1. Answer the following questions :
a) Who are the poet’s friends ?

Answer: The poet’s friends are the sky, the sunshine, the wind, and other elements of nature.

b) What is the Sky like ?

Answer: The sky is like a kind big smile bent sweetly over the poet.

c) What does the Sunshine do?

Answer: The sunshine flickers through the lace of leaves and kisses the poet upon the face, like a mother before bed.

d) What does the Wind whisper?

Answer: The wind comes stealing o’er the grass to whisper pretty things.

e) Whose careful wings does the poet feel?

Answer: The poet feels the careful wings of the Wind.

f) Why should a child never feel a fear ?

Answer: A child should never feel a fear because there are many gentle friends (nature) nearby, though one can scarcely see them, who provide comfort and a feeling of safety wherever the child may be.

g) Can you consider the sky, the sunshine and the wind as your friends? Why?

Answer: Yes, one can consider them friends because they offer comfort, warmth, and a sense of safety, much like a good friend. They are always present and watch over everyone, even if they aren’t seen in the traditional sense.

2. Write the rhyming words from the poem.

Answer: The rhyming words from the poem “Friends” for the given words are as follows:

while -> smile

tree -> see

lace -> face

head -> said

grass -> pass

things -> wings

near -> fear

see -> be

3. Read the following explanations of the four stanzas of the poem given below. Identify and write the stanza number next to each explanation:

Explanation: The Wind comes secretly and whispers pretty things. The poet cannot see the Wind, but feels the careful touch.
Answer: Stanza 3

Explanation: The poet says that there are many gentle Friends around us. One can hardly see them. The poet asks the child not to be afraid because wherever the child might be, his Gentle friends will be around.
Answer: Stanza 4

Explanation: The Sunshine passes through the leaves and falls upon the poet’s face. The poet compares the falling of sunshine upon the face with mother kissing a child before bed.
Answer: Stanza 2

Explanation: The poet lies under a tree and looks at the Sky through it. The Sky is like a kind big smile, bent sweetly over the poet.
Answer: Stanza 1

4. Use the ideas written in the cards to tell the summary of the poem to the class:

Answer: The poem is about a child who is lying on the ground, experiencing nature as their gentle friends. The child is looking through the trees, where the sky appears as a “a kind big smile” bent over them. The sunshine filters down like “kisses like Mother,” gentle and comforting.
The wind’s presence is described as “whisper pretty things” and having “careful wings,” though it remains invisible. The child feels completely safe, with “no fear”, because of these natural, gentle companions surrounding them everywhere. The “lace of leaves” refers to the pattern made by the foliage overhead.

5. Write what the word ‘friend’ means to you:
Friend:

Answer: A friend means someone who is kind, trustworthy, and always there to help you when you need them. They are people you can share secrets and good times with, and they make you feel safe and happy. A friend is someone who accepts you for who you are.
Who your friends are:
[Your friend’s name 1]
[Your friend’s name 2]
[Your friend’s name 3]
[Your friend’s name 4]
[And so on…]

6. a) Read the following lines from the poem:
“The Sky is like a kind big smile
Bent sweetly over me.”

Find the other simile in the poem and write it down:
Answer: The other simile in the poem is found in the second stanza: “And kisses me upon the face
Like Mother, before bed.” 

7. Activities of the Sky, the Sunshine, and the Wind:

The Sky	The Sunshine	The Wind
Is like a kind big smile	Flickers through the lace of leaves	Comes stealing o’er the grass
Is bent sweetly over the poet	Kisses the poet upon the face	To whisper pretty things