Read the passage and poem. from The Wind in the Willows
The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then with dusters; then on
ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his
black fur, and an aching back and weary arms. Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his
dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing. It was small wonder, then, that he suddenly flung down his brush on the
floor, said 'Bother!' and 'o blow!' and also 'Hang spring-cleaning" and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat. Something
up above was calling him imperiously, and he made for the steep little tunnel which answered in his case to the gravelled carriage-drive owned by
animals whose residences are nearer to the sun and air. So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged and then he scrooged again
and scrabbled and scratched and scraped, working busily with his little paws and muttering to himself,'Up we go! Up we go!' till at last, pop! his
How is the coming of spring addressed differently in the passage and poem?
O 1. In the passage, Mole dreads the arrival of spring because he doesn't like the work involved. In the poem, spring is a beautiful time
where the stream is full of life.
02. In the passage, Mole can't wait for spring but is too exhausted from spring-cleaning to leave his hole. In the poem, spring comes
silently and gently widens the stream.
3. In the passage, Mole works hard to prepare for spring and waits calmly in his burrow for its arrival. In the poem, spring is delayed,
and the stream remains blocked by snow.
04. In the passage, Mole longs for spring so much that he rushes to the surface to play in the meadow. In the poem, spring is a
destructive force that threatens the stream valley.
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