SilverClass 9 English Chapter 3 Notes – Maharashtra Board

Summary: Silver

The poem describes a calm, moonlit night. The moon moves slowly and silently across the sky, as if she were a lady walking in silver shoes.

She looks here and there, and wherever her light falls, things turn silver: the fruit on the trees, the trees themselves and the thatched roofs, whose windows shine with her beams.

The poet then shows us living things lying still in the moonlight: a dog asleep in its kennel like a log, and white doves sleeping in their dark little shelter.

Only one small creature is awake and moving — a harvest mouse that runs past with its claws and eyes shining silver. Fish lie still in the stream, gleaming beside silver reeds.

The whole poem is one peaceful picture. By repeating the word 'silver' again and again, the poet makes us feel how the moonlight changes the ordinary world into something quiet and beautiful.

Key points to remember

• Poet: Walter de la Mare (the name printed below the poem), an English poet known for poems about dreams, night and magic
• Theme: the beauty and stillness of a moonlit night
• The moon is personified as a woman — she walks, peers and sees
• The poem has 14 lines arranged in rhyming pairs (couplets)
• Rhyme scheme: aa bb cc dd ee ff gg
• 'Silver' or 'silvery' comes in every second (even-numbered) line
• Only the moon and the harvest mouse move; everything else is still or asleep
• The sounds 's' and 'sl' (slowly, silently, silver, sleep) create a soft, hushed mood — this is alliteration
• Simile: the dog sleeps 'like a log'
• Message: the same place can look completely new when seen in a different light

Silver – Notes

1. Meaning in simple words

• Lines 1–2: The moon moves quietly and slowly through the night sky. The poet imagines her wearing silver shoes ('shoon' is an old word for shoes).
• Lines 3–4: She looks this way and that. Whatever she looks at — fruit and trees — shines silver in her light.
• Lines 5–6: One after another, the windows (casements) of cottages catch her light under their thatched roofs, which also look silvery.
• Lines 7–8: A dog lies curled up in its kennel, sleeping as still as a log; even its paws look silver.
• Lines 9–10: In their dark shelter (cote), doves are asleep; their white breasts peep out, looking silver-feathered.
• Lines 11–12: A tiny harvest mouse runs past quickly; its claws and its eye shine silver.
• Lines 13–14: In the stream, fish lie without moving, gleaming beside silver reeds in water that has also turned silver.

2. Still and moving things in the poem

• Moving: the moon (she walks and peers) and the harvest mouse (it scampers).
• At rest: fruit, trees, casements, thatch, the sleeping dog, the sleeping doves, the motionless fish, the reeds and the stream.
• The contrast makes the night feel even quieter — one tiny moving mouse shows how still everything else is.

3. Poetic devices

• Personification: the moon is a 'she' who walks in shoes, peers and sees — human actions given to the moon.
• Simile: the dog is compared to a log using 'like' — it lies perfectly still.
• Alliteration: 'slowly, silently' and 'silver ... sleep' repeat the 's' sound, which sounds soft like a whisper.
• Repetition: 'silver' is repeated many times so the whole scene seems washed in moonlight.
• Imagery: the poem is full of pictures we can see — it is like a painting of a village at night.
• Archaic word: 'shoon' (shoes) gives an old, fairy-tale feeling.

4. Rhyme scheme and the 'silver' pattern

• Rhyming pairs: moon–shoon, sees–trees, catch–thatch, log–dog, peep–sleep, by–eye, gleam–stream.
• So the rhyme scheme is aa bb cc dd ee ff gg — seven rhyming couplets.
• 'Silver' / 'silvery' appears in lines 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 — the second line of every couplet.
• Lines 4, 12 and 14 use the word twice each, so the shine seems to grow stronger as we read.

5. Word meanings

• shoon — shoes (an old form); peers — looks closely; casements — windows that open on hinges.
• thatch — a roof made of dried straw or grass; couched — lying down; kennel — a small house for a dog.
• cote — a small shelter for birds such as doves; scampering — running quickly with short steps.
• moveless — still, not moving; gleam — shine softly; reeds — tall grass that grows by water.

Words and phrases to know

Key terms

Silver – Flashcards

Read the question, answer it in your head, then tap the card to check. 20 cards.

Silver – MCQ Quiz

15 questions. Tap an option — you will see at once if it is right and why.

How to study Silver

⏱ About 20 minutes

1. Read (5 min)
   Read the poem aloud softly and slowly, couplet by couplet, and picture each scene.
2. Learn (8 min)
   Learn the word meanings, the rhyme scheme aa bb cc…, the 'silver' pattern and the devices — personification, simile, alliteration.
3. Practise (7 min)
   Answer the 'Try it yourself' questions, take the quiz and play 🎮 Play.