The Kites | CBSE Class 6 English Notes

This note covers Daphne Lister's poem "The Kites": a stanza-by-stanza summary, the poetic devices, the parts of a kite, the themes, how the Kite Festival is celebrated, key quotations, answers to the textbook questions, and how to write a cinquain poem.

It explains the poet, a stanza-by-stanza summary, the poetic devices used (simile, alliteration, repetition), the parts of a kite named in the chapter, the poem's themes, the Kite Festival described in the listening transcript, key quotations, and model answers to the textbook's comprehension and creative-writing tasks.

About the poet and the poem

"The Kites" is written by Daphne Lister. It appears in the "Culture and Tradition" unit of Poorvi, the Class 6 English textbook.

The poem is told from the point of view of a child watching kites and wishing to become small and light enough to ride one.

The poem has five stanzas of four lines each. It begins with the child looking up at kites flying in a windy sky and ends with the child imagining people on the ground staring up in wonder, wishing they could be in the child's place.

The chapter pairs the poem with activities on kite-flying traditions, the parts of a kite, and the Kite Festival (Uttarayan) celebrated in India.

Before the poem, the textbook asks students to recall their own experience of flying or watching a kite, and to look at a picture of a windy sky with a kite flying, birds, and a child looking up from below.

The pre-reading questions ask students to describe a kite's colour, shape and tail design, and to say what they thought when they first saw a kite rising into the sky.

A second pre-reading activity asks students to search for videos of Kite Festivals, share what people in the videos were doing, and say whether they would like to take part in such a festival themselves.

A further activity asks students to complete sentences about a picture of a windy sky, a flying kite, birds, and a child looking up from below, and then to imagine what they would do if they themselves were the child, or even the kite.

This pre-reading activity connects the student's own experience to the poem's central image of a kite rising "like coloured birds" into the sky.

What happens in the poem, stanza by stanza?

Stanza 1: Kites like coloured birds

The poem opens with the line "Up in the air" and tells the reader to "See the kites fly". The poet compares the kites to "coloured birds" moving through a "wind-whipped sky". This stanza sets the scene: a windy day with many kites in the air, bright and bird-like.

Stanza 2: Wishing to be light as air

The child says, "I wish I were small / And light as air". The wish is to be light enough to "climb on a kite / And sail up there". This stanza shows the child's desire to escape the ground and join the kites in the sky.

Stanza 3: Drifting on paper wings

The child imagines drifting "upon / The paper wings" of the kite. While up there, the child would "hear the songs / That the wild wind sings". The kite's surface is described as "paper wings", and the wind itself is imagined as singing.

Stanza 4: Looking down at the world

The child imagines the fun of looking "right down" from the sky, over "the park / And the rooftops of town". This stanza gives a bird's-eye view of a familiar town, seen from a height the child could never reach without the kite.

Stanza 5: People stare and wish

In the final stanza, "the people below" would "stand and stare". They would "wish they were me / High, high in the air".

The repeated words "high, high" stress just how far up the child imagines being, and the poem ends with the people on the ground envying the child's place in the sky.

What poetic devices does the poet use in this poem?

What is a simile, and where does the poet use it?

A simile compares one thing to another using "like" or "as". The textbook itself points this out: "The poet uses simile in 1 and 2 to compare the kites with coloured birds and the quality of being light as air."

"The poet uses 'like' and 'as' to compare." The two similes are "Like coloured birds" (stanza 1) and "light as air" (stanza 2).

What is alliteration, and where does the poet use it?

Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sound at the start of nearby words, as in the textbook's own example "big bright blue bag".

In the poem, the phrase "wind-whipped" in stanza 1 repeats the "w" sound, giving the line a gusty, breathy feel that matches the idea of a windy sky. In stanza 3, "wild wind" also begins with the "w" sound.

Why does the poet repeat words?

In the last line, the poet repeats the word "high": "High, high in the air." This repetition emphasises just how far up the child imagines flying, far above the park, the rooftops and the staring people below.

Looking at the end words of each stanza, lines two and four of every stanza rhyme with each other (for example, "fly" and "sky" in stanza 1, "air" and "there" in stanza 2, "wings" and "sings" in stanza 3, "down" and "town" in stanza 4, and "stare" and "air" in stanza 5), while lines one and three do not rhyme.

This gentle, song-like rhyme pattern suits a poem about floating and drifting on the wind.

What are the parts of a kite?

The "Let us learn" section of the chapter names the parts of a kite through a conversation between two children, Bina and Saroj. The parts named are the tail, the cover, the spine, the kite line, the reel and the nose.

Bina likes the long tail at the end of her kite. Saroj says her kite's cover is bright and its spine is black. Bina's kite line is attached to the reel that wraps it. Saroj explains that the tip of a kite is called the nose.

