that when he was a boy he felt the earth to be unreal like a fairy place and now as a grown up he is having the same feeling It is this his unreal earth which the poet feels as the fit home for cuckoo.The poet is telling to the bird to stay on earth because the poet feels that it is the presence of cuckoo that makes it an idealistically unreal and 'faery' place.

Meaning of each stanza in the poem

First stanza

“O Blithe New-comer! I have heard,
I hear thee and rejoice.
O Cuckoo! Shall I call thee Bird,
Or but a wandering Voice?”

In the first stanza poet calls the cuckoo bird a blithe or carefree new comer.The poet is saying that hearing the voice of cuckoo bird is making him rejoiced and is filling him with pure joy.He is asking cuckoo whether he should call the cuckoo a bird or a wandering voice. He calls it a "wandering Voice" because cuckoo sings wherever it goes.The cuckoo is free to wander anywhere as it wishes without any restrictions.

Second Stanza

“While I am lying on the grass
Thy twofold shout I hear,
From hill to hill it seems to pass,
At once far off, and near.”

Third Stanza

“Though babbling only to the Vale,
Of Sunshine and of flowers,
Thou bringest unto me a tale
Of visionary hours.”

Fourth Stanza

“Thrice welcome, darling of the Spring!
Even yet thou art to me
No bird, but an invisible thing,
A voice, a mystery;”

Fifth Stanza

“The same whom in my school-boy days
I listened to; that Cry
Which made me look a thousand ways
In bush, and tree, and sky.”

The poet is saying that the cuckoo bird's sound was the same whom in his school-days he listened to and that same cry had made him look for the bird in a thousand ways in the bush, trees and the sky.The bird's voice is taking the poet to his childhood days when he used to listen to the cuckoo’s cry and go a thousand ways to locate the source of the bird's voice. The poet left no possible place undiscovered, be it the bushes, the trees, or the sky.In other words the poet is saying that the beautiful voice of the cuckoo made him see and understand different perspectives of ordinary things in nature

Sixth Stanza

"To seek thee did I often rove
Through woods and on the green;
And thou wert still a hope, a love;
Still longed for, never seen. woods and on the green."

Seventh Stanza

“And I can listen to thee yet;
Can lie upon the plain
And listen, till I do beget
That golden time again.”

Eighth Stanza

"O blessed Bird! the earth we pace
Again appears to be
An unsubstantial, faery place;

That is fit home for Thee!”

Rhyme scheme of the poem

The poem 'To the cuckoo' has eight-stanza with a recurring rhyme scheme of abab.

Poetic devices used in the poem

Alliteration

Alliteration is the use of words that begin with the same sound near one another.In the poem 'To the cuckoo' we can see the words 'Wandering voice' ,'Hill to hill', 'Blessed bird'. 'The repetition of initial consonant sounds and alliterations creates rhythm and mood in the poem to capture the reader’s interest.

Imagery

The poet makes immense use of imagery in the poem 'To the Cuckoo'. The poem creates the picture of spring in England in the the reader’s mind . The words like sunshine, flowers, Vale (valley) creates a bright,pleasant and happy image. The reference to green fields and the cuckoo showcase the poet’s love for nature. Calling the cuckoo “blithe” and expressing his joy in welcoming back the cuckoo, the poet gives the poem undertones of happiness and ecstasy. The poet also gives away the season when he refers to the cuckoo as the “Darling of Spring.”

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