A Legend of the Northland | CBSE 9 English Notes

‘A Legend of the Northland’ is a ballad. A ballad is a poem narrating a story in short stanzas. Ballad is such a kind of poem which tells a story in short stanzas and in the poem all the stanzas comprise four lines. In total, there are 16 stanzas in this poem and these stanzas will tell us a story. Ballads are a part of the folk culture or popular culture and are passed on orally from one generation to the next. (Folk culture is a story of any area and is known as a ballad). Folk culture comprises traditional stories, which are passed on from one generation to the next generation.

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https://youtu.be/qkdBGjO-SXk
Joy of helping others!
Being Generous
Serving the People
Have Sympathy for those who are in need


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Phoebe Cary (September 4, 1824 – July 31, 1871) was an American poet, and the
younger sister of poet Alice Cary (1820–1871). The sisters co-published poems in
1849, and then each went on to publish volumes of her own. After their deaths in
1871, joint anthologies of the sisters' unpublished poems were also compiled.

Work to be done in the notebook:
1. About the poet
2. Stanza-wise Poetic Devices used in the poem with examples
3. Summary
4. Questions marked in RED

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INTRODUCTION TO THE POEM
‘A Legend of the Northland’ is a ballad. A ballad is a poem narrating a story in
short stanzas. Ballad is such a kind of poem which tells a story in short stanzas and
in the poem all the stanzas comprise four lines. In total, there are 16 stanzas in
this poem and these stanzas will tell us a story. Ballads are a part of the folk
culture or popular culture and are passed on orally from one generation to the
next. (Folk culture is a story of any area and is known as a ballad). Folk culture
comprises traditional stories, which are passed on from one generation to the
next generation.
This story is of the Northland area, the area which is near the North Pole. This
exact place is not specified but ‘Northland’ means the area in the northernmost
part of the earth i.e., near the North Pole. ‘Legend’ means a historical story, one
which is very old and has been passed on from generation to generation.

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EXPLANATION
Stanza 1

Away, away in the Northland,
Where the hours of the day are few,
And the nights are so long in winter
That they cannot sleep them through;


In the region around the North Pole (Northland), the duration of the day is very
less because its position is such that the Sun’s rays reach for a very less time.
When this area is experiencing the winter season, the duration of the night is very
long, and the daytime hours are very few. In line 4, ‘they’ refers to the people
who live in this region. The poet says that the duration of the nighttime is so long
that the people cannot sleep them through. If they go to bed, take a few hours of
sleep and then, they wake up, it is still nighttime. He wants to emphasize the fact
that the duration of the night is very long.

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Stanza 2
Where they harness the swift reindeer
To the sledges, when it snows;
And the children look like bear’s cubs
In their funny, furry clothes:
Sledges: a vehicle on runners for conveying loads or passengers over snow or ice,
often pulled by draught animals.
To harness means to tie the reindeers with a rope to a sledge so that it can be
used for transportation.
Swift: something which runs very fast

The Northland region experiences severe cold conditions. It is a snowy area. The
reindeer is an animal that is found in this polar region. People tie the reindeers to
sledges and then the reindeers pull the sledges. He adds that the children look
like young ones of a bear because they wear funny looking clothes made of fur
which is like the furry skin of a bear.

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Stanza 3
They tell them a curious story —
I don’t believe ’tis true;
And yet you may learn a lesson
If I tell the tale to you.

Curious: strange

In line 1 ‘they’ refers to the parents or elders and ‘them’ refers to the children or
the younger generation. The elders of the Northland region tell a strange and
interesting story to the younger generation. The poet says that he doesn’t think
that the story is true, but if he tells the story to the reader, maybe the reader
could learn a lesson from it. The story gives an important message.


Stanza 4
Once, when the good Saint Peter
Lived in the world below,
And walked about it, preaching,
Just as he did, you know,
Saint Peter: an apostle of Christ, a disciple or follower of Jesus Christ
Preaching: to give a religious talk
The story is about Saint Peter. When Saint Peter used to live in the world and
went around, giving religious lectures to the people just like all saints do, then an
incident happened.

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Stanza 5
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;

hearth: fireplace where you do cooking

When Saint Peter was moving around the world, giving religious lectures to the
people, he reached the door of a cottage where a small woman was making
cakes. She was baking the cakes in the fireplace.

