Question

The poem is full of images that come alive through skilful use of words. Describe
any two images that appeal to you the most, quoting the lines from the poem.

Answer 1

The poem ‘The Brook’ is full of images that come alive through skilful use of words. The first image that appeals to me the most is the one that recaptures its course before it joins the brimming river.

                                    ‘By thirty hills I hurry down.
                                    Or slip between the ridges
                                    By twenty thorpes, a little town,
                                    And half a hundred bridges.

The noticeable feature is the pace of the lines. When the brook is in its infancy it passes through thirty hills and its movement is very quick. It hurries down. Then it passes through the narrow ridges and here it slips between them. Then the pace is a bit relaxed when it passes through twenty small hamlets or villages, a little town and under half a hundred bridges.

The second image is the ‘chattering’ quality of the brook. The river seems to be talking constantly in a friendly way to the things that obstruct its flow. After ‘chattering’ the brook prepares itself to join the brimming river. The image of‘brimming river’ brings into our minds a river which is full of water to its brim.

I chatter, chatter, as I flow
To join the brimming river ’.