These labelled parts connect the poem's imaginative imagery ("paper wings") to the real, physical object: a kite is made of a covered frame with a spine, flown on a line wound around a reel, with a tail for balance and a pointed nose at the top.

The same section also looks at movement words for a kite. The textbook says the poet uses the words "fly" and "drift" to describe the kite's movement, and asks students to pick out words such as "slow" and "float" that match the gentler, drifting kind of movement rather than the faster kind.

It also introduces further movement words to describe a kite's flight: glide, dive, soar, swoop and circle, each describing a slightly different way that a kite can move through the air once it is up there.

The chapter also lists several useful expressions built around the poem's own language: up in the air, look right down, stay up there and stand and stare, which students are asked to use in their own sentences.

Finally, the "Let us explore" activity shows pictures of different real-world kite types, including the parafoil, the diamond-shaped kite, the delta, the rokkaku and box kites, and asks students to say which type is most commonly seen, before finding out the steps to make a kite of their own and writing a message on it.

What themes does the poem explore?

Imagination and wonder

The whole poem is built on the child's imagination. The child cannot actually become small enough to ride a kite, but imagines doing so in vivid detail, from drifting on "paper wings" to hearing the "songs" of the wind.

The poem invites the reader to share this wonder at something as ordinary as a kite in the sky.

Freedom and flight

The wish to be "light as air" and to "sail up there" expresses a longing for freedom from the ground. Flying high above the park and the rooftops of town represents an escape from ordinary, earth-bound life, even if only in imagination.

Joy in simple pleasures

The child says, "What fun it would be / To look right down." A simple act, flying a kite and imagining its view, becomes a source of great joy. The poem celebrates how an everyday object like a kite can spark delight and daydreaming.

Kites as part of culture and tradition

The poem sits inside a unit called "Culture and Tradition", and the chapter's other activities (the Kite Festival, the history of kites in Marathi poetry, the parts of a kite) place the poem's private daydream inside a much older, shared tradition of flying kites across India.

How is the Kite Festival celebrated in India?

The chapter's listening transcript describes the Kite Festival in India. It takes place during Makar Sankranti in the month of January. People fly kites from their terraces and rooftops and take part in kite-flying competitions.

The festival is celebrated as Uttarayan in Western India. The transcript says this festival "gives everyone a chance to look at kites of different shapes, sizes and colours".

Gujarat is the main centre of celebrations, but Uttarayan is also celebrated in Rajasthan and Telangana. In Karnataka, the Tourism Department has also been organising a Kite Festival once each year.

Punjab celebrates this festival of kites during Baisakhi and Basant Panchami. The transcript also notes that kite flying is "deep-rooted in Indian culture", and that the Kite Festival is "eagerly awaited" each year.

The transcript adds that this tradition is also one reason why people across India fly kites to celebrate Independence Day, a connection the "Let us explore" activity picks up again by asking students to write a message on their own kite, for example "Happy Independence Day!".

In the "Let us listen" activity, students listen to the Kite Festival audio and circle the words that are not correct in the given statements (for example, the month given as June or the region given as "Eastern India"), then listen again and write the correct words, checking them against the transcript.

The "Let us explore" section adds that the mention of kites exists in ancient Indian texts, including the poetry of the thirteenth-century Marathi saint-poet Namadeva, who called a kite a gudi and mentioned that kites were made from kaagad (paper).

What are the key quotations from this poem?

"See the kites fly, / Like coloured birds / In the wind-whipped sky." This is the poet's opening simile describing the kites.

"I wish I were small / And light as air, / I would climb on a kite / And sail up there." This is the child's central wish.

"Then I would drift upon / The paper wings, / And hear the songs / That the wild wind sings." This is the imagined flight on the kite.

"What fun it would be / To look right down, / Over the park / And the rooftops of town." This is the imagined bird's-eye view.

"The people below / Would stand and stare, / And wish they were me / High, high in the air." This is the final stanza, showing the people's envy.

These five quotations together trace the poem's movement: from watching kites, to wishing to join them, to imagining the flight, the view, and finally the envy of those left on the ground.

Notice how each quotation moves the child a little further from the ground: first only watching, then wishing, then drifting, then looking down, and finally being looked up at by others.

Studying the quotations in this order also helps when answering questions about the poem's structure, since each stanza adds one clear new step to the child's imagined journey into the sky.

What are the answers to the textbook questions?

How does the poet describe the kites in the first two lines? In the first stanza, the poet describes the kites as flying "up in the air" and compares them to "coloured birds" in the "wind-whipped sky", using a simile.

What are the songs that the child hears when flying atop the kite? The child imagines hearing "the songs / That the wild wind sings". The "song" is the sound of the wind itself, imagined as music while drifting on the kite's "paper wings".

