The Truant
A merry lad with twinkling eyes
He steals away from school,
A shameless truant lured by cries
That come from glade and pool.
A dozen noisy boys - a gay
And lively company -
There in the water splash and play
In wholesome boyish glee.
He dares to join that wayward band,
Their school was the open sky,
Whose lessons they can understand
While clouds go sailing by.
And now they venture through the woods
With whispered speech and signs,
Their quest the tiny nested broods
That hide among the vines.
They know the voice of every bird
That trills from tree to tree
Where all day through the notes are heard
Of semp or keskidee
One silent lad whose troubled eyes
Confess the truant past
At evening hugs the treasured prize
And homeward creeps at last.
Neville Giuseppi
1. What does twinkling eyes suggest?
2. What does the expression 'treasured prize' suggest?
3.What do you think is the treasured prize?
4. What is the message of the poem?
5. What aspects of the boys' behaviour are presented in the poem?