London's Summer Morning
by Mary Robinson
The Poem:
"Who has not waked to list the busy sounds
Of summer's morning, in the sultry smoke
Of noisy London? On the pavement hot
The sooty chimney-boy, with dingy face
And tattered covering, shrilly bawls his trade,
Rousing the sleepy housemaid. At the door
The milk-pail rattles, and the tinkling bell
Proclaims the dustman's office; while the street
Is lost in clouds impervious. Now begins
The din of hackery-coaches, waggons, carts;
While tinmen's shops, and noisy trunk-makers,
Knife-grinders, coopers, squeaking cork-cutters,
Fruit-barrows, and the hunger-giving cries
Of vegetable-vendors, fill the air.
Now every shop displays its varied trade,
And the fresh-sprinkled pavement cools the feet
Of early walkers. At the private door
The ruddy housemaid twirls the busy mop,
Annoying the smart 'prentice, or neat girl,
Tripping with band-box lightly. Now the sun
Darts burning splendour on the glittering pane,
Save where the canvas awning throws a shade
On the gay merchandise. Now, spruce and trim,
In shops (where beauty smiles with industry)
Sits the smart damsel; while the passenger
Peeps through the window, watching every charm.
Now pastry dainties catch the eye minute
Of humming insects, while the limy snare
Waits to enthral them. Now the lamplighter
Mounts the tall ladder, nimbly venturous,
To trim the half filled lamps, while at his feet
The pot-boy yells discordant! All along
The sultry pavement, the old-clothes-man cries
In tone monotonous, while sidelong views
The area for his traffic: now the bag
Is slyly opened, and the half-worn suit
(Sometimes the pilfered treasure of the base
Domestic spoiler), for one half its worth,
Sinks in the green abyss. The porter now
Bears his huge load along the burning way;
And the poor poet wakes from busy dreams,
To paint the summer morning."
The Summary of the Poem:
Everyone has woke up from their sleep and adds more to the noises of the hot and humid summer morning of London. The chimney-boy is cleaning the chimneys in a high peach sound with its face covered with black soot. The housemaid gets up in that sound and finds the milk-can rattles at the door. The dustman tinkles the bell. The street is nonchalant being in so many things. Then the prolonged unpleasant sound of the horse-drawn carts beings. Then come the noises of knife-grinders and cork-cutters from the tinmen's shop. The calls of the vegetable vendors and the fruit sellers fill the air.
Every shops opens with all its trading goods. The pavements before them are cleared and cooled by sprinkling water by them. The housemaid is rudely mopping the floor at the back door. She annoys the new comer by lightly tripping the laundry box. The sun gradually gets brighter and hotter. The colourful trade-goods of the shops is kept under the shades to get rid of the heat of the sun. There is a young unmarried woman in the neat and clean shop. The passenger peeps her beauty through the window of the vehicle. The humming insects come attracted by the delicate looking cakes. There were sticky substance spread on the paper to catch them.
The lamplighters mounts the tall ladder to the lampposts to trim the wicks and fill the lamp with oil. The pot-boy yells down at the bottom of the ladder. In that hot and humid pavement the old-clothes-man calls in his monotonous tone. A half-worn suit is seen through his slightly opened bag. He sells them in very low price as the cost of things has decreased. The porter is carrying his heavy load along the scorching heat of the road. Meanwhile the poet has woken up to write about the scenes of the summer morning.
COMPREHENSION
1. Answer the following questions.
a. The poet names over ten jobs. List at least five and explain what work each job involves.
= At least five jobs that the poet names in the poem, are -
❐ chimney-boy : They cleans the chimneys of the households.
❐ Housemaid : She does the household chores.
❐ Tinmen : They are like blacksmiths, then make things out of tins.
❐ Vegetable-vendor : They sell vegetables.
❐ old-clothes-man : He sells the second-hand clothes and earns his living.
b. Find three words in the first two sentences which indicate that it is hot.
= Three words in the first two sentences which indicate that it is hot are - 'busy', 'summer's' and 'sultry'.
c. The poet has used the same word to start half the sentences in the poem. What is the word?
What impact does it have? How many times has the poet used the word? (Check carefully!)
= The poet has used the same word to start half the sentences in the poem. The word is 'now'.
It has great impact to add extra information to the previous scene the poet was describing. The poet has used the word six times.
d. How old was the poet when she died?