Why did the people look up at the child and stare? What feelings would you have? The poem says people would "stand and stare, / And wish they were me", suggesting they look up in surprise and admiration at such an unusual, wonderful sight.

A student looking up at this might feel curiosity, excitement or envy at not being the one flying so high.

Fill-in-the-blank exercise: "The kites have been compared to birds because they fly high and look colourful, like birds, in the sky." "The child wishes to be as light as air. The child wishes this to be able to climb on a kite and fly."

True or False (sample): "The kites look like birds of different colours" is True, since the poem says "Like coloured birds". "It was a rainy day" is False, since the poem describes a "wind-whipped sky", that is, a windy day, not a rainy one.

Which line tells us that the poet was somewhere above? The line "To look right down" tells us that the speaker is imagined to be above the park and rooftops, looking down rather than up or across.

How do we write a cinquain poem?

The chapter's "Let us create a poem" activity teaches a five-line form called a cinquain, used to describe a person, place or thing. Line one is a single noun (the subject). Line two gives two describing words for that noun.

Line three uses three action words (verbs) related to the subject. Line four uses two words describing those actions. Line five is a single word that means the same as the subject in line one, a synonym.

The chapter's own example cinquain is built on the word "kite": Kite / pretty, colourful / flying, floating, soaring / quickly, happily / paper-bird. Here, "paper-bird" is the final synonym line, neatly echoing the poem's simile of kites as "coloured birds".

This short, patterned form gives students practice in choosing precise nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs to build a vivid picture in just five lines, in the same imaginative spirit as "The Kites" itself.

After learning the pattern, the activity asks students to create their own cinquain poem on any subject they like, following the same one, two, three, two, one word structure used in the kite example.

The chapter also has a separate "Let us write" task, where students imagine themselves as a kite, discuss hints in pairs about their shape, colours, where they are and any message they might have for humans, and then write a paragraph of about 100 words titled "I am a Kite".

Glossary

• Wind-whipped — moved about roughly and quickly by a strong wind.
• Drift — to move slowly and smoothly, carried along by air or water, without fixed effort.
• Paper wings — the poem's description of a kite's covered surface, as if it were a pair of wings made of paper.
• Rooftops — the outer, top coverings of houses or buildings, seen here from above.
• Stare — to look fixedly and for a long time, often in surprise or wonder.
• Simile — a figure of speech comparing two unlike things using "like" or "as".
• Alliteration — the repetition of the same consonant sound at the start of nearby words.
• Cinquain — a five-line poem describing a person, place or thing, with a fixed word pattern in each line.
• Reel — the spool around which a kite's line is wound.
• Spine — the stiff central support running down the middle of a kite.
• Nose — the pointed tip at the top of a kite.
• Kite line — the string by which a kite is flown and controlled from the ground.
• Uttarayan — the name given to the Kite Festival in Western India, especially Gujarat.
• Makar Sankranti — the January festival during which the Kite Festival is traditionally celebrated.

Common errors and misconceptions

• Misconception: The poem is told from the point of view of the kite. Correct: The poem is told from the point of view of a child watching kites and wishing to ride one, not from the kite's own voice.
• Misconception: The weather in the poem is calm or rainy. Correct: The poem describes a windy day, shown by the phrase "wind-whipped sky".
• Misconception: The Kite Festival (Uttarayan) is celebrated only in one state. Correct: Gujarat is the main centre of Uttarayan, which is also celebrated in Rajasthan and Telangana. Karnataka's Tourism Department organises a Kite Festival once each year, and Punjab celebrates the festival of kites during Baisakhi and Basant Panchami.
• Misconception: Alliteration means words that rhyme. Correct: Alliteration is the repetition of the same starting consonant sound, such as the "w" in "wind-whipped", not rhyme.
• Misconception: All four lines of each stanza rhyme with each other. Correct: Only the second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyme; the first and third lines do not.
• Misconception: A cinquain can be any length. Correct: A cinquain is a fixed five-line poem, with a set number of words in each line (1, 2, 3, 2, 1).
• Misconception: The "nose" and "tail" of a kite are the same part. Correct: The nose is the pointed tip at the top, while the tail hangs from the opposite end for balance.

Exam-style questions with model answers

Q1. What does the poet compare the kites to in the first stanza? [1 mark]

1. In the first stanza, the poet compares the kites to "coloured birds" flying in a "wind-whipped sky", using a simile to suggest that the kites look bright and bird-like as they move through the windy sky.

Q2. Why does the child wish to be "light as air"? [2 marks]

1. The child wishes to be "light as air" in order to be small and light enough to climb onto a kite.
2. Being light would let the child "sail up there", joining the kites high in the windy sky instead of staying on the ground.

