Chapter 9 – The North Ship Solutions

Content Structure

• 1. About the author – Philip Larkin
• 2. Theme of the His first flight
• 3. Summary of the His first flight
• 4. Explanation
  • Stanza – 1
  • Stanza – 2
  • Stanza – 3
  • Stanza – 4
  • Stanza – 5
  • Stanza – 6
• 5. Word meanings
• 6. Exercise Solutions
  • Exercise – 1
  • Exercise – 2
• 7. Grammar in use
  • Exercise – 3
  • Exercise – 4
• 8. Composition
  • Exercise – 5
  • Exercise – 6

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1. About the author – Philip Larkin

Philip Larkin was born on 9th August 1922 and was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. He is known as one of the most important poets of the 20th century. His poems are simple, clear, and reflect on ordinary life, everyday struggles, love, and death. Some of his famous works are The Less Deceived, The Whitsun Weddings, and High Windows. He worked for many years as a librarian at the University of Hull. He died on 2nd December 1985.

2. Theme of the North Ship

• The three ships show the different journeys of human life. Like the ships take different paths, every person’s life also goes in a different direction with different experiences.
• The poem tells us that luck has a big role in life. One ship reaches success, another is trapped, and the third keeps struggling. This shows that life is not always in our hands.
• The first ship, reaching a rich land, stands for success, wealth, and happiness. It shows that some lives move smoothly towards prosperity.
• The second ship, taken as a prisoner, stands for failure, bad luck, and loss of freedom. It shows that life can sometimes hold people in hard situations.
• The third ship’s dark, cold, and hard journey shows endless suffering, loneliness, and an unsure future. It means some lives are full of struggle without rest or reward.

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3. Summary of the North Ship

The poem describes the journey of three ships sailing on the sea, where each ship takes a different direction and faces a different ending. At the beginning, the poet sees three ships moving across the rising, uneasy sea in the morning wind. One ship is specially prepared for a long and difficult journey and turns towards the west. The sea is full of energy, and the wind completely controls the ship, driving it forward quickly with its force until it successfully reaches a rich and happy land. The second ship goes towards the east, shaking and uneasy. The wind does not guide the ship gently but chases it like a wild beast. This shows that its journey ends in difficulty, failure, or lack of freedom. The third ship moves towards the north. The sea becomes dark, cold, and lifeless in this direction. There is no wind to help it sail, and the decks of the ship shine with frost, showing freezing conditions. The northern sky turns black and threatening, and the sea is called proud but empty, giving nothing in return. It is meant for a long, endless, and difficult journey, showing struggle, loneliness, and a future without return. The three ships represent three different kinds of life journeys one ending in success, one in being trapped, and one in endless struggle. The poem shows how luck, direction, and situations decide the result of each journey.

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4. Explanation

Stanza 1

I saw three ships go sailing by,
Over the sea, the lifting sea,
And the wind rose in the morning sky,
And one was rigged for a long journey.

Explanation: The poem starts with the scene of three ships sailing on the moving sea. The morning wind begins to rise, filling their sails and helping them move forward. One of the ships is said to be “ready for a long journey,” which means it is prepared for a hard and far trip. This makes us curious and gives a hint that its journey will be different from the other ships.

Stanza 2

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The first ship turned towards the west,
Over the sea, the running sea,
And by the wind was all possessed
And carried to a rich country.

Explanation: The first ship goes towards the west. The words “running sea” show that the waves are fast and full of energy. The wind fully controls the ship, pushing it forward with great speed. In the end, the ship reaches a “rich land,” which stands for success, wealth, and happiness. This journey looks easy and lucky, as nature helps the ship reach its place.

Stanza 3

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The second ship turned towards the east,
Over the sea, the quaking sea,
And the wind hunted it like a beast
To anchor in captivity.

Explanation: The second ship goes towards the east, but its journey is not smooth. The sea here is called “quaking,” which means shaking and unsafe. The wind does not help the ship but chases it like a wild animal. In the end, the ship is caught and kept as a prisoner. This shows struggle, bad luck, or being trapped in a hard situation. Different from the first ship, this journey ends in loss of freedom instead of success.

Stanza 4

The third ship drove towards the north,
Over the sea, the darkening sea,
But no breath of wind came forth,
And the decks shone frostily.

Explanation: The third ship goes towards the north, where the sea becomes dark, cold, and empty. Different from the other ships, no wind comes to guide or help it. The decks of the ship shine with frost, giving a picture of loneliness, cold, and silence. This ship seems left alone and made to struggle in hard, frozen conditions. The difference between the “darkening sea” and the “frosty decks” shows a journey full of problems and pain.

