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Raintree 4 Going Downhill

 Summary: Going Downhill

In this poem, the speaker remembers riding his bicycle down a hill. He

describes it as if it were happening now. His bicycle is moving down the hill at a

great speed. His feet are off the pedal and in the air. As the cycle moves faster,

his heart is filled with pure joy. He addresses birds, and says that now he

knows the joy they feel when they fly in the sky.

The poem follows a rhyme scheme of aabb. The speaker compares cycling

downhill to flying, as both make one feel weightless and fill one’s heart with

joy. 

POEM: GOING DOWNHILL

A. 1. I think the speaker in the poem is a young boy. It’s clear from the line “O bird, then I, though a boy ...

share your feathery life in the air”.

2. a. The speaker is talking to the bird because for a few moments while his bicycle rolls downhill, he

experiences what it must be like to fly.

b. The speaker wants the bird to know that in that moment, he too is flying, and shares the bird’s

joy of flying.

3. a. The speaker expresses joy and excitement in these lines. The speaker feels such strong

emotions that he laughs and cries with joy.

b. The speaker feels this way when his bicycle goes faster and faster downhill till it reaches a point

that it feels like that the boy is flying. This makes him feel such strong emotions.

4. a. The word ‘your’ refers to the bird here.

b. The speaker is asking the bird if this is the joy it feels when it flies, because the speaker

understands it now.


5. The ‘golden moment’ that the speaker talks about is the moment in which his bicycle is at the

maximum speed while going downhill. It is a golden moment because, as he rides the bicycle, with

his feet up in the air and wind in his air, he shares the joy of flying with the birds.

B. 1. The speaker compares flying to riding a bicycle downhill. According to the speaker, for a brief

moment, when the bicycle is rolling downhill at a really fast speed (“Swifter and yet more swift”),

his feet and hands are still (“lifted feet, hands still”), and his hair is flowing in the wind (“the air goes

by in a wind”), he understands what it must feel like to fly. In that moment, his entire body is in the

air only connected to the ground through the bicycle.

2. (Free response.)

GOING DOWNHILL POEM

A. Answer in brief.

What does the poet talk about, in the poem Going Downhill?

 Ans: In this poem, the poet talks about a young rider who enjoys a ride on a bicycle, down the hill.

The poet expresses the joy and excitement of riding a bicycle downhill.

B. Answer in detail.

How does the speaker ride his bicycle down the hill and how does he feel?

 Ans: The speaker is poised to ride down the hill with his hands firmly holding the bar of his bicycle.

He then takes off, with his feet off the pedals and speeds down. He feels like a bird in flight, with the

wind blowing on his face. His heart is full of happiness and excitement and he wonders if the birds

also feel the same.


C. Read the lines and answer the questions.

1. Makes the lungs laugh, the throat cry:—

 “O bird, see; see, bird, I fly. (Going downhill)

 a. How does the speaker feel?

 b. What does he tell the bird?

 Ans: a. The speaker feels so happy that he wants to cry out with joy.

 b. He tells the bird, that he too can fly.

2. “Is this, is this your joy?

 O bird, then I, though a boy,

 For a golden moment share

 Your feathery life in air!” (Going downhill)

 a. What does the speaker ask the bird?

 b. When does he ask this?

 c. What does he share with the bird?

 Ans: a. The speaker asks the bird if the bird too feels the same joy while flying that the speaker

feels while riding the bicycle down the hill.

 b. He asks this while riding down the hill.

 c. He shares the joy that the bird must be enjoying when it flies in the air.

D. Answer in brief. (Think and Answer)

1. Was the rider careless while riding downhill? Why does the boy take his feet off the pedals while

cycling downhill?

 Ans: No, the rider was not careless. He had his leg off the pedal because he knew that

free-wheeling will help him to relax as he glides down the slope smoothly.

2. What lesson do we learn through this experience of riding downhill on a bicycle?

 Ans: We learn that in order to enjoy even the simple joys in life we must make an effort to do it.

The boy had to make the effort to go uphill so that he could enjoy his ride downhill.

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