Today, in this post, ‘A Legend of the Northland Summary, Central Idea, Explanation’, we are going to learn everything about the Class 9 English poem “A Legend of the Northland” by Phoebe Cary in a structured way.
In this post, we will cover everything you need to know about this poem ‘A Legend of the Northland’, starting with About the Poem, About the poet, the Theme, a Short & Detailed Summary, the Central Idea, Poetic Devices used in the poem, stanza-wise explanation, and finally, a Mind Map drawing to recall this chapter before the exam. Let’s begin!
A Legend of the Northland About the Poem
The poem “A Legend of the Northland” is a ballad written in a simple narrative style. It tells a moral story set in the cold northern region of the earth, where Saint Peter punishes a selfish woman by turning her into a woodpecker. The poem teaches values like kindness, generosity, and selflessness.
A Legend of the Northland About the Poet
Phoebe Cary (1824–1871) was an American poet, known for her simple, moral, and spiritual verses. Along with her sister Alice Cary, she contributed greatly to American poetry in the 19th century. Her works often reflect themes of humanity, religion, and moral lessons.
A Legend of the Northland Theme
The central theme of the poem is selfishness versus generosity. It shows how greed and unwillingness to share with the needy can lead to punishment. The poem conveys a moral lesson that one should always be compassionate and generous.
Short Summary of A Legend of the Northland
The poem narrates a legend from the Northland. Saint Peter, tired and hungry, asks a woman for food. The woman is baking cakes but refuses to give him even a small piece, as she feels each one is too big. Angered by her greed and lack of charity, Saint Peter curses her and transforms her into a woodpecker. Condemned to peck for food all her life, she becomes a symbol of selfishness and lack of generosity.
A Legend of the Northland Summary
The poem begins with the poet describing the Northland, a very cold region near the North Pole. In this land, days are short and nights are long. The people there need plenty of food and warm clothing to survive. Children in this region look very different because of the extreme cold; they wear furry clothes and appear like bear cubs.
The poet then narrates a local legend story that has been passed down for generations. The legend is about Saint Peter, a disciple of Jesus Christ, who devoted his life to preaching and spreading Christianity.
One day, Saint Peter was travelling and preaching when he became weak with hunger and exhaustion. He came upon a cottage where a woman was baking cakes. He politely asked the woman for just one small cake to eat.
The woman agreed but was reluctant to part with her food. She baked a tiny cake, but when she looked at it, she felt it was still too big to give away. So, she made a smaller one, yet again she thought it was too large. Finally, she baked the smallest cake possible, but even then, her greed stopped her from sharing. In the end, she refused to give Saint Peter even a single piece.
Saint Peter was angered by her selfishness. He declared that she was not worthy of human form if she could not show kindness to a hungry, tired traveller. He cursed her and turned her into a bird called a woodpecker. He condemned her to live without a home, without food stores, and to spend her life pecking at trees for her meals.
The legend says that the woman still exists as a woodpecker, wearing her red cap, living in the woods, and searching for food by boring into the trees. The poem concludes by pointing out the moral that selfishness and greed are sinful, while generosity and compassion are virtues.
A Legend of the Northland Central Idea
The poem highlights the importance of kindness, selflessness, and generosity in human life. It teaches that selfishness leads to suffering, while sharing and compassion bring spiritual satisfaction. The legend serves as a moral lesson for readers.
View all Chapter: Class 9th English Solutions
A Legend of the Northland Poetic Devices
- Rhyme Scheme: aabb (ballad form).
- Alliteration: Repetition of consonant sounds. Example – “Faint and fasting”, “Woman was”.
- Repetition: Words/phrases repeated for emphasis. Example – “Too large to give away.”
- Imagery: Vivid descriptions appeal to senses (snowy Northland, woman baking).
- Simile: Comparison using like/as. Example – “They tell them a curious story, I don’t believe ’tis true.”
- Narrative Style: The whole poem is a story told in verse form (ballad).
A Legend of Northland Expalanation
Below is the difficult word meanings and stanza-wise explanation with reference to context for the poem ‘A Legend of Northland by Phoebe Cary’:
Stanza 1
Lines:
Away, away in the Northland,
Where the hours of the day are few,
And the nights are so long in winter
That they cannot sleep them through;
Difficult Word Meanings:
- Northland – the cold polar region
- Hours are few – days are short
- Sleep them through – sleep the whole night
Explanation with Reference to Context:
The poet describes the setting of the story – the Northland, near the North Pole. In this region, winter days are very short and nights are so long that people cannot sleep through the entire night. This introduces us to the extreme cold environment where the legend is set.
Stanza 2
Lines:
Where they harness the swift reindeer
To the sledges, when it snows;
And the children look like bear’s cubs
In their funny, furry clothes:
Difficult Word Meanings:
- Harness – tie animals to a cart or sledge
- Sledges – carts used on snow
- Furry – covered with fur
Explanation with Reference to Context:
The poet further describes life in the Northland. People use reindeers tied to sledges to travel on snow. The children wear furry clothes to keep warm, which makes them look like bear cubs. This shows how people adapt to the cold climate.
Stanza 3
Lines:
They tell them a curious story —
I don’t believe ’tis true;
And yet you may learn a lesson
If I tell the tale to you.
