Long Answer Questions — 5 Marks Each

Answer: The poem begins with an old, ragged and grey woman waiting helplessly at a wet winter crossing. People pass without noticing her anxious eyes. A lively group of schoolboys also hurries past, but one boy finally stops. He speaks gently, offers his arm and guides her safely across. The boy then explains that she is “somebody’s mother” and imagines his own mother needing similar help one day. At home that night, the old woman remembers his kindness and prays for him. Thus the poem moves from neglect and fear to empathy, safety and gratitude.

Answer: The helpful boy does more than notice the old woman’s physical difficulty. He imagines that his own mother may one day become old and need help when he is far away. This act of imagination changes a stranger into someone personally meaningful. Because he wants another person to help his mother in such a situation, he chooses to help this woman now. The poem therefore presents empathy as seeing another person’s need through the feelings we have for people we love.

Answer: The poem repeatedly places opposite situations together. The woman is old and slow while the boys are young and hastening. She is anxious while they arrive with laughter and shout. Her feet tremble while the helpful boy’s feet are firm and strong. Most people pass without helping, but one boy pauses and responds. These contrasts make the woman’s vulnerability and the boy’s compassion more visible. The moral is not stated as a lecture; it emerges from the difference between ignoring a need and responding to it.

Answer: The boy is introduced as the “gayest laddie” in an ordinary school group, not as a solemn hero. He simply pauses, speaks softly and offers help. After crossing the road, he goes back to his friends instead of waiting for praise. His happiness comes from being useful. His reason is also simple: the woman is somebody’s mother, and he hopes someone would help his own mother. These ordinary details make his kindness practical and believable.

Answer: The title captures the main change in perspective created by the boy. At first the woman is an unknown elderly stranger whom people ignore. The boy calls her “somebody’s mother”, reminding his friends that she is loved and important to another family. He then thinks of his own mother and hopes she would receive similar help. At the end, the woman calls him “somebody’s son”, completing the parallel. The title therefore expresses the poem’s central belief that strangers deserve care because every person has human relationships and dignity.

Answer: The boy’s action is small: he pauses for a few minutes and helps an old woman cross a road. Yet it has several effects. The woman becomes safe, the boy feels happy and content, his friends hear a lesson about empathy, and the woman remembers the act hours later in her prayer. The poem shows that kindness does not need to be dramatic to matter. A small helpful action can solve an immediate problem and also create lasting gratitude and moral understanding.