Summary: Time Travel
This poem reminds the reader to take steps to protect nature before it’s too
late. The speaker lives in 5000 AD, a time when the world does not have any
trees or animals left. The world the speaker lives in now has things like time
machine with which people can travel to the past and the future, but there is
no life left on the planet. So, he wants to go back to 2000 AD in the time
machine, to see what the world was like before humans destroyed the trees,
the animals and the seas.
The poem serves as an ominous reminder for the readers to protect the
environment before it is too late. The poem starts off with the mention of a
time machine and the reader does not anticipate the crux of the poem. Even
the title cleverly hides the fact that the poem is actually about the
environment. It tells us how important it is for us human beings to not pursue
technological advancement at the cost of our environment.
POEM: TIME TRAVEL
A. 1. The speaker in the poem lives on the Earth in the year 5000.
2. The speaker wants to go back into the past because he or she wants to see what the Earth was like
when there were trees and animals around and nature had not been destroyed by human beings.
3. From the poem, we know that the world the speaker lives in has no greenery, no animals, no
water bodies and no vegetation of any kind. From the first few lines of the poem, it is clear that
the speaker’s world has many devices and gadgets, like time machine (“Strap me in your time
machine”), which are more advanced than what the Earth had in the year 2000. But the human
beings destroyed nature while trying to achieve that (“before we burnt the trees / killed off all the
animals / and dried up all the seas”).
4. a. A time machine takes the speaker back three thousand years.
b. In the year 2000, the Earth was struggling with pollution, but there were still trees, animals,
oceans and greenery left on the planet.
c. The Earth has changed this much by 5000 AD because human beings have destroyed nature
while only focusing on new technology and devices.
5. The main idea of the poem is that no matter how many new and wonderful gadgets we invent,
nature cannot be replaced. The main message of the poem is that we should save what we have
before it becomes too late. Or else even with all of our technology, we would only want to come
back to a time when we still shared the planet with animals, plants, oceans and so on.
B. (Suggested answer. Accept all suitable answers.)
1. Yes, I agree with the poet’s choice of the title. I like it because when we read the title, we think it
is a poem about time travel only. But the poem actually is about the importance of nature and its
protection. Until the last four lines, we don’t realise what the main message of the poem is. The
title is perfect because it does not give away the effect the last four lines have on the readers.
2. (Free response. Accept all suitable answers.)
C. (Suggested answer. Accept all suitable answers.)
boom—the sound of an explosion
click—the sound made when we press a button
meow—the sound made by a cat
tick-tock—the sound of a clock’s hands moving
clang—the sound of utensils banging against each other
thud—the sound of somebody or something heavy falling on the ground
zoom—the sound of a vehicle picking up speed
jingle—the sound of keys banging together
beep—the sound made by a car horn or by an electronic device
pop—the sound of a soda bottle opening
TIME TRAVEL POEM
A. Answer in brief.
1. What message does the speaker give through this poem? (Time Travel)
Ans: The speaker reminds us to take steps to protect nature before it’s too late. He tells us not to
destroy trees or kill animals and save water on the Earth.
2. What kind of a world does the speaker wish to see through his time machine? Support your
answer with lines from the poem.
Ans: The speaker wants to see a world which has plants, animals and seas full of water. The
following lines from the poem express his wish.
Show me what the world was like
before we burnt the trees
killed off all the animals
and dried up all the seas.
B. Read the lines and answer the questions.
1. Strap me in your time machine.
Let the motors whirr.
Switch controls to speed of light.
Make my senses blur.
a. How does the speaker want to travel back in time?
b. How fast does he want to travel?
c. How far back in time does he want to go?
Ans: a. The speaker wants to travel in a time machine.
b. He wants to travel at the speed of light.
c. He wants to go back three thousand years.
2. Batten down the airlocks
Make all the hatches fast
Blast me through the chromosphere
ferry me through the past
a. How does the speaker want the time machines prepared for the flight?
b. What will he have to cross to travel to the past?
c. Which year in the past does he want to go back to?
Ans: a. The speaker wants all the openings to be closed down and the room to be made airtight,
using airlocks.
b. He will have to cross the chronosphere, an imaginary layer around a planet, to travel to
the past.
c. He wants to go back to 2000 AD.
C. Answer in brief. (Think and answer)
Which ideas in the poem tell us that the poem happens in the future?
Ans: The poet wants to go back three thousand years to 2000 AD. He lives in a world which has no
trees, animals or seas.
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