Grasshopper and Cricket

VIKRAM’S ENGLISH ACADEMY (ICSE)
NOTES: ON THE GRASSHOPPER AND CRICKET.

Paraphrase:
‘On the Grasshopper and Cricket’ by, English poet, John Keats was written during a sonnet (a 14 line
poem) competition with his friend Leigh Hunt, who was also a popular poet. Majority of Keats’
poems highlights the beauty of nature and this poem too is one of them. In this poem, Keats
mentions that how the music of earth never dies and it keeps on singing forever.
The poem is a typical Petrarchan sonnet as it follows the rhyme scheme of ‘abba abba cde cde’. The
poet begins the first part by saying that the ‘music’ of the earth never dies. He mentions summer
season first. In summer, the birds feel dizzy in the hot sun and thus, hide in the cooling trees. It is
also in the same hot summer that a voice travels from hedge to hedge about the meadow which has
been freshly mowed. The voice belongs to the Grasshopper. While everyone else is tired of the
summer heat, the Grasshopper singing makes the hot summer a luxury. He’s the leader of summer
pleasures and is never tired of singing. When the summer’s over and he’s ready to rest, he rests
without any effort beneath the weed.
Even if the weather changes from summer to winter, the music of earth goes on. In summer if it’s
the Grasshopper then in winter it’s the Cricket that sings. In the winter, the evenings are lonely and
there’s silence due the frost. At this time, from beside the stove a high-pitched song of the Cricket is
heard. Though it is winter, one feels warm by listening to the Cricket’s song. The Cricket’s song, thus,
reminds one of the warmth that one feels in summer. After listening to the Cricket singing, one
seems lost by forgetting the winter as they feel like they are listening to the Grasshopper on grassy
hills in summer.
Textbook Questions:
1. Which line in the poem is similar to the first, and expresses the same idea?
Ans: ‘The poetry of the earth is ceasing never’ is similar to the first line ‘the poetry of the
earth is never dead’ and it also expresses the same idea.
2. Whose voice will run from hedge to hedge? Why do you think the voice sounds in the
hedges?
Ans: The Grasshopper’s voice will run from hedge to hedge. The voice sounds in the hedges
because the meadows were newly-mown.
3. Where do the birds hide and why?

Ans: The birds hide in the cooling trees because they feel like they’ll faint due to the hot
summer heat.
4. What does the poet mean by ‘take the lead in summer luxury’?
Ans: While everyone else is tired of the summer heat, the Grasshopper singing makes the
hot summer a luxury. He’s the leader of summer pleasures and is never tired of singing.
5. Does the Grasshopper tire, and does he then behave like the birds?
Ans: The Grasshopper doesn’t get tired like the birds. The birds get tired due to the summer
heat and they take shelter in the cool trees. On the other hand, the Grasshopper takes
shelter in the pleasant weed only when he’s done with singing.
6. What time of the day is described in the second part of the poem?
Ans: A lone winter evening is described in the second part of the poem.
7. What creates the silence?

Ans: The winter frost creates the silence.
8. Why does the Cricket’s song sound to the poet like that of the Grasshopper’s?
Ans: The Cricket’s song sounds like that of the Grasshopper’s because after listening to the
Cricket sing the poet feels warm and reminds him of summer (the season in which the
Grasshopper) sings.
9. What is meant by the phrase ‘he takes the lead in summer luxury’? Where does the poet get
this idea?
Ans: While everyone else is tired of the summer heat, the Grasshopper singing makes the
hot summer a luxury. He’s the leader of summer pleasures and is never tired of singing.
Keats is popular for writing nature poems and thus, got his idea from there.
10. Why do you think the poet expresses the same idea twice, in the first line and the ninth?
Ans: The poet expresses the same idea twice to emphasize the point that the earth never
stops singing. Even though the weather changes drastically from summer to winter, he
highlights beauty of both seasons by mentioning the songs of the Grasshopper and the
Cricket.
11. What is the difference between a grasshopper and a cricket? Find out three or four
differences (appearances, auditory organs, activity, feeding habits).
Ans: The main difference between a grasshopper and a cricket is that crickets tend to have
long antennae while grasshoppers have short antennae. Crickets sing by rubbing their wings
together, while grasshoppers sing by rubbing their long hind legs against their wings.
Grasshoppers detect sound by means of little 'ears' at the base of their abdomen; in crickets
these are on the front legs.
12. …he has never done with his delights

i. To whom is the poet referring?
Ans: The poet is referring to the Grasshopper.
ii. What delights might these have been?

