Summary
Summary:
The content discusses the poem "From a Railway Carriage" by Robert Louis Stevenson, which describes the rapid movement of a train and the fleeting sights it passes, such as children, a tramp, and various landscapes. It includes exercises for matching words with their meanings, listing things visible from a train, identifying phrases that convey speed, and practicing the poem's delivery.
- Poem Overview: The train moves swiftly, showcasing various sights.
- Exercises:
- Match words to meanings (e.g., hedge, ditch, charge).
- List quickly passing sights from a train.
- Identify speed-related phrases (e.g., "faster than fairies").
- Practice pronunciation with a tongue twister.
Key words: hedge ditch charge wink bramble tramp stringing lump glimpse
A Listen, read aloud and recite the poem.
From a Railway Carriage
Faster than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
And charging along like troops in a battle
All through the meadows the horses and cattle:
All of the sights of the hill and the plain
Fly as thick as driving rain:
And ever again, in the wink of an eye,
Painted stations whistle by.
Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,
All by himself and gathering brambles;
Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;
And here is the green for stringing daisies!
Here is a cart runaway in the road
Lumping along with man and load;
And here is a mill, and there is a river:
Each a glimpse and gone forever!
[Robert Louis Stevenson]
B Read the poem silently and match the words with their meanings.
| Words | Meanings |
| hedge | attack or rush |
| ditch | a signal made quickly by closing and opening an eye |
| charge | hanging |
| wink | a prickly bush |
| stringing | a row of bushes or small trees |
| lump | a look at something for a very short time |
| bramble | a canal or drain |
| tramp | move heavily along |
| glimpse | a homeless and jobless person |
C Make a list of things that you can see passing quickly by a running train.
D Make a list of the words and phrases that tell us about how fast the train is running. Examples: faster than fairies, charging along etc.
E Listen and read the first two lines with stress.
Faster than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
F How fast can you say?
The rain in Spain stays in the plains.
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