Antigonish Poem Class 7 English | Questions and Answers| Summary|
Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there!
He wasn't there again today,
Oh how I wish he'd go away!
When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall,
I couldn't see him there at all!
Go away, go away,
don't you come back any more!
Go away, go away,
and please don't slam the door...
Last night I saw upon the stair,
A little man who wasn't there,
He wasn't there again today
Oh,
how I wish he'd go away....
"Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there!
He wasn't there again today,
Oh how I wish he'd go away!"
Explanation:
The first paragraph is inspired by the reports of a ghost of a man roaming on the stairs of a haunted house , in Antigonish , nova Scotia , Canada. The poet met a man(ghost) yesterday upon the stairs .He felt the presence of the ghost but was unable to see it and again today he cannot see the man but can sense it .So he wishes this ghost to go away.
When I came home last night at three,
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall,
I couldn't see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don't you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don't slam the door...
Explanation :
In this paragraph the poet returns home at night and again he sensed the man(ghost).this time he felt that the ghost was waiting for him. But when he looked around for him ,he was unable to find him(ghost). So, he asked the ghost to go away and to never return because the poet is fed up of these eerie feelings.
Last night I saw upon the stair,
A little man who wasn't there,
He wasn't there again today Oh,
how I wish he'd go away....
Explanation :
In this paragraph the poet says that he sensed the ghost again upon the stair but he was unable to see it. He described the ghost to be a little man and he again wishes him to go
Summary:-
In this poem, the poet discusses a ghost who is roaming the stairs of a haunted house which is in Antigonish (a place in Canada). He says he saw a man on stairs, the last night. But in actual the man wasn’t there. The poet feels that the man is waiting for him when he comes home at 3 o’clock in the night. But when he looks around, there is no one in the hall. The poet often realizes that the man is there and wishes that he goes away from his house and also stops banging on the doors.
A. Read these lines from the poem and answer the given questions:-
When I came home last night at three,
The man was waiting there for me
1. Who was the man?
Ans. The man was a ghost . OR
The man was someone who wasn’t there.
2. What happened right after this?
Ans. Right after this, the poet looked around the hall and realized the man had disappeared.
3. What did the poet want the man to do?
Ans. The poet wants the man to stop slamming doors and to go away from his house.
B. Tick the options that you think are right. The poem is about:-
1. a ghost that haunts the poet on stairs.
2. a man who the poet imagines is there.
3. a man who keeps coming and going.
4. a man who is there and not there.
5. someone who walks up and down when the poet comes home late.
A paradox is a statement that appears to be illogical or silly, but may include an underlying truth. A paradox helps make a reader think about an idea in a different way. For example- less is more
C. What does the poet mean when he says I met a man who wasn’t there? Would you say the line is a paradox? Can we meet someone who is not there? What does the poet want you to think about?
Ans. No, we cannot meet someone who is not there. The poet wants us to perhaps think about the power of the human mind and its imagination.
D. Write the last word of each line against the line number. There is a definite pattern to the rhymes in the poem. What kind of a pattern do you see?
1. stair 2. there
3. today 4. away
5. three 6. me
7. hall 8. all
9. more 10. door
11. stair 12. there
13. today 14. away
We can see a pattern where every two successive lines rhyme.
If you have any doubt please let me know