Std 8 English chapters › Unit 1 · Question Answers ↓ · Take the lesson test ↓
In short: The poet calls trees the kindest things he knows, because they harm no one and quietly give shade, shelter, fruit, wood and even a lullaby to the world.
(झाडे कोणालाही इजा करत नाहीत आणि शांतपणे सावली, निवारा, फळे, लाकूड आणि अंगाईसुद्धा देतात, म्हणून कवी त्यांना आपल्या माहितीतील सर्वात दयाळू गोष्टी म्हणतो.)
- Type: Poem
- Poet: Harry Behn
- Speaker: The poet, praising trees
- Unit: 1
Summary in English
The poet says trees are the kindest things he knows. They do no harm; they simply grow. They spread shade for sleepy cows and gather birds in their branches.
Trees give us fruit, wood to build our houses, leaves to burn on Hallowe'en, and new green buds in spring. They are the first to touch the morning sunlight and the last to hold the light when evening turns into night.
When the moon floats in the sky, the trees hum a sleepy lullaby of children long ago. That is why the poet says trees are the kindest things he knows.
मराठीत सारांश (Summary in Marathi)
कवी म्हणतो की झाडे ही त्याला माहीत असलेल्या गोष्टींपैकी सर्वात दयाळू आहेत. ती कोणालाही त्रास देत नाहीत; ती फक्त वाढतात. ती झोपाळू गायींना सावली देतात आणि आपल्या फांद्यांवर पक्ष्यांना आसरा देतात.
झाडे आपल्याला फळे, घरे बांधण्यासाठी लाकूड, हॅलोविनला जाळण्यासाठी पाने आणि वसंतात नवी हिरवी पालवी देतात. सकाळचा सूर्यप्रकाश सर्वात आधी झाडांना स्पर्श करतो आणि संध्याकाळ रात्रीत बदलताना शेवटचा प्रकाशही तीच धरून ठेवतात.
आकाशात चंद्र तरंगू लागतो, तेव्हा झाडे जुन्या काळातील मुलांसाठीची झोप आणणारी अंगाई गुणगुणतात. म्हणूनच कवी म्हणतो, झाडे ही सर्वात दयाळू गोष्ट आहे.
Theme and Message (मध्यवर्ती कल्पना)
Trees selflessly serve all living beings, so we should love and protect them.
झाडे निःस्वार्थपणे सर्व सजीवांची सेवा करतात; म्हणून आपण त्यांच्यावर प्रेम करावे आणि त्यांचे रक्षण करावे.
Figures of Speech (अलंकार)
- Personification (चेतनगुणोक्ती): trees are 'kind', they 'gather birds' and 'hum a drowsy lullaby'.
- Repetition (पुनरावृत्ती): 'Trees are the kindest things I know' comes at the beginning and the end.
Useful Words (शब्दार्थ)
| Word | मराठी अर्थ | Use it in a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| boughs | फांद्या | Birds sat on the boughs of the mango tree. |
| beams | किरणे | The beams of the sun lit the room. |
| drowsy | पेंगुळलेला, झोपाळू | I felt drowsy after lunch. |
| lullaby | अंगाई | Mother sang a lullaby to the baby. |
| Hallowe'en | (पाश्चिमात्य देशांतील) शरद ऋतूतील सण | Children dress up on Hallowe'en. |
For the Exam (परीक्षेसाठी)
- The poem is written in rhyming couplets (know/grow, cows/boughs, above/of).
- Language study: degrees of comparison: kind, kinder, kindest; successful, more successful, most successful. Practise degrees of comparison.
1.3 Trees are the Kindest Things I Know: English Workshop Question Answers
Every English Workshop activity for this poem, as games. Score points, earn stars and challenge a friend on WhatsApp! (खेळा, गुण मिळवा आणि मित्रांना आव्हान द्या!)
🌳 Warm-up: Seasons and tree parts
🧩 Which season is it in the Northern Hemisphere?
Months → season
Which pair are both parts of a tree beginning with B?
Answer: Also: F = fruit, flower; T = trunk, twig.
