To Sleep

Class 7th : English (Tulip Series) : Poem (6)

An English lesson by :-

Chander Uday Singh

To Sleep : Poem 6

To Sleep

A flock of sheep that leisurely pass by,
One after one; the sound of rain, and bees
Murmuring; the fall of rivers, winds and seas,
Smooth fields, white sheets of water, and pure sky;
I've thought of all by turns, and yet do lie
Sleepless; and soon the small birds’ melodies
Must hear, first utter'd from my orchard trees;
And the first cuckoo’s melancholy cry.
Even thus last night, and two nights more I lay,
And could not win thee, Sleep! by any stealth:
Without Thee what is all the morning’s wealth?
Come, blessed barrier between day and day,
Dear mother of fresh thoughts and joyous health!

Detailed Summary

“To Sleep” is a sonnet which is written by the great Romantic poet William Wordsworth. It consists of fourteen lines which are divided into an octave and sestet. As the poem begins, one can understand that the poet yearns to have a sound sleep but he is not getting. For getting sleep, he imagines a rustic scenery in his mind.
In the poet’s imagination, he sees the countryside where a “flock of sheep” is moving in a relaxed and calm manner. Then he listens to the “sound” of the falling rain, and the “murmuring” of the bees. He also hears the sound of a flowing river which is going towards the sea. He can feel the winds which are blowing gently. In his imagination, he sees “Smooth fields” which are ploughed by the farmers to start farming. In his imagination, he moves forward and sees flowing water which is moving so fastly that it forms white froth. He describes it as “white sheets of water”. Then in his imagination, he looks at the sky which is very clear. There is no indication of a bad climate. All these indicate that nature is lulling the poet to go for a cozy sleep.

Then the poet sadly tells that even though he imagines these to get a sound asleep, he is unable to sleep. The poet knows that the time is moving swiftly. Soon it will be morning. He can hear “the small birds’ melodies”. He thinks that they will be making sweet sounds from his “orchard trees”. After that, he can hear the “first cuckoo’s melancholy cry”. These small birds and cuckoo are the clarions of the morning. In this poem, the poet used two symbols such as “melodies” which indicate relaxation and “melancholy” which indicates despair.

In this stanza, the poet tells that he did not get sleep for the past three days. He personifies sleep as a person whose heart he is trying to win by any means, “And could not win thee, Sleep ! by any stealth”. He is trying to win sleep by using various tactics. But he cannot conquer sleep. He yearns “Sleep” to come and give him a sound asleep/

In the last stanza, the poet tells the reason why he desires to have a sound asleep. If he does not have a sound asleep, then he cannot enjoy “morning’s wealth”, that is, the wonderful things such as chirping of birds, flowing river, grazing sheep, etc. that day gives to a person. So again he pleads “Sleep”, and calls “Sleep” as “blessed barrier” because it comes between “day” and “day”. At the end of the poem, the poet calls “Sleep” as “Dear mother” because a kid gets a sound sleep when he/ she gets his/her mother’s presence. The poet knows well that if he gets a sound asleep, he will get “fresh thoughts” and “joyous health” which are necessary for the poet to write poetry.

Reading is Fun:
A. Answer the following questions:

Q1. To whom, is the poem addressed.

Ans. The poem is, addressed to a sick boy who has spent more than two sleepless nights on the sick bed.

Q2. What does the speaker want?
Ans. The speaker wants the recovery from his sickness so that he can enjoy moments of joyous health.

Q3. How many sleepless nights did the speaker have?
Ans. The speaker had more than two sleepless nights.

Q4. What will speaker hear in the morning?
Ans. The speaker will hear the first cuckoo’s melancholy cry in the morning.

Q5. What are the qualities of sleep that the poet appreciates?
Ans. The poet says that the quality of sleep is morning’s wealth, the mother of fresh thoughts and the joyous health.

B. Say whether the following statements are True or False:

a. A flock of sheep hurriedly passes by...... False

b. The speaker has sweet dreams....... True

c. The speaker will hear the first cuckoo’s melancholy cry in the morning....... True

d. The speaker has three sleepless nights....... False

e. The speaker calls sleep dear mother of fresh thoughts and joyous health....... True

f. The poem is about the necessity of sleep....... True

Language Work:

A. Find the rhyming words in the poem:

Ans. Bees = Seas, lay = day, wealth = health, lie = cry etc.

To Sleep

Class 7th : English (Tulip Series) : Poem (6)

B. Match the following:

Ans.

A	B
1. An army of	j. Soldiers
2. A band of	i. Musicians
3. A chain of	h. Mountains
4. A flight of	g. Locust
5. A herd of	f. Deer
6. A litter of	e. Puppies
7. A string of	d. Camels
8. A pride of	c. Lions
9. A team of	b. Horses
10. A hive of	a. Bees

C. Match the animals/birds with their cries/sounds:

Ans.

A	B
Animals/Birds	Cries/Sounds
a. Asses	13. Bray
b. Bees	10. Buzz
c. Cats	17. Purr
d. Camels	16. Grunt
e. Crows	15. Caw
f. Hens	14. Cluck
g. Ducks	12. Quack
h. Eagles	11. Scream
i. Flies	18. Hum
j. Turkeys	8. Gobble
k. Wolves	9. Howl
l. Lions	7. Roar
m. Frogs	19. Croak
n. Monkeys	6. Chatter
o. Parrots	4. Talk
p. Sheep	5. Bleat
q. Snakes	2. Hiss
r. Swans	3. Cry
s. Pigeons	1. Coo