Jai Guru Dev

MAHARISHI VIDYA MANDIR, HYDERABAD

MVM HYD - E-learning

SUBJECT: ENGLISH

CLASS V

LESSON : POEM : IF MICE COULD ROAR……

POET: RUSKIN BOND

MODULE 2

CONTENT: 1. Poem with pictures

Explanation of Stanza 4, 5

2. Summary of the poem

3. New words and meanings

4. Related Worksheet

IF MICE COULD ROAR…… PART 2

If a tortoise could run

And losses be won

And bullies be buttered on toast;

Explanation of Stanza 4 : Here, the poet wants everyone to win the game. Even a tortoise which
moves slow can run fast and win the competition. There will not be any losses in this world. Everyone will
be a winner. According to the poet, the person who bully and hurt others are to be punished and likes
them to be buttered and put on toast. The poet wants to do so because he wants them to learn from
their mistakes, understand others feeling and behave friendly with all others in the world.

If a song brought a shower,

And a gun grew a flower,

This world would be nicer than most!

Explanation of Stanza 5 : If a song brought a shower means that the happiness of a person will be the
shower of happiness for all the people around him. A gun grew a flower has a meaning in it. The nature of
a gun is to shoot a bullet which harms the other person. The poet wants a delicate flower to shoot out
from the gun. This line by the poet strongly tells us that he opposes violence and needs only peace in his
beautiful world. If all these are happening the world will be nicer than most.

Here, ‘nicer than most!’ – gives more meaning. The word ‘most’ is a superlative degree. So, we could see
that the poet wants a nicer world than the most beautiful world.

Summary of the poem:

This poem “ If mice could roar…” is a poem written by Ruskin Bond. This poem, the poet feels bored with
his routine, worries, fears and commitments in his life . So he wants a different world with qualities of
different materialistic things and talks about their alternation, i.e. the world would have been better that
ever, had there been a change in the working of these things, mice roaring, elephants soaring into the sky,
etc.

The poet wants mice which could roar like a lion, elephants which fly and a world with another life in the
sky. The poets longing for a peaceful world is depicted in his lines, “if tigers could dine on biscuits and
wine”. The poet wants even the losers to win and there will be winners alone in this world and doesn’t
want anyone to be called the losers. The people who bully others should also be become punished. A
gun grew a flower makes us to imagine a gun, which is as cruel as a witch could even ever evolve
something as beautiful as a delicate flower.

These things with other 'impossible' activities bring out the philosophy of life. The central idea of the
poem is that the world would surely have no cruelty, no fear, no timidity, and each organism and material
had a tongue to speak out their inner thoughts.

Thus the poet finally wants a “world that would be nicer than most!”.

MAHARISHI JI’S PRINCIPLE: Seek the highest first.

NEW WORDS INTRODUCED

1. bullies - one who is habitually cruel, insulting and threatening to others who are weaker and smaller

2. shower - a fall of rain of short duration

 RELATED WORKSHEET

I. FILL IN THE BLANKS

1. According to the poet,

a. Tortoise could run.

b. All the losses be won.

c. The bullies should be buttered on toast.

d. A song brought a shower.

e. A gun grew a flower.

2. The poet wants a world that is nicer than most.

II. WRITE THE SYNONYMS

1. bullies - teasers

2. shower - light fall of rain - drizzle

III. WRITE THE ANTONYM

1. Lost X Won

IV. GIVE SOME RHYMING WORDS

1. Post __most___ __roast_ __host__

2. Run __gun____ __bun__ _nun_

3. Shower _flower___ _tower_ _hour_

V. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING

1. What does the poet want to convey in the line, “And losses be won”?

The poet wants even the losers to win and there will be winners alone in this world and doesn’t want
anyone to be called the losers

2. Why does the poet want a gun to grow a flower?

A gun grew a flower makes us to imagine a gun, which is as cruel as a witch could even ever evolve
something as beautiful as a delicate flower.

3. “ This world would be nicer than most”

Write few lines about your dream world.

I have a dream that the world will be a better place.

I hope people can get along peacefully.

I hope all the war will become peace and the hatred will become love.

I wish all continents could join together and become friends instead of enemies.

If we could join together, we could do great things.

If we could get along, the world could be a way better place than now.