Class 7 English Honeycomb Poem Chapter 1 The Squirrel NCERT Solutions, a poem by poet MILDRED BOWERS ARMSTRONG is about her and her friends’ experience with a squirrel and how she was mesmerized by him.

Read more: NCERT Solutions For Class 7 English Honeycomb Chapter 7 The Invention of Vita Wonk

Summary Honeycomb Poem Chapter 1 The Squirrel

Class 7 English Honeycomb Poem Chapter 1 The Squirrel is a poem by poet MILDRED BOWERS ARMSTRONG. This poem by poet MILDRED BOWERS ARMSTRONG is about her and her friends’ experience with a squirrel. Mesmerized by him she writes this poem. Here we are going to give you a summary of the poem with its solutions.

First three lines from the poem

“He wore a question mark for a tail, 

An overcoat of gray, 

He sat up straight to eat a nut.” 

First three lines from the poem.

Explanation

The poet was mesmerized by the tail of the squirrel as it was bent like a question mark ‘?’. The squirrel sat to eat a nut and that is when his tail bent like a question mark. The poet also wants to say that he had a coat of grey colour. By the second line, she wants to give us a picture of how he looked like. 

Last three lines from the poem

“He liked to tease and play, 

And if we ran around his tree, 

He went the other way.” 

Last three lines from the poem.

Explanation:

The poet tells us here that the squirrel liked to tease and play with the author and her friends. In the next line she tells us that when the poet and her friends who are referred to as ‘we’ ran around the squirrel’s tree, which is probably his home, he then went the other way. This is because they (the author and her friends) chased him and thus he ran away from them.

Conclusion of NCERT Solutions For Class 7 English Honeycomb Poem Chapter 1 The Squirrel

We see that in the poem the poet uses ‘he’ to describe the squirrel and treats him as a human rather than an animal. This is a form of speech known as ‘personification‘. Personification is described as, ‘Literary device which gives the projection of human characteristics onto inanimate objects or animals’. The poet uses this literary device to give us a powerful imagination and let us understand the poem better.

Exercises from the Textbook

Find question and answers of the poem below:

1• How does a squirrel’s tail look like?

Ans. His tail looked like a question mark.

2• Why do you think it looks like a “question mark”?

Ans. He had a furry and big tail compared to its size and thus when it sits, its tail curves and takes the shape of a question mark.

3• Do we usually say that an animal “wears” a tail? What do we say?

Ans. No, we do not usually say that an animal “wears” a tail. We say – the animal has a tail.

Wear is used in different ways as:

• wear off
• to wear out
• wear away
• in wear down
• wear well
• wear thin

4• How does the squirrel sit?

Ans. He sits straight. He doesn’t slouch.

5• What does the squirrel eat?

Ans. He eats nuts.

6 • How does the squirrel behave?
Ans. He seems friendly. He likes to tease and play with the poet and her friends.

7• Who is teasing whom? How?

Ans. The squirrel likes teasing the poet and his friends. When the poet and her friends go chasing him, he runs the other way.

NCERT Solutions For Class 7 English Honeycomb Poem Chapter 1 The Squirrel: FAQs

Q. What is a squirrel’s favourite fruit?

Ans. A squirrel’s favourite fruit is the nut.

Q. What is the color of the coat of the squirrel?

Ans. The color of the coat of the squirrel described by the poet is gray.

Q. Why did the squirrel run away from the poet and her friends?

Ans. He ran away from the poet and her friends because they were chasing him.