Stanza 5

The northern sky rose high and black
Over the proud unfruitful sea,
East and west the ships came back
Happily or unhappily:

Explanation: The sky in the north turns black and looks scary, making the third ship’s journey seem very hard. The sea is called “proud” but gives nothing, meaning it looks strong but offers no life or success, only emptiness. The ships that went east and west come back. The first ship returns rich and happy, while the second comes back sad after being caught. Still, both finish their journeys.

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Stanza 6

But the third went wide and far
Into an unforgiving sea
Under a fire-spilling star,
And it was rigged for a long journey.

Explanation: The last stanza shows that the third ship does not come back like the others. Instead, it sails far into the “very hard sea,” which means it faces endless struggles. A strange “fire-spilling star” shines above the ship, showing danger or even death. This ship was ready from the start for a “long journey,” not meant to return, but to keep going into hard and unknown conditions. It shows a life that is very hard, lonely, and without end.

5. Word meanings

	Word	Meaning
1.	Lifting sea	Rising waves of the sea
2.	Rose	Went up
3.	Rigged	Prepared a ship for sailing
4.	Possessed	Controlled
5.	Quaking	Shaking
6.	Hunted	Chased
7.	Beast	A wild animal
8.	Anchor	Heavy object used to keep a ship in place
9.	Captivity	Prison
10.	Drove	Moved forward
11.	Decks	The flat surface floor of a ship
12.	Frostily	Very cold
13.	Unfruitful	Useless
14.	Wide	Far
15.	Fire-spilling	Burning
16.	Rigged	Prepared

6. Exercise solution

Exercise – 1

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Tick the correct answer from the given alternatives:

1. The number of ships sailing by were
(a) Three
(b) Two
(c) Five
(d) Four

Ans: (a) Three

2. The wind carried the first ship to a
(a) Big country
(b) Small country
(c) Rich country
(d) Distant country

Ans: (c) Rich country

3. The second ship turned towards the
(a) West
(b) North
(c) South
(d) East

Ans: (d) East

4. The decks of the third ship shone
(a) Brightly
(b) Frostily
(c) Clearly
(d) Dimly

Ans: (a) Brightly

5. The northern sky rose over the
(a) Unfruitful sea
(b) Kind sea
(c) Stormy sea
(d) Calm sea

Ans: (c) Stormy sea

6. The third ship was rigged for a
(a) Long journey
(b) Short journey
(c) Slow journey
(d) Quick journey

Ans: (a) Long journey

Exercise – 2

Answer the following questions within twenty-five words:

1. What did the wind to do the second ship.
Ans: The wind hunted the second ship like a beast and forced it to anchor in captivity.

2. Give any two points of difference between the journey of the third ships and the other two ships.
Ans: The third ship sailed far into the unforgiving sea under a fire-spilling star, while the first ship reached a rich country, and the second was trapped.

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7. Grammar in use

Exercise – 3

Replaced the underlined words with suitable phrasal verbs given in the list below. Change the form if necessary. There are two extra phrasal verbs:

1. The child resembles his grandfather.
Ans: The child takes after his grandfather.

2. They published a magazine recently.
Ans: They brought out a magazine recently.

3. My mother taught me not to disrespect anyone.
Ans: My mother taught me not to look down upon anyone.

4. We should abolish bad habits.
Ans: We should give up bad habits.

5. A new university was built at Coochbehar.
Ans: A new university was set up at Coochbehar.

Phrasal verbs: Bring out, set up, put up, run after, give up, look down upon, take after

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Exercise – 4

Do as directed

1. The man was so weak that he could not walk. (rewrite using ‘too’)
Ans: The man was too weak to walk.

2. Titir is one of the most intelligent girls in the class.(Rewrite using positive degree of the underline adjective)
Ans: Titir is an intelligent girl in the class.

3. As soon as he reached home, it started raining heavily. (Change into a negetive sentence)
Ans: He had not reached home before it started raining heavily.

4. Why cry over spilt milk? (Change into an assertive sentence)
Ans: One should not cry over spilt milk.

5. Blood is thicker than water. (Change into an interrogative sentence)
Ans: Is blood thicker than water?

6. He told a lie intentionally. (Rewrite using the noun form of ‘intentionally’)
Ans: He told a lie with intention.

7. Run fast or you will be late. (change into a complex sentence)
Ans: Run fast so that you will not be late.

8. The reporter made the news public.(Rewrite using the verb form of ‘public’)
Ans: The reporter publicized the news.

8. Composition

Exercise – 5

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Write a newspaper report within 100 words on the effect of a devastating flood in your district based on the following hints:

Midnapore district – month of july – heavy rainfall – rivers overflowing – trees uprooted, many villages flooded – loss of human and animal life – rescue operations – steps taken by government

Exercise – 6

Imagine that you and your friend are sailors of two ships that have recently returned from their voyages. Write a dialogue within 100 words on the different experiences of your voyages.

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