Class : 9 – Lesson (14) A Legend of the Northland
EXPLANATION & SUMMARY
📚 Introduction to the Poem
A Legend of the Northland is a ballad written by Phoebe Cary, an American poet. The poem narrates a moral story set in the cold regions of the Northland. Written in a simple, narrative style, the poem conveys the importance of kindness 🟢, generosity 🔵, and selflessness 🟡, while condemning greed and selfishness.
👩🎨 About the Poet
Phoebe Cary (1824–1871) was an American poet and social reformer. Along with her sister Alice Cary, she wrote poems that were rich in moral values, simplicity, and humanitarian concerns. This poem reflects her ability to combine storytelling with moral teaching.
💡 Theme of the Poem
🟢 The value of charity and compassion.
🔵 Punishment of greed and selfishness.
🟡 Supernatural transformation as a moral lesson.
🟠 The importance of helping those in need.
🟣 Nature as a backdrop to human behaviour.
🎬 Main Episodes of the Poem
1️⃣ Setting in the Northland
The poet begins by describing the cold land of the North ❄️, where days are short and nights are long. People harness reindeer and live in small wooden houses. This creates a picture of hardship and survival.
2️⃣ Introduction of the Saint
A saint, while traveling through the Northland, is tired and hungry. He knocks at the door of a woman’s house, seeking food and shelter. His presence symbolizes virtue and divine testing.
3️⃣ The Woman’s Refusal
Instead of showing kindness, the woman rudely refuses. Although she is baking cakes, she cannot spare even a small one for the hungry saint. Her greed and selfishness reveal her lack of compassion.
4️⃣ The Test of Generosity
The saint watches as the woman bakes cakes of different sizes. Each time, she finds the cake too large to give away and eats it herself. Even the smallest cake seems too much to part with. Her refusal demonstrates extreme miserliness.
5️⃣ The Curse
The saint becomes angry at her behaviour. He declares that such greed does not deserve human form. As a punishment, he transforms her into a woodpecker bird 🐦.
6️⃣ Transformation into a Bird
The woman turns into a bird with a red cap on her head, a symbol of her previous human identity. Condemned to live in forests, she must peck at hard, dry wood to find food, symbolizing eternal punishment for her selfishness.
7️⃣ The Moral Lesson
The poem ends with the moral that greed and selfishness invite punishment. It serves as a warning against unkindness and stresses that generosity is a virtue rewarded by God and society.
🎭 Tone, Style, and Devices
✨ Tone – Narrative, moralising, and cautionary.
✨ Style – Ballad form, simple language, rhyming couplets.
✨ Imagery – Cold landscape, cakes, reindeer, woodpecker bird.
✨ Symbolism – The saint represents virtue; the bird represents punishment for greed.
✨ Irony – The woman, who refused to give food, is condemned to peck for food forever.
🕊️ Lessons and Takeaways
✔️ Selfishness and greed lead to downfall.
✔️ Generosity and kindness are divine virtues.
✔️ Nature and supernatural elements are used to teach moral lessons.
✔️ Actions reflect character, and punishment follows wrongdoing.
✔️ True humanity lies in empathy and sharing.
🌟✨ Summary (Approx. 150 words) ✨🌟
A Legend of the Northland by Phoebe Cary is a ballad that teaches a moral lesson against selfishness. Set in the cold Northland, the poem describes how a saint, weary and hungry, seeks food from a woman. Although she is baking cakes, she refuses to give him even the smallest piece, considering each one too large to spare. Her greed angers the saint, and as punishment, he transforms her into a woodpecker bird. She is cursed to search for food by pecking at trees forever. The poem ends with a moral that selfishness and lack of compassion bring divine punishment, while kindness and generosity are virtues to be cherished.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
PASSAGE
📖 Passage
“He came to the door of a cottage,
In travelling round the earth,
Where a little woman was making cakes,
And baking them on the hearth.”
🌟 Questions and Answers
1️⃣ Question: Who came to the door of the cottage and why?
🟢 Answer: A saint came to the cottage door while travelling, as he was tired and hungry and sought food.
2️⃣ Question: What was the little woman doing when the saint arrived?
🟢 Answer: She was baking cakes on the hearth (fireplace).
3️⃣ Question: Why is the saint’s request important in the context of the poem?
🔵 Options:
A. It tested the woman’s generosity and compassion.
B. It was a routine visit of the saint.
C. It was to collect taxes for the village.
D. It was just to ask for directions.
🟢 Answer: A. It tested the woman’s generosity and compassion.
4️⃣ Question: What does the woman’s refusal to share food symbolise?
🟢 Answer: It symbolises human greed and selfishness, even when one has enough to share.
5️⃣ Question: Assertion (A): The woman happily gave the saint a cake.
Reason (R): She believed helping the needy would bring her blessings.
🔵 Options:
A. Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
B. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
C. A is false, but R is true.
D. Both A and R are false.
🟢 Answer: D. Both A and R are false.
6️⃣ Question: How does this passage set the stage for the moral lesson of the poem?
🟢 Answer: It introduces the saint’s test of the woman’s kindness, showing how her selfish refusal leads to divine punishment and the moral lesson against greed.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
OTHER IMPORTANTQUESTIONS: –
1️⃣ Question: Who is the poet of A Legend of the Northland?
🟢 Answer: The poem is written by Phoebe Cary.
2️⃣ Question: Where is the poem set?
🟢 Answer: It is set in the cold region of the Northland, where days are short, nights are long, and people live in wooden houses and use reindeer for transport.
3️⃣ Question: Who came to the woman’s house in the poem?
🟢 Answer: A saint came to her house, tired and hungry, asking for food.
4️⃣ Question: What work was the woman doing when the saint arrived?
🟢 Answer: She was baking cakes on the hearth (fireplace).
5️⃣ Question: Why did the woman refuse to give the saint even a small cake?
🟢 Answer: She was greedy and selfish, finding even the smallest cake too large to part with.
6️⃣ Question: How did the saint punish the woman for her selfishness?
🟢 Answer: He cursed her and transformed her into a woodpecker bird.
7️⃣ Question: What special feature of the woodpecker bird reminds us of the woman?
🟢 Answer: The red cap on the bird’s head symbolises the woman’s identity before her transformation.
8️⃣ Question: What lesson does the woman’s transformation teach?
🟢 Answer: It teaches that greed and selfishness are punished, and kindness is a divine virtue.
9️⃣ Question: Why is the poem called a “legend”?
🟢 Answer: It is called a legend because it is a traditional, supernatural tale that conveys a moral lesson, not a historical fact.
🔟 Question: How is irony reflected in the woman’s fate?
🟢 Answer: She refused to give food when she had plenty, but as a bird, she is condemned to search for food by pecking at wood forever.
1️⃣1️⃣ Question: What poetic form is used in this poem?
🟢 Answer: It is written as a ballad, a narrative poem in short stanzas with a rhyme scheme.
1️⃣2️⃣ Question: What qualities of the saint are highlighted in the poem?
🟢 Answer: The saint represents virtue, patience, and divine justice, testing human behaviour and rewarding or punishing accordingly.
1️⃣3️⃣ Question: What is the main message of A Legend of the Northland?
🟢 Answer: The poem conveys that selfishness leads to downfall, while compassion and generosity are true human values blessed by God.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————