Q3. Describe what the child imagines seeing and hearing while flying atop a kite. [3 marks]

1. The child imagines seeing "the people below" who "stand and stare" up at the child on the kite's "paper wings".
2. While drifting, the child imagines hearing "the songs / That the wild wind sings", as though the wind itself were singing.
3. Looking down, the child imagines seeing "the park / And the rooftops of town" spread out below, a view normally impossible from the ground.

Q4. Explain the simile used in the poem, with two examples from the text. [4 marks]

1. A simile compares two unlike things using words such as "like" or "as", making a description more vivid.
2. The poet's first simile compares kites to "coloured birds", suggesting their bright colours and their graceful movement through the sky.
3. The second simile is "light as air", describing how small and weightless the child wishes to become.
4. The textbook itself notes that the poet uses "like" and "as" to make both these comparisons, helping readers picture the kites and the child's imagined lightness more clearly.

Q5. What is alliteration? Give one example from the poem and create two examples of your own. [4 marks]

1. Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of nearby words, used to create rhythm and sound effects in poetry.
2. In the poem, the phrase "wind-whipped" repeats the "w" sound, giving the line a gusty, breathy quality that suits the windy sky it describes.
3. An original example of alliteration could be "silly snakes slither slowly".
4. Another original example could be "happy hens hop home", showing the same repeated starting sound across several words in one phrase.

Q6. Name three parts of a kite mentioned in the chapter and describe what each one does. [3 marks]

1. The tail hangs from the bottom of the kite and helps to balance it as it flies.
2. The spine is the stiff support running down the middle of the kite, giving it structure.
3. The reel is the spool on the ground around which the kite line is wound, used to let out or pull in the line.

Q7. What is Uttarayan, and where is it mainly celebrated? [2 marks]

1. Uttarayan is the name given to the Kite Festival, celebrated during Makar Sankranti in January, mainly in Western India.
2. Gujarat is the main centre of the celebrations, though the festival is also celebrated in Rajasthan and Telangana, and Karnataka organises its own Kite Festival each year.

Q8. Describe, in your own words, how the people on the ground feel when they see the child flying high in the sky on the kite. [5 marks]

1. In the final stanza, "the people below / Would stand and stare", suggesting they are struck with surprise at such an unusual sight.
2. Seeing a child seemingly flying so "High, high in the air" would be astonishing, since this is not something people normally witness.
3. The poem says the people "wish they were me", showing that their staring quickly turns into longing or envy.
4. They may feel curious about what it is like to float above the park and rooftops, as the child has imagined doing.
5. Their feelings capture the same sense of wonder that drives the child's wish in the earlier stanzas, showing that both the child and the onlookers share a fascination with flight and freedom.

Key takeaways

• "The Kites" by Daphne Lister is a five-stanza poem about a child who wishes to become light enough to ride a kite into the sky.
• The poet uses similes, comparing kites to "coloured birds" and wishing to be "light as air".
• Alliteration appears in "wind-whipped", and the word "high" is repeated for emphasis in the final line.
• Lines two and four of each stanza rhyme with each other, while lines one and three do not.
• The parts of a kite named in the chapter are the tail, cover, spine, kite line, reel and nose.
• The poem's themes include imagination, freedom, the joy of simple pleasures, and kites as part of culture and tradition.
• The Kite Festival is celebrated as Uttarayan during Makar Sankranti in January, mainly in Gujarat and also in Rajasthan and Telangana; Karnataka's Tourism Department organises a Kite Festival once each year, and Punjab celebrates it during Baisakhi and Basant Panchami.
• A cinquain is a five-line poem with one word, two words, three words, two words and one word in its lines.

Test yourself

What does the poet compare kites to in the poem's first stanza?

The poet compares the kites to "coloured birds" flying in a "wind-whipped sky", a simile that suggests their brightness and graceful movement.

What does the child wish to become in the second stanza?

The child wishes to be "small / And light as air" so as to be able to climb onto a kite and sail up into the sky.

What are the "paper wings" in the poem?

"Paper wings" describes the covered surface of the kite, imagined as wings that let the child drift through the air.

What do the people below do at the end of the poem?

They "stand and stare" and "wish they were me", showing their surprise and envy at the child flying high in the air.

Name two parts of a kite mentioned in the chapter.

Two of the named parts are the tail, which hangs below for balance, and the spine, the stiff central support of the kite.

During which festival and month is the Kite Festival celebrated?

It is celebrated during Makar Sankranti, in the month of January.

What is a cinquain?

A cinquain is a five-line poem describing a person, place or thing, with one, two, three, two, and one word in its five lines.

Which consonant sound is repeated in "wind-whipped"?

The "w" sound is repeated at the start of "wind" and "whipped", an example of alliteration.