Stanza 6
And being faint with fasting,
For the day was almost done,
He asked her, from her store of cakes,
To give him a single one.

faint: to be weak, famished
As Saint Peter had not eaten anything the entire day, he was very hungry and was
feeling weak. So, he went to this woman who was baking cakes and he asked for
one cake out of the many cakes that she had baked.

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Stanza 7
So she made a very little cake,
But as it baking lay,
She looked at it, and thought it seemed
Too large to give away.

The woman was selfish. She did not give cake from her store. Instead, she started
making a very small cake for Saint Peter. She did not want to share her things.
But, when she put the cake for baking, she looked at it and thought that this cake
was too big to be given to someone.


Stanza 6
And being faint with fasting,
For the day was almost done,
He asked her, from her store of cakes,
To give him a single one.

faint: to be weak, famished

As Saint Peter had not eaten anything the entire day, he was very hungry and was
feeling weak. So, he went to this woman who was baking cakes and he asked for
one cake out of the many cakes that she had baked.

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Stanza 7
So she made a very little cake,
But as it baking lay,
She looked at it, and thought it seemed
Too large to give away.

The woman was selfish. She did not give cake from her store. Instead, she started
making a very small cake for Saint Peter. She did not want to share her things.
But, when she put the cake for baking, she looked at it and thought that this cake
was too big to be given to someone.


Stanza 8
Therefore she kneaded another,
And still a smaller one;
But it looked, when she turned it over,
As large as the first had done.

kneaded – to make dough from flour.

The little miser woman thought that the cake was too big to be given away. So,
she started making another smaller cake. When she looked at that cake, she again
felt that it was as big as the previous one. Again, she was not ready to give this
smaller cake to Saint Peter.

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Stanza 9
Then she took a tiny scrap of dough,
And rolled and rolled it flat;

And baked it thin as a wafer —
But she couldn’t part with that.

scrap: small amount

The third time, she took a very small amount of dough and rolled it. The poet says
that she rolled and rolled to lay emphasis on the fact that she rolled the dough
and made it very thin like a wafer and baked it. But she was so greedy that she
couldn’t give that thin piece of bread to the saint.
Stanza 10
For she said, “My cakes that seem too small
When I eat of them myself
Are yet too large to give away.”
So she put them on the shelf.

The woman reasoned that, when she ate the cakes, she felt that they were very
small but if she had to give them to someone, she felt that they were too big to
be given away. She put all the cakes on the shelf of her kitchen and she did not
give any cake to Saint Peter.

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Stanza 11
Then good Saint Peter grew angry,
For he was hungry and faint;
And surely such a woman
Was enough to provoke a saint.

provoke: cause to get angry

Saint Peter became angry. He was very hungry, he was feeling very weak and the
selfish woman was not ready to give him even a small cake. This behaviour of the
greedy woman angered the saint.


Stanza 12
And he said, “You are far too selfish
To dwell in a human form,
To have both food and shelter,
And fire to keep you warm.

dwell: to live

Saint Peter cursed the woman and said that she was very selfish. She did not
deserve to live like a human being. He added that God had given her food,
shelter, fire to keep warm but she had become selfish for all the resources she
had. She did not want to share them with anybody.

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Stanza 13
Now, you shall build as the birds do,
And shall get your scanty food
By boring, and boring, and boring,
All day in the hard, dry wood.”

scanty: very little
boring: make a hole in something with a tool or by digging.

Saint Peter cursed the woman that hence, she would become a bird because she
did not deserve the human form. She shall become a bird and just like birds build
their houses by boring into the wood and collect very little food by working hard
the entire day, similarly, she would also work hard in the dry wood, all day and
get little food and make a small place for herself to live in.

Stanza 14
Then up she went through the chimney,
Never speaking a word,
And out of the top flew a woodpecker,
For she was changed to a bird.

As soon as Saint Peter cursed the woman, she did not get a chance to speak for
herself because that very moment, she flew up to the roof through the chimney
and flew out in the form of a bird. Saint Peter’s curse had converted the woman
into a bird.

