Powerpoint content created by Miss Thejavinuo, Teacher, LSHSSRevised & Edited by Madam Christina Neikhrienuo, Principal, LSHSS

Let’s look at the Title of the Poem “A Chill”

What do you think of when you hear the word “Chill”?

Look at the pictures for clues.

A Chill - Christina Rossetti

Lambkins

Nestlings

Field

What can lambkins doAll the keen night through?Nestle by their woolly mother,The careful ewe.

What can nestlings doIn the nightly dew?Sleep beneath their mother’s wingTill day breaks anew.

If in field or treeThere might only beSuch a warm, soft sleeping placeFound for me.

What can lambkins (babies of sheep) do

All the keen (cold) night through?

Nestle(settle into a warm, comfortable position ) by their woolly mother,

The careful ewe(mother sheep).

Lambkins

The poet is asking the question -

What do lambkins do on a cold night?

She goes on to answer her own question.

What is her answer?

Lambkins

The answer is in these lines

Nestle by their woolly mother,

The careful ewe.

The poet in response tells us that the lambkins love to sleep close to their woolly mother comfortably.

The poet also describes the ewe (mother sheep) as a very careful mother because she makes sure that all her babies stays warm

What can nestlings do

In the nightly dew?

Sleep beneath their mother’s wing

Till day breaks anew.

The poet asks another question

What can baby birds do at night? Can you answer it?

nestlings - baby birds that cannot fly yet

Sleep beneath their mother’s wing

Till day breaks anew.

The poet says that the nestlings sleeps under their mother’s wing till the next day. The mother bird makes sure that she protects the nestlings with her wings on a cold nightly dew.

anew - new. Here, till a new day

If in field or treeThere might only beSuch a warm, soft sleeping placeFound for me.

There is shift here.

How is the last stanza different from the other stanzas?

In the first two stanzas, the poet asks questions and answers it herself.

But the third stanza is different.

In the third stanza, the poet not asking any questions.

The poet wants to chill and relax like the lambkins and the nestlings without any fear or worries.

The poet wishes to find a place in a field or in a tree to stay warm. She wants to be comfortable like the nestlings and the lambkins .

Now that you have read the poem and understood it. Can you say in one line what the poem is about? (Theme)

This poem talks about motherhood.

The natural instinct of the mother to protect their child and to provide warmth on a cold night.

It ends with the poet’s desire to find her a place of her own where she can feel safe and protected.

Now look at the questions and try to answer as many as you can. (Pages 15 onwards are textbook questions (Oxford) and the same as those in the back of the lesson) You can check your answers in the following pages.

Or you can go straight to the online quiz. Click Here.

A. Questions.1. Is the title of the poem a good one?why?2. How do the baby animals keep warm?3. Which words in the second stanza tell us that the birds are warm?4.What does the poet say she would like?

B. Reference to contextRead this line from the poem,then answer the questions.

“What can nestlings do........”1. 1. What are nestling?2. In the poem,another word for a young animal is used. What is it?3.What can nestlings do?

C. Words and meanings.1. Make five rhyming pairs. Through, though, few,knee,rough, Throw,blue,bluff,dew,be.

2. How are the following described in the poem?a. Mother b. Ewe-c. Wing-d. Dew-

e. Night-f. Sleeping place-

Extra Questions.1.Who wrote the poem ‘A Chill’?2. Go through the poem,read aloud and find out the rhyming words from the poem.(Reminder- Rhyming words are words which ends with the same sound)3. Make sentences on your own with-

a. Eweb. Sleeping placec. Mother.

A. Questions.1. Is the title of the poem a good one?why?Ans- Yes, the title of the poem is a good one because it talks about how the young ones of animals are cold on chilly nights.2. How do the baby animals keep warm?Ans- The lambs nestle close to their woolly mother and the nestlings sleep beneath their mother’s wing.3. Which words in the second stanza tell us that the birds are warm?Ans- The words, ”sleep beneath their mother’s wing” tells us that the birds are warm.4.What does the poet say she would like?Ans- The poet says that she would like to find a place in a field or in a tree to be warm and comfortable at night.

B. Reference to contextRead this line from the poem,then answer the questions.

“What can nestlings do........”1. What are nestling?Ans- Nestlings are very young birds that cannot fly.2. In the poem, another word for a young animal is used. What is it?Ans- Another word for a young animal used in the poem is lambkins. It is an affectionate term for the babies of sheep.3.What can nestlings do?Ans- Nestlings sleep under their mother’s wing in order to stay warm through the cold night.