= The poet was 42 years old when she died.
e. Look at lines 27-32. Who works up the ladder? What is he doing? Who is yelling?
= The lamplighter works up the ladder. He is trimming the wick and fills the half-filled lamp with oil.
The pot-boy is yelling.
f. According to the last two lines of the poem, what does the 'poor poet' do?
= According to the last two lines of the poem, the 'poor poet' paints the summer morning in his poetry after waking from his busy dreams.
UNDERSTANDING POETRY
The poet has painted a picture with words, creating a vivid image of a busy city full of sounds and sights.
2. Work with a partner to collect a list of words and phrases in the poem which help the reader to imagine the sounds of the city.
Alliteration: use of the same sound to begin a number of words that are close together.
Onomatopoeia: words that sound like the things they are or those they describe.
=
❐ Alliteration : sultry smoke; cork-cutter; vegetable-vendors;
❐ Onomatopoeia : rattles; tinkling; din; squeaking; humming; yells,
3. Discuss your list with a partner. Which words or phrases do you think are most effective? Which words are onomatopoeic?
= I think the most effective phrases are - 'sooty chimney-boy', 'milk-pail rattles', 'din of hackney-coaches', 'squeaking cork-cutters', hunger-giving cries', 'fresh-sprinkled pavement', 'burning splendour', 'glittering pane', 'of humming insects', and 'pot-boy yells'.
Among these - 'squeaking', 'humming' and 'yells' are onomatopoeic.
4. Find out examples of alliteration in the poem and write them in your book. Copy out the lines carefully and underline the letter that has been repeated.
= Examples of alliteration in the poem are - sultry smoke; cork-cutter; and vegetable-vendors.
5. Find three examples of onomatopoeic in the poem and list them.
= Three examples of onomatopoeic in the poem are - 'the milk-pail rattles', 'squeaking cork-cutters', and 'of humming insects'.
6. Answer the questions with reference to context.
a. "Now pastry dainties catch the eye minute
Of humming insects, while the limy snare
Waits to enthral them."
i. Find the three words that are linked to the idea of being captured or trapped.
= Three words that are linked to the idea of being captured or trapped are - 'limy', 'snare' and 'enthral'.
ii. Who are the 'pastry dainties' for?
= The 'pastry dainties' are for the customers.
ii. What happens to the 'humming insects'?
= The 'humming insects' get trapped in the white sticky lime-like substance which is spread over the paper.
b. "... the old-clothes-man cries
In monotonous, while sidelong views
The area for his traffic: now the bag
Is slyly opened, and the half-worn suit
(Sometimes the pilfered treasure of the base
Domestic spoiler), for one half its worth,
Sinks in the green abyss."
i. Who is shouting and what is he shouting about?
= The old-clothes-man is shouting about the second-hand clothes to sell.
ii. The following words and phrases create an impression of the man: 'sidelong views', 'slyly' and 'pilfered treasure'. What impression do you get of his character?
= He is carrying his goods in both of his sides. He is careless about his things. His bag is slightly open. A half-worn suit is seen through his slightly opened bag. He sells them in very low price as the cost of things has decreased. Those clothes are sometimes stolen from the households.
iii. The image of the suit sinking in a 'green abyss' is an interesting way of showing us that the value of goods goes down once they have been bought. Discuss this passage and work together to come up with an explanation of what the poet is describing in simple, straight-forward English. Here are some helpful sentence openers that you can use if you want to.
❐ The second-hand clothes seller ...
❐ Some of the clothes he sells have been ... by ...
❐ The clothes are sold for ...
❐ Once something has been bought, its value ...
= In that hot and humid pavement the old-clothes-man calls in his monotonous tone. A half-worn suit is seen through his slightly opened bag. He sells them in very low price as the cost of things has decreased. The second-hand clothes seller is trying to sell those clothes to get his living. Some of his clothes he sells have been stolen from the households by some domestic spoiler. Once something has been bought, its value decreases.
About the Poet:
Mary Robinson lived in England, in the busy cities of Bristol and London, but also lived for a time in France and Germany. Born in 1758, she enjoyed poetry from the age for seven and started working from the age of fourteen, first as a teacher and then as an actress. Robinson died in 1800, having written many plays, poems and novels. She was a celebrity, written about in newspapers, famous for her acting and her writing. In the late 1700s, London was the centre of European and world trade, and full of people working hard for their livelihood. In this poem, the poet uses lists and lots of descriptions to convey the sights and sounds of London.