CLASS 8 ENGLISH UNIT 1 CHAPTER 2 ( POEM ) A CONCRETE EXAMPLE ( EXPLANATION IN ENGLISH ) - ONE SHOT

Añadido: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]Hello students. Today, we are going to study a very interesting and humorous poem from class eight English, A Concrete Example. In this poem, we meet a unique character, Mrs. Jones, who has a very unusual garden filled more with stones than flowers. Imagine a garden where tiny plants grow between stones, so small that it seems they were planted with a pin. This poem teaches us an important idea. People see and understand the world in different ways.

[00:00:34]First, we will enjoy the poem, and then we will explore its deeper meaning and message. Let's get started.

[00:00:43]So, let's recite the poem first.

[00:00:46]My next door neighbor, Mrs. Jones, has got a garden full of stones.

[00:00:52]A crazy path, a lily pond, a rockery, and just beyond. A sundial with a strange device, which Mrs. Jones thinks rather nice.

[00:01:03]My next door neighbor, Mrs. Jones, puts little plants between the stones. They are so delicate and small, they don't mean anything at all.

[00:01:14]I can't think how she gets them in, unless she plants them with a pin.

[00:01:19]My next door neighbor, Mrs. Jones, once asked me round to see her stones.

[00:01:25]We stood and talked about a flower for quite a quarter of an hour.

[00:01:31]"Where is this lovely thing?" I cried.

[00:01:33]"You're standing on it." she replied.

[00:01:37]Now, let's understand the first stanza of the poem.

[00:01:40]My next door neighbor, Mrs. Jones, has got a garden full of stones.

[00:01:45]Here, the speaker introduces his neighbor, Mrs. Jones, whose garden is quite unusual because it is filled with stones instead of flowers.

[00:01:54]A crazy path, a lily pond, a rockery, and just beyond. The garden has a strange winding path, a beautiful lily pond, and a rock garden made of stones.

[00:02:06]A sundial with a strange device, which Mrs. Jones thinks rather nice. There is also a sundial with a peculiar device, which Mrs. Jones finds very nice and interesting. This stanza shows that Mrs. Jones has a unique taste and enjoys unusual things in her garden.

[00:02:24]Now, let's understand the second stanza.

[00:02:27]My next door neighbor, Mrs. Jones, puts little plants between the stones. Here, we are told that Mrs. Jones plants very tiny plants between the stones in her garden.

[00:02:40]They are so delicate and small, they don't mean anything at all. These plants are so small and delicate that the speaker feels they are not important at all.

[00:02:51]This stanza adds a touch of humor as the speaker feels the plants insignificant while Mrs. Jones values them. It shows that people can have very different perspectives about the same things.

[00:03:05]Let's understand the third stanza.

[00:03:08]I can't think how she gets them in, unless she plants them with a pin.

[00:03:13]Here, the speaker is surprised and confused about how Mrs. Jones manages to plant such tiny plants between the stones. He imagines that the plants are so small that she must be using a pin to plant them. This line is humorous and imaginative as it exaggerates how tiny the plants are.

[00:03:32]It highlights the speaker's curiosity and amusement at Mrs. Jones' unusual gardening style.

[00:03:40]Now, let's understand the fourth stanza.

[00:03:43]My next door neighbor, Mrs. Jones, once asked me round to see her stones.

[00:03:49]>> [snorts] >> Here, the speaker tells us that one day, Mrs. Jones invited him to visit her garden.

[00:03:56]We stood and talked about a flower for quite a quarter of an hour.

[00:04:01]They stood and talked about a flower for almost 15 minutes. This creates humor because they are discussing such a small and ordinary flower for a long time.

[00:04:12]This stanza shows how much Mrs. Jones values her garden while the speaker does not find it equally important.

[00:04:21]Now, let's understand the final stanza of the poem.

[00:04:24]"Where is this lovely thing?" I cried.

[00:04:27]"You're standing on it." she replied.

[00:04:30]Here, the speaker eagerly asks where the lovely flower is as he is unable to see it. Mrs. Jones replies calmly that he is actually standing on it. This creates a humorous moment because the flower is so tiny that the speaker cannot even notice it.

[00:04:48]This stanza delivers the main message of the poem. Sometimes, we fail to notice or value small things while they may be very important to someone else.

[00:04:59]With this, we come to the end of the chapter. Hope you understood the poem and its meaning clearly. If you like the video, don't forget to like, share, and subscribe. For more useful content, do join the ICT Science Rekha WhatsApp channel. Thank you, and keep learning.