Mountain Fable
Preparation
We suggest you do the vocabulary activity below before you read or listen. Then read and/or listen to the poem and do the task to check your comprehension. You can also find out more about the poet in the notes tab.
Text
Mountain fable
The mountain and the squirrel
Had a quarrel;
And the former called the latter "Little Prig."
Bun replied,
"You are doubtless very big;
But all sorts of things and weather
Must be taken in together,
To make up a year
And a sphere.
And I think it no disgrace
To occupy my place.
If I'm not as large as you,
You are not so small as I,
And not half so spry.
I'll not deny you make
A very pretty squirrel track;
Talents differ; all is well and wisely put;
If I cannot carry forests on my back,
Neither can you crack a nut."
by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Task
Decide if the statements about the poem are true or false.
Notes
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early nineteenth century.
Source: Wikipedia
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Comments
Hello! I loved the Emersons
Hello!
I loved the Emersons poem, it taught me that not beause I am small bigger people that believe themselves more capabale than I are going to make me follow the path the make for me, because I can crack a nut, henceforth make my own path.
Montain you are so
Montain you are so high
Please tell me how can I
Climb you to be near the sky