Get notes, line-by-line explanation, summary, questions and answers, critical analysis, word meanings, extras, and pdf of the poem The Night Mail by W.H. Auden which is part of ICSE Class 9 English (Treasure Chest). However, the notes should only be treated for references and changes should be made according to the needs of the students.
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Evergreen workbook answers/solutions
Multiple Choice Questions
1. What does the poem celebrate?
Answer: (b) human connections
2. Where was the mail train heading towards?
Answer: (c) Glasgow
3. ‘Snorting noisily as she passes’. Which figure of speech is used here?
Answer: (a) personification
4. Why does no one wake up from their sleep as the train passes?
Answer: (d) They have become habitual to the train’s passing and ignore it.
5. Which of these is NOT carried by the train?
Answer: (d) furnace
6. ‘For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?’ Which literary device is used here?
Answer: (c) rhetorical question
7. Select the correct option in context of the statements given:
Statement 1: The train moves up a hill at first.
Statement 2: The train passes through various regions.
Answer: (d) Both the statements are true.
8. Select the correct option that displays the characteristics of the personified train correctly.
Answer: (b) 1, 3 and 5
9. Which of these is repeated numerous times in the poem?
Answer: (a) letters
10. Which types of letters are amusing and mischievous?
Answer: (d) catty
Comprehension Passages
Passage 1
This is the Night Mail crossing the border,
Bringing the cheque and the postal order,
Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
The shop at the corner and the girl next door.
Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb:
The gradient against her, but she’s on time.
Past cotton-grass and moorland boulder
Shovelling white steam over her shoulder,
Snorting noisily as she passes
Silent miles of wind-bent grasses.
(i) Where is the Night Mail heading for? What does it carry?
Answer: The Night Mail train is heading towards Scotland from London. It is carrying cheques, postal orders and letters for people – both rich and poor.
(ii) ‘Letters for the rich, letters for the poor’. Comment on the significance of this line.
Answer: This line signifies that the mail train carries letters for everyone, irrespective of their social or economic status. It highlights the inclusiveness and importance of the postal service.
(iii) How does the mail train start its journey? How would you describe it?
Answer: The mail train starts its journey by steadily climbing up Beattock. It is personified as a dutiful, methodical being moving steadily on its track.
(iv) Describe various regions in which the train passes.
Answer: The train passes through cotton-grass fields, moorlands with boulders, wind-bent grasses, and farm lands where people are asleep.
(v) How does the poet describe Glasgow area later in the context?
Answer: Glasgow is described as an industrial area with fields of apparatus, furnaces and steam tugs. It is a noisy, active region in contrast to the calm natural landscape earlier.
Passage 2
Birds turn their heads as she approaches,
Stare from the bushes at her blank-faced coaches.
Sheep-dogs cannot turn her course;
They slumber on with paws across.
In the farm she passes no one wakes,
But a jug in the bedroom gently shakes.
(i) Which figure of speech is used in Line 1?
Answer: Personification
(ii) Comment on the use of phrase ‘blank-faces’ for the train coaches.
Answer: ‘Blank-faced’ signifies that the coaches are expressionless and timid, simply following the train engine dutifully.
(iii) What do sheep-dogs do? What is their purpose?
Answer: The sheep-dogs try to turn the course of the train but cannot do so. Their purpose is to guide and guard sheep.
(iv) How do sleeping people react as the train passes? Why?
Answer: The sleeping farm people do not wake up as the train passes. They are used to it passing daily. Only a jug shakes slightly.
(v) What kinds of letters are carried by the train?
Answer: The train carries letters of various types – letters of thanks, joy, gossip, news, applications, declarations, condolences etc. There are friendly, boring, clever, stupid letters in different styles.
Passage 3
Dawn freshens, the climb is done.
Down towards Glasgow she descends
Towards the steam tugs yelping down the glade of cranes,
Towards the fields of apparatus, the furnaces
Set on the dark plain like gigantic chessmen.
All Scotland waits for her:
In the dark glens, beside the pale-green sea lochs
Men long for news.