Difficult Word Meanings:
- Curious – strange, unusual
- ’Tis – it is
Explanation with Reference to Context:
The poet introduces the legend. Though she herself does not fully believe in its truth, she shares it because it has a moral lesson for the readers.
Stanza 4
Lines:
Once, when the good Saint Peter
Lived in the world below,
And walked about it, preaching,
Just as he did, you know,
Difficult Word Meanings:
- Preaching – teaching religion, giving sermons
Explanation with Reference to Context:
The poet begins the story. Saint Peter, one of Jesus Christ’s disciples, used to live on earth and preach about faith and kindness. He traveled from place to place to spread goodness.
Stanza 5
Lines:
He came to the door of a cottage,
In travelling round the earth,
Where a little woman was making cakes,
And baking them on the hearth;
Difficult Word Meanings:
- Hearth – fireplace used for cooking/baking
Explanation with Reference to Context:
While traveling, Saint Peter reached a cottage where a woman was baking cakes on her hearth. This sets the scene for the incident of greed and selfishness.
Stanza 6
Lines:
And being faint with fasting,
For the day was almost done,
He asked her, from her store of cakes,
To give him a single one.
Difficult Word Meanings:
- Faint – weak, exhausted
- Fasting – not eating food
Explanation with Reference to Context:
Saint Peter was tired and hungry after fasting the whole day. He politely asked the woman to give him just one cake to eat from her collection.
Stanza 7
Lines:
So she made a very little cake,
But as it baking lay,
She looked at it, and thought it seemed
Too large to give away.
Difficult Word Meanings:
- Too large – more than she wanted to share
Explanation with Reference to Context:
The woman made a small cake for Saint Peter. But when she saw it baking, she thought it was too big to be given away. Her selfishness made her unwilling to part with even a small portion.
Stanza 8
Lines:
Therefore she kneaded another,
And still a smaller one;
But it looked, when she turned it over,
As large as the first had done.
Difficult Word Meanings:
- Kneaded – pressed and rolled dough
Explanation with Reference to Context:
She tried making another cake, smaller than the first, but again she felt it was too big to give away. This shows her growing greed.
Stanza 9
Lines:
Then she took a tiny scrap of dough,
And rolled and rolled it flat;
And baked it thin as a wafer —
But she couldn’t part with that.
Difficult Word Meanings:
- Scrap – a small piece
- Wafer – very thin slice
Explanation with Reference to Context:
Finally, the woman baked the smallest cake, thin as a wafer. Yet, she still felt reluctant to share it and decided not to give it.
Stanza 10
Lines:
For she said, “My cakes that seem too small
When I eat of them myself
Are yet too large to give away.”
So she put them on the shelf.
Difficult Word Meanings:
- Too small – less for herself
- Shelf – a ledge to keep things
Explanation with Reference to Context:
The woman thought even the smallest cakes looked large when she had to give them away. She kept them all for herself, showing her selfish and greedy nature.
Stanza 11
Lines:
Then good Saint Peter grew angry,
For he was hungry and faint;
And surely such a woman
Was enough to provoke a saint.
Difficult Word Meanings:
- Provoke – make angry
Explanation with Reference to Context:
Saint Peter became very angry. He was weak and hungry, and the woman’s refusal to share even a small cake made him lose patience. Her greed was intolerable even to a saint.
Stanza 12
Lines:
And he said, “You are far too selfish
To dwell in a human form,
To have both food and shelter,
And fire to keep you warm.
Difficult Word Meanings:
- Dwell – live
Explanation with Reference to Context:
Saint Peter scolded her, saying she was too selfish to live as a human. She did not deserve food, shelter, and warmth if she could not show basic kindness.
Stanza 13
Lines:
Now, you shall build as the birds do,
And shall get your scanty food
By boring, and boring, and boring,
All day in the hard, dry wood.”
Difficult Word Meanings:
- Scanty – very little
- Boring – making holes
Explanation with Reference to Context:
Saint Peter cursed the woman, saying she would now have to live like birds, working hard to find very little food by pecking wood all day.
Stanza 14
Lines:
Then up she went through the chimney,
Never speaking a word,
And out of the top flew a woodpecker,
For she was changed to a bird.
Difficult Word Meanings:
- Chimney – passage for smoke in a house
Explanation with Reference to Context:
As soon as Saint Peter cursed her, the woman turned into a bird — a woodpecker — and flew out of the chimney silently.
Stanza 15
Lines:
She had a scarlet cap on her head,
And that was left the same;
But all the rest of her clothes were burned
Black as a coal in the flame.
Difficult Word Meanings:
- Scarlet – bright red
- Coal – black substance from fire
Explanation with Reference to Context:
The woman-turned-woodpecker retained the red cap she wore on her head. But her other clothes were burnt and turned black like coal, which is why woodpeckers have red heads and black bodies.
Stanza 16
Lines:
And every country schoolboy
Has seen her in the wood,
Where she lives in the trees till this very day,
Boring and boring for food.
Difficult Word Meanings:
- Country schoolboy – village children
- Wood – forest
Explanation with Reference to Context:
The poet concludes by saying that even today, children can see the woodpecker in the forest, living in trees and endlessly pecking for food as a punishment for her greed.
Read Also: A Legend of the Northland NCERT Solution