Summary
There is a shed at the bottom of the poet’s garden and the poet wishes to visit it one day. There is a spider’s web on the door of the shed and its hinges are rusty and creak when the wind blows. The poet often thinks about it while lying in his bed. On one side of the shed, there is a dusty window and three of its window panes are broken. The poet feels as if someone stares at him through the window and whenever the poet visits the shed he would like to find out who lives there.
The poet’s brother informs him that a ghost lives inside the shed and if the poet dares to enter the shed, the ghost would chop off his head. Despite these warnings, the poet wishes to visit the shed and peep inside. The poet believes that his brother tells him imaginative stories about the ghost as he wants to keep the shed for himself. The poet no longer feels anyone staring at him or hears any strange noises coming from the shed. The spider, too, is no longer there. Thus, very soon he would go inside the shed.
Stanzawise Explanations
Stanza 1
There’s a shed at the bottom of our garden
With a spider’s web hanging across the door,
The hinges are rusty and creak in the wind.
When I’m in bed I lie and I listen,
I’ll open that door one day.
Reference The above lines have been taken from Frank Flynn’s poem, The Shed.’
Context The poet in these lines is describing a shed that is at the bottom of his garden.
Explanation At the bottom of the garden, there is a shed. Hardly anybody goes inside the shed, therefore, the hinges or the door joints have become rusty and make a lot of noise whenever the wind makes them move. When the poet is peacefully lying in the bed, he sometimes hears noises from the shed. The poet wishes to be able to open the door of the shed some day.
Stanza 2
There’s a dusty old window around at the side
With three cracked panes of glass,
I often think there’s someone staring at me
Each time that I pass,
I’ll peep through that window one day.
Reference Same as in Stanza 1
Context The poet discusses how he wishes to stare inside the shed.
Explanation The shed has a dusty old window on its side. Three glass panes of the window are broken. Whenever, the poet passes through the shed, he gets the feeling as if someone was staring at him. To find out, the poet wishes to peep inside the shed.
Stanza 3
My brother says there’s a ghost in the shed
Who hides under the rotten floorboards,
And if I ever dare to set foot inside
He ‘ll jump out and chop off my head,
But I’ll take a peek one day.
Reference Same as in Stanza 1
Context In these lines, the poet discusses how his brother warns him about the ghost inside the shed.
Explanation The poet’s brother talks about the presence of the ghost inside the shed and warns the poet that if he went inside the shed, the ghost would chop off his head. However, this does not much frighten the poet. He still wished to one day step inside the shed and see for himself.
Stanza 4
I know that there isn’t really a ghost,
My brother tells lies to keep the shed for his den.
There isn’t anyone staring or making strange noises
And the spider has been gone from his web
since I don’t know when,
I’ll go into that shed one day soon,
But not just yet..
Reference Same as in Stanza 1
Context The poet, in these lines, seems to have grown enough to understand the truth.
Explanation The poet is able to overcome his fears. He is able to understand that there is no ghost inside the shed He understands that there is actually nobody inside the shed, who stares at him or makes those strange noises. The spider, too, is no longer there. His brother had been telling him lies because he wanted to retain the shed for his own self. Therefore, very soon the poet would be able to set in foot inside the shed. However, he says that this can’t happen immediately.
Word Meaning
Word Meaning in English
Web spider’s web
Hinges a joint
Panes a sheet of glass
Staring to look fixedly
Peep peek
Rotten in a state of decay
Peek to see
NCERT Solutions
Working with the Poem
(NCERT Page 49)
1.Answer the following questions.
(i) Who is the speaker in the poem?
Ans. It is not very clear who the speaker is, Perhaps, the speaker is the poet himself.
(ii) Is she/he afraid or curious or both?
Ans. The speaker seems to be both curious as well as afraid to go inside the shed. He wants to find out what is inside the shed.
At the same time, he is afraid because he thinks that strange voices could be heard from here and there is possibly a ghost who lives inside the shed.
(iii) What is she/he planning to do soon?
Ans. He/She plans to go inside the shed after some day soon.
(iv) “But not just yet…” suggests doubt, fear, hesitation, laziness or something else. Choose the word which seems right to you. Tell others why you chose it.
Ans. “But not just yet…” seems to suggest lack of preparation. The speaker wants to be further certain and prepare himself for this endeavor. He has already overcome his fears, so there is no fear. However, waiting for the right time could be a reason for postponing the act.
2.Is there a room in your house or a house in your neighbourhood/locality where you would rather not go alone, and never at night? If there is such a place and a story to go with it, let others hear all about it.
Ans. There is a store room in my house which is in the backyard of the house. It is a little away from the main structure. It is full of odd objects and not even lit properly. Thus, going to the store room, at night, calls for a lot of courage.