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Stanza 15

She had a scarlet cap on her head,
And that was left the same;
But all the rest of her clothes were burned
Black as a coal in the flame.

scarlet: brilliant red colour
When the woman turned into a bird, at that time she was wearing a red-coloured
cap on her head. This cap was there on the bird’s head also, but the woman’s
remaining clothes had burned and turned black just like coal.

Stanza 16
And every country schoolboy
Has seen her in the wood,
Where she lives in the trees till this very day,
Boring and boring for food.

country: belonging to the countryside i.e. rural areas
People who live in the countryside, even the small children who go to school,
seen this kind of bird in the woods. They see that she stays there all day and
keeps on digging the wood with her beak, to collect her food. Whenever any child
sees this kind of bird, then his elders tell him this story. They say that the bird
used to be a woman earlier. She was very greedy and so, she was cursed by Saint
Peter and turned into a bird. They get teaching that they should not be greedy.

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RECAPITULATION QUESTIONS 1
1. What is the feature of days and nights in the Northland in winter?
Ans. In winter in the Northland, the days are smaller and the nights are longer.
2. How did the Northland children look in their furry clothes?
Ans. They looked like bear’s cubs.
3. What animal is found mainly in the Northland?
Ans. Reindeer are found mainly in the Northland.
4. Why did Saint Peter walk about?
Ans. Saint Peter walked about preaching.
5. Where did Saint Peter come one day?
Ans. One day Saint Peter come to the door of a little woman’s cottage.
RECAPITULATION QUESTIONS 2
1. How did the first piece of cake appear to the little woman?
Ans. This piece of cake appeared her to big to give to Saint Peter.
2. Why did Saint Peter grow angry?
Ans. Saint Peter grew angry because he was hungry and faint, and the little
woman was not giving him any cake.
3. Why did Saint Peter grow angry?
Ans. Saint Peter grew angry because he was hungry and faint, and the little
woman was not giving him any cake.
4. Flow did Saint Peter describe the little woman?
Ans. He described her as a selfish woman.
5. How did Saint Peter punish the little woman?
Ans. He punished her by changing her into a little bird.

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LITERARY DEVICES IN THE POEM

1. Rhyme Scheme: abcb
2. Alliteration: is the repetition of a consonant sound in two or more close
words.
Stanza 1 - that, they, them through - ‘th’ sound is repeating
Stanza 2 - they, the - ‘th’ sound is repeating
look, like - ‘l’ sound is repeating
funny, furry - ‘f’ sound is repeating
Stanza 3 - they, them- ‘th’ sound is repeating
yet, you - ‘‘y sound is repeating’
learn, lesson - ‘l’ sound is repeating
tell, tale, to - ‘t’ sound is repeating
Stanza 5 - woman, was – ‘w’ sound is repeating
Them, the, hearth - ‘th’ sound is repeating
Stanza 6 - faint, fasting - ‘f’ sound is repeating
Stanza 8 - still, smaller -‘s’ sound is repeating
Stanza 9 - took, tiny -‘t’ sound is repeating
Stanza 10 - seem, small -‘s’ sound is repeating
Stanza 13 - build, birds - ‘b’ sound is repeating
by, boring, boring – ‘b’ sound is repeating

3. Repetition: any word or sentence is repeated to emphasize it.
Stanza 1 - ‘away’ word is repeated

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Stanza 9 – ‘rolled’ word is repeated
Stanza 13, 16 – ‘boring’ word is repeated
4. Enjambment: running lines of poetry from one to the next without using any
kind of punctuation to indicate a stop
Stanza 1 - line 3 and 4
Stanza 2 - Line 1 and 2; line 3 and 4
Stanza 3 - Line 3 and 4
Stanza 4 - Line 1 and 2; 3 and 4
Stanza 10 - Line 1, 2 and 3
Stanza 11 - Line 1 and 2

5. Simile: Comparison using ‘as’ or ‘like’
Stanza 2 – ‘the children look like bear’s cubs’. Children compared to bear’s cubs
Stanza 9 – ‘baked it thin as a wafer’. Cake is compared to a wafer.
Stanza 15 – ‘clothes were burned black as a coal’. The colour of the burned
clothes is compared to that of coal.