🤔 Think as you read
Which part of a tree glows first at sunrise?
Answer: Trees are the first to touch the morning sun’s rays.
What do trees do for small children at night?
Answer: The rustling leaves sound like a soft, sleepy song.
Q1. Rhyming words game
🎯 Tap two words that rhyme.
Rhyming words from the poem
Answer key for Q1
(a) fun → begun, sun (b) no → know, grow / ago (c) now → cows, boughs (d) sight → light, night (e) fly → sky, lullaby
Q2 and Q3. Pictures and kindness
👉 Which line is NOT from the poem?
Pick the line that is NOT in the poem.
Answer: Trees in this poem are gentle and kind, never fierce.
Lines that create pictures, and 5 kind deeds of trees
Pictures: And spread a shade for sleepy cows / And gather birds among their boughs / They are the first when day’s begun to touch the beams of morning sun / And when a moon floats on the sky / They hum a drowsy lullaby.
Kindness of trees: (1) They do not harm anyone. (2) They give shade to cows. (3) They give shelter to birds. (4) They give us fruit. (5) They give wood for our houses, and sing lullabies to children.
Q4. Describing words
👉 Tap the word the poet uses.
___ cows
Answer: And spread a shade for sleepy cows.
___ new buds
Answer: In the Spring new buds of green.
___ sun
Answer: To touch the beams of morning sun.
___ lullaby
Answer: They hum a drowsy lullaby.
___ trees (from the title)
Answer: Trees are the kindest things I know.
Q5. Lines that mean …
🧩 Match each meaning to its line.
Meaning → line
Q6 and Q8. Think and write
✍️ Q6. Answer in your own words, then compare
- Snakes, scorpions, mosquitoes, wolves and even human beings can harm one another.
- Trees are harmless because they never hurt anyone; they just grow and give.
- Hallowe’en (31 October) falls in autumn, when trees shed their leaves. People burn the dry fallen leaves in bonfires to clear them and keep warm.
- The lines describe evening (dusk). The treetops hold the last light of the day.
✍️ Q8. Save the banyan tree: write the conversation, then compare
Myself: Good morning, Sir! I am very upset to see you having this good old banyan tree chopped down.
Neighbour: I need the space for a new building.
Myself: But this tree is nearly a hundred years old. It gives shade to all of us and shelter to hundreds of birds.
Neighbour: Hmm, I hadn’t thought about the birds.
Myself: It also keeps our lane cool and cleans the air. Could the architect design the building around it?
Neighbour: That’s a good idea. I’ll speak to him today and stop the cutting.
Myself: Thank you, Sir! The whole lane will be grateful.
Language Study: degrees of comparison
⚡ Quick-fire: tap the missing form.
kind – kinder – ___
Answer: Short adjective: add -er, -est.
healthy – ___ – healthiest
Answer: y → i, then -er.
early – earlier – ___
Answer: y → i, then -est.
ancient – more ancient – ___
Answer: Long adjectives take more / most.
Full tables
kind-kinder-kindest; healthy-healthier-healthiest; near-nearer-nearest; fine-finer-finest; early-earlier-earliest; small-smaller-smallest; fast-faster-fastest; high-higher-highest.
ancient, special, significant, advanced, accurate → more ___ / most ___.
Language Study: personification
👉 Which line gives human qualities to trees?
Pick the example of personification.
Answer: Only people hum lullabies. Other examples: Trees are the kindest things; They do not harm; They gather birds.
Think and Write (विचार करा, लिहा)
- Why are trees called harmless? Write three reasons.
- Write a conversation in which you persuade your neighbour not to cut down an old banyan tree.
- Find a short poem on trees in Marathi and translate two lines into English.
Online test · 15 questions
1.3 Trees are the Kindest Things I Know: Lesson Test
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शिक्षकांसाठी: धडा शिकवून झाल्यावर ही test वर्गाला पाठवा. प्रत्येक विद्यार्थ्याचे गुण तुम्हाला आपोआप मिळतील.
These are original study notes by englishresources.in to help you revise. Read the lesson in your Balbharati textbook first: these notes do not replace it and do not reproduce its text.