The Brook (By Lord Tennyson)

The Brook

I come from haunts of coot and hern;

I make a sudden sally

And sparkle out among the fern,

To bicker down a valley.

By thirty hills I hurry down,

Or slip between the ridges,

By twenty thorpes, a little town,

And half a hundred bridges.

Till last by Philip's farm, I flow

To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go,

But I go on forever.

I chatter over stony ways,

In little sharps and trebles,

I bubble into eddying bays,

I babble on the pebbles.

With many a curve my banks I fret

By many a field and fallow,

And many a fairy foreland set

With willow-weed and mallow.

I chatter, chatter, as I flow

To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go,

But I go on forever.

I wind about, and in and out,

With here a blossom sailing,

And here and there a lusty trout,

And here and there a grayling,

And here and there a foamy flake

Upon me, as I travel

With many a silvery water break

Above the golden gravel,

And draw them all along, and flow

To join the brimming river

For men may come and men may go,

But I go on forever.

I steal by lawns and grassy plots,

I slide by hazel covers

I move the sweet forget-me-nots

That grow for happy lovers.

I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance,

Among my skimming swallows;

I make the netted sunbeam dance

Against my sandy shallows.

I murmur under moon and stars

In brambly wildernesses;

I linger by my shingly bars;

I loiter round my cresses;

And out again I curve and flow

To join the brimming river,

For men may come and men may go,

But I go on forever.

By Lord Tennyson

About The Poet :

Lord Tennyson (1809-92) was born in Lincolnshire. Poet Laureate for over 40 years, Tennyson is representative of the Victorian age. His skilled craftsmanship and noble ideals retained a large audience for poetry in an age when the novel was engrossing more and more readers. Tennyson's real contribution lies in his shorter poems like The Lady of Shallot, The Princess, Ulysses, The Palace of Art etc. His fame rests on his perfect control of sound, the synthesis of sound and meaning, the union of pictorial and musical.

Words to Know :

Haunt: place visited frequently

Coot and hern: waterbirds

Sally: to rush; to issue forth suddenly

Bicker: to move quickly with a participating noise

Ridge: a high edge along a mountain

Thorp: village

Sharps and trebles: the loud and low sound of music

Eddying bays: bays full of whirlpools

Fret: to wear away

Fallow: unploughed land

Foreland: tiny cape

Chatter: to pass with a noise

Wind about: to move in a curved way

Lusty: strong

Grayling: a trout having a broad fin

Gravel: small stones, often used to make the surface of paths & roads,

Steal: to move quietly

Hazel: a small tree that produces nuts, woods or buses

Gloom(verb): to grow dark

Glance: to produce small bright flashes of light

Netted(adj): looking like meshes

Brambly: full of thorns

Shingly bars: pebbles & sand hindering the flow

Cresses: small plants with thin stems & very small leaves

Summary Of The Brook

This poem “The Brook” is written by Alfred Lord Tennyson. In the poem, the Brook narrates a tale about a journey. The brook speaks about its emergence from a mountain and the resort of water birds. It sparkles and shines among the fern. Then the brook flows down the hill into a valley with a turbulent flow. Then it flows past hills, ridges, villages, a town & under many bridges.

Then the brook flows through the fields and meanders through the plains. As the brook flows through the plains its pace slows down. It becomes calm & quiet. And then it pours its water into the overflowing river.

Thinking About the poem

Q1) Who is “I” referred to as in the poem?

Ans: “I” is referred to the brook itself.

Q2) Trace the journey of the brook?

Ans: The brook starts its journey on the hilltops frequented by water birds. Then the brook rushes down the hill into the valleys and plains. It passes by a town, many grasslands, many villages, and half a hundred bridges. As it flows through the plains its pace slows down. It becomes calm & quiet. And then it joins the brimming river.

Q3) Explain the following lines:

“For men may come and men may go

But I go on forever.”

Ans: In these lines, the brook says that men come to this world and leave it very shortly as they are mortals. But the journey of the brook is unending and everlasting.

Q) Can the journey of the brook be compared with human life?

Ans: Yes, the very journey of the brook can be compared with the life span of a man. Like brook, a human being also passes through different stages of life before his death. And the flow of the brook can be compared with this world that doesn‘t stop while mortals are born & mortals die