SUMMARY
The poem is a legend about an old lady who angered Saint Peter because of her
greed. The story goes on like this. One day, Saint Peter was preaching around the
world and reached the door of a cottage where this woman lived. She was making
cakes and baking them on a hearth. St. Peter was fainting with hunger. He asked
the lady to give him a piece of cake. The cake that she was baking then appeared
to be too big, so she did not give him that and instead, she baked another smaller
one. That also appeared to be big so she did not give him that also. The second

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time she baked yet another smaller cake but found it too big to give away. In the
third attempt, she took an extremely little scrap of dough and rolled it flat. She
had it as thin as a wafer but was unable to part with that also. This angered St.
Peter a lot. He said that she was not fit to live in human form and enjoy food and
warmth. He cursed her and transformed her into a woodpecker bird who had to
bore in hard, dry wood to get its scanty food. She can be seen in the trees all day
boring and boring for food.

Extract Based Questions
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
Away, away in the Northland,
Where the hours of the day are few,
And the nights are so long in winter
That they cannot sleep them through
Where they harness the swift reindeer
To the sledges, ‘when it snows;
And the children look like bear’s cubs
In their funny, furry clothes:

Q. Which country does this legend belong to?
A. This legend belongs to Northland.
Q. How were the days and nights there?
A. The days were short and the nights were very long.

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Q. How did the people drive their sledges when it snowed? They drove them with
the help of reindeer.
(iv) How did the children look in their furry clothes?
A. They looked like a bear’s cubs.
(II)
He came to the door of a cottage,
In travelling around the earth,
Where a little woman was making cakes,
And baking them on the hearth;
And being faint with fasting,
For the day was almost done,
He asked her, from her store of cakes,
To give hint a single one
(i) Where did St. Peter come?
He came to the door of a cottage.
(ii) What was the little woman doing?
She was baking cakes.
(iii) Why was St Peter faint?
He was faint with fasting.
(iv) What did he ask the woman for?
He asked the woman to give him a cake.

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TEXTBOOK QUESTION AND ANSWERS

1. Which country or countries do you think “the Northland” refers to?
Ans. The northland refers to the region around the north pole which is extremely
cold. It could be any country like Russia, Canada, Greenland, Norway, etc.

2. What did Saint Peter ask the old lady for? What was the lady’s reaction?
Ans. Saint Peter asked the lady to give him a cake as he was hungry. The lady did
not give him a cake out of the ones that she had baked, instead, she baked a
smaller one for him.

3. How did he punish her?
Ans. He punished the selfish lady by turning her into a woodpecker bird that had
to bore into the dry wood all day to get some food and shelter.

4. How does the woodpecker get her food?
Ans. The woodpecker gets food by boring holes in the wood.

5. Do you think that the old lady would have been so ungenerous if she had
known who Saint Peter really was? What would she have done then?
Ans. If the old lady knew who Saint Peter was, then she would not have been
ungenerous. On the other hand, she would have served him well for the
fulfilment of her greedy desires.

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6. Is this a true story? Which part of this poem do you feel is the most
important?
Ans. It is not a true story. The point of the story where the woman is turned into a
woodpecker bird is the most important. This is so because the punishment
teaches everyone the lesson to be generous.

7. What is a legend? Why this poem is called a legend?
Ans. A legend is a popular story from the past which is believed to be true but
cannot be verified. It contains a moral which is narrated to the children to teach
them moral values.

8. Write the story of ‘A Legend of Northland’ in about ten sentences.
Ans. One day, Saint Peter was preaching around the world and reached the door
of a cottage where this woman lived. She was making cakes and baking them on a
hearth. St. Peter was fainting with hunger. He asked the lady to give him a piece
of cake. The cake that she was baking then appeared to be too big, so she did not
give him that and instead, she baked another smaller one. That also appeared to
be big so she did not give him that also. The second time she baked yet another
smaller cake but found it too big to give away. In the third attempt, she took an
extremely little scrap of dough and rolled it flat. She had it as thin as a wafer but
was unable to part with that also. This angered St. Peter a lot. He said that she
was not fit to live in human form and enjoy food and warmth. He cursed her and
transformed her into a woodpecker bird who had to bore in hard, dry wood to get
its scanty food. She can be seen in the trees all day boring and boring for food.