(i) Where is the train heading for? How has its initial journey been described by the poet?
Answer: The train is now descending down towards Glasgow after finishing its uphill climb. Its initial journey has been depicted as a steady, dutiful climb upwards.
(ii) What kind of Glasgow region is?
Answer: Glasgow is shown as an industrial area with furnaces, fields of apparatus, steam tugs, cranes etc.
(iii) Which figure of speech is used in Line 5 here, and why?
Answer: The simile “like gigantic chessmen” is used to describe the furnaces, implying industrial planning and building.
(iv) Describe the things carried by the train in brief.
Answer: The train carries letters, cheques, news, applications, declarations, gossip, bills, invitations etc.
(v) What does the poet convey about waiting people of Scotland later in the context?
Answer: The Scottish people anxiously wait for news and letters that the train brings. They long for some connection.
Passage 4
Letters of thanks, letters from banks,
Letters of joy from the girl and the boy,
Receipted bills and invitations
To inspect new stock or visit relations,
And applications for situations
And timid lovers’ declarations
And gossip, gossip from all the nations,
News circumstantial, news financial,
Letters with holiday snaps to enlarge in,
Letters with faces scrawled in the margin,
Letters from uncles, cousins, and aunts,
Letters to Scotland from the South of France,
Letters of condolence to Highlands and Lowlands
(i) How did the train start its journey? What regions did it cross at night?
Answer: The train started by steadily climbing up Beattock. It passed through moorlands, cotton grass fields, farm lands etc. at night.
(ii) How has the poet described Glasgow area earlier in the context?
Answer: Glasgow has been depicted as an industrial area with furnaces, cranes, steam tugs etc.
(iii) What is being carried by the train except letters?
Answer: Besides letters, the train carries cheques, bills, invitations, applications, declarations, news, gossip etc.
(iv) What kinds of letters is the train carrying?
Answer: It is carrying letters of various tones – joyful, gossiping, boring, adoring, clever, stupid, short, long in different styles.
(v) How do people wait for the train?
Answer: People anxiously wait for the train and the letters/news it brings. They long for the connection.
Passage 5
Notes from overseas to Hebrides
Written on paper of every hue,
The pink, the violet, the white and the blue,
The chatty, the catty, the boring, adoring,
The cold and official and the heart’s outpouring,
Clever, stupid, short and long,
The typed and the printed and the spelt all wrong.
(i) How has the train covered its journey upto Glasgow earlier in the context?
Answer: The train has made a steady climb upwards initially, passed through natural landscapes and then descended down towards industrial Glasgow.
(ii) What is the train carrying?
Answer: It is carrying letters, notes, news, cheques, gossip, declarations etc.
(iii) ‘The chatty, the catty, the boring, adoring’. Comment on this line.
Answer: This line refers to the different tones and purposes of the letters – friendly, gossiping, boring, admiring etc.
(iv) What different styles and colours are used to write letters by different people? What do they reveal about them?
Answer: Letters are hand-written, typed, printed in different colours like pink, white, blue etc. They reveal the personalities of writers – friendly, boring, stupid, intelligent etc.
(v) What have Glasgow’s people been doing as the train reaches its destination? What do they expect when they wake up?
Answer: The Scottish people have been asleep, dreaming. They expect letters and news when they wake up. They long for connection.
Passage 6
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
Thousands are still asleep
Dreaming of terrifying monsters,
Or of friendly tea beside the band at Cranston’s or Crawford’s:
Asleep in working Glasgow, asleep in well-set Edinburgh,
Asleep in granite Aberdeen,
They continue their dreams,
And shall wake soon and long for letters,
And none will hear the postman’s knock
Without a quickening of the heart,
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?
(i) Describe the initial stage of the train’s night journey.
Answer: Initially, the train started with a steady climb up Beattock. It passed through natural landscapes at night.
(ii) What has it carried for the people?
Answer: The train has carried letters, news, cheques, bills, declarations, gossip etc. for the people.
