Boats Sail on the Rivers
by Christina Rossetti
The Poem:
"Boats sail on the rivers,
And ships sail on the seas;
But the clouds that sail across the sky
Are prettier far than these.
There are bridges on the rivers
As pretty as you please;
But the bow that bridges heaven,
And overtops the trees,
And builds a road from earth to sky,
Is prettier far than these."
Summary of the Poem:
In the first stanza of the poem 'Boats Sail on the Rivers', the poet Christina Rossetti says that the clouds in the sky are far prettier than the boats and ships that sail on the rivers and seas respectively.
In the second stanza, the poet says that there are pretty bridges on the rivers. But the bridge of the rainbow is prettier than those bridges. Rainbow makes a bridge between the earth and the sky over the trees.
Comprehension
A. Write true or false.
1. Fish sail on the rivers. [F]
2. Clouds are prettier than bridges. [F]
3. There is a bow on the tree top. [F]
B. Answer the questions.
1. What is special about the bridges on the rivers?
= The bridges on the rivers are pretty as we please.
2. What do the clouds do?
= The clouds sail across the sky.
3. What is it that bridges heaven?
= The rainbow in the sky bridges heaven.
4. Which two places does the road connect?
= The road connects earth to sky.
C. Think and Answer.
1. Do clouds actually sail across the sky?
= Clouds do not actually sail across the sky. The clouds drift or float on the air in the sky.
2. What is the bow that connects heaven? Why is it called a bow here?
= The bow that connects heaven is the rainbow.
The rainbow is called a bow in two aspect. The first one is that it has a shape like a bow. The second aspect is probably the ending part of the word 'rainbow' is 'bow'.
3. What does heaven mean here? Why does the poet say that the bow bridges heaven?
= Here heaven means the rainbow.
As we all know that the rainbow starts in the sky and it ends or merges in the ground. Here the poet meant that the rainbow creates a connection between the sky and the earth.
About the Poet:
Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) wrote her first poem when she was 11 years old. When she was a child, she spent a lot of time observing nature. Rossetti has written many poems for children as well as for adults.