My mother once asked me to fetch certain things from the store room. When I entered the store room, I felt as if I saw the movement of shadows. I screamed with terror, but later I got to know that those shadows were nothing but my mind’s imagination.
Questions and Answers
Very Short Answer Type Questions
1.Why were the hinges of the door rusty?
Ans. Hardly anybody went inside the shed. Since the doors were not opened for a long time, its hinges had become rusty.
2.What does the speaker usually do while lying in the bed?
Ans. The speaker generally contemplated the idea of going inside the shed.
3.What does the broken glass window suggest?
Ans. The broken glass panes of the dusty window suggested lack of maintenance.
There was hardly anybody who went inside the shed, so cleaning the shed was a distant possibility.
4.According to the speaker’s brother, where did the ghost hid himself?
Ans. According to the speaker’s brother, the ghost hid himself under the rotten floorboards of the shed.
Short Answer Type Questions
1.What did the speaker’s brother say about the shed?
Ans. The speaker’s brother talked about the presence of a ghost inside the shed.
He also warned the speaker that if he ever went inside the shed, the ghost might chop off his head. Saying so, the speaker’s brother frightened the speaker.
2.Comment on the speaker’s resolve to go inside the shed.
Ans. From our reading of the poem, it becomes amply clear that the speaker is fully determined to go inside the shed. Even when his brother threatens him, he does not give up the idea of going inside to find for himself the truth. His desire to visit only gets postponed and delayed.
3.What change occurs in the attitude of the speaker?
Ans. In the first three stanzas the speaker seems to be scared of the shed.
He thinks about the strange voices that come from the shed, somebody mysteriously staring at him, he believed in the ghost stories and so on. However, in the final stanza of the poem, there seems to be a major change in the speaker’s attitude.
He has understood that all these ghost stories were a lie told to him. And, therefore, his resolve to go inside the shed becomes further firm.
4.Why do you think that the spider web hanging on the door was no longer there?
Ans. The first time when the speaker describes the shed, the speaker talks about a spider web hanging across the door of the shed. However, the next time when the speaker describes the shed, the speaker shares that it had been a long time since the spider and the web were not to be seen.
Perhaps, the door of the shed had been opened by the speaker’s brother, thereby displacing the spider’s web that covered the door.
Extra Questions and Answers
Extract 1
Directions (Q.Nos. 1-6) Read the extract given below and answer the following questions.
There’s a dusty old window around at the side
With three cracked panes of glass,
I often think there’s someone staring at me
Each time that I pass,
I’ll peep through that window one day.
1.What is the condition of the window described in the poem?
(a) It is sparkling with its new glass panes
(b) Three panes of it are cracked
(c) All panes of it are broken off
(d) The children playing cricket have broken the window completely
Ans. (b) Three panes of it are cracked.
2.Why does the poet want to peep through the window as he passes it?
(a) To see the ghost
(b) To steal something
(c) To find out if somebody is staring at him
(d) To see his brother and his friends
Ans. (c) To find out if somebody is staring at him.
3.What feeling of the poet is exhibited in his peeping through the window?
(a) The poet is emotional
(b) The poet is careless
(c) The poet has a lot of time
(d) The poet is curious
Ans. (d) The poet is curious.
4.Does the poet get scared at the thought of peeping through the window?
Ans. No, the poet does not fear at all. It is his own bold decision.
5.Who according to poet’s brother stares the poet?
Ans. There might be a ghost as has been told by the poet’s brother.
6.Why is the window dusty?
Ans. Because the shed has not been used for long by anybody. Therefore it has become an abode of dust.
Extract 2
Directions (Q. Nos. 1-6) Read the extract given below and answer the following questions.
“My brother tells lies to keep the
shed for his den.
There isn’t anyone staring or
making strange noises.
And the spider has been gone from his web
Since I don’t know when.
I’ll go into that shed one day soon,
But not just yet.
1.Why does the speaker’s brother lie to him?
(a) He wishes to mislead the speaker
(b) He wishes to solely use the shed
(c) He wishes to sell away the shed
(d) He is afraid of the ghost to
Ans. (b) He wishes to solely use the shed.
2.”Since I don’t know when” suggests
(a) passage of time
(b) spider has been killed by the ghost
(c) the speaker being a foolish person
(d) the brother being a liar
Ans. (a) passage of time
3.Who wishes to go into the shed soon?
(a) The speaker
(b) The speaker’s brother
(c) The ghost
(d) The dog.
Ans. (a) The speaker
4. Why does the speaker say that “there isn’t anyone staring or making strange noises”?
Ans. The speaker has understood that his brother had been lying to him in order to keep him away from the shed.
There is no ghost and therefore nobody who stares at him or make strange noises.
5.Identify the line that has been repeated often in the poem.
Ans. “I’ll go into that shed one day soon.
6.What does this passage say about the speaker?
Ans. The passage indicates a mature understanding that the speaker has attained.