(iii) What have the people been dreaming of? What do they expect when they wake up?
Answer: The people have been dreaming of monsters or friendly gatherings. When they wake up, they expect letters and news from the mail train.
(iv) Point out the two figures of speech used in the last lines.
Answer: Personification and rhetorical question. The postman’s knock is personified. A rhetorical question is asked about feeling forgotten.
(v) The poet seems to emphasise ‘human connections’. Comment.
Answer: The poem shows that people long for letters and news as they don’t want to feel forgotten. Human connections are essential, and mail brought that earlier.
Morning Star workbook answers/solutions
Multiple Choice Questions II
1. On the arrival of the Night Mail, the birds
A. continue with their sleep
B. fly away
C. turn their heads and stare at her
D. do not look at it
Answer: C. turn their heads and stare at her
2. The Night Mail makes noise because
A. she wants to tell everyone that she is late
B. she wants to tell everyone of her arrival
C. she wants to scare everyone away
D. she wants to warn the animals sleeping on the railway tracks
Answer: B. she wants to tell everyone of her arrival
3. The poet has used the term ‘blank-faced’ to show that
A. the coaches had passengers
B. the train did not come
C. people could not see the train
D. the coaches were without passengers
Answer: D. the coaches were without passengers
4. The Night Mail shovels white steam because
A. it uses coal to get power and emits smoke
B. it passes along the banks of a stream
C. it announces its arrival
D. All of the above
Answer: A. it uses coal to get power and emits smoke
5. Which figure of speech is used in the line given below? “Snorting noisily as she passes”
A. Imagery
B. Metaphor
C. Personification
D. Irony
Answer: C. Personification
6. The journey of the Night Mail symbolises which of the following?
A. Journey of life
B. Journey of a woman
C. Journey of postal services
D. None of the above
Answer: C. Journey of postal services
7. The Night Mail passes through
A. the fields and plains
B. the grassy lands
C. the slopes
D. All of the above
Answer: D. All of the above
8. What does the Night Mail bring?
A. Letters
B. Cheques
C. Postal orders
D. All of the above
Answer: D. All of the above
9. How is the Night Mail different from other trains?
A. She is always late
B. She carries both letters and passengers
C. She makes a lot of noise
D. She does not have human passengers
Answer: D. She does not have human passengers
Context Questions and Answers
Extract 1
This is the Night Mail crossing the border,
Bringing the cheque and the postal order,
Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
The shop at the corner, the girl next door
(i) Why has the poet used This in the first line of the extract? What does the poet mean by a “Night Mail”?
Answer: The poet uses This in the first line to create immediacy and direct attention to the Night Mail as if it is happening right in front of the reader. The term Night Mail refers to a train that delivers letters and parcels, traveling overnight.
(ii) According to the extract, what does the Night Mail bring and for whom?
Answer: The Night Mail brings cheques, postal orders, and letters for people of all social classes: the rich, the poor, and individuals from every part of society, including local shops and neighbors.
(iii) How is the Night Mail different from regular trains?
Answer: The Night Mail serves a specific function of delivering mail, unlike regular passenger or goods trains. Its journey is crucial for communication, crossing borders and operating at night to deliver letters and packages promptly.
(iv) The extract shows that the Night Mail does not discriminate among people. How?
Answer: The Night Mail delivers letters to all, irrespective of their social or economic status. It brings letters for both the rich and the poor, showing that it serves everyone equally.
(v) Give two examples of the use of rhymes in the extract. What role do they play in the poem?
Answer: Examples of rhyme in the extract include border/order and poor/door. The rhymes contribute to the rhythmic flow of the poem, mimicking the movement of the train and adding musicality to the description of its journey.
Extract 2
Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb
The gradient’s against her, but she’s on time.
Past cotton-grass and moorland boulder
Shovelling white steam over her shoulder
(i) Who is the poet talking about? What is a “gradient,” and is it against whom?
Answer: The poet is talking about the Night Mail train. A gradient refers to a slope, and in this context, it is against the train, meaning the train is climbing uphill, making the journey more challenging.
