The Pedlar’s Caravan By William Brightly Rands
-William Brightly Rands
Word Galaxy
1. pedlar: a travelling salesman
2. caravan: (here) a house on wheels
3. delf: earthenware
4. tin: a silver-white metal
5. rumble: roar
6. basin: a bowl for washing
7. splash: a sound made by something striking or falling into water
Q.1 Fill in the blanks:
a. The poet wishes to live in a caravan.
b. The chimney of the caravan is made of tin.
c. in the poem, the pedlar man has a wife and a baby.
d. the pedlar and his family go riding from town to town.
e. the pedlar’s caravan is compared to a bathing machine.
Q.2 Describe the pedlar’s caravan.
Ans. The pedlar’s caravan has windows and a chimney of tin from where the smoke comes though. It is driven by a horse and is just like a bathing machine. He has his family staying in the caravan along with the wares to sell.
Q.3 Read the lines and answer the questions:
Where he comes from nobody knows,
Or where he goes to; but on he goes!
a. Who is being referred to as ‘he’? how does he travel?
Ans. The pedlar man is being referred to as ‘he’. He travels in a caravan with his wife and child.
b. How does the pedlar draw the attention of the people?
Ans. The pedlar cries ‘chairs to mend and delf to sell’ and clashes the basins like a bell to draw the attention of the people.
c. Describe the pedlar’s mode of transport?
Ans. The pedlar’s caravan is driven by a horse. It has windows and a chimney made of tin.
d. Give the synonym of the word ‘on’ in this context.
Ans. Continuously
Q.4 Why does the pedlar clash the basins?
Ans. The pedlar travels to different places to sell earthenware, tea-trays, baskets, plates with the alphabet round the border and mend chairs. Hence, he clashes the basins to attract the attention of the people to buy his goods and services.
Q.5 Read the lines and answer the questions:
“I wish I lived in a caravan,
With a horse to drive, like the pedlar-man!”
a. How does the poet describe the life of pedlar man?
Ans. The poet views the life of poet ideal because he takes his home and family on his adventurous journey.
b. Name the different kinds of things that the pedlar man sells.
Ans. The pedlar man’s trade appears to the mainly in housewares, including delf, tea-trays, baskets and plates with alphabetic around the border.
Q.6 Read the lines and answer the questions:
“With the pedlar-man I should like to roam,
And write a book when I come home.”
a. What does ‘With the pedlar-man I should like to roam’ suggest?
Ans. The line suggests that the speaker also wants to go on the adventures with the pedlar man.
b. What does the pedlar do in the poem? Where does the pedlar man come from?
Ans. The pedlar man travels from on town to another with his family ina caravan. He sells different items wherever he goes. Nobody knows where the pedlar man comes from.
c. ‘When I come home’- does this mean that the speaker’s permanent home is elsewhere? Why do you think so?
Ans. Yes, the speaker’s permanent home is definitely elsewhere because he is a child.
d. Why does the poet use the words ‘rumble’ and ‘splash’?
Ans. The poet uses the words ‘rumble’ and ‘splash’ to describe the caravan which bounces around the roads and moves through water.
e. Where does the pedlar’s caravan rumble and where does it splash?
Ans. The pedlar’s caravan rumbles when it goes over the rough ground and splashes when it goes through water.
f. Why do you think the poet wants to roam with the pedlar?
Ans. The poet wants to roam with the pedlar man because he wants to travel from one town to another, see and experience a lot of things.
g. What does the poet want to do after he comes back home? Why?
Ans. The poet wants to write a book when he comes back home after roaming around in the caravan. He wants to write a book so that all the people can read his book just like the ‘Travels of Captain Cook’.
Q.7 How is the pedlar man’s house just like a bathing machine?
Ans. The fourth stanza employs imagery to compare the pedlar’s home to a ‘bathing machine’. It suggests the movement and motion of the caravan over the roads when the pedlar man travels.
Q.8 Why do you think the speaker wants to live like a pedlar?
Ans. The speaker longs for a free life. He wants to explore different places like the pedlar. The uncertainty of his destinations makes his life seem exciting and fresh. The speaker longs for an adventure the he could write like the travels ‘Travels of Captain Cook’.
Q.9 How does the pedlar draw the attention of the people?
Ans. The pedlar travels in his caravan with his wife and child from town to town. He cries ‘chairs to mend and delf to sell’ and clashes the basins like a bell to draw the attention of people.
Q.10 Read the lines and answer the questions:
“He has a wife with his baby brown.”
a. What do you think the poet wants to convey about the pedlar man’s family?
Ans. The poet wants to convey that the pedlar man’s family is having three members – the pedlar man, his wife and a baby.
b. Are the speaker’s feelings same as those of the poet’s?
Ans. Yes, the speaker’s feelings are same as those of the poet’s.