Get complete, authentic, and step-by-step DAV Class 7 English Literature Chapter 2 Question Answers: Birdie, Will You Pet? by William Allingham. This comprehensive study guide includes Poem Summary & Stanza Analysis, Understanding the Poem (Short Answer Questions), Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS), Life Skills & Values, and Writing Skills (Speech Writing) strictly aligned with the prescribed DAV Board curriculum.
1. Poem Summary and Stanza-by-Stanza Analysis
Poet: William Allingham
Form: Dialogue Poem between a Child and a Free Bird
Core Theme: The priceless value of freedom over artificial luxury and domestic captivity.
Stanza Analysis:
The poem is structured as an affectionate conversation between a young child and a wild bird. In the first stanza, the child tempts the bird to become her pet by promising luxurious comforts: silken quilts, a velvet bed, and a soft down pillow. The bird gently declines, stating that it prefers its natural home – the leafy ivy wall, its own feather coat, and the refreshing breeze of the open sky.
In the second stanza, the child offers royal dining utensils: a dish of silver, a cup of pure gold, and three ivory seats. The bird counters that fresh water from a clear running brook and wild forest berries taste sweeter than any captive feast served in gold or silver.
In the final exchange, the child promises exquisite jewellery: a sparkling necklace made of diamond stones, amber, and black jet. The bird dismisses these ornamental chains, asserting that a necklace of freshly woven hazel leaves and rowan berries is far more beautiful, and that no jewel in the world can match the priceless joy of flying freely with unclipped wings in the open air.
| Child’s Temptations (Captivity) | Bird’s Preferences (Nature & Freedom) |
|---|---|
| Silken quilts, velvet bed, down pillow | Leafy ivy wall, open sky, natural feather bed |
| Silver dish, golden cup, ivory seats | Clear running brook, fresh wild berries |
| Diamond stones, amber and jet necklace | Hazel leaves, rowan necklace, free flight |
2. Understanding the Poem (Textbook Question-Answers)
Q1: What are the various luxurious items the child offers to the bird in each stanza?
Answer: The child offers the bird the following luxuries:
1. A velvet bed with silken quilts and a pillow of softest down.
2. A dish made of silver, a cup of gold, and three ivory seats.
3. A sparkling necklace crafted from precious diamonds, amber, and jet.
Q2: What natural alternatives does the bird choose over the child’s offers?
Answer: The bird chooses:
1. Sleeping against the ivy-covered wall with its own feathers, breathing fresh night air instead of sleeping in a velvet bed.
2. Drinking sweet water directly from the running brook and eating berries instead of dining from silver and gold dishes.
3. Wearing a necklace of green hazel and rowan leaves instead of diamond and amber jewellery.
Q3: Why does the bird refuse to become a pet despite all the child’s love and lavish gifts?
Answer: The bird refuses because it values its freedom above all material possessions. To the bird, living in a human home or cage – no matter how luxurious – is a form of imprisonment. The open sky, fresh air, and boundless freedom of flight cannot be compensated by silver, gold, or diamonds.
Q4: What does the bird mean by “A feather bed, or a silken quilt, / I’d rather sleep in the ivy leaves”?
Answer: The bird means that human comforts like soft quilts and cushioned beds have no value compared to the natural joy and peace of living freely in nature, sheltered only by green ivy leaves.
3. Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS)
Q1: Discuss the contrast between the human perception of comfort and an animal’s natural instinct for freedom.
Answer: Humans often equate love and care with material comfort, luxury, and possession. The child genuinely loves the bird and believes that offering expensive goods will make it happy. However, an animal or bird’s innate nature thrives exclusively in freedom and natural habitat. Captivity – even when wrapped in velvet and gold – remains an unnatural confinement that strips away dignity and joy.
4. Life Skills and Values
Life Skills: Why is keeping caged birds an act of cruelty? How can humans appreciate wildlife responsibly?
Answer: Caging birds is cruel because flight is the fundamental biological function and expression of a bird’s life. Denying birds their natural sky causes intense psychological distress and physical atrophy. Instead of trapping birds in cages, humans should plant trees, install bird baths and feeders in gardens, and appreciate birds in their natural wild habitats.
Values: Contentment with simple nature versus greed for artificial luxuries.
Reflection: The poem teaches the profound moral value of contentment. The bird’s preference for simple hazel leaves and stream water reminds us that true happiness comes from inner freedom and harmony with nature, not from hoarding artificial wealth or status symbols.
5. Writing Skills: Speech
Topic: Deliver a speech on “Freedom: The Greatest Blessing of Nature” in the school morning assembly.
SPEECH: FREEDOM – THE GREATEST BLESSING OF NATURE
Respected Principal, teachers, and my dear friends,
A very pleasant morning to all of you. Today, I stand before you to speak on the topic: “Freedom: The Greatest Blessing of Nature.”
What is freedom? Is it just the absence of walls? No, freedom is the lifebreath of every soul on Earth. As we read in William Allingham’s poem ‘Birdie, Will You Pet?’, a little bird turned down beds of velvet, dishes of silver, cups of gold, and necklaces of diamonds simply to fly freely among the ivy leaves. Why? Because a golden cage is still a cage!
Every creature is born with an innate right to roam its natural habitat. When we trap animals in cages or clip the wings of birds for our amusement, we commit an injustice against nature. True compassion lies not in possessing other living beings, but in respecting their right to live freely. Let us pledge today to open every cage, protect natural forests, and celebrate the sacred gift of liberty for all living creations.
Thank you, and have an inspiring day ahead!
DAV Class 7 English Literature Chapter Directory
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