(ii) What are the qualities of the Night Mail as indicated in this extract?
Answer: The Night Mail is punctual and persistent, continuing on its journey despite the challenges of climbing uphill. It is reliable, as indicated by the phrase she’s on time.
(iii) Why does the poet call the train’s “climb” as “steady”?
Answer: The poet calls the train’s climb steady to highlight the train’s perseverance and smooth, unwavering movement, despite the incline of the gradient.
(iv) What does “Shovelling white steam over her shoulder” mean?
Answer: This phrase refers to the steam being released from the engine of the train as it works hard to climb uphill, creating the image of the train “throwing” steam into the air, like a person shoveling.
(v) How has the poet used personification in this extract?
Answer: The poet personifies the train by referring to it as her and describing actions like shovelling white steam over her shoulder, attributing human qualities to the inanimate train to make its journey seem alive and energetic.
Extract 3
Dawn freshens, Her climb is done
Down towards Glasgow, she descends,
Towards the steam tugs yelping down a glade of cranes
Towards the fields of apparatus, the furnaces
Set on the dark plain like gigantic chessmen
(i) What is meant by “Her climb is done”? Where is she now headed towards?
Answer: Her climb is done means that the Night Mail has completed its uphill journey and is now descending towards Glasgow, heading towards the industrial areas filled with factories and steam tugs.
(ii) What does the repetition of the consonant ‘d’ in the first two lines of the extract indicate?
Answer: The repetition of the consonant d in Dawn and done creates a rhythmic and emphatic sound, mirroring the finality of the train’s ascent and its controlled descent towards its destination.
(iii) Which figure of speech is used in the following line? Explain its usage: Set on the dark plain like gigantic chessmen.
Answer: The figure of speech used here is a simile. The poet compares the industrial apparatus, such as cranes and machinery, to gigantic chess pieces on a dark plain, emphasizing their size and positioning, giving a grand and strategic image of the industrial landscape.
(iv) Explain in your own words the meaning of All Scotland waits for her?
Answer: All Scotland waits for her means that people across Scotland eagerly anticipate the arrival of the Night Mail because it brings important news and letters, connecting them to the wider world.
(v) Which theme of the poem is reflected in this extract? Explain briefly.
Answer: The theme of connection and communication is reflected in this extract. The Night Mail serves as a vital link for the people of Scotland, delivering letters and news that they rely on, uniting communities across the country.
Extract 4
Asleep in granite Aberdeen,
They continue their dreams,
But shall wake soon and hope for letters,
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?”
(i) What were people doing while the Night Mail was traveling through different cities?
Answer: While the Night Mail was traveling through different cities, people were asleep, dreaming, unaware of the train’s journey but soon to wake up and look forward to receiving letters.
(ii) What sort of dreams do these people have? What are these dreams symbolic of?
Answer: The people dream of both frightening and pleasant things, symbolic of the range of emotions they experience in life, from fear to joy. These dreams represent their inner hopes and fears, mirroring the anxieties and expectations that the letters might bring.
(iii) What would happen to their heartbeat on hearing the postman’s knock? Why?
Answer: Their heartbeats would quicken upon hearing the postman’s knock because receiving a letter brings excitement and anticipation. Letters contain personal connections, news, and updates, which are eagerly awaited.
(iv) If the postman does not bring them letters, what would be the feelings of the people?
Answer: If the postman does not bring them letters, the people would feel disappointed and forgotten. The absence of mail would make them feel disconnected and lonely.
(v) Explain how the Night Mail helps to promote human relations.
Answer: The Night Mail helps to promote human relations by delivering letters that keep people connected, whether through personal messages, important news, or business communications. It fosters communication across distances, maintaining relationships and a sense of belonging.
Ron’e Dutta is a journalist, teacher, aspiring novelist, and blogger. He manages Online Free Notes and reads Victorian literature. His favourite book is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and he hopes to travel the world. Get in touch with him by sending him a friend request.
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