Ans: The delights are singing all summer.
iii. What does he do after this?

Ans: He gets tired after all the fun and rests beneath the pleasant weed.
13. …when the frost has wrought a silence

i. When does the frost do this?
Ans: The frost does this in winter.
ii. What does ‘wrought’ mean, and how might the frost have ‘wrought a silence’?
Ans: The phrase “wrought a silence” is used to describe the condition of living things
during the winter's evening. It is chilling cold outside and snow is everywhere.
Wrought means to exert (force upon) something. Hence the winter has forced the
humans as well as animals to remain silence.
iii. What effect does this have on a cricket and the poet?
Ans: The Cricket a shrilled song when it finds a warm spot beside the stove in a cold
winter. It also makes the poet feel warm as the Cricket’s song reminds him of a
Grasshopper singing in summer.
Question Bank:
1. Which season is described in the first eight lines of the poem? How is it described?
Ans: Summer season is described in the first eight lines of the poem. When the birds are
faint with the hot sun, they will hide in the cooling trees. A voice of grasshopper will be
heard around the new-mown mead. This grasshopper moves from one hedge to the other
and it takes the lead in the summer luxury. According to the poet, it has never done with its
delights because it rests beneath a pleasant weed when tired out with fun.
2. Where do birds rest on a hot summer day? Why?

Ans: They birds rest in the cooling trees as they are faint/weak in the hot sun.
3. How do the grasshopper’s actions differ from other birds?

Ans: The grasshopper runs from hedge to hedge in the new-mown mead whereas other birds
hide in the cooling trees to seek shelter from the hot sun.
4. Where is the grasshopper moving? Where does he rest when he is tired?

Ans: The grasshopper moves from hedge to hedge. He rests under some pleasant weed.
5. What creates the silence on a cold evening? Why?
Ans: Frost has created a silence on a cold evening. As it is very cold, the surrounding is
deserted without any presence of any creature.
6. Who is making a sound in winter? From where?

Ans: The insect cricket is making a sound in the winter. It is making a shrilling sound from a
place called ‘stove’.
7. Explain the line ‘the poetry of the earth is never dead’ with examples from the poem.
Ans: The sentence means nature’s music is never quiet. Sometimes the music is in a form of
insects’ sound even if it is hot summer or chilly winter. For example: In the hot sun, the
grasshopper runs from one hedge to another while making a sound. On the other hand, the
cricket’s shrills coming from ‘stove’ increases although frost has wrought silence everywhere.
8. Give two examples of Personification from the poem.

Ans: The examples of Personification from the poem are:
i. A voice will run: The human quality of ‘running’ is given to ‘a voice’.
ii. When the frost has wrought a silence: The human quality of ‘creating silence’ is given
to ‘frost’.
9. From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead;

Name and explain the figure of speech in the above-mentioned line.
Ans: Repetition – The word ‘hedge’ is repeated.
OR
Alliteration – The starting sound ‘m’ is repeated in the words ‘mown’ and ‘mead’.
10. What do the ‘Grasshopper’ and the ‘Cricket’ symbolize?

Ans: Grasshopper and Cricket symbolise hot summer and cold winter respectively. Also they
symbolise the day and the night. In any weather condition or any part of the day, the nature
of the earth is always producing music. It is never quiet or silent.

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VIKRAM’S ENGLISH ACADEMY (ICSE)

NOTES: ON THE GRASSHOPPER AND CRICKET.

3. Where do the birds hide and why?

7. What creates the silence?

12. …he has never done with his delights

ii. What delights might these have been?

iii. What does he do after this?

13. …when the frost has wrought a silence

2. Where do birds rest on a hot summer day? Why?

3. How do the grasshopper’s actions differ from other birds?

4. Where is the grasshopper moving? Where does he rest when he is tired?

6. Who is making a sound in winter? From where?

8. Give two examples of Personification from the poem.

9. From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead;

10. What do the ‘Grasshopper’ and the ‘Cricket’ symbolize?

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