St.

Mary’s Public School

English
Lesson-9
Seen But Not Heard
~Geoff Weilert
Class VI
 So words now have letters,
The poem: That seem quite out of place
And serve no other purpose
Maybe, it's just me
Than taking up space.
But it sound quite absurd
To have letters in words The silent letters
That are seen but not heard. Where ere they occurred
I now gather up
I have this idea To make the first silent word.
Which can't be dispelled,
That those aberrant words So watch real closely
Someone long ago misspelled. The reason's because,
I might be using that word
Whenever I pause.
These misspelled words
Before anyone could sight'em Silent sentences or paragraphs
Throughout all the years I would like to convey
Were repeated ad infinitum But the problem arises,
That I really can't say.
 Theme of the poem:
How is your English studying? Do you think English is a difficult-to-learn language?

As you know, we often see the same letters, but ,to our surprise, we read them in
different ways: cut - put, read - read (past) girl, imagine, etc.

But English has also got some so-called silent letters, the letters which we can see,
but must not said. You surely can name a lot of such words, here are some of them:
night, ball, sea, although, autumn . For beginners these words are a real problem!

To be precise, the theme of the poem is the existence of such silent letters, funny
reasons the poet gives to their existence and also an amusing idea that comes to the
poet’s mind of collecting all such silent letters and create a silent word, the first of it’s
kind, but the problem is he won't be able to say it.
Maybe, it's just me
But it sound quite absurd
To have letters in words
That are seen but not heard.

The poet elicits his insecurity that maybe he's the only one in the
entire world to have aroused this doubt of why do we use letters that
are only seen but not heard. In other words, he is questioning the
existence and purpose of silent letters.
I have this idea
Which can't be dispelled,
That those aberrant words
Someone long ago misspelled.

Through these lines, he is presenting a very strange logic to justify the

existence of silent letters. According to him, his logic can't be dismissed
since we have no other strong reason behind the existence of these
silent letters. His logic is that maybe someone long ago just misspelled
these words and we blindly followed them.
These misspelled words
Before anyone could sight'em
Throughout all the years
Were repeated ad infinitum

The poet says that no one noticed the mistake in the spelling of
those ‘misspelled words’ and before anyone could notice, they had
already been used incessantly by numerous people that now
correction is difficult.
So words now have letters,
That seem quite out of place
And serve no other purpose
Than taking up space.

And due to the hypothetical incident that the poet mentioned in

the previous lines, we now have these silent letters that are of no
use and just occupy unnecessary space in the words.
The silent letters
Where ere they occurred
I now gather up
To make the first silent word.

These four lines tell us about a crazy idea that comes in the poet’s
mind of gathering all these silent letters and make up the first
silent word.
So watch real closely
The reason's because,
I might be using that word
Whenever I pause.

Here, the poet appeals us to stay alert because whenever he

pauses, it means he might be using his “silent word”.
Silent sentences or paragraphs
I would like to convey
But the problem arises,
That I really can't say.

Through these lines, the poet says that he would like to convey
certain sentences and paragraphs that he wrote of his silent words,
but the problem is he really won't be able to convey them because he
can't speak those words only, reason being they’re silent.
Word Meanings:

1. absurd - silly
2. dispelled - dismissed
3. aberrant - odd, not normal
4. ad infinitum - again and again
5. ere - ever
6. occurred - came
Tick the correct answers. pg:84
1. The speaker thinks - that it is perhaps only he who finds silent letters funny
2. The speaker feels that oddly spelt words - must have been misspelt by
someone long ago
3. Nobody corrected these words because they have been - spelt this way for
years by people.
4. Some of the silent letters seem to - occupy space unnecessarily.
5. When he says he is trying to make up a silent word, the poet is - sarcastic
6. He thinks he can use a silent word when he is - pausing in speech
7. The speaker can't make up silent paragraphs because -
there will be nothing to say.
RTC: The silent letters
Where ere they occurred
I now gather up
To make the first silent word

1. How does the speaker plan to make a silent word?

Ans. The speaker is planning to make a silent word by gathering all the silent letters.

2. Can there be a word in which all letters are silent?

Ans. Not in reality.

3. Pick out the silent letters from these word and make a new word with these letters.
ascend, lamb, align, kneel, caught

Ans. *Do it yourself*

Answer these questions:

1. How old do you think the speaker in the poem is? Why do you think this?

Ans.The speaker in the poem seems to be somewhere around 13-16 years of

age. He might be a curious yet frustrated teenager who’s learning English
and is confused about it’s ethics. I think so because such less thought about
yet amazing doubts aren’t a very mature or a very childish thing, these
doubts have more probability to arouse in young, thoughtful and brilliant
minds like that of an adolescent.
2. What does he mean by: Maybe, it’s just me?

Ans. According to him, he’s the only one in the entire world to have raised such
non promulgated topic.

3. What does he talk about after saying this?

Ans. He talks about the letters in words which can only be seen and not heard.

4. What do you call the letters in words which are seen but not heard?

Ans. Silent letters.

5. In the second stanza, the speaker talks about his suspicion regarding the
origin of silent letters. What is his suspicion?

Ans. His suspicion is that someone long ago just misspelled these words.

6. The speaker also comes up with a strange logic as to why we have been
spelling words with silent letters all this while. Do you agree with it?

Ans. No, these letters and spellings have existed ever since the English language
existed and this is how it works. Each letter does it’s job, either providing sound
or just weightage. It is just poet’s curiosity drawing up things and we cannot
agree up on them without proper and strong reasonings.
7. Why do silent letters waste space?

Ans. According to the poet, they waste space as in they simply exist without any
functioning.

8. What does the speaker plan to do with the silent letters?

Ans. He plans to aggregate all the silent letters and make up the first ever silent
word.
9. What problem does the poet face?

Ans. The problem is even if he writes paragraphs and long essays with his ‘silent
words’, he wouldn't be able to convey as he can't speak out those silent words.

10. What makes the poem humorous?

Ans. The witty yet wise topic makes the poem humorous. Also, the logics and
reasonings provided by the poet are strange but one of a kind.