Maharashtra Board Class 12 English Chapter 2.6 Money Textbook PDF Download

2.6 Money

Ice Breakers

Discuss in the class about 'Importance of money.'

Money is used as capital in business.

Complete the web.

Money spent judiciously

Donation for the poor and needy

Make a list of the good qualities of your friend.

Share your views on 'Money is the root of all evils'.

Do you lend money to your friend? Give reasons.

Teacher's Note

Money is very important in our daily life. We need money to buy food, clothes, and books. But true friends are more valuable than money.

Exam Trick

Remember: The poet had many false friends when he was rich. When he became poor, he had few but real friends. This teaches us that real friendship is not about money.

Points to Remember

Money helps us buy things we need.

Real friends do not care about money.

Poor people can be happy without much money.

Rich people sometimes feel lonely even with money.

Money

When I had money, money, O!

I knew no joy till I went poor;

For many a false man as a friend

Came knocking all day at my door.

Then felt I like a child that holds

A trumpet that he must not blow

Because a man is dead; I dared

Not speak to let this false world know.

Much have I thought of life, and seen

How poor men's hearts are ever light;

And how their wives do hum like bees

About their work from morn till night.

So, when I hear these poor ones laugh,

And see the rich ones coldly frown

Poor men, think I, need not go up

So much as rich men should come down.

When I had money, money, O!

My many friends proved all untrue;

But now I have no money, O!

My friends are real, though very few.

- William H. Davies

About The Poet

William H. Davies was a Welsh poet and writer. He was born in 1871 and died in 1940. He spent a big part of his life as a tramp or wandering man. He traveled in the United Kingdom and the United States. He became a street singer in England. After many years of traveling, he wrote his first book called 'The Soul's Destroyer and other Poems'.

The poem tells us about a rich man who wants to be a poor man to find real happiness. When we do not have money or lose our money, we understand how important money is. At the end, the poet says that now he has no money, but he has true friends. The friends may be few, but they are real.

Word Meanings

Trumpet: a brass musical instrument

Hum: sing with closed lips

Teacher's Note

This poem teaches us that real friends stay with us even when we have no money. In India, we see many rich people who lose their friends when they lose their money.

Exam Trick

Remember: The poet says false friends came when he had money. They left when he became poor. So real friendship is not about having money.

Points to Remember

Money can bring false friends who only want your money.

Poor people are often happy because they have real friends.

Rich people feel alone because their friends are not true.

Real friendship is more valuable than money.

When you have no money, you find out who your real friends are.

Brainstorming

Activity A1

(i) 'Money does not mean everything in life'. Discuss with your partner and justify the statement by giving examples. Take help of the following points.

Money cannot give you eternal happiness.

Art, music and literature can give you unending happiness.

Money is short-lived.

Money cannot purchase happiness and contentment.

(ii) Debate on the following topic in groups.

Money is the solution for everything.

Activity A2

(i) State whether the following statements are True or False. Correct the False statements with the help of the poem.

The poet knew no joy till he was rich.

The poet felt that he should talk about his poverty.

When poet had money, he had many true friends.

When poet became poor he had a few real friends.

(ii) Write reasons for the following statements.

Friends came knocking all day at the poet's door.

Poor men's wives hum like bees.

(iii) Money makes the world go round. Explain it in the light of the poet's experience.

(iv) Poor men need not go up so much as rich men should come down. Express your views regarding this statement.

Activity A3

(i) Find out meanings of the phrases given below and use them in your own sentences.

be in the money

win lots of money

for my money

money for old rope

put one's money where one's mouth is

(ii) Complete the crossword with the help of the clues from the poem.

Across

(1) A brass musical instrument

(2) A low steady continuous sound

(3) False

(4) Say Something

Down

(5) Not imaginary

(6) Ponder

(7) Stinging insects

(8) In large number

(9) Strike a surface noisily

Teacher's Note

These activities help students understand the poem better. In India, we can see many examples of people who spend money wisely and those who waste it. Discuss real life situations with your students.

Exam Trick

Remember: Look for rhyming words in the poem. They help you find the answers to the crossword. Read the poem many times before answering.

Points to Remember

Figures of speech make poems more interesting and beautiful.

Simile compares two things using 'like' or 'as'.

Repetition means saying the same word again and again.

Rhyme scheme means the pattern of rhyming words.

Understanding the poem helps you answer all questions about it.

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