Class 8 English · Original EZT practice
Somebody's Mother (Class 8 English Chapter 5): the boy who stopped
On a cold winter's day, an old woman stands alone at a busy street crossing, too frightened to move. A crowd of schoolboys rushes past her, laughing and playing in the snow - until one boy stops, offers his arm, and guides her safely across. His reason is simple: she is somebody's mother, and he hopes someone would do the same for his own mother one day. This page gives a summary, poetic devices and practice questions for Mary Dow Brine's poem. (Note: this is original practice, not a textbook exercise key.)
6 original worked examples, 6 fresh self-check questions and 4 mixed questions, with explained answers. These are not copied textbook exercises, an official chapter index or a full answer key. No affiliation with NCERT is claimed.
Official sources for topic and edition context, checked 23 October 2026:
1. Poem summary - the woman at the crossing
The poem opens on a winter's day. An old woman, 'ragged and grey', waits at a crossing with slow, aged feet while the street is wet with fresh snow. A crowd of schoolboys pours down the street, 'glad in the freedom of school let out', but none stops for her - she is afraid to move lest the carriage wheels or horses' feet push her down in the slippery street.
2. Poem summary - the boy who stopped
At last one boy - 'the gayest laddie of all the group' - pauses beside her and whispers, 'I'll help you cross, if you wish to go.' She places her aged hand on his strong young arm, and he guides her trembling feet safely across, proud of his own strength. He returns to his friends happy and content, and explains why he helped.
3. Poem summary - theme and message
The poem's central theme is kindness and empathy toward the elderly. The boy's small act matters because he treats a stranger the way he would want his own mother treated. The closing prayer links the two families: the helped mother blesses the boy, who is himself 'somebody's son, and pride and joy'.
4. Poetic devices and vocabulary
A narrative poem in rhyming couplets (AABB), which gives the story a steady rhythmic flow. Devices: simile ('like a flock of sheep'), alliteration and repetition ('so meek, so timid'). Useful words: ragged, throng, meek, timid, hastened, laddie.
Choose, solve, check, then try a fresh question.
Before calculating, read the method prompt and name the condition that makes it useful. Write your own attempt. Open the steps only when you need them, and use the check to catch a wrong sign, unit or interpretation. Finish with the fresh question before reading its answer.
Explain why she waits
Choose the method: Slow feet, slippery street.
EZT practice question
Why does the old woman not cross the street on her own?
Show the worked solution
- Her feet are aged and slow, and she is 'bent' with the chill.
- The street is slippery with fresh snow.
- She is timid and afraid the carriage wheels or horses' feet might crowd her down - so she waits, afraid to stir.
Answer: Her feet are aged and slow, the street is slippery with snow, and she fears the carriage wheels or horses' feet might knock her down - so she waits, afraid to move.
Check: She is 'old and ragged and grey' - appearance, age and fear in one line.
Watch for this: Do not say she is waiting for someone she knows - she is a stranger to everyone who passes.
Now try it yourself
What does 'glad in the freedom of school let out' tell us about the boys?
Check your answer
They are happy and full of energy because school has ended - helping a stranger is the last thing on their minds.
Their joy sets up the contrast with the one boy who stops.
Fix what the boy does
Choose the method: Stop, offer, guide.
EZT practice question
How does the boy help the old woman?
Show the worked solution
- He is 'the gayest laddie of all the group' - yet he alone pauses beside her.
- He whispers, 'I'll help you cross, if you wish to go.'
- She places her aged hand on his strong young arm, and he guides her trembling feet across.
Answer: He stops beside her, offers to help her cross, and guides her trembling feet safely across the street on his strong young arm.
Check: The poet contrasts his 'strong young arm' and firm feet with her 'aged hand' and 'trembling feet'.
Watch for this: Do not say he carried her - she walked, leaning on his arm.
Now try it yourself
How does the boy feel after helping?
Check your answer
He returns to his friends with a 'young heart happy and well content' - proud of his own strength used well.
Kindness is its own reward in the poem.
State his reason
Choose the method: Somebody's mother.
EZT practice question
What reason does the boy give his friends for helping?
Show the worked solution
- He says, 'She's somebody's mother, boys, you know, for all she's aged and poor and slow.'
- He thinks of his own mother, far away from him one day.
- He hopes some fellow will lend her a hand if she is ever poor, old and grey.
Answer: She is somebody's mother - and he hopes that if his own mother is ever poor, old and grey while he is far away, someone will lend her a hand too.
Check: The reason is empathy: treat the stranger as your own.
Watch for this: Do not say he knew the woman - she is a stranger; that is the whole point.
Now try it yourself
What does the old woman do that night at home?
Check your answer
She bows her head and prays, 'God be kind to the noble boy, who is somebody's son, and pride and joy!'
Her blessing closes the poem.
Connect the last two lines
Choose the method: Mother's prayer, son's kindness.
EZT practice question
How do the last two lines connect the old woman and the boy?
Show the worked solution
- He helped her because she was 'somebody's mother'.
- She prays for him as 'somebody's son, and pride and joy'.
- Both are strangers to each other but family to someone - which is the poem's whole argument for kindness.
Answer: She prays for him as 'somebody's son, and pride and joy' - just as he helped her because she was 'somebody's mother'; both are strangers to each other but family to someone.
Check: The parallel phrasing - somebody's mother / somebody's son - is deliberate.
Watch for this: Do not miss that the blessing mirrors his reason - the poem ends where its argument began.
Now try it yourself
State the central theme of the poem in one sentence.
Check your answer
Kindness and empathy - helping the elderly and treating strangers as we would treat our own family.
Small act, large meaning.
Name the devices
Choose the method: Couplets, one simile.
EZT practice question
What is the poem's rhyme scheme, and where is its simile?
Show the worked solution
- The poem is a narrative poem in rhyming couplets - AABB.
- The simile: 'Came the boys like a flock of sheep.'
- Repetition appears in 'so meek, so timid', stressing how helpless the woman is.
Answer: Rhyme scheme AABB (rhyming couplets); simile - 'Came the boys like a flock of sheep'; repetition - 'so meek, so timid', emphasising her helplessness.
Check: Read any four lines aloud - the couplets chime in pairs.
Watch for this: Do not call the sheep image a metaphor - it uses 'like', so it is a simile.
Now try it yourself
Give the meanings of 'throng' and 'hastened'.
Check your answer
throng - a large crowd of people; hastened - hurried.
Both fit the busy street scene.
Weigh the small act
Choose the method: Small effort, large meaning.
EZT practice question
Is the boy's act large or small? Why does the poem treat it as important?
Show the worked solution
- In effort it is small - one crossing, a few minutes.
- In meaning it is large - it restores a stranger's dignity and safety.
- It earns a mother's blessing and models the poem's message.
Answer: Small in effort, large in meaning: a few minutes of help restores the woman's dignity, earns her blessing, and shows what everyday kindness looks like.
Check: The poem never calls him a hero - just 'the noble boy'.
Watch for this: Do not dismiss the act as trivial - the poem's weight sits exactly on its smallness.
Now try it yourself
What wish does the boy express about his own mother?
Check your answer
That some fellow will lend a hand to help her if she is ever poor, old and grey while he is far away.
His kindness is a hope passed forward.
Try a mixed set
Choose a method or explanation before opening each answer.
1. Who wrote the poem?
Show answer and reason
Mary Dow Brine.
A narrative poem in Poorvi Unit 2.
2. Why won't she cross alone?
Show answer and reason
Aged, slow feet; slippery street; fear of the carriage wheels and horses.
She waits 'afraid to stir'.
3. The boy's reason?
Show answer and reason
'She's somebody's mother' - he hopes someone would help his own mother.
Empathy for a stranger.
4. Her prayer?
Show answer and reason
'God be kind to the noble boy, who is somebody's son, and pride and joy!'
The blessing mirrors his reason.
Try it yourself
Work these on paper before checking any notes. Answers are deliberately not shown here.
- Quote the line that shows the boys' mood as they leave school.
- Find the simile in the poem.
- In one sentence, give the poem's message.
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Questions about this practice page
- Who wrote Somebody's Mother?
- Mary Dow Brine. The poem appears in the NCERT Class 8 English textbook Poorvi, Unit 2.
- What is Somebody's Mother about?
- An old woman too afraid to cross a snowy street is helped by one kind schoolboy, who hopes someone would help his own mother the same way.
- What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
- AABB - the poem is written in rhyming couplets.
- Which poetic devices are used in the poem?
- Simile ('like a flock of sheep'), alliteration, and repetition, among others.
- Are these the NCERT exercise questions for Class 8 English Chapter 5?
- No. EZT pages are original practice following the chapter's section order - use them to prepare for the textbook exercises, not as a substitute for your book.