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Class 6 Literature Unit-6: The Way Through the Woods Rudyard Kipling

 The Way Through the Woods Rudyard Kipling (For Reading)

The Way Through the Woods is a poem that is filled with eerie atmosphere and mystery. The speaker begins the story about the woods by telling the reader how the road through the woods was shut seventy years ago. He then goes on to say how the path is now covered with shrubs, grass and trees and how only the keeper of the woods knows that there was once a road though these woods. He also never reveals the reason why the road was closed—so there is a mystery suggested in the withholding of that information.

The speaker also goes on to describe how the animals and birds are thriving in this woods where humans rarely visit. And then goes on to say how on certain summer evenings, ‘You will hear the beat of a horse’s feet, And the swish of a skirt in the dew, Steadily cantering through The misty solitudes’. He suggests that although no one can be seen, there is someone in the woods who is very familiar with the old road and still rides on it as if it were as it was seventy years ago. However, this is only a suggestion and again, the speaker does not really tell us what it is that he thinks is in the woods.

The poem is filled with unease and mystery. The reader does not know the identity of the speaker himself/herself and the question arises how the speaker knows all that he claims to know. Also the mystery of why the road was shut and the strange noises all adds to the eerie atmosphere. The juxtaposition of the strange happenings in the woods with the lush growth of plants and the teeming wildlife also adds to the feeling of unease that something out of the ordinary is happening in the woods. 

Summary (Notebook Work)

The poem describes a forest that feels mysterious and a little scary. Long ago, there used to be a road through the woods, but it was closed seventy years ago. Now the old road is covered with trees, grass, and bushes, and only the keeper of the woods remembers that a road was once there. The poem never tells us why the road was closed, which creates a mystery.

The speaker tells us that since people rarely come there now, many animals and birds live happily in the woods. On some summer evenings, you might hear the sound of a horse running and the swish of a woman’s skirt, even though no one is actually seen. This makes it seem like someone from the past still travels along the old hidden road.

The poem feels eerie and mysterious because we don’t know who the speaker is, how they know all this, why the road was shut, or who (or what) makes those strange sounds. The mix of beautiful nature and these strange happenings gives the woods a magical but uneasy atmosphere.

Poem Analysis 

Central Idea: The poem is about an old road in the woods that was closed long ago. Nature has grown over it, and now the forest is full of life and mystery.

Themes 

1. Nature’s Power: Nature can slowly cover and replace anything made by humans.
2. Mystery: The woods hide secrets, making the place feel strange and unknown.
3. The Past: Even though the old road is gone, hints of the past still remain.
4. Passage of Time: Time changes everything, and what humans leave behind is soon taken over by nature.
5. Life in the Forest without human interference: When people are gone, animals and plants grow freely.

Message: Nature can take back anything humans abandon, and the world has many mysteries that we cannot always explain.

Title Justification: The title is suitable because the poem is about a hidden old way (road) that once passed through the woods.

Setting: The poem is set in a quiet, dense forest where the old road is hidden under trees and grass. It is mostly empty of humans, but alive with animals, and feels mysterious, especially in the evenings.

Tone and Mood

  • Tone: Mysterious and calm.

  • Mood: Makes the reader feel curious and slightly scared.

Poetic Devices

  • Imagery: Describing sights and sounds to imagine the woods.

  • Alliteration: Same sound repeated (example: “horse’s feet”).

  • Personification: Nature acting like a living person.

  • Rhyme: Some lines sound similar at the end.

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