We are Seven
William Wordsworth
Summary:
The poem We Are Seven by William Wordsworth is about a little girl who believes she has seven siblings, even though two of them have died. When the poet asks her how many brothers and sisters she has, she says “seven.” He tries to explain that since two are dead, only five are left. But the girl lovingly insists that they are still seven, because she visits their graves, talks to them, and feels they are still part of her family. The poem shows the innocence of a child and how she sees death differently from adults.
Activity - 1
Choose the correct answer from the given alternatives:
(a) The little girl whom the poet met was-
(i) seven
(ii) eight
(iii) nine years old.
Answer: Eight
(b) The girl lost-
(i) two brothers
(ii) two sisters
(iii) a brother and a sister.
Answer: A brother and a sister
(c) The distance between her house and the burial ground was only
(i) twelve steps
(ii) ten steps
(iii) six steps.
Answer: Twelve steps
Activity - 2
Identify which of the following statements are True and which are False. Give a supporting statement for each of your answers :
(a) The little girl was good-looking.
Answer: True.
Supporting Statement: Her eyes are fair and very fair / her beauty made me glad.
(b) Five of her brothers and sisters were dead.
Answer: False.
Supporting Statement: “Two of us in the churchyard lie / my sister and my brother”.
(c) The graves were covered with green grass.
Answer: True
Supporting Statement: “Their graves are green, they may be seen,”
Activity - 3
Look at the first four lines :
A simple child
That lightly draws its breath
And feels its life in every limb,
What should it know of death?
Where is the similarity? The word breath rhymes with death. Find words from the poem that rhyme with the given words:
Curl: __________; head _________; air ________: clad ________; be __________ ; tell __________ ; laid: _______; heaven: _________;
- Curl: girl
- Head: dead
- Air: there
- Clad: glad
- Be: me
- Tell: well
- Laid: maid
- Heaven: seven
Activity - 4
Answer the following questions:
(a) Pick out the expressions that describe the appearance of the girl.
Answer: The poem uses these lines to tell us what the girl looks like:
“Her hair was thick with many a curl”
“That clustered round her head”
“She had a rustic, woodland air”
“And she was wildly clad”
“Her eyes were fair, and very fair”
“Her beauty made me glad”
(b) With whom did the girl live?
Answer: The girl lived with her mother in a small cottage near the churchyard.
(c) What does the girl say about her living brothers and sisters?
Answer: The girl says that two of her siblings live in Conway, two are at sea, and two are buried, but she still counts them all and proudly says, “We are seven.”
(d) Why does the girl say, “We are seven”?
Answer: The girl says, “We are seven” because she still feels close to her two dead siblings. In her heart, they are part of the family, just like the others.
Activity - 5
Make sentences with the following words:
(Dwell,Clustered,Rustic,Grave,Maid)
- Dwell: I dwell in a small house.
- Clustered: The stars clustered in the sky.
- Rustic: We saw a rustic hut in the village.
- Grave: Grandpa’s grave is near the big tree.
- Maid: The maid swept the floor.
Activity - 6
Make sentences with the following pairs of homonyms:
[met-mate; hair-hare; wonder-wander; two-to; there-their.]
- Met – I met my friend today.
- Mate – She is my mate.
- Hair – Her hair is long.
- Hare – The hare runs fast.
- Wonder – I wonder what’s inside.
- Wander – We wander in the park.
- Two – I have two pens.
- To – I go to school.
- There – There is a cat.
- Their – Their playground is big.
Let’s work together:
- Dwell
Dwell (verb): To live in a place.
Dwell (verb): To think or talk about something for a long time. - Lie
Lie (verb): To rest in a flat position (e.g., “Two of us in the church-yard lie”).
Lie (verb): To say something untrue. - Fair
Fair (adjective): Beautiful or light in appearance (e.g., “Her eyes were fair”).
Fair (adjective): Just or equal. - Maid
Maid (noun): A young girl (e.g., “Sweet Maid”).
Maid (noun): A female servant. - Will
Will (noun): A strong desire or decision (e.g., “The little Maid would have her will”).
Will (noun): A legal document stating what